Have Everton dashed Liverpool’s title dreams? – Football Weekly Extra

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Hello, and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

Is that Liverpool out of the title race?

Their first defeat at Goodison in 14 years, and a very dicey and Everton win, just heading it all over the place.

Liverpool again missed chances, and their season has stalled.

Meanwhile, that should be Everton safe, and probably for the best that a side doesn't go down because of points deductions.

Elsewhere, is anyone better than Manchester United at winning terribly?

A 4-2 victory over bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United isn't really going to help Eric Ten Hag.

Once again, saved by Bruno Fernandez.

Elsewhere, the Oliver Glasner revolution continues.

Clearly, revolutions are easier with Elise and Esse and hot shot Jean-Philippe Mateta, while Lute and Ultra Stuart Atwell has another busy but probably accurate night in Wolverhampton.

We'll look ahead to Brighton City tonight and the weekend's Premier League games, including the North London Derby.

We've got more pod-based family reunions.

Your questions.

And that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

On the panel today, Robin Cowan.

Hello.

Good morning, Marks.

Barry Glendenning, welcome.

Hello.

And hello, Jonathan Liu.

Hi.

Let's start at the top of the Premier League and the bottom.

So Everton 2, Liverpool 0, which means Liverpool remains second,

74 points from 34, three points behind Arsenal, having played the same.

Man City, a point behind Liverpool, but have two games in hand.

Meanwhile, Everton now on to 33 points from 34 games, obviously taking into account their eight-point deduction, which is eight points from safety.

So we presume they might be safe.

Oliver says, as an Everton fan, advice needed.

We won.

We won at Derby.

How do I respond to this?

It's a life-shattering change of course.

Yeah, they hadn't beaten Liverpool at home since 2010.

Arteta scored in that game, by the way.

And like I said in the intro, Robin, I'm absolutely here for one of the the best teams in the Premier League getting beaten by just headers, constant headers.

It's your dream, isn't it, Max?

This is like must have been in heaven.

Yeah, I think

is that their Everton's proportion of set piece goals is the highest in the Premier League.

I think that used to be sort of frowned upon a bit, but it's becoming a bit sexier now.

Set piece goals.

You've got your set piece coaches, etc.

And I mean, you know, Liverpool clearly weren't at it.

And they, again,

not for the first time in recent weeks, failed to convert chances.

But Everton were magnificent.

They were so good.

You know, perfect plan.

Apart from maybe the last 10, 15 minutes of the first half where Liverpool were kind of really battering them, they looked pretty comfortable.

Quite interesting.

I'm not sure I've heard many times whistle, you know, sort of full-time whistles being...

blown by the crowd at half-time because it was a proper siege.

Then they it's like lads, we still have another 45 minutes.

But no, great.

And I I don't know maybe maybe the track suit is maybe it was the suits was holding Sean Dice back his ceiling is so much higher.

He could be I mean he's gonna be

I mean the sky's the limit now.

He's got his track suit on maybe.

I guess the question Johnny is is why don't

we know how Everton play under Daish and they do this and they do it well.

Why don't they do this more often?

Yeah, I mean they're not

There's not much mystique to them, is there?

They're not gonna feature in one of those you know YouTube videos or the videos you got the band mystique were not made after we're not named after a Sean Dice football team.

No, it's true

I'll try to think of a mystique song now, but it fails me

I have none,

which is pretty scandalous

you got to admit

Robin got it Robin got it.

Lovely.

Yeah, I got it.

It took me a while ago.

Was that Mystique?

Maybe it was.

I don't know.

But anyway.

Yeah,

they have you know, they're not going to feature in one of these YouTube videos where some 18-year-old kid like draws circles and arrows and talks about things like pressing triggers and you know whatever and and packing um

there isn't really there isn't really mystique to them uh it it just i think what this showed again was how crucial um calvert lewin is to their whole you know to how not just how they set up but the conviction and and what he does to opposition teams because you know for a lot of the season he's been injured and they've been they've had you know what it's been betto and obviously to couure up with him and there's you know you they're not really going to hurt you.

You know, as a team, you know, you can push up.

And

having Calvert Lewin there is that point of difference and having him sort of fit and actually inform makes a huge difference.

He didn't play against Chelsea and they lost 6-0 and he's come back.

And they just

look at a side with more conviction.

And this has always been the thing.

You know how Everton are going to play it.

It's just about whether they can execute it, whether they can get those set pieces away, whether they can get themselves up the pitch enough times to get that header or opening that's going to win them the game 1-0 or 2-1.

And

yeah, that's it, really.

There's not much sort of demystifying it.

Can they do

what they set out to do?

And last couple of games they have.

Jurgen Kopp said, to sum it up, it was not good enough.

We played the game or let it happen what Everton wanted.

They scored two goals from set pieces.

The first one we somehow defended three times, but in the end, we put it on a plate.

Branthwaite didn't even kick the ball properly, but the ball rolls over the line.

After that, we had our best period.

We created big chances, but didn't score.

Each situation we missed gave Everton momentum.

Second half as well, not good enough.

Then you can see the second goal.

I think everybody who is with Everton saw that goal already 20 times.

That's their routine.

Everybody knows they put the ball there.

That's quite hard to sum it up better than that, Baz, isn't it?

Yeah, I

mean, some weeks ago, when I think the quadruple was still on for Liverpool and people were talking about that being a realistic possibility,

we were going through their league fixtures, and I scoffed at the notion that Everton might get something against them at Goodison.

I didn't give Everton a snowballs chance in hell before this game and I was, I'm still amazed they won it.

And what a night to be an Everton fan.

You know, you more or less guarantee your own safety.

You more or less deny Liverpool a chance to win the title.

You know, that's as good as it gets.

at these days for Everton fans.

But you just wonder where has this Everton team been?

And I think even though they didn't get the penalty well the penalty they got early doors was overturned i think that kind of set the tone for the game because you had this crunching tackle by tarkowski and andy robertson mcneil gets the ball in and allison brings down dominic calvert lewin the penalty is given then it's taken away this riles up the crowd who are seething with injustice uh even though it was the correct decision and it sounds trite to say it but I do think it's true that Everton just wanted this more.

And they were first to every second ball.

They won all the headers.

And,

yeah, it was Dwight McNeill sending crosses into the box.

And they scored from two set pieces.

I can't remember what your question was, Max,

but that's my answer to it.

No, it's perfect.

Ian says, is Virgil van Dijk complaining about being blocked off?

Ironic enough to get into an Alanis Morrisette reboot?

That's a very good question.

Yeah, he was a bit annoyed for the, I think Tarkovsky blocks him for the Calvert Lewin header, and Calvert Lewin is totally free.

Robin, Liverpool were not composed in front of goal.

You mentioned that period.

Ben Godfrey makes a brilliant clearance.

I think that's at 0-0.

But then when they're 1-0 down, Nunes is straight at Pickford.

Diaz is straight at Pickford.

Salah knocks one over the bar.

And that has been a story for them in recent weeks.

Yeah, it's really, it's still quite jarring to see because they go behind all the time and you still expect them to come back and win.

It's just, I think we mentioned like Jotter's the one who's kind of got the ice-cold veins and he's the one who can finish.

But very odd to see Salah like that.

And they were highlighting on match the day, actually, just the poor, really poor touches, like couldn't trap the ball as it was coming into them on the edge of the box.

Yeah, just really odd.

I think it just shows that this Liverpool side is still still being built.

Very impressive, I think, you know, because a lot of new players this season.

Still an impressive season.

Um, but they're probably not quite the finished article yet.

And,

you know, I don't know.

Maybe, maybe they will accept the sort of massive bid from a Saudi Arabia club for Salah and sort of rebuild again even more in the summer.

But yeah, they just seem

just not the technical sort of aspect of, I know we, Darwin Nune, as we say, is chaos, but like just some, you say, you're kind of smashing it at Pickford and you could have just either side, that composure just seemed really lacking, which is, I honestly think Louis Diaz, if he if he converted more, he'd be a world beater because he has everything.

I really believe that he's energetic, he's he's got a good touch, physical, real athlete, um, and usually makes the right decision.

But it just seems like when he gets in front of goal, it just,

yeah, just that it's just composure, that's the word, isn't it?

Yeah, I mean, Diaz, I thought Diaz's chance was harder than Nunes, because Nunez, you know, the ball's at his feet.

Diaz is sort of trying to control it.

And he did hit the post as well, didn't he, Louis Diaz?

Yeah, that's true, which could have changed, right?

That could have really changed the course of the game, right?

Can you put your finger, Johnny, on why Liverpool's season has kind of fallen apart in this,

you know, defeat against Palace, the defeat to Atalanta, this?

What is this?

Is this just tiredness?

Would it be different if Klopp had said, hadn't told anybody he was leaving?

Or this is just how good they are?

Yeah, so I mean, I have a theory.

I think you're right.

I think you're dead right.

This is as good as they are.

They are the third best team in the Premier League, I think, just from watching.

And for a lot of the season, they've overperformed.

And

I think they got a big boost of emotional impetus from the announcement of Klopp's departure, which then sustained them for a month or two.

But it ran out.

I guess you could call it a regression to the mean.

This was supposed to be a transitional season for Liverpool.

They have rebuilt that entire midfield.

If you think of all the players who have come in, McAllister, Endo, Shoba, Sly, they're still trying to work out whether Cody Gap goes any good or not.

They're still trying to work out whether Gravenberg is any good, where he fits in.

They're also trying to reinvent the defence.

They're also trying to transition away from the Salamane Famino

patterns in attack.

And bring in all those kids as well.

And bring in all those youngsters as well.

Right, exactly.

You know, guys like Bradley and Kwanse, and you know, all the various sons of footballers that appear to populate their academy.

I think if, you know, not wanting to blow smoke up their asses or anything, but I think they have had a better season than

people were expecting.

And the fact that they've managed to sustain a title chart, I mean, I remember watching them in September or October thinking, they're not very good, but they kept winning games 2-1.

And, you know, they kept scraping wind together.

And suddenly they're near the top.

And then suddenly people are talking about the quadruple.

But this is, I think, a more,

you know,

it's a more realistic measure of where they are.

And I think, you know, the heads have dropped a little bit as well.

I saw a stat last night that they ran eight kilometers less than Everton.

And I think for a Jürgen Krop team in the title running, that is a big tell.

On the road, they haven't been brilliant.

Their form,

I think, against their fellow members of the big six, they haven't beaten any of them away.

I think they lost against Spurs and Arsenal and drew with City United.

and Chelsea.

So, you know, you would expect them to win some of those games, to be realistic title challengers at the end of the season.

So

I think I do wonder if Jürgen Klopp's public announcement that he was leaving has affected the team.

And I don't know is the answer, but I think it might not have helped.

It's worth saying, just before you come in, Robin.

Liverpool fans before they yell would say that defeated Spurs was VAR enabled, but

it did happen.

Robin?

I just find it fascinating because we talked obviously a lot about this on the Women's Weekly with Emma Hayes as well.

You know, this totemic figure announcing that they're leaving.

I just obviously have no idea how the players are feeling and

how it's affected the dressing room.

But it's just like maybe it's just a lot of pressure.

You know, you want to send them off in the best way possible, and it's just a bit much, maybe.

I do think, I mean, I think Johnny's right.

I think actually this Liverpool team are, they probably will be very good, but they're still in transition.

Chelsea women, slightly different.

They have had injuries, but it's just like,

maybe it's a bit too much, you know?

You see, I would view it from the other side of the prism in that

because someone announces, an authority figure announces they're leaving, their authority diminishes because you kind of subconsciously down tools.

I'm not saying that's what happened, but it might have happened.

I don't know.

In terms of Klopp, this question, Johnny, from Jolly Rogers saying, Klopp will be remembered as bringing trophies to Liverpool, including the big two, but only one of each of those,

and as an antagonist to the protagonist that is Pep.

But is that enough?

Is he a Premier League?

Great.

How should we measure that in the Pep era or after?

I mean, I would say, you know,

to achieve what even that is quite something, given the comparison of resources.

Obviously, Liverpool have resources, but nothing compared to the city.

And also, he has

sort of

done

the way he's sort of embedded himself in the city, I think is, you know, is has to be factored in.

No, I think that's relevant, right?

I think that's relevant as a figurehead, as the way he's kind of turned this listing institution around and you know, spoken for it.

I think if you asked most people

about, you know, top five all-time Premier League managers, brackets since 1992, you know, people would go Ferguson, Wenger, Klopp, Mourinho, Guardiola, right?

And then you quibble about the order, but they are very, very clearly, to me, and I think most people, the outstanding five.

And I think the fact that he's won one title

and one Champions League in the era of state ownership, in the era of this super-powered Manchester City side,

is, I think, a fair reflection of, you know, better Liverpool teams, or sorry, better equipped Liverpool teams have come I've tried to wear the title and fallen short over the decades.

And I think that that moment, which again was slightly tarnished by the fact that there were no fans in the stadium, and I think by the kind of the cold, bloodless, you know, slightly, slightly bloodless nature in which they did it,

it wasn't quite the crowning moment that they were expecting it to be.

But just based on the way he's, yeah, he's reinvented the club and

in a sense, English football.

And those duels, those games against Manchester City, which are the standard of football, the like of which we've not seen before in this country.

I think that's

how it will be remembered.

People will quibble about the trophy hall, but I think it is always about more than that.

It's about how he makes people feel, it's about how Liverpool made people feel, and it's about the pride he put back in that club.

Paul says, How ashamed should I be for laughing at the name slot?

Will he fit right in?

I mean, let's get it out of the way then, if he's going to come.

That's done.

Yeah.

Uh, slot machine, also good if you if you want to use that at some point.

Uh, Liverpool reportedly opened talks uh with the final manager Arna Slot.

Spurs were interested in him last summer.

I think he turned them down.

I think.

Turned Leeds down when Jesse Marish left.

And

he's put together high-intensity attacking sides.

Since he took over at Final, it's pressing has been the most successful of any teams across the continent's top seven leagues.

Won the Erodivisi last season, won the Dutch Cup at the weekend.

That Barry sounds like a sort of good fit, doesn't it?

Yeah, I'm not going to claim to know much about him,

but he

I think anyone who's filling Irgen Klopf's shoes, it's going to be a big ask,

but it's a task that's getting easier week by week at the moment.

I guess some Liverpool fans will be underwhelmed by the appointment of this guy.

I reckon quite a lot of them probably haven't heard of or know very little about, like myself.

I read somewhere he's a rap fan

recently.

A lot of Dutch footballers seem very into their rap.

And from what I've heard, some Dutch footballers perform their own rap, and

it's not great.

I'm going to say, not for me, Clive.

Right.

Yeah, look, someone has to get the job.

They seem to have cooled their interest in Amarim.

And

why not, Mr.

Slot?

I think if you'd said you were really into Dutch rap, that would have been more of a surprise.

But I've given it a go.

You have given it a go.

I'm not dismissing it out.

Okay, good for you.

Good for you.

Are we saying, Robin, the title challenges?

I mean, you know, Arsenal have got to go to Tottenham at the weekend, which we'll talk about that in detail.

You know, City have got these two games, Brighton and Forest away.

Obviously, we all think City will just win all their games, but it's not totally done, right?

Liverpool have another early kickoff.

They've got to play West Ham on Saturday.

They obviously have to win that now.

They can't slip up again.

It's going to be furious.

Of course.

Not there.

12.30.

Yeah, it's not done, but it's just, yeah,

it looks difficult.

And I do think City's running looks fairly easy.

Also, they're out of the Champions League, so a little bit more rest.

It's pretty ominous.

I'm not saying they will, but

yeah, it's a very, very big blow for Liverpool.

And even if Arsenal win every game...

If City do, then that's it.

So, I mean, hopefully, hopefully we get a twist and a turn.

But Man City don't do those, really, do they?

We'll do more about the Premier League games in part three.

Theron says, Friends, the dead air between segments has been getting out of hand these last several shows.

Not going to win any awards letting that slide.

Certainly beyond my control.

I don't want to throw producer Joel under the bus, but press stop now, Joel, and press play and record.

Hold them down together in just a second as we end part one.

Welcome to part part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Hope you went away for 25 minutes.

Manchester United 4, Chevy United 2.

Rehield says, question for the pod.

Are Manchester United the best bad team ever or the worst good team ever?

Is that the same thing, which is better?

See also Chelsea.

Johnny Lou.

Yeah, I mean, in a previous era, both Manchester United and Chelsea would have been punished for their utter ineptitudes with relegation.

That's what, you know, that's what big clubs, that's what used to happen to big clubs when they screwed up.

You know, United went down in the 70s, Chelsea went down in, well, they could have spent quite a long time in the second division in the 80s, right?

Even Tottenham went down, you know,

Tottenham went down in the 70s, I think.

You got punished and you spent a season down in Division II, you wore your sackcloth, you rebuilt and you came back stronger.

And I think it wouldn't be the worst thing for big clubs to just have a season in the champion.

Obviously, it doesn't happen anymore because the financial gap is so wide, and even screwing up, multiply screwing up, like serially screwing up for 10 years.

And Manchester United will never ever really fall lower than seventh or eighth.

It's kind of as,

yeah, you end up in a perpetual cycle of being mediocre, which is very hard to snap out of.

And obviously, we assume that eventually they'll get it right and the money will eventually buy them something.

I think they can, honestly, I think United should be relegated.

They could do with sort of giving up their Premier League status for a year, just rebuilding, you know, just getting rid of some of the chaff, all the players who don't want to be there.

You know, haven't you?

You've enters it and they came back, they came back stronger.

I really think they should consider it.

Yeah, I mean, they've made it quite an art making victories terrible.

And I think even at 2-1 to Chevron, we all thought, well, Man United will sort of win this.

They've conceded 75 goals in all competitions, the most

for them in a single campaign since 1977-78 or something.

They conceded 80 in 1977-78.

So five to go.

They've conceded at least twice in their last five games and in six out of their last seven.

I mean, they did win, Robin, but they're like, oh,

like.

I would have loved if the interviewer said, another embarrassing win, Eric.

That's what I would have led with.

I mean,

isn't it?

They're making a good fist of being embarrassing and then winning.

I mean, it's

I want this to keep going.

I know it probably won't.

It will probably come to an end.

It looks like they're going to get their shit together.

They've got some people in place behind the scenes now.

You know, Eric Tenhag will probably be sacked.

And,

you know, the sort of team Inios people will get will get stuff.

But I just, I'm loving this.

I'm absolutely.

It's so good.

They'll hook it to my veins.

Maybe they won't.

Maybe they won't but uh i mean again it's just like

sheffield united are so poor and they they allowed again was it another i'm not sure they got to 20 shots this time but they just allow so much it's just the structurally is all wrong it's all wrong i mean wrong in terms of rights you know from my perspective but no great i um what uh i i didn't hear what he said after this game barry like after the after in the press conference before he was talking about the reaction to the coventry game uh and he when when asked if he understood why the reaction had been negative, he said, absolutely not.

The reaction from you, the media, was embarrassing.

Twice, two FA Cup finals in two years.

It is magnificent.

For me, as a manager, four cup finals in four years, the comments are a disgrace.

So, I mean, I hope he's not listening to this.

But it is, yeah, I mean,

it surely will end.

I find it difficult to see him holding on to his job beyond the end of the season.

I think he's hanging on by his fingernails.

And

I think if

they had lost against Coventry,

I would have been very surprised if he had not been fired on the spot and had to, you know, get make his own way back to Manchester.

To be 3-0 up against the championship side in an FA Cup semi-final and to almost you know, to come within millimeters of losing,

that

is an embarrassing win for a club of the stature of Manchester United but he can quite correctly point out we won and that's what matters but it was far from convincing this win was far from convincing and lots of the results

good results this season good in inverted commas have been far from convincing I mean I I

He may well leave.

I think he probably will.

I've no idea who the Enios fellas would bring in to replace him.

Southgate is the favourite.

Right, well, that would not surprise me.

I don't think it would be a good appointment.

Southgate has managed one club

in England and did a bang average job and eventually, I think, got them relegated after two, three seasons.

It would not surprise me if Ineos appoints Southgate.

I think

Ineos may be very poor at running a football club.

I've made my feelings clear about David Braisford.

I've been shot down for making my feelings clear about Dave Braisford, mainly by people who seem to think he got the, you know,

the Sky cycling team winning all around them by, you know, changing their pillowcases.

and

lighting arrangements in their bedrooms.

Yeah, hand sanitizers.

That's why Team Ineos were all conquering.

Presuming it was all down to scented pillowcases and hand sanitizers.

Team Sky slash Ineos were crushingly tedious to watch.

They really did their damnedest to ruin cycling as a spectator sport.

So yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what they do at Manchester United.

And I have reservations over how successful they will be.

Clearly, he's still new to this sport.

As is Ratcliffe, relatively new.

And Gareth Southgate is the kind of guy you pick well.

he's the England manager.

He must be the best manager.

It is absolutely the pick of someone who just who's come into football, basically having seen it in books, maybe, and watched a couple of YouTube videos.

Well, Englander, well, that's the whole country, right?

Manchester is just a small bit of the country.

England is a whole country.

And so the manager of England must be the best manager for us.

And maybe I'm being unfair.

Maybe it's because they have a very close personal relationship developed over like leadership breakfasts and things like that.

are they are very good friends but it does it does strike me as um weird how these two noobs basically are being fated as are some you know uh disruptive new fresh thinking best practice and it's that it's all the same kind of high performance jake humphrey nonsense that's oh sorry we mentioned him again and uh that that has really made barry made this point about team sky sorry i'm blank i'm banging on about it team sky did nothing in the classics they they they game theoried all the grand tours because that's basically power output.

But the classics, which they put, that they really pushed for from about 2013 to 2014, they made a real push for the classics.

And they won one, I think.

That polls won one.

But

they never managed to crack the classic, the spring classics.

That's, you know, your Paris Rubes and your tour of Flanders, the Liège Baston, Liège, you know, the monuments of the sport because they require ingenuity.

They require...

race craft and being able to react in get you know in the race to having having a feel for the sport basically it's not just you can't game theory the classics uh and i think that that's a a really interesting

you know parallel into how team sky did things they they managed to you know they could they could absolutely bash everyone on the mountains for three weeks but on on one day when you need that that's that flash of inspiration they could never find it i'd love to know if any listeners have unironically been to a leadership breakfast or have had to sit through

something that has been entitled a leadership breakfast that's the absolute thought of it it makes me feel sick in my own mouth.

Room full of dickheads.

It's still an hour afterwards for networking, right?

So the breakfast is, you know, and then they have a net 8.30 to 9.30 networking and digestion.

Yes, and the whole thought of it.

Just over a coffee.

You know, I was trying to think of the coffees we have, Barry, in a sort of, you know, two-star hotel after a live show.

I wouldn't call them...

I wouldn't call them

leadership breakfast.

Andre says, talk about Bruno Fernandez.

Where on earth would Man United be without him?

When is it okay to put up a statue?

His numbers actually are better than Odegaard Robin,

I think, this season.

I mean, he's not as graceful a footballer, right?

And he's not on a team that are doing as well.

But he actually, and I mean, that goal with his left foot was amazing.

And without it, they may not have won the game.

And he has been brilliant this season.

No, I mean, he's been superb really since they signed him.

He's a great footballer.

It's just he is so irritating.

And I do think that that means that I, for one, definitely don't give him enough credit.

But he's brilliant.

He's, I mean, he's a the the main thing is he's available for every game.

I just can't, he just, he plays probably 60, 70 games per season for club and country.

Um, and he produces most of the time.

There are the histrionics.

I found it quite interesting yesterday, again, on Match Day.

There was Danny Murphy was theorising that maybe he wouldn't be so histrionic if he was playing in a better team.

And I'm not sure if I agree with that.

I think that's that's deep.

That's deeply ingrained.

So, but no, I mean, I think, I think, yeah, as I say, because he's so irritating,

he uh, he doesn't get the credit he deserves, perhaps.

I also wanted to point out that I think Diogo Dallot has had a brilliant season, and no one has noticed because United have been so terrible.

But, like, every time I've watched them, he's sort of he's there being good in this team that are terrible and is getting no credit.

So, like, I have done, I have given him some credit.

I don't know if anyone else I would agree, he has had a good season, but didn't even have an absolute mayor.

What was the game they lost

recently?

He was where Garnacho got thrown under the bus afterwards, but Dallo was

a hit of shocker in that particular game.

I can't remember who it was against, but I'll take it back.

Because there's too much football.

But, you know,

I would say Declan Rice has had a brilliant season, but has also been found wanting on a couple of occasions.

Yeah.

It's hard to be brilliant every game, I guess.

Crystal Palace 2, Newcastle Newcastle-Putin 0.

says, is Jean-Philippe Matetta on the plane.

French flag emoji.

7-7 for Matetta.

They beat Liverpool last weekend.

At this result, they hammered West Ham as well.

Starting to click, John.

Do you think they're starting to click?

Or do you think if Eze and Elise are fit, then Palace are just a lot better.

And he is now getting credit that perhaps Roy didn't get because they weren't playing?

Yeah, well, I mean, there is that.

There's the fact that players have come back.

There's the fact that the mood has lifted.

But I think, you know, Glasnar was very, he was very respectful.

And, you know, know they asked him you know are you you seem to be playing a lot better he says no no no you can't say we're playing better that won't be disrespectful to roy hodgson we're playing differently we're just playing differently uh and but and and they are and what what he's done to meteta who was i you know according to to all accounts considering his options uh

this time well six months ago because he wasn't getting in the side and then i think it was eduard got injured he he he came in and scored against uh chelsea i think it was you know he scored a scored against liverpool and then scored against chelsea and he's just gone on this run.

He's a very Bundesliga-type striker, actually.

There were Bundesliga clubs in for him in January, including Eintrech Frankfurt, Glasnow's former club.

And

he's the sort of striker where for teams who want to get the ball forward early, who want to take advantage of kind of broken field further up the pitch, you have the likes of guys like Eze and Elise to break things up.

And then Mateta's the third guy, basically, who you don't see making the run.

And obviously, the confidence and the instincts to know where the ball is going to be, which is what happens when a strike is in form.

I think he's kind of established himself now as

a proper Premier League strike.

He was sort of on the edge, right?

He was kind of in and out the side, and you weren't quite sure whether he was going to make it.

But

he's a guy you can build a side around now.

I think Blasno really rates him.

And I think if they can sort out, if they can sort out the defence, which I thought they defended very well last night, but if they can be they can be pretty serious next season.

And actually that one season between Ayu and Mateta, the weight on both those touches was just so beautiful, wasn't it?

I mean, it all depends, I guess, Robin, if they can keep

Eze and Elise, right?

Yeah.

And that must be, that will be hard.

Probably will be, yeah.

Not sure what their situation is.

I think Elise is probably more likely to go this summer, but yeah.

I mean, on

Mateta, I just remember I saw a lot of Palace, and he was always kind of thrown on, as Johnny said, like for Edward, sort of late on, maybe to try and get a goal.

And you just, he looked so unconvincing.

He was kind of, I mean, he was, he was, I'd say, I'd go as far as like to say he's kind, he was kind of in the Nicholas Jackson sort of situation, but because he wasn't playing for a high-profile club,

not one really noticed, but he really, you know, to borrow Barry's favorite phrase, couldn't hit a barn tour.

You know, he was so low on confidence.

He looks like a different player.

As you said, that bouncing that ball off Jordan Ayu, knowing exactly what he wanted to do, just like there's real clarity there.

So, it's, I mean, I love to see, especially strikers written off, and now it looks like he's going to be a big part of

them going forward.

But as you say, like, yeah, if they lose, lose those two real creative players, that's big shoes to fill.

Yeah, I mean, look, Eze could, now there's 26 in the England squad, there could be a real hand-break-off attack that, you know, just loads of just attacking midfielders, which will take four defenders and bare minimums.

Exactly.

Start Eze and Palmer, just outside of Grealish and Eze and Rice.

Eze and Rice.

Eza and Rice.

Actually, get rid of Rice.

Eza and Palmer there.

Madison with Grealish and Foden and Rashford.

Just keep getting further and further wide.

Really good.

Wolvesdill Bournemouth one.

Bournemouth deserved this one, Barry, I thought.

Yeah, they had the best chances.

carved Wolves open on quite a few occasions and it was sort of a poor touch from Max Kilman, who I believe is one of three outfield players who's played every minute of Premier League football this season.

Joachim Anderson is another, and I cannot for the life of me remember who the third is.

Anyway,

I digress.

Wolves did have a goal ruled out.

Gary O'Neill clearly thought it shouldn't have been ruled out, but refused to say so because he's back on a I'm not talking about referees ever again kick.

And we all know how well that went for him last time.

I think it was correctly ruled out because Kuna caught

somebody with an arm and

Justin Clivert and prevented Clivert from preventing the cross from being sent in.

And a brilliant cross it was from Nelson Sumedo and a brilliant header from Huang Yi Chan.

But that was ruled out.

And

then

Bournemouth had Milas Kirkas sent off for what I would call a Catholic challenge on Matt Doherty, insofar as he tried to pull out, but didn't quite make it in the end.

But yeah,

a good win for Bournemouth in a match that kind of didn't really matter for either team.

The other player to have played every minute is a Bournemouth defender by the name of Ilya Zabani.

And I had not heard of him until producer Joel one of Henry Winter's last interviews for the Times.

Was it?

What an honour.

An honour for both.

But I'm on who scored here and apparently Tarkovsky and Salibra have done it as well.

I don't know whether that includes 90 minutes, whether they were substituted in injury time.

Do we trust Barry or who scored?

Who do we trust?

I goed who scored out.

It might not even be Max Kilman.

No, it is It is Kilman.

How very humble of you to defer to an entire stats-based website, Barry.

Yeah, that was very good of you.

Yeah, Sabarney,

Borima fans have a good chant about him, which I think I've mentioned before on the pod, Max.

So you obviously weren't listening.

You don't listen to me.

That's why you haven't heard.

Not always.

But it's to...

I have to listen to you a lot, to be fair.

Whitney Houston's I Want to Dance with Some Bob.

Oh, yes.

Yes, you have mentioned it.

And he gets a great great kick out of it when they sing it.

He always sort of, you can see he's chuffed to bits.

I mean, who doesn't get a kick when that song comes on, eh?

At a wedding?

Like, that's just it, isn't it?

He's like, yeah, it's on.

It's 3 a.m.

and I'm really enjoying this.

Probably 10.30 p.m., isn't it?

When that comes on at a wedding.

Anyway, Bournemouth up to 10th.

I think you're probably right.

No one else has any.

I mean, that disallowed goal robin is a very, hey, in a pre-VAR world.

Those who hanker for a pre-VAR world go, no one saw it.

Didn't affect the play.

Wang's header is brilliant.

Let it stand.

But, you know, is just you don't swing an arm in someone's face, is the alternative, I guess.

Very cowardly of Wolves to keep the admin locked up for that one.

Where were the cries of conspiracy?

Come on.

They must be tired of that wolves.

Where was the accusation of VAR being a West Brom fan or something?

The boiler, actually, the boiler, the West Brom boiler is VAR.

That is doubles up.

Oh, that's that David Squires this week.

Absolutely super fan.

Oh, he was.

was, yeah.

Go and look at David Squires cartoon on.

He was absolutely brilliant.

Anyway, that'll do for part two.

Part three, we'll look ahead to the Premier League games at the weekend.

Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.

So Brighton played Manchester City tonight, Thursday.

They then go to Forest on Sunday.

Barry, how many points are you giving them?

I'm going to give them four points.

Wow.

Okay.

Are you going to give us more detail as to where the one comes?

No.

I think they might draw one of these games.

I think they might draw at Brighton.

But

I say this without having looked to see how depleted Brighton's squad is through injury.

I believe it is quite, or it has been rather depleted.

But no, I'm saying Evan Ferguson is going to throw a spanner in the Manchester City.

I believe he's one of the depleted few.

Oh, right.

Okay.

Come on.

Have another go.

Have another go.

Let's see if you can get every injured Brighton player.

So when you say, I think Bobby Zamora, I reckon he might ask.

Steve Foster

with his big white headband.

Who is also in the pocket of Big Luton?

No, I'm going to say he'll draw one of those games.

Right, okay.

With very little confidence.

On Sunday, Spurs play Arsenal.

so i mean i guess johnny this is you know this is very similar to liverpool going to everton right arsenal should win um a doggies out for tottenham but

you know tottenham really need this as well i guess in their pursuit of top four yeah spurs are playing some they're playing some very silly football at the moment and i i i wonder if the the challenge of playing arsenal you know and being i guess uh you know protagonists in the in the title race they also host city of course um and they go and go to anfield or go that that matters less now uh is going to focus some minds uh and you know it also be interesting to see how how kind of ange deals with it because his his his whole thing is you know we don't we don't care about the other side we do what we do but i think for a lot of the fans the the chance to stop arsenal winning the title is going to be a huge motivation do you do you harness that or do you do you just kind of you know put the blinkers on and and say it's just another game when to a lot of people it clearly isn't um and but you know if they're not if they're not on it i think arsenal have the capacity to to finish that game game in 20 minutes um

and and if if spurs can can actually get get through that that opening period then it then it can get it can get nervy and it can get ugly and and it can get very very uncomfortable for arsenal indeed but i think they need to get through that opening spell how how are you currently on and johnny i focus on my own performance i don't worry about other other coaches right i see it's and if plan a isn't working for you you don't you know it's just more of plan a but like do you think they are they're sort of where they should be aren't they in his his first in his first season well this is exactly it you know spurs have have got to fifth or sixth in the league which is their their position i guess you know with given united and chelsea have sort of imploded which is about their level they've done it in a very entertaining and compelling way and in a way that i think has been fun for the club's fans to

a journey for them to follow uh

the result has basically been pretty much the same but there is there is shoots of promise there.

And I think if you're a fan of a club that isn't going to win things most seasons, that's really important.

It's really important to

give fans some hope and some kind of some sense of having been on a journey.

Aston Villa, Chelsea, Robin.

I mean, who knows?

Like, like Villa, another win for them.

And I think they play before Tottenham.

They play on Saturday.

So we nine points, nine points clear of Spurs, yeah, if they win.

Yeah, they would be nine points.

And you sort of think, I mean, you don't know what Chelsea.

I was thinking about Chelsea, you know, in the last three games, they have scored six and conceded six, but it doesn't quite work like that, does it?

No.

Well, yeah, I don't know if Cole Palmer will be back.

So was it just illness that kept him out of the Arsenal game?

Because I think, yeah, Pochitino has now had to concede that they are Cole Palmer FC.

They tried to nip that in the bud.

So I guess that's a big thing.

And yeah.

I feel like Nicholas Jackson,

he gets into really good positions.

He's just, his confidence is absent all-time all-time low.

Does he keep playing him?

So, yeah, it's quite interesting.

Villa have had a week off, which I think they needed after three games and the 120 minutes last week.

So, I think Villa will be favourites.

They're at home.

But, yeah, as you say, Chelsea Campbell pulls something off, but we'll have to see.

Because Spurs have had two weeks off, haven't they?

The last game was the 4-0 to Newcastle.

So, it'll be interesting to see what sort of shape they're in as well.

If Burnley win at Old Trafford, Barry, presumably, Manionetwood would play terribly and win.

Burnie would actually go level on points with Forrest

out of the drop zone.

Yeah, and I wouldn't rule it out.

They have been playing quite well in recent weeks.

We all know that Manchester United are quite easy to play against.

They'll have lots of shots.

And

it's unlikely, but it's...

far from out of the question that Burnley will win this game.

Let's talk about the Women's Champions League quickly, Robin.

Obviously, the Guardian Women's Football Weekly is where you go for the in-depth analysis of this stuff.

But look, Chelsea beat Barcelona in the Champions League.

I certainly wasn't expecting that.

Were you expecting it?

And how good a performance was it?

They played the second leg on Saturday.

Yeah, no, I wasn't expecting it, but it's so, so impressive.

That was Barcelona's first home defeat since 2019.

And it was just...

a masterful display from Chelsea.

You know, obviously they

some really good shithouse stuff.

Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton was, you know, falling on everything, even from the sort of fifth minute.

Fantastic goal from Erin Cuthbert, who was captaining the side.

Grace here on 5 Live.

She's Scottish, and she said, you know, just being out in the sun for 90 minutes, she got massive sunburn.

Won't be getting that at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

But yeah, just...

tactical masterclass went to a back three Jess Carter got player of the match just blocking everything you know a bit of luck as well The penalty was overturned for Barcelona because the player was offside before the handball was given.

And also, Alexia Puteus missed from about six yards out in the final second.

I mean,

it doesn't mean they're going to go through, but they're at home and it looks like they're going to come close to selling out Stamford Bridge, which is not something the women's team has done before,

because it looks like people are flocking.

They've got something to hold on to.

Yeah, really, just really, really impressive.

And I really hope they do go through because it's, you know, as we talked about before, Emma Hayes, this is her white whale.

You know, it's, it's the one that keeps getting away, and it would be great for her to

win it.

Although, having said that, you know, if they do get through, it looks like they're going to have to face Leon in the final, which is not a given either.

Leon 3-2 up on PSG and the other semi.

On the subject of,

I think it was Ewan who got in touch to send a message to his brother or something.

Chris says, hi, Max, Barry, and Cole.

I haven't spoken to my brother Sean in a long while as he now lives in New Zealand milking cows and I'm still in Ireland.

But I do know that he listens to your podcast religiously while cupping up the cows to milk them.

He's isolated over there in terms of football talk, so the pod is his only fix.

Otherwise, he'd have to talk about cricket or rugby.

If you could tell him to cancel the flight home to Ireland for the Europa League final due to Liverpool being shite,

please do.

Thank you.

Thank you, very happy, Max.

He's saying thank you, very happy, Matt.

As if I'm just very happy.

Yes, okay.

I'm pretty happy.

Chris in Dublin.

P.S.

Barry might know what cupping up means.

Barry?

I presume it means putting the milking apparatus on the cow's others.

And I imagine, I mean,

if Sean is working on a farm in Verticomas, he's probably, I know a guy who's worked on a farm milking cattle in New Zealand.

And you're basically just milking cattle for 12 hours straight.

It's not just like a couple of hundred cattle.

It's thousands of cattle going through the

milking parlor.

So,

I would imagine it's quite

mundane but satisfyingly brainless work, as in, you know, just

quite methodical.

It's more or less you're on a milk assembly line.

You could probably listen to a lot of podcasts while milking cattle.

Yeah, I imagine.

So, we shouldn't be too touched that he listens to this.

He's probably listening to every football podcast that there is.

I'd imagine so, yes.

This is from John.

It says, dear Max, regarding Ewan's email last week on connecting with his brother via the podcast, I can confirm my brother and I both listen to the podcast.

And even though we only live 15 miles from each other in Perth, Western Australia, we rarely see one another due to family and work commitments.

For his birthday late last year, I bought him the Football Weekly annual and wanted to ask him if this was his favorite gift.

But I don't want to upset the rest of the family by asking him this in their presence.

My brother's name is Dave.

And if you are listening, Dave, can you respond via Football Weekly to confirm that this was your most enjoyable gift also while I'm at it is it okay for me to borrow it so I don't have to purchase another one and gift any more money to the posh southerners who host the pod also can I pick up my portable gazebo this week as I need it for your nephew Charlie's 17th birthday I look forward to the spin-off pod dropping soon Rushdon's relationship reach outs and reunite but in the meantime keep up the good work and play up Pompey kind regards John well look the message is passed on hopefully your brother will get in touch Peter says on the subject of spending your birthday with Australian international goalkeepers, I once shared a buffet at the Toby Carvery in Lansing with Brighton's Matt Ryan on my 32nd birthday.

Can anyone beat that?

Anyway, that'll do for today.

Thanks so much for your company.

Thank you, Robin.

Thanks, Max.

Thanks, Barry.

Thanks.

Thank you, Johnny.

Thanks, Max.

Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove.

Our executive producer is Christian Bennett.

This is The Guardian.