Late agony for Arsenal at Manchester City – Football Weekly podcast

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Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

We'll do the first hour trying to unpick everything from the Etihad.

Arsenal's heroic defending, the agony of conceding so late.

Why can't we just have kicking the ball away consistency?

Kyle Walkers, I've got this, lads, and letting Gabrielle score again.

California's brilliant strike while Kyle Walkers chatting to the ref.

Harland hitting the target twice, one of the targets being Gabrielle's head.

A fascinating and brilliant game.

In the final five minutes, we'll wrap up the rest.

West Ham's non-existent defending, a good turnaround for Villa, some more impressive slot ball, a vital win for Ange, Fulham bursting Newcastle's bubble, a solid point for Forrest at Brighton, Everton giving away another leads, Man United playing well and not winning, and a ref saying hello to a football in Southampton.

All that plus your questions and that's today's guardian football weekly

on the panel today barry glen denning good morning hi max hello will unwinn hello max and welcome seb hutchinson hello football down under says how disappointing is it that there are no major talking points after the weekend's fixtures uh matt says did man city arsenal outperform the xx that we discovered uh last week and daniel said we'd appreciate a good 10-minute bit on why Arsenal's performance and result was not impressive.

It might be hard to do.

Will, you were at this game in your capacity as a Man City fan.

Seb, you were there in your capacity as a commentator.

I mean,

it was a brilliant game, I thought, Seb.

Yeah, of course it was.

I mean,

you think of this fixture last season, the goalless draw, which was, as people say, one for the purists and one for the statisticians and data analysts.

But this was the complete opposite.

I was commentating on the game from a data perspective, perspective, but I have to say, I wasn't really concentrating on that for too much of the match.

Even the second half, it was, because of what's at stake, it was so engrossing.

In any other situation, you would say that was quite a dull second half from a lot of the ways you could look at football.

But because of what Arsenal was so close to achieving, the fact that...

What had gone on in the first half, the antics on the touchline and on the pitch, and it was everything we wanted.

And we always say, we have to say, as commentators, we don't want to see that, we don't want to see this, but we want to see all of it, really.

And that's the disclaimer.

And I think going forward, I'm just going to say, unless it's something particularly violent or outrageous, and none of it, anything from yesterday was, I'm just going to say, I love to see this.

Yeah.

From the from the start, Will, when, you know,

um, like Habats piles into Rodri, literally after five seconds to the last thing where Harland throws the ball at Gabrielle's head.

Yeah, I just, and, and, and Seb's right, the second half was like Arsenal slowing it down, but they, I just felt so sorry for them.

There was a whole team of Sammy Kafurs at the end just lying on the floor, beating the turf.

Yeah, all those people who like to remind the world that Michael Arteta worked under Pep Guardiola all forget that he started many years ago with David Moyes at Everton.

Yeah.

And he picked up a thing or two there, it turns out.

Don't have much sympathy for Arsenal, funnily enough.

It was incredible what they did.

You know, that back five, four midfielders, midfielders, and absolutely no interest in taking the ball forward.

But then, thanks to their corner goal in the first half, City kept the centre-backs on because they were worried that on the off-chance they get one, they'll probably score.

So, when City were attacking and the ball was going side to side, you know, every few seconds, you know, as they became the first team to get more than 100% possession in a half, it always seemed like a set a centre-back was the spare man trying to take a shot, and everyone thinking, no, maybe it should be someone else.

Oh, yeah, a little bit of disappointment with City probably needed someone that could take on a man or something like that.

A bit different, it was all quite samey, and Arsenal did incredibly well.

As a fan, very frustrating to watch the glorious shithousery of going down with cramp every few seconds.

I think, I think some of the Arsenal subs went down with cramp just to slow things down as well.

But I think from an Arsenal perspective, when they haven't got Odegaard, you know, they fell short last season.

Shithousery is an absolutely incredible thing to have up your sleeve.

And they'll learn from yesterday that it fell a bit short and they

draw as a fair result, I'd say.

City felt like a win in the end, and it'll be good for that.

And Arsenal will have to bounce back.

And they've got Leicester at home next week after Bolton in the League Cup in midweek, so they probably won't be too worried.

But yeah, it's a big milestone for City.

I know City last season really enjoyed the fact that Arsenal turned up the Attihad and didn't want to play.

That was

mentally a victory for City, they all felt.

And obviously, you've seen some of the quotes come out after the match from Bernardo, Silva, and Stone sort of criticising Arsenal's play.

But, you know, you've got to expect that in the top flight.

This is what's going to happen.

And City dug deep to show why they win leagues.

And Arsenal dug equally deep and just fell short.

And I think it shows up to be a cracking title race.

I mean, the second half stats, Barry, are ridiculous, aren't they?

Man City had 28 shots to one.

Arsenal had 12.5%

possession in the second half.

XG, only 1.56 for City to 0.06.

But so it was sort of the second half was, and we'll get to the first, obviously, the second half was simultaneously shit and brilliant, I thought.

I really enjoyed it, despite the contention of quite a few people, including many Arsenal fans, that the referee ruined it as a spectacle, ruined the game as a spectacle by sending Leandro Trossard off.

But, you know...

The sending off of Leandro Trossard was part of the spectacle.

And what happened after he was sent off was also part of the spectacle.

You know, the spectacle is the whole game, and I really enjoyed the spectacle because

I enjoyed watching Arsenal put on this almost perfect masterclass of defending, and I enjoyed watching a Manchester City side that looked uncharacteristically bereft of ideas of how to get past this

barricade that was in front of them.

This, I think, was it a 6-3 or a 5-4,

the two lines, very compact.

They couldn't get around them.

They couldn't get through them.

They really missed Kevin De Bruyne.

I think that's a situation where he'd probably have come into his zone.

So

while it probably wasn't a free-flowing, swashbuckling second half we might have expected if both sides had their full complement of players,

I really enjoyed it.

You don't often see City just reduced to taking pot shots like that.

You know, I think Ruben Diaz had four.

Varadiole, Phil Foden.

And it was only when Phil Foden was shaping to shoot that Arsenal looked in any way panicked.

So Kyle Walker, he had a couple of pot shots as well, but none of them ever really looked like scoring until they scored.

All right, lots of talking points.

Let's start with the red card.

He's on a booking, Leandro Trossard said.

It's right on halftime.

He barges into Bernardo, then he kicks it away.

I still think the booking might be for the challenge, but

it is dumb from from trossard and i think arsenal fans even agree that it's dumb from trossard but they are annoyed by the inconsistency and i wonder if they have a point docu kicks the ball away not as far sobers like last week for liverpool and they're all sending these clips out pinged one across the goal when the whistle had gone there was jowl pedro for bright and out of the emirates hammering the ball miles Do you think they have a point?

When a player kicks the ball away, because we saw it actually in the lead-up to Arsenal's equalizer, that Bernardo Silvas did the same thing as in the ball was put down and he sort of dribbled it away.

And that's going to be a problem all season now is how much do we

where's the cut-off point?

I mean, it's back to the handball debate, really.

It's that whole thing again.

There's no clear line on what it means.

We, weirdly, I think we found it clearer last season and the season many seasons before where we knew if a player boots the ball away, a bit like João Pedro did, and

unfortunately, the way that Trossard did yesterday, those are quite clear ones.

The Declan Rice one, to me, is still not as clear as Trossard's yesterday.

And I think that's probably got the pot boiling a little bit more than anything else.

But it's impossible when we get to these situations because every supporter now, and well, particularly Arsenal supporters, are going to be analysing every single incident of this.

And so they probably will at some point in the season have to

address it.

a bit more openly, I think, because

they will say on this particular situation, the referee was right I we could I could hear I have VAR in my ear and I heard not all the time I hope not not all day every day okay no not consistently every every every time they can

every time they communicate with the referee on the field I hear that and yesterday initially the belief was it was for the foul but it's clarified very shortly quickly afterwards that it was for him kicking the ball away and you can see that Michael Oliver gives the free kick and probably thinks there's a debate about that being yellow card in itself, but then him kicking away confirms it.

I don't think there's too much argument about it, but it is, of course, built on what's happened before.

And so the frustration is understandable.

And I think Arsenal's second half, the way they played, is then understandable.

And there's another point, part of this, that in the same game last year, Kovacic didn't get a second yellow because the head of the PGMOL said he didn't want to change the game.

which seems ridiculous, Will.

Yeah, I mean, I remember that.

I was on holiday in the alcove.

It was lovely.

I was the only man watching it in the bar.

But yeah, it should yeah, confidently it should have been sent off for that.

It was

if it's a booking, it's a booking.

It doesn't matter if it's changed how it changes the game, whatever, first minute, last minute.

You know, I went to Liverpool on Saturday and Ryan Christie got booked after 20 seconds.

I mean, if it's a booking, do it.

And I think, you know, bizarre to even come out with that, Howard Webb.

to back for Zando, it was Michael Over again, wasn't it?

Trossard should have gone.

It was a silly thing to do.

They've had evidence of what happens when you do that recently.

And I'm sure I'll look forward to receiving hundreds of clips of people kicking the ball away and not getting booked.

But yeah, letter of the law, he goes, and that's the nature of elite football.

You should know the rules and be a bit less petulant.

I think it's a dumb thing for referees to decide to clamp down on in the first place.

Just add the time on.

You know, that's what added time is for.

But

there is a kernel of a point in what Arcel fans are saying about inconsistency.

The Daco won, I'm not so sure about because he just sort of poodled the ball in the general direction of where Michael Oliver was pointing.

Not to the exact spot.

He's not a golfer.

He doesn't have to place it for Declan Rice or anything.

Yeah, certainly the Soboslai won, the Jau Pedro won.

Why weren't they punished?

But we are in a place where this is being punished sometimes.

Trossard knows this, is painfully aware of this, because of what happened to Rice.

So, you know, even if Doku had been booked, if Sabuzlai had been booked, if Pedro had been booked, that doesn't make what he did any less bookable.

I think he should have got a yellow card for blindsiding a stationary opponent in the back with a shoulder bar.

If that's not a yellow card, what the hell is?

Yeah, I don't disagree with you.

Let's go back to the start, Sam.

But actually, City came out brilliantly, didn't they?

You know, and Haaland kicked it all off.

No big game bottling, 100 goals and 105 games.

And like for about 15 minutes, I thought City looks so good in this.

You thought, wow, they are.

This is

like these sides are at different levels.

And the worrying thing is that Haaland is coming out with different types of finishes now.

You know, last season, I remember opening his body up and passing it into the corner, and now he's doing dinks.

Now he's prodding it towards the near post just to add to his repertoire, which shows he's growing as a player.

And Savinha in the first half was fantastic I thought maybe he surprised Arsenal a little bit you know Mare's regen and all of that but he he he had Califiore wanted to get tight to him and he couldn't get tight to him turned him played the pass in it was a lovely crafted move and I think for those opening stages Rodri was an influence already he was already an influence for City having made his first start in the Premier League of the season

As we said, 20 seconds into the game, I don't think it was 20 seconds, five seconds into the game.

And that always catches you out as a commentator.

I actually thought I'd check back.

I did the game and I thought I'd check

through a few of the other commentaries of it.

And everyone had that same situation where, as a commentator, the game starts, you've got your spiel, right, let's get this one.

Oh, what's happened?

And you haven't seen it.

You haven't seen it because you're looking at the general picture.

And I'm still not sure.

I still can't work out why Roderie stayed down initially.

I couldn't really work out what kept him down for that length of time.

Clearly something wasn't right with him.

And then obviously the injury not that long after that.

And I think that

I'm not saying it changed the game per se because City still played well after that, but there's no doubt if a player like that goes off the pitch, it changes things, and it allowed Arsenal maybe to have a bit more room to make something happen, and they certainly did.

Yeah, controversy will over the equalizer.

I mean, it's such a brilliant goal.

And Kyle Walker was really measured afterwards because he said, Look, I'm not going to add to criticism because there's so much of it, but he did call me over, so he should at least let me get back there.

And I know he's kind of back, but there are sort of fine margins.

But I mean, it shouldn't stop us talking about what a brilliant finish that is.

Yeah, I think he probably should have allowed him to get back, but obviously there was still time to defend it in different ways.

Someone should have been closer to California and things like that.

But incredible finish from a left back on his full Premier League debut.

I mean, the confidence to have in the team that he's playing quite defensively that you think and having watched City's centre-backs have about 48 shots that went nowhere near the net.

it was an incredible bit of technique.

And he'd had a bit of a tough time, you say, against Savinho.

But then to still have that mindset that, yeah, I can make a difference in the final third is quite impressive from him.

And Edison had no chance.

It was, yeah, it was a really good goal.

I thought it was just curling wide from where I was, but I was at the other end.

And so when I saw it hit the inside of the net, I thought, ah, fair play.

Fair play.

I think that's probably right.

Gabriel Baz from Set Pieces is something else.

Like his bravery and his desire is extraordinary.

And it was really funny that, you know, he has that free header when Doc is marking him.

So Kyle Walker says, okay,

I've got this.

Yes.

And what I'll do is I'll stand in front of him, repeatedly poke him in the belly.

And then as the ball is coming in, or just before it's struck, I'll let him run past me.

So yeah, it's a really incredible move

because

such a lot of things have to go right for it to come off.

And it had almost come off a few minutes previously.

I think Skye and Match of the Day, they both played the two corners, one side by side, one,

you know, had it one above the other.

And they're more or less identical.

And the only difference being that in the second version,

Gabriel managed to steer his head around target.

But the coroner was was brilliant by Saka.

The manner in which Martinelli and somebody else blocked Ederson was superb.

If that was Vicario, we'd be slaughtering him again.

But because it's Ederson, he gets a free pass, maybe.

Yeah, just a brilliantly engineered corner.

And Arsenal are...

you know, they are renowned for their brilliant set pieces.

Well, attacking set pieces anyway.

They weren't too clever on the last one they had to deal with yesterday.

And Gabrielle, I think, has scored more goals than any other defender, and they're pretty much all from set pieces.

And he didn't know he'd scored for quite a long time, which is really fun as well.

Just looking around to see where the ball is.

Liam does have a question for you, Barrett.

It says, before the season started, you said Arsenal had such a tough start that he expected them to be so far behind City that their title challenge might be over, or at least very difficult.

What are you thinking now with Arsenal unbeaten having gone to Villa, Spurs, and City?

Yeah, it's very impressive.

And we don't know now how long Roderie is going to be out for and City without Rodri are a completely different animal to City with Rodri and a less ferocious animal.

So that could make a big difference.

Yeah, I think my main takeout so far about Arsenal's been really impressive,

but their fans still seem desperately unhappy, and I find that quite odd.

Yeah.

I mean, the internet isn't everyone, I guess.

Well, I've made this point before about, you know, I'm not talking about people on the internet.

I'm talking about quite influential people.

You know, Michel Arteta whinging after games and these people with platforms whinging.

Doesn't help.

It doesn't help the situation at all because you've got all the bottom feeders down below on the internet.

And they take their lead from people like that.

They would no doubt beg to differ with me, and they're perfectly entitled to.

Bernardo said after the game said, look, there was only one team that came to play football.

The other team came to play to the limits of what was possible to do and allowed by the referee.

The second goal is already their usual block to our keeper allowed by the referee.

And then the referee allowed a sequence of time-wasting events.

If it was 11v11, you sort of think anti-football is less forgivable.

But I do give Arsenal a bit of a pass in just playing how you've got to play and getting cramped and, you know, keepers getting cramp, et cetera, et cetera, and just taking your time.

Like, if I was playing in that game, I'd be yelling, slow it down all the time I'm gonna put it this way I've seen Arsenal go to the Etihad a fair few times in the last 10 15 years and when they haven't played that way they've got battered really

so I think they've evolved even from last season when they did sit off city as well and had their wingers right back almost as fullbacks in their positioning and they were bolder in the first half this time but I think what Arteta has thought and it I believe he that that the side is lacking in the attacking sense still.

So, what's the best way to remedy that without getting players in is to make the defence even stronger.

Now, all you need is just that one goal to get over the line, which worked against Spurs.

Brighton, they were similar when they went down to 10.

Again, they sat off and they had a couple of chances to win that.

There wasn't really too much difference, actually, in their approach to this one.

I actually thought Brighton looked far more dangerous than City did yesterday.

Going back to what Barry was saying about Arsenal supporters' anger, I think it's simply that frustration of getting so close and missing out and I remember Liverpool supporters a few seasons back having that same thing until of course they won it in the in the Covid season and it's like anything in life if you get so close to something and you miss out it just makes it even more irritating they probably

And it's been a long time for them, hasn't it, as well?

Going back to, you know, to trying to win the league.

And if they, it's about positioning, isn't it?

We're going to get onto Villa in a minute.

They're in a completely different sphere in the way they're thinking.

Everything's relative to where you see your club.

I think Manchester United supporters have resigned themselves to thinking we're never going to be in a title race.

We're just happy when we beat Barnsley.

So that's where we're at.

Football supporters are just like that.

If they're not moaning, it's almost a pointless exercise, isn't it?

The one thing I would ask Bernardo Silva is, did he have a problem with Manchester City running down the clock against Brentford last weekend?

If the answer to that question is no, then, you know, stop talking, Ronaldo.

It would be funny, although we couldn't advocate it if the only players that did get booked for kicking the ball away were Arsenal players, just for the rest of the season.

It was just this thing that happened, and no one got that.

And I don't think they'd stop doing it.

Can I make one point that one final point, though, about I was going to say about Guardiola.

Usually we see Guardiola after a game, his side's beaten somebody quite comfortably, and he gives so much praise to the opposition.

Having, you know,

I'm trying to to think of a better phrase than just step back and let City win the game.

And if a team has taken it to them and City have lost on the rare occasion, he's very obviously critical of the opposition.

I think yesterday he was caught in two minds with that because I think he was pleased that they got the draw.

He had kept that unbeaten, long, unbeaten home run.

But at the same time, knowing that City, you know, go to win matches.

And there'll be...

I don't buy into this idea that Arsenal will be gutted and it has any influence on the rest of the season.

I think even if Arsenal held on to the victory, I don't think he'd be handing them the league.

In fact, they probably would have celebrated and everyone would have criticised them for celebrating.

So I don't think it has much influence for the title race.

And as the weeks go on, I don't think by the end of the season it's going to have that much relevance because it's so early in the season.

I said this about Arsenal winning a villa.

So it's just a fun game to watch.

That's all.

Yeah, totally.

And Patrick does say how critical will that point be come the end of the season?

Could it keep Man City up?

Yes, Pep was asked about, Pep wasn't asked about the charges, but he did talk about them, saying people expect to see Manchester City wiped off the face of the earth.

But I would say, I'm sorry, I want to defend my club, especially in these modern days when everyone is expecting us not only to be relegated, to be disappeared off the face of the earth, the world, that we have better afternoons at the opponents.

That's why we win a lot anyway.

Barry and I were talking to Sam Lee from the Athletic, the Man City correspondent for them yesterday, and he was saying, you know, actually what fans want is either the funny outcomes are either Man City don't get punished at all in which case the meltdown from everyone else would be insane or they do get sent to league two in which case the meltdown from city would be insane but we'd get to see you know city in league two which would be totally fascinating all right that'll do for part one we will rattle through the rest of the games in parts two and three

HiPod fans of America, Max here.

Barry's here too.

Hello.

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A proper football journalist, mate.

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Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Ian, a West Ham fan, says, having sat through 90 minutes of attack versus no defence at West Ham on Saturday, can I just say how much I enjoyed the 45 minutes of attack versus defence on Sunday?

Great stuff.

Yes, West Ham nil, Chelsea 3.

So I said to Baz yesterday, it felt like Chelsea were cleaned through for the entire game.

Obviously, with these games, Barry, one team good, one team bad, but I thought West Ham were appalling in this.

I was surprised by how bad they were.

Their defence was non-existent.

It's the first full game of theirs I think I've seen this season and it was quite shocking.

And

last season when it was sort of up in the air whether or not David Moyes would stay or go, West Ham fans were being

reacting very chippily to being told to be careful what you wish for.

And I'm now beginning to wonder if some of those West Ham fans might have changed their mind and be pining for David Moyes.

But, you know, obviously, with the caveat that it is still very early in the season, the ease with which Chelsea just

knifed, you know, cut through them like a hot knife through butter was

incredibly surprising.

And

Nicholas Jackson, in particular, was making hay down the left flank.

I'm not sure where Aaron Wanbissaka was.

And then he had a run through the middle where he just sprinted between through this massive gap between the two centre halves.

West Ham should have had a penalty when they were only 2-0 down.

That might have made some sort of difference.

But I think they're three defeats in a row at home for them now, and

they could have lost by a lot more.

I think you're doing butter a disservice, actually,

in that comparison.

The Nicholas Jackson one, I mean, it's just no West Ham player went anywhere near him.

I mean, it just looked like a computer game glitch.

Like, no West Ham player went anywhere near him.

It was really odd.

Like you say, the first time they've lost their three home games, first home games.

That's the first time in their entire history, 129 years, that they've lost their opening three.

You know, it has been against Man City, Villa and Chelsea.

But still, you know, 120 years, 29 years is quite a long time.

And actually, I think they've only won twice at home since Christmas.

So, you know, a lot of irate West Ham fans.

Meanwhile, Seb,

are Chelsea good?

I mean, it looks good, right?

It looks like they've got competition for places up front.

You know, Maresk has kind of picked his two for each spot.

There sort of seems to be a plan developing.

Yeah, I think we're going to be working this out all season.

I think that's the way it's going to go.

I mean, I covered them against Bournemouth last weekend in the crazy yellow card derby.

They have got a lot of quality in their team.

They have a lot of quality in the front lines.

They do look like they all get on together and they've got a cohesion there.

And I think Palmer is a lovely...

He's just the perfect person to have in the middle of the the pace around him and I actually think they look quite good going forward now that there's still question marks about their defense I believe that's the case and when they play the better sides but that's why I believe they'll finish in the top four I just think they're going to win a lot of these games and

even City and Liverpool and Arsenal will probably beat West Ham but they maybe won't make it look as easy as Chelsea did yesterday in terms of being able to cut through them at will because Chelsea are going to invite teams onto them.

They're going to allow teams to come onto them a little bit and break quickly.

And that could be devastating in terms of them racking up the goals this season.

Whether it's going to be enough for them to

win a trophy is a big question, but that's a case for a lot of sides.

But I think Chelsea supporters will be feeling really good about it because there's cohesion in that front line.

There's something about the team's got something about them.

And I think Nicholas Jackson, having always written off, maybe because he's not got that star name and nobody, not many people in this country had heard of him before he'd arrived here.

i i think he's a i think he's a perfectly good striker for chelsea at this stage of their their development can i call it development sure progression yeah investment i don't know the their amortized eight-year progression yeah i mean it shows what confidence does i i wonder what you you know mareska's obviously got a lot of criticism early will for you know the perhaps the treatment of raheem sterling you know conor gallagher being frozen out and whether that was all maresca it seemed like the sterling one was now he has the ones that he likes and i think we all sort of said well well, if you've got a million players, you've got to pick some and like back them.

And he's doing that.

Yeah, I think the difficulty for Maresco is definitely not involving the quality of player because they've got a good young squad, lots of potential, exciting individuals.

It's A, getting that combination right.

And B, keeping everyone happy because when you have so many players, and there's still quite a few in a bomb squad wandering around at Cobham, it is keeping morale up, keeping Camaradi, making sure everyone's part of one cohesive squad.

And that's what you've got to do.

Those players are going to score goals.

They're going to take teams apart like West Ham.

That's fine.

It's just whether you can have that sort of high morale consistently.

And if you can keep those players motivated when they have to come in, those other players that are now sort of just on trides, wondering if they are getting a chance.

But you see, Sancho was benched last week, comes in against West Ham and was excellent.

He looks like he's getting it right.

Whether that'll be the same come March, April, May, and obviously they've got European competition to help with that.

It'll be interesting, but yeah, there's no doubting what they can do.

It's just a case of keeping those players happy and maybe, just as an idea, lads, not buy another 10 players next summer.

Just try and work with what you've got.

You know, there's a goalkeeper somewhere sort of hiding under like a load of bibs at Cobben that they forgot about.

So it's that.

Keep to the plan.

Don't do anything silly.

Trust Mareska with the players he likes and maybe not randomly give someone else a nine-year contract next year.

Yeah, a lot of Tegui does when he looks sad, it sort of just gives David Moyes vibes as a sort of similarly sort of morose-looking chap.

And you just sort of think, oh no, they've just west the hammer's going, I've just got the same, I've got the same thing.

To Villa Park, Villa 3, Wolves won.

Seb, you were covering this.

I thought Wolves a bit unlucky in this.

I feel like they've been a bit unlucky so far to only have what a point this season.

Yeah, absolutely.

And their fixture list has been so difficult.

But how forgiving are owners?

I think they're probably they'll keep Gary O'Neill for the foreseeable future simply because they don't want to pay the money to let him go.

But yeah, I've covered a few Wolves games already this season and they are unlucky.

But I think they have this situation where when their game's going against them, there seems to be a lack of, and it's a simple thing to say, but a leadership in the team.

I see the players arguing amongst themselves and they fall apart quite quickly um we see we saw that obviously in the chelsea game newcastle they were one and up and then two quick goals you know the latter part of the game and yesterday was the same there was a bit towards the end when kunha was really frustrated the ball didn't reach him wasn't looking the right way then dawson passed it to him and then they had an argument about it and

the players coming off the bench didn't seem to have an an urgency or a even a cohesion with the rest of the side.

It was really unfortunate.

As for Villa, I think

Villa's game sort of matched my weekend actually because I own a few sheep and they went walkabout on the Friday afternoon.

Hang on a second.

This is interesting.

Yeah, so the sheep went walkabout on the Friday afternoon, and I had to go and find them, which was my prep time for the game, which meant that I was staying up a bit late to prepare for the game, and I was a bit all over the place, but I got my act together, and I have to say, the prep was really impressive by the end.

And that was basically Villa.

They were a bit all over the place place in the first half.

Diego Carlos

with the loose pass.

And there was a little bit of discontent in the crowd.

But it was interesting, of course, because Gary Shaw had passed away earlier in the week.

And it's quite emotional in there, I have to say.

And the Wolf supporters as well applauding in the eighth minute.

And the man who

wears his number now, the number eight, Tielemans, had a fantastic second half.

And once they brought Barclay on as well, they got control of that midfield.

And Ana had put in some great tackles in the first half, but there wasn't a control for Villa there.

And once they had that platform, there was no chance for Wolves after that.

They dominated the second half.

You're just thinking of the sheep now, aren't you?

Well, yes.

I mean, I am.

I think listeners would expect me to go in that route.

How many sheep?

And did you...

Did you find that...

Where had they all gone?

Were they all together still?

They got about 20 minutes down the road.

Somehow nobody had noticed them and he'd snuck off.

Yeah, there's four of them.

You have four sheep?

sheep four boys okay four sheep yeah yeah they're lovely they're lovely this initially when they saw me they thought oh no there he is and tried to run off but but i got them back you know they're all good all comfortable now and happy with the three points were you able to like track them by looking for bits of wool caught on the barbed wire fence or droppings footprints absolutely i'd head to the ground sniffing um and then i went to look for the sheep no i i went i i looked i knew the path they'd made they'd got through a hole in the fence and they'd made it all the way down so there's some potato fields around the back that had already been you know taken out the ground so that was that was okay so they'd gone past that sat in the trees i think i i couldn't find them um so actually we went to bed thinking oh gosh they've just

given up on them really and then woke up in the morning Really early.

This is the morning of the game.

Right.

Don't forget.

And I wandered out about 5 a.m.

Because I thought it was cooler then.

It was a hot day on Friday.

And

then there they were.

I think Peter Drury's doing the same thing.

I think Drury's, you know,

his pigeons have disappeared.

You know, back in the day, no one will have these shit.

John Motsons running after a herd of cattle that have gone somewhere.

I mean, surely John Motson's coat was based around his own sheep.

I mean, he must have been.

It also explains why Seb is dressed as a shepherd with that hat.

That's the reason for it and working towards this farry we both really enjoyed how ezra concern put that one in from the brilliant tieleman's cross yeah

it was like he was launched out of a trebuchet just appeared out of nowhere this

sort of

whizzing ball of flailing limbs and the ball just kind of hit him and went in

and he went into the net after it which is always good uh but that was another well-worked corner by Villa and a tip of the hat to to Austin Maxett Piece McPhee yeah absolutely it's a quick one said on Morgan Rodgers to watch him like you watch the whole game like looks like he's got everything right he cost eight million in January and I just wonder when you obviously see a bit of different shape of the game and you can see players differently when you're at the game what is your view of this chap I think he's the reason why we're not seeing Duran and Watkins as a front pairing.

I know that Emery's talked about that being a case and they were on together because they were chasing the game.

But

he looks like he has all the tools, really, and just at the moment, because the physical side is covered.

I think the technical aspect is covered as well.

He links up play very well, and I think it's just decision-making at certain times, and that will come.

And Emery really, really likes him.

I think Ramsey was his man last season, but then had the injury.

And he was almost forced to play Rogers, and he just went with it.

And I just think being a Villa fan at the moment must feel fantastic to have Bayern on the horizon, Celtic having one already in the Champions League, looking like a side.

I mean, even the Arsenal game, they didn't play too badly.

And I don't think they've even hit their top form actually this season either.

So

almost of all the teams in the league at the moment, arguably they're the happiest right now.

There's an argument to say that.

And with good reason to come back and win the friendly West Midlands Derby.

I mean, they were having a great time, both sets of supporters at points in the game.

Maybe we should just not even bother calling it a derby.

Just say these people like each other.

Something else.

To Craven Cottage, Barry.

Great performance from Fulham.

They've been Newcastle 3-1.

They've started the season pretty well.

Barry, there aside,

we often find it difficult to have an opinion on.

Have you now formed one?

No.

They're more proving to be more interesting than I thought they would be.

They're better than I thought they would be.

But I'm going to rein on the Fulham parade now by saying this defeat has been in the post for Newcastle.

I think it's been coming.

And Newcastle have been hoovering up points.

I think, were they unbeaten going into this game?

Could have gone top, yeah.

So I wasn't surprised they lost because they were due a defeat.

Too many of their big-name players aren't performing.

Bruno isn't performing.

Joel Linton isn't performing.

Anthony Gordon isn't performing.

Fabian Scher was poor in this game, he missed a good chance and he was badly at fault for Fulham's opener.

The one bright spot for Newcastle, sorry, I'm supposed to be talking about Fulham, aren't I?

Harvey Barnes is playing very well, but yeah,

Adamatriore

is

picking out players with his crosses.

He's doing damage to rival teams rather than just hurtling up the wing at great speed and then putting the ball out, playing the stand opposite.

I don't really have anything else to say.

I think Fulham are doing better than I thought they would.

Yeah, I mean, there are some real positive stories, aren't they, around Fulham?

Rao Jimenez, 9-12 now in the Premier League, and took that goal, like prime wolves, Jimenez.

And then I think Smith Row and Rhys Nelson, who, even if you're not an Arsenal fan, you sort of

like them as players, you know, both scoring, Smith Rowe looking happy.

These are sort of nice stories to come out of Fulham.

Yeah, I think with Jimenez, no one can really understand what impacts, you know, his injury at Arsenal was it.

You know, such a long road back,

a very difficult one to come back from, other players haven't.

You know, to have the confidence now must be magical for him, you know, and his family to, you know, because at the time when he came back, he didn't look like he was going to score many.

But when he was at Wolves,

he felt like he was going to move on to a bigger club and score goals wherever he went.

So it's great to see him back and what you know clinical finish and then I think you look at Smith Rowe just a player that wants to be the main man and has not had that you know was it not not barely finished on 90 minutes in his Arsenal career but now at Fulham I saw them lose opening night of the season but he and he probably not had a full preseason at that point and he didn't look 100% fit but always wanted the ball always wanted to be a nit did some damage caused problems for United in midfield which admittedly is not always the most difficult but yeah he just looks a man that is eager to take possession and make the difference for a team which he's which he's never really had I'd argue at Arsenal you know obviously shown what quality he operates with but at the same time is never someone relied upon by Arteta in big games and now beating teams like Newcastle who couldn't cope with him you know Nelson scoring at the end is you know positive for him he's again the one that's been on a periphery and the more minutes he gets, very talented football, the better for him and hopefully Fulham reap the rewards of raiding Arsenal for a couple of very talented players that have been underused.

In a few days where we've seen some amazing goalkeeping like David Rayer

at Atalanta on Thursday night and then Andre Inana for United.

It's quite nice to see Nick Pope looking like an old man bending down like to pick up a ball when Smith Rowe did that toe puck.

I took it early, but it did go down incredibly slowly.

I suppose he's very tall, isn't he, Nick Pope?

So we should give him some sympathy.

We will talk about goalkeepers because we're going to go to Spurs-Brentford and get to Vicario in a bit.

But Seb, like Spurs deserve this win.

Really important for them and almost sort of perfect in the goal scorers.

Solanke getting a goal, Brennan Johnson, and James Madison playing slightly deeper, who was absolutely brilliant.

This is another reason why we love football because he said three players there who I reckon probably a minute before they scored were all being slagged off by the Spurs

and have been for a period of time because Solanke needed a goal and even the managers, you know, Adipostoku has stated that really.

He just needs him to get that goal, get off the mark.

Same with Johnson.

And sometimes there's expectations of players.

You know, what are you getting?

But I think with these players, we shouldn't really be surprised with the performances from any of these players, really.

There's a reason, you know, not to be rude to Spurs, but the reason why they're at Spurs, because this is the market the Spurs are in.

These are the type of players that they end up having to sign.

And so, therefore, they just had to.

I just think the feeling of winning today was so important because you just have to, and I'll say it before, and I say it again, the key was when this game kicked off.

Because

that slot on the weekend is vital when you lose

three o'clock.

Get those wins under your belt.

This is where Newcastle were always going to lose this game.

Always.

Because this is why they won't be in the top three probably.

You have to, and why the sides that drew drew, because those sides are going to be near the bottom, playing each other, they're going to be near the bottom.

I think Spurs win a lot of the three o'clocks.

I mean, somebody can bring the stats barry.

I don't know if you've got access to those.

I don't have them at my fingertips.

But I imagine Tottenham do win a fair amount of games and

get themselves up the league in that fashion.

And, of course, Liverpool won.

Then I do feel for Brentford because I always think they're up against it every single game.

Because I heard Wolves supporters actually before the game against Phillis saying, well, it's not too bad.

I'll fixture this.

I know we've got Liverpool.

I know we've got Man City, but we do have Brentford away and that should be a winnable fixture and it's like well not not really

but I think all other teams of the league look at Brentford and think we should beat them

but they can beat anybody in the league and they've shown that you know they've probably picked up three points against every team in the league in the last since they've been promoted

well that's all I've got to say that's fine um but they were missing players as well weren't they missing you know Johan Wisser uh Norgaard was out as well so they weren't Spurs weren't being a full-strength Brentford.

It is worth mentioning Vicario Baz.

Really fun that he bounced the ball all the way down the field and the ref didn't notice.

And then some Brentford players got booked and the sort of madness that VAR can't get involved.

Yeah, I'm still not 100% sure why Var can't get involved.

But it's not denying a goal scoring opportunity or a red card.

So it's not a red card offence, so they can't.

Okay, right.

It's just odd.

I mean, he had a weird game.

He made some couple of brilliant saves.

The one in particular, uh, from a Kevin Shade downward header, like that was just a superb save.

And then a couple of times he he went walkabout.

He was sort of fumbling around on his hands and knees trying to stop Brian M.

Mueembo from um taking the ball around him.

Uh

so, I mean, I there's no doubt in my mind he's a good goalkeeper, but it it's nice to see him in a bit of a pickle that doesn't involve him being, you you know, bundled into the back of his own neck at a corner.

Producer Joel did write, Vicario denied Kevin Sharda.

I think he wants me to pronounce it Kevin Shardet.

This is no ordinary glove, which is, I mean, possibly the worst pun that's ever in football weekly history.

I like that.

Seb has his head in his hands.

Good result for Spurs.

They play Man United next Sunday.

Feels like there'll be a big crisis Klaxon hanging over the Tottenham Hot Spurs Stadium there.

And did we mention Mbumo's goal in the 22nd second, which was the second game they've scored in the second game in a row they've scored in the 22nd second.

It hasn't helped them in either.

And a very good goal it was too.

Brilliant finish.

He's a real smooth operator, isn't he?

Oh God, here we go.

Let's end this part before.

Look at the silence.

Absolutely nothing.

You've got nothing said for that.

Now I know why the sheep run off.

Yeah.

The good thing is, nobody knows the third Sarday hit.

so we're safe, aren't we?

We'll be back in a second.

We'll start part three at Anfield.

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, Liverpool 3 Bournemouth.

Nil, Will, you were at this one.

The slightly more patient Liverpool, but occasionally getting it launched still.

Yeah, I mean, I've completely forgotten about it after the Etiard yesterday.

Yeah, it turns out Liverpool are a lot better against teams that are really open.

Really helps them out.

I was at the Forest Game the previous week and just, you know, Liverpool weren't at the best, but couldn't get through them.

You know, it was all very slow, poor football.

But against Bournemouth, you know, Arifa Belaga made a few good saves before the opener.

which then he'd obviously forgotten what his role was, unfortunately.

And unlike Vaccario, decided against just coming out and catching the ball 20 yards yards from his own net, which was

in hindsight.

Nor full hit, right?

If we're all looking for consistency in the Premier League, they will just let it go.

It just shows the sort of difference that one error makes.

And Bournemouth had started well, they'd scored the goal in the fourth minute, but then it was ruled out for offside when Semenyu tapped in the back post.

He didn't need to be offside, so that would be really frustrating for Iraola, I'm sure.

But yeah, Liverpool were really good.

Louis Diaz was fantastic.

You know, he

gave the right back a horrid time even before the goal.

And then for for the goal, just

ping it up from Canate.

Lovely touch from Diaz after Kepa decided against coming to get him and put it into an empty night.

It was fantastic.

Bit of football from Diaz and what he deserved.

And then second goal, Trent wanders up the pitcher and right back as you do, get to the edgy area, slip it into Diaz under the keeper.

And Nuna's with a fine finish, and the game's done within 12 minutes from first goal to last.

And Liverpool, really good.

Ravin Birch, giving a load of room,

he's he's been fantastic in that number six role.

People keep saying you know can he do it?

Is that going to cause a few problems but obviously given time he's he's really good.

He wasn't great say against Forest when Gibbs White got to him and I'm suspicious in bigger games against teams like City Arsenal that it might be a bit different but at the moment he's proving me wrong.

He proved me wrong in Milan in midweek.

Nunes came in and scored his first goal in 15, I think that was.

Just shows the options that he's got.

Chiesa came on and looked bright.

Gap pose looking good.

You know, there's plenty to get excited about.

And that forest game is already looking like a little bit of a blip.

It's, you know, they've lost once, they've conceded one goal all season, they've won the rest.

It's all going pretty well for Arna.

I mean, it was quite funny.

He said before the match, he really likes playing against teams with a low block, which is obviously quite tedious, as we all found out.

Yes, he had.

And I said to him, I mean, this is more fun, Arna.

He's like, oh, yeah, but we concede a lot of chances.

So I prefer the low block.

And it is funny, they had 19 shots, Liverpool.

I think it was 13 on target, maybe.

But Bournemouth also had 19 shots, but only six.

So it showed how open it was.

And it was quite an entertaining game.

I don't think Keller really had to stretch himself.

So that's the difference.

But yeah, good signs for Liverpool.

Plenty going on in the starting 11 and the showroom that they can rotate it because Slot was stuck to the same team for most of the opening matches.

But now the quality of that squad is shining through.

So it'll be an exciting few months, I think, for Liverpool with the Champions League and Premier League looking on track.

I think you've covered that absolutely brilliantly, unless anyone else has anything to note.

Well done, Will.

Oh, that sounded very patronizing.

They're there.

Pat on the head for you.

Really good.

Applauding to the crowd.

I just want to point out, actually, Liverpool do this really well.

I mean, lots of clubs do, but I watched a bit of social content they did with Curtis Jones visiting a young fan in a cafe

and you know this fan who has some learning difficulties and and loves Liverpool.

And it was just one of those where, you know, sometimes clubs do these things that are absolutely beautiful.

And at a moment of weakness, because young Ian had been up since 3 a.m.,

it did sort of, you know, it got me a little bit choked.

So, well, Curtis Jones comes across as an absolutely wonderful guy.

Brighton 2 Forest 2, this Barry was actually a brilliant game of football, slightly overshadowed by what happened after it.

But it was a great game, this, I thought.

I think it was completely overshadowed by what came after.

But yeah, it was a very enjoyable game.

And it also had a moment of controversy, or a couple of them.

I think a draw between these sides was probably the fair result.

But Brighton,

I suspect Forrest will be a lot happier with the point than Brighton,

because Brighton, for the second week in a row, failed to put a game away when they had a...

quite long period in the ascendancy.

And the main talking point, I suppose, is Morgan Gibbs White being sent off for a second bucket of the fence.

Fairly wild tackle on how Pedro, I thought, and I'm pretty sure it's been outlawed.

It's a definite yellow card.

But it's the manner in which the second yellow was given that or brandished that seems to be the problem, insofar as the match referee seemed to be labouring under the delusion, and this is quite worrying, that if you win the ball, then it's a fine, the tackle is fine.

That's not the case.

Like, winning the ball is irrelevant.

And

it seems to be the case that the fourth official, Anthony Taylor, was the guy who insisted that the second yellow be given.

So that's a bit of a worry if an actual Premier League referee doesn't know that winning the ball does not mean a tackle is fair.

Do you not think perhaps like the ref does the ball signal, which is a kind of way of saying it's not a foul?

I mean, like, I know what you mean.

If you sort of literally, obviously, if you take the ball, but you break someone's legs in a reckless way,

unlike breaking someone's legs in a non-reckless way, but I mean, that does happen.

Do you see what I mean?

Like, you just do that ball thing.

This doesn't work in podcasting particularly well, but everybody knows what I'm doing with my hands.

That he just sort of was saying it's not a foul, even though, literally, I don't know.

I'm trying to mount a defense.

Well, that's what I am saying.

Yeah.

The ref was insinuating that because Morgan Gibbs White got the ball,

it wasn't a foul.

No, well, we're splitting hairs here, but what I'm saying is by just doing that action is

him saying it's not a foul, not him saying, well, he got the ball, so it's not a foul, but maybe I'm mounting a ridiculous defense.

Yes.

I mean, you're allowed to.

Your defence, I don't understand why

it's a defence.

I mean, I'm not saying I don't understand why you're defending him.

I just don't understand the defence you're mounting.

I do.

I was going to add to this particular point, because you're going to move on elsewhere, that it'd be interesting if it had been the other way.

Anthony Taylor had been the referee and Rob Jones had been the fourth official, because as a more senior referee, does he feel he's got to, you know,

chip in or add something more?

I don't know if the seniority played a part in this particular scenario, whether he was even asked for his opinion on it and he felt, no, I've got to, I've just got to tell you, young boy, that you got this one wrong.

Yeah.

You know, there's a little bit of that going on.

I love Brighton's goals.

I mean, Hinchwood's header is his textbook.

It's absolutely perfect.

And the Eternal Welbeck, you know, who I didn't really have down as a deadball specialist, but he has become one, hasn't he?

And David says, he spent much of the Bryant Forest game thinking that Jotter looks a bit like Jack Grealish would look if he kept on celebrating the treble, which is slightly unison, but did make me laugh.

Yeah, the Premier League match centre tweeted the referee issued a second yellow card to Gibbs White for a reckless challenge on Pedro.

Fabian Herzler and Nuno Esperito Santo were both sent off for their unacceptable technical area behavior following the incident.

Herzler looked completely miffed, didn't he?

That's a statement that explains nothing.

I mean, it doesn't clear up the controversy.

It just states what happened.

We know what happened.

We want to know why it happened

or how it happened.

It might be one of my favourite things in football when it's all just kicking off on the touchline.

Because

working in TV, you know, the director doesn't know where to go.

Does not know where to go.

It was a bit like...

Who do I get to?

And you can always hear off camera, you know, the second manager's been sent off, Nuna's been sent off, and the crowd goes,

oh, we need to get across to cover that as well.

Just that sort of chaos.

Red cards, I mean, they can ruin matches, but also when there's one on each side, as there was, I think, in the Preston Blackburn game as well, it just, I think it adds to it, actually.

Palace nil, Man United nil, Will.

Eric Ten Hag said that Man United ate Crystal Palace alive when they're referring to their first half.

Who would you eat first?

Will Hughes?

If you're not hungry, you'd go Will Hughes.

If you wanted a big feed, I don't know, Jefferson Lerma, maybe.

But I thought many United were really good in this game, Will, and they didn't win.

No, it's a new phenomenon for United.

Usually, they're terrible and lose.

So, you know, being good and not winning, I guess, is a positive.

Yeah, they're looking quite good, I think.

They had a lot of chances, and so the only worry, I guess, is they're not taking them.

I think Xerxe doesn't at the moment look like the most clinical of strikers, but Hoyland's on his way back, so that's positive for them.

They're playing some chart football.

Ganacho's had quite a few cameos and looked good.

Now he's starting.

Even Rashford has found some form.

It's all quite positive.

Erickson is even looking comfortably midfield, which is a shock to most people.

And with Agate building his minutes and getting used to United,

it's looking quite good.

Even the centre-back pairing of DeLitt and that lunatic Martinez are doing quite well.

And Ana's making double saves.

Yeah, they're even avoiding getting sent off the worst challenges you'll ever see.

So things are looking up at United.

Yeah, that Martinez challenge was a bit like a 70s kung fu film.

I know he's nowhere near any of the players, but it was quite funny.

I mean, the thing is, Palace could have sneaked it, couldn't they?

Like, it was actually quite an entertaining meal-mill, I thought.

Yeah, well, we were talking about goalkeepers earlier, and Dean Henderson played

like a man who had a point to prove to Manchester United and Eric Ten Hag,

and

But it was Andrea Nana who

made the best save of the game, the double save from Nketiah and Ishmi La Sar.

And then

Saar went on to tee up Eberici Eze for an opportunity you would expect him to convert more often than not.

And he fired it narrowly, wider the upright.

So

while Manchester United might have been the better team, Palace could have nicked it.

I just wanted to, because you were talking about eating footballers, I've just had a check.

Jefferson Lermer is three inches shorter than Will Hughes.

So actually,

he's quite spindly, Will Hughes, isn't he?

Will Hughes are quite, I think he's spindly.

Depends if you like a bit more bone or a bit more.

That's a good point.

It's a very good point.

He gives the air of being tiny, Will Hughes, but there you are.

Lester won Everton one, and Southampton won it.

Switch one?

Do Lester Everton first?

I mean,

you've had to cover Everton quite a lot, will haven't you and okay they gave up another lead it was incredibly wet this game

this doesn't feel like as disastrous as the other ones not just because they didn't lose but it was kind of okay no it's getting a point is three is good for everything at the moment as you've seen from their previous games where they picked up roughly none i went i was at the bournemouth game where they threw away the lead and with three minutes left and managed to lose 3-2 for him being 2-0.

That's a bad day professionally.

They're a weird team because the conceding goals where they didn't last year.

Not got Branfway, which is obviously a big issue now.

Had to make a few changes.

But in Dais, look really good.

He was really good against Bournemouth, and that's all been lost, funnily enough, when you can see three goals in nine minutes.

But

Daish always knows how to get out of these things.

They build momentum.

They go through a run of

three wins in four games, things like that.

But

it just feels so tired.

And I think at Goodison, I was there for Southampton in the League Cup.

There was just sort of the edge of mutiny with Daesh.

The thing with Daish's football is it's awful to watch, generally.

You won't pay.

And in order to keep that up, you have to win matches.

And when you're losing the first four games of the season in generally pretty pitiful fashion, fans get upset.

You've still got Ashley Young at 39 playing fullback because he's there, so he gets a new contract.

So there's a sense that things about turn, obviously, there's a lot of frustrations over the takeover, and you know, onto the fifth bidder that's not managed to get it over the line yet.

So you can see why this, you know, irped nature within the Everton fans.

But Calvert Lewins looks alright this season, they can keep him fit, as I say, and Dai's positive.

McNeil's having a decent year.

Tim Arogue Bunam is looking decent.

You know, Mangala's a good player.

So it's not a lost cause, but they need some positivity soon.

Otherwise, you know, Daish has irritated the fans with a few comments about fans come and go or fans leave matches and

that's what they do.

So yeah, I think it's going to be a big month for Daish if he's going to stick around.

Obviously everybody's going to

struggle to get rid of him because they don't really want to pay the compensation.

And if you want to replace him, you're going to have to find someone that plays football like him.

So you have to bring back David Moyes essentially.

um but yeah at least they're on the board so I hope that'll give them the confidence they need to to kick on a bit but yeah they're never far away from a little crisis at Southampton one Ipswich one Tyler Diblig looking like an excellent player isn't he lots of big clubs already circling about a last-minute equalizer for Ipswich I do want to focus Seb on the referee Sam Mallison saying hello there to the ball as he walked out I can't tell you how much I love this moment.

And

there is a part of me that thinks maybe it was just VAR in his ear at that exact moment.

But it does very much look like he's talking to the ball like Ray Winston talks to another gangster.

You know, hello there.

That sort of vibe.

I think it's absolutely...

And like some people, I tweeted out, some people were like, oh, God, look at referees.

They love everything.

But I thought it was just a lovely moment.

There he is.

Oh, there you are.

Some of you rubbing the sheep.

No, he's...

The problem that referees have is they still can't get a break because I saw that.

I saw you tweet that and comments underneath just people said yeah but he didn't have the right amount of time on did he or he missed that challenge or blah blah blah so they could just can't get break I don't think they were allowed to have fun actually it's almost uh

so to have that little moment before the game's even kicked off I think is was quite nice to see it has to be said I mean it is slightly odd Barry I mean it's nice but it's an odd thing to look at an inanimate object and say hello

I don't know is it

all we want from our affiliates is consistency.

So get every single one of them to introduce themselves to the ball before each match.

Or else he has to say hello to every inanimate object he sees.

Or no inanimate object.

I haven't watched enough of him walking out and picking the ball off the plinth to see if he does it every time.

Or he just particularly liked this ball and he decided to have an affinity with this football.

Well, I think

it's his first season as a Premier League ref, I think.

And I think his dad was a ref.

So I just

could be wrong.

I think it was his dad was a ref.

So maybe his father used to speak to football as well.

Possible.

It's a family tradition.

I don't know.

And apologies, Sam, if I'm mixing you up with another referee.

Yeah, and apologies to Southampton and Ipswich fans going, that's not the insight we wanted.

But, you know.

Well, I mean, we can talk about Southampton and Ipswich, but I don't think it's going to make very nice listening for the fans of either side because they both look hopelessly out of of their depth at the moment.

And it's a bit of a worry, really, isn't it?

Because the three teams that came up last season went straight, or the season before last went straight back down

could happen again.

And

that's why Southampton and Ipswich didn't win their game and Leicester and Everton didn't win their game at three o'clock on a Saturday playing each other.

None of those four teams could win the game and that's going to spell the end of their seasons, but only three can go down, of course.

All right.

That'll do for today.

Thank you so so much, Barry.

Thank you.

Thank you, Will.

Thanks, Max.

Thank you, Seb.

Thank you.

Go tend to the sheep.

Women's Football Weekly is back.

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Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove.

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