Szoboszlai’s rocket and Milner’s new milestone – Football Weekly

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Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

Alexander Isaks Liverpool, a top of the league.

One kick from Dominic Soberslai.

Rockets them to the top.

It was a bad game, settled by a quite brilliant goal.

It looked like it sped up.

It could be huge in the title race, as could the most expensive signing in Premier League history.

A title race that Manchester City might not be part of.

Two defeats in three feels like a crisis for them.

James Milner, the second oldest Premier League scorer ever.

A priceless penalty for Ruben Amarim as Manchester United beat Burnley in injury time.

A priceless last six minutes at the city ground for Graham Potter.

A blind meal we've got this far without mentioning decisions and VAR.

You feel for Fulham.

You really do.

The PGMOL apology is already in.

Everton probably won't get relegated.

Barry, Grealish, Dewsbury, Horn, and Die is nice, isn't it?

All the Spurs' optimism is burst by Bournemouth, who absolutely battered them 1-0.

Crisis at Villa, question mark as Mark Gay maybe says goodbye to Palace with a lovely goal.

Lots of grappling at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland gets a second win, and almost nothing happens at Ellen Road.

All that, which is a lot.

Your questions, and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

On the panel today, Philippe Aucla, bonjour sava.

Sava, but I'm already already tired.

I'm exhausted.

Yeah, I know.

There's a lot to get through and a panel that like to talk.

So apologies to Leeds and Newcastle fans already.

Noradine Chowdhury, hello.

Hello.

And welcome, Lars Sivertson.

Yeah, I have no idea how this is going to work.

Getting through this in any kind of...

What's the longest time we can do before the producers start blasting us into outer space or something?

If it gets to 63 minutes, there's fury in my ears.

Let's start Anfield then.

And we will talk about Liverpool one Arsenal in a second.

But I suppose we probably

Niles should start with Alexander Isak signing for 125 million, rising to 130 million on a six-year deal.

You know, it's agreed.

I don't know if he's been unveiled yet.

By the time you hear this, he's probably been unveiled.

A British transfer record eclipsing Moses Caicedo to Chelsea in 2023.

Is this a good, I mean, it's sort of good that it's the saga is over, I think.

Yeah, I mean, there's nothing like a deadline day to focus the minds.

It's so interesting how in the old days, signing signing on deadline day used to feel like

a knee-jerk or sort of panic reaction, but now it's just a natural sort of stage at where things get resolved because egos are put to aside,

all this sort of posturing is ended, and it actually happens.

It was incredibly inevitable, but also,

I mean, this is stating the obvious, but Liverpool do need that player.

They've got so many riches up front,

they've got such a good team, but the one thing about

Isak is he's the the difference maker it's not as if he's going to be the most prolific player in the world he's not necessarily he he's he's not scored the most goals of any shafer but in those big games in those big moments against real madrid against psg he he will get the goal so so i think it's uh it's exciting for them and slightly worrying for everyone else Yeah, Ricky says the podcast has regularly praised Liverpool and against Chelsea and Manchester City spending, but then paying a British record fee for a player, does this still mean they are pure and good, unlike the rest of the big six?

Feels like a Philippe question to me.

Yeah,

the net spend of Liverpool remains very reasonable.

People forget that it's not the gross spend which matters, but it's the net spend difference between what you spend and what you get for players.

They've sold Cronza, they've sold Darwin Nunez, they've sold Westiaz,

they've got money for Trent Alexander Arnold, Kevin Kelleher.

They might still make some business.

And in total, this year,

after not spending anything last year,

they've spent about 225 million net.

That's

more or less what Newcastle United spent net in the first year the Saudis arrived.

So the difference is that it is money they've earned.

It's a very profitable club.

They hardly spent anything last season.

And they've also sold well.

So yes, it makes complete sense.

And I think everybody else has very good reasons to be extremely worried about what the competition will look like in not this year, but I think quite a few years to come.

Yeah, and actually last, I mean, you can get carried away with who is the starting three for Liverpool because you start different players in different games.

But

now you have, you have Nunes and Diaz have gone.

Obviously, there's the tragedy of Diogo Jotta.

And

Ekatike has come in and started well.

And now Isak's come in.

And you still have Salah.

And we'll get on to how well he's playing or not at the moment.

Gakpo is improving all the time.

Who have I missed?

I probably missed somebody as well.

Florian Wiertz.

And Florian Wiertz, of course.

Yeah, just 100 million.

And they have, of course, the small child who scored the winner against Newcastle.

So there are many, many options.

But I think they're thinking big picture with this.

I think one of the reasons they're so comfortable going big with transfer fees is obviously that they've sold well, as Felipe said.

But also, we know the sort of stats overlords are back in charge, who are people who keep like kind of a big sort of helicopter view on this.

And while Mo Sala is still there and did renew his contract, I think it's very clear that at some point he will no longer be there.

I mean, maybe that's next summer, maybe that's the year after.

But we are moving to a point at which Liverpool will lose the guy who has been their attacking talisman for this entire modern era of sort of prosperity that they've had.

And I think they're thinking ahead.

I think bringing in Wirtz, one of the most talented young attacking midfielders in the continent, bringing in Isaac, who's an extraordinary striker who can score goals out of nothing, who can do it on the big moments, like Nols said.

I think that's not just about this season.

I think that's about getting the team ready for when Salah leaves so that you have people in the building already who can step up and be the guy.

So the game yesterday and Norz, it was not a good foot football match.

I mean it was boring.

I found it really boring, but still a moment of total brilliance to win it.

And actually Sober's line now from right back has basically, I mean, Lars, a second ago, I meant the child who won it, but the dummy kind of won the game against Newcastle.

He has provided perhaps the two greatest bits of skill we've seen this season and so crucial for Liverpool.

Yeah, I mean,

Savozlai, in a lot of ways, I think he's so underrated.

And again,

I think he encapsulates what is so great about this Liverpool team in that, first of all, he's underrated.

And in a strange way, I think this Liverpool team is underrated because it's not a vintage team.

as you describe a Liverpool team.

It's not incredible in terms of flare or whatever, but they always find a way and they always adapt and they're intelligent.

They've got intelligent players and an intelligent manager.

And Sabozlai is so, so good at everything he does.

He's just, in a lot of ways, he's a complete footballer.

He was so good at fullback to the extent that you think you start to wonder now, is he the first choice?

He's doing what Trent Alexander Arnold does in terms of his long passes and starting attacks.

He's really good at defending.

I mean, he shows that in midfield, but

I suppose the most impressive thing with him playing at fullback and wing back and doing so well is whenever you've got an attacking player who does that, I think their natural instinct is to play within themselves and be extra defensive just to overcompensate.

And he's got the competence and intelligence to not do that.

He's got the confidence to sort of go forward, be progressive.

And that's what Liverpool do.

And again, like

a lot was spoken about Arsenal's set pieces.

And again, what Liverpool did so well is even though personnel wise they were smaller and

Arsenal have got these amazing sort of like people can send in amazing sort of deliveries and these big guys

they would they were just a pain they they push people pull people that they they got in the faces and again it's that thing of finding a way even if the situation is imperfect and and again supposedly a pullback sort of um was just a another version of that yeah and it means as well that you know you don't have to play in a midfield so you can accommodate verts and grab and burst can play and then you've got mcalester and jones etc etc etc Gary Neville did say the free kick was Cristiano Ronaldo like and Philippe and I the WhatsApp we were saying that is a grave disservice to some of us like because Ronaldo has not hit a barn door from a free kick in about 200 years scandalous yeah but you know he did play like Trent I thought it was interesting um Arsenal have the second lowest XG from open play this season

they they weren't great at set pieces.

You, Philippe, sort of think that they had a chance here.

Other people have said it, this sort of over-cautious approach from Alteta.

They had the chance here to win this game.

I will not share the WhatsApp conversations I had with fellow Gooners when the lineup arrived because they would say, oh, you're inventing that.

Because I basically said, this is what's going to happen.

And what happened is exactly what I said would happen.

And I got a lot of blue sky stick.

And a blue sky stick is, I'm sorry if I disagree with you.

But I had a lot of that when I said, I wrote something like the wrong lineup, wrong attitude, wrong game plan.

And I stick to that.

I think

the message that was sent from the lineup onwards was wrong.

And when I read what Mikel Arteta said after the game, in which he basically said that they hadn't set up to not lose, but to win, I thought, if you really believe that,

We've obviously seen a very different game.

The lineup, and I know there was, you know, when I say lineup, I also mean the formation.

So, choice of personnel is one thing, like Gabby Martinelli shouldn't have been the starting lineup.

And everybody who's seen Arsenal play since the beginning of the season knows that he's at the moment so short on confidence, he's also not as quick as he normally is, and so forth.

And you had possibilities, you had Leandro Trossa, and you had especially Eberichies,

yeah, who did look good when he came on, didn't he?

He looked fantastic, but because he is a fantastic player, and the idea, oh, you cannot play a player who's just arrived in the club, that's insane.

Why did you make him come then?

I mean, he's fully fit.

He is also somebody who can deliver the ball from a wide area when you've got this huge center forward called Jurcheres, who has no service whatsoever from Martinelli.

So anyway, there was that.

Then you have three defensive midfielders.

And that's okay, provided one of them is given freedom to actually roam forward.

In that case, That didn't happen.

Declan Rice could have played as an advance eight.

It did not.

It was a six.

And then the attitude.

Can I pass the ball backward?

Oh yes, I think I'll do that.

Can I make absolutely sure that I take no risks whatsoever in the transmission of the ball, the choices I make, except of course when I'm playing within my own box?

Yes, we'll have that.

And then suddenly you realize, well, what is going on here?

Yes, they're

dominating with rabbit ears.

They're controlling the game.

But Liverpool, who honestly were there for the taking, as they have been there for the taking since the beginning of the season, but will not be for very long it was a huge opportunity missed and and you saw the impact actually that that esay had when he went on the pitch you saw what the even the actually the impact martino diard had when he came on the pitch and when declan rice actually went a bit forward i think it's a huge opportunity missed for michel arteta who again

he's brilliant at many things but there's one thing he's not brilliant as

which is to use his imagination and think outside of the box that he's constantly cloistering himself in.

Well, the box that he's just on the edge of the technical area that he's just on the edge of, but he can't think outside the technical area, can he?

I think your chorus is interesting, Lars.

And obviously, you know, it's three games or whatever, and you can't judge players.

But like, Canate, who's had a bad season so far, just totally dominated him, I thought, in this game.

Yeah, ironically, Arteta is quite often outside of that box.

So it's just

the box he

needs to work on.

You know, I get almost slightly defensive about Arteta because I feel like he often doesn't get enough credit for taking Arsenal back to a point where they are contenders.

And I think people underestimate the difficulty of doing that.

So I was kind of watching this thinking, well, you know, you've gone away to the champions.

You've trusted your defense, which is Arsenal really being the only one of the top three who can really do that, I think.

And you haven't created a lot, but you're good at set pieces.

But the more I think about it, I don't really buy it because you're going away to the champions, but you're going away to the champions who've conceded two in their last three games who looked very vulnerable defensively both against 10-man Newcastle and against Bournemouth and against Palace in the in the community shield and I'm not enough of a tactics blogger to really identify if Liverpool did something dramatically different to be more solid in this game but I don't think they did I think it was more a case of Arsenal just decided to not try to push them, to not try to exploit the fact that they don't have a lot of ball winners in that middle field, to not try try to exploit that they have a number eight playing right back and

I'm gonna have to side with Philippe about yeah opportunity missed in a big way and Yucharis I'm gonna wheel this this is just an old joke Yokaris I've not I've not seen a Scandinavian get such poor service since the last time I went to a restaurant in Budapest yeah good okay boom it's true

um

let's go to uh uh bright and man city bright and winning 2-1 Darrow says I'm hoping for a big James Milner tribute at some point this season.

Maybe after his goal yesterday, now's the time to do it.

He's now the Premier League's second youngest and second oldest goal scorer.

He is in the top 10 for all-time Premier League assists, top 10 all-time tackles.

He's won everything, the Premier League with two clubs.

He's played in most outfield positions.

He may become the record Premier League appearance maker this season.

He's never in the discussions around the list of all-time Premier League greats.

or is in the best ever Premier League 11s.

Maybe we don't understand what greatness is.

He makes a very good point, Nus.

He's on on the bench of the great,

which I think is the right place.

Just it is right that he's the second youngest and the second oldest, not the first.

And that is the essence of James Milner's greatness.

Yeah, I think.

We hadn't scored Norz since 2019.

And also, what's nice is he was born on the 4th of January 1986.

Merry Christmas, everyone, by Shaking Stevens was number one.

This is in my wheelhouse, replaced by West End Girls, Pet Shop Boys, the day after.

Norz, please praise James Milner.

I mean, he is incredible.

And

the thing is, now we think of like old man Milner, like he's he's always looked the same, hasn't he?

Even when he was like 16, he looked like a bricket.

But what I especially love is the way we talk about him being like this old veteran and this old man.

And like from my point of view, I'm thinking like, but yeah, he is still in his 30s.

So like,

what does that make me in the grand scheme of things?

But yeah, no, he's incredible.

He's an incredible athlete as well.

And

you can imagine, like, once he's given up football, he will definitely do something else, like, physically.

He'll probably go on to be on Will's Strongest Man, or he'll probably take up rowing or something and get to the Olympic.

He's Olympic gold in the Coxla Spores.

That's great.

Really understated.

Just the third in the boat.

You don't even know it's James Milner till he gets out with the gold medal.

You're absolutely right.

But no,

I mean, he's incredible, but also, it's

when he went to Brighton, there was almost this sense of like, okay, now

he's like an old Shire horse gone for pasture, but

he's clearly not, and he's clearly contributing.

And

part of me wonders, like, how long can he go on?

Because I could physically,

and he's such an intelligent and multi-pasted football.

You can imagine him going for another couple of years, easy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Another sub Brajan grew to 25 million signing from Mainz.

What a great way, Lars, to score your first first goal for the club and to like sit down, eight Norian Trafford in one move as well.

Yeah, I mean, it is the Brighton thing, though.

I know he played a number of times last year, so

he's not come out of nowhere, has he?

But just to bring in players who even a sort of self-professed Euro-nerd like myself doesn't have a lot to say about.

And it's just whenever they bring in these guys, Brighton, you just go, they're probably good.

Like you don't

gotten to the point where you just don't think you never question any of the signings Brighton make.

It's just because their track record on this is so strong that you just assume these are young guys, often guys you haven't heard about or only seen a couple of games and Brighton brings them in and they just always work out, seems to me.

Maybe it's because they're so random, a lot of them, that if they don't work out, then we never hear of them at all.

So maybe I need to look very closely.

But it just seems, they're just absolutely incredible at doing this stuff.

Yeah, Minto had a really good game as well, didn't he?

From a city point of view, Philippe Pep says, I like many things we're doing like against tottenham we started well i like many things the team has done here today but we were unable to win when we conceded the goal we stopped playing i mean two defeats in three is not good for those of us that said city would win the league we just you know just that'll probably be good and where where are the levels of crisis do you think you mean what you do on a crisis scale with the blip the bubble and all these other things.

Teething paints, I think, is probably what I would think of.

Again, there's been a lot of rebuilding of that squad and of that first team.

I'm not absolutely sure that Pep actually knows what his starting lineup is.

If Pep has ever known what his starting lineup was, that is.

And so you can see that there's a certain lack of experience, there's a lack of

decisiveness in the third,

I was going to say in the third quarter, it should be in the fourth quarter of the pitch.

Also, some players were under par.

And of course, I will ask Laos what exactly is wrong with Mr.

Holland, because what he missed yesterday before scoring was quite extraordinary and it's actually I'm reaching the point where I'm thinking is this the striker whom we thought was going to be the greatest striker football had ever seen because we haven't seen him for a while now so between all of these things and and some players who are not quite what they used to be Like Bernardo Silva is no longer quite the Bernardo Silva that we used to know, the same way that Ilka Gunogan at one point was no longer longer the inkle, and you can carry on.

So I think they're in basically a period of transition

in which the balance, the right balance, hasn't been found.

Because of that, they're making mistakes.

I mean, Rodri actually made some pretty tough comments.

I mean, he called them chance mistakes or something like that.

And again, after playing decently, I think that he was absolutely right in his assessment.

They started to play decently and as sued, as their rivals called, they just lost their football.

So it's just a temporary thing.

So it's a blippish.

On the scale, it's blippish.

Blippish, okay.

I mean, what do you think about Haaland last?

Do you have to release a sequel going, actually, he was shite?

Is that the...

I mean, he scored six goals in the last seven for City.

But I mean, that is kind of the thing about him.

He gets into so many positions.

His movement is so good.

His physique is so good.

So he gets into so many positions.

And when his finishing isn't as sharp as it could be, which it clearly wasn't yesterday, it ends up looking a bit daft.

But I mean, his numbers in terms of scoring goals are still pretty extraordinary.

So I'm not freaking out just yet.

It's possible that he got word someone had told him that I have captained him on my fantasy team.

And so I just had to make sure.

Yeah, I think it does seem to be a very effective hex, whatever I do with that thing.

He has gone through a period where his finishing hasn't been as sharp as we expect it to be, but he's still scoring a lot of goals because he's very good.

And Nas has just to let us have some breaking news.

Here we go from

our friend.

Please don't use that expression.

No,

don't use it.

Wash your mouth.

Donnaruma to Manchester.

It doesn't mean it's going to happen.

I got excited about Gibbs White and Eze with that, so you never know.

But Donnaruma to City, which is really interesting, isn't it?

That's crazy.

That's absolutely crazy.

I cannot think of a

top-level goalkeeper who is as bad with his feet as Donaruma.

I mean, would you agree, guys?

Yeah, no, I mean, I am yesterday, Philippe, a little bit,

because I swear to God, this rumor has been happening, and I assumed it was made up,

but just because we know that this is something that can happen when agents are very keen to move a player, and clearly Donaruma had to go somewhere, and that they just make up a rumor and

make sure it kept getting reported until an actual club comes in.

That was kind of what I was thinking, because honestly, it makes no sense.

One of the first things Guardiola did when he took over at City was look at Joe Hart and say, well, you're a perfectly fine shot stopper, but you can't play with your feet, so off you go.

And that is essentially what Luis Enrique is doing here.

Like Luis Enrique is taking the political capital he's earned from winning the Champions League and he's spending that capital on getting rid of Donaruma.

I think there are a few PSG coaches who, if they went to the bosses and said, I want to get rid of this goalkeeper, the bosses would would have said, tough.

But actually, you know, Enrique now has the clout to make that kind of decision, and he's making it because, partially, in large part, because he wants a goalkeeper who can play with his feet.

So for him then to go to Guardiola City is absurd.

It's really, really weird.

And it makes me really wonder, like, what are they doing now with the rebuild at City?

It doesn't make any sense.

You sounded like you said Guardiola City.

Like it's a place.

Can you imagine that sort of place?

Everything is overthought.

Everything is manic and overthought.

Anyway,

look, that is fascinating.

We'll round up all the transfers on the pod tomorrow, by the way, but we'll try and get through the rest of the football before any transfers happen.

And part two will begin at Old Trafford.

Hi, pod fans of America.

Max here.

Barry's here, too.

Hello.

Football Weekly is supported by the Remarkable Paper Pro.

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

We already know that Remarkable is the leader in the paper tablet category, digital notebooks that give you everything you love about paper, but with the power of modern technology but there's something new and exciting the remarkable paper pro move remarkable a brand name and an adjective man yeah it's their most portable paper tablet yet it holds all your notes to-dos and documents but it's smaller than a paperback and an incredible 0.26 inches thin so it slips easily into a bag or jacket pocket perfect for working professionals whose jobs take them out of the office like maybe a football journalist barry although not like you

a proper football journalist man exactly Too much technology draws us in and shuts the world out.

This paper tablet doesn't.

It'll never beat or buzz to try and grab your attention, so you can devote your focus to what or who is in front of you.

It has a display that looks, feels, and even sounds like paper.

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Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

live show.

Still some tickets, brackets, the entire top tier available.

September the 11th.

People in the know have told me that, you know, since COVID, people buy their tickets in the final week.

So rush to avoid disappointment.

But already a good crowd in.

So don't freak out if you have bought a ticket.

It won't be just four of us chatting to one of you.

But yeah, come on, be a hero.

Fill the top tier.

Barry, Jonathan Wilson, Nicki Bandini, Johnny Lou.

Cameos from anyone we can grab.

John Bruin is in

negotiations with many others.

Great halftime show.

A video that I don't want to be made public, but I've forced to agree can be part of proceedings too.

Tickets purchased by heading to theguardian.com slash football weekly live, live streaming it as well around the world.

It's on my Instagram, even on Barry's Instagram now.

I gave him a lesson on how to use Instagram yesterday.

It was painful, but we got there.

Anyway, please come along.

It'd be lovely to see you.

Let's go to Old Trafford, Man United 3, Burnley 2, Nas.

Did you have a nice time?

I did.

Except there was a weird situation before the game where you had a, for some reason, you had an Ed Sheeran look-alike wandering around the forecourt.

I don't know what he was doing there or what the point was, but

he was making himself very conspicuous.

And lots of people were taking photos with him.

I assume, knowing that he's look-alike, but who knows?

The world of the look-alikes is very interesting, isn't it?

So beholden to how, you know, there are obviously look-alikes that suddenly the person you're being suddenly gets arrested and you're like, oh, that's me done.

Can we have a minute silence for Ryland's look-alike this week?

Yeah, exactly.

Now, look, I don't know how vital you think that penalty is.

Scott Parker was like, you know, is it clear and obvious some bloke in a van?

It's a great way of describing Stockley Park.

I don't think it matters how big or small the van.

The question is, what is Jaden Anthony doing pulling someone's shirt that late on, I think.

But still, how big big do you think that moment is for Ruben Amerin?

I think it's massive simply because there's a scenario where United lose or even draw.

And because we've got an international break and there's lots of time to overthink and think about your future.

I was seriously worried that Amarin would walk.

He's expressed previously that if he didn't feel that he was doing things right, if he felt as if he was failing the team or he didn't have the team on his side,

the board weren't on his side or the other fans weren't he would walk without compensation and i genuinely believe he's that kind of personality so that was a that was a major concern but it's funny because even the grimsby game uh obviously incredibly uh embarrassing that that united lost and even that it was such a competitive game but when it was 2-2

I honestly believe that if United had scored and won 3-2, it could have worked as a bounce.

Like you hit in a deer and then you bounce back up.

Even a game like that where you obviously should have won and similarly against burnler it can actually lead to something and again especially there's so much narrative that can that can happen before an international break that's sort of uh there's a vacuum so people sort of uh talk a lot about the last game so i think i think this is this is a it could be an important moment and and also it was a strange game because i i genuinely believe that you can scrape a convincing win if that makes sense because because in one respect you could think oh it's three two against burnley who who are who are one of the favourites to go down and and you and you won by a last minute penalty what's so good about that but i think manchester actually played really really well made loads of chances it was really it was a really entertaining game and uh and yeah should should have should have won should have scored at least three more goals um so so yeah and and again it goes back to this thing of

if we if we go back to the liverpool arsenal game there was a lot of talk is is liverpool's defence um really weak is it is it are they shipping too many goals?

But in a way, Arsenal were the best team to play just because they were so sort of reserved and play so within themselves.

And in the same way that you think playing a relegation team would be easier, it's not.

I knew that United would play well against Arsenal and I was worried that United would play badly against or struggle against Burnley.

So it was a big win for me.

And

it was a,

I definitely saw reasons to be optimistic.

Can I just Nause?

Yeah.

You phrase it like like you were afraid Amarim would walk.

Yeah.

Is that a big fear at this point?

Like, are you terrified?

Like, what will we do without this great manager?

Because I just kind of feel after we've had the preseason tour where you had all the reports that, oh my God, it's so positive.

You know, everyone's so super happy.

It's never been this good.

And then you're three games into the tournament and he's lost his head to the point where he nearly sacks himself on air.

That just kind of makes me think he might not be cut out for this.

And I'm going to make this point now when they've won the game rather than when they've lost because I still think it's the case.

It's, I mean, it's, it's absolutely a valid point.

I suppose the thing with Amarin, I think he's the right guy.

I think he's the right guy.

And essentially, if he fails, then I am incredibly worried about Manchester United because that just proves that that like it is literally cursed and everything is wrong.

And even a guy who came into sporting at a very similar moment where they were constantly failing,

were being crushed by by their own reputation.

And he kind of cleared the decks and sort of created something from that.

In a lot of ways, that's perfect for United now.

And if he was to fail at United, and he still may, he will go on to be a great manager somewhere else.

So in a sense, it's almost a meta thought.

It's almost a thought of like, you've had all these managers who failed.

And

I genuinely believe Amarim is different.

He believes in his system.

He's got a good system that should work.

He's great sort of motivator.

And if he fails, then that makes me incredibly worried about who can succeed.

Yeah, I'm really interested to hear that because I think this is the first time that I've heard somebody being convinced that the fact that he's a systems manager is something that can work to Manchester United's advantage.

Please say tell us more, Nos.

Because I have to say, I'm struggling a little bit more to get my head around this when it looks as if a lot of the problems that manchester united seems to have had on the field has been because he's been trying to uh hammer square pegs in round holes so you're telling me basically he hasn't hammered enough

is that what you're telling is that what you're telling us he needs a bigger hammer he needs a bigger hammer

yeah yeah he does i i mean i mean the one big concern i i do have with amarim is is the midfield and and the way he is trying to hammer Bruno into that hole.

And again, that's a concern because that almost it's a mirror of the way that Solcia had this team that worked and then he tried to bring Ronaldo into it and

it all derailed because of that.

And I'm worried that it might derail for Amarim because of Bruno.

But in terms of Amarim and his system, like players play lots of systems.

I think the system is kind of over-exaggerated in terms of the bailing.

I genuinely still believe it's about the players.

And we've had so many managers at Manchester United who have been pragmatists and

in a bad way.

They've kind of looked at the tools they've got and they've thought, right, how can we get the best out of these players?

And my belief is that the players have been have had the wrong attitude and have been the wrong profile of players to beat a club at Manchester United and they don't deserve that honor of building a team around them.

So that's why I want the managers' beliefs and the manager's system to be the star and the focus and the players learn around that.

And again, the frustrating thing about this season is if you look at the results, it looks bad.

But there's been long periods of the season where we've played well, where the system has worked, where the players have been up for it and motivated.

I don't think it's a coincidence that so many games this season, Manchester United have started well.

I think practically every game, they've started really well,

where the system has been implemented.

And then it starts to unravel.

And then you kind of think, think well is that motivation is that sort of um

how strictly the players are sort of adhering to what they've been told and then it starts to unravel and they stop sort of like fitting their role so that's why like and again like maybe maybe this is me sort of like um against all better judgment sort of trusting amarin but i i do see these signs of like when it's working it is working really well and again if you look at how many chances manchester united create i think they're right up there in terms of xg of everyone in the premier league and if you look at the goals that we've conceded every shot has gone in.

Yeah, but

no, but

there's so many goalkeeper errors

of the like, I don't know, is it six goals or whatever they've conceded, like or seven, like four or five of them have been goalkeeper errors.

You should have got done a rumor.

That's what you should have done.

Well, there are rumors.

You know, Emi Martinez didn't play yesterday.

By the time you finish recording, you might have Martinez.

Yeah.

You do not sound a bit like I sounded last season talking about Ange, but like

it's nice to believe in something.

Let's go to the city grounds.

Jim says, is Nuno trying to make the inevitable breakup easier by not beating this West Ham side?

Lars, what a brilliant last six minutes for West Ham.

Cresencio Somerville sort of spearheaded it.

Jared Bowen, like that end of the game, Bowen was great.

Somerville was great.

Callum Wilson was great.

And like West Ham, if anyone needed this, West Ham and Graham Potter needed this.

Yeah, I feel like that's almost a bigger story than Forrest and Nuno, because just from the first two games this season, you're thinking, this is not going to end well, is it, for Potter at West Ham.

It looked absolutely desperate.

And then, of course, you have to go to Forrest away, and Forrest's home record is very, very strong.

And you think

this is going to be bad.

And they just kind of pulled this out

of not much.

Like, I'm absolutely baffled that this went the way it did, to be honest.

But you had Casencio Somerwill come on and make an impact.

You had Callum Wilson make a real impact and looking sharp and looking at, and maybe that, like, being a super sub is a very good role for him and i don't know like i i didn't really see this coming but speaking of systems potter's been playing a lot three at the back at at uh west ham uh went to four went to four at the back here and uh and and won a game so that that that's interesting isn't it yeah i think it really i think it really is i'm pleased for him because you know it's amazing how quickly you get written off uh maybe he's you know he's he's had quite a long time to be written off i don't know but but it was big for him i thought some of it looked so good when he came on.

Pakatar

did a lot of, you know, people are calling me to sign me.

I'm not interested.

Throw away the phone, kiss the badge.

Wouldn't it be absolutely hilarious if he signed for Astronomy Villa

this afternoon?

I do also want to, I know, I want to plug up Jared Bowen again,

who scores a goal and is just, is he the guy who is the most like trying to pull his own team up by the bootstraps currently in the Premier League?

I feel like he is, like, of all the guys,

he's the one who definitely could have been at a bigger and more successful club right now if he'd really pushed for that and if you really wanted that.

And so much is on fire and or falling down around him.

And he is the guy who pretty much every game does something

and tries to pretty much like on his own pull his team through it and seems from the outside at least to be like a genuinely heroic character in the story of West Ham right now.

Yeah, it's lucky Philippe, isn't it, that I mean, he did play well, Callum Wilson, but that he wasn't in the Marraken R in 1984 just as John Barnes finished that run

and then just spooned one into the keeper.

I was wondering where you were going, but that's great.

The fury of Bowen.

I've watched it three times this morning, and I still don't understand exactly what is going on in that brain of his.

What is going on?

What does he think?

Or is he so surprised to see Bowen doing the John Barnes slalom in the box?

I'm sorry, mate,

I'm dazzled.

I can't move.

What's going going on?

So, who took the shot?

In the end, does Wilson get in the way?

Is it both?

Maybe.

I mean, the striker's instinct, you have to say to Kellen Wilson, you know, take the chance and then, you know, worry about it later.

But it would have been one of the greatest goals of all time.

You know, just and like, it doesn't matter.

It's 3-0.

It doesn't matter.

Like, just let him do it.

Because the jinking run, I mean, it's better than Barnes.

Barnes just runs in a straight line.

Barnes is like, you know, Chris Marsden for Southampton against Ipswich, I think.

Do you know what it reminds me of?

It reminds me of.

Do you remember

that Michael Owen wonder goal?

Yeah.

Yeah.

He goes on that big long run.

And then if you notice at the end, like Paul Scholes wants to take the shot.

Skulls is in a better position.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Just the thought of Skulls taking that and shanking it would be amazing.

This is from Name, who says, will you be getting a referee to join the pod?

Because they seem to be the most important part of football right now.

We've done very well to get to what 40 minutes in and not discuss them.

But to Stamford Bridge now.

Chelsea 2, Fulham nil

the PGMOL have apologized to Fulham referees chief Howard Webb got in there quickly to declare the decision made by Michael Salisbury, the VAR and then Rob Jones to penalize Rodrigo Munes for treading on Trevor Chalaba before Josh King scored his first ever Premier League goal as a mistake.

He said the decision to rule out the goal did not reach the high bar of a VAR intervention.

It was not clear and obvious.

It was not a careless challenge.

It is such a big moment in that game, Lars, because if Fulham take the lead, the whole thing is different.

On Match the Day, Danny Murphy said it was the worst VAR decision he had ever seen.

I don't know if that's true, but

it's pretty tough, isn't it, to take?

Yeah, I think the Liverpool one against Spurs was probably worse on balance, but I think it's the most annoying VAR thing possibly, because it's also, it's a game that a lot of people are watching because it's being broadcast live in the UK.

It's a local derby.

It's Chelsea, which is maybe not a lot of Neutral's favorite team, playing against Fulham, who are quite a sympathetic team.

And then you have an Academy of Me kid score a great goal in a derby against the team not a lot of people like.

So that's like to have that ruled out for something that's also wrong.

Just emotionally, is that like a full house of things we don't want to see?

Like, it's so fantastically, spectacularly annoying.

And so I completely get that.

I guess the only thing I have to declare an interest, like I'm Spurs, right?

So I can't.

Last week, Spurs go away to Man City and score a perfectly good goal that gets disallowed only for VAR to intervene and put it back on again.

So for me to sit and say that VAR has ruined football and I hate it and it's the worst thing ever, that would be very hypocritical because a week ago I was quite happy with it.

But clearly.

These decisions are infuriating.

And looking at the process of this, it just occurs to me.

And if we can, and if a referee, if I'm wrong about this, feel free, referees, to correct me.

I think the way VAR works now is that they look at the incident in the room and they spot an infringement that they believe is an infringement, and then they call the ref and say, hey, we believe that this has happened and we're recommending this decision.

Will you go and look at the screen?

I don't like that process because I think then you're already putting a lot of pressure on the referee to agree with what the guy in the booth is saying.

I like the concept of VAR, but in the sense that you can tell the referee, hey, you might want to look at the situation again.

There's something here where you think you might have missed.

But the second you go, we believe it's this,

you then put a lot of social pressure onto the referee to agree with that.

And you don't really get, it does feel too much like re-refereeing the thing.

Because I do wonder what the referee on the day, Mr.

Jones, would have thought if just completely without context, he was shown that situation.

He's like, do you think this is a foul you need to get involved with without someone saying in your ear that we think it's a foul?

But also, Philip, it's got to this stage where 10 years ago, I'd never have thought that was a foul.

But now I'm looking at it going, I don't know anymore.

Maybe that is a, I mean, I don't think it is a foul.

Obviously, if you do that turn and your standing leg breaks down the whole shin of an opponent, then that is a foul.

But like, I'm sitting there going, I don't know.

And I don't think it's a fault to say, I just don't know anymore.

I think it's the point where,

again, like you, I'm a bit,

I don't know exactly what to think anymore because I was always told, including including by referees,

not all contacts are fouls and not all fouls have contact.

You know,

you can perfectly, the intent to injure a player

is a foul for which you can actually get sent off.

But if you accidentally and really accidentally in the midst of the action happen to tread on somebody's toes, come on man,

that can't be right.

And I don't think anybody can disagree with that.

The other thing I would add to what Lars has said about the process, what I also also don't like is that the commentators are aware that the process is happening and are telling the viewers.

It's not as if there was like a discrete, by the way, did you see this?

No, I didn't.

Well, an exchange which you know should happen all the time.

That's not a problem at all.

But the fact that it's also made public, it's something we understand VAR is looking at this incident.

Really?

Why is it important to build it up as something which matters in the game?

Although, Philippe,

sorry to interrupt.

Although, you know, we are constantly complaining that we don't know what's happening.

So if somebody is at least telling us what's happening, even though they're not telling people in the ground what's happening.

We are complaining that we don't understand why a particular decision has been taken.

I don't think the fact that

the referees are talking to each other all of the time.

The linesman

is talking to the ref, the men in the middle, who they're talking to each other.

I certainly hope so, because if they don't, they don't do their job.

What I mean is that it's yet another way to

put the refereeing on the scene scene and to make it an important part of the action when honestly the the less we hear about it the better it would be.

That's the thing, it's like it becomes a staged intervention.

Oh, Vara said something, that's important.

And when most of the time it's not important at all.

But it was an absolutely shocking decision.

And I can understand, I know some people are having a go at Marco Silba because he's very

extrovert, shall we say, in the way that he manifests his dissatisfaction.

But I think in this particular game, game, because we haven't got to the penalty decisions, he has every reason to be extremely annoyed with what happened.

They could have, it's a huge game.

For Fulham fans, it's the biggest game of the season.

It is.

If you can win at the bridge, my goodness, your season is a good one.

Yeah, yeah, no, I totally agree with you.

And look, we don't have time necessarily to talk about one of those hand balls, which I hate as a law, but I think they may have got it right under the laws, but it is deeply frustrating.

Nicholas Jackson, who knows where he is now, but but you know, he went to Munich.

They said, come back, please, because DeLap got injured.

And so he's presumably someone's looking at his flight tracker right now.

Whether,

who's it?

Who's his, who's the representative?

It's a former player.

Oh, you weren't expecting.

Said planes don't go backwards, which is a great way of saying that.

I mean, that is true.

Unless they're on the ground and they're being towed out of the gate, you know, yeah, then they go backwards.

The whole flight reversing, you know, beep, beep, beep, that sort of thing would be terrible.

All right, let's go to Molyneux, Wolves 2, Everton 3.

Look, Barry did relegate Everton.

I spoke to him yesterday.

He's now not really thinking that they're going to go down.

That little pass Noz from Grealish to Dewsbury Hall and what I finished in the Jeff Hurst arc off the bar.

They look quite good going forward, Everton.

I think Everton have replaced Palace as my enjoyable watch anytime they're on now, which I never thought I'd say about Everton,

but they're really fun to watch.

The point I'd make about Grealish is it makes me wish there was some way of limiting squads because there there you've got a beautiful player an amazing player and he's showing at Everton and he showed at Biller what he could do and he essentially he was hoarded at City amongst all these other players and I know why clubs have big squads because there's so many games and because it's not fair on the players and they're going to get burnt out but

I hate the fact you've got the lights of Chelsea that they're hoarding all this talent and that's fair enough for them but we're missing out on watching these amazing players.

We've essentially missed out on Grealish.

we've missed out on this version of grealish and it's a pity yeah and actually do you know what it's such a cliche philippe isn't it to say you know it's so good to watch him enjoying his football because you know and being loved because we all want to be loved and and presumably most footballers love playing football well but like it's so visible with him isn't it you know his relationship with fans he's just so like he doesn't you really get the sense he doesn't go i'm like i'm on a different plane to the to anyone else he's like just a bloke who happens to be brilliant and he loves it and and it's totally infectious You can see the effect it has on the others, which is why I'm absolutely stunned.

Because Noswood, your favorite team to watch, do you remember Everton's first game of the season?

I wouldn't have said that.

It was absolutely dumb.

David Moyes enthusiast.

Oh, my goodness.

But now you think

they've got Greenlish.

They've got the wonderful NDI, who's I love that player.

Absolutely love him to bits.

And they've got Dukesbury Hall.

So they've got a kind of very unlikely,

unholy trinity of quite, I would say not misfits, but players who don't fit in the kind of normal mold, but who seem to really enjoy playing with each other.

And what is also, it's so infectious that even David Moyes seems to be enjoying it.

Yes.

Yeah, and Dibbling as well to come.

It's

you know, they will be fun.

You're right.

They will be fun.

Appointment to view Everton.

Who thought the day would ever come?

Wolves, the only side with nought points.

Perhaps they are doomed.

Strant Larsen wasn't playing.

He was on his phone in a box.

I think he was injured anyway, but maybe he'll be at Newcastle by the end of the, by tomorrow.

By the time he listens to this, we don't know.

Disappointingly, part three will begin at the Tottenham Outspur Stadium.

HiPod fans of America, Max here.

Barry's here too.

Hello.

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Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Tottenham nil, Bournemouth one.

Mark says, guess you'll probably mention Bournemouth tomorrow.

Yes, a very angry Bournemouth fan because we didn't get to them last week.

Charlie says, having won the league last week is Thomas Frank now a fraud.

Lars, look, you and I had a lot of Tottenham optimism going into this game.

Let's save Tottenham for a second because Bournemouth were brilliant, scored early, kept Spurs to nothing.

Spurs didn't have a corner in the whole game.

They didn't have a shot until the 68th minute.

Bournemouth should have won this, I don't know, three, four, five nil.

Yeah, no, they were terrific.

They were very energetic.

They were very.

This thing about almost embracing the chaos a little bit.

Like they are under Iraola, a team that can put like nice passing moves together for sure, but they don't try to hog the possession all the time.

They're perfectly happy to, you know, be a team that attacks quite directly.

They try to like win it in good areas of the field and attack, and they do that really well.

And they just,

Spurs just didn't have a sniff.

They weren't able to do anything.

And I think it's hard with apologies to the very angry Bournemouth fan.

I think it is hard not to talk about Spurs in this game because Bournemouth didn't do anything we don't expect from them, really.

I think this is what a good Bournemouth performance looks like.

And we've seen many of those and we've given them credit for that a lot.

I think it's a bigger story that Spurs were complete trash after a very promising start to the season.

Yeah, what's the answer to that?

Because I did, you know, you sort of looked at the, you know, you watched the game and you think, well, at at some point, Thomas Frank, who is very known for changing things, will do something.

He couldn't do anything in this game.

I was a little surprised by the lineup because we've talked about how, ooh, Thomas Frank, he's very pragmatic.

He changes the plan according to who you're playing against, you know.

But but here, you're you're playing at home, and whilst Bournemouth are good and we respect Bournemouth and we have given them their due now, please don't hurt me, angry Bournemouth fan, I was surprised to see the sort of the against big scary teams midfield of Saar, Paulinha and and Bentankur.

Those are three very energetic guys, but none of them are very good at passing the ball forwards in a game where you're kind of expecting to dominate possession and you need to pry open someone and you need to.

But then the question is, who is that player now that Madison is injured?

I mean, that's what you're bringing in Chavi Siemens for, I guess, to have a little bit more guile.

But I thought Spurs improved when they got Bergval on, because then you have a midfielder who will transport the ball forwards in a meaningful way.

What they've been doing this transfer window Spurs, they've already signed kudos and they keep signing more players who are good at dribbling more so than passing.

And they've almost stumbled onto Chalvy Siemens, who is actually quite a good passer, but they were trying so hard to get guys who run with the ball rather than move the ball by passing.

And it seems to be a plan now with Thomas Frank is that we're going to be quite defensively solid and we're going to get the ball to the dribbly boys and they're going to do the dribbly things.

But I still think passing the ball is important.

And in this game, they really, really struggle to move it forward.

And I think, yeah, I'm really hoping Siemens is the answer to that.

And actually, you need a balance, right, Philly, because Bournemouth have David Brooks, who could possibly have played really well, Alex Scott, who I think is a Alex Scott is a great player as well, and Semenio, of course, who's a, you know, can do everything, actually.

Yeah, and it's the directness which is remarkable, and which actually showed in the numbers.

Because if you look, Spurs had, you know, again, you know, two-thirds of the possession, actually more than that, nearly three-quarters of the possession.

But Bournemouth outshot them by 25, 20.

Yeah.

This directness, it's a mixture of subtlety and silkiness, because there are some very good technicians in this Bournemouth side, but as well, impact players, quick transitions, and people who run with the ball.

I mean, Semenyo is,

if you were to do an 11 of the most underrated players, but though maybe not for long in the Premier League, I think it would probably in that starting lineup.

One more quick thing on Bournemouth, because I didn't do a good job praising them, did I really?

I'm too annoyed about Spurs.

They did in this game, I believe they had like 28 tackles i've got the numbers in front of me now and with 20 and 28 is a big number like if you look so far in the premier league the highest sort of average tackles per game is wolves with 23 so like 28 is is a lot and it's interesting because when you look at the lineup yeah you look at brooks you look at scott tavernier you know these you think of these as more as technical guys but but but clearly

it's a team who are just really like getting stuck in and again embracing the chaos in a way that's like they're always a good watch like i i would I would say to Nas and his newfound love of Everton I'd probably rather watch Bournemouth on a weekly basis as much fun as Grealish and India are just for a team that is consistently fun to watch and produce interesting football games very good Bournemouth yeah also interesting as well that you know footballers have to do everything right we sort of say this guy attacks this guy defends this guy stands still but they all have to do everything that you have to do on a football pitch interesting stat that tottenham haven't won the game before an international break since October 2023.

That's a fascinating stat.

To Villa Park, Palace unbeaten in six against Villa.

They're unbeaten in their last 14 games across all competitions, Crystal Palace, although, you know, I'm not really interested in stats that go across seasons.

Another brilliant win for Palace, Nas.

Yeah, and again, and again, we talk about systems managers like

Glasnar's somebody who has made that Amarin formation work in the Premier League.

The way they lose their best players each year,

and yet they find a way to still play their game, still look exciting,

still have match winners.

And you get the feeling that

they will eventually lose Wharton, but they will be fine

because they've got such a good manager and they do find solutions to the game.

So, I mean, I was slightly surprised at the scoreline, but

I don't know if that's just a blip for Villa or it's

worrying signs because

you do get the sense with Emery that he needs he kind of needs a constant rejuvenation of players and fresh players in and obviously they've not been able to do that for for financial reasons and and financial rule reasons and it doesn't bode well for the rest of the season especially if they especially if rumours are true and they want and they want Sancho which I'm not sure he's the answer Philippe did you want to say something Yeah, just two things.

First of all, I want to go back to Crystal Palace because I hear what Nos is saying, but I am worried for Palace.

Because yes, they've kept losing players like Wilfred Zaha, remember when people said, you know, when Zaha is gone, that's it, they're finished.

No.

Michael Olise,

same thing.

Eise,

same thing, though we don't know what the impact is going to be.

Gehi might have been gone by the time you listen to that, guys.

For me, it's a completely different situation to, for example,

a Brighton.

where this is part of the policy.

In the case of Crystal Palace, this is not part of a policy.

This is part of a necessity, which is not the same thing at all.

And you can hear that Glasner, who is quite clearly a very, very fine manager, is frustrated by what is going on.

So I'm also wondering, okay, you've lost all these players over the last few years.

You're going to lose a few more.

You could also lose your manager.

And which is why I am not as...

confident.

I wish I were because I do enjoy see them play with him, especially as a manager.

But I think there's a problem.

And for Arston Villa,

one of the things yes there is this phenomenon of um it's like a a stone being polished by a torrent over time and there's a moment that the stone is completely smooth and when it's smooth in football it's not that great uh to be honest you you want the ankles you want the sharpness and you lose that sharpness but there is also the problem that there have been problems within the club because of PSR.

And that Emery also has the feeling that his hats have been tied behind his back and that the recruitment is not what it should have been and so on and so forth.

And that's not contributing to a very nice atmosphere, to say the least.

Sunderland Brentford laws, a lot of grappling in this game.

This was the holding law at play.

It seems to be, but I mean,

what a great win for Sunderland.

Like,

this stuff really matters.

I mean,

for the newly promoted teams to kind of get going and get some points on the board, it's super, super, super valuable.

It was another game where, like we saw against West Ham, they're dangerous when they put crosses into the box, Sunderland, and they managed to get a win from there.

And I want to reference a bit of a stat here from my very good friend Peter in Dallas, who points out that this season's crop of promoted sides have combined 13 points after three rounds, which is more than six times better than last season's promoted trio had.

They only had two points between them after the third round.

And Southampton, of course, only got 12 all season.

So 13 points already for the newly promoted teams, which is heartening, right?

But it makes us feel that maybe there will be some kind of relegation battle this time.

Yeah, yeah.

Totally delighted for them.

Nice time for Issador.

They have a baby and then play and score the winner in the 96th minute the next day.

But I do kind of agree with Keith Andrews.

I thought they should have had two penalties where Nathan Collins was roguely tackled twice.

And actually, the penalty that Sunderland got wasn't quite as grapply.

But, you know, I haven't lost any sleep over it.

Leeds 0, Newcastle, 0.

Not a lot happened.

And we just have time, Philippe, for you to talk about Joel Neves Hat-Trick, which was unbelievable.

Oh, my goodness, it was incredible.

So the game finished 6-3-2 to PSG, played in Toulouse, and you can imagine it was rather fun, but it was even more fun that you can imagine with the 6-3 because PSG, and I know Larson and I were talking about this

before the pod, they're becoming annoyingly entertaining and good.

And they were so entertaining.

At times, I could not believe it.

There were six or seven PSG players not attacking in the box of Toulouse, in Toulouse.

They were a kind of anti-Artita machine.

You know, that the way they were deployed.

It was crazy.

Leaving loads of space open.

They don't care.

They're going to score.

And they scored, and João Neves scored probably,

I think I've been really thinking about it, the greatest ever hat-trick scored in French football, in French league football.

I know it's not strictly speaking a hat-trick because it's not left foot, head and right foot.

So thank you, old patents.

I know that.

It's not a perfect hat-trick, it's still a hat-trick.

It's still a hat-trick.

The first one,

he receives the ball after a bit of a kind of billiards, aerial billiards, if there is such a thing.

The ball lends to him.

It's his back back to goal, he chests it in the save movement, whack, overhead kick in the corner.

You think that's pretty good.

Seven minutes later, after a clearer and better structured attack, he receives the ball, is back to goal, he chests it, and in one movement,

another overhead kick.

And even better than the first one.

They are not shinners, they are absolutely met with the power of the foot and meant everything.

So you think, my goodness, two overhead kicks in seven minutes.

One more to go.

And the third goal for me is even better.

And it's not an overhead kick.

He receives the ball quite a long way from the Toulouse goal.

And what he does is about 25 yards out, my favorite skill in football.

He cuts across the ball with the outside of his right boot, catching it with the laces in such a way that he is imparting exactly the right amount of spin so that it ends up in the top corner.

I've never seen, you know, I've never seen a hat-trick like this one.

Usually there's always one which is like, okay,

from one yard out, a kind of Nugent goal, but there wasn't.

in this particular occasion.

And it was, I mean, Joan Eves, what can you say?

And PSG were just wonderful.

The game was crazy.

Penalty for Toulouse.

I think it's,

I can't remember the name of the Toulouse player, takes it.

Chevalier stops it, and really good stop.

But

there's been encroachment, so the penalty has to be retaken.

And the penalty is retaken by Christian Caceres, another player.

And Chevalier stops the penalty again.

It was that kind of game.

And then in the end,

Toulouse scored two goals within a single minute in added time.

I mean, honestly, guys,

I'm really pissed off that Liguan is not really available in the UK anymore.

I mean which I think is is a shame tells you everything you need to know about the state of French football when it comes to broadcasting You have to use those special passes and so forth, but it's not on one of the main broadcasters any longer It's it's which is an absolute shame because believe me this was the game of the weekend for me and the hat-trick of the weekend and the hat-trick of the year and probably the hat-trick of all of French football history, at least in the league.

Perfect, Philippe.

What a wonderful way to end.

That will do for today.

Thanks, everybody.

Thank you, Lars.

Thank you, Max.

Cheers, Nars.

See ya.

Thanks, Philippe.

Thank you.

Football Weekly is produced by Silas Gray.

Our executive producer is Neil McVay.

We'll be back tomorrow.

This is The Guardian.