Ange Postecoglou in danger as Spurs slump again – Football Weekly

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Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

Could Spurs and Manchester United just do us all a favour and win some scrappy games so we can talk about something else?

Last Friday now seems like an inopportune time to have written in Ange We Trust the column.

It normally takes months for Everton to score three times.

On Sunday they managed it in a half.

Meanwhile Ruben Amarim sounds like someone you'd ignore on a phone in calling this the worst Manchester United in the club's history.

A comprehensive unsurprising victory for Brighton at Old Trafford.

A good weekend in the tight race for Liverpool, the most ever shots in an away game since records began and Darwin Noones scores with the last two.

Arsenal blow it at home to Villa while Forrest just creep over the line in the end against Southampton.

Bournemouth put in one of the performances of the season, taking six fit players to Newcastle and hammering them.

Man City smashed Ipswich and there are unsurprising wins for Palace and Fulham.

All that, plus we'll pay tribute to Dennis Law.

Take your questions and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

On the panel today, Barry Glendenning, welcome.

Hello, Max.

Hello, Seb Hutchinson.

Hello.

And good morning, Barney Ronnay.

Hello, everyone.

So, as I mentioned at the top, we do get a bit of stick for repeatedly talking about Spurs and Ange and Manchester United and Amrim, and they keep contriving basically the same way to keep themselves at the top of part one of the running order.

Well, I actually have news for you, Max.

Joel and I have been working diligently behind the scenes without your knowledge.

And today's entire podcast is going to be an Ange intervention on your behalf.

Your parents will be joining us.

Your wife, your son,

various Helen Chamberlain is given to get in touch.

And we're going to try and gently

let you know that that column was the final straw.

Enough is enough.

You need to see the light, Max.

Hi, it's Trevor Nelson here.

I'm just...

Yeah, I know.

Kickoff, Everton had failed to score in nine of their past 11 games.

They'd scored five goals in that period.

Two of those were owned goals by Craig Dawson.

You were there, Seb.

Everton could have had five or more in the first half.

Just thinking this a lot of the season, every single weekend, there seems to be moments that I can't stop thinking about for hours after.

And in this particular game, and I will touch on Everton very shortly, it was Jed Spence turning up with a hat.

on Team Arrivals, which I can only describe as being the same hat that Denzel Washington wore in in American Gangster.

And Denzel Washington, he realized, his character realized three-quarters of the way through that film that that hat had to go.

And Spurs played like a side where

they had this ability to make teams that are out of form really good.

Make teams like Everton who were struggling to create chances, struggling to show a spark in their forward play.

And of course, you could attribute a bit of that to a previous manager.

But in this particular case, I felt Everton almost were uncomfortable.

The supporters felt a little uncomfortable during that first half.

And

there were moments in the first half where they, well, let me take it to this.

Halftime whistle went and they cheered like it was full-time, Everton.

Because they saw goals they haven't seen for some time.

They were creating chances, big chances, four big chances in the first half.

I think they've created four big chances all season.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin,

in front of Thomas Tuchelmide, looked like a player, looked like the striker that people believe maybe deep down he had in him, but also that people didn't realize he had in him.

I don't think he realised he had it in him really.

Njai who's been a standout player for Everton all season, so no surprise in his ability, but the freedom he had to do what he did, the step over.

I mean Dragoshin went off at half-time due to concussion catching one in the face.

But that was almost part of it.

Dragoshin went off and Ange brought on, Postakogli brought on an attacking player.

He's always chasing the game when it seems lost.

Especially against an Everton side, where you don't necessarily have to do that.

You know, if you maybe get one goal in general play, then you can capitalize.

And that's what they did probably too late.

I felt during the game when

we were watching it, all we could think about was Spurs and what they were doing.

And it was tickling away at the back of my mind, and I'm even doing it now, that I want to keep talking about Everton.

But I can't.

I can't talk about Everton because you have to talk about what you're watching with Tottenham, which feels so unique.

When I came on before, I spoke about how enjoyable it is watching their games, and I have not changed my mind, but I think what has changed is the opinion of Tottenham supporters and the many I've spoken to who before were just hoping it was going to work with Ange Postakoglu because it is an attractive way of playing in many respects, but you can't keep losing games in this manner.

Barney, you tweeted sometimes you just need the right manager to come in and change the whole mood for Everton.

That man was Ange Poster Coglu, did very good numbers, Barney, didn't he?

Yeah, I mean, I'm all about the snarky numbers.

It was, I mean, it's

not nice to watch.

I've not understood the idea that watching Spurs is entertaining and fun

because you're just watching, it's like watching someone, a really bad busker who can't really play a guitar.

And maybe they're playing songs you like, but they're playing them really badly.

He was in the director's box at Ipswich, Barney.

No, he's a good busker.

The thing is,

I'm kind of glad that the Premier League is brutal and vicious and will do weird things to you and will still bend you out of shape because it means it's a good sporting league.

And there's loads of analysis today of Ange Postacoglou's manner and body language and the way he talks to the media.

But I think that even that's kind of painful because I don't think he wants to be like that.

I think this job has done something really awful to him there's so much pressure it's an unsolvable problem tottenham um it's not his fault they're they they're basically the seventh or eighth best team in the league it is his fault that they're the 14th or 15th best team in the league um i don't find their football entertaining because it's just not very good it's not very well organized um the games where they've actually done quite well this season are games where they've not played ange ball where they've soaked up a bit of pressure and played a bit more smartly and he does change things they played a back three which they sometimes do but it's just not very smart he's he's finding out that he can't do the things he wants to do and it is bad management and it's bringing out bad things in him and i don't really like to watch it i found the interview with the touchline interviewer with it with the post-match interviewer really uncomfortable yesterday uh it's unpleasant um he's being bullied by the Premier League and is passing that on to the people who come into his orbit immediately afterwards when he obviously feels bad and confused and grumpy.

And I kind of feel it can't really go on like this.

There are lots of injuries, but everyone has lots of injuries, and possibly the fact Spurs have lots of injuries is to do with the squad being unbalanced and with the way he asks them to play, which is an incredible amount of running around to no great effect.

Smart managers build in resting on the ball some kind of control.

His Tottenham is chaos in a league that will kill kill you.

And I just think it's just not very,

they would be better with David Moyes in charge.

I'm pleased with David Moyes.

His competence is obvious.

You've got this baseline of how to manage a football team.

And that was just obvious yesterday.

I'm not sure how much more of this I really want to see or how much anyone wants to see, really.

Apart from you, Max.

Obviously, you want to know.

Yeah, I think I.

I mean, I can't backtrack.

I only wrote it on Friday.

I can't backtrack yet.

Can I, Barry?

Do you think I mean, do you think you said we were in emergency voice note territory last week?

I mean, you sensed that I might get a phone call at midnight saying you've got some extra work to do.

I think I'd probably do a backup on

just having reserve straight as soon as we finish to save you having to get out of bed later.

I don't know what will happen.

Look, obviously, everything has to be caveatted by the injuries, but when we get to talk about Bournemouth, they have a similar list of laymen halt and still went and thrashed the most informed team in the league.

So

that sort of paints Ange's

excuse-making.

And he does, he's not as bad as Eric Ten Hague, I think, but he does tend to harp on about the injuries a lot.

It's difficult to see how long this can go on.

It is interesting, I suppose, that the travelling Spurs fans were calling for Daniel Levy's head and not Angel Postacoglu's, but Levy ain't going to sack himself, is he?

So one suspects, and Postacoglu has been given more time than his predecessors.

I don't particularly want to see him leave, just I'm curious to know either how much gas there is in the explosion or if he can turn things around once he gets a few players back or a few new faces in.

But it seems to be becoming increasingly obvious that this club is just unmanageable

like like possibly another one we will get to in due course

um i suppose they would be complaining that spurs have brought no outfield players in the window you know all these injury problems and the window is what what 10 days away from closing or something um worth mentioning kulaski's finish because it was beautiful um and you know also worth pointing out barry and we talked about carvert lewin but you've been giving him a right old shoeing for the last couple of weeks.

And he did, he was really good in this game.

Yeah, let's wait and see.

It's his first goal, I think, in 17

games.

So he hasn't exactly rammed my criticism back down my throat.

And we have to factor in the potentially restorative effects of playing against Spurs.

Everton were really good in this game, and Moyes made changes.

He

brought in the lesser spotted Jake O'Brien, who I was beginning to wonder, is he actually a footballer or

because I'd never heard of him before he went to Everton, despite him being Irish and I haven't really seen him play since he went to Everton.

So he was brought in for a back three.

Ilman Indai, who's been their classiest player by mile all season, had a more central role.

I suppose it meant Calverloon wasn't as isolated up front.

His goal was really, really well taken.

He could have had another one or two.

And I think he's a bit of a confidence player.

But yeah, let's wait and see before we draw any conclusions.

This is a Spurs team who made

Everton look like that Nike ad set in the airport.

It's remarkable.

Everton.

We should send our best wishes and our thoughts to the family and friends of Gary Brooke, former Tottenham midfielder, won the FA Cup twice with them, who passed away at the age of 64.

The club said it was deeply saddened after learning of his passing following a lengthy battle with illness.

To Old Trafford, then, Manchester United won Brighton three.

Ruben Amerim, after the game, said, look, in the last 10 games in the Premier League, we won two.

Imagine what this is for a fan of Manchester United.

Imagine what this is for me.

We are the worst team, maybe, in the history of Manchester United.

I know you want headlines, but I'm saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that.

Here you go, your headlines.

Barney, is it good of him to give us these headlines?

Does it take the pressure off the players or is it trying to fire them up?

I'm trying to work out what, or is he just incredibly honest?

Yeah, it's a very arrogant claim, isn't it?

We're not just bad, we're the worst ever.

I mean, they are pretty bad.

There have been some other bad Man United teams.

This team is probably more interestingly bad because so much much money's been spent on it and because it's coming at the end of this kind of imperial era, well, 10 years on from it.

Maybe it's visualisation, you know, sports people love that, don't you?

If you say it, it can come true.

So maybe they can now become the worst ever Manchester United team.

I mean, it's a way of saying this is not my fault because he's been there a few weeks.

It's obvious that he's saying that.

He's saying, if they are the worst team ever, that can't be his doing.

He's saying, look at what I've inherited, look at what I'm dealing with, this isn't down to me.

And he likes to talk about suffering.

And

I like managers, you talk about suffering because it makes me feel kind of brave.

And,

you know, it's very sort of manly, isn't it?

It's all about suffering.

And the minute people say that, you nod and say, yes, suffering.

But what he means is, this is rubbish, it's chaos.

What have I got myself into here?

I didn't want to come mid-season.

I wanted to come at the end.

And he's trying to make people give him time by saying that.

It was obviously planned.

It's a conversation he's had, and it's demonstrably true if

you mix resources into results.

I still think he's a really interesting person to be at that club because he's the right manager.

He's a really good manager, and he's brutal, and he'll do stuff, and he will try and make it work.

And so, it's like a control experiment.

What is the problem here?

It's not him.

Eric Ten Haag was not the right manager, he wasn't flexible enough or strong enough in the end.

But this guy is really good demonstrably so so what is the problem exactly it's not going to be him i have a feeling he's setting himself up either for some kind of because manchester united lest we forget is supposed to be playing a style of football decided by a bunch of men called dave and a chemicals billionaire all this kind of ludicrous promises then they bring in this ultimate systems guy who just wants to play his way and i think he's setting himself up to be either a short sharp shock therapy where there's a bit of a power struggle with what are we actually going to do with this club next summer and he either stays or goes and his career will be fine he'll move on and get another very good job

or he's just trying to manage expectations because they are terrible they don't have the players to play the way he wants to play and the way he wants to play is the way modern football is they've got too many bad players on long contracts but again failure we've talked about spurs and manufacturing a lot failure you know happiness writes white as they say like failure is grand incredible bruising operatic failure is more interesting than just having a really good well-organized team like bournemouth so we we talk about it and watch it and they were once again awesomely bad do you think we revel seb in the in manchester united being terrible because we are all people who grew up in the 90s give or take and so it was it was hammered into us how how good they are or because it's they're the biggest one of the biggest football teams in the world a mixture of those things it's just both those things i think it's it's it's the situation whereby and i think there's a there's a generation just before that that experienced that with Liverpool, where in the back of their mind, whatever happens, they do not want this side to be at the top of the tree again.

And there's scores and scores of supporters of clubs all around the country, mainly because Manchester United have supporters all across the country and indeed the world.

And I think they're in a situation now where Southampton outplayed them for vast majorities of the match at Old Trafford in mid-week.

This is a Southampton side that may go down as one of the worst in Premier League history.

To the point where Ahmad's hat-trick in that game was greeted as if it was Solskjaer winning in the Champions League final.

There was a reaction to it that, you know, we're back.

You know, squeezing past an Arsenal side that couldn't take their chances in the FA Cup was seen as a turning point that Xerxes seen as an excellent signing.

And

that's the situation they're in at the moment.

Every time there's a little moment of goodness for them, they jump on it and expand it.

And as you said, for Spurs, Read Manchester United, and the fact that we cannot spend enough time talking about their opposition on this game.

I think from Brighton's point of view, one player that really stands out for me for them is João Pedro.

He has an arrogance about him, a swagger about him, that

for a team where Brighton are, seems a position whereby he's saying, I can play for anybody on this planet.

I can...

He's a bit of a diver, let's be frank.

He does go down quite easily.

But it's the way he is around the pitch.

And there was a moment in that game, he had a goal disallowed whereby the ball went into the box and there was a sound from the crowd, which is one of my favourite in football, which is that way sound from the Manchester United supporters.

They didn't wait long enough because a second later the ball was in the net.

And full hardy from Manchester United supporters, but they're just in this position.

They don't know what to cheer anymore or what to get excitement from.

I'm going back to talking about Manchester United.

I've done it myself.

Do you know what?

Let's go back to talking about Manchester United.

well actually i was gonna i was gonna talk a bit about brighton because i thought matoma as well i mean and it but he just had mazrai on on toast barry didn't he in this game and his first touch to take the ball away from him for their opening goal is is absolutely brilliant yeah matoma i mean he's such a quality player and the very personification of what brighton are all about because he came from nowhere for nothing and has just lit up the premier league him and minta

made the pitch big United's defenders just couldn't handle them.

The wing back struggled so badly.

But this result, it's not a surprise.

Brighton have won on their past three trips to Old Trafford with three different managers.

They won six of their last seven Premier League meetings against Manchester United.

They have a better owner, they have a better CEO, they have better recruitment, better scouting, better players, a better team, and possibly, it's too early to say, a better manager.

And they also have a much better stadium.

So

going on all available, oh, and they don't have any debt.

By all available evidence,

they are, apart from reputation, they are a much classier operation than Manchester United in every single department.

They invest in their women's team as well, don't they?

And they probably have a Christmas party as well.

So, you know, it's interesting.

What Barry says is interesting because it's a good season, isn't it?

This is a a good Premier League season.

And something has happened whereby, because of the PSR rules, which are very unpopular with some people, because of the sheer amount of money that comes into the league to every club, it's now much easier to, in a way, to manage and run a small club.

If you're Bournemouth or Brighton, you can basically play however you want.

You can hire whoever you want.

You can get players in.

It's a sort of open relationship.

You're going to play well.

You can go on to to a bigger club if you want to.

It's fine.

We're happy with that.

And managing Bournemouth or Brighton and running those clubs is much easier than managing these ridiculous old legacy institutions, which have a trail of ghosts howling and whining in the eaves, expectations.

And the idea you've got to sign superstars, you've got to have a famous manager.

To run Bournemouth is great because you do get a lot of money.

You can buy really good players.

You can have a fantastic scouting operation.

Nobody in the stand is telling you what to do other than go out, play nice football, give us a good spectacle.

And running that simple, small, self-contained, they're almost like pop-up

elite clubs is much easier and obviously much more fun, much more fun for the players.

Everybody in Manchester United or Spurs, they're absolutely haunted.

It's like this is one of the worst experiences of their lives.

People are looking at them and telling them what's wrong with them all the time.

Whereas playing for a smaller club with a nice modern stadium

in a kind of satellite town somewhere in the south with expert recruitment, expert, everything's very good because you've got a smart owner who knows that this is actually going to make them money.

The league deserves some credit for creating that because this is a really good season.

And there's a Bournemouth Nottingham Forest, is it Bournemouth playing Notting Forest next week?

Yeah.

Which is kind of pretty much a

European playoff game.

And that's great great and good and actually points to a robust league and using the money well.

So there's old founding principles of trying to share out the money properly, of trying to somehow manage what you can and can't spend.

It's actually working in a weird way and that's good and we should be pleased about it.

And probably we should just stop talking about the ghost ships and the kind of terrible

horror-stricken clubs that we watch every week because this is good and the league is actually good right now.

May I ask Barney

what ghost is haunting West Ham United?

Because I don't know where what sphere they sit in in this whole picture.

Well they're interesting as well because they won the European trophy

although you wouldn't guess it would you because of the amount of money coming into the Premier League and the fact that they could basically buy very good players.

I mean West Ham's a separate case in a way isn't it?

There's been a unhappiness around there for quite a long time.

And West Ham is a big club as well.

They're kind of caught by the Spurs thing in a way aren't they?

Also I think probably moving to that stadium confused a lot of people although it does feel like home now i think i think something has happened there i think david boy's kind of helped them with that i mean west ham are going to be fine aren't they they're going to finish 10th or something and that's probably about right Let's talk about Dennis Law before we move on from Manchester United, who's passed away at the age of 84.

Spent 11 years at Old Trafford, scored 237 goals in 404 appearances, placing him third in United's history behind Wayne Rooney and Bobby Charlton, the only Scottish player to have won the ballon d'Or.

I think what's interesting, Barry, about there are some players who have you have never seen kick a ball and yet you're so aware of their contribution to the game, which I guess must be

must be a really great illustration of their brilliance.

Yeah, and I'm one of those people who didn't really see Dennis.

Well, I didn't see Dennis Law play powerful.

I've probably seen that goal back heel he scored for Manchester City against United a million times.

But there's a lot more to him than that.

I must confess, I teared up a little

watching and listening to Manchester United fans of a certain age who were interviewed by the BBC before the game yesterday, and they were laying scarves or floral tributes or whatever at the statue of Law Charlton and Best outside all Trafford.

He clearly meant an awful lot to them, and some of them said he was the best and most complete striker they'd ever seen.

So I'm happy to take their word for it.

Also, complete legend for Scotland as well, scored against England in 1967.

And Barcelona got in touch to tell me, you know, on the day of the final in 66, he went and played golf.

He said, it gives me hope and all Celts hope of what to do if and when that situation might arise.

Hugh got in touch to say, hey, Max, Barry and company.

I was like many saddened to hear of Dennis Law's passing this morning, as I knew he was a hugely important figure for the game in and out of Aberdeen, he says.

I'm Australians, only recently, last 25 years, been possible to see much of the sport live, let alone sense the impact of players on the pitch and the comfortable moment in which they play.

One thing I did not know was this cracking tale, which I'll paste here below from my friend Gordon, an Aberdeen native now living here in Melbourne.

R.I.P.

Denislaw, Aberdeen's favourite son, arguably our greatest ever sports person, career stats are wild.

But what's not much known is that in later life he spearheaded a campaign to rid Aberdeen of those monstrous no-ball game signs which adorned every piece of council-owned grass in the city.

Everybody loathed them and he just got rid of them, freeing up thousands of walls for thousands of kids to kick a ball against.

What a legacy.

That is from Hugh.

So yeah, our thoughts, of course, with...

So did he like launch a campaign or just go around with a screwdriver?

It isn't made clear.

Either way, well done him.

Yeah, well done, Dennis.

And we send our love to to his friends and family.

And we'll be back in a second.

Hi Pod fans of America.

Max here.

Barry's here too.

Hello.

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Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

The title race then.

Barney, you were at the G-Tech

for a cold afternoon in which Liverpool left it late.

Yeah, I mean, are you sure there's not more Spurs that we could talk about before this?

Because the team that's, whatever it is, 14th in the league appears to be very interesting.

Awesome Man United, maybe.

Is there any more Man United?

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I was.

Well, I mean, we can ask you some questions if you want.

Well, no, we've already done that, but I had the feeling there were more.

Yeah, I was at this small occasion of Liverpool.

Essentially, it felt to me like a very important evening in the Premier League title race.

Afternoon.

I mean it was one of those days that it was so cold.

It was like the air literally hurt your face.

It was just awful.

And so watching it, I felt, I kept thinking, is this a good game?

I'm not sure it is.

But watching it back again, I realised it actually was a really good game.

It was a fascinating game.

And Liverpool were really good.

And it was a really good one for Arna Slot, who

He was really patient with it.

Liverpool had lots of chances.

I had 37 shots in this game, scored with the last two.

And you could just feel it coming the whole time.

We were sat there saying, this isn't, don't, don't write anything.

Don't, don't write your intro.

It is, they're going to win.

They are going to win.

You could just feel it coming.

They're incredibly patient.

You make journalists sound like, you know, going over the trenches together, going, hold, hold.

Everyone with them, hold.

Yeah, wait.

Darwin Nunes, go.

And Henry Winter blows his whistle and everyone starts typing.

It's very much like being in the trenches, Max.

It's more like being in the trenches than being in the trenches.

People are actually being shocked for cowardice for running away from their seats in this game.

It was that tense.

But it was, no, it was amazing because Slot was so calm through the whole thing.

We sat right behind him.

And when Darwin Nunes scored the first goal, he did erupt.

The tension all came out.

But the whole thing had been someone just doing that stay on course.

You know, he could feel that the lines were aligning.

And if you just kept doing the process, they'd get there in the end, and they did.

And he introduced Nunez, who's basically just, you know, really interesting player.

I really like him.

He's just power.

He's got everything except the ability to do really calm, precise things.

But he kind of brought him on for his power and mobility.

And it broke the game open.

I thought Halvey Elliott was really the key to that.

He came on and was really smart, really good.

It was a perfect game for him because by that stage, Brentford had been playing on the break since the first second.

Brentford played really well, but it was a really good game for Elliott, who picked the right passes and was really calm and did the right things.

And the combination of Darwin's kind of manic energy and his precision was just the right thing.

And we've been waiting for Slot to kind of have his Ange moment where he stepped up into our sort of super tough league and is found out in some way.

Not happening.

He's really smart and really good and knows what he's doing and is spiky and just the right ways.

And he managed this game brilliantly.

And yes, it's brentford liverpool would expect to beat them but but they did and they did a really good job we'd mentioned nunes and elliott and chiesa you know all players who have been kind of bit part players through the season and just shows that depth that liverpool had and i i don't know at the start of the season if i just didn't notice that they had this depth i know barry predict they'd win the league but compared to every other squad it seems that they are just

It just seems so obvious now that they were going to walk away with this title.

Yeah, and I think you use the war analogy.

I'd also use a batsman refusing a run

to his

teammate as well.

Because I think in the summer, Liverpool looked at their squad and they did want a defensive midfielder, and it's still an area that they probably feel they need depth in, but they do have players who can play in that area.

And Gravenberg has all of a sudden, and it would be a surprise to so many people, even people who've seen him play before, that he would be a player who could play in this role so effectively.

But the key one I see watching Liverpool is something I saw from Manchester City during their dominant period and most good sides is their centre halves because Canate,

his ability to eat up the ground, his ability to snuff out chances, to stop the opposition when they think they've got an opportunity.

And Shada came off the bench for Brentford.

And

he had a moment whereby, and I think João Pedro, I mentioned him before about that arrogance and that ability to feel like you belong, Shada certainly gave the impression of somebody who thought, I'm not going to get much change out of Canate in this channel.

He gave up on a few balls that went down into that area.

And having a player like that, as well as the colossal that is Van Dijk, means that Liverpool can go at teams.

They can throw a lot at sides and not feel too vulnerable at the back.

They're giving opposition a chance.

But there's nobody else in the league who's showing the consistency.

And for me, this was the weekend that I decided that Liverpool will win the league.

I did have some doubts because I didn't think they could go on a 10-game winning run, but nobody else can in the league.

Therefore, they can slip up.

Even if they draw on against Brentford, I don't think it was that big a deal because nobody else is showing that.

And actually, this weekend, I thought, looking at the whole bigger picture, I feel like Liverpool will win the league and Manchester City will finish second.

So not much has changed in that regard, those two being near the top.

Arna Slot is a figure who's slotted in in a way that, again, I don't think people believed would happen.

They thought that Klopp was going to be somebody who was irreplaceable to some extent.

But actually, his calmness has improved Liverpool for me.

It is a feeling where the players probably

like, I mean, to say like is a bit much, but

they feel that he's not going to be right on their back.

They can trust in their ability to see these games through.

And we'll see.

We heard Harvey earlier, for example, saying how much he wants to stay at the club, but they are going to be in a position where they want to move players out to give them a chance.

But all the doubt I've heard from any Liverpool supporters I know, I looking at them saying, well, just look who's behind you.

Nobody's showing any kind of form that's going to make you feel vulnerable, and you have the ability to score more than one goal in every game.

Yeah, and even when someone like Salah isn't having a brilliant game, there are other people that can contribute.

Meanwhile, Arsenal stuffed up, Barry, didn't they?

Tuna La, absolutely cruising.

And

that Arsenal fan just sitting there on his own at the end.

You know, I mean, the last Arsenal fan I can really remember is the guy with the googly eyes when they scored at Old Trafford, I think.

You know, this is the next one: banging the chairs, just the absolute agony of giving up this lead to Villa.

And I don't think it was performative disgust like we get from some YouTube channels and fan TV channels.

He genuinely looked distraught, and who could blame him?

Because we go on about Spurs being Spursy, but this was textbook Arsenal being Arsenally, tuning up, cruising, and

they dropped two points, let Villa back into the the game and end up drawing.

Maybe a little unluckily, Marino smashed one off the upright late doors.

And Trossard had a good chance when he was played in behind by Miles Lewis Skelly, but he couldn't, neither of them scored.

And Arsenal have now dropped 12 points from winning positions this season, which is their most in-a-league campaign

for five years.

And

this is, you know, we're only still only in January.

They blew it, basically.

Villa do deserve credit for coming back into the game.

But even after Villa had equalised, Arsenal still had a good 20 minutes or more to get a winner, and they couldn't do it.

And that's, I suppose, the difference between them and Liverpool.

I think Barry's a bit harsh there on Arsenal being Arsenally.

I don't think they blew it.

I don't think they choked it.

I think they collapsed.

They did,

you know, lose the two-goal lead.

But the players on the pitch sort of gave everything, like, they really did.

I think that all of the sort of narratives around it, like right down to the miserable guy in the stand, who I think is the same guy who was dancing last season.

I think she's left him.

I think that's what's going on there.

That's the story.

It's all gone wrong.

But I think it just comes back to the squad being too thin.

And everything sort of springs from that.

They're two players short.

I often think back um when i'm lying awake at night thinking about arsenal

which is all all the time just every day

um to michela teta sort of mocking the idea that mikai saka needed a rest that you know his he had this very macho take that you you've got to play you've got to play 70 games a season look at messi you know that's what happens forgetting of course that messi a lot of those games were pretty half speed and also messy is a genius but it was like you just got to keep playing just got to keep playing.

And now Saka's injured, and he doesn't have a replacement, and that's the entire attacking plan basically gone.

They're three players short, and that everything springs from that.

And those players are tired, playing right to the edge of their capacities.

Some of them not in form should have had a rest.

So they get close to, but not quite close enough to rescuing that game.

And it's an interesting point because to the board who haven't bought Alexander Isaac, does it really matter?

I mean, Arsenal are in the Champions League, Club World Cup,

there's tangible improvements, they're a level up from where they were, and they haven't had to break the bank to do it.

Fans agonise about finishing first rather than second, but what you're seeing is a particular way of managing a club.

And nobody really will be that bothered about where they are at the moment.

And they're probably going to finish second in the league, and that's good.

But I would argue their fans don't think that's good.

Oh, no, 100%.

No, I'm talking about the club priority who are actually responsible for the fact that they're three players short or two players short.

Just get a right winger, get another centre forward.

And this would be a totally different story.

And they probably would have won one league title at least by now.

But they're playing the margins.

And how good can we get?

Well, just about keeping it under control and not spending crazily.

And in that sense, they're doing really well.

They're doing a good Daniel Levy.

Yeah, they missed William Salibra as well.

And that top had to change who was playing where.

And it meant that, you know, i think party was he was playing right back um he's not a good right back uh arteta tried to do this at the beginning of last season and it it didn't really work party he's actually a good central midfielder but not a good right back and that's a kind of sign i mean

they're just just a bit short and and it's that that moment between where the interests of fans and the interests of owners um diverge so dramatically and what what is and isn't success i mean i honestly believe that daniel Levy could give you a really, really, really long answer about how his ownership has been a massive success at Spurs, and he'd probably convince you by the end.

Seb, you talked about noises you like from the crowd and the way at Old Trafford.

The noise of every Nottingham Forest fan saying shoot to Elliot Anderson was, and then him putting it in the corner was just so glorious.

Yeah, it's wonderful.

It's up that I'm talking about noises I love in football.

Obviously,

I love that type of way and I love that type of shoot.

I also love the way of a a big-name opposition player.

I remember seeing Spurs hosting Real Madrid and Marcelo had a shot that went as high as you could possibly hit a shot.

And, you know, he's a great player playing for Real Madrid at Spurs, who were enjoying being the Champions League at that point.

And the noise from the country, boy!

As if he's just a normal player at the park.

And I love the ability of supporters just to ground a game right down to that.

But they are all all bought in on what Forrest are doing at the moment.

They can almost forgive the nervousness near the end because

Nottingham Forest are a side who the reason why they're in such a good position, particularly, is that they are taking points off the sides in the bottom half of the table.

And obviously, we look at the bottom half of the table and it's got some big clubs in there.

But even so, they're in that position they're in for that very reason is that they're taking sides.

And in this game, there were some questionable decisions made, obviously, around Milenkovich's goal, which I still

believe should have been allowed.

And

they still are a side who defensively look quite strong.

But Southampton, again, doing what they've done in so many games this season, the change of manager, but still playing out from the back, still making errors.

I believe I wasn't watching this game because I was at the Everton game, but even when it got to 3-2, I just felt Forrester got enough about them now to see these results through.

And they're up there with clubs whereby supporters are

so shocked about where they are that

they will just go along with everything.

They'll ask every player to shoot.

I heard them asking Marilla to shoot, and he would shoot if he was given the opportunity.

And that must be a wonderful place to be in a supporter.

And looking through the league, are they the club?

I mean, we've spoken about Brighton and Bournemouth and these, but are they the supporters that are the happiest right now in the Premier League?

I'd say they probably are.

Yeah, possibly.

It was Hudson and Doy's Doy's goal, actually, for the big shoot.

I mean, they probably said it for

Elliot Anderson as well.

And then Chris Wood scoring because

he always scored.

Look, Southampton were very close, Barry, to a ridiculous comeback in this game.

You know, that clearance at the end.

Yeah, it took

a remarkable goal-line clearance from Olaena, which I don't think got anywhere near enough credit on match of the day.

But anyway, Southampton have definitely shown signs of life.

I was hugely impressed with their performance against Manchester United the other day until I wasn't, with, what, 10 minutes to go.

And they could have rescued a point yesterday.

They could argue they were very unlucky.

But the fact of the matter is that Ivan Jurich has now lost his opening five league games.

There is definite sign of improvement.

Whether or not it's too little, too late.

remains to be seen.

It probably is, but

yeah,

we'll see.

Yeah, where do you sense Forrest will finish, Barney?

And more importantly, I think we've touched on this before, but I've forgotten where you've taken Nuno from his dying Jedi phase when he was at one of the aforementioned ghost ships to where he is now.

The blood has just returned to his face.

He's just there and alive and just full of joy.

Yeah, he looks incredible, doesn't he?

He's got this amazing smile, which nobody had ever seen before.

He's having the absolute time of his life.

And he is responsible for this.

I mean, the way they play is tactically interesting.

I mean, they defend deep, and they've got the best ball carriers in the league.

They've got players who can run 20, 30 yards with the ball.

And the Elliott Anderson goal was classic, Forrest.

You know, carry the ball forward, which he's really good at, and shoot.

And Hudson Adoy, Alanga, and Gibbs White, I think, are in the top five carries, as they call them,

in the league, which isn't dribbling.

It's just

a way of running oppositions from that kind of deep block.

And it's a tactic that really works.

And like you say, the fans being happy really helps because they're happy to not have possession but attack.

It's fine.

Just go and win.

We'll enjoy it.

It's a really amazing story.

I mean, Nottingham is such a great sporting city.

It really is.

You know, I mean, this is where...

basically cricket as an organized sport was invented you know one of the oldest clubs in knotts county it's a lovely place to watch sport it's got this amazing kind of pub culture it's got the river and it's a city that really just deserves to have really nice saturdays it's just built for that brilliant sporting saturday and i i really hope they just keep going and i hope they end up in the champions league and uh yes the the owner's interesting and there's various other kind of things around that but as soon as you sort of block that bit out just hold a bit of paper over that bit and just look at the fans and the city and the players and the this delightful Jedi who's turned from the dark side to being just kind of like he's like a young Yoda now.

It's just a really happy story, and I really want to hope it carries to the end of the season.

All right, that'll do for part two.

Part three, we'll begin with Bournemouth's brilliant win at Newcastle.

Hi, Pod fans of America.

Max here, Barry's here, too.

Hello.

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Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.

And I guess Bournemouth fans could be slightly disappointed to be only in part three, given their performance at Newcastle, given that the coach had to leave at 2.14 a.m.

to get there in this weather.

And they went with nine first-team players out.

They had six teenagers with zero Premier League experience on the bench and said they battered the form team in the league.

It was the performance of the weekend.

Watched every minute of this one because I we would talk, did Forest obviously a couple of weeks ago, I think it was, and I called them the form side in the league at that time, but I had slightly forgotten about Newcastle because they were the form side going into this game, but they were also playing a side on one of the longest unbeaten runs in the Premier League.

Aside, if it wasn't, if they turned some of those draws into victories, would be in the top three.

They are, from the first minute, David Brooks looked incredible.

And I use the word incredible.

The first few touches he had of the football, I had to check it was him playing.

Not, you know, no disrespect to David Brooks, but I genuinely thought, who have they got on the right-hand side?

Have I missed a signing or something?

And Clivert just picking up pockets of space that Newcastle couldn't deal with.

It's the worst I've seen Newcastle play this season in the first half, but so much of that felt about Bournemouth.

It was almost a bit not that they'd caught Newcastle by surprise, but that they had changed their game plan slightly in the way that they played.

They had

an organisation about them, but also a chaos about them.

And I think, you know, to touch on going back, talking about Arsenal, there's these players almost, I call them, instigators of chaos, that teams who have those players can get something out of games whereby...

You can be one of the most structured sides in the league, which Arsenal are, but they don't have those instigators of chaos.

But Bournemouth showed that they do.

I mean, Semenyo is somebody who can surge past somebody and spank the ball into the top corner.

I mentioned Brooks already.

Clivert was doing it, doing things that are unpredictable, that feel outside of the structure.

And having a left back as well who can cover the ground and be a goal threat as well.

And Kirk is he seems a player so destined to be...

a signing for Liverpool.

I don't know who else I could name.

And that, again, feels on...

I say unfair on Bournemouth, but it goes back to what Barney was saying.

There's a comfort in that.

They know that this is going to happen to their club.

They know they'll find another one.

That's the process.

They are playing the way they took this game apart.

And isn't it nice to be able to speak about a side in this way, beating a team like Newcastle?

You think we might start the conversation talking about what went wrong for them, but no, Bournemouth, I said the last time I was on that they'd replaced Brentford as being that soft spot side for me.

And they are firmly there, if not improving that position.

Chris says, with a Clivet finally scoring a hat-trick at St.

James's Park, could the pod do their their parents' jobs any better than they actually did?

I don't know, Barry, do you reckon you could have rescued more cows than

Par Glenn Denning?

No, I definitely couldn't have, but I did provide him with a lot of assists.

You're like the James Ward Prouse, like the gootie of the Burr veterinary world.

I handed that man more scalpels and cleaned up more blood-drenched surgeries than you will ever know, Max.

I mean his

third was just such a beautiful strike, wasn't it, Beth?

Three brilliant finishes.

Third was probably the pick of him from distance swerving away from Dubravka, who just had no chance of getting near it, really.

And one of those goals that kind of goes into the inside-side netting, which is basically unsavable.

But a fine performance for him, and he was delighted to be told after the game that he had scored two more goals at St.

James's Park than his father did in his season playing for Newcastle.

Yeah, but so many people, I mean, so many people in this side, I think you described them on a previous pod as the best team in the world, Barney.

But like their centre-backs are brilliant, aren't they?

You know, Sabani and Howson.

Ryan Christie is having this ridiculous season.

And, you know, Sid was right about Areola.

They've beaten

Arsenal, they've beaten Man City, they've beaten Newcastle, I think they've beaten Spurs, who seem to be very important because people spend a lot of time talking.

They must be good.

And Manchester United, they've beaten them.

Yeah, I mean, Bournemouth would have a fair chance of winning the Champions League if they were in it.

Like, that's not a joke.

Like, they are a really coherent team who fear nobody and are coming from a really good place of knowing exactly what they want to do, having very little pressure on them, and a really, really good manager

and players on the rise.

They're just fantastic to watch.

They're a point behind Man City, which

isn't as good as it should be.

That should mean they're second in the league and pushing for the league title.

But

yeah,

it's a really interesting dynamic that they can be that good.

And it's really not a fluke.

It just shows,

as we've said on this pod,

the demands of football.

Sometimes

there seems to be another way of doing it right now.

Benjamin says, damn you for jinxing Newcastle by discussing him as title challengers on Thursday.

You know, they had 1-9 in a row.

Eddie Howe said they looked a bit tired.

Do you think Joe Linton was a tiny bit lucky not to get a red card for that wild hack in the middle of some sort of fracker with some Bournemouth players?

Anyway, to Portman Road, Ipswich-0, Man City 6.

I mean, I loved the MacAtee header.

That little looping header was perhaps my favourite part of this game.

But as 6-0s go, Barry, it wasn't a...

I mean, they're never really fascinating, are they?

But one team better than another team.

I'll be honest, Max.

I think when they went 3-0 up, I switched over to the UK Masters snooker final.

I am not going to.

It was an impressive performance by Manchester City.

Phil Foden hitting his stride after sort of spelling the doldrums a bit.

I'm not going to read too much into it because Ipswich were overwhelmed and it was over as a contest by half-time.

But I do note with interest that City's next six Premier League games are against the

Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool, Spurs, and Forest.

So that's everyone else in the top six.

And Spurs, who we have mentioned, aren't very good, but do seem to have the wood on City a bit.

So let's see how they are after that run of games.

And actually, bigger than this is the game on Wednesday against PSG with

PSC at 25th, Man City at 24th.

You need to be 24th to get into the playoffs.

So, like, both of these sides absolutely need this.

It'll be fascinating to see.

Yeah, I'm going to that one.

It's going to be fantastic.

PSG are very, very pent up about it.

There's been a lot of talk.

They've been talking about it for about two weeks.

Really?

It's their season, really.

Yeah.

I can't wait to watch it.

And I suppose, interestingly, like, I don't know when I last said that about a Champions League group game.

So perhaps this new league is a good thing, but we'll get to that on Wednesday and Thursday.

So we talked briefly about the Erling Haaland mega contract.

His previous included a release clause had been due to expire in 2027.

This one will keep him at the Etihad till 2034.

Actual finances, subject to rumor, reported to be around 500,000 a week, uplift on his current measly £400,000 a week.

I mean, interesting because of when the, you know, the charges are sort of ongoing, Seb.

And I, you know, it seems silly to say half a million a week is when we have the discussion about whether footballers are paid too much because, you know, if I was on 250 grand a week, I mean, by week four, I'd be struggling of things to buy.

I'd have, you know, I've had, I'd have enough Harabone, frankly, you know.

Yeah, I mean,

this industry that we, I was going to say we love, there's, you know, mixed opinions about that.

But

the main reason why we like football so much is the players.

And Harland is one of the best players.

And therefore, in an industry that generates the amount of money that it does, those people effectively get paid the most money.

That's it.

I've read it slightly differently with this contract.

This idea that the city know that they're going to get off or whatever with all their cases.

The other way is just getting your player signed up and paying the big money now and getting it locked in before you receive your big fine or before you receive something that says you can't buy any more players or can't buy any more strikers or whatnot.

So I think there's too much reading into that per se.

What I liked about, particularly about Haaland, considering the season he's had, he was particularly humble for somebody, you know, being asked about the amount of money you're going to be paid and being asked repeatedly to basically say, why have you signed this contract?

And I don't really think anybody needs to be asked a question about that.

I think it's quite clear that if you're tied somewhere for 10 years on that amount of money, with the possibility that you can leave.

really, you can just not play very well, or you can just, you know, I'm not saying you could fake an injury, but there's football's a unique situation where it doesn't actually, a player player has so much freedom in that respect there's also this idea that the the Diara case

that perhaps maybe transfer fees will disappear in in their current guise and there'll be a situation whereby you just have to compensate a club for the remaining time left on the contract and that's the value and therefore Haaland's value remains really high because of the length of time he has maybe this is something that Chelsea knows as well and some clubs are aware of so that's another way of looking at it but um if I was Haaland I'd be happy.

Chris says, Palace are usually last on match of the day and the Guardian Football Weekly.

Any chance of promoting us up the order?

One defeat in 11, three wins in a week, seven undefeated, despite the absence of Adam Wharton, Matetta in the groove, and we've bought Mill Wall's best player.

Worth a few minutes.

I mean, you are one up from the bottom.

Yeah, I mean, West Ham, look.

I mean, you said they'll be fine, Barney, but it was a pretty bleak day for them.

And Matetta, I wonder if, does he have a touch with the Chris Woods?

And

he doesn't look like he should be as good at football as he is.

He is really good, and he's a lot more agile and quicker than he kind of looks from

the way he moves.

My barber thinks that Arsenal should buy him.

He says there's one guy who's just an easy win, just underrated out there.

He would score a lot of goals for Arsenal.

Is your Barber a Palace fan?

Or you just get on?

Well, he's an Arsenal fan, but

this is, you know, and he obviously...

But I think it's not a bad call.

I mean,

Essay, I have to say, is a really good player.

That's a brilliant signing.

He's going to be really good.

And it's really good.

It's a really good for Millwall as well.

It's really good that someone's come through, a young player like him, and there's an idea of a pathway because that's not really been happening.

There's loads of talent in southeast London, but most of it doesn't want to go to Millwall for various reasons.

So that's actually a really good win for everyone.

And he's going to be really good.

He'll play for England.

He's very good.

Mateta is one of my favourite names to say in commentary.

There's just something about the pattern of the name.

Mateta!

Yeah!

It just works.

You know, probably after Hutchinson, obviously for obvious reasons, saying that name in commentary.

That to me rolls up the tongue.

I just like it when he has a chance.

That's all I'm going to say.

Who don't you like?

Is there a name that you

not because it's difficult to say?

Single syllable, one-syllable names, like Kane, Son.

Yeah.

It's just not enough for me.

I want to do something with the name.

Double barrel names work, but you can't say the first name then.

You know, Dominic Calvert Lewin, you just have to say Calvert Lewin.

I'll bring in Dominic a bit later on.

These are important things to realise.

Where do you stand on Solly March?

Do you ever just say March, or are you one of those people who has to say Solly as well?

That's one of the great examples because you have a situation with a single-syllable surname, and you want more meat on that bone.

And that's why people go Solly March, Harry Kane.

It has to be done.

March as well.

It's just, it's a name that's more famous for being a month, and therefore, and also the militariness of it.

I just, you need more.

And Soli's a great first name as well.

That is true.

Barry, you've turned your camera off.

Have you gone tops off for the last part?

Sorry, I didn't realise.

No, no, that's okay.

I didn't do that intentionally.

Here, I'm back.

Oh, my God.

He's naked.

Put it back off.

Leicester 0 Fulham 2.

I mean, Leicester are in this doom spiral until, of course, Tottenham away next Sunday.

Seven defeats on the spin.

They've scored two goals in that run.

I mean, the moment from this game, Barry, was Adama Triore with the least Adama Triore finish of all time.

I couldn't believe it.

Yeah, Harry Wilson cross from the left, I think, and Adama steps up to score with a very composed,

sort of side-footed, cushioned volley

past the Leicester keeper.

And

yeah, good finish, not one you'd expect from him.

Very composed.

Leicester do look doomed.

And the appointment of Rude Van Nisleroy,

ironically, I suppose, because he masterminded a couple of wins over Leicester during his interim spell in Chargie United.

That looks to have been a mistake.

But as you say, Tottenham next up.

Who knows it could be this the start of a remarkable turnaround I just say I'm having such a shit season because not only a Tottenham shit but like Cambridge United are second bottom of league one and you know how how I watch I watch the midweek games because it's like a 7 a.m.

kickoff now I can do that but the Saturday games are 2 a.m.

and I'm not staying up to 2 a.m.

when my toddler wakes up at 6 a.m.

or 5 30 a.m and so I get on Twitter and I close my eyes and scroll back all the way and do my own minute by minute like the Guardian's minute by minute, but it's the Cambridge United Twitter account.

And we scored after five minutes at Bolton Away.

They equalised, we went 2-1 up straight away.

And by about 88 minutes, I'm starting to believe.

And it's like, our keeper gets fouled 88 minutes.

He wins a free kick and takes his time over it.

And you're like, brilliant.

And then it just goes 90 Bolton score.

And you're just like, oh.

I'm just having the worst.

Literally the worst season.

It's, you know, for Fulham fans, it'll be devastated to hear how you've made this all about you.

They're a magnificent away win.

Yeah.

Of course.

In a season where they have

points more than they had this time last season.

So, well done, Fulham.

Well done, Marcos.

I mean, my first thought is always: what does this tell us about Spurs?

Yeah.

And that's how we should apply every single game.

That's absolutely right.

I am really conscious that because I'm a Spurs fan, we do too much Spurs on this podcast.

And so I'm desperate for them just to go through some boring 1-0 wins and draws.

I feel that.

I felt that today.

I felt a reluctance to talk about them i'm trying to not talk about them barney i don't want yeah it's not working it's not working we're just becoming a club podcast aren't we that's what it is it's soon it'll be me chas and day danny kelly

and danny kelly

talking about tottenham uh john says hi max barrier and team this is not football related it's barney related last night i was settling in for a quiet evening of watching big bash cricket here in australia when the commentators started complaining about an article written by some english journalist about new Aussie batting sensation Sam Constas.

This supposed journalist had said that Constas bats with his elbow in the wrong place and that his 61 in the boxing day test may be the highest test score of his career, despite him only being 19 and just starting out.

Aussie legend Mark Waugh scoffed at this remark.

Who is this journalist?

Some bloke called Barry Ronne, replied the presenter.

Having read the excellent article earlier in the day, I was aware it was Barney that had written the article, not Barry, but I'm now glad that all of Australia, and I'll turn on Barney Rye and Barry Glendenning, because according to Australia, they've had some kind of evil journalistic love child.

Love the show, John in Melbourne.

There you are, the wrath of Mark Waugh, Barney.

Yeah, I mean, I love Mark Waugh.

It's great that he even knows half my name.

A huge high.

It was a really bizarre week.

This is this line was 1400 words into a 1700-word article about something else.

I mean, Australia really does have a problem in some ways.

Like,

here's a way to take offense.

Like, let's trawl, let's trawl the depths of the internet looking for something to talk about.

So, it was put to Pat Cummins, this line, it was put to Nathan Lyon, it was put to David Warner, it was put to Marnus, who looked like absolutely tearful.

He looked destroyed by the idea.

The problem was that I compared Constas, the reaction to Constas, to the reaction to Ray Gunn, the breakdancer.

This guy,

a lot of overexcitement.

Um, And it was really the reaction.

I don't think Constas is great.

He's a really good player.

And it's

did anyone ask Ange?

Did anyone ask Ange Postag?

Somebody should.

Because that feels very topical.

Well, that's the next article, isn't it?

Why Ange is the new Raygun.

But it's a very sore topic in Australia.

I like the way, Barony, that you double down by issuing a public apology to Raygun for the comparison.

Yes, yes, yes, for comparing that to.

But

there's some part of Australia that's slightly humiliating and embarrassed as though we're going to think that they thought Ray Gunn was good, as though this is what Australian breakdancing is.

Well, I host a show occasionally Australia called The Project, and they were talking about Ray Gunn.

I mean, literally, it's just you can't.

you can't avoid the Ray Gunn conversation.

And they showed this, there was like a big package about, you know, Ray Gunn.

And I think she'd like, someone had written a play about Ray Gunn and then Ray Gunn said, you can't do the play about Ray Gunn and something else.

And then we were talking about, well, no one knows what break dancing is.

So maybe she is the best breakdancer.

And I just couldn't help but saying, yes, but the other person we saw in the package was much better at break dancing than poor old Ray Gunn.

Anyway,

how dare you curse my adopted country, Barney?

But interestingly, about that big batch coverage.

All the chat up to that point had been about Spurs, which I think most of the viewers found weird.

It's just what you have to do these days.

Anyway, that'll do for today.

Thank you, everybody.

Thank you, Barry.

Thank you.

Cheers, Seb.

Thank you.

Cheers, Barney.

Cheers, Barry, everyone.

Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove.

Our executive producer is Danielle Stevens.

Champions League is back, so we'll be back on Wednesday.

This is The Guardian.