The Preview: Manchester United vs Liverpool

Intro so we have seven games on Saturday kicking off with Arsenal against Brighton and then ending with Manchester City at West Ham then three games on Sunday with the climax Manchester United against Liverpool Tim Spears and John McKenzie are my Dependable Duo once again uh Tim you've had another Rose Ed out give us the highlights will you Rose Ed the new the new weekly column on the athletic every Friday morning um sideways look at the lighter side of football uh yeah uh who's who's uh who's in this week Ronaldo Ronaldo's got a new YouTube channel which if you haven't seen and 52 million people have not only seen it but signed up to it it's already that's already a like a sixth of a way to being the most popular YouTube channel in history already and that's in like less than a week mental who these people are I don't know um they're not just subscribers they're subscribers as he calls them comes up a lot on the videos really cringe yeah basically it's it's nuts it's like 14 videos no longer than three minutes of like pure narcissism and vanity he's just saying how great he is if you want any insight as to as to how he became the best player in the world you're not going to get it you are going to get his his wife asking him what his favorite song is in a game of Mis of misses and he says oh don't really have one uh so yeah that's when I stopped watching basically but um it's worth reading about I think but not worth watching yeah okay cool yeah do check out rosed for for Ronaldo and and much more um John how are you it's it's good to see you once again uh what's your sort of your pick for this week in terms of the game that you're going to get your teeth into yeah I think well we're obviously going to talk about Manchester United versus Liverpool but I think outside of that I'm looking forward to Arsenal versus Brighton um I thought this game last season was fantastic maybe one of Arsenal's best games of the season Brighton have a new manager so um they're doing something similar some things different we've talked a little bit about that on our Saturday show this week um so it's going to be interesting to see whether or not those Dynamics carry on and whether or not that game is going to be a real tactical uh melange for for weirdos like me you do like to throw in a a nice word to start off the show I like it mange this week what was it last week what did you throw in last week think I said concatenation last week concatenation well Arsenal against um Brighton is one of the games that we will uh focus on a little bit later on as we cast our eyes around the Premier League we'll be hearing from our experts at the athletic uh on both of those teams also Spurs and Chelsea too but now let's get into our main game and here before we get the Manchester United vs Liverpool takes of Tim and John from our Manchester United writer KL Anker and our Liverpool writer James Pierce on their best and worse memories from this fixture down the years you know for a player who missed one Premier League game last season his return in numbers was disappointing you know the fact that he created Five big chances in the Premier League over 37 games that was equal with James hovsky and Nathan Collins two set halfes and that's where he has to improve goals what did he get eight in the Premier League yeah five assists he's a player who who you think can offer so much but was lacking a little bit last season in those numbers now he's had a great start to this season and if he can provide that consistency and all of a sudden his numbers improve then becomes a much more influential player for Liverpool but at the moment you'd have to say at the start of this season you'd have had gakpo ahead of Diaz because gapo started 15 less Premier League games than than Diaz he had the same numbers big chances assists goals so in terms of output and contribution on the pitch gpo's given more but the way that Diaz has started this season there's a bit of maybe he might fulfill that potential that we've all seen in him as a top class player and maybe settled a little bit more because he had obviously his dad Saga last year and the speculation might not have helped maybe this year he's thinking maybe he can produce a little bit more exciting start to the season but it's consistency with Diaz and I really hope he can get himself a goal and assist at Old Trafford and kick on from what's been a good couple of games for him so that was Carl and James just with a a bit of a trip down memory lane now obviously you know they are devoted to to Liverpool and Manchester United respectively uh neither you John or Tim are of the same leaning to to either side what does this fixture mean to you and how much do you look forward or not to to watching it p uh I mean I guess it's an interesting one we're sort of told it's the biggest fixture in English football because it just must be I suppose because they're the two biggest clubs but I mean since I started watching football in 1991 it's like I mean it's rarely been the biggest game of the season in what yeah 33 years because they they so rarely go for the title The at the same time you know in the '90s obviously United dominated and it was a case of all can Liverpool sort of wreck their title chances but in terms of you know what I mean in terms of them both going for the title it's always Arsenal United has been the biggest game of the season for me growing up and then more recently it's been Liverpool city's been the biggest game of the season and yeah of course it's a huge game but Arsenal City next month is much bigger and I probably more excited about that and watching that because you know the the consequences are going to be so huge but having said that they're always pretty tasty I mean obviously we've had the 4-3 in the in the Cup last season there was the 2-1 two seasons ago which was the third game of the season at Old Trafford Again by coincidence that massive win for for ten hog so yeah there's always some they were always very very watchable Adam but yeah I wouldn't say it's for me I wouldn't say it's the biggest game in English football yeah it's interesting John isn't it that they have been on sort of almost the opposite end of a of a seesaw in terms of their their dominance yeah I mean Tim makes a really good point that they've they've never really been in in the the best position to have the best game in the league um and to be honest a lot of the time I I I have a memory of this game just being very very tety for for long periods even when Manchester United were in their sort of low decade um those games where Liverpool would go to to uh to Old Trafford sorry or Manchester United would go to anfield they just always seem to end up being just very very sort of scared games um I guess because Manchester United in that period have very much played as a team who can hurt you on the break so it it sort of changes the dynamic a little bit for for how a team might like Liverpool might play um so yeah it's um I would yeah I would argue as Tim did that it's probably not even been the best game in the Premier League in the last decade or so uh but I think it's a tasty fixture this time around because of everything else waves hands let's let's deal with the the Here and Now Tim um focusing on on Manchester United defeat at Brighton last week OB see they won their opener against Fulham narrow win uh at Old Trafford where's your sort of cuz I know you carry one around with you where's your pressur ometer on on tenh har at the moment and Ten Hag performances accepted it is only two two games in no but you know this is this is going to be a hangover from last season because he led them to the worst ever finish in the Premier League with their worst uh goals conceded record in the Premier League so and then United went looking for a manager and the the summer so it if he makes a slow start to the season he's an obvious early candidate uh to be in trouble and the manner in which they lost at Brighton has definitely sort of added to that this wasn't Brighton scoring two worldes this was an absolutely shambolic performance defensively for both goals from United's point of view almost couldn't believe what I was watching really when you've got seven men going towards the ball uh in the 95th minute and leaving two players free at the back back sticks just crazy and you have to question the manager for that for in terms of lack lack of organization and you know the strange decision to take Harry McGuire off with 20 minutes to go which is unusual thing to do with a center back um so yeah he's he's going to be under pressure really quickly because I think they've actually recruited really well um like really well I'm really impressed with each signing that they brought in and they should improve the team but we've seen before United have had good summers in terms of recruitment on paper and ten ha hasn't been able to uh um work that into a coherent team so yeah he's he's the one under the spotlight because they've got a good enough team and squad for top four now there's absolutely no doubt about that where are you on this John are you on the same page as Tim that it's it's ten hog causing more issues or do you feel that from analyzing those opening two performances there are some sort of positive strands that can be built upon I think on the on the pressure side of things I mean M momentum is always something which is useful for teams to have um for so many different reasons um and the gap between the end of a season and the beginning of a new season is always a very nice space in order to sort of input some optimism without having to do a huge amount of optimism developing actions right you don't need to win games or anything that time you just need to bring in some players um they they stuck with the manager and by the time the Summer's come to an end I think there's probably a lot of people out there being like yeah you know last season's behind us we got this season ahead of us um let's give ten ha chance to see what he can do and I think the the more games that you lose early on then um the that that optimism very quickly goes so it's it's it's easily won optimis optimism but it's also easily lost optimism so yeah we're in a scenario where if for example Manchester United get turned over by Liverpool you then go into the international break with again more space for that process to reverse as well so yeah I think that as Tim says this is a very sort of critical time for for and I guess it it always will be like that whenever um things don't go his way but I think the way that things have been set up with a big break over the summer you know just despite the the fact they deserve to win against Fulham um they they ended up sort of scraping it a bit and then yeah losing the next game in the manner they did to Brighton now they've got Liverpool it's actually not it's not looking like a particularly brilliant start for them but in terms of whether or I think they look improved on the pitch I think they just I think they look different and they had to look different because last season they looked looked so bad in in certain phases of play um and the response that they've had to have to that I mean I guess this started happening at the end of last season was they had to solid up defensively um they had to stop being quite so aggressive in high pressing phases because they were leaving themselves open all the time the problem is is that you know High pressing High regains were a a way for them to generate chances and so effectively the way I see it is yes they've solid solid soled things up from a defensive point of view and from out a possession point of view um but has that meant that they look less dangerous going forward and you're always caught then in this in this um tension between should we be pressing higher to try and generate more chances here to be more dangerous or should we be sitting off and I think we we see that in the difference between the games against Fulham and the game against Manchester City in the community Shield where in the community Shield they large despite the fact that you know for a long period they were up in that game um or or or level um they were still very very passive they didn't generate much at all apart from in these transitional moments and what that meant is that man city largely controlled long parts of the game and I think that that's just a dynamic that they don't want to end up getting him with a lot of teams so yeah very different look from from Manchester United I think and the big question is going to be do they balance sitting a bit deeper in a block to jumping up in these high um pressing phases and if they do jump up are they going to be open like they were last season um so it's a question of like do we defend or do we attack and um yeah I think it's really fascinating tactical um uh sort of tight rope to be walking and I think it will dominate the the eventual Nar narratives about Manchester United this season yeah it doesn't feel particularly heartening if you're describing them as walking a tight rope it it's not not the securest footing that I would want to be on yeah it's it's so interesting that they are going to be naturally compared aren't they away from their slightly physical um likeness uh to each other um Tim what's your sort of feeling on and reflecting on what John said there before about having an impact you know Eric tenh har knew that his job was on the line at the end of last season yes he got a trophy but he knew that they were looking elsewhere um he had an opportunity to make a big impact and yes they're going to have more signings to come in and hopefully from their point of view they will want to improve but then you look at the impact that Anna slot has had picking up from you know an era under Jurgen klopp and seems to have got Liverpool playing in in quite a settled comfortable way do you think that it's likely that Anna slot is going to develop into a a better manager at Liverpool than Eric tenh har is capable of becoming at United uh that's a good question I mean if you look if you look at the start that Liverpool made it's been very Serene it's been is impressively slotted in it's not I just couldn't think of another word there it wasn't an awful pun that's just going to happen throughout the year isn't it basically but um yeah it's sort of if you look at United and Liverpool it's like it's calm V Chaos basically um and for tenh har to have been there for two years and still be presiding over this utter chaos where they can just give give two goals away to Brighton in the most sort of horrific defensive circumstances just does not reflect very well on him to be honest um so yeah I think it despite all this all the money that they've spent and the great Squad that they've got for Liverpool to be so far behind United as may be proved at the weekend would would would be pretty damaging and not reflect very well on ten hog at all so I think it is it is important in that respect you know if Liverpool turn up and and Breeze past United 3-0 I think it would look terrible on ten hog and you can imagine the sort of scenes at fulltime and maybe some booze and people really questioning his future before the end of August um so they could they could certainly do with a drama free normal performance which to be honest you don't really get very often with United so are you're nodding there John why were you nodding yeah I mean I I agree with Tim I think if if if we we we have the situation where slot comes in plays the game plan that he wants to play against Manchester United um and and wins comfortably I think it's going to indicate certain things for example if they play the game plan that he wants I think that will involve a lot of deep buildup which is something that Eric tenh har hasn't really ever got Manchester United to be able to master If he if I mean obviously there's caveats there um in terms of the playing Personnel the style of football they're playing before Etc um but if he can do that in you know three Premier League game weeks in a way that I mean if you think back to the beginning of Eric ten Hog's time at Manchester United it was the opposite right two game weeks lost to brenford Lost to Brighton change up the system become a little bit more pragmatic because of that Manchester United need to get results rather than you know take take your medicine and actually develop a a tactical system that can work over the long term I think yeah that that does start raising questions about uh about about ten hog in the long run and to be honest I don't think that there will be a huge amount of comparison between tenh and Slot just on the basis of their nationality um I I just see them as being very different kind of coaches I think the the comparisons that slot is going to deal with is going to be comparisons to to Klo um I think that Liverpool fans are going to very quickly um start putting him in the conversation of you know where's this guy relative to klopp if things go well um and you know that will be interesting in and of itself but yeah I think that this is the the sort of game where um if the result goes the way Liverpool want it to go that will be the comparison with with his predecessor rather than the guy in the opposite dogout so far for Liverpool they they've had two two-nil wins against ipswitch Liverpool’s performance and then brenford at anfield last weekend um it was interesting hearing from Trent Alexander Arnold and he's spoken about Arna slot's one rule don't comply you don't play have you been impressed Tim with with how he sort of come in adapted made his own Mark after such a a dominant character in in klopp yeah that don't comply I think it definitely sounds like something that's been that's been stuck on the wall doesn't it or or or written on a whiteboard you know I've seen I've seen managers at wolves do that in the past it's like it's it's um uh if it's not my way it's no one else's way or something like that if it's not my way you can you can do one you know they they do stick these things up in big letters so yeah that's yeah there was a yeah there was a slight translation issue there with that one I think um anyway so yeah no I've yeah I've been really impressed it's just like I said earlier it's been it's been a Serene start um I think I think you know it's not to be underestimated if we look at the the two big eras that have ended before in English football Fergie and Wenger horrifically uh mismanaged by their by their um successors you know David Moyes got off to that Dreadful start in 2013 unai emry I can't really remember his first match or two I don't know if you can but obviously it went South pretty quickly um so this is the this is the this is the next big uh era after that pep being the other one um to see how slot gets on and it's daunting shoes to fill kpps such a revered figure and such a huge personality you know not just the football success but he does seem I think you can sort of um you can sort of suggest that he seems to have earned the respect of the dressing room just sort of judging on how Liverpool have gone about the first two games because they looked to be playing to his tactical plan and you know Trent Alexander Arnold had his had his sort of um little hissy fit after he subbed off the other day but slot sort of seemed to take control of that situation pretty quickly um and I think he's been smart not to change too much coming off the back of the Euros with not a huge amount of prep time on the training pitch before the start of the Season you know obviously they have they have changed their style they look less open to me um they look like they're sort of trying to slow down counterattacks a lot and get numbers behind the ball and obviously they're more patient in possession but then when they um when they when they lift the tempo very quickly they look irresistible uh and that front three looks fantastic so yeah they haven't conceded a goal yet obviously you know they've only played IP switch and brenford so um this is the one to really judge them on this weekend but can't have done any more so far and I've been really impressed none of Liverpool's last nine managers have won their first League meeting with Manchester United so it's a it's another record for Anna slot to to try and improve upon I think he was the first Liverpool manager to win his first game since back in 1991 and he he achieved that against ipswitch so he's already broken little records here and there already at Liverpool um a statement win for Liverpool not so much that they've beaten United because lots of teams have done that over over recent Seasons but more that they could sort of rubber stamp the fact that they've beaten a team in the top six and they are going to be in this title race alongside Arsenal and Man City this season is that fair I think you mean top eight not top six um top eight yeah yeah you're true yeah very true well done yeah I'm yeah I'm not I'm not sure it's it'll obviously be a massive thing for the Liverpool fans but I'm not sure I'm not sure just a victory Old Trafford would be would necessarily be a statement win especially at this time of the Season it would more be the manner of it like like I said if if they can go to or Trafford and completely outplay United as Liverpool teams have done in recent seasons and you know sort of stroll it 3-0 I just yeah that that would that would resonate you know for both clubs massively like I said earlier would that would really increase the pressure on ten har and um it would sort of rubber stamp what slot has done in in the past few weeks and how quickly he's sort of taken to it um interestingly haven't beaten United since the 7 nil they had three games last season there was the 4-3 FA Cup game which of course was great there was the nil nil anfield when Liverpool had like 35 shots and then there was the 2-2 Old Trafford in the league in April um but yeah I think it's probably slightly too early in the season for statement wins especially against a very fragile United side but if Liverpool are realistic about the title Ambitions this season then you know we know they can't drop too many points so um and they've got a pretty kind run at the start of the season in terms of fixtures so yeah if they if they were to get a win here and then win their next couple then people will be um people will get carried away including people on this podcast I reckon it's worth remembering as well that that the Liverpool have the I'm putting scare quotes here for the people listening um statistically easiest starting run of fixtures in out of anyone in the Premier League so we were talking about momentum before I think this could be a really important aspect for for slot he's had like a really nice run of games for him to instill his style into the team yes they've got a couple of trickier games they've got a game against Manchester United they've got a game against Chelsea I believe coming up those are probably the two uh easier fixtures probably from the top six sides so far this season so they've got everything sort of in their way they've got some nice challenges coming up some nice easy fixtures to embed style so yeah everything has sort of Fallen um really nicely for slot to be able to get that momentum going we'll talk about um exactly what slot's been doing in the attacking third uh in a moment but I wanted to hear from Neil M former Liverpool Striker he was on uh the walkon podcast which is our dedicated Liverpool podcast and he's been speaking about Lis Diaz let's have a listen you know for a player who missed one Premier League game last season his return in numbers was disappoint him you know the fact that he created Five big chances in the Premier League over 37 games that was equal with James hovsky and Nathan Collins two set and a half and that's where he has to improve goals what did he get eight in the Premier League yeah five assists he a player who who you think can offer so much but was lacking a little bit last season in those numbers now he's had a great start to this season and if he can provide that consistency and all of a sudden his numbers improve then he becomes a much more influential player for Liverpool but at the moment you'd have to say at the start of this season you'd have had gakpo ahead of Diaz because gakpo started 15 less Premier League games than than Diaz he had the same numbers big chances assists goals so in terms of output and cont RB on the pitch gakpo has given more but the way that Diaz has started this season there's a bit of maybe he might fulfill that potential that we've all seen in him as a top class player and maybe he settled a little bit more because he had obviously his dad Saga last year and the speculation might not have helped maybe this year he's thinking maybe he can produce a little bit more exciting start to the season but it's consistency with Diaz and I really hope he can get himself a goal and assist at Old Trafford and kick on from what's been a good couple of games for him there was a lot of talk when when slot was appointed that he was going to be good for for Liverpool's Wingers um they've obviously got quite a lot of competition John in terms of Diaz there do you agree with Neil M yeah I mean it's it's a tricky thing to sort of point to whether or not Arne Slot & competition players are scoring as an indication of of how good or badly they're playing because I think what's happened here is a massive change in in play style uh which really suits Wingers which is why people have been saying you know slot is going to come in and and it's going to help help wide wide forwards and the reason why that is is because I I guess if we want like a a quick I don't know if people want this but a quick sort of tactical history of of of of the Premier League in terms of Pep Guardiola comes in the pep guard Guardiola style is about building up really slowly forcing the opposition back into their own third uh and then almost creating your own low block to then break down um and obviously Low Blocks are hard to break down because there's no space uh when generally are players who like lots of space and so you're in this scenario where um if if you're playing quote unquote good elite football you're actually creating conditions where you know it can be tricky for your your Wingers to actually get upside all of the conversations about pep guard have been about for example Jack greish oh a really exciting player who he's taken and now we don't see him doing any exciting things it's all about controlling offering width not even like not even doing the football just standing in a position to make it easier for his his teammates to to do well um what we've seen in recent years deser as the classic example of that is flipping that logic on its head and saying well why don't we create space for our forwards because our forwards are always going to play better when they have more space to attack so the logic has been flipped rather than trying to control the ball in the opposition's third you now control the the ball in your own third you try and get oppositions to step up to you bait them forward creating space in behind and then you have these uh routes to to go where you then as you mentioned before you have these Tempo shifts where you do lots of controlling until you create the right conditions to then attack and then it's bang bang bang super quick um attacking and as Tim said it can it can look mesmerizing when Liverpool are doing it under slot so it makes I'm just completely on surprised that someone like Luis Diaz would look better in this system in from an attacking point of view because he is being given those spaces to thrive in he looks much better in large spaces um and yeah as we saw against brenford last weekend just an insane counterattacking move where it ended up being two on two um and yeah we had jot and and Luis Diaz and they were just able to eat up that space they pick the ball up on the edge of their own box after a corner or free kick I can't remember one of the other uh and then were able to carry the ball in that space create a good chance and score it so yeah that's that's what it is about slot style I think that suits these Wingers and I think if for Diaz he should be be loving this because yeah as Neil meler says like he didn't have a huge um amount of production last season both in terms of goals and assists but I think that there will be much more forthcoming this season we mentioned before team that there's going to be competition um it wasn't necessarily uh the case last week when when Lis Diaz scored against brenford that he knew Federico Kaza was going to be coming in at that point because it's a move that developed in the in the final week of the of the transfer window um where do you see kazer fitting in because if they can keep him fit he's a he's a game-changing player isn't he yeah he is um I mean he's the fact they've got him in for so cheap sort of around the 10 million Mark you know reflects how his career has taken a bit of a downturn certainly since the Euros when he was so good um in 20121 he had he had an ACL injury I think a year later and yeah he's he had a decent season for Juventus last season but didn't didn't really set the league of light and his transfer value sort of reflects the fact for me that he'll probably be backup and you know you you'd have to be one of the world's best forwards to improve Liverpool's immediate front line I don't think he's going to do that I think he's probably going to be a backup maybe to Salah uh don't know where exactly slot's pinpointed that is going to be his best position but probably pretty interchangeable along that front three like most of Liverpool's forwards are so a good option you know they're going to have uh another eight games in the Champions League coming up um there'll be plenty of time for all these players to play it' be difficult to keep them happy but um I've been really struck in the first two games by how um by just how seamless the front three look together and happy in different styles of play I think as well jot uh Diaz and Salah very interchangeable very fluid um it'll be hard for someone like Nunes I think to break into that as well as a as a first choice but God it's going to be it's a 6 60 Game season probably so there'll be plenty of chances for all these players okay we've got to prediction time on this game and and there'll be many Manchester United fans listening probably that are quite GL half glassful that's not the way to say it is it glass half full that will be thinking oh they've just gone negative on United once again and they can't see them winning and we will get better and we Predictions will improve and this is the sort of game that will really get our juices flowing and as we highlighted last season they didn't do that badly against Liverpool so they will fancy themselves and we've said that yes everything's great at Liverpool but we have also identified the fact that they have had a relatively easy start but where do we stand on it with all of that thrown into the mix John where's your prediction on this one two numbers yeah I mean It's Tricky I know you hate me doing this but I guess Liverpool are going to be trying to do two things which will suit man united one of them is controlling the ball deep and we've already talked about Manchester United liking to press up and and turn the ball over high so you know there's a world in which they are able to do that quite nicely and cause problems for Liverpool um the other thing is is that Liverpool are going to try and make the game transitional in certain phases and whenever the game becomes transitional it will suit Manchester United that's the way that they play best as well so I can see a world where where the game opens out a bit and it suits Manchester United more as well that said I do think that Liverpool are going to win so I'll say 2-nil Liverpool okay Tim yeah I I guess you say United have have sort of gone against form in this fixture in recent Seasons um but I think Liverpool will win 3-0 okay we shall see and we will reflect on the other games next so yeah let's have a look at what the premier league has to offer elsewhere um you've got brenford aiming to bounce back from defeated anfield they take on uh pointless Southampton same goes for Everton they welcome Bournemouth to goodison uh I switch Amy for their for first points as well against Fulham you've got Lester Villa and wolves against Forest as well but starting the action on Saturday at 12:30 that's 7:30 a.m. eastern time is Arsenal against Brighton two sides with a 100% record so far you said earlier on in the show John that you were really looking forward to this one do do you see Mikel artetta sort of aiming to put Herz back in his box a little bit and say hang on a minute don't get ahead of yourself we we are we are a proper team to be and it's not going to be like it was against United last week essentially last season arsenal were were almost like the blueprint of how to play against a team like like um Brighton um basically just Arsenal vs Brighton having responses to all of Brighton solution because Brighton are trying to build up from from Deep they're trying to create space that they can then exploit and Arsenal are the the sort of the best out of possession team in the world and so they found ways of stopping those those escapes out of a buildup for Brighton being dangerous in any in any way so yeah I expect it to be um a similar sort of approach um I guess with the added interest that um artetta has only seen a couple of Brighton games so far with Herzel in charge so it could be the case that he has to do a few things on the fly to to respond to what happens but I think it'll be a really interesting tactical battle and um yeah I expect Arsenal to win this one at the end of Saturday uh the book end is man City's visit to West Ham just a quick take uh from you Tim on on earling Harland he's he's top of the the scoring charts already he's got that sort of even more confident smirk on his face this season already that he's just going to score a hatful and he looks refreshed and ready doesn't he he's got that look in his eye isn't he yeah um kind of like you know when you when you you're in a restaurant and someone's just put like a juicy steak on your on your table and you just that's what it looks like at the start of a match basically I'm not sure about that sound effect but um yeah city city uh hit the ground running looking very good um and he looks completely un off his game and he definitely going to be one of those that benefits from not having not just not being at the Euros but being back in preseason nice and early and he scored a lot of goals in preseason and he's he's basically it's it's nuts really he's basically almost guaranteed 25 goals I think this season that's which is just crazy um and he's the only player in the Premier League that you could say that about I think um Erling Haaland so that guarantees City a certain amount of points already and but they're probably going to score 30 or 40 it's just crazy um I think despite his astonishing numbers he's like slightly underrated um I think people quite appreciate just just what he is and how good he is basically so um I think we should make that a mission on our podcast every week to really just appreciate him you know yeah yeah because there is the the sort of the common well trodden line of oh he's quite onedimensional he only does stuff in the box but then he did score uh last week from outside the box and and looked like he was dominating it at every turn so uh yeah I don't think we need to give him too many props I think he's okay I think people do quite fancy him um let's move on to to Sunday uh Chelsea after hit hitting six at wolves Tim Co is that the end is that theend the the end the Pod we about we about done a week six wolves by Chelsea who you were saying they're an absolute shambles what are they doing it was almost as if they were doing it to you personally that is how it felt yeah yeah so they are they are hosting uh Crystal Palace that's Chelsea uh one of two 1:30 kickoffs that's 10:30 Eastern um and Chelsea I mean I suppose this is more reflective of what you were saying Tim albeit they didn't make lots of changes they lost against sevette uh last night that's Thursday night uh but qualified 3-2 on aggregate in the in the conference League just a quick word John from you we we'll take it away from from bitter and twisted Tim I'm not bitter um no no he's not bitter um on Chelsea I know it's difficult to judge against sort of like a a flat track sort of bully side like wolves but right you told me to be quiet and then you're going to say something like that um but you know the way that they won and what they were doing against uh wolves did that impress you and did it make you think hang on a minute hang on a minute if if once the windows closed etc etc Enzo maresa is going to be able to do things with this Chelsea side I think when I'm watching big six sides I'm and Chelsea I'm thinking about how good or bad they're going to be I'm always thinking about consistency because any one of those big six squads can can cause an upset I mean this isn't an upset but in terms of the score line a bit of an upset um or can play well or can get get results I think if you look at the XG numbers for this one it's it's much more balanced than quiry wasn't it yeah yeah and I I you know I think looking at single game XG is is always to be advised against and it does suggest that they just had a really good uh day at the office in terms of finishing um but yeah I think that you know they've gone on in midweek now lost to svette um they've still qualified for the conference uh league but losing to a team like cette I think is indicative that what we're going to see from this Chelsea side is going to be I I think quite variable um so yeah the things that I look for in a manager at this point is is consistency whether or not we're seeing um them getting results on the B on the basis of their tactics rather than the basis of the fact they have players who can do what non mad did and and and get a hattick of of very low value chances um yeah so for me still I'm I I'm also a bit slow on the on the uptake with with coaches like this because I'm always wanting to make sure that I'm not jumping the gun on the basis of performances but yeah I think there's still a lot of work for Chelsea to be to to do um before I'm I'm going to start singing their praises quite right quite right um one of the subplots to this week of course um not necessarily after that Victory but n madek called up to the to the England side and it's going to be you know interesting over hopefully a number of years to see how he dovetails potentially as he did it at at molu with Cole Palmer who also scored a great goal and and got a hat-trick of of assists in that game as well so plenty of reasons Ju Just to say they were talking about maybe selling medow last week and Moresco was asked about it before the walls game and like didn't shoot it down like is he even that's why it's so hard to to judge anything from that game because he is he even going to is he even going to play I don't think he's going to be First Choice do you know what I mean it's so it's so like we're it's it's Friday morning and we'll see what they do for the rest of the to day but they could bring in Ivan Tony and Jaden s chzo today and just change the whole dynamic of their front line which has already got seven or eight First Choice expensive first team forwards it's just it's just it's crazy it's absolutely crazy but it's it's really interesting to sort of see see it unfold as the weeks go on but yeah what a job mesa's got on his hands there the other game on Saturday the other game on Sunday is Newcastle against Tottenham at St James's par same time as uh Chelsea up against Crystal Palace and on our Spurs podcast view from the lane Jack pit Brook hopes for a better showing from an Posta cogo's side this season I've been to St James's Park the last two seasons to see them concede a total of 10 goals April 2023 was I think the worst burst performance I've ever seen they were 5 nil down after 21 minutes which is just unbelievable don't Tottenham make me laugh and I never thought I don't I nothing will ever be like that again 5 n after 20 minutes oh what for God's s six down after 20 minutes um and then La April April last season this year Spurs were mely bad and they lost by a mere 4-0 and they were only two-nil down at halftime I just hope that maybe this is the year when Tottenham deliver I just worry that they have you know the scars of those two hammerings they've taken the last two seasons might Tim what's your take on on Tottenham so far and do you think that this game is almost like a it will be interesting to see who comes out on top with a sort of view to who's going to be challenging again for that sort of top four five position yeah I think actually you know it's a really interesting weekend on on that front I think you know we're going to sort of see what Liverpool are made of with their first tough test we're going to see what Brighton are made of in their in their The weekend ahead big game away at Arsenal and yeah I think feel the same about Spurs who who've opened the season against Lester and Everton four points they looked irresistible at times against Everton you know we talk about stockpiling forwards I mean they've they've now added OD bear to a forward line that's and salanki and they've already got son who just keeps on scoring wherever he plays kulesi looked great last week teimo Vera's still knocking around R Allison still knocking around and Brennan Johnson you know the amount of um the amount of healthily stocked um Quality Laden forward lines in the PR League seems to have massively increased this season so yeah Spurs you know lots of question marks from the back end of last season about the defense and Newcastle away is is a is a is a great litmus test of where they're at Tim thank you very much for today thank you so much Adam even in spite of the uh the Wolves B which made a welcome return inite Outro welcome return to the Pod and John thank you very much to you what are your what are your big plans for the weekend are you are you back in your bunker yeah in the tax bunker um but I only have one screen I don't watch lots of games at once I'm I'm a zoned in kind of guy you know thank you so much as always and just a reminder uh we've had various Clips throughout the uh the podcast all of those podcasts are team podcast the athletic FC tactics pod totally football show you got your bite-size briefing as well and the athletic FC all week are available on the athletic podcast Network thank you very much for listening thanks for watching on YouTube as well enjoy your weekend and we'll catch you once again on Monday if you want to watch more episodes of the show please subscribe to the channel we'll be joined by the likes of David orstein Matt Slater Adam Crafton KY Ana and plenty more through the season if you'd like to listen to the episodes in Fallen audio form search the athletic FC whatever you get your podcast from