It’s Manchester City’s title again and Klopp says farewell: Football Weekly

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Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

And so the Jeopardy lasted 79 seconds.

79 seconds and then Phil Foden just gave himself time and banged it into the top corner.

Fitting that the player of the year did it and used up a couple more goals before the Euros.

That'll be the unprecedented four in a row then since the league began in 1888.

A truly amazing achievement, albeit with the 115 elephants in the room.

Arsenal did what they had to do, only just big question for them is after two years of being so close, can they go again?

At Anfield, a pitch perfect send-off for Jürgen Klopp.

Without him, we might be talking about even greater domination for Manchester City.

If football moves you, it is hard not to get emotional watching the love Liverpool fans have for him.

Spurs are up to fifth.

A win against Newcastle in Melbourne on Wednesday would move them above Villa.

Is that how this works?

Deserve's leaving Brighton.

Palace are the best team in the world.

And Moises Caicedo scores from the halfway line.

There's no time for anything else.

We probably won't talk about your club enough.

We'll answer your questions.

And that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

On the panel today, Barry Glendenning, welcome.

Hello, Max.

Hello, Philippe Auclair.

Bonjour, Max.

Ah, bonjour sava.

Just desulé.

And Troy Townsend, welcome.

Yes, just a hello from me.

Yeah, is it worth saying, Barry, that I did get a a big laugh for that

Tottenham thing in the intro there and going to Melbourne?

And, you know, that wouldn't be heard from the listening.

No, I would like to stay for the record that everyone...

I threw my head back and guffawed loudly.

And Troy and Philippe were also music.

I think Spurs basically went straight from the ground to the airport.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Yeah, I noticed that.

And I'm just wondering.

Are Newcastle on the same flight?

Or is it the same thing?

I thought they should get the same plane.

I thought thought it'd be good if they got the same plane.

You know, I think you're absolutely right.

And my other thought was: I mean, I played football yesterday.

If you put me on a flight at two hours after I'd played, my legs would be absolutely rotten, especially you know, I've done that flight before.

Fly me.

Let's get to the title race.

Manchester City have won the league.

They beat West Ham 3-1.

Fourth consecutive league title.

First time any club has achieved that in the history of the top division.

So Huddersfield did three in 1924-26.

Arsenal 33 to 35, Liverpool 82 to 84, Man United twice

in the 90s and the 2000s.

So we do have to say, Barry, this is, with caveats, quite an extraordinary achievement.

It is a very extraordinary achievement.

As Erling Harland said yesterday, winning a league is very difficult.

So to do so four times in a row.

is an incredible achievement.

Even with the quality of players, manager that City have just to maintain the intensity and to maintain the desire and the hunger.

I thought they wouldn't win it this season because I thought once they got the treble and they'd won three in a row, the players would take their foot off the gas.

And if you go back to mid-December, City were seven points off the top of the table.

They were losing against Luton.

And

I think someone flicked a switch somewhere and they came back and they won that game.

And I don't think they've lost one since.

And Arsenal did very little wrong.

And you can point to various, you know, was it the Villa game?

Was it when they didn't go for the throw against Man City?

Was it the draw with Fulham?

Where did Arsenal lose this title?

Well, I don't think Arsenal did much wrong.

Just the standard that city set is so high that it is nigh on impossible to beat them.

And Philippe, just the way that Foden takes that ball and then puts it in the top corner and you go, okay,

he's good.

It's fine.

You've won the league.

There we go.

Yeah,

he is actually one of the main reasons why they have been able to do what they have done.

Remember, last season he was a little bit underwhelming, wasn't he?

I mean, there were actually people thinking he's not really in the starting lineup, is he?

In this newish role, which means he's still a kind of a Swiss Army knife, he can play any kind of position you wish.

But he's found now a kind of what we call a tranche in French that perhaps he didn't have before and

is an exceptional finisher as well.

I'm not absolutely sure that it augurs well for England because the Phil Foden we see for Manchester City personally, I still have to see him for England.

But no, and he was voted Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers, he was voted Player of the Year by, I suppose, the Premier League fans.

Yeah, he's really gone into another dimension, which had been promised to him for quite a while.

I was actually astonished to realize that it's his sixth title.

Hmm, he's 23.

Yes,

six titles.

That's crazy.

I mean, how many will he end up with?

I mean, it's extraordinary.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to sort of 2038 when he's like turning out for, I don't know, Birmingham in league one.

You know, and we just go, oh, look, there he is.

25 title, Phil Fogen, still playing.

He says, I'll never retire.

I guess the only other person, Troy, who could be Player of the Year is, is a man who wasn't nominated, which was Rodri in the Premier League Player of the Year.

72 games unbeaten, scored the key goal, or one of the key goals, I guess, in this game.

But like that record of being unbeaten for that long is totally ridiculous.

Unbelievable.

Such a great talent, a guy who knows his role in the team, has added some really, really good goals, like you've said.

You know again

just passing it into the net yesterday wasn't it but his all-round contribution to that team to have like you say to have that record is is amazing and it's a city side that you know winning this title this this may be the best one

missed de Bruyne for quite a lot of the season but didn't really miss him if that's the case miss Harlan for a number of games as well and he came back not the same so to keep that I think both have mentioned there Barry and and Philippe, to keep that mindset, to keep that attitude after winning the treble, to go for it again, to be behind for a lot of the season and then you know, creep in front just at the right time

shows the work that goes on behind the scenes.

And I think Roderie is one of those champions of what Pep demands from his team, and he is a demanding manager, as we all know.

But how the displays go on the field of play.

Such a great sight.

I listen, I love watching them.

I know a lot of people have got bored and

this city, this city, that.

But I love watching them.

And Phil Foden, just to mention on Phil Foden, I mean, I remember when people were saying that Pep was handling him all wrong.

He wasn't bringing him in in the times that he should have brought him in.

He's a young lad who needs to be send him all on to Preston.

Yeah, but as you guys have mentioned, sixth title.

27 goals, I think, 27, 28 goals this season.

It's absolutely phenomenal.

Absolutely phenomenal.

I mean, you're making it sound like yesterday was a total procession max a bit and the the up for grabsometer the needle briefly twitched into life for about you know five minutes either side of half time in in both games and you're going oh and then again when we thought thomas sucek had scored but he but he hadn't it was ruled out quite correctly but it was it was fairly straightforward but we we almost had a bit of last day drama yeah i mean it was a it was a half decent goal from Kudas as well, wasn't it?

The interesting thing with Pep, Philippe, is that, you know, there are these things that happen.

Like last season, we go, look,

he's turned John Stones into a midfielder, and we just think, this is, look, he has reinvented football again.

And then this season, John Stones, you know, it's not even playing.

You know, like, like, there's the sort of, he makes these changes, yeah, without you sort of...

I think he's injured.

He's just on the bench, I think.

He has been injured a lot of this season.

That's been part of the problem because he would normally be in the starting lineup um well i mean he keeps in inventing reinventing players um guardiol for example has popped up in places where we were not expecting him to to to pop in he's actually been very flexible in terms of his tactical setup this season because very often he's been i wouldn't say accused but he said okay pep is 433

and there are obviously um elements of it which change the fact that one of his full backs or center backs moves into midfield and so on this sort of thing but usually he's a 4-3-3 man.

But not this season, he's actually changed.

Shot then changed quite irregularly.

I don't know if it's because he was trying to find out the best way to integrate new players, because we shouldn't forget as well that during this season there are players we hadn't seen very much at all who have played a big role

or played a role.

Lewis, for example, Bob Alvarez was very important for a while as well, even if we've seen less of him.

And he has this knack for finding new solutions with the same players.

Because I really thought that they would be hurt far more by the departure of Ikai Günogan than they were.

And they were hurt, because he had been absolutely essential in last year's trouble.

And when you lose a player of that dimension, as well as a person, he's an extraordinary leader himself, he still managed to do it.

Esther managed to do it.

And yeah,

it is the weird Manchester City paradox.

They're an easy team to admire and a very difficult team to love.

And which is, you could say the same thing of their manager, but you have to admit that what they have achieved on the field has been absolutely admirable.

Mark says, can you imagine how snippy and condescending we'd all be if the winner of La Liga or Bundesliga sauntered off to numerous league titles with lots and lots of financial irregularity charges against them?

It all just feels sort of meaningless.

I would say, Barry, I think at some points we have been snippy and condescending over this.

I think we can condescend with the best of them, Max.

Yeah,

look, the players who won the title yesterday, those charges are nothing to do with them.

It's not their fault.

If the charges are proven, and there has to be city fans out there who want this dealt with as much as everyone else does, because everything they do is tainted by the association with these charges.

And if the charges are proven, then it

means all the foundations for Manchester City's success were built illegally without planning permission, financial planning permission.

That will surely sully everything they've done.

It'll mean

other teams have been robbed of titles they could have won.

Found innocent, you know, great.

We'll all have to sort of sheepishly admit we were wrong.

And who knows what the punishment will be?

I'd say it'll be very mild compared to what they deserve if they are found guilty.

Barney wrote a good piece about this saying he was at the Emirates, and we'll get to that game in a second.

But he wrote that, look, Everton and Forrest have had points deductions for charges that are less than these charges.

And City won the league by, what, two points?

But I wonder, Troy, you know, football fans are so tribal that a lot of fans are like, yeah, charges.

But if they were against their club, they'd be like, oh, well, actually, you know, so so, so, because actually, if you're a city fan and these charts, they are found guilty, you should be furious with your owners because they didn't need to, they didn't need to do it if they are found guilty.

I mean, I keep saying if, if they're found guilty, right?

There was no need for that.

If, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, this is the whole thing, though, isn't it?

Yeah, this is the whole thing.

You, you know, Everton lost eight points, didn't they?

And their fans were up in arms, um, and they were, you know,

saying that it shouldn't have happened to the players on the field field of play.

The way the whole process of charges, whether it's Man City, whether it's Nottenham Forest, whether it's Everton, whether it's someone else down the line, it's just been handled incredibly poorly by the Premier League.

And, you know, I don't think anyone,

you know, Richard Masters turning up at Arsenal yesterday.

You know, you've handed City the title on many occasions, so why you decide now that you're just going to go to Arsenal because you don't want to hand the trophy over

is just ridiculous.

But the Premier League are making a rod for their own back in this.

And whenever this situation gets resolved, whatever the way it gets resolved, you know, we might be scrapping this pod because it might not be history for Man City.

You know, they might have their titles taken away from them.

So we have to say that it's theirs and it's history at the moment.

But

I just don't know what's going on and it's not fair on genuine football fans.

It's not fair really on the good people at these clubs that have had their points deducted.

But it's something that is going to continue to be spoken about until we finally get to that case.

And then there'll be appeals.

So and then there'll be more appeals.

And who knows when we finally I'm not sure we will all be around at that time.

How many titles

Phil Foden will be lifting his 88th Premier League title?

Philippe.

Yes,

just to bounce back on the Everton situation, I think it's quite when we say, well, the fans of any club would tend to side with their owners.

If you look at Everton fans, and I've got actually quite a few Everton fans among my friends,

not many of them think that the punishment was undeserved.

They thought it was harsh, perhaps, but they didn't think it was undeserved.

And in fact, the one person that they are pointing at is Farad Moshiri.

He's the former owner for putting the club in such a situation to start with, but very few of them would tell you, oh, the charges are completely imagined and the rest of it.

No, they all agree that the charges were founded on something which had happened.

Manchester City is an odd one because I do think that because of how far this has been, you were talking the elephants in the room.

These elephants have been trampling in the room for how many years now?

Because before the Premier League case, there was a UEFA case.

They're very dainty elephants, aren't they?

Since they haven't like

they're very dainty.

You know, they're like in Fantasia.

Do you remember?

I don't know if you saw the...

Yeah, you know, those kind of elephants with the tutus and the little belly shoes.

Really cute.

And

it's been around.

They've been around for a long time.

And I think one of the reasons that the Man City fans are so

up in arms against the Premier League, UEFR, and so forth, is because they themselves are aware that there is something which is not quite right.

And I think it's this...

having to live with that, that your club has been accused of all these terrible things for years and years and years and years, and you don't see the end to the situation.

So it develops, which is beyond the siege mentality, because you're not just defending yourself, you're also attacking.

And because of that,

they can sometimes have a very strange attitude towards people like us who will discuss these things

or discuss the fact that they've got sponsors that perhaps

they shouldn't have, which is something that I'm quite vocal about, notably their Asian betting sponsor.

And this

distantiation that the fans have with what is happening with their club is something which is uniquely city.

And I cannot, I mean, I'm putting the question to you, to all of you.

Even the big, you know,

the Alex Ferguson teams, which were beating everybody inside, the Liverpool team that was beating everybody inside, there was not this ambivalence that we have today with Manchester City.

Really, there was not.

There was resentment, people, we hate them, you know, and so forth.

We want to beat them so badly.

But there was not the ambivalence that we have today that we are constantly having to check ourselves, saying they're admirable, they've played some amazing football, Pep Guardian is a bloody genius, and he is.

And then, yet, there is always, always that thing at the back of our minds that we cannot fully embrace what they've achieved, which Pep has talked about, by the way.

He said he can't understand it, and it's a complicated matter, I have to say.

I can understand the siege mentality, right?

And as we keep saying, they may not be found guilty of any of these charges.

Simon says, just on West Ham, I've noticed one of the West Ham keepers has dyed his hair blonde.

Do you reckon he listens to the pod?

This is his bid to be told apart from the other fella.

Alec, we've done a lot on West Ham.

And Lopotegui coming in.

Let's go to the Emirates.

Then Arsenal beat Everton 2-1.

Look, they stuttered.

They did win, Philippe.

It wasn't enough.

How are you feeling about this season?

I feel

uplifted.

I feel happy, proud, joyous.

A few things think, it could have gone better, but even the things that didn't go well, that's fine, because, and that's the reason, I think, why so many people have a lot of time for this team, because there's an element of jeopardy with Arsenal, which is crazy when you think.

I mean, they've got the best defensive record.

Look at their stats.

They've got the best defensive record in the league, and yet there's always this impression of fragility.

as a fan you feel that for your team all the time of course you always think that every time that your opponent has got the ball they've got to score but they do leave space they do give opportunities the keeper tavid raya doesn't appear to be the safest of keepers yet is the golden gloves winner

and because of all that and the fact that you know that people were really wondering yeah last season was a bit of a flash in the pan we saw how it's all unraveled in the the end.

We'll see how they'll be able to what they'll do in the Champions League, blah blah blah.

And they've answered all the questions.

So there are some regrets.

I have to say, maybe the bitterest thing for me is not the loss against Villa because Villa were just fantastic that day, but it's the elimination by Bayern.

That is...

I still think back to that game thinking, my goodness.

Yeah, they didn't turn up.

They didn't turn up for those things.

Well, no, I think they turned up, and it's almost nothing.

They committed too bad a defensive mistake.

For the life of me, I still don't understand how Harry Kane wasn't sent off for that elbow on Gabriel.

I just don't understand.

And there were chances,

and when it was 2-0 after the first game, you thought they have chances, and they had chances in the second game.

And you think, hmm, they didn't quite play as well as they could have.

That's true.

But other than that, I think it's a nine out of ten, and probably the most satisfying for me, the most satisfying season since 2005 and 2006,

which was also, which is, we had choice, I know, but that was the Champions League final, which we should have won.

The offside goal.

The off-site goal, yes.

Henrik Larson's good, though, isn't he?

Yeah.

Oh, dear.

You're saying there should be video technology.

Let's not go there.

Get to Gary O'Neill in a minute.

It was interesting.

Mark Chapman on 5 Live, Troy made it.

He was watching all the game.

He had all 10 screens and all the games there.

And he said, look, of all the teams.

the most upset are Arsenal.

He's watching all the full times.

And I know sort of relegation have been sorted and there wasn't a whole lot to play for, but that's quite an interesting sign.

Perhaps it should motivate, shows that these guys will go again, because the hard thing for them must be twice they have just got so close.

And you just sort of think each season, while other teams are going to get better, it's going to be harder.

Listen, I think we have to be incredibly grateful for the team, the squad that Arteta has put together that has been challenging over the last few years.

We have to be grateful to Liverpool because other than that, Man City would have won both titles at a canter.

I watched the highlights and looked around after the game and I was quite surprised to see tears, but I suppose that's how much they'd put into trying to get as close as they could to City.

And then realising, I think Philippe and Barry have both mentioned it, that

actually they were also reflecting during that period of time as well.

that Villa game is one, has to be one, where you think, you know, if we had turned up that day and how incredibly good Villa were,

Arsenal will still feel they should win those games.

Arteta at the time defended his approach at the Etihad.

You know, as far as he was concerned, you know, this was the way to go and get a result after what City did to them in the two games last season.

So, look, I don't think there will be regrets.

I think once they kind of

oversee their season, I think they'll be incredibly proud of what they did, incredibly proud of how they pushed City.

Probably looking for Hyung Ying Sung again, still now and wondering why he did what he did at the time so that's lucky he's on a plane um

but you know it's hard words for me i'm not an arsenal fan and and everyone knows that but i did say that i think this would be an incredible season for them and i agree with philippe i think the biggest regret will be that champions those champion league games because however good buyer munich were in those games I think Arsenal would approach those games slightly differently if they could do it all over again and probably get themselves through.

Any strong thoughts, Baz?

No,

just like I said earlier, I don't think they did much wrong.

It's very easy with the benefit of long-term hindsight to say a draw at the Yeti had was a bad result, but at the time it's a good result.

It's always a good result.

They've won 16, drawn one and lost one of their last 18.

By any other...

The number of points they got would have won the league last season.

They beat City

and they're still lost.

But hashtag bottle job or bottlers was trending on Twitter yesterday because, you know,

alluding to Arsenal's failure to win the title, and that's just nonsense.

They were just beaten by a team who are better than them.

Yeah, just an update on Everton's would-be buyers, 777 partners, who've had their assets frozen in Belgium because of a defaulted payment relating to their ownership of standard Liage.

Last week, protesting fans from Liage blocked the team coach from reaching the stadium.

It was reported on Tuesday the potential buyers have been given a two-week extension, nine months since the start of the takeover process began.

Richard Masters said, let me be clear about the Premier League's role as regulator.

It is to perform this test.

It's not to decide who the current owner wants to sell the club to.

The Premier League is very clear the conditions that have to be met by 777 if it wishes to become owner of Everton.

At the moment, because the takeover has not been confirmed, I'll leave it to the Committee of MPs to make its own conclusions as to where we are with that.

777 partners have been accused of multi-million dollar fraud in the US.

777 has not commented publicly on the case.

Doesn't sound, Philippe, like the dream you owner.

I've got to say.

No, I have got to hold my hand up here together with my friend and colleague Paul Brown.

We've been reporting regularly over what's happened.

There have been demonstrations in Paris as well.

There was a very, very strong statement by the Ultras of Herta BSA in which they own

the majority of shares of the shares, which can be owned by a private company.

This is 50 plus ones, different.

There have been demonstrations in Brazil.

In Brazil, by the way, there are assets, they've been kicked out of the club by a judicial ordinance.

There were also documents which have been filed in the court in New York, which is related to the fraud allegations by Lyndon Hall, in which it is said that the owners of 777,

Josh Wanda and Stephen Pascoe, had resigned from their position.

So, and to be absolutely honest, they're basically in a repossession situation.

They owe so much money that their main creditor, AGAP, has basically taken over the operation.

And they won't be the next Everton owners, that I can tell you.

And I think Everton has dodged a mighty bullet in this particular case.

And fingers crossed that

The domino effect doesn't create primes for some of the great clubs that they have in their portfolio, like Genoa and Stoda and Vasco da Gama.

You know, these aren't really proper clubs which deserve better.

That'll do for part one.

Part two, we'll begin at Anfield.

Coach, the energy out there felt different.

What changed for the team today?

It was the new game day scratchers from the California Lottery.

Play is everything.

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Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

So Jurgen Klopp's reign ended with a 2-0 win over Wolves after nine years at Anfield.

Won the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup, two league cups.

Troy, it looked like he was holding back tears as Anfield sang, you'll never walk alone.

His speech to the fans was brilliant.

And I was watching it in a cafe in Melbourne, and even I was welling up, and I am not a Liverpool fan.

It's amazing what football does to us, isn't it?

I think the whole process of his departure, his leaving, has been handled magnificently well by the football club in some of the footage that they've put out this week and the interviews and on the day forget the football this was not about the football this was all about Jürgen Klopp this was all about his last hurrah again you saw the emotion of some of the players didn't you Virgil van Dijk Trent Alexander you know Trent talks about him bringing him in as a youngster when youngsters were not playing for Liverpool and and believing and trusting him you know he he bought a captain who embodies everything that I think that what Jürgen would have wanted on the field of play I would imagine that he will have his quiet and emotional moments away from the glaze of the cameras, away from everybody, quiet moments with his families.

I heard some of the speech inside the changing room.

And look, there'll be many that, again, also, you know, his reputation by the end of it, people call him a mona and this, that, and the other.

And he's pushed officials, he's done all these crazy, crazy things.

But name me a manager that hasn't at the moment at the top level, but he's leaving because of the pressure of the game.

And I think that's quite sad.

I think it's quite sad.

You know, you want to keep these people.

You know, we've had him in the Premier League for nine years.

We've had his expertise, his football teams, his creation of a style of play.

And he's leaving because of the pressure of the game.

And that's a conversation probably for another day in regards to the mental well-being of managers as well.

But yeah, look,

you gravitate to him.

I've had the privilege of meeting him and having some time with him.

Well, not meeting him in the flesh.

Well, I have, yes, and having some time with him.

And you just gravitate.

Haven't you?

Come on.

i was just thinking of something that i did online uh with him which was brilliant and then remember meeting him at the remember meeting at one of the award nights um after the the the title winning year so yes i have met him we had a little conversation he's such a nice guy i don't know what you think barry i i

it's funny isn't it liverpool obviously liverpool fans think their their club is different and special and lots of other fans are quite cynical about that and the truth is somewhere somewhere in between right it is an incredibly special football club i and and i i i just found myself totally moved by that well i missed the send-off because i was i wanted to hear what gary o'neal had to say about the red card for nelson semedo

so i i don't really know what happened

um no i i

i thought there was a danger that this was something that could descend into mawkishness that would be very easy to ridicule, but it didn't.

And I thought the club handled it.

They absolutely nailed it.

Pitch perfect.

He's clearly a special guy who's won a place in the hearts of everyone who sports Liverpool.

He got the city,

he got the people.

It was a real special relationship they had, and he'll be missed from the Premier League.

I mean, he could be a chippy old git sometimes as well, but you know, we all can be.

We all have bad days and whatnot.

I was going to say,

but there we go but um no i think i think he'll be missed he's he's uh but i yeah i hope

i don't know how long he'll stay out of the game while he was at mant mainz uh and and brushy dortmund

he used to work occasionally as a pundit on german television and by all accounts he was absolutely brilliant you know entertaining knowledgeable funny um

incredibly well informed obviously uh so i i i'd quite like to see him do a bit of that over here.

I'd say it won't be too long before, you know, I'd imagine the sky bookers are already on his case for a Monday night football gig, you know, at the very least.

Get him some pundit shoes and he'll be funny.

Yeah, I mean, his delivery, that speech was great.

Deadpan, plays to the crowd, a few comedy aside, sung the Ana Slot song.

I saw, Philly,

some bit of footage from a Liverpool fan channel of like, you know, someone going up to people outside Anfield going, what does clot mean to you?

What does Liverpool mean to you?

And this this guy went, Oh, actually, look, my dad introduced me.

This old guy said, My dad, and here he is.

He's almost 90, like the oldest man on earth wandered up and sort of bowed in a little sort of old man's hat and then said, Look, he's up there with Shankley.

And is that, is that, and, and that is a big, that is a big thing to say.

And it's, it's so hard to compare a person you see week in, week out with this kind of mythical figure, I think.

Comparing him with Shankley, um,

there's nobody else that he can be compared to in in the history of Liverpool Football Club because, in a way, the club was in a better state objectively when he inherited it than when Shankley inherited it,

which he had to take it off first from the second division.

Let's forget that, and transformed it into this massive superpower.

Well, him and his.

and Fagan and Paisley as well.

The extraordinary thing is that you could feel it from the very beginning because it was the perfect note that was missing from that tune, and they just got it right.

You know, the right colour for that particular painting.

Everything was in perfect equation in terms of the character, the person, the style of play, and the fact that he was so open to, well, to open himself precisely to the culture of Liverpool.

And I agree, it really is great when you hear it means more or mascaroon club, you know, it really, because I could say the same thing for my club, and I'm sure you would say the same thing, and Troy and Barry.

For us, our club is super special, but it is true that Liverpool, there is something a little bit unique about it, because not many clubs have this capacity of making

managers become scouses.

Because it's true of Klopp, but it was true of Benitez, and it was true of Gerard Rouyer.

And if you do not have this dimension, you cannot succeed as a manager at Liverpool.

It's not good being a great manager or a great coach is not enough.

Like, Slot will also have, even though he's a head coach and not a manager, as Klub himself said with a little

bit of peak, actually, in his delivery.

If you don't get that, you won't succeed, which is unique.

Every club is different,

but Liverpool's difference is different in a way, if

this makes sense.

I mean, you say all the clubs are special.

And Cambridge is special to me.

But I recall the quarterfinal of the FA Cup against Crystal Palace and, you know, a local news reporter going around the streets asking people if they were excited about the game, and most people didn't know it was on.

I think you'll be hard-pressed to say it's quite a special in that sense of what it means to a city and what it means to a place.

Troy, what do we?

I mean, Barcelona is the game, isn't it?

For Klopp.

That moment, that corner of Rigi.

I mean, there are so many moments.

Well,

you know, when I was on that online call with him, here we go again.

He mentioned Klang.

Well, look, he mentioned what he said to

his players at the time, and he kept it very simple because he said this is the game where we can create history and our grandchildren and beyond would remember us forever and ever.

He said it was no big speech, and

you look back at that game, and I look back at the first game, and there was a chance, wasn't there, for Barcelona to go even more ahead at that time as they were running at will at that Liverpool defence and they didn't, and a Messi's free kick and all of that.

And you thought, this is done, there's no way back how he managed to

get his team to deliver on that day.

And Anfield is an incredible place when it's buzzing, and when it's up, and when the fans believe, and they believed from the kickoff, you know, and it was incredible.

And that wave of emotion and drive to go and win that game.

And, like you say, the Origi goal

is just unbelievable.

You can't compare it to anything.

And I know there's been great times at other clubs and great times at Anfield itself, but it's almost like that will stand out in history.

And it's the moment that kind of nowed his kind of history at the football club was to do that.

I was there this season, and I know you don't like me saying I've been to places Max for some reason or another, but I have been to other football clubs.

No, no, only if you have been to them.

I mean, I don't mind, you know.

It was just when you're not sure yourself, that's all.

But crazy, it's just an unbelievably, incredibly atmosphere.

You know,

I've sat in the away end title or stood in the away end and thought this place is quiet and for the looting game this year i had the privilege of sitting with the board members and honestly it sends shivers down you it sends shivers down it's an incredible place and they've had an incredible manager for the last nine years and

slot coming in has got a lot to live up to um a lot to live up to um to keep that club in the manner that it expects to be kept you know and listen you've got to remember they will be disappointed.

What was it, nine points at the end that they were off it?

So they will be disappointed.

But the override and emotional of their gaffer leaving was a real positive for the end of the season.

It would be interesting to think of the impact it will have on Pep Guardiola, for example.

Well, he was quite emotional in his press conference when he said about him leaving.

Yeah, and because

the loss for Liverpool is big, but the loss for the Premier League is even bigger, I think.

It's massive.

It's absolutely huge because the Premier League has always fed on very strong personalities, not just players, but managers.

It's always been a league of managers and not necessarily a league of gentlemen.

But

who's left, basically?

So, Guadiola is still there, and Mikel Arteta is the king.

Yeah, growing reputation.

But in terms of personalities and people who are going to give us the stories that let's not hide it, we love that they're going to be in fairly short supply because we are we've entered an era of different type of managers slot is by all accounts a great communicator but again he will be a head coach and most of the other other managers you can see in the clubs which are are not this they do not have the same

or they do not give the impression having the same human in hinterland and emotional hinterland as club has and club has been basically yeah he's been injecting emotion in that competition.

And with him gone,

there's going to be a certain lack.

Yeah, maybe.

I mean, I mean,

that takes us quite neatly to the race for the non-Champions League European places, because it begins with Tottenham in fifth and Ange Postakoglu, who I think does have that.

And he said afterwards, contrary to my general demeanor, I've loved every minute of it.

They ended up fifth.

They beat Chevy United 3-0.

Highlight of the game was Pedro Porro absolutely belting in Tottenham's second.

Barry, at the end of October, they were five points clear at the top of the table.

They've finished fifth.

And I think around that time, you know, I remember talking about this on the pod saying, anyone who's top at this point finishes in the top two or three.

And I was getting a bit giddy.

But they did finish eighth last year.

The Europa League is winnable in as much as anything is winnable for Tottenham.

So you'd say this has been a good, a good season.

Yeah,

good, but ultimately dissatisfying because

their worst spell came at the end of it, I suppose.

And they lost those, what was it, four in a row or five out of six.

And towards the end of the season, and that's kind of what we remember.

But they got off to a terrific start.

You know, in much the same way...

we're going to kind of forget how bad Chelsea were earlier in the season because they came good at the

end of the campaign.

I've never been to one, but apparently, if you watch a Rolling Stones gig these days, you know, Mick Jagger is 100 years old, so he can't give it too much welly up for the whole show.

So he doesn't really bust out the moves until the last, you know, the encore, and that's what people remember, the last few songs.

So

on the face of it,

I suspect most Spurs fans, and there were quite a lot of anti-sceptics who I think most of them have been converted.

Maybe they've changed their minds in the last couple of months.

But I think, now he said

after the game, if you, you know, the reports said, if I'd offered you fifth at the start of the season,

would you have taken it?

And he said no.

But I think most Spurs fans probably would have.

Where I think he let himself down was in the Cups.

Yeah.

They didn't play one in that game, Troy.

It's interesting because you say,

Barry, you said that most Spurs fans would be um

you know happy with fearful and he's turned around their thoughts and opinions

on a rival pod I heard some what a fan pod I heard some Spurs fans absolutely going in on him and and talking about you know if this was

earlier on in the season that the potential is that he could have got that should have got the sack And this just shows the attitude and mindset because it was those same Spurs fans that had said that they'd won the league come October.

and the fact that the running and the they were questioning the style of play, you know, ignoring the injuries, ignoring the fact that it's the first season and just questioning the fact that they were getting beaten at places that they shouldn't have been beaten and they should be in the Champions League places.

And I just, I'm just, my head explodes sometimes because I always think about clubs who say we should be.

There's no guarantee here.

If you're not consistent, then you finish where you finish and that's and that's the plot, you know, and it just it's just crazy sometimes

you can tell that he's changed mindsets, you can tell he's changed attitudes, he's he's got a playing style that actually is easy on the eye, and yet it's still not good enough.

And and Rome was never built in a day, was it?

So it is, I just find it really

I find it unbelievable.

They peaked too early.

That's what it was.

They peaked too early for a lot of their own fans.

And probably as the season levelled out, you kind of go, well, fifth was actually where they should finish because they weren't better than Villa.

They were not better than Villa.

Some of the games they lost.

I mean, I'm going back to the game against Manchester City.

The first 45 minutes of that game against City, they were absolutely brilliant.

But Philippe, do you know for the first time they changed their shape?

Yeah, what are those cretins who say that?

It's certainly a podcast I will never listen to.

That's for sure.

Another reason.

He was true to his beliefs in that game.

And it was obvious that the players were one with him on that.

Yes, Gaffer, we're going to play.

We're going to play that way.

That's the way we want to play.

And they were fantastic for 45 minutes.

They lost.

They lost to a team that's won his fourth title in a row.

Come on, guys.

The sense of entitlement is unbearable, really.

I mean, I'm amazed that

those fans, you know, bunny ears, those fans could say such a thing about a guy who found a club that was going absolutely nowhere.

Do they remember

where Spurs were just about a year ago with one of their greatest ever players leaving for Bayern Bayern Munich as well.

That's astonishing.

He's done a great job.

I think, and I might be wrong, that he's, you know, this is a finishing fifth is better than Pep in his first year and Klopp and Arteta as well.

So it is, you know, it is the beginning, although, you know, it's clearly not easy.

It's the highest level that he will have managed at.

The utter madness of football is that they are in the air, I think, right now, along with Newcastle on the way to the MCG.

And they have just this morning announced their tour of South Korea in pre-season.

So, you know, good for them, eh?

Meanwhile, Baz, Sheffield United won only three games, 16 points.

Only Sunderland and Derby have done worse in the history of the Premier League.

They're letting 104 goals, the record in Premier League history.

Their goal difference of minus 69 matched only by Derby in 07-08.

They were there, I guess.

It's about.

It's about.

Look.

They hamstrung themselves before a ball was even kicked by Seleniel Newman, D.I.

and Sander Berger, not replacing them adequately.

They were going to struggle even if those two lads were still there.

No one gave them a prayer before the season was started and they didn't surprise anyone.

Correct.

Chelsea comes sixth, which means Europa League if City win the FA Cup and Conference League if Man United win the FA Cup.

Troy, do you want to talk about why is this Kaisedos?

Do you think, like, you know,

it's not the number of goals you score, it's the cumulative distance you score them from over a season.

So really, that's worth...

worth that's like two million a yard oh exactly doesn't it exactly oh what a great strike look

it's one of those isn't it it's it's an opportunist goal he it for me his vision in regards to knowing where the goalkeeper's position was there's a as a goalie rushed out there's a defender going back on but he thought you know what i'm going to try this and he didn't he hit it He really hit it as well.

He gave it some.

And it's just a great finish.

It's unusual for him.

We've never seen anything like that before this season.

Obviously, it's his first goal.

But look, it's one of those, the end of season does throw up all these kind of quirky little situations.

And, you know, to strike that ball like that,

you know, pressure is a great finish.

He's celebrated really well.

It may be the colouring of the hair, of you've already mentioned today, Max gave him the extra oomph for to put the ball in the back of the net.

But yeah,

it's a great finish.

It's up there with the best, but will it be, you know, spoken about in terms like Becks's one was that many, many moons ago?

Yeah, I see you're nodding your head already.

See, it's a harder finish than it's a harder finish than it is.

I think it's a much harder finish.

But there's just something iconic about the Beckham one.

I don't know what it is.

Maybe it's because he did

one.

110 mil, maybe.

I don't know.

But yeah.

Possible.

Yeah, possible.

As Baz has alluded to, Philippe, you know, we've ignoring Chelsea being completely, I wouldn't say garbage, but just odd, until really finishing strongly.

But even still,

reports that Chelsea are looking at Kieran McKenna as a leading candidate to take over from Pochettino.

I mean, surely, given his finish, you would be mad to change.

Of course, you would be mad.

The one thing that is to be changed at Chelsea is the owners.

Everybody knows that.

They've been a disaster for that club.

Apart from the fact that

they chose Pochettino, which was

the right move.

People often talk about Manchester United being the worst-run club in the country in many ways, but I think Chelsea are giving them a real good fight for this one.

Yeah, it is absurd.

It is crazy.

I don't think that any other team has had less luck when it comes to injuries than Chelsea has.

We should remember that.

They've played most of the season with probably five starters missing at every game.

And they finished well.

And at the beginning, the problem was not they were not playing well.

They were actually playing okay.

They were playing better than the results suggested, but they were incredibly inconsistent.

Jackson hadn't found his scoring boots yet.

There were constant changes, which were due to the fact that there were so many new players to bed in, but also to injuries, as I said, suspensions, everything.

Somehow, Pocetino managed to keep his head screwed on, which is incredible when everything was going crazy.

He's not the one who asked for, you know, 27 players to be signed on nine-year-long contracts.

He's not the one who did that.

That came from Todd and his mates.

And he had to deal with it, and he's dealt with it extremely well, I think.

And if you were to ask, actually, Chelsea fans today, would you like him to stay?

They will say, yeah, are you mad?

Of course we want him to stay.

It's the reason we actually had a decent finish to that and Palmer.

But if Palmer has shown as much as he has, it's also due to the fact that he's playing for a manager who doesn't have a problem with playing young players and giving them huge responsibilities.

He's a great fit, but the problem is that, you know, I mean,

I'd love to see the data room, you know, at Chelsea Football Club.

I'd love to see the long-term strategy that they've put together.

I mean, it's arrogance of these people is unbelievable.

I don't know if you ever heard Boully and Egg Bally

talking at conferences about their vision for European football.

Compare it to what other owners, like JW Henry, for example,

are speaking.

And the sheer arrogance of those guys, we're going to show them how it's done, is basically what they say.

Okay, yeah, show us, guys.

Show us again.

So, if you're sacking Pochettino, you'll have shown us again why you're not fit to own a football club.

Tierra Sil got very emotional afterwards, saying goodbye.

He did win the Champions League with Chelsea, and at times looked totally effortless, surrounded by all those children.

Philippe, you wanted to say goodbye to Brian and Teresa as well.

An example of, you know,

behind-the-scenes people that we never really talk about or know, even at the elite clubs.

Yeah, and I think that

it's actually one of the reasons why going to Chelsea, and I know that sounds very strange coming from an Arsenal fan who's had his problems with, well, the ownership's a model of Chelsea in the past.

But I was one of the reasons I was always looking forward to Stafford Bridge was not just the fact that

their buffet was for several seasons certainly the best in world football.

There's absolutely no doubt about that.

But also the presence of people like Brian who would be there

giving you you your match program, giving you a smile, a handshake, share a joke.

And he never changed physically, he never changed.

When I went for the first time to Salfinbridge, I think Brian was already 97 or something like that.

But obviously it's keeping young.

As to Teresa, what can I say?

I actually feel quite emotional about it because

she's been such a rock.

for that club and for us journalists she's been just magnificent who is who is teresa teresa is the person who you have a problem with your accreditation, you call Teresa.

You have a problem because your phone line is not working, you call Teresa.

You have a problem, you call Teresa.

Sorry, how do you call Teresa if your phone line's not working?

Well you

if you're yes, sorry.

She's magic.

She's magic.

She's magic.

She's magic.

And and yeah, and she's been basically in charge.

She's basically been looking after journalists for I don't know how many years.

And she's been looking after them in a way that again,

has meant that going to Stamford Bridge has always been a pleasure for us.

It's like the Ravens at the Tower of London.

I mean, it's really the

end of an era.

It really is.

Because they had seen everything.

They'd seen Ken Bates, they'd seen Debramovich years,

they've seen, I don't know how many

managers

Brian and Teresa went through, but my gosh,

that's quite a list.

And

this survived them all.

So

all our love.

And I think Teresa would be super embarrassed if she heard what I just said, because she's that kind of person.

But we love her.

And we love him.

Lovely words, Philippe.

And that'll do for part two.

Part three will begin with Brighton deserve leaving.

Man United, Ten Hag, maybe leaving.

Coach, the energy out there felt different.

What changed for the team today?

It was the new game, Day Scratches from the California Lottery.

Players, is everything.

Those games sent the team's energy through the roof.

Are you saying it was the off-field play that made the difference on the field?

Hey, a little play makes your day, and today it made the game.

That's all for now.

Coach, one more question.

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Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly to the Amex.

Then, Manchester United won 2-0 at Brighton.

I mean, this sort of summed up both their seasons, especially Man United, Barry, where they should have been about 100-0 down.

So, even their wins, like this is their worst ever finish, Man United, in the Premier League, eighth.

But even a lot of their wins have been pretty lucky, I think.

They probably should have lost this game

that scored two sort of counter-attack goals, but

it's the final day of the the season, and Manchester United are eighth on a 10-game bill on match of the day.

That probably tells you all you need to know about Manchester United and how they've been this season.

It's the worst points total since 89-90.

They've got a few good players that are carrying a lot of dead wood.

Their manager is possibly a dead man walking.

There's an awful lot of work to be done to sort out what can only be described as a mess at Manchester United.

And And if Tanah does go, and obviously Roberto Deserbi is leaving Brighton, I'd have a lot more faith in Tony Bloom to keep them sort of steering a

straight course through choppy waters than the boys at Manchester United.

Yeah, you imagine Tony Bloom has got someone in storage that they'll just wheel out tomorrow because they made a very detailed

montage troy of Deserbi's best bits, which they'd only had about 24 hours to make, unless they knew a little bit before time that he was off.

The Bryant fans were singing his name.

And like, it has kind of, it's slipped a bit recently and some of the things he said and it felt like he didn't necessarily want to be there.

But shouldn't forget, he led Brighton to their best finish ever.

He got them into Europe.

He gave them, you know, they made a piece, you know, going from the with Dean and not having a stadium on all that, that journey.

And he has sort of been the apex of that, or the, you know, the cherry on the cake or whatever you want to say.

I think for Brighton and for Deserby, especially, the European journey took its toll.

They got so far, there were many great games, and I think that was at the point where he potentially would have gone in and demanded more.

He wanted more of this, he wanted to be able to create a side that could play in the Premier League and play in you and deal with Europe.

Their form, you know, if you're going to look at their form, this mutual agreement

is understandable because their form in the league is shocking.

It's absolutely shocking.

And many a manager has gone before the time that Deserbi has left.

But I think he started to press buttons.

I think he put demands in.

I don't think they knew 24 hours before.

I think they knew quite a long while ago that the rumblings were there.

You notice all these signs of the way that a manager talks in the press conferences and the way that he answers questions in the after-match interviews, etc.

And I think that it's been known for quite a long while that one, he's unhappy, two, he's laid demands.

I think the brighton board probably not not going to go that far i think they're like what you've said there they could probably twist and go again and find a new one who would probably believe in their principles and know that the way that the club wants to do things but he's done himself a massive amount of favours he's going to be in the shop window there's a couple of big jobs available or potentially available does he go for them i don't i don't know but it's been a joy it's been a joy to watch his team play they play some incredible stuff.

He took it on another level from Potter, didn't he, as well?

He took over from Potter, and that was difficult, but he took it to another level.

And, you know, the first part of the season was magnificent, but they have tailed off massively, and there's not been many wins over the last 20 games, I believe.

One thing which is going to be very interesting is how Brighton,

if they're going to change the way they operate in the transfer market this summer, which was one of the problems that the Zerby had with them.

And there had been rumors,

you're absolutely right, Troy, for quite a while that

it's a case of

a parting of ways by a mutual disagreement, I would put that.

And because they're in a very different situation,

in Blooms and Barber's plan, I think the idea was first to break even, make the club profitable, which they have managed to do that by investing very, very wisely and selling extremely well, to the extent that they posted a record profit, which has changed, I think, the financial situation of the club.

They can actually, I think, afford this time to be more ambitious in their recruitment, not just go for those players that very few people would have necessarily identified, but they can actually, if they want to go big on a few players, they can.

De Zerbi was a little bit impatient, I think,

because

I don't think he bought into that idea that we are doing things incrementally.

He wanted the changes to happen there and then because

as a manager, he could see, because they also had loads of injuries, didn't they, during the season and two important players.

We do not have enough players to be successful both in Europe and in England.

I need players, I need players, I need players.

And the board would say, no.

It's a bit of a pity, but we can be sure that not only have Bloom and Barber already identified Deserbi's successor, they will already have identified the successor to Deserbi's successor because that's the brighten way.

way.

Yeah, meanwhile, you know, we don't know if the FA Cup will be enough to save Ten Hag.

We will, of course, talk about Man United a lot after the FA Cup final.

Newcastle 1-4-2 at Brentford's.

They'll get Conference League if Man City win the FA Cup.

I guess the interesting thing about this, Barry, was seeing Alexander Isak, you know, he become the first Newcastle player since Alan Shearer to score 21 goals in a season.

He is so good.

Him on the same pitch of Ivan Tony.

They both might leave.

Tony almost certainly will leave.

And sort of wondering, you know, which one one you would.

I'd say a year ago, you wouldn't be sure who was better, but now it feels like Isaac is in almost a league of his own.

Yeah, well, Tony obviously had the gambling ban, and then when he came back, he hasn't really delivered, has he?

And by his own standards, it's been a disastrous season for him, I would say.

I would take Isaac every time over Tony.

I think he's a tremendous player.

He's more versatile.

He's obviously younger.

Probably because they overachieved last season.

Newcastle have had a poor season.

The Sandro Tenale thing was an absolute fiasco.

They've had the injuries.

They've got some terrific players.

Will they be able to hold on to them?

Are they going to have to sell one or two of the Crown Jewels to balance the books?

We'll see.

I think if Eddie Howe...

doesn't have significant improvement next season, he could be in trouble in terms of keeping his job.

But then I've sort of forecast his demise on many occasions, and he's still there doing a pretty good job.

Yeah, he got his seasons the wrong way around, as we've established.

There was a horror moment for Ethan Pinnock for Newcastle 2, which is a real sign that the season has to end, Barry.

We can't have Ethan Pinnock making mistakes.

I'm conscious of time, so we'll go to Palace 5, Villa-nil.

Heath says, How lucky in Man City that Palace didn't appoint Glasnar sooner.

5-0.

And Ella, Villa, Philippe, might have been on the piss since Tuesday night.

That is possible, right?

Yes, completely.

If he can keep these guys together, Glasnar,

it will be a total joy.

Well, that's the problem, right?

And we know who you're talking about is basically Eze and Olise, you know, that's it.

And Meteta at the moment was transformed under Glasner.

past record of Palace's owners is to be trusted, I think there's quite a few Eagles fans who will be very nervous.

And I mean, they can sell either of those players or both for an awful, awful lot of money.

That is their model.

They get players

like Wharton's come in and in a couple of years he will be worth buckets.

Oh my goodness, yes.

But they've got the foundation.

It's now entirely down to their ambition and whether also they've got the financial means to do that within the parameters of the new rules of

financial fair play, which which will be kicking in in not too long.

And I think for Palace fans,

all these past few seasons have been seasons of survival and sometimes hope, but short-lived hope.

And

is it the first time, really, that they are in a position where they think we can actually kick on from now?

We haven't just survived by the skin of our teeth and things like that.

We've got...

three, four players that we can actually build a really solid team, which should be

at at least top ten and even vie for a European place.

How often have they been in that situation in the past, in the recent past?

Hardly ever.

Obviously, they finished above Brighton with that big win yesterday, which will be massive for Palace fans.

And I also just want to throw in, I know you said that Emery's been on the piss and his team have been on the piss for probably since Tuesday, but do you remember when we recorded the first pod who predicted that Villa were going to finish fourth in the league and then got bastard by Lars with some

oh, I did, I did.

So i thought you were going to go back to august but you obviously didn't so i thought i'd just mention very very well done um yeah it's been a brilliant season for villa uh luton lost 4-2 at home to fulham um

we've said it a lot troy but you know they have been great you have been there supporting them week in week out uh it's been quite a journey Best thing I saw yesterday from that game was my grandson scoring his first goal at Kenilworth Road and getting an amazing cheer.

One more goal at a professional ground than what his great-grandad did.

Did he cut inside?

No, he dribbled

straight down the middle.

Straight down the middle, Max.

He dribbled straight down the middle and got a great roar.

Look, it's been a tremendous journey.

I just think the last few weeks has taken its toll on the manager and the football club.

Fulham were all over him.

Then they came back into it.

And then Trore scores this goal out of nothing.

90 seconds later, Luton get a penalty.

60 seconds later, Fulham go 2-1 up.

And it was just, it's just the way that their season went.

But I cannot say enough about the support you know the the walk around at the end of the game was unbelievable the fans were singing all their songs um way before the game had ended and they'd lost that game a long time ago so the big thing for uh rob edwards now is to get them you know back together again and have a charge-up to come back again the season after next because they have been a breath of fresh air for the premier league yeah it must be the end of the season if a doma troyore is finishing like that i mean that was when i saw that i was like no you're not you're not serious What a hit that was.

Lovely goal from Harry Wilson as well.

And finally, Burnley won Forest 2.

Barry, your thoughts?

I don't really have any thoughts.

Forrest shouldn't be as low as they are.

I think they were lucky because

staying up with 32 points is,

I don't know if it's happened before, but...

And now, admittedly, they had the deduction, but some of the players they have, we've mentioned it before.

I don't think they should be in that position.

I think they've got away with it this season.

But I think with some shrewd acquisitions, they shouldn't

be in a similar position of peril next season.

But their owners are real loose cannons, so who knows what the hell is going to happen there?

Yeah, and we will see how Burnley do down at the championship next year as well.

I think we've done quite well to get through pretty much every Premier League club.

I don't think we mentioned that that Bournemouth were good.

But look, we have done quite a lot on Irayola this season, so do forgive us.

And that'll do for today.

Thank you, Barry.

Thank you.

Thank you, Philippe.

Merci.

Thanks, Troy.

Been a pleasure, Max.

Thank you.

And EFL Pod Tomorrow Football Week Cleave is produced today by Hattie Moyer.

Our executive producer is Danielle Stevens.

This is The Guardian.