Arsenal's Aerial Attack

From 30 for 30 podcasts. Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami, gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing what's about. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction. They're placing the arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now. Hello everyone and welcome to the latest edition of ESPN FC. I'm Alexis Nunes alongside C.V. Nickel and Xhaka Hislop. You know we have to kick things off in the Premier League because there was a London derby today as Arsenal hosted Chelsea at the Emirates and the Gunners beat Chelsea to restore their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table. William Saliba opened the scoring for the home side in the 21st minute and then Chelsea found a way back through an own goal from Incafie. And then Jurien Timber put Arsenal back in the lead in the 66th minute, but then Chelsea went down to 10 men after an unnecessary second yellow for Pedro Neto. In the end, Arsenal managed to hang on and win this one and get all three points. Let's welcome in the rest of our squad, shall we? Julian Narans is joining us as well as Frank Leboeuf. Oh, the little French connection. Let me start with Jules in this one. Jules, because we know how close you are to the Arsenal side. I mean, this seems or felt like a bit of a statement win from Arsenal. It wasn't the prettiest game of football on the pitch. Three goals from shock set pieces. But how do you feel Mikel Arteta will be feeling after this? I'm not sure if statement is the right word. I think it's one of those games for now, between now and the end of the season, for them, like for City. And to be fair, also the teams that are fighting for the Champions League places, for example, or the relegation, it's all about winning. It doesn't really matter if you play well, it doesn't really matter if you perform at your best or not, if your star players are clicking, it's all about winning. And as we saw with City yesterday against Leeds United, for example, where they were outplayed in that first half, you just find a way. And today, Chelsea were probably the better team, more than Arsenal, but in the end, I think the fact that they went and fight to get that win, show the character, I think was the most important and probably what Mikel Arteta would keep in mind because Chelsea were probably the better team over the whole 90 minutes. Even with 10 men, they put a lot of pressure on. But at the end of the day, the only thing that matters the most is the three points. Frank, you know I'm going to have to come to you next as a former Chelsea man. Just to hear Jules say that Chelsea probably were the better team in the game. But again, you leave the Emirates with nothing. What's upsetting you about this game? Because I know there's a lot. well mostly about Chelsea itself and the way they played especially the first half where they had some possibilities in counter-attack and they didn't go for it and they came back and they played too slow and we have to talk about Robert Sanchez I mean he's a very good goalkeeper and he made some saves today but we have to stop telling him that he can be the first offensive player he's bad with his feet and he scares everybody. And I was jumping every time the Chelsea player was giving him the ball because it's a danger. And Liam Rossignor should tell him to stop being easygoing. Kind of, yeah, I know what I'm doing. No, you don't know what you're doing. You're putting everybody in danger and it's scary what you're doing. So I was very upset with that. And you can see the difference with Raya and him. And that's maybe the difference that you can see between Arsenal and Chelsea. But it's true. Otherwise, even 10 against 11, Chelsea were having more chances to score and were, for me, better organized offensively than Arsenal. You cannot deny that it's a masterpiece that the French coach, the French coach on set pieces is able to do with Arsenal players and they stick to it. But they have to do something. Chelsea, we talked about that, and Craig Berlay has alluded it many, many times, where, you know, put Colt Palmer, Joel Pedro, and Neto, leave them at front, and we'll see what Arsenal is going to do. Because you will have less people in the 18-yard box, maybe you'll change to counter-attack, and Arsenal will wonder what they have to do. So maybe you have to try something. The more people you put in the middle of it, the more messy it gets. So, yes, I was a bit frustrated. I want to say that on Rice, on the first corner, then when Rice touched the ball with his handball, there are a combo of fouls. First, he grabs the guy, so it's already a foul. Then after, there is a handball. Well, good for Chelsea, this corner on the following corner. But really, I think there was a foul, so there should have been a penalty for me. Well, I know that's definitely one point that, Shaq, I know you want to talk about. But just to pick up on Frank's point about Robert, Sanchez because of course we were on La Liga duty watching the Grand Derby but you could not take your eyes away from those opening moments seeing what Robert Sanchez was doing I'll be honest I'm not sure anybody could take the eyes off of Robert Sanchez and and to Frank's point I totally agree I thought Robert Sanchez was taking unnecessary risks he's not great with the ball at his feet but Chelsea seem intent on passing the ball out to the back but what Robert Sanchez was doing was kind of leading into, well, Chelsea's bigger picture in terms of their attempts to pass the ball out to the back. Time and time again, I thought they invited the pressure from Arsenal. Chelsea were playing these little short two and three-yard balls and inviting the pressure. And whenever it turned over, if it turned over, Arsenal would just find themselves in great position. Not often enough were they able to pass their way out of that pressure. So I had an issue with not just Robert Sanchez, but throughout Chelsea's approach. I felt that, especially at the Emirates, go long a couple of times. Relieve yourself of that pressure a couple of times. Make Arsenal earn that field position, which I don't think they had to do for a lot of the game. He has a mistake in him though. Yeah, I know he does. Every time he steps on the field, he either does that or he looks as though he's just about to do it. In terms of the game, I'm sorry, I didn't think Chelsea turned up until the 45th minute. I mean, they didn't contribute anything going forward in the first half, in my opinion, other than that and Capi on goal. Second half, I agree, was completely different. Somehow they, you know, I was thinking about the half-time team talks. You know, you've got Rosinho who's saying, right, we've just got ourselves back in this game. We've got a foot in the game now. Let's take the next step and we'll get forward. And they did. And I can hear Ateta saying, right, OK, we've taken a bit of a knock, but let's go and start the way we did the first half. And Arsenal didn't do it. That would be the worrying thing for me, that Arsenal, when it got a little pressurised, when there was some problems, they didn't seem as though they had an answer because they never controlled anything from the start of the second half to the end. Even when Chelsea had 10 men, Arsenal still didn't control the ball. I thought their midfield was poor. I mean, Declan Rice just ran out of steam. I think Zubimendi, I think it's probably his worst game in an Arsenal jersey. But yeah, Chelsea were great second half, but I didn't think they turned up until halftime. So there are a couple of things that kind of stood out to me. So one in addressing something Frank said about Arsenal and their play, more to the point, their set pieces. It was in this fixture in the Carabao Cup where you saw Chelsea very late on as they were about to take the set piece, they would throw a three forward and kind of throw Arsenal off. You saw nothing of that this time around from the same team and the same manager in trying to put Arsenal off in the execution of their set pieces. And then to Steve's point, again, yeah, I think Robert Sanchez does have these errors in him. He really does make you nervous. But then in terms of the balance of the game, and as much as I say that at times Arsenal were kind of gifted possession and position, Robert Sanchez had routine saves to make at best. The biggest scare came in that moment very early on when he gave the ball away and got kind of lucky with it under the pressure from Giorgores. So while Arsenal, you felt, had a better position on the park, Sanchez didn't have an awful lot to do. And in the end, really, after 90 minutes, Robert Sanchez was by far the busier of the two keepers and had to make, I was called on to make a couple of saves there that were simply outstanding by any measure, regardless of what fixture we're talking about. So I'm kind of caught, so you kind of, you find myself caught kind of in between, was it Arsenal were good? Were Chelsea good? Certainly, I think there's no denying that Raya was outstanding and easily better be two goalkeepers. Yeah, Jules, just to bring back up Stevie's point and his analysis of Arsenal, just how much of a concern would that be now for Arsenal? Because I feel like we watch all their games now with a magnifying glass. And as Stevie was saying, not impressed by Zubimendi, Declan Rice looking like he's running out of steam. This is not what you want to hear from some of your best players or see from some of your best players when you're involved in such a crucial title race. Yeah, no, I agree. I agree. That's why I thought that Chelsea were really good today. The game tactically worked really well, Sean, in the first half in making Arsenal not play their usual game. And we saw that in the second half to put them under more pressure. It's a real shame that Neto get that silly red card because I would be really curious to see how the game would have panned out with 11 against 11 for the last 20 minutes or so. But yeah, I agree, I think, for Rice and Zubimendi. And to be fair, Arsenal have been outpassed in this game. Chessy made almost twice more passes than Arsenal. Not exactly that, but not far from it. and the possession was all Chelsea and not Arsenal. It's the first time this season that I've seen this. It's very rare for Arsenal to be at the Emirates. Even Bayern didn't do that. Even City didn't do that. So all the best teams that usually come to the Emirates don't have more possession and more passes and a lot of things that Chelsea did today. So for that, it's credit to them. But in the end, those games are small margins, right? We know it. Arsenal were never going to win 5-0 today at 11 against 11. That's what's never going to happen. So it's those kind of games where you just need the extra edge into some of the areas to win it. And especially if your best players are not playing well. Maybe the most worrying to add to what Stevie said is what do you do on Wednesday or wear a Brighton, by the way? Because it's not like if you have the whole week to prepare for that game, players to rest. This is Sunday. Tomorrow it's match day plus one. So you just do warm down and not much more. And then Tuesday you're already on match day minus one for the Brighton game. So you don't train either. You don't really rest much either. Do you start to be Mendy in Brighton? Do you start rising Brighton? Do you give a chance to Norgard? Who is your third midfielder? Do you go a bit more defensive? With Norgard, maybe Rice and Zubimendi. So that's all the questions. And if that Brighton game was next weekend, I think it'd be different. But the fact is in three days' time now, considering the tightness and all the effort put out today, I think that's a bit of a worry. Well, a lot of questions for what Arsenal is going to do next against Brighton. But Jules, I think we can all agree that they're definitely going to try and score from a corner kick. Because have a look at this. Arsenal now tying their own Premier League record for goals from corner kicks. And Frank, I mean, I hate to say, but are they just going to corner kick their way or set-piece their way to a title now? Well, you know, it's part of the football. We have to accept that. And I remember when I was playing, already 65% of goals were coming from set-pieces. So you have to accept the fact that it can happen. And that's a skill. And that you have to work on that. And I think Rhys James said that the football now is mostly, goals are mostly coming from set pieces. And I agree with that. And you have to use that. It's part of the game. And I have no issues whatsoever with that. And Arsenal, every time they have a set piece, they have a corner kick, especially, they are really a danger. Chelsea too. And I think this maybe Christophe Palas as well does it very well. They have scored like 24 goals, you know, I think in so many games, Crystal Palace. So it's part of it. You have to accept that. I have no issues with that. It's part of the game. It's already been. So good for them. But the others, they have to work on that. It's possible. I mean, you know that most of the time, Arsenal, which it could be, whether it's going to be Saka or Declan Rice, they're going to try to aim Gabriel. but do something against Gabriel. Try to do something against Gabriel even if it's very hard because he's very talented. It doesn't matter. But you have to try to do something. But again, it's part of the game and good for Arsenal. And Arsenal, it's like they always need a French guy before they had a French team. In my time. Now they need a French guy. They need Julian Lorenz as a French journalist and a French fan. And they need Saliba to score goals. So they need French people. That's what it is. To that point, while Frank is absolutely right, and Arsenal fans wouldn't care less if they won the title, how those goals came, or how many goals came from set pieces, or whatever the record is. And nor should they. Nor should they care about what I'm about to say. While you could say, yes, it's a part of the game, it's an integral part of the game, I can't remember anything else Arsenal did. While it's a part of the game, I cannot remember one attacking play that made me sit up and say, yeah, that's the best team in English football, or that's the best team in European football. Outside of these set pieces, there is nothing memorable about Arsenal. Now, again, I say that. Arsenal fans are well within their rights, and nor should they care that that's the case. But as a neutral, and I'm talking about the best team in English football, I cannot remember anything. Other than Martinelli taking on Neto, probably because of the card and the red card, I cannot think of anything that Arsenal did. That would really be the biggest concern for Arteta. You know, they play City, but the other eight games are against teams outside the top six, which basically means probably those teams are going to be sitting in a tight defensive unit. And whilst you've got Martinelli with that one run, And, you know, Trossard's not doing anything on that left-hand side. Saka has pretty much disappeared recently. And Jokka Reds, a couple of goals the other night, but you can't trust them. So how are you going to break down these sides with eight games to go? And then you look at City. You go, well, Jerky, Foden, Semenya's flying, Allen gets fit. You know, you're starting to think, well, who's your money going to be on? You've got an Arsenal side going forward who look as though they can't break anybody down. and you've got City that have so many options, they look as though they can break people down. So if you're Arteta, you've got the win, but you must be a little worried. Frank? If I may, Alexi, there was a discussion about Odegaard and Eze. Odegaard wasn't here today. I don't know the reason why. I guess he's injured. But where was Eze today? He was a real passenger, where we know that he can be so influential in the game. But it's like he's not even trying to do something. He was drawn into the tactic of Chelsea, the defensive tactic of Chelsea. We didn't see him. I don't know why he stayed so long on the field. And when you have other options, like Martinelli should have come maybe earlier. So, yeah, I'm like the guy. Except the set pieces. Arsenal has to be worried about how they play offensively, but also defensively. 10 against 11, they were in danger. Even Saliba, who I highly rank, had issues today with Jao Pedro. So something has to be done. And without Raya, it could have been another story today. As Frank says, Eze had a chance from distance. That Adonis was half Eze Brilliance, half Robert Sanchez heart attack yet again, though. And it was from a ball that was given away in midfield to the discussion that we're having. But as Frank said, I remember, yeah, OK, they had that. They had that, but you can't credit that to football. That was a ball giving good pressure, but that's about it. Well, Jules, as we all know, I mean, it's no surprise that Arsenal are going to look to find goals off of set pieces. And as Frank said, you know, you only leave it up to the other teams to try, find something to do about it, to counteract it. So what did Liam Rossini have to say about Chelsea today conceding those two goals from set pieces? Yeah, he was really unhappy. I mean, it's not the first time. This is an issue that we see week in and week out, especially since even Randa Mareska, but since he's taken over last weekend against Burnley, for example, the draw, it was a late corner, a goal on the corner. And by the way, they could have lost that game on another corner five minutes later if Brun Larsson had been a bit more efficient and precise with his header. So it's not the first time we've seen this. I can understand his frustration and that was exactly all his post-match interviews to Dev, whether it was for English TV, English radio his press conference he was clearly very frustrated about the red card from Neto obviously because he's so stupid as we said already and the goals on set pieces ok, you're disappointed and frustrated you should work more on it and like Xhaka said why are you not trying something a little bit different like you did in the League Cup semi-final Like Frank said, you should work more on it Because if you're that good offensively on set pieces Surely you could be almost as good defensively It's the same players who this time defend and not attack And okay, it's a very different context And the dynamic and the momentum is different, I get that But still, you've got height, you've got size, you've got power, you've got everything Sort it out And he's been here for a long time now, since December And yet it still the same issues that Chelsea have on set pieces against Burnley or against Arsenal So against a team that is not very good at it and a team that is excellent at it and yet is still not sorted out Well Frank Chelsea have a problem conceding from set pieces but they also have a problem with discipline in terms of accumulating red cars. Have a look there. They have accumulated seven so far this season. That's three more than Everton in second. And I mean, Rhys James spoke about it after and just spoke about how it has become a problem there for them now. It's a real problem. But as Rich James explained, you know, he's always a different player. He's never the same, let's say. And that's something that you have to sort out. I think they try. But Oneto is mostly the first one when he comes to complain to the ref. And so he got a very yellow card. Nobody saw that. And that's why I didn't see why he gave another yellow card and a red card. I said, what's wrong with the ref? But again, the tackle. I always say to the forward players, don't try to tackle. It's a skill. You don't have that talent. You're not good at it. And you have to be careful with that. It's dangerous for the opponent legs because you can break legs because you don't know how to do it. And that's insane. And somebody says, stupid. That was stupid, a stupid tackle. He should have carried on. But some people are saying that, and I see Olivier Dacour from a former Everton player said, forward players are lazy. So they try to tackle like that, it's over. If they miss, it's okay. It's up to the defenders to solve the problem. But it's true. He should have carried on with Martinelli and tried to block him, but not tackle. And he should have been able to do that. But yeah, the disciplinary issue is a real problem. And they have to try to calm down, to stop complaining, except the captain after all, because it's been the main concern for Chelsea. If you cannot finish every game, you know, 10 against 11. Chaka, I know you're a neutral in this one, but this yellow card and then the red card, of course, for Nechel particularly annoyed you. Because they were stupid. If you're on a card, you cannot make that challenge. You're one and one with Martinelli, wide on your right, ass is left. OK, Martinelli is quick, but you're on a yellow card. You cannot make that challenge. You've got to stay on your feet. Otherwise, that's exactly what's going to happen. What was even just as frustrating is that he had the nerve to argue about it for quite some time. That is as clear a yellow card as you will see. Now, Frank said his first yellow was for arguing with the ref. So I missed that. Is that right? I missed it during the game. So he got his first booking for arguing with the ref. Now, you know what's more frustrating than that second yellow card? More frustrating than trying to make some kind of a show of it? Picking up a booking for arguing with the referee. You're in a derby. Top of the table derby. You pick up a yellow card for arguing with the referee. And those are the things. If you mistime a challenge, fine. If you think I have to bring Martinelli down, otherwise, because he's going to go by me and he's one and one. So let me take a booking here. Fine. You cannot in these kinds of games with all that's at stake for you and the opponent. You cannot pick up a booking for Agnew the referee. You simply can't. And so that almost overshadows the second yellow in terms of just pure stupidity. and again I'm not sure how he had to argue Chaka you're a wise person and we all know that you can keep your calm down where I was a very high hot temper so you can get a yellow card because you argue with the ref and say something to the ref and get a yellow card but you cannot now what I want to say when I go with you is you have to do like two minutes after you cannot make that tackle then that you have to be clever clever enough to say, okay, I was stupid before. I'm not going to be stupid twice. So I'm going to deal with it and go with the flow. So you can have a hot temper because you got frustrated and it doesn't work, blah, blah, blah. But you have to calm down and after, see what you have to do. And clearly, Neto, that's impossible. You cannot do that. It's impossible. Either way, you cannot do that. Well, Jules, we were hearing that Neto just didn't know he was on a yellow card already, but That almost makes the situation more comical. Absolutely. That's what I was going to say. I mean, there's two things here. Because you first say to the referee, this is my first foul. And you see him saying, like, this is the first one, first one. It's actually second foul. But it doesn't matter so much if it's your first foul or not. A foul like that is a yellow. Whether you already have a yellow or you don't, this is, in every single day, every league, every country, whatever, this is a yellow. So first, second, tenth, twentieth, it doesn't matter. then how can you not know you're on a yellow card? And that's the second part of the argument where the whole Chelsea team actually, if you see, if you look at it again, come to the center circle when they're about to kick off again and even Rich James saying to the referee but he didn't know he was on a yellow. I mean, I don't understand how at that level when you've got 11 Chelsea players on the bench plus on the pitch, sorry, plus the whole bench, the staff, everybody watching the same game, not like us on television where we just have what the TV is showing us, obviously, but then have the whole pitch that they can see. How can you not know you've been on a yellow? How can you have not seen the referee like literally taking his yellow card out of his pocket and showing it to you? How? Or somebody telling you actually, well, maybe you turn your back when the referee, which we can see sometimes, somebody said to you, don't forget, you maybe didn't see it, but you're on a yellow. At halftime, maybe Liam Rossini, a staff member, anybody saying, don't forget, you're on a yellow. Maybe you didn't see it. We're not sure. So how is that even possible? All right. Well, let's get some percentages now. That's very important. Sorry, Alexi. Alexi, I'm very sorry, but I'm going to jump on that. Because I used to say to my teammates, and I remember that because I was at the back and I was singing, man, you got a yellow card, calm down. You know, just breathe. I know it's hard, but just breathe. That's a duty you have to have. You have to be as a, you have to have, sorry, as a teammate. And Julian, that's a very good point. How come the others didn't say, hey, Neto, calm down. You know, you just got a yellow card. Because that's a reflect that we have to have. And that's impossible. What they've done is impossible. All right, well, let's get some percentages now in terms of winning the league once again. Our Don Hutchison is another. Stevie, let me start with you. Percentage now for Arsenal to win it. I think it's 50-50. Still? I think so. Even though there's, what? Five points clear. Five points clear. I think it's 50-50. I, right now, have more faith in Man City in terms of going forward attacking-wise than I have on Arsenal. And we've been talking about it in the lead-up to this game. Recently, Arsenal have been letting in goals. And Raya has had to do more and more game after game after game. So that really isn't a recipe for winning, what, nine games that they've got left. So I think it's 50-50. only because they've got a five-point gap, which will probably end up two when City play the game that they have to come and help. Yeah, as much as City do host Arsenal later on this season, I still feel the odds are in Arsenal favours because of that five-point gap. I'm going to say 60-40 or in typical fashion, I'm going to go 62-38. 62-38, OK. Jules, what about you? 60-40, I've been saying it for the last few weeks because Gab is obsessed with percentages as well. So 60-40, I think it's fair. He's sticking with it. Frank? Yeah, I agree with Xhaka and Jules. 60-40 because, you know, a game like that shows that they are lucky and you need chance, you need to be lucky in order to win a title. And it tells me that, you know, you would have signed. Even if they weren't good today, there is a sign that they are lucky. So I have to give credit to that. And so 60-40. 60-40. Manchester United took on Crystal Palace at Old Trafford in the Premier League. And it was the visitors who would take the lead in just the fourth minute, thanks to a goal from Lacroix. But then Lacroix would go from hero to villain after he got a red card for what some may think was a controversial tug on Mateus Cunha. Manchester United were then awarded a penalty that Bruno Fernandes was able to convert. And then a stunning header from Benjamin Szczesko would give Manchester United the lead and all three points. Let's have a look at what Oliver Glasner, the Crystal Palace gaffer, had to say after the game. And he said, the red card changed the game completely. I think it's a very hard decision. The foul starts outside the box. Mateos Cunha is very smart to wait until he is inside the box to fall down. Now, this may not come as a surprise to anybody here on this panel, but there is somebody that has an issue with that red card, and that somebody is Frank Labeouf. So, Frank, the floor is yours. Thank you very much. Well, I have no issue if there is a foul for the referee in that matter to give a red card because the foul is inside the 18-yard box because we can see Lacroix putting his foot on the line and the line is part of the 18-yard box, so I have no issue to give a penalty and a red card. If there is a foul, and for me, there is no foul. There is a contact, and I'm sorry, even you, Alexi, if I put my hand and my arm on your shoulder, will you fall? Tell me, will you fall? I think I would fall. If there was a box, I would fall. Yeah, because you pretend, you will pretend. So you will pretend. But look at that, look at that. He's pulling the bike. Look. He's pulling the bike. Look. Where? What do you mean where? Where? You're having a laugh. Where? Where do you see? You need to get your glasses on. He has his hand. He has his hand on his shoulder. His hand is past his shoulder. His hand is absolutely not on his shoulder. His hand is over his shoulder. His hand is there. So you're seeing, Stevie. Stevie, I'm putting myself on the side to make sure you understand. So if I do that to you and we walk together or we run, do you fall? Do you fall? Do you have a problem? So if I do that and I grab his shoulder, okay. Are you telling me that he's just leaning on him? He's just leaning his hand on him for what? Yes, exactly. Well, don't... Because Lacroix knows... He's gone, he's passed him. Frank, he's passed him. Well, you don't want to see the reality of it. The reality is it's a great call. It's why he just put and he doesn't grab. At first, he's tried to grab, but he's outside. But when he's inside, he stops grabbing. He's just putting his hand. And his hand doesn't make you fall. I'm sorry, I'm going to put myself like that. My hand doesn't make you fall. Doesn't make you fall, Mr. Nichols. Never, never are you going to fall because you're a strong guy. I know, but that's the football that I see now. That made me a bit emotional because I don't think I've ever thought I would reach the day where I saw Stevie Nichols defend a call for Manchester United. But Jules, you almost loved that. You defended it so passionately. You're right, right. Sorry. No, we already have a team. Let's go to Jules because Jules was looking. I don't know if he was amused when they were going at it or what did you think, Jules? I thought it was a bit soft. I won't lie. I agree in a way with what Glasner is saying. No, I think that's fine. Acuna is smart. He falls down. The referee, from the way he's seeing it, I think he can think that it's a foul. He gives it. There's probably not enough then for VAR to intervene and turn it around, by the way. And that's it. We've seen them many given. I don't think if it's given, again, I don't think VAR overturns it and gives the penalty. So it's one of those where I think Lacroix is probably a little bit naive. And as much as we love him with Frank on this case, he's maybe a little bit naive. And to be fair, he's in the wrong position at the start of the move anyway. And then from a Cunha point of view, I think he plays it well. smart. But I can see the frustration from Frank, who's had a nightmare with penalties this week, if you think about the Dortmund one against Atalanta, right? And the Ben Cibaini one. And today he was clearly not happy. And I can see the frustration from them. From a United point of view, I think Cunha would feel a bit smirk and smart. Well, they always say that goalkeepers are the most level-headed. So let's go to Shaka. Shaka, right or wrong call? It's the right call. Everything about it was the right call. What did I tell you? In my opinion. And listen, I think there are a number of factors in this. Cunha's wins Lacroix clearly. Lacroix starts to hold. His arm stays on him. Now, if you want to argue, maybe Oliver Glasner wants to argue that it should have been given outside the box, fine. That's an argument you can have. But as the law is written, if the foul starts outside the box and continues inside the box, it should be given inside the box. Whether it's enough for Cunha to go down or not, again, you could debate. But we see strikers do this time and time again. You make sure when you hit the deck and give the referee something to call. Make him make a call. And that, for me, is just good striker play. You make the referee make a court. You exactly put the point on what I want to say. It's a debate whether it's strong enough or not. That's the debate. I don't deny the foul. If there is a foul, I just debate the fact that there is no contact. There is no contact. No, there's contact. There's contact. I ask you a question. Let me ask you. Frank, let me ask you a question. It's just for contact. Please, as a defender, you were a defender as well as I was. Why are you putting your hand on the opposition's over his shoulder anyway and not think the referee's going to give a foul against you? I couldn't walk off in all good conscience when my coach says, by the way, what were you doing with your hand on his shoulder anyway? Because if your hand wasn't on his shoulder, then the ref doesn't have a decision to make. That's the whole point. That doesn't really matter. As a defender. It's just for contact. Don't be putting your hands over his shoulder. It's really simple. Then you can't get... Well, that can be a reflex, but it doesn't matter. It is the contact strong enough, power enough to put somebody down. So Cunha is exaggerating. Well done to him. Clever guy, as Jules said. But he's exaggerating because otherwise, never, never again, You fall when somebody puts his hand on your shoulder. The question here. It doesn't exist. The question, or the answer to Frank's point here is, it's not whether it's enough for him to go down. Whether it's enough to slow him up. So he doesn't get to the ball before Henderson. And once Cunha feels he's being slowed up, then, as we said time and time again, you see strikers go down. As you've seen time and time again, when strikers don't go down and they don't get the call, people like us in studios, much like this, say, oh, well, he should have gone down. That's just how the game goes now. The other aspect to this that I want to discuss, because Jules mentioned, I don't think the referee made a call. I think this is the same referee that did the Villa-Newcastle game in the Cup the other day. Kavanaugh, yes. Was an absolute shambles then, but he just made a call and then just walked away. And this is beyond the foul, beyond whether it was a red court or not. This is about officiating games. how you just make a call and walk away and wait for wait for the VAR to tell you what to do one way or another I don't think he made a call and again that that's that's more about the referee and how poorly the I would not say he handled the game poorly but that incident in its entirety was was handled very poorly for me all right we will agree to disagree on this one because I want to push on and talk about Benjamin Chesco Frank Frank I gave you the floor let me see if I can Squeeze another compliment out of Stevie Nicol about Manchester United. But Stevie, he feels like he's turned over a new league. What's changed? Michael Carrick. That's what's changed. As simple as that. I think since Michael Carrick came in, the way he's handled Cesco, the way he's handled him in terms of when he brings him off. When he's come off the bench, he's been coming on when Manchester United are actually pushing forward and are dominating the game. And that's great for any centre-forward, never mind Cesco. to the point where now he's comfortable starting them today. And he gets the reward for handling this guy the right way. I mean, that's a world-class header from a centre forward. You absolutely dream of that. Old school, as you said. Old school, great ball, get in front of your defender. As soon as it hit his head, there was never any doubt where the ball was going. So, listen, you've got to credit Cesco, yes. But I think a lot of the credit has to go to Michael Carrick, the way he's handled him. So, maybe two, maybe three months ago, we did a segment on here, Rating Strikers. Yeah. And when Sesco came up, my response was, who? Yep. Yes, I remember that. And then all of a sudden, so I say all that to say is, your credit goes to me for criticizing Sesco. And Sesco turning things around. That's what it is. Aw, Shaka. It's me. It's so fickle, so fickle. Jules, well, if Benjamin Sesco continues like this, It's looking like money well spent. But I mean, as Stevie said, the main thing that's changed is this, that Michael Carrick has come in and Ruben Amarim has gone out. Yeah, I mean, I know it feels, sounds very simple, simplistic. And there's more to it, obviously, than just that. But what Carrick has done since taking over, really, even in terms of going back to basics, tactically going back to a 4-2-3-1 that everybody was very familiar and comfortable with compared to what Armourim used to do before which we described so many times on the show we don't need to go again putting players in the right position, okay, Mahinou back, okay, to a certain extent Maguire back, I'm not a big fan as you know but to be fair he's been very solid, they wrote their luck a little bit maybe at times but they also showed a lot of character and in more recent games to go back when they were behind at West Ham to get that draw from Cesc O to find a way to beat Everton for example on Monday Today they go behind And here of course the red card changes a lot of things But still they come back from behind to go and win this game It's massive. I think when he took over, they were 11 points behind Villa. 11 points behind Villa. And now, five weeks later or six weeks later, they're above them in goal difference. But they're level with them now in terms of points. It's incredible what happened in seven games. And obviously what helps massively, but that also helped Amorim when he didn't make the most of it, is that they don't play in Europe. They have one game a week. They've had one game a week since he took over because they were not in the FA Cup either, to be fair. So it's a long week to prepare, to rest players, get ready for the next game and then go again. And he's made the most of it. Just give him the job already. Give him the job already. Fulham went up against Spurs in yet another London derby. and Fulham managed to walk away with all three points thanks to two goals from Harry Wilson and Alex Iwobi. Richarlison pulled one back from Spurs, but it was not enough. And this is where Spurs find themselves after yet another defeat in 16th position, four points ahead of the relegation zone. Stevie, you said wow when we looked at that because it is pretty surreal to see Spurs that close to the drop. Yeah, and for 60 minutes, they looked as though they were going to get relegated. I mean, at 2-0, Smith-Rowe was one-on-one with the keeper. Cleaned through, and Vicario came up with a save. Otherwise, this game would have been done way before it was. But the changes after an hour completely turned the game around. And I guess the only positive for Spurs is that in that last half an hour, they actually looked as though they had some desire, they had some character, they went forward. You know, Fulham were hanging on at the end, put them under a lot of pressure. So that's the positive from this game and this performance. But the bare bones of it is, is it's another loss. And if they continue to start games the way they did in this one, then they will continue to lose games because they were awful. Absolutely awful. Jules, just having a look at the Spurs starting XI and seeing some names there. I mean, it's hard to believe that. Can they really be in a bit of a fight for survival? Absolutely. To be fair, they should have been 4-0 down even before Richarlison scored that goal anyway. So you saw the stats, you saw the expected goals. There was just no match at all. And where I'm disappointed, and we said it after the North London derby last week as well, because I didn't really understand Tudor's plan in that game and the fact that he only went with two attacking players. For me, it didn't make sense. Today, this is a guy That he was born in a back three, right? Literally, he was born At the hospital, he was born, he was a back three All his life, he was back three as a player All his life as a manager, he was a back three His second game in charge at this club When he's got players available on the bench We saw Denso coming on in the 90th minute I don't know why And then he reversed to a back four Where he's never played I think the stats is 98% of his games as manager With a back three And 2% with a back four and what does he do in his second game in charge away from home in a London derby against a good team like Fulham he goes to a back four which is not him, so already the guy is kind of betraying his own ideas, his own philosophy, his own methods all they did this week at training was beep test this is all they did, somebody was telling me twice a day, that's it, they were running like this we saw it today yeah okay you run, good for you maybe you had a bit more energy, good for you You were atrocious for an hour. Atrocious. That explains. I didn't know that, Jules. That explains. I don't know what to say. It does. That explains it. What do you think is going to happen if you run the guts out of your players and then you come on up in Derby where you need to have your energy up and your strength and your sharpness but you've run the guts out of them during the week? I mean, seriously. That makes no sense at all. Well, let's go back to our level-headed goalkeeper in Xhaka. Shaka, more percentages here now. Give me a percentage that Spurs goes down. Oh. Percent that Spurs goes down, I think it's at 20%. Oh, okay. There's still some daylight between themselves and, who's it, West Ham in the bottom three. Forest below them as well. Yeah. 20%. I just feel they do escape it. All right. So Shaka's going for a low 20%. It was derby day in La Liga for El Gran Derby. Israel Betis hosted Sevilla in this one. And in the 16th minute, Betis found themselves in front thanks to a nice little bicycle kick goal from Anthony. Then they would double their lead through Alvaro Fidalgo after a nice bit of play and passes from Betis. And it was smooth sailing for the home side until the 62nd minute when Alexis Sanchez pulled one back for Sevilla. And then a stunning rocket of a finish from Isaac Romero would see Sevilla level the game as both sides would share the spoils in this one. All right, well, Jules is still with us. And look who is joining us from the Estadio de la Cartuja. Sid Lowe, after making quite the voyage from Oviedo to Andalusia overnight. But Sid, this was a true derby. Yeah, this was. It was a lot of fun. Four brilliant goals. Absolutely brilliant goals. The atmosphere in this place was amazing. We got a little bit of confrontation, which you always get in a derby as well, because, of course, when Isak Rometo scored that goal, he went running to the corner in front of the Betis fans. Well, I suppose the whole ground is the Betis fans really. Pulled off his shirt. People were piling in. And, you know, that's the kind of thing that we're supposed to say. We don't like this. But of course we do. It's part of it. And the derby was brilliant. And both teams go home, I think, thinking that they possibly could have won it. Both of them. Did you say a voyage? A voyage? Yeah. Was it on a roadboat? Well, I think... He's been bagging on. He's been bagging on about how he had to go from Oviedo up in the north to Seville down in the east. He's been bagging on. He's not stopped talking about it. I think he considered taking a boat down. It was that far. But you know what? That's why we pay him the big bucks. All right. Well, let's talk about Real Madrid, shall we? Because they are in action tomorrow in some more La Liga action. They go up against Getafe. But Jules, a lot of focus is on Kylian Mbappe. We know that he's not going to play in this one, but now reports are suggesting that he may be a doubt, at least for the first leg of the round of 16 in the Champions League. What do you know? What's the latest? Yeah, he had more x-rays earlier this week on that knee injury that he had back at the beginning of December. It's a long time. Remember, we said it, I think, on the show together the other day on Friday. He played with the injury, with the pain. not that the injury could get worse but it was still not 100% but playing, playing for the team, etc, etc the problem is now it got to a point where it's really painful and you need a rest really so they thought hopefully the first diagnostic was 10 days off now it looks more like 3 weeks maybe even 4 so that obviously means that the first leg of the last 16 against Manchester City which is in 2 weeks now well less than 2 weeks is probably very unlikely now and even the second leg, which is the week later, because we'll be in back-to-back Champions League week, it's probably going to be a bit difficult. Sid, that's not news that Real Madrid would want to hear. No, it's not. 38 goals this season, Kylian Mbappé, more than 50% of their Champions League goals, the top scorer in the hole in the Champions League. There's been moments where we've looked at Real Madrid and we've analysed them in broader terms and wondered about the fit with him and Vinicius and so on. But when you take a step back, the performance level of Kylian Mbappé has been so high. There's one or two slight criticisms, I think, about the management of this injury, whether Real Madrid could have dealt with it quicker, whether he maybe could have stopped sooner. But it's a massive, massive loss from their point of view. All right, well, sticking with Real Madrid, you'd remember that they were involved in quite the spicy last Champions League game where there was an alleged racist incident between Gianluca Prestiani and Vinny Jr. Well, Jose Mourinho had this to say, I absolutely condemn any type of discrimination or prejudice. If you prove that my player did not respect these principles that are mine and those of Benfica, this player's career with coach Mourinho and Benfica comes to an end. I won't look at him the same way again, and it's over with me. After the game, I did not want to wear the white shirt of Real Madrid or the red of Benfica. I'm not a lawyer, but I am not an ignorant either. Is the presumption of innocence a human right or not? All right, well, where do we start with this one, Stevie? You're shaking your head. I'm absolutely dumbfounded. The player himself has come out and said, he said homophobic words. So, does that not fall into... Well, the reports are that he has said it. If that is correct, then absolutely that falls into what he's just said about discrimination or prejudice, 100%. Jules, could you shed some light on exactly what was confirmed that Prestiani said or what he has put forward that he has said? Because we know that UEFA did open an investigation. So the latest, and that might not be the latest latest, but the latest, I'm with TV that it said that it was not racist, it was homophobic. As if that made it better, by the way, which is, again, completely stupid from his part. From a Marine point of view, for me, the damage was done anyway. I don't really care what he says anymore. It's too late. It is too late. His reaction on the night of the game, where he completely decredibilised himself, and Arthur was an appalling reaction from him, what he said after that game, pretty much to the whole world, because he kept banging on it in all the post-match interviews, press conferences, etc., etc. The damage he's done is too late. He lost a lot of credibility, I think. I think he lost also a lot of what made him a bit special before, because that was a terrible reaction from him. I know he's one of your players, but still. And even that statement from him, that means he doesn't believe what Vinicius is saying, basically. That's what it means. Since when? Why is he not believing Vinicius? So he's basically saying Vinicius is lying. And I just don't understand Mourinho's... I don't even understand, a bit like Stevie just said, what this latest statement is about, really. Yeah, slur is a slur, Shaco. Discrimination is discrimination. What do you make of what Mourinho's have to say? As far as UEFA goes, as far as FIFA goes, there's no kind of difference in terms of the punishment and what may be coming Presiani's way. I say may be coming kind of maybe presumptively, given both of their records. As a statement goes, I don't really have that much of an issue with this statement as a standalone statement, if this was made on the night. But Jules is right. given what Mourinho said repeatedly the night of the game, and again, I understand you're trying to defend your player in that circumstance, but there are ways to do that. This was the way to do that. This was the way to do that on the night. I think you lose your credibility. You lose all your moral high ground in what happened. So now with this to come, what, a week, 10 days later, it really is kind of papering over the cracks. and I don't think anybody's falling for it. What now comes of this is if, again, it's reported what Prestiani has said, we'll see what the full report reveals, and Benfica act on that full report if it does confirm what's reported here, and Benfica takes strong and decisive action, that's the only way Benfica as a club and Jose Mourinho as a manager regain any credibility. Because as of right now, I'm not sure that they have much left. It really comes down to, and if this reporting, I want Presiani's words, if this reporting is accurate, Benfica, FIFA, UEFA, Jose Mourinho only have one action to take and it has to be strong, decisive, anything less, everybody loses credibility. Sid, do you agree that the damage is already done? well as Shaq was saying there that this statement had it been the original one we we we would we would deal with it differently we would think about it differently had this been the original statement because Mourinho is saying something very very direct there he's saying this player does not respect those values that we take seriously he doesn't play for us anymore now if that had come out straight away I think we'd all be saying well that's the way to deal with it that's the way that Benfica as a club have to deal with it they have to say these are our values These are the values we stand by. When we get to the truth of this, if that's the case, then it ends. Unfortunately, of course, that wasn't the nature of it. And we've not yet had Mourinho, because Mourinho could have come out and tried to, that thing he was saying about Vinicius' celebration, he had the opportunity to maybe say, look, I didn't mean that the celebration justifies racism. But he never even got to that point. He never even got to the point and said, that's not what I meant. and so yeah I think I agree with Jules and Shaq that it feels like Mourinho Mourinho doesn't really have a way back I don't think I think maybe Benfica do if this is proven and if they act in this way then then then they would we could be looking at them and saying they're the only club to have acted this decisively against their own player because I'm not aware of a place where where a club has done so all right well from a nasty incident to what was a Brilliant performance from Laminia Mal just yesterday as Barcelona defeated Villarreal by four goals to one. And that was powered by a stunning performance from Laminia Mal, who got his first career hat-trick. He's nicked away by Firmin, and he slid it through to Laminia Mal. It's just the opener. Yes, it is. Clinical. Ruthless. Lamao dancing through challenges! Oh, it's so, so special as it so often is. The 18-year-old with the world at his feet, he is simply impossible to defend. Laminya Mao on a hat-trick and gets his hat-trick! Three absolutely scintillating strikes from Laminya Mao. Stunning stuff there from the 18-year-old. We'll just have a look at what that hat-trick meant. He's now the youngest to score a hat-trick, at least in this generation of La Liga, because the others were back in the 30s. I believe Stevie probably was around back then. What? Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. I just felt unnecessary. Just one jab. Just one jab. Just one jab today. He's so nice to Manchester United. He took it back. He took it back. Just give me the one jab. All right. But the big question is now, Sid, is can Barcelona do la remontada? Can La Minimal inspire them to what is going to be or what they need to be a big performance against Atletico de Madrid in that second leg of the Copa del Rey semis? They have to overturn that four-goal deficit. Can they do it? Well, look, rather than giving an answer, how about I pick up on your question and say, isn't it amazing that we're in a position where a team like Atletico Madrid won the first leg 4-0 and we're wondering, genuinely wondering, if there's a way back for Barcelona. And we're looking at how Barcelona played at the weekend and that performance from Laminya Mal and we're thinking, you know what? It is possible. This could actually happen. Now, of course, the odds are stacked against it. Of course, it seems unlikely. Of course, a team like Atletico Madrid, who are so good defensively, although this is part of the problem here, of course, they're not that defensive team that we like to think they are. The stereotypes and the cliches about Atletico Madrid just aren't true. The most important thing, though, is, as you say, that level of performance from Laminia Mal and what we've seen from Barcelona this year, that when they do get it right, they score loads of goals. I think we're in for a really good Copa de la Rey clash. And I think even if Barcelona don't turn it around, I think there may well be a period during the night in which it feels like it could happen. I think it's going to be alive, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. All right, Sid, well, how long is your voyage back home tonight? Do you need a boat? It depends. Do you know what? Actually, you know what? No, no, no. I'm going to ask Alexis to do something with the camera. Alexis. Yes. Can you focus on those windows up there? Alexis is going to focus on the windows. Can you see the windows up there on the other side of the stadium? Alexis is the camera guy. I thought you meant me. There's a helicopter up there. Not you, Alexis. The other Alexis. Can you see those windows? Yes. With the light. That is my voyage home tonight. That is the hotel. The hotel I am in is inside the stadium. Oh, amazing. So having done the longest possible journey to come here, I'm doing the shortest possible journey back to the hotel tonight. So I am a very happy man. It's quite early for me. I'm going to bed. I'm going to sleep. He's going to have a nightcap. Okay, Sid, in Andalusia, sure. I don't think the wave's listening, Sid. Oh, you are. Nobody's listening. Oh, world's smallest body. Sid, thank you so much for joining us. Happy journey home to your hotel room. Good save. Make sure to tune into that game that we are all waiting for, Barcelona Atletico de Madrid, Tuesday 3 p.m. Eastern time is kickoff, but our coverage starts 30 minutes before. All right, well, let's have a look at the Serie A standings. AC Milan won 2-0 today against Cremonense, so they find themselves in second position, 10 points behind their crosstown rivals Inter Milan. Well, there's plenty more talk about Serie A in the latest edition of the Gab and Jewels show. I believe a fresh episode is set to drop in less than 24 hours. So make sure to look out for it wherever you get your podcasts. Plenty more talk of MLS action on the latest edition of Football Americas. Coming your way on Monday. I'll be on alongside Hercules Gomez and Casey Keller. Please join us at 8.30 p.m. Eastern time. Shaka must have gotten the day off for that one. Must be nice. What happened? Must be nice. It's because he's been here working all the time. I was on a Thursday. And I was on. No, I wasn't. All right, that's it for this edition of ESPN FC. But do not go anywhere because you know Extra Time is next. Welcome into Extra Time. Look at a very happy-looking Frank LeBeau. He's not joining us. He's angry with calls. He's angry at cards being given. Oh, did we bring that up again? It was a pen all day every day, Stevie. All day every day. It's because it was against the French players. He got a part coming up where he a waiter He got a thing over his head He fall over He fall All right let get into the questions shall we Stevie is it disappointing that the Premier League is becoming more about who can score from the most set pieces What happened to trying to score from open play? This is not the product the fans want to see. I mean, listen, we'd all have to sit and watch. every time there's a game lovely fast flowing attacking football. Sometimes it's not possible and right now it doesn't seem that anybody's really capable of doing that consistently and so when you can't do that consistently you have to find ways of scoring and Arsenal in particular along with some other teams have found a way of taking advantage of situations i.e. set pieces So I'm afraid it's one of those things that happens. Right now, everybody just seems to want to do that. And that's just the way it is. Stevie. Sorry? Go on, Frank. If I can jump on that. Sure. You know, in our days, and for most of the history of football, the opponent was trying to force the other to make mistakes in order to score goals. and if you don't have mistakes, you don't score goals. Nowadays, what they try to do is to avoid mistakes on their own. So they try to be safe and secure, and therefore, they don't try enough, they don't risk enough in order to push the opponent to make mistakes and score goals. So that's why, maybe, that's the only time on set pieces that they give their full power to score goals. But we see that with Arsenal, with the tactics and the amount of players they put in. We can see that with Crystal Palace, with Chelsea as well. They are very good at it. But otherwise, they're very secure. They don't want to take any risk, don't want to lose the ball. Therefore, they don't push themselves to push the opponent to make mistakes. It's weird. In some ways, you can blame Arsenal for everybody doing this. Back in my day, in the late 80s, a team called Stoke City used to, every corner was a near-post corner. And it was flicked on. And everybody started doing it. But then it sort of disappeared. And this will disappear as well. I'm pretty sure. Because history tells you those things do disappear. And then something else will come in. Somebody will do something different and then everybody will start doing it. So, right now this is what it is. but maybe in a couple of years' time we'll have moved on to something different. Here's my question to this. I just wonder if it kind of feels worse than it actually is. To the point, to the question that the Premier League is going down this road. Now, while Arsenal, and again, I'll reiterate, Arsenal fans do not, should not care, but you've seen it. You saw this from a Jose Mourinho Chelsea. Yes. Who were heavily reliant on a rock-solid defence with John Terry and Petr Cech in behind them. They scored, and again, I can't remember the stats, but they scored an incredible percentage of their goals from set pieces. Sam Allardyce had a very long career of building teams around doing this. I just wonder if it feels different this time around. And I'd love to know the stats. While, yes, Arsenal are by far and away making the most of their set pieces, how does everybody else compare to the rest of the league? I'm not sure that it's that different. I think the league has always had a reliance on set pieces. Maybe not an over-reliance, or certainly not in the top position of the table, but it's happened a lot. And actually, right now, in terms of the Champions League and all the other European competitions, all the other European sides have no idea what's going on. You don't see it in other leagues. So when it comes to European tournaments, teams are like, what's going on here? They have no idea what to do. They're not used to it. So it's actually right now an advantage in terms of playing in European football. I love how Xhaka kind of defended it there because I know he's not a fan. I'm not. No. I've never been. I was as critical. What was your goalie? Yeah, of course. I was every bit as critical of Chelsea in those moments that I'm talking about then as I am of Arsenal now. Goalies are getting trampled on. That's why you don't like it. No. The delicate creature. Yeah. It's because goalkeepers are no longer allowed to run out and punch people in the head. That was fun. Bring that back. Smash somebody in the head. You know, Chaka, it's funny because one of your former teammates at Newcastle, David Ginola, was using that with Arthur George, the coach of Paris Saint-Germain at the time in the beginning of the 90s where they were scoring goals on corner kick, set pieces, a lot, putting everybody on the near post, like Stevie said. And David scored so many goals with some others like Rai and George Weah as well. It was almost impossible to defend against them. They were putting like four guys in a near post, and it was a nightmare for defenders and goalkeepers. Even they were allowed to punch everybody. That didn't work. All right, next question. And it is a good one. Should I apologize to my friend, who I convinced to follow Spurs when he began watching the Premier League 10 years ago? First of all, first of all, first of all, I don't think I apologize enough. Friends don't let friends follow Spurs. Friends don't let friends follow Spurs. Your son is a Spurs fan. That's a Cal stick. Is that against your... Or did you give him a push? I feel him as a father. I feel so too. I feel him as a father. How did he not gravitate towards East London or Newcastle? He was Gareth Bale, wasn't it? I feel him as a father. I was curious he was down, but I didn't even waltz. Yeah. No, no, it's a long story. A sad ending. It's a sad ending. Sorry, Luca. Bless him. What a time, what a time. So, big answer. Yes, I apologize to your friend and buy him a couple of adult beverages. Next question is for Shaka. Shaka, would you rather see Newcastle somehow win the Champions League or see West Ham avoid relegation? I'd rather see Newcastle win the Champions League. And you just send Newcastle down to the championship? No, West Ham. Send West Ham to the championship. I mean, well, yeah. West Ham. Yeah, yeah. West Ham's been there before. Just to West Ham, we went like, ah. Shaka just chatted. Listen, listen. Let me explain. Let me explain. Shaq, I think of the financial hit they would take. You would lose players. Oh, my days. West Ham have been there before. Bounce back. They'll be all right. So to hell with them now again. They'll be all right. They'll be all right. But I will happily love to see Newcastle win the Champions League. And to hell with West Ham. West Ham will bounce back. Wow. West Ham will bounce back. Wow. Shaka just booted West Ham. I did not boot them. They're bones back. It's still all bitten. And it's amazing because I always ask Shaka, like, where did he, of all his clubs, where did he genuinely enjoy the most and felt, this feels like home? And he always says West Ham. He would happily relegate them. Okay. Next question. They're bones back. They've been there. They're bones back. Love that. Oh, next question from the specialist. Alexis, me or Sanchez? You are such a superstar. I guess I don't have a question. Only a statement. What kind of... What kind of... Thank you. It must be you. Did you send that to yourself? Yes, I did. I did not send this to myself. It feels like it. Thank you, the specialist. The specialist must be you. That just made my day after dealing with flak from this lot. Hold on a minute. Next question. I've been in early today. Man United win. You know what she's like. No. I've had to deal with that. I've had to deal with that all day. All I do is I'm a bit happier. Man United winning. And now you're the victim. I just asked Shaka a simple question. Shaka, did you see that great comeback win? Which I thought shows the character that Mikel Arteta speaks so much about. That teams should have character. And now I just feel like we're embodying it. You see? Nobody's asked anything. Who was the plan? Crystal Palace. And Oliver Glasner led Crystal Palace. Nobody's asked anything. She's just rabbit and honorable. I didn't tell them to go down to 10 men. I didn't tell La Croix to pull down. To pull down the tent. My point being, if anybody needs to be felt sorry for, it is me. It is you. You just relegated West Ham. How did you figure it out? Because of how to do it all day. I get it. Sorry, it went over my headshot. Yeah, it's okay. All right. Thank you, the specialist. Next question. Can you guys believe that Todd Bowley was really the Chelsea director of football? That seems crazy. Well, that's, of course, some quotes that he said today. But Frank. Yes, it's what he said. He was the sporting director. But he admitted that he had no clue what he had to do. And he was talking about Cucurella and the fact that if Manchester City wanted Cucurella, is because Cucurula was good, so he wanted to keep him. It was a clever, clever statement. But that's crazy. I mean, if you come into the world, a new world, in any job, you have to have at least a little bit of knowledge. And Todd Morley just explained that he knew nothing, nothing about soccer. And he ended up being a sporting director. That's a concern. and it's good that there is somebody else nowadays and maybe it's going to be for the best for Chelsea. But really, that guy shouldn't have said that he knew nothing. He should have pretend something like, yes, I was following when I was young. I played in college. Maybe I played a little bit of soccer. He just admitted that he knew nothing. That's pretty embarrassing, I think, for the Chelsea fans. Explained a lot, didn't it? Next question for Stevie And I promise you I did not send this one Stevie On a scale of 1 to 10 How much does it hurt To see Man United Above Liverpool in 3rd? 11 Explain to me in detail Why it hurts so much And how it hurts so much How does it make you feel There is a little silver lining At the end of it Because this time next year You won't be saying that You'll find it Let me just say You enjoy yourself Oh, I am. Go on, go for it. I am enjoying myself so much. Have fun. How does it feel down there in the tables? Oh, boy. How far is it? I love it. What does it like down there? To be fair, actually, we knew that because that's where you've been. Yeah. You should know. You should know. How long have you been down there? A long time. Yeah, exactly. Listen, I'm the first to say when United are potty. But others just can't. Do you know when you're the only team that plays Saturday to Saturday? That's fine. That's not a good sign. That's fine. You're almost there. That's how bad you've been. That means you've been really bad. You're threatening to be there too. So because you win five games, all of a sudden... When's the last time you guys won five games? Like convincing. Don't look at me. I'm out of this. When was the last time you won the Premier League? A long time ago. Oh, exactly. Oh, sorry. It was last year. Last year we won it. And then else you want to throw? No. That's the best decision you've made all day. What? Stop throwing mud. I'm not throwing butt, I was just simply reading a question. How's it feel down there, though? You're only as good as your last game. Why would somebody ask you a question when they know the answer? You know the answer. This is Mr Church's question. I didn't put it in. I just wanted to hear the answer in detail. Shall we move on? Yeah, please. Frank, should Hugo Eketike be in France's starting 11 after the kind of form and hunger he's shown this season? Can France include both Mbappe and Eketike and still have a balanced attack? It's hard to say, and I highly rank Hugo Eketike for sure. But don't forget that you have Barcola, you have Douay, you have Olysees, you have Mateta. We, I mean, Didier Deschamps has a choice of a king, as we say. And really, yes, Ego should be there like five, six, seven others. That's insane. And some people are going to stay home for the next World Cup and they will feel frustrated. But, you know, what can we say? So many talented players. And I think GD will try to see what makes the best and the most. Eki-Tiki has a chance. He can play on the left side. He can play a striker. but so is Due. So is Mbappe. So maybe Bacola will have a problem, but Olize is very strong on the other side and Mateta is only a striker. So Ekitike has a big chance, but the competition is hard. Hasn't even mentioned the Ballon d'Or, Dembele. Dembele, oh my days. I mean, that's scary. Yes, sorry. That's scary. Yeah, sorry, but they play mostly on the right side. It's more with Olysees in the competition. And you have Sheki as well, who can play just behind them. I mean, that's really insane, the talent that we have. But we have to find the chemistry. That's the point. I wonder if I could take his Scottish in him. Why? Well, because we could have him. You could take him, yeah. We could take him. He can come to the World Cup with us. It's okay, you have Scott McTominay. You need him. You can never have enough talent. You can never have enough Scott McTominay. You can never have enough talent. That's true. That's true. I mean, I'll take... I don't even know if Jamaica's going to the World Cup. At least you still have a chance. I'm just over here. Counting out the days to 2030. Next question. There'll be a lot more teams in that one, Shaq, so there's a chance. If there's 64, we have a chance. Yeah. If there's 128 teams in the next World Cup, we'll have a chance. Oh, boy. Oh, man. Oh, man. Anyways, we move on. World Cup makes me sad. Final question from Shaka's Power Rankings advisor. Didn't know we had one. To the ex-pros, do you prefer day light games or under the lights? Daylight. Daylight? Yeah. In the sun? In the hot sun? Well, I guess it depends on where you play. Natural light. It's part of the culture. Yeah. I prefer daylight games. Sometimes with those lights, the ball goes up in the lights, you lose where the ball is, all those things. I mean, I know the ball. The ball can go up in the sun. The ball can go up in the sun as well. I was going to say that one. But there's only one sun. There's only one sun. There's lights all over. There's lights all over. Choco with the bright lights. Can I be greedy? Of course you may be greedy. Both. Okay. Well, because you kick off at 3 o'clock and the game doesn't really finish till 5. but around what? Just around half time, the lights go on. Yeah. Because it starts to get dark. So when the game finishes, actually, it is dark and the lights go on. All right. So you actually get both. See one bit of both. Yeah. All right. Yeah. We'll have a little five minutes. Stevie wants to play for five minutes. I thought Stevie... Yeah, I thought Stevie would have said 3 p.m. because like that, after the game, he can go for a beer. Exactly. That's maybe easier. Frank, you know what? Frank, I've got to tell you. You just reminded me. The best thing that ever happened for a period of time. We started playing games on a Friday. Oh. Yeah. That thing you got Friday night, Saturday, Sunday. Yeah. Brilliant. That was great. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you went to bed. Monday. That's what Monday's it for. That's what Monday's it for. Brack, what about you? How do you call the thing that you do on Sunday morning when you go from pubs to pubs? I've got some friends in England who used to do that. Punk roll, punk roll, yeah. That's insane, that's insane. You're crazy, you're crazy people, but whatever. But for me, I prefer End of the Line because in France we mostly play at night, around 8 or 8.30. So I was used to that and the first time that I came and had to play at 3pm, I remember the first game was against Coventry. I normally is my, let's say, nap time. And I fell asleep in the dressing room on the side. I went to the side. And Ridgulita has to pick me up and say, Frank, we need to go for the warm-up. I was sleeping. That was my... I was used to that. And I got a hard time to get rid of that. You're giving me a hard time. Chakra is a great slump. A nap. We'll sleep anywhere. World Cup third place playoff. 60 plus thousand in that stadium. I was saying, Shaka, look, Lukaku just had a really good chance. I was watching. Why is he ignoring me? I turned to the side and he's out like a light. And he wasn't even doing like the, he was doing the old man's sleep. That's not true. I was ignoring you. That's not true. I was just ignoring you. Did he fall asleep in the final as well? France, Argentina. I was just ignoring you. Shaka, he still had found time. When Kylian Mbappe was staging a great song. How are you just making stuff up now? You're just making stuff up. Shaka, found time to have a little 10-minute siesta. This man will sleep any and everywhere. That's not true. None of it. This is why he's not going to any World Cup. Let's go. Let's go. All right, well, that's it for Extra Time. It's punished. We will be back for more on ESPN FC tomorrow. The boys will be looking back on the Real Madrid game against Getafe. We'll see if they're able to put some more space in between them and Barcelona.