Premier League Shake-Up: Who's In, Who's Out, and the Battle for the Top!

In this roller-coaster episode of Football Yanks, hosts Luke and Derek dive deep into the tumultuous waves of the Premier League. The fields are ripe with speculation and drama, from Tyler Adams' challenging season and a potential move to Bournemouth to Harry Kane eyeing a switch. The duo scrutinizes the recent struggles of iconic teams like Liverpool, pondering the future of Klopp and Salah while picking apart the midfield mysteries that might be slowing them down.

Derek and Luke shift gears to deliver a no-holds-barred analysis of Aston Villa and Brighton's latest performances, attributing the fatigue to excessive gameplay and travel. They also delve into the high-stakes relegation battles, offering unique insights into the heroes and the underperformers of the season. Meanwhile, the discussion of a potential Manchester United revamp, sparked by an owner's critical email, ignites their passionate debate.

All the football banter is interspersed with hearty laughs over personal hangovers, custom toilet paper, and an obscure comment on internet woes. No topic is off-limits, whether they're praising Holland’s electrifying contribution to Manchester City or lamenting Tottenham’s missed efforts.

Join the Football Yanks as they deliver a fresh, outspoken take on the beautiful game’s latest twists and turns, seasoned with a generous dose of humor and a few unexpected detours into personal misadventures! Don't forget to subscribe for your weekly dose of football from across the pond.

LIVE on Twitch Every Sunday whenever Luke feels like it

Check out our website: footballyanks.com
Join the Discord: Football Yanks Discord

Transcript

Derek [00:00:00]:
Hey, everybody, this is Derek and Luke with the football yanks for Premier League week 36. This week we're going to run through primarily the top of the table fight for the Premier League championship. We'll talk a little bit about what's left of the relegation battle, and we're going to try as much as possible to ignore the middle of the table where nobody is playing for anything. And they're making that clear with their play on the field. Talk a little bit about the Champions League. My feelings on Harry Kane's face, oddly enough, and then a couple follow up notes. Yanks in the ranks to wrap things up. Anything else I missed? Luke?

Luke [00:00:42]:
League.

Derek [00:00:44]:
Yep, you'll hear that throughout the podcast. Yeah, we're american, 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. How you doing there, Luke?

Luke [00:01:11]:
Fuck this shit.

Derek [00:01:14]:
Seems like today sucks. Things didn't line up well for Ryan taking a week off and your other commitments as part of your lifestyle.

Luke [00:01:25]:
Yeah, well, I guess so. I've made some mistakes. I should have just told Ryan to fuck off and we wouldn't do the damn podcast, but. Or I should have said I couldn't do it just to see how mad Shannon would be at Ryan while they're on their trip.

Derek [00:01:39]:
Yeah.

Luke [00:01:39]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:01:40]:
I mean, for him to do the podcast, he probably. Probably did the right thing here. How was the Kentucky Derby party? Other than the hangover that the listeners can clearly pick up on at this point?

Luke [00:01:52]:
It was good. It was a great time, actually. Jack Rose is a fun bar. The rooftop, it's not really a rooftop, but the second floor, like, terrace bar is fucking awesome. So you had a good time? Yeah. Overall, I have no idea who won. I was thinking about it this morning when I woke up in my hotel room.

Derek [00:02:08]:
I mean, that makes two of us.

Luke [00:02:11]:
Like, I was like, who the fuck even won? I was just screaming. I was like, screaming fucking. I just kept. We were all just kept screaming just the tip the whole time. Like it was a horse name. I think there was one that was like, just the touch or something like that. So we just screamed just the tip over and over again. It was quite childish.

Derek [00:02:37]:
I don't know. There's complicated rules. So before we get censored for this discussion. Yeah, I mean, I'd say I'm not actually in, obviously. I went to the ghost and side show last night, so I'm not in tip top condition, but I think I'm certainly better in respectable shape relative to my co host today.

Luke [00:02:55]:
Don't demean my. Don't demean my shape.

Derek [00:02:59]:
Yeah. All right. Way out of my.

Luke [00:03:04]:
Do you watch any football this morning?

Derek [00:03:07]:
Yeah. So, yeah, I watched a good bit of games today. In good games yesterday. It sounds like Ryan had just as much time, given how much Shannon likes to run. But we'll catch up. Obviously, he'll have a lot to say when he comes back. I do think that given Ryan's comments about listenership when you and I hosted last time that he made last week, it tells me two things. One is we need to keep doing what we're doing, and two, Ryan's a big, fat liar.

Derek [00:03:43]:
So I just wanted to throw that out there. And if you have any other thoughts.

Luke [00:03:47]:
Or reactions, I just assume that that was a lie. I'm sure it was the best, most listened to pod we've done yet.

Derek [00:03:53]:
I'm not gonna say anything crazy, but, yeah, I mean, I'm gonna stick to my guns here.

Luke [00:03:59]:
It's fucking definite.

Derek [00:04:01]:
And, you know, again, I think in the absence of you running an air conditioner through your microphone this week, we do want to make this as enjoyable as possible for Ryan to edit.

Luke [00:04:12]:
No, we should make it harder. I'm actually only on the podcast to tank the podcast.

Derek [00:04:18]:
Okay, so that's interesting. I thought you were only on the podcast to trigger and or create work for Ryan.

Luke [00:04:25]:
Yeah, it's kind of like you're looking.

Derek [00:04:27]:
For the intersection of those three things.

Luke [00:04:29]:
It's a long game. It's a long game. If I can have fun doing it while I'm here, I might as well.

Derek [00:04:34]:
Yeah. All right, well, uh, yeah, so you want to start off with any, you know, grieving or ranting or feelings you need to let loose on Tottenham from this week, from either performance?

Luke [00:04:48]:
No, I don't know. It's fucking bad. That's like, where I'm at. It's just like, I feel like the. The season's just has come. It needs to come to an end now for spurs, essentially. I think that it's just the team is over it. They're not putting in the same effort, obviously, since there's a dynamic going on in the team that's a little.

Luke [00:05:09]:
I don't know, the team feels burnt out, essentially. I didn't do fucking shit. And then they come into the game and they don't really do anything at all, really. They were just flat for the whole game. Both games, they made, like, a poor Chelsea team look good.

Derek [00:05:25]:
Whoa. All right, so, yeah, I think it's interesting. There's a lot of. I think there's a lot of teams in similar situations throughout the middle of the table. Right. You know, again, we saw it even with Villa above Tottenham. Right. Like, neither team is like doing anything to secure for place.

Luke [00:05:51]:
I feel like lose out. Third through six. Yeah. It's like third through six.

Derek [00:05:55]:
Yeah.

Luke [00:05:56]:
What you're saying?

Derek [00:05:57]:
Well, third. Well, I guess like everybody's chilling. If I look at this, it's like third through. Third through 16, like, yeah, maybe you're right.

Luke [00:06:07]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:06:08]:
Outside of the Arsenal and city and Luton, Burnley and Forrest, I mean, I look at this and I think there's like five teams playing for anything at this point. Yeah. The rest are just trying to set some kind of momentum and, you know, set themselves up for next season. It feels like. Yeah, to defend. To defend Chelsea. You know, I think I obviously have been as down on them as anyone this season, even compared to Ryan. But I have started seeing better team play out of them last.

Derek [00:06:42]:
The last couple games. And certainly the trouncing to, with West Ham kind of.

Luke [00:06:48]:
That West Ham team was bad, that West Ham team.

Derek [00:06:53]:
I was more surprised at how much that teams unraveled versus how Chelsea played. Like, I knew Chelsea. Chelsea we saw, but they played well against spurs earlier in the week, so that part wasn't surprising. But when I think back to the first half of the season with West Ham and some of the run of form they're in compared to now, it's. It's horrifying. Um, yeah, and maybe they never had quite the. The level of talent to be in the top third of the league anyways. But, yeah, it's.

Derek [00:07:27]:
It's kind of. It's kind of stark. Yeah. I don't know. You know, Zuma seems like he's lost, fucking hates.

Luke [00:07:36]:
We have not talked about how shitty of a person Zuma is.

Derek [00:07:39]:
Well, that's fucking kicked a cast video. I was going to do a soft lead in with a joke about how he's not slapping around his opponents anymore and really taking them the task.

Luke [00:07:50]:
He fucking kicked his cat. Fuck.

Derek [00:07:52]:
But apparently I could see that that's, that's good. That type of satire is going to be frowned upon, this podcast. So, yeah, we can just skip straight ahead to Zuba's a piece of shit and, you know, he. His team's getting what they deserve.

Luke [00:08:05]:
He's fucking such a twat. Like, who does that to a cat and then videotapes it. Like, not even Ryan would do that. And he's fucking psychotic.

Derek [00:08:15]:
Like, no, Ryan cats? Yeah, well, I think it's the inverse there. Ryan loves cats because he's psychotic. Kurt Zuma's psychotic and hurts cat. There's different types, but yeah, yeah, I.

Luke [00:08:27]:
Feel going kind of comparing Tottenham and Chelsea, I think is interesting because you see Chelsea, a team that the pressure's off right now, they've kind of settled into this position. Not everyone's bashing them over the head for being so bad. So they've kind of settled in and started to play better. Really interesting how well Caicedo is playing without Enzo next to him.

Derek [00:08:48]:
Yeah, Ryan loves talking about that in postulating on the problem that creates. And I guess in a sense, like, I was thinking a lot about it today. Like, I don't know what formation works next season where you have our three, three central midfielders on the field or, you know, saying we have Gallagher, Enzo and Kaiseto on the field together and then still getting cuckoo. Who, in my opinion needs to be a surefire starter when he's healthy. Palmer Madwake. I don't know that Nico Jackson's best position is striker. I'd almost rather see him on the left instead of Mudrick, but. So I don't know.

Derek [00:09:31]:
You know, even if you take mujer golf, that doesn't solve the problem. So, yeah, it's. It's a weird dynamic. I. I would say that, like some of the, like, we look much better as a team without Enzo or, or quesados better without Enzo is a little bit situational. You know, if. I think Enzo and Caeseto can play well together, it's just that when Enzo's out there, he's doing more of the stuff that I think Casito is forced into doing now because of Enzo not being there. I think Enzo ends up overshadowing him a little bit because Kaisetto was playing well with Enzo on the field, especially defensively and providing coverage.

Luke [00:10:10]:
But when they're both on the field, they kind of like clog it up a little bit. It, like, it doesn't feel like there's enough space between them when they're in.

Derek [00:10:18]:
True, like, when they're in. Maybe that's part of it, right? Is like getting the tactics right when they're out there together and maybe. Yeah, yeah. Gallagher and him, you kind of say have a more natural feel for that. I don't know. Or to write. Ryan would say it's because is Pach has no idea how to coach and hasn't given them the tactics to play together. And who knows, maybe it's that too.

Luke [00:10:37]:
But I really hope that they give Pachtino another year. Like you can see like how the team could turn into something, right, but.

Derek [00:10:45]:
He plays improved drastically and, and what.

Luke [00:10:48]:
Is another kind of coach going to come in and do differently realistically? Like what would another coach done differently with a roster of 21 year olds who are all, you know, hitting a level for the first time, like the Premier League level all at the same time essentially like who's going to do something better than a semifinal FA cup and a final League cup?

Derek [00:11:10]:
Like, yeah, especially with players that are heard constantly too. Right to your point, like he may do with what he had now, I say there are, there are plenty of moments and examples where like, I agree with Ryan, coaching kind of let us down, but given how things are going right now, I would tend to think that he saved his job to the extent possible. Ryan thinks they're pretty predisposed and I try, not that I stayed less out of the rumor mill than dude has.

Luke [00:11:36]:
A fucking phone alert for, I mean, fucking football. London.com I guess it's good.

Derek [00:11:42]:
It gives us a sense of why, of what's going on. On the other hand, like, I don't feel too badly about choosing not to do that and try to kind of assess the situation as I see it. But it's maybe that's his second career.

Luke [00:11:57]:
He's going to be a football journalist. He's going to move to the UK and be a football journalist.

Derek [00:12:00]:
I think much like me, needs a full time job that takes more of his attention, I put it. But yeah, in his ideal scenario, I think that's he wants to be, you know, working side by side with Fabrizio Romano or whatever is whatever that pizza guy's name. But you know, I think there's something to be said for getting players like Keiseido Kukureya and playing within that team and just having excellent individual performances because it, you know what, while we can pick apart like those two examples of players playing much better, the team is playing much better and that's the difference.

Luke [00:12:47]:
Gusto is a player that I think has improved over the season. What I will say for potch. Right. And I think that this is what kind of the inverse of it is what's worrying about Tottenham is that you can see certain players are getting better.

Derek [00:13:01]:
Yeah.

Luke [00:13:02]:
You can still put is having an, having a impact in individual players like Gusto, I think like Cole Palmer a little bit, Gallagher, I think he's made him a better player. Just, you know, I don't, I think Desasi and pretty much all of your center backs except Tiago Silva fucking like need a whole lot of more improvement. But he hasn't gotten the team dynamic right. But I do think he's improved some players as the season gone has gone on.

Derek [00:13:29]:
Yeah. What do you.

Luke [00:13:30]:
That would be my argument for him.

Derek [00:13:32]:
Yeah, I agree with that. What do you. I mean, coming back to Tottenham, I mean, I get the same sense. Right. Like they've been downhill the whole last quarter or third of the seat the season. In my opinion. Injuries have played a part in that. You know, what is, what does that look like next season? Do you feel like there's going to be enough healthy players coming back to it with the pieces they have or are they going to have to make significant changes to challenge for the top three?

Luke [00:14:03]:
I think the, I think we need significant changes in the way our squad is built, you know. So today you see Liverpool beat them four to two, right, but really 40 up, like long ahead. Right. So watching that game, you could see Emerson Royal is not at the level.

Derek [00:14:21]:
Well, yeah, like, he is not good. I wasn't even gonna bring that up. Cause I think everybody that watches Tottenham knows.

Luke [00:14:26]:
Ever seen Royals Oliver skip, a central midfielder came in for him and looked way better at that. Yeah, I don't. And I question, I do question Ange's picking certain players at certain times. What I think happened this season, kind of to talk about to go back to what you're saying, like the last really third, it's been pretty awful. You know, the last 1012 games has not been great. So that's more of like. Yeah, that's about a third of season, right? Yeah, has not been great. I don't think we ever recovered from that, that injury kind of crisis.

Luke [00:15:03]:
The team just never got in flow again. Essentially. It felt like if they just didn't jump back in the same kind of intensity. So next year I see like players like Emerson Royale getting moved on. I hope to go. If we sign Timo Werner, I might not fucking support them next year. We need a, we need another right outside back. So right outside back we need probably another central midfielder.

Luke [00:15:29]:
We need to maybe move Basuma on. Just like he doesn't seem like he does what he needs to. I think Benticur could get moved on. Players that are really much more brought in with the idea of a Kante type system. Maybe not Bisuma, but Bentker, who I love. I would like us to get rid of Kulchewski. Like, I don't really love what he's been doing in the team. So we need both some particular positions on the field improved, but I think to a larger extent, we need a stronger and more structured bench when we lose a starter, like destiny.

Luke [00:16:03]:
Destiny Adogi coming off the field, like, out of the season. Like, we should not be in a crisis because we lose one player.

Derek [00:16:10]:
Wow.

Luke [00:16:12]:
Especially with the ambitions we have. I think Europa League next year is going to be really helpful for that. It'll be good kind of staging for a run at Champions League next year, the year after.

Derek [00:16:22]:
I don't think anyone could know how bad Emerson Royal was going to be until they saw him on the field for as many minutes as he's played.

Luke [00:16:28]:
He was at Barcelona. Yeah. He's so bad. Like, I feel for the guy, but he's like, he should just go. Like he should play in Italy or something, like, where outside backs don't have to go forward in the same way. Yeah, it's just like he's really bad at crossing the ball, too, which is weird.

Derek [00:16:48]:
Now. I don't know what. His skill sets not fit for many teams.

Luke [00:16:55]:
Salah had him sizzling. Like Salah was cooking his ass.

Derek [00:16:59]:
Yeah. Salah was the happiest he's been all season. Yeah. He hasn't been very happy this season. Not couple, you know, underscore your point. Yeah. I, as a Chelsea fan, I take. I take a great deal of positives from looking at Tottenham's roster as I did at the beginning of the season.

Derek [00:17:17]:
Probably for the wrong reasons, but, like, some of the right reasons. Right? Like looking at Richarlison and, you know, like you said, the lack of coverage at certain key positions. People like Hoiberg out there.

Luke [00:17:31]:
Yeah. Hoiberg needs to move on, son.

Derek [00:17:33]:
Then being like this flex piece rather than playing within his optimized position. Some of those things, like, give me a lot of positives thinking about how you, how do you fix all that going in the next season?

Luke [00:17:44]:
Well, which is. Which is why I'm kind of bullish on this season, being positive in general. You know, if you can see the steps we've taken and the players we have purchased, there's been good moves, but it feels very much like a first step in the process and not the final.

Derek [00:17:58]:
Yeah.

Luke [00:17:59]:
And just despite that one, like Mickey van DER Vent. Right. That one fucking game where he just got tossed like a fucking greek salad.

Derek [00:18:06]:
Yeah. I mean, that's like. I'm glad that's the example you used. It says something else.

Luke [00:18:13]:
I, you know, I thought about it. He's a dude. That guy is so fucking good.

Derek [00:18:20]:
Yeah, I'm not.

Luke [00:18:22]:
He's a great player.

Derek [00:18:23]:
Yeah, there's some piece, foundational pieces, and he's one of them.

Luke [00:18:25]:
I think James Madison, while inconsistent and needs cover, is a great, is a good player. Brendan Johnson a good addition. Maybe not a starting edition, though. I'm actually a little bullish on Richarlison. I like Richarlison.

Derek [00:18:40]:
You hope they bring him back next season.

Luke [00:18:43]:
I will. I actually hope they sell him because he's the most sellable asset at the club right now. If you think in terms of bringing some of the money that we got for him, probably won't make the same unless he goes to Saudi Arabia, we won't have the same return. But, you know, that's a player you could sell for 40, 45 million just because number nines are so thin in world football.

Derek [00:19:05]:
Well, with everybody else playing fast, financial, fair play, do you guys even need to sell a piece like Richarlison?

Luke [00:19:12]:
So depending how the rules change under the structure right now, spurs are probably one of the best placed clubs in terms of the PSR rules because there's so much other kinds of income coming into the club from things like Beyonce concerts and NFL games. We're in a position where we could buy. We could buy players, but we'll see. I don't know what the market will be. I think the transfer markets, it's so fucked up. Like it's just not easy to buy anybody.

Derek [00:19:41]:
Yeah, well, you're right. We've got to see what the regulations are and how that affects it, you know, could bring prices down. I mean, it tighten things up versus the insanity that's been going on. Right. So, yeah, I think that covers us for. For Chelsea and Tottenham, you know, at least until. Until Ryan gets back. I will say that in Ryan's absence, I will give some credit to Niko Jackson for playing very well over the last two game stretch.

Derek [00:20:07]:
And I've said it before, I do agree that he occupies good spaces. You look at the complexity and the shape and the variation of his runs, it's very effective in that position. He's just not the clinical finisher he needs to be, though. He's shown some improvement, I'd say, in the last two weeks in that. In that regard, or at least week or so. So we'll see what becomes of that.

Luke [00:20:31]:
Dude scores all the, all the easy ones, man.

Derek [00:20:33]:
Yeah. Yep. Exactly. Well, yeah. Which is, you know, there's something to be said for that. Right. When Darwin going out there for Liverpool.

Luke [00:20:40]:
Yeah. Would you. Who would you rather Darwin Nunez or Nico Jackson. Damn.

Derek [00:20:53]:
Within the, within Chelsea's squad. I think Nico Jackson because I think he offers a little bit more build up than Darwin and they're both terrible finishers.

Luke [00:21:13]:
Agree. All right, should we move on to some, some Aston Villa loss?

Derek [00:21:17]:
Yeah, so, yeah, I mean, I think, you know, Villa, you know, the battle, right, has been fourth and fifth or fourth place between Villa and Tottenham. And my, I mean, I don't know, my, they've been bad games to watch. Both teams aren't really fighting for fourth place, but it looks like Villa is going to fall into it.

Luke [00:21:39]:
Villa's gonna get it right.

Derek [00:21:41]:
Yeah, but, yeah, not to take your thunder, but to me it's a terrible performance again. It's a Brighton in a game that, like, they should have gone out there and won.

Luke [00:21:50]:
Yeah, a Brighton looked really good. Like, I thought Brighton for the first time in a good, like, looked like they could play again. They've been pretty awful.

Derek [00:22:00]:
I wasn't ready for that.

Luke [00:22:02]:
I think Aston Villa's tired, man. They've, they've played so many games with being in the conference league so deep. They've traveled a lot. The team just looks a little tired now and they're going to get fourth place. Like, spurs don't fucking deserve it. I think they'll have been good enough. They'll be good. Like, I don't know how well they'll do in the Champions League, but, yeah, I think they deserve it.

Luke [00:22:24]:
I hope they get it, honestly.

Derek [00:22:26]:
Well, yeah, I haven't looked. You know, it's possible they add some pieces to make them more competitive across multiple competitions. I think they're a team that's ripe for that.

Luke [00:22:35]:
Yeah. The question being like, what kind of money do they actually have to spend?

Derek [00:22:40]:
Yeah. Can they hold on income and still do that? Right.

Luke [00:22:44]:
Well, yeah. All you think about the players in that team who could be sold? Ollie Watkins. I don't think Ollie Watkins would get sold. His contract is probably pretty long. John McGinn. There's some good players. Tielman's, Douglas Louise is a fucking baller.

Derek [00:23:00]:
Yeah. True.

Luke [00:23:01]:
So, yeah, I think they do have pieces, but, yeah, the thing is, can they go out, buy some big players who will make, you know, next level of a difference in the Champions League? I don't know.

Derek [00:23:12]:
Here's my hot take. I'm more concerned about Liverpool and what's going to happen to that roster. With Klopp leaving and I assume Salah being done, he looks like he's ready for this, the frickin saudi league. Based on his, his general demeanor and some of the shit he's been doing in the field. And you know what, what happens now that Grant granted they've got great young pieces, right? But like, do I see that team really advancing very far in the Champions League with like Nunes and maybe not, maybe missing Klopp, Van Dyke, Sala and a couple other pieces? I don't know.

Luke [00:23:50]:
I don't think Van Dyke's gonna go anywhere. I'm pretty sure he has like a lot more time on his contract. He's so loved in Liverpool. I don't know. And I don't know if Salah would go to the saudi league even. That's just the only place with the dollars to buy him. Unless he wants to live in Saudi Arabia, which is possible. He's egyptian, right? So I don't know.

Luke [00:24:14]:
It'll be interesting to see what happens with Saleh. I think the Liverpool's midfield has been pretty successfully rebuilt but it still feels a little lightweight. You know, if you look at like missing something.

Derek [00:24:25]:
Right? Like it's got all this talent but it doesn't function as well as. As an Arsenal midfield, right? Or.

Luke [00:24:34]:
Yeah, and it's not as big either. It's not as like kind of athletic. Like they're kind of all small little guys in there like Harvey Elliott with a banger today. Endo McAllister. They're all kind of lightweight, you know. I don't have that one player who will dictate.

Derek [00:24:48]:
Maybe it's swapping, getting somebody to push Endo for playing and that kind of fixes things. Yeah, that dynamic. But yeah, they're missing something there for sure.

Luke [00:24:58]:
Yeah, they need like a Rodri Firmino type player. Yeah. Just to make it all tick so McAllister can do a little bit more. But yeah, we'll see. I hope that they continue to do well. I like this Arnie slot manager from the Netherlands.

Derek [00:25:13]:
Yeah. Do you think that, you know, do you think that's the bigger thing for salads? He's just sick of clop at this point.

Luke [00:25:20]:
I don't know. That's a good question. I do think it's hard to work with somebody in such intense pressure like, like filled full job for so long. Like, if I had to do that job with you for a fucking day, you'd probably rip my fucking head off.

Derek [00:25:34]:
Yeah, you say that not even knowing what my. My relationship is with my manager. Yeah, but yeah, I mean, you're probably odd. I think you're right there.

Luke [00:25:45]:
Right.

Derek [00:25:45]:
And then the dynamic of like somebody like that person being like I'm out of here after this. And then, yeah, half a season, like, that adds, you know, I wouldn't be. If I was solid. I put myself in those shoes, like, I'd be pissed off probably all the time.

Luke [00:25:58]:
Yeah. I still question the timing of when he did that. I think the. I think the idea was like, well, we're probably not competitive for a title with, like, what we are, who we are now, but if I come out, it could be like this kind of cool little, you know, last ride for Klopp. They got some energy out of it, but it just. You can't run that for the whole.

Derek [00:26:18]:
Season, you know, too much of a lead out. Yeah, yeah.

Luke [00:26:20]:
It's just. Yeah, it's too. Too long. Villa, I don't know what the fuck's going on with Villa, though. They really should be getting results. I think you're right. Brighton were good, but not good enough to be a villa side.

Derek [00:26:33]:
Yeah. I mean, maybe. Maybe Liverpool and Villa are both examples of teams that can't. Kind of ran out of juice in some sense or another. Yeah. With that said, yeah, I think that kind of leaves a two horse race, right, between city and Arsenal. I think the. My impression is that I'm not really surprised by the recent results.

Derek [00:26:57]:
They're both rolling along as I kind of expected to, and I just don't see city slipping up. I think there's. There's too much talent. And on top of that, like, Holland looks like he's back up for it now. Yeah.

Luke [00:27:10]:
Took him a while.

Derek [00:27:11]:
Yeah. He took a long injury layoff. Took him aback. It took him time to get back in the flow.

Luke [00:27:17]:
Four goals in that game. Is that right?

Derek [00:27:19]:
I didn't see. Yeah.

Luke [00:27:22]:
Yeah, he had. He had four and Alvarez had one. Yeah.

Derek [00:27:24]:
Okay.

Luke [00:27:25]:
It's pretty badass.

Derek [00:27:26]:
Yeah. The. You know, and he, you know, all this was made of, like, his lack of contributions of other areas in the game, but, you know, at the end of the day, he. For me, he's the best striker, pure striker on the world still, you know, when he's in any kind of decent form. And that's a huge advantage city continue to have over Arsenal.

Luke [00:27:48]:
Yeah. I just. I'm kind of cold on Holland. I don't know, I might have shared that feeling, like, I just wish he contributed more, I guess. Like, he is the best goal scorer probably in the world, but he's certainly not the best footballer.

Derek [00:28:03]:
No, true.

Luke [00:28:04]:
You know?

Derek [00:28:04]:
Yeah. I would absolutely agree with that. Right. I think that. Yeah. Whether it's Jamie Carragher or whoever, these pundits are like. I think the. The noise around that is a little bit overplayed because, like, at the end of the day, like, that position is out there to do one thing and it's.

Derek [00:28:23]:
It's the opposite of why we. Why it's kind of the antithesis to Nico Jackson, who does a lot of other things well, but can't fucking score sometimes. Right? Like, you want somebody that's clinical there and can win balls and box.

Luke [00:28:38]:
I was always a little bit sad that Kane didn't go to city, to be honest. Like, if I wish Kane had gone to City, that would have been a really fucking interesting team. Just because he passes the ball so well. Likes to drop in really good passing range. Like, his passing range and Kevin de Bruyne's passing range in the same team, man. Like, hit diagonals all day.

Derek [00:28:59]:
Yeah. Into that point, you're probably not losing much in terms of overall aerial ability. Yeah.

Luke [00:29:07]:
Not quite as athletic or fast in transition, but. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right.

Derek [00:29:12]:
But, but, yeah, I agree. On the whole, that would have been more interesting to see. But, yeah, Harry Kane. So, you know, just to give everybody an update of the Champions League. Right, so Harry Kane and Bayern Ty. Real Madrid. Two, two.

Luke [00:29:30]:
Oh, man.

Derek [00:29:31]:
And PSG gets vastly outplayed by Dorman. So going into the return leg of the semifinals, it still looks like Kane is very much in the mix for a trophy somehow this season.

Luke [00:29:50]:
I'd be so excited for him if he got a Champions League trophy.

Derek [00:29:55]:
I can't get past the stupid look on his face all the time. What? It's not his fault. I think every time I look at him, he just looks like the. He looks like he should be in the royal family as a result of, like, years of inbreeding with.

Luke [00:30:08]:
He looks so british.

Derek [00:30:10]:
Yeah, yeah. Like, he looks like the reason people in the UK supported Brexit. They're like, oh, we need to protect what this looks like. Like, that guy can't have these immigrants ruining our bloodline. We need to rectify the situation so we can keep pumping out Harry Kane.

Luke [00:30:26]:
Yeah, yeah, he's so british looking sometimes.

Derek [00:30:32]:
That look at. He's got that, like, drowsy look on his face. I don't know, but, yeah, I mean, I don't. I don't have anything against him as a player. Like, it'd be. I think it's hilarious that, like, he went to buyer and, like, their regular season performance was as bad as it was and he has a chance of not getting a trophy this season, but we'll see. I think reals had the better season overall, obviously, so it'll be interesting to see what, what, whether Bayern can push out of that.

Luke [00:31:01]:
Yeah, I don't see Bayern beating Real Madrid at the Burnabayou, to be honest. Yeah, but they have a chance. It's Bayern Munich, you know, they have big players except Eric Dyer, who's still starting for some reason. Blows my fucking mind. Didn't start for like six months. Spurs goes to Bayern Munich, starts every game.

Derek [00:31:24]:
I just, I can't, like, I've got no explanation for what. What the hell that's all about.

Luke [00:31:29]:
Well, because he's a fucking good footballer despite him being like a little bit of a. I don't know, a cliche. So, yeah, I hope. I hope iron go through, that'd be cool. But I just don't see them beating Real Madrid. I also don't think that either PSG or Dortmund are good enough to be.

Derek [00:31:50]:
That's what I said going into this. Right, but I also said that PSG was going to trounce Dortmund because I thought Dortmund was too loose defensively throughout the season. But they do bring a very fun attacking style. But I mean, they just. They fucking took it to PSG. Like, that game probably should have been two or three to nothing. And PSG is such a mentally weak team and always has been. I don't see them getting anything out of this.

Derek [00:32:17]:
Dortmund look like they're on a mission. Jane Sancho, it looks like he. He wakes up and just has a picture to the right of his bed with ten hog on it and just flicks him off every fucking.

Luke [00:32:28]:
Yeah, he's actually designed and purchased custom toilet paper.

Derek [00:32:40]:
Who's on your custom toilet paper these days? Just a picture of riot.

Luke [00:32:44]:
No, I like Mark Ryan more than that. You know, I haven't put my weekly order in yet, so maybe I'll change. Costco. Does that like toilet paper printing bulk?

Derek [00:32:58]:
I don't know that that's big enough. Call it corporate.

Luke [00:33:03]:
Yeah, we need to figure out if there's actually a toilet paper printing company in the world and invest immediately.

Derek [00:33:09]:
Maybe that could be our first sponsor this show. What, um, what do you make of Sancho's? Like, return to United? I mean, I think I know what's going to happen, but, yeah, I think.

Luke [00:33:20]:
He'Ll probably get sold if. If Eric ten Hag gets his way. I don't know, like, I think it's really interesting. Like, he's not really a transitional player in the same way that Rashford, Grenacho, Antony, you know, he's not. He's not lightning quick Sancho. He's a really good dribbler and he's creative, but he's not super fast on the transition, so it'll be interesting. Like, I hope that tin hat gets fired. I really don't like him at all for some reason.

Luke [00:33:48]:
Oh, really?

Derek [00:33:49]:
Some reason.

Luke [00:33:54]:
I don't mind, like, a Dutch, you know, manager, but he's just, like, so stern. Like, he's, like a high school principal.

Derek [00:34:01]:
There's so many things wrong with him that I actually had forgotten for a while that he was Dutch because, like, normally Dutch is, like, towards the top list. I just. It's down. It's towards the bottom of my issues with that dumbass. But, yeah, I think it's bad for the Premier League because he's a terrible coach. On the other hand, like, screw United and their Antony and Greenwood bullshit. And, like, I hope they keep trotting these assholes out there.

Luke [00:34:26]:
Yeah, I don't. That's hard to say. I don't know. What do you do with a play like, Mason Greenwood at this point? Who is killing it in Spain, by the way? Like, he's killing a kit off a. Like, what do you do with him? You have to pay his contract. They can't. They can't void his contract. He wasn't, like, he was acquitted.

Luke [00:34:43]:
Right. Or the thing was thrown out. I can't remember exactly what happened to his.

Derek [00:34:51]:
I don't know. Because new ownership talked about, like, evaluating the situation out. That means selling them on or terminating or what.

Luke [00:34:58]:
But I assume selling him is the answer. Right. You sell him in Spain and it kind of goes away. Right. But that team is so shitty. Like, you need good players and there's a good player who just happened to, you know, be accused of some pretty fucking terrible things.

Derek [00:35:13]:
Yeah. It seems like the Ratcliffe is in that ownership group is more level headed because prior to them, I would have said they're going to take them back and they're going to see. They're just going to deal with the backlash, and then we'd be talking about for a whole other season. I think. Fortunately for the Premier League, I don't think we're going to have to deal with that.

Luke [00:35:30]:
But, yeah, I'm really excited to see how Man United changes over the next couple of years and if it will at all. Did you see some of these, like, this reporting that he sent an email out to, like, the staff and to, like, the company at. Who run the. The people who run the training facilities. He, like, sent them like this, like, email saying this place is a piece of shit. Like, it's dirty, it's not clean. Like, everything's falling fucking apart. It's like.

Luke [00:35:58]:
Yeah, it's kind of like the club.

Derek [00:36:00]:
Who sent the email?

Luke [00:36:02]:
Jim Radcliffe, the new. The Ineos or whatever it is.

Derek [00:36:06]:
Owner. I did not see that.

Luke [00:36:09]:
I could use an email from him to get myself motivated personally, but I'm.

Derek [00:36:16]:
Not quite sure what that would look like. Your toilet paper idea sounds great. Love to invest something like that.

Luke [00:36:23]:
Oh, man. I'm gonna reach out personally.

Derek [00:36:27]:
Yeah, that's. That's a good idea. Do that and then we could talk about that on the show. Yeah. I mean, so I guess coming back to Arsenal and City. Right. Do you, what do you think is gonna play out there? You see anything changing?

Luke [00:36:43]:
Oh, I see city winning the title for sure. What are they, four points ahead or what is. What is the points on the table now?

Derek [00:36:51]:
They're there. They've got.

Luke [00:36:52]:
They have a game at hand. The game in hand is getting spurs.

Derek [00:36:55]:
As of the moment. Yeah.

Luke [00:36:57]:
Okay. So basically, yeah. They have to tie some. Or they have. They'd have to tie if they tied. I'm. I bet. I'm sure Arsenal's goal difference is better than theirs because they haven't really scored a million goals like they did today.

Derek [00:37:14]:
Goal differential.

Luke [00:37:15]:
Yeah. Yeah. So I think City will do it. I think City will beat spurs on the last day. Tottenhammers are so bad, like I said before. Yeah.

Derek [00:37:25]:
Is that the last. Last game?

Luke [00:37:27]:
I think. I think that's the last game of the season for both teams. Yeah. That was a very satisfying keyboard type, by the way. You can do that anytime I want it.

Derek [00:37:38]:
So the last. I have this in my mind because I'm gonna miss. I'm not gonna miss. I'm gonna. I'm not gonna be able to join the show for the last match day because I will be in Germany or landing in Germany. So I'm gonna have to find someplace to watch this, but I'm sure you can watch.

Luke [00:37:56]:
Walk into any place.

Derek [00:37:57]:
Yeah, I already shown place. I'll be in Frankfurt. Yeah. I already. Fox and the hound. Yeah, I think that's where I'm gonna go. But, yeah. British, british pub style.

Luke [00:38:05]:
You got a, you got an excel sheet for all the places you're going?

Derek [00:38:08]:
I did. It's a Google Drive, doc. There's the whiskey store that you'll appreciate. And there's the, there's the pub that I'm gonna watch the last day of the Premier League. That's the city places plays West Ham. Oh, you're okay. Match day. Match day 30.

Derek [00:38:23]:
Okay, so there's some remake games on the 15th.

Luke [00:38:26]:
Yeah, that's, that's why Tottenham's currently like getting fucked in the buck with all these fucking fixtures because Chelsea and City got moved to the end of the season and now every, for the rest of the time we're, we're doing, we have. Oh yeah, they're just all midweek games. Excuse me.

Derek [00:38:45]:
Yes. I mean, Arsenal, the last, potentially it's going to come down last day. Arsenal is going to beat the crap out of Everton City, probably hammer West Ham. That's what I think is going to happen. But I'll be watching regardless.

Luke [00:38:58]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:39:00]:
Relegation wise, you know, Lewton versus Everton to me was kind of like a must win for Lewton if they were going to make moves and you know, they just, it's. I wouldn't say it's a lack of conviction. I just don't think they've been good enough the second half of the season in particular to advance themselves out of that, that last relegation slot. And on top of that, Forrest is showing like a little bit of resolve.

Luke [00:39:33]:
Yeah. Force is a better team, right? Yeah.

Derek [00:39:36]:
For a talent standpoint. Yeah, we talked. Yeah. I mean I was bullish on all the moves they made. I think they're, they're, they're there. They might be the most disjointed roster construction in the entire Premier League but yeah, Hudson O'Doy has been a good buy. Another scored another banger or D. He scored two bangers in that game, right?

Luke [00:39:57]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:39:57]:
They off the same move he's been doing all season where he cuts that and defenders like they've never seen it before.

Luke [00:40:03]:
Oh, he's not right footed or whatever he is. Yeah.

Derek [00:40:06]:
Right. Yeah. Can't believe that one in again.

Luke [00:40:08]:
Yeah, yeah.

Derek [00:40:10]:
Unfortunate in a sense because I was really hoping force wouldn't stay up because of how screwed up that team is. But. All right, we're back after a little Internet hiccup there to resume the recording to make sure we don't lose anything here. I see the timestamp moving so I think we're good. Luke. This is, this is why this, this might be why Riot doesn't trust us in general and specifically, but that's kind.

Luke [00:40:39]:
Of understandable to be honest with you.

Derek [00:40:41]:
Usually my Internet's been pretty reliable. It's one of those things that happens from time to time so we'll have to see. But, um, yeah, relegation battle, I don't think there's any other comments there?

Luke [00:40:53]:
It's kind of sad, like the season that really feels like it's coming to this. Like kind of.

Derek [00:40:57]:
Yeah, normally bummer around at least like the last relegation and it could change, but yeah, to me it's not exciting at the top or the bottom, but plenty of fixtures left to change that.

Luke [00:41:12]:
Yep.

Derek [00:41:16]:
Yanks in the ranks taking it. Kind of a pivot here. Wanted to talk about a couple players. I didn't realize it had you. Wright actually has 16 goals in the championship campaign for Coventry City this season.

Luke [00:41:31]:
Good shit.

Derek [00:41:32]:
Seven assists too. You know, we talked about him in some of the recent USA matches but you know, he, he had a really good season overall. Played almost 3000 minutes. So good to see that there in terms of some, some coverage for the national team and I think it was an interesting comparison to look at. Balo had seven goals and four assists, about half as many minutes in League one for Monaco. So not a terrible season, but definitely a down one for him given kind of how much promise he showed last season. The fact that probably from a talent standpoint you still want him to be the first choice striker for the US, right?

Luke [00:42:21]:
Yeah. Not that Greg Berhalter makes any like kind of sound decisions, but.

Derek [00:42:28]:
That'S a good point. And actually I didn't. I should have looked at this, but Sergeant had a good campaign as well.

Luke [00:42:40]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:42:41]:
In the championship he actually had 16 goals as well. Well, two assists in significantly less minutes. Only 1900 minutes. So it seems like, you know, they're still relatively young, all three of them, but in decent form in varying, varying degrees. Playing in, playing in Europe, we'll see. That's kind of been a position that continues to be up in the air, but at least some promising performances there.

Luke [00:43:21]:
Yeah. The thing about it is Balgon's the only one that has the potential, I feel like, to like really climb in terms of stature in the game, like had you. Wright, good player. Is he gonna like move us to a, you know, Premier League team in the top half? Probably not. Could Bal again? He probably could at some point, you know.

Derek [00:43:44]:
Yeah, yeah. I think Haji Wright could make the jump to the Premier League, but you're right, there's only certain teams where that would be a fit, whereas Bala probably has the higher ceiling regardless.

Luke [00:43:55]:
And realistically, I'd say in the, in the kind of comparisons in the stats league. League. League one in France league. Uh. You want me to say that again? Lego.

Derek [00:44:09]:
Between. I can't. Ryan Auster doesn't like it. What I call, like, he refuses to refer to it as League one either. Yeah, league, yeah. I can't wait to get that into an audio clip for next season's podcast.

Luke [00:44:29]:
Oh, man. I think League one's probably more competitive, harder score goals, better players than championship, particularly throughout the league. Well, no, maybe not. It's really just the top half in France, but you see, they came second place with Monaco behind PSG. Traditional how it goes. So, yeah, I hope Baligan kind of keeps. Keeps moving forward in this career. I do worry that it'll stall out in France a little bit, but.

Luke [00:45:00]:
Yeah, yeah. Some talent in the number nine position for the US. Do you hear, sir? Do you know desk tours, Acl?

Derek [00:45:06]:
Yeah, I've been. I follow him on social media, so I've seen him. He's been pretty big on like the social media campaign since he got. Since he had his surgery. So he posts a lot of stuff. It seems like he's out and about, which is good. But obviously we, you know, that's a. I can relate.

Derek [00:45:20]:
That's a long road back.

Luke [00:45:23]:
Nice to have all of the medical teams you could possibly have. But, yeah, it'll be about what, 9910 months probably.

Derek [00:45:30]:
Yeah. Yeah. So he'll miss the. The Copa over the summer, which is really, really disappointing. But, you know, a player doesn't make a team. Right. So still a good opportunity for him for probably scally would be next. Right on the right.

Derek [00:45:48]:
Yeah, probably step in there. But we talked about him, whichever, which probably in several tournaments or at least when dust was suspended, played really well.

Luke [00:46:00]:
So a little more defensive. A little more defensive than dest.

Derek [00:46:05]:
Yeah.

Luke [00:46:05]:
But it could allow Anthony Robinson to go forward a little bit more.

Derek [00:46:09]:
True. Yep. Yeah. Which he. Which he loves doing is been very effective at. To your point, the national team and Berhalter's probably too dumb to do that unless he's forced into doing it.

Luke [00:46:21]:
Right.

Derek [00:46:21]:
So it's not the. Not the worst thing. I didn't look at whether Geo had played any minutes in this last fixture for Forest over Sheffield, did he? Even so, you did not make it into the game.

Luke [00:46:39]:
We were talking about cats. Right. There's a cat.

Derek [00:46:43]:
Keep that away from Kurt Zuma. So. Yeah.

Luke [00:46:52]:
Oh, no, sorry, I lost you for a second. I think it was my Internet that went out.

Derek [00:46:58]:
Yeah. Now. Yeah. I don't know what. That time. That time. It could have been either of us. Yeah, it was me, but, yeah.

Derek [00:47:05]:
Disappointing season for Geo across two teams. Doesn't even get any minutes in this. This thumping of Sheffield. It looked like he was about to break in there and then didn't. I don't. I guess Yates and Dinella are out playing.

Luke [00:47:20]:
I just think. I don't think he's the right player for Nuna Spirito Santo. I don't really know why they. I think that notting force just likes to have players. It's like, like they just want a lot of them, I guess. And it felt very much like that. Yeah. He could have gone to so many other places and fit in a little better.

Derek [00:47:38]:
Yeah.

Luke [00:47:39]:
I do think he needs to gain some weight. That dude needs to put some muscle on to like, stand up in that kind of an environment for 90 minutes.

Derek [00:47:46]:
Um, I hadn't thought about that because I so, like, just taller than then. Than a normal winger. I don't know. I have to look at it one.

Luke [00:47:56]:
I think then the question for Geo, is he a winger or is he a central player? And they, like, nobody knows yet. I feel like.

Derek [00:48:02]:
Well, yeah, I think you're going there, right? Like where, like, what team? What are some teams or some like, system fits? I mean, I guess what the obvious one you point to, right, is as somewhere where you can play as a true cam, right. Which not a lot of teams really play with that. That position.

Luke [00:48:21]:
And he's not really a number eight either. So he doesn't like, get up and down the pitch like a number eight would. And then he's not really that great of a gibbler. And he's not that fast. Like, he's a good dribbler, actually. I should give him more credit, but he's not that fast to be on the wing. Like who, like, who are you gonna take out of that team? Pulisic or Timothy Waya? Like, I rate Timothy way. I think he's a fucking good player.

Derek [00:48:44]:
Yeah. So from the day we showed up, I thought he would be a long term solution out on that. On that right wing. And he's proven me correct there.

Luke [00:48:54]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:48:55]:
He's immovable, you know. You know, within the system we're playing that kind of, that kind of cements the front three within a striker up there. Right?

Luke [00:49:09]:
Yeah. Any, any word on Tyler Adams? Is he playing again for Bournemouth?

Derek [00:49:15]:
I don't think so. And I forget exactly what happened because he came back and they tweaked something. Right.

Luke [00:49:20]:
Yeah, it's like a hat. Like he just got another injury, but.

Derek [00:49:24]:
Yeah. Another really disappointing season for. For Tyler Adams in the Arsenal game. Let's see.

Luke [00:49:31]:
Yeah, he didn't play.

Derek [00:49:34]:
He wasn't bench. So I think he's probably out again. He. I don't I think Bournemouth might still be a good fit for him when he's healthy next season, so that'll be an interesting one. I think he needs to get healthy, not necessarily needs to change his scenery, whereas Raina has been healthy and just needs to find freaking playing time in the system. That works for semi works.

Luke [00:49:58]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:50:00]:
And I don't. I don't. There's no obvious answers in my mind for a team like that other than maybe somebody else in the bottom half of the Premier League. But it can't be for us.

Luke [00:50:14]:
No. Geez, my cat is just yelling at me right now. Can't wait for Ryan to hear that on the recording. The fuck is that? Cat meowing?

Derek [00:50:24]:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, at least it's. It's easier to isolate the cat meowing than some of the other background noises that we hear or, you know, having to deal with us splicing the episode into three segments. That helps to. Yeah. All right. Well, I don't know.

Derek [00:50:46]:
Were any other games that stood out to you? I mean, I watched most of these like, mid. Mid table games this week. None of them. I don't know if I have anything to say about any of them, to be honest.

Luke [00:50:56]:
Yep. It's like, you know, it's kind of like my hangover needs to end this season.

Derek [00:51:05]:
You know, self awareness is the first step to something. I don't know.

Luke [00:51:10]:
You're gonna come to AA meetings with me? I wonder how many comments we're gonna get. Hey, Luke, do you need help? Yes, I do.

Derek [00:51:20]:
No more than the rest of us.

Luke [00:51:22]:
Yeah.

Derek [00:51:22]:
All right, I think that's it for this week. Unless you got anything else, Luke?

Luke [00:51:27]:
I have nothing more to add. I don't think I have anything left at all, actually.

Derek [00:51:34]:
All right, well, with that said, make sure everybody likes and subscribes. We appreciate it. Until next week. Take care, everybody. 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.