De Bruyne’s big City sendoff and a Europa League final preview: Football Weekly

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Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

Mar Moose.

Mar Moose's one into the top corner.

Might even be goal of the season.

Why didn't he do that on Saturday?

A few people suggested Man City might implode after the cup final, but a comfortable win over Bournemouth is a big step towards Champions League football next season.

De Bruyne missed a sitter on his final home game, and Gonzalez scored a delightful side foot to open his city accounts.

A big win in the race for eighth for Brighton, whether it means anything or not.

Beaten champions Liverpool coming back from behind.

Lots of nice goals at the Amex too.

And a fun night for Crystal Palace.

Good that they've bought another gem in Essay, just in case Esay gets picked off in the close season.

Also, today at your Open League final preview, Panic, your questions, and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

On the panel today, Seb Hutchinson, hello.

Hello.

Barry Glenn Denning, hello.

Hello, Max.

And Dan Bardell, hello.

Hello, Max.

Shall we start at the Etihad, then Man City 3, Bournemouth 1?

I mean, quite a bit at stake at this game.

And a few people saying Bournemouth at home, then Fulham away was tricky for City.

And they might not make the Champions League after losing in the FA Cup final, but a good win for them.

Should we start with the Mamouche goal?

Seb, you were commentating.

I mean, that, what a goal, what a, what a, what a, what a goal to commentate on.

I think it's my favorite type of goal to commentate on because you get so much lead-up time with a player on the ball and you think, and you know he's going to shoot as well because of the space.

And then when he shoots, everything about the effort was beautiful.

There was a replay we played out not long after whereby you can see him lighten it up, think about it.

The technique is superb.

He strikes through the ball and there must have been, the ball must have moved two or three times in the air and then nestles right in the top corner, the postish stamp where the owl sleeps, whatever phrase you have.

It was right in that corner.

Kepa,

full stretch dive, and it was beautiful, the celebration, the right corner, the knee slide.

And it was such a good goal.

I'd completely forgotten in my head that he missed a penalty in the cup final.

It just did not cross my mind because that's what's great about football: you can just change everything with a big moment, yeah, in the next game.

Yeah, I suppose he couldn't get that dip on the penalty, could he?

I mean, that's that you know, like the height, the view from behind Barrier, the height of that strike is ridiculous.

Yeah, it

sort of knuckle-balled it up in the air and it dipped back down again.

Uh, a lot of what I think it was Dion Dublin coined the term swaz on it, um, and then the the gentle caress of the post on its way in.

So it was a wonderful strike.

It's been hailed as a potential goal of the season.

It then crossed my mind, I cannot remember a single other goal that was scored this season.

I wasn't going to ask you specifically, Barry.

I thought, should I ask Barry?

I'll go to Dan on that because I'm with you.

Right now, have you pushed me?

It's this time of year when we're asked to do reviews of the best this and that of the season.

And I'm always terrified I'll get goals because I i can never remember any of them and i keep intending right i'll just tape match of the day to every episode you know where they do goal of the month and then i'll have them and then i never bother doing that or i i delete them all so um yeah certainly got to be up there i think i i can remember a matoma goal where he drags the ball out of the sky which we talked about a lot.

But I don't know, Dan,

if you can help us.

There was, hang on, there was a John Gerald

against

in injury time, wasn't it?

That he smacked into the top quarter.

Everton, wasn't it?

Everton at home early on in the season.

Everton.

Sorry, yes.

Everton.

Yeah, forgive me.

Yeah, that was a good strike.

When I saw Marmush's goal,

that was the one.

I thought straight away, that's the best goal I've seen this season.

But I'm the same as everyone else.

I'm struggling to remember any other goal that's ever been scored other than a goal by an Aston Villa player this season.

So that's a little bit of a problem.

What I like about it, I liked the angle where it was behind him, but quite zoomed in, and you can see the crowd start to smile and start to get up before the balls hit the net.

So you can kind of see their relation and their shock as the ball hits the back of the net.

That's my favourite kind of replay when you can see the look on the crowd's faces as the ball flies into the back of the net.

Yeah, a bit like actually the replays on the

Marmouche penalty and the Palace fans yesterday.

And actually, I wanted to talk about that and do it in a second.

I mean, also in this game, then, and after that Mamouch goal, you have this amazing De Bruyne Amiss.

And I was thinking, Seb, he doesn't really score tappings.

So maybe he just didn't want to sully himself to that be his final city goal, you know.

Yeah, offended by the idea that there isn't a goalkeeper to beat and it's not 40 yards out.

It was...

Again, we talk about one of the goals of the season for Mamouch.

It was one of the moments of the season, actually, being in the stadium.

It was the reaction to it because everybody was ready.

Everybody in the stadium was ready to say it felt right.

A bit like the Vardi goal at the weekend, where even Bournemouth thought, yeah, go on, Kevin, you know, this is the moment for you.

But how he missed, and the classic is always when somebody misses the chance like that, where's the bobble?

And for me, I'm still not convinced the bobble was enough for him to miss that.

I just think a player of that ability, I just think it's just a little moment where it just seems, maybe you switch off for a second because it seems so simple.

And as people would analyse it, he's done the hard work, you know, already to get in that position.

But in true kevin de bruyna style it's also i don't think he cares either he's got so much in the bank and he's at the point now where he's even when he's answering questions about everything he's just so even keel about it all um

that it just felt i always think part of him's like you know what

i'm glad i missed in a weird way it just it just

i don't think i needed the pressure of somebody saying oh how special does it feel to i've been through this 50 000 times and now and the miss just adds to it, just you know, in my, in my, back in my vault of moments.

Maybe Pep turned around and said, see, I told you he's lost it, you know,

it's all gone.

And there's the proof.

Gonzalez's finish was beautiful as well.

I mean, a side foot pass is all you need and that was great.

And this win Barry puts them third.

They need a point away at Fulham and has probably dispelled the

possibility of them having this sort of apocalyptic collapse after the cup final.

Yeah, I thought they'd lose, if I'm honest.

And Bournemouth didn't really turn up for this game.

They didn't play well at all.

And I expected more from them.

And this has now, I think, extinguished their hopes of getting into Europe or whatever faint hopes they had.

You mentioned the race for eighth in your intro.

I was just going, oh, God, really?

Is this what we're reduced to?

Because eighths might not even be good enough to get anyone into Europe.

So the whole race for eighths might have been a complete waste of time.

But yeah, Bournemouth certainly won't be in Europe next season, and that's a bit of a shame because I think they might have done well.

But I think this game was all about Kevin De Bruyne's send-off.

We had two other send-offs as well, Lewis Cook and Matteo Kovicic, but they weren't quite as emotional.

Yeah, Pep blubbing away in the post-match while De Bruin was doing his post-match interview was quite interesting, I suppose.

And

de bruyyn is he speaks very well i i like listening to him talk he's yeah he'll be a real good pundit at some time point if he can be bothered yeah i i i would love him i was thinking about vardi as well going i'd love vardi to go to tottenham and just do the last 20 minutes just i'd love de bruynas to be somewhere in the premier league you know i don't know dan if you think yeah we'd take him because because i it would be great because i think he's pissed off isn't he yeah and it would be great it would be great to have a pissed off kevin de bruyna ripping it up for someone else next season.

Yeah, I think he's got a point to prove, hasn't he?

Villa were actually one of the teams that was linked with him straight away when it was announced he was leaving.

It was said that internal discussions had taken place, quite a loose line, because I imagine internal discussions around football has happened quite frequently at football clubs.

I'm not convinced it will be Villa because I think they'll sign a sensier.

It's just trying to find

where does he fit, who's going to be able to pay his wages.

But I think you get the the impression he'd probably take a pay cut to stay in the Premier League because he doesn't strike me as someone who wants to go to Saudi or America.

He strikes me as someone who wants to prove, actually,

I could still do it at this level.

Manchester City were wrong to let me go.

And he's just such a fantastic character and a fantastic footballer.

10 years at the top with Manchester City takes some doing, especially when you think of some of the injuries he's had.

as well.

I think he's one of those rare players that fans from every club admire.

There's not too many because of how tribal football is.

There's not too many players who fans of every Premier League team will enjoy watching and adore.

And I think Kevin De Bruyne

falls into that category for me.

So he'll be a huge miss if he does move away from the Premier League because he's been synonymous for 10 years.

And it was good to see Roderick come on as well for a brief cameo because he'd come back from his injury quickly.

And Manchester City will build around him next season.

The fact that they've got him and Nico and maybe shifting towards a different system with Marmouche in front of them may be a reason why Kevin De Bruyne has been been allowed to go.

I actually think Roderick will be Manchester City's captain next season as well.

So I think De Bruyne is just an unfortunate casualty that they've had such a bad season.

So many players have fell off a cliff at the same time that they felt the need that they've got to have this complete refresh and people have had to fall by the wayside and De Bruyne is one of them.

What about Greedov, Seb?

Like he he didn't play in the cup final, you know, and they bought on Ted Tiveri for his debut ahead of him.

He played three minutes yesterday.

And it's sad, isn't it?

Because he's so good to just not see him playing week in week out and he's such a likable personality as well i think a lot of people like him generally and his his story and his family story and everything that goes along with that i i think with grealish in a similar way it's the same with de Bruyne it's the same with Walker I think from Manchester City's point of view they they're looking to that next stage and a big part of that and we hate to say it is is wage bills and they had it was reported not that long ago that they had the biggest wage bill in football history.

And you have to bring that down to bring in the next round of big stars.

And the highest paid players in the team are going to be the most vulnerable in that respect.

And then they will come under the microscope of how much, how big a part are they to our progress.

Football.

So, you know, it's

part of it.

We don't like talking about the money side of it.

But I think this is what this comes down to.

If De Buyne was willing to maybe half his wage or take a big pay cut, then they would consider holding on for it, holding on to him.

But why should he, you know, considering his standing in the game?

And from Grealish's point of view, if you have a player who's not playing that many minutes in the Premier League, I mean, what are you going to you again?

You can't justify it.

You have to do something about it.

And people talk about the return, but we know the way that works with transfers and the way they're staggered when you buy them, but you get the whole lot when you sell them.

So they don't have to sell Grealish for a high figure.

So what it then comes down to is who is willing to pay Grealish's wages and basically make him their main man or amongst their main men in the team.

Because I think we still want to see more from him.

And when he was brought back into the England fold, he had something to offer as well.

And it would be a shame not to see him in an English shirt again and playing for a top club again.

I think De Bruyne is an unfortunate victim of circumstance in that, you know, they've got a few midfielders getting on a bit in there in Gunderwin as well and Bernardo Silver and De Bruyne is the one whose contract's actually running out this summer.

I think if you flipped it and De Bruyne had another year left and Bernardo Silver's contract was running out as much as Pep loves Bernardo Silver, I think you'd see Bernardo Silver going and Kevin De Bruyne staying.

I think he's a victim of circumstance to an extent.

And just on Grealish, I actively think Pep is taking the piss out of him at this point, not bringing him on in the FA Cup finally and bringing him on for about 30 seconds.

on Tuesday night.

I think it's at the point where Pep's kind of mistreating him a little bit and trying to prove a point.

I'm not sure what that point is, but I've said it before, and I've probably said it on this show before.

He absolutely 100% needs to get out of there in the summer because he's too good a footballer to be coming on for 30 seconds and sitting on the bench during cup finals.

He's still got

a fair bit of time left in his career.

He can still go on and do something somewhere else.

He is being completely mistreated, mishandled, and just you take it for granted at Manchester City, in my opinion.

Yeah, I'm just looking at his stats for this season.

Seven Premier League starts.

Not good enough.

No.

Someone get him and get him playing football.

I'm just on Bournemouth, Barry.

I just wonder if this sort of running out of steam changes any opinions on Areola.

Like, like, you know, it's seen as clearly that there may, a job may come up.

We may discuss it tomorrow.

Uh,

regardless of what happens in the Europe League final, we'll probably discuss it in 20 minutes.

But whether this little fall-off will impact what people view of him as a coach, or

not really?

It wouldn't impact how I'd view him as a coach.

I've seen what he can do at his very best.

Well, it could be argued his very best was at, was it Rayo Valcano before he came to Bournemouth?

But

he's certainly impressed me as Bournemouth manager.

I think he's done a brilliant job.

I suppose in that kind of, you know, if you had to pick him or Frank or Smarco Silver, you know, they're all in the race for eighth.

Who do you decide?

If you were Daniel Levy, I think Frank and Ariola or Iola are very different managers

and I am a big fan of both.

I'd be interested to see either of them at Spurs to see is it the managers who are the problem or the club who's the problem?

I suspect it's the club.

But

I rate them both very highly.

Marco Silva, I wouldn't be such a fan of.

But certainly Frank and Iriola, I think, are terrific managers.

Yeah, I mean, whoever is there, and we presumably Irayola.

I mean, if you look at, I think we're all agreed Oliver Glasner is a terrific manager, but Palace started this season really badly.

If they had finished this season really badly, would we still be

singing his praises as much?

You know, say if they'd started well, finished badly.

Got it.

You know what I mean?

So, yeah,

I think Areola, I wouldn't

let

Bormitz recent drop-off cloud my judgment of him as a manager.

A bit of a rebuild for them with Hoyson going and Kirk is potentially out the door, but you know the nature of the pecking order of football, I guess.

So back to the race for eighth, which, as Barry suggested, could be absolutely meaningless, apart from

finishing eighth in itself being a wonderful achievement.

Brighton beat Liverpool 3-2 on Monday night.

Liverpool spent the week in Ibiza.

I mean, the old town is actually a very relaxing place.

So they may not have been at phone parties in San Antonio with David Getter or whatever.

Sorry, didn't Liverpool players spend the week in Dubai and

their manager spent the week in Ibiza?

That was my understanding.

But I could be wrong.

Producer Joel is sacked.

I would choose Ibiza of the two.

Well, I thought Producer Joel was sacked because we didn't win an area last week.

He went along and came home empty-handed.

Anyway, another reason to sack him.

Exactly.

He's really on borrowed time, this guy.

Lots of good goals in this game.

Conor Bradley's assist for the opener, Barry, is so good, isn't it?

It was sort of,

it felt quite Trent-like in the way he sort of fainted and Damien was so composed.

And it's interesting that, you know, Liverpool have agreed

a fee or certainly had a medical for Jeremy Frimpong from Biolaborcus.

And maybe Conor Bradley was saying, look,

you don't need to do that, guys.

Don't do it, please.

Yeah, it seems to be a feeling that

I don't know if it's one that's shared by Liverpool fans that Bradley isn't quite ready to make the step up to be first choice right back.

I haven't seen enough of him to know whether he is or not, but he was certainly brilliant in that moment.

Brilliant switch of play from Sabaslai, Salah with the sort of cushioned volley inside and Bradley, I think Nutmeg, the defender, and then the pullback from the byline, which was slotted home by Harvey Elliott.

Bradley's a different kind of player to Trent Alexander Arnold.

Jeremy Frimpong's certainly good.

Looks like he'd be a nice fella to have around the place as well i think that's important i don't think the importance of that can be overstated arna slopp presumably knows exactly what he wants to do yeah probably i mean lots of these goals were nice the the pass dan from uh brazen gruder for iari's opener for brighton was brilliant he's played 19 times this season i'm not sure i'd noticed him until this beautiful assist yeah i think brighton have been a funny side to gauge this season i find it really hard to judge whether they're having a good season or an average season, gi given their spend.

And certain players, I are who scored the goal.

I don't really feel like I've seen loads of him either, but it was a lovely bit of football manipulation of the ball, the timing that the one touch play, and it's a delightful, sumptuous that throw ball that puts him through and he tucks it away.

But I think that what you've just said about Brighton kind of sums them up because I really, really struggle to gauge them.

But obviously they've got this huge chance to get into Europe still, depending on the permutations and how other things go.

So if they do do that, effectively, it's a brilliant season.

And I guess maybe we as pundits and fans of other teams, maybe Brighton fans themselves as well,

to an extent maybe lose sight of actually how far they've come.

And I'm

talking about them finishing eighth and thinking and getting into Europe and thinking, well, they've had a bit of a bitty season, but actually it's Brighton and where they've come from is incredible.

You match yourself up with other clubs, don't you, in the division?

And you say, you look at a club who you feel is either on your level or in your remit and you decide, right, have we had a better season than them?

And that's what it comes down to.

And I think probably Brighton have mixed emotions about the campaign because, yeah, they might win the battle for eighth.

But they'll look and see Palace have won a trophy.

They look at a side like Nottingham Forest who, as it stands, are seven points above them.

We spent a fair amount of money to replace, obviously, players we've lost, but still spent a fair amount of money.

And we have a new manager, which people have had mixed feelings about, even though Brighton have an excellent record against all the sides above them in the table which also plays its part because you'll look and think well therefore our dropped points have come from sides below us

so it's going to be interesting and whether they the players again it's the same old story for them who do they hold on to you know who do they let go and they've got that right so far but

how do they kick on?

What do they do?

The Conference League feels like a great competition for them, but again, it's not in their hands.

I suppose it's hard football, isn't it?

That's what what I was thinking.

You know, like, of course, it's you're going to be inconsistent if you're the eighth-best team because some teams will beat you and some won't.

Because the opposition teams are good as well.

I think the Premier League has changed this season or the last couple of seasons in that, so far as there used to be loads of really terrible teams in the Premier League, and now there isn't.

I mean, right, the three teams who come up

are probably going to be

favourites to go straight back down next season.

But I think we probably all reckon Maniu and Spurs won't be as bad next season as they have been this season, which kind of leaves

West Ham.

That's it.

We're the only really bad team in the Premier League, or will be the only really bad team in the Premier League next season.

That's currently in the Premier League.

And they'll probably improve under Graeme Potter as well, you'd imagine.

Yeah, and then Everton should improve.

No, you're right.

And yeah, will Tottenham and Man United be worse?

They can't

conceive that they would be.

I hope they are.

That would be hilarious.

We definitely all said this about Manchester United in the summer.

They can't be worse than last season.

And they have been spectacular.

They can be worse and probably still stay up.

That's the gap distrust that's being created at the moment.

Yeah, which is why if you don't get 40 points, you should go down.

Then suddenly, Man United and the Spurs will be looking at the last games going, Holy shit.

Well done to Harry Howell, became Brighton's youngest player, made his Premier League debut as a substitute against Liverpool.

17 years old, came on alongside his cousin, Jack Hinchelwood, who scored the winner, and has actually quietly had a very good season.

I think Jack Hinchelwood.

Maybe you haven't spent enough time thinking about him.

I haven't actually spent that much until it just sprung to my mind that he has had a good season.

Anyway, that'll do for part one.

Part two, we'll do Palace's win over Wolves and a bit of other Premier League stuff, too.

HiPod fans of America.

Max here.

Barry's here too.

Hello.

Football Weekly is supported by the Remarkable Paper Pro.

Now, if you're a regular listener to this show, you'll have heard us talk before about the Remarkable Paper Pro.

We already know that Remarkable is the leader in the paper tablet category.

Digital notebooks that give you everything you love about paper, but with the power of modern technology.

But there's something new and exciting.

The remarkable Paper Pro move.

Remarkable, a brand name and an adjective, man.

Yeah, it's their most portable paper tablet yet.

It holds all your notes, notes, to-dos, and documents, but it's smaller than a paperback and an incredible 0.26 inches thin, so it slips easily into a bag or jacket pocket.

Perfect for working professionals whose jobs take them out of the office, like maybe a football journalist, Barry.

Although not like you.

A proper football journalist, man.

Exactly.

Too much technology draws us in and shuts the world out.

This paper tablet doesn't.

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Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

So Palace beat Wolves 4-2.

It means they're threatening not to finish 12th.

What will we do?

They're just one point behind Bournemouth in 11th now.

I suppose on the pitch, worth pointing out, Seb, Romaine Essay, who they got from Millwall, that's right, isn't it?

And his run, was it for Nketiah's opener?

It's just unbelievable.

And you think about Palace, and you know, lots of talk about Esay and Wharton and Matetta, et cetera, et cetera, Mark Gay, you know, how many will they hold on to?

And they've found this guy as well, and they buy from the EFL, sort of unlike any other Premier League side.

Well, I'm sure it's been said before on this pod that that's how they're positioning themselves as a club.

They know their catchment area is one of the strongest, if not the strongest at the moment in the country for picking up young talent.

And so they want to be that club that gives players that platform

to achieve.

And I mean, you look at the final and you look at the players that started, you go through that palace side.

And they are, as has been said,

the best palace team of all time in many respects when you pick through the players and the nations they play for and the level that they're playing at.

And of course, they've achieved the first trophy.

So

I think they've just, there's going to be young players, especially in London.

I mean, in Wharton, obviously not from London, but again, EFL players, young EFL players thinking, what is my stepping stone into the Premier League?

And Palace feel like the one, because if you look at maybe Brighton and Brentford, they've recruited, they have recruited from the EFL, but they've also looked abroad for talent coming through.

Maybe Palace are the ones to go domestically and say, we are that first step to stardom.

in the Premier League.

Yeah, amazing, right?

I mean, the other part, you know, the other end of his career, Barry Joel Ward getting a lovely ovation when he was taken off in the second half.

I'm not sure if we talked about him much on Monday.

We did, we did mention him, yeah.

Or we mentioned, I mentioned him last week, actually.

Yeah, but like he did a speech afterwards.

Steve Parris did a speech, and he did a bit.

I started welling up again, but I sort of feel like I've become a Crystal Palace fan the last three days.

But that is an amazing, you know, to spend 13 years at any club, especially a sort of mid-range Premier League club like with the churn there is extraordinary.

Yeah,

I didn't hear the speeches, but I did see when he was taken off, there were tears.

I don't know if he'll continue playing or if he plans to carry on for another while somewhere else, but he's been a great servant there.

He's obviously held in very high regard by the fans and by his teammates.

They let him go and collect the FA Cup.

Good luck to him.

I mean, he's a thoroughly unspectacular player, but a great club servant who I can't really ever remember him letting them down he's probably hacked a few into his own net over the years but had a few ropey back passes but none spring to mind yeah it doesn't half help when you are doing your goodbye to be holding the FA Cup when you're doing it I mean that is a that's just a perfect way uh to bow out I don't know if you had any thoughts Dan on the sort of week that Crystal Palace have had Like you, I've found myself supporting them on Saturday, even though they knocked my team out in the semi-finals.

i fully wanted them to to beat manchester city and and they did and i think the cups have been really refreshing this season seeing newcastle and crystal palace win the cups just seeing what it means to those fan bases as a

collective

sorry about it

but i just see it seeing the enjoyment it brings different teams from winning something when they haven't won something ever or or for so long i i've really really enjoyed that and

I think it was a nice touch, Joel Ward going up there and lifting the trophy as well.

And De Bruyne is getting a statue for 10 years.

Should Joel Ward get a statue for 13 years?

I mean, that seems to be the barometer.

Yeah, and a bigger one.

A proportionally bigger one.

Seems to be the barometer of whether someone's done well at a club now, whether they get a statue at the end of their time there.

Is there a football weekly statue for you, Barry, outside the Guardian offices?

No, there is not.

No, but there absolutely should be.

Let's start the campaign now.

Barry in bronze.

There, just

on King's Cross Road.

Is that our address?

Yorique.

I forget.

Still has Parker's the images of players players from the past on the side anyway.

And you feel like Ward, you know, he can be added to that.

He can be squeezed a bit.

If not on the Sainsbury's or something, you know.

On a mural.

It's not as good as a.

It's not, you know, the mural is one step below the

statue, isn't it?

Agbadou scored for Wolves, and producer Joel said there must be an Agadou chant for Agbadou

if you haven't worked that out at Molyneux yet.

That is your summer homework, isn't it?

Other Premier League business?

Since you're here, Dan, big, big game for villa this weekend away at manchester united currently sixth it's not in your hands is it no i guess you've just got to hope right quite big that forest are playing chelsea it feels like that's just obviously is just as big a game for villa going up against manchester united you would expect a villa to beat manchester united but in my football watching life which has been 30 odd years now i think villa have won at old trafford twice so it's not a not a happy hunting ground at all however bad manchester United are, however good Villa are at various points, or vice versa.

Just the result seems to be the same.

So, I'm not going there thinking it's an absolute banker and Villa are going to win.

Villa have won nine from ten or nine nine from 11 games to put themselves in this position.

So, you know, it's good that they're in the discussion going into the final day.

I just hope they can get over the line.

I think Man City going to Fulham is a potential banana skin.

Fulham, very good at home.

I know they've not really got anything to play for, but I don't think that's an easy game for Manchester City, as easy as the game they've just played anyway.

So it's not in Villa's hands, but I think with the way the fixtures have fallen, there's still a high chance that they can get into that top five.

And obviously, I hope they do.

Emmy Martinez was

in tears after the game.

Where's he going, Dan?

It wouldn't be one for me to be able to discuss

in the public forum, Max, but it looks like he's going to go

is my understanding.

I don't think it's going to be to Saudi Arabia, and I don't think it's going to be to another Premier League team.

It's a huge loss because i i do think he's he's irreplaceable but villa are going to have to sell someone in the summer due to bloody psr which which we all as villa fans hate because we've already sold quite a lot of players due to psr but i guess the positive thing is that when we have had to do that we've recovered and have still managed to go well and and have a have a good season so you have to fully trust emery and emery signs off on everything so if he's happy for emi martinez to go it's you know it's been you have to trust him because he's got so much credit in the bank with us Villa fans.

But he is a huge, huge character to replace because when he came in, essentially, you know, he never really played consistently at the top level, but it didn't feel like there was kind of any legacy for him to come in and replace because Villa had had a bad run with goalkeepers in general for about 10 years.

The person that has to come in after him, it's a really, really difficult job because he's turned into a world-class goalkeeper whilst he's been at Villa, won what he's won with Argentina, and become the kind of Enigma and the character that he is, the kind of player that you want on your team, but everyone else probably hates.

So you can't replace that.

So if he does go, it'll be a huge miss.

And I am genuinely gutted that this looks like it's going to happen.

According to the journalist Eduardo Burgos, I'm reading this from Sport Bible, he says several clubs have approached him, Manchester United, Chelsea, Barca and Athleti.

Of those four,

I mean, Athleti jumps out service

in a big way for him.

I mean, I just think there should be a list of players that should be at Aletico Madrid for sure.

I would add from the Premier League, obviously Romero.

Yeah, which is rumoured as well.

It'd be amazing.

Yeah.

Nunez, maybe, if Liverpool are looking at Alvarez.

That just feels right as well.

Just to get as many players into a team who you basically know, if the conditions were right and it doesn't take much, would start a fight.

I think this is what it's down to, or wind people up rotten.

I think Martinez falls more into the latter.

I think he's an ear flicker, an ear flicker and runs away rather than an in-your-face.

It's amazing he doesn't play for them already, doesn't it?

It's just amazing he's not there.

Yeah.

And Romero.

Yeah.

I mean, a lot of these names are Argentinian, which I don't know if that's the big link here.

I don't know.

And I'm not saying anything.

Yeah.

Possibly.

Let's talk about Gary Lineker match.

The day on Sunday will be his last show after he apologised for amplifying online material with anti-Semitic connotations.

He'd been scheduled to do the World Cup in 2026 and the FA Cup next season.

He had reposted a pro-Palestine video on Instagram that criticised Zionism and included an illustration of a rat,

which is an anti-Semitic trope, an image.

Gary Lineker acknowledged the post had awful connotations, said he'd not seen the emoji.

I'd never consciously repost anything anti-Semitic.

It goes against everything I stand for.

I recognise the error and upset that I caused and reiterate how sorry I am.

Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action.

Tim Davey, the BBC's Director General, said Gary has acknowledged the mistake he made.

Accordingly, we have agreed he will step back further from presenting after this season.

Gary has been a defining voice in football coverage for the BBC over two decades.

His passion and knowledge have shaped our sports journalism and earned him the respect of sports fans across the UK and beyond.

We want to thank him for his contribution that he has made.

Barry, your thoughts?

Well, there's no question he dropped a bollock by reposting that

post with the rat emoji on it, and

he

duly apologized i don't think for a second gary lineker is anti-semitic i don't think any sensible intelligent people think gary lineker is anti-semitic he's he's a thoughtful compassionate man who

i think like most of us is is against the indiscriminate bombing and killing of people in gaza um

and we see we see the coverage every day i don't think that is a controversial opinion to have, but the Director General of the BBC, Tim Davey, has said in the past that

he's always stressed the importance of presenters

not breaching impartiality guidelines, reading the BBC's coverage of what's going on in the Middle East on a daily basis.

Coverage seems to breach impartiality guidelines in that it's very sympathetic towards Israel.

And that seems to be an issue that has been raised internally at the BBC by many of their senior reporters.

But going back to the Lineker thing, I think the jig is probably coming up to an end for him.

He'll be fine.

He has his podcast Empire.

to keep him busy.

He's still have a platform because he has a podcast that's very popular.

He's probably better off out of there,

I would say, at this stage of his career.

Interestingly, he leaves without a payoff, I understand.

Does that mean he hasn't had to sign an NDEA and can now

cut loose completely?

That could be fun.

It is worth pointing out that BBC have said in response to previous accusations of bias that they reject any suggestion of a lenient stance towards Israel or Palestine.

It's interesting.

I wrote a piece about him before he'd posted that and after the Amal Raj interview.

And I said, Lineker appears to take the rational view that the 7th of October massacre was abhorrent, but that history didn't begin on that date.

And it's incorrect to see all criticism of the Israeli state as anti-Semitic, especially given how many innocent people, including so many children, have been killed.

As I've mentioned before, my family changed our name when I was six years old because of anti-Semitic threats in the 80s.

As I wrote here, I would be an odd anti-seamate.

Like Lineke, I'd just like the killing to stop.

And it's interesting,

when I put that article out, some Jewish friends of mine did say that I went easy on Lineke and that,

you know, this isn't, he has

posted other sort of tropes or he has been, he has ignored the suffering of Israel and of Jewish people.

I understand completely how sensitive this whole situation is.

And so I think one of the problems, and whether this is connected to the Lineke thing or not, is that by the fact that Israel are

accusing anybody of anti-Semitism who criticize what they are doing in the same way that we've been criticized for Islamophobia when we've talked about human rights in Saudi Arabia or Qatar,

actually that undermines people who are genuinely suffering anti-Semitism.

And I've heard from people who really, really are.

And that is such a great, great shame.

And I,

you know, like you said, Barry, I think, you know, what Netanyahu is doing is actually really harming people who are really genuinely suffering from anti-Semitism.

And something that I considered, and

I have tweeted calling for a ceasefire a while ago.

I've tweeted a lot of Medicines Sans Francière saying, you know, donate to MSF.

And even saying, donate to this charity of Doctors Beyond Borders.

I've been accused of being an anti-Semit because of that.

I agree with you.

It's a massive mistake that he has made.

And I also agree that anti-Semitism is not really viewed as bad as other racisms, right?

It is so complex, this.

And so I understand my Jewish friends getting in touch with me and saying, he is, you know, this is like consistently not

supporting, talking about the hostages or whatever.

I totally understand that.

What you desperately need is...

really pro-Palestinian people to constantly talk about the hostages and pro-Israeli people to say the killing has to stop because otherwise it just all these things just divide and divide and divide.

But I am minded to agree with you, Barry, that I don't believe he is an anti-Semite.

And I understand how sensitive this is, and that some of our Jewish listeners will be upset by us saying that out loud.

Completely understand that.

Like I said, you know, I we did change our name when I was six, right?

I was born Max Rubinstein.

Half my family are Jewish.

It doesn't mean that I have felt a cultural or a religious experience of being a Jewish person.

So it doesn't mean I have a status to sort of comment from that perspective.

But it's very, it's a, obviously, it's a deeply sensitive issue.

Anyway, that'll do for part two.

We will preview the Robo League final in part three.

Hi Pod fans of America, Max here.

Barry's here too.

Hello.

Football Weekly is supported by the Remarkable Paper Pro.

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A proper football journalist, Matt.

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Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Spurs, Manchester United tonight.

Oh, God.

The supercomputer cannot split it.

It has Spurs at 50.3% to win it.

Have they inputted lads, it's Spurs into the software?

I don't know.

Spurs have won all three of their meetings with Manchester United this season.

They have never beaten Manchester United four times in a row.

Spurs have taken the lead in the first 15 minutes of all three games.

Man United have not held the lead at any point in any of these games.

The winner will set a new record for being the lowest-ranked side in their domestic league campaign to win a major European trophy.

It is fascinating.

Seb, how do you see it?

The most amazing thing about this final that's really caught my eye is

I saw a poll that was, what do other fans, Premier League supporters, who do they want to win in this final?

And

of the 20 Premier League teams,

there are three clubs whose fans majority want Man United to win.

So the vast 17 of the 20 clubs want Spurs to win on a majority, right?

Fans of the clubs.

But

it's amazing how you think.

I think a lot of this thing could be broken down in terms of ages and experiences being a supporter of clubs.

So obviously there's a lot of clubs that don't like Spurs, but then there's also clubs in even in London who would feel like, you know what, it'd be nice if Spurs won this because that whole feeling of a season in which teams that don't usually win trophies win a trophy it feels like it's following that pattern um i saw one of the standouts for me though is wolves supporters 95.7 percent of those asked wanted tottenham to win now i may have missed something here about their dislike of manchester united or is it along the lines of again it's aspirational for those clubs to think well if totnam can get there we can get there but the flip side is i think tottenh think they say well hold on a minute we're we don't feel we're in that zone we're one of the big six, aren't we?

We should be looking and saying, well, this is a trophy that we should be winning regularly, but actually being in the Champions League more.

This final, I cannot believe the position of these two clubs this season.

It's still, I can't get my head around the number of games they've lost where they find themselves in the table.

But yet, the big question mark is, will it all be forgotten for the winner?

tonight.

From Manchester United's point of view, it feels big for them in terms of not the trophy, but of course what it means for their ability to sign players the financial side, the really boring bit.

For Tottenham, for Tottenham, it is about the trophy for me.

I think it's the trophy is the key to all of this.

If you took away the Champions League place, to me, it would still feel massive for Spurs because it's that tick off.

It's just getting a trophy under your belt.

to reset and go again.

Not an issue for Manchester United.

Not an issue.

Completely.

I completely agree.

I completely agree.

Actually, on the boring part, Kieran Maguire, I'm not saying Kieran's boring.

He actually makes the boring very interesting.

He says qualifying for the Champions League would be in the desirable category for Spurs rather than essential.

They're the best run business in the Premier League.

They have the most profits historically.

They have an ability to generate money from non-football activities to a great extent than any other club.

They've always got this as a support mechanism.

For Manchester United, financially, it's the most important match in the club's history.

Champions League participation is crucial.

It could generate over a hundred million from tickets broadcast money and sponsor business interestingly in the build-up the man united press conference was very relaxed um uh whereas ange got a bit prickly i think dan kilpatrick in the standard had said this is the game which will decide whether he's a hero or a clown and postacoglo picked him up on it and i quite like it when he does this barry he said look you wrote this and i was disappointed he said you disappointed me you use such terminology i'm not a clown i never will be um For 26 years without any favours from anyone, has worked his way to a position where he's leading out a club in a European final.

For you to suggest that somehow us not being successful means that I'm a clown, I'm not sure how to answer that question.

What did you make of what he had to say about this?

It was unsurprising but interesting that this was the main takeout from this press conference.

So all the other journalists had to write about

Dan, who they all know.

I don't know Dan at all.

I've never met him.

So that puts puts them in a slightly invidious position.

I think

clown was probably a poor choice of word that Dan may regret.

He may not.

That may be his view.

Don't blame Andre for pulling him up on it.

If you dish it out, you have to be able to take it.

I'm a firm believer in that.

But I think it

was a bit unseemly on the eve of such an important match.

And maybe he should have taken him to one side and gone, look, mate, I didn't appreciate that and

uh i i hope they can kiss and make up uh

but he was clearly very pissed off yeah took him into a room and said look don't tell anyone put on a big red nose and some massive shoes

and um and then squirted him with his button straight

yeah yeah the thing is Dan, I'm so desperate for And I know because I've been in Australia and I've been brainwashed by everyone.

I just I want Spurs to win so convincingly that he stays And I do think, you know, Tottenham don't win.

They last won this in 84.

They last won a trophy in 2008.

I know what you said, Seb.

Spurs fans go, well, we're not, you know, we're better than this, or we're the big six.

But like, actually,

we're sort of not.

Like, in terms of actual success.

And you think if anyone gets Tottenham a trophy, it's not easy to win any trophy of any kind.

And if you do that, and I know their league record has been terrible, not just for this season, but sort of since that amazing start last season.

I just love the emotion and the vibes to say, yeah, why not the trophy?

Have another go.

I can't get away from the league position, and I get the feeling, Daniel Lee, you might not be able to move away from the league position either.

To have gone from fifth in the Premier League to 17th.

17th is the lowest in my life that I've ever seen Tottenham Hotspur.

And to me, I get...

that a trophy is massive, but if I was a Tottenham fan, I still don't think that I'd be able to forgive and forget the league campaign because they they have just been absolutely atrocious.

I like Posta Koglo.

I do think he's turned into a little bit of a parody of himself this season, but I understand that Tottenham

is a really, really difficult job.

There probably is factors beyond his control that have contributed to them being so rotten in the league.

But you just get the sense that however bad things have been, Tottenham should never, ever.

be 17th in the Premier League struggling to make 40 points.

That just shouldn't happen.

And I don't think think Tottenham will be able to move away from that, whether he wins the trophy or whether he doesn't.

The one thing I'd say about what Dan Kilpatrick wrote, I think his point was correct, that Postakoglu is in this weird position where some skanky deflected goal or one

refereeing error could be the difference between him being a successful Spurs manager and a failure as a Spurs manager.

So the point stands, but yeah, these use of the

word clown is, but like when you're writing an article, you don't expect the fucking manager you're writing about to read it.

It's easier to write it if you're not going to be.

Besides, when we're recording this or we're on the radio, I don't, it never even crosses my mind that people are actually listening.

Yeah.

It's always good whenever Barry says that David Seaman save from Paul Pescasillo wasn't that good.

And then I get a text from David Seaman going, tell Barry to

beautiful.

I look from a Manchester United point of view, like Bruno Fernandes is probably the best, but had the best season of anyone on the pitch, right?

Yeah, yeah.

I think he's been up there with one of the best players in the league.

I mean, when I watch games,

obviously the team is what matters and the result lends itself to based on how the team performs.

But individual performances, almost every Manchester United game I've done, I've just looked at him and said, he's holding this together and what he's been asked to do in that side.

And I've heard, obviously, people have criticised me and said, well, he should be doing that.

Well, why aren't other players in the team doing it?

I think he's unfortunate that the team he's in is lacking in so many areas.

He could be, you know, I wouldn't put it past him to be the match winner tonight based off the level that I feel he's reached in this scenario.

One player is not enough to take you out of a situation, but he's up there this season for first, one of the best players I've seen in the league.

Yeah.

Just to see Hyung Min Sun smile.

You know, all I can see is him being sad.

That's all I can envisage.

But just him smiling, lifting the trophy with Ange.

Everyone said this big mic drop from Ange.

I hope they say, oh, actually, I've signed a 10-year contract.

More fullbacks woefully out of position, just random results all over the place.

Max, do you think if Spurs win the trophy, should go in full clown gear?

Yeah.

I'm talking, and I'm thinking sort of the clowns from Dumbo rather than pennywise.

Not pennywise.

No, no, no, that's a sinister clown.

No.

No, yeah, that's he'd do that for the

collapsible car.

I just don't think that's his sense.

I think, you know, he definitely has a dry sense of humor.

I don't think that's his sense of humor.

But, you know, if he just calls round to Ryan Mason and says, quick, get the big trousers, it wouldn't be very funny.

We'll finish on this.

Martin Calladine, very good football journalist, Ugly Game on Blue Sky.

Posted this yesterday and a few people sent it to me.

It's one of the threads of the year.

Producer Joel says it completely derailed his afternoon.

It says this.

Ian Rush has put his name to a 90-minute score-settling AI musical in the style of Hamilton about his legal battle against a Surrey scaffolding company and a small Whig and law firm, in so doing, attacking, among others, Robbie Fowler and Jamie Carragher.

It details Rush's and Iramas, a Singaporean firm Rush has invested in, four-year court battle with the former owners of Whiteleaf.

It starts as a rant about the media attacking the athletic, the FSA, former MP Tracy Crouch, lots of journalists, including Caledine, Fowler, Carragher, Liverpool's failure to sell them, Melwood, this firm, producer Joel listened to almost 90 minutes yesterday and says it's incredible.

Here is a clip of the Ian Rush-supported AI musical.

Now, here's a tale from Merseyside, surreal but sadly true,

of legends draped in scarlet red, whose boots once split the blue.

Fowler Carragher icons both with rushy through and through

were asked to send a video clip just something mates would do hey go on lad they hit record for charity or thanks

for rama honestly i've seen a bit

i don't know if any of you have seen any of this it's absolutely extraordinary i mean it feels like the best use of ai to me you know maybe there are better uses but well i think ai ai unnerves me whenever i hear something that's been written through ai and and and and with a voiceover as well.

So I was unnerved for the beginning.

You can tell it's AI, by the way.

You could tell, you know.

This was Sean at Cannes.

Did it rent a room to Sean at Cannes films?

It winced and filmed.

It won the point.

I suspect it didn't get one of those famous 20-minute standing ovations.

That's producing Joel Sales.

It feels like a fever dream Football Weekly live halftime show.

Anyway, anyway,

let's end on that.

Oh, no, we've got a couple of nice emails.

Peter says, Dear Max Barry, the whole panel, long-time listener, first-time writer.

I always thought any message I sent your way would be something about what the pod has meant to me over the years, listening as I do from abroad and finding it a vital connection to my homeland.

But no, I'm writing because what the fuck is a TIFO?

What is it?

Am I supposed to know?

Everyone else seems to know what a TIFO is.

It was mentioned maybe a dozen times on Monday's podcast.

I watched the whole cup final, albeit from the United States.

Did not become aware of a TIFO at any stage.

If you could please explain to me what a TIFO is, I'd love to know.

I realize I could just ask AI, but listen, out of stubbornness and, of course, fear of getting an Ian Rush sponsored musical, I'm just going to write to you.

If you don't tell me, I'm never going to know.

Thanks so much for everything.

Peter, Barry, could you explain?

Well, a TiFO is one of those very large,

what would you call it?

Like a poster.

A banner.

Mural.

It's one of the banner.

Yeah, a very large banner that's draped across one end of the, traditionally one end of the ground.

Aston Villa had a couple of brilliant ones during the Champions League.

One featuring Aussie Osborne, as I recall.

Sunderland had a very good one of an evil black cat before their home match against Coventry City.

Arsenal, not so good.

They sort of flopped a beach towel down

over

one end of the ground ahead of their Champions League semi-final home leg.

So yeah, it's just a giant, giant flag.

It's usually paid for by fans chipping in together to pay to do it.

Newcastle do them well

as well, Palace.

So, that is what a TIFO is: a giant, giant flag.

Yeah, and sort of got from Europe.

I think European teams do them, and South American teams do them.

So, they're shown pre-match and then they're put away because if you didn't put them away, it would impair everyone's view.

What would the Football Weekly Tifo be?

Do you think what would be in Vivaldi?

David Squires?

We all know Munich, don't we?

I mean,

that seems like the easiest place to go.

But look, we'll get Squires to do one for the next live show.

It can just cover the Hackney Empire.

Or Wembley Arena.

Or

Wembley.

Yeah, Wembley.

That's it.

Madison Square Gardens and the rest.

Ned says, Dear Max Barry and the rest of the Football Weekly gang, I've been an avid listener of the pod since 2018.

The fabled Witch's Curse episode was, I believe, one of my very first.

And you guys have been a constant during during a number of ups and downs in my life ever since, quite literally.

In recent times, as a Fulham fan, more Archie next season, please.

At the end of this month, I'm marrying the love of my life, Kirsty.

I've been trying for years to get her into football, and I think a shout-out on the pod from the legend that is Barry might just be the thing to spark her interest and guarantee yourselves at least one additional listener next season.

Any advice Baz is willing to share for a long and happy marriage will also be gratefully received.

Keep up the good work.

All the best.

Cheers, Ned.

Ned and Kirsty, over to you, Barry.

Yeah,

obviously, I wish you all the best, Ned and Kirsty.

I'm probably not the man to ask about the secret to a long and happy married life because I'm 52 and

an eligible bachelor who has never been married in my life.

I don't have kids.

Dan Bardell has been married for about three weeks now.

He might have some advice, some nuggets to pass on.

Month today, actually.

Month just noticed it.

Month today, yeah i mean i've been hanging in there all month plenty of hashtags letting them know letting them know how you feel that's my uh that's my my usual social media strategy but max enjoys very

instagram take to instagram and say hashtag blessed because that is the situation hashtag punching hashtag above hashtag mic hashtag weak

yeah

as long as it doesn't matter what you do in real life but as long as on instagram it looks like you're having a great time i think then you'll have a you'll be very very happy um anyway look thanks everybody that'll do for today thanks dan Thank you.

Cheers, Seb.

Thank you.

Thank you, Barry.

Thank you.

Also, do listen to yesterday's Guardian Women's Football Weekly, a recap of Chelsea's FA Cup win, including a great interview with treble winner Lucy Bronze.

Search for Women's Football Weekly wherever you get your podcasts.

Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove, and our executive producer is Danielle Stevens.

This is The Guardian.