ESPN FC

Gab & Juls Show: Who will replace Alvaro Arbeloa at Real Madrid?

57 min
Apr 16, 20263 days ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

ESPN FC hosts Gab and Jules discuss the Champions League semi-finals, with Bayern Munich eliminating Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid beating Barcelona, PSG defeating Liverpool, and Arsenal advancing past Sporting. The episode analyzes managerial challenges at Real Madrid, goalkeeper performance, and emerging talent in football.

Insights
  • Real Madrid's managerial search faces a paradox: pragmatic coaches like Zidane and Ancelotti are rare, while the new generation of system managers struggle with superstar management and player dynamics
  • Goalkeeper errors are increasingly decisive in knockout football, with both Neuer and Lunin making critical mistakes that directly impacted match outcomes
  • Arsenal's substance-over-style approach masks underlying issues; recent poor form suggests tactical flexibility may be needed before the semi-final despite strong season performance
  • Bayern Munich's success under Vincent Kompany demonstrates that unconventional managerial appointments can exceed expectations when paired with tactical discipline and player buy-in
  • The Champions League semi-final lineup (Bayern, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, PSG, Arsenal) validates that elite European teams are consolidating at the top despite occasional upsets
Trends
Managerial market consolidation: System-based coaches dominating elite appointments, reducing availability of pragmatic alternatives for top clubsGoalkeeper performance volatility increasing in high-pressure knockout stages, suggesting need for mental resilience coaching alongside technical trainingYouth development investment paying dividends: South American academies producing physically mature, technically gifted players (e.g., Eduardo Concesao) earlier in development cycleDynamic ticket pricing and resale regulations creating revenue opportunities for governing bodies but raising fairness concerns among fansCoaching turnover acceleration: Multiple high-profile managers (Ancelotti, Irola, Pochettino) facing transitions simultaneously, suggesting cyclical market resetIntensity and pressing sustainability becoming differentiator: Teams maintaining high-press systems (Bayern, PSG) outperforming those relying on individual brillianceBall-in-play time variance across Premier League clubs (53-59 minutes) correlating with tactical approach and time-wasting culture, prompting calls for 60-minute match reformInternational federation instability: US Soccer and Italian FA leadership transitions occurring during critical tournament preparation periodsInjury timing impact: Squad depth and injury management emerging as decisive factors in knockout competition success (Arsenal, Liverpool examples)Superstar management paradox: Elite attacking talent (Mbappé, Vinicius) requiring different coaching philosophy than traditional system-based approaches
Companies
ESPN
Podcast network and sports media platform hosting the ESPN FC show with Gab and Jules
Real Madrid
Spanish football club eliminated from Champions League; managerial future discussed extensively
Bayern Munich
German club advancing to Champions League semi-final under Vincent Kompany with strong tactical performance
Arsenal
English club advancing to Champions League semi-final but showing form decline and injury concerns
Paris Saint-Germain
French club defeating Liverpool in Champions League quarter-final with mature tactical approach
Atlético Madrid
Spanish club eliminating Barcelona in dramatic Champions League quarter-final with defensive strength
Barcelona
Spanish club eliminated by Atlético Madrid; red card incidents and tactical issues discussed
Liverpool
English club defeated by PSG; managerial lineup decisions criticized for tactical ineffectiveness
Sporting CP
Portuguese club eliminated by Arsenal in Champions League quarter-final
Manchester United
English club suffering first home defeat to Leeds United; managerial and squad performance analyzed
Newcastle United
English club reportedly in talks with Bayern Munich regarding Anthony Gordon transfer
Bournemouth
English club with manager Andoni Iraola leaving at season end after successful tenure
Inter Miami
MLS club where Javier Mascherano departed as manager after two months
US Soccer Federation
Sporting director Matt Crocker departing less than two months before World Cup
FIFA
International football governing body denying Mexico's request to move Iran World Cup matches; dynamic ticket pricing...
Palmeiras
Brazilian club developing young talent Eduardo Concesao with $100M release clause
People
Gab
Co-host of ESPN FC Gab & Juls Show discussing Champions League and football management
Jules
Co-host of ESPN FC Gab & Juls Show providing tactical analysis and player insights
Álvaro Arbeloa
Real Madrid manager whose job security discussed following Champions League elimination
Vincent Kompany
Bayern Munich manager praised for tactical discipline and exceeding expectations in Champions League
Kylian Mbappé
Real Madrid forward whose passing and performance analyzed in Champions League quarter-final
Vinicius Jr.
Real Madrid winger whose unselfishness and team dynamics discussed in match analysis
Jude Bellingham
Real Madrid midfielder tasked with defensive work in Champions League quarter-final
Eduardo Camavinga
Real Madrid midfielder receiving unfair red card in Champions League quarter-final, impacting match outcome
Thibaut Courtois
Real Madrid goalkeeper absent from match; comparison made to Neuer's performance
Manuel Neuer
Bayern Munich goalkeeper making critical errors in Champions League quarter-final despite age 40
Luis Díaz
Bayern Munich winger scoring crucial goal; performance and tactical fit analyzed
Mikel Arteta
Arsenal manager whose tactical approach and injury management discussed for semi-final preparation
Arne Slot
Liverpool manager criticized for tactical lineup decisions in Champions League quarter-final loss
Andoni Iraola
Bournemouth manager departing at season end after successful tenure; potential for bigger club role
Carlo Ancelotti
Discussed as pragmatic managerial archetype; compared to system-based coaches in Real Madrid context
Zinedine Zidane
Referenced as pragmatic managerial model for Real Madrid; discussed as rare coaching archetype
Florentino Pérez
Real Madrid president whose managerial selection philosophy discussed for next appointment
Javier Mascherano
Inter Miami manager departing after two months, citing achievement of objectives
Matt Crocker
US Soccer sporting director departing less than two months before World Cup
Gregg Berhalter
US Soccer manager whose position affected by sporting director departure
Gianni Infantino
FIFA president receiving endorsement ahead of elections; tribute video production criticized
Eduardo Concesao
Young Brazilian talent generating hype with $100M release clause; South American U-17 standout
Quotes
"this is either going to go out for a whimper or this is going to turn into some one of those like roller coaster cluster messes"
GabOpening segment
"you can't let your team down that way"
JulesCamavinga red card discussion
"if you want a pragmatic coach like a manager really more than anything else like Zidane like Arlongelotti there are not many left"
JulesReal Madrid managerial discussion
"you're looking for a unicorn if you want both right"
GabManagerial archetype debate
"the most important is the results certainly more than the style"
JulesArsenal performance analysis
Full Transcript
Hey sports fans the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events ESPN shows and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.espn.com to learn how to access your account or sign up then start streaming in the ESPN app. So all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. I'm Gab. He's Jules. Grace Guy is over West London. In fact I just got rained on on the way in. But Jules what a show we have. We now have our four champions league semi finalists Arsenal are through Atlético Madrid are through in a really dramatic game I thought against Barcelona. First dramatic Paris Saint Germain congratulations. Mazel tov there's no doubt. Never in doubt. But you know we're going to start. We're going to start in Munich. Bayern against Real Madrid. Now for me going into this I thought OK this is either going to. Romain either going to go out for a whimper or this is going to turn into some one of those like roller coaster cluster messes. Yeah. And it turned out to be the second one. Great scoring straight away in the most dramatic way. Yeah it was great the first half the second half was you know no as no as entertaining it was never going to be there was a bit more still better than 180 minutes of Arsenal against Sport. Yeah absolutely. But still you know we had the first half incredible and two end things. I didn't think that buying were as good as in the first leg really at the Bernabeu in the first half and even barred a mistake on the two on the two other goals but also the way they defended on the Mbappe goal the third one for Ramadre. But yeah it was it was great exactly as we expected. The third goal by the way Vinicius team up unselfishly for Kylian. Take that all you haters who say he never passes sometimes he does. Yeah Vinicius would say that he didn't later and that's why they had an argument as well. There are a lot of subtexts with Ramadre they were very angry one of the reasons were very angry was the Camavinga red card and we should talk about this and maybe even not yeah maybe even praise that a little bit a tiny bit. In the build up it was all about no sure many so Camavinga starting at the weekend was kind of like an audition for the defensive midfield role. I guess he didn't like what he saw at the weekend because obviously he went with a different solutions asking Fede Valverde to do the hard yards and Bellingham and Brian Diaz all you guys be worker bees. Then he brings on Camavinga to kind of preserve the situation. Yeah with just about an hour gone. Yeah picks up a yellow picks up an unnecessary second yellow and unfair second yellow according to Ramadre and France and he's off and they blame this are going out. I don't know. First of all did this lead to them going out. Definitely undoubtedly yeah. Well it led to Luis Diaz as a deflected goal. No you tell me. You know they would have defended the Luis Diaz much better with 11 then with 10 clearly so yeah for me the straight impact is a stupid second yellow is it harsh show it is in the rules it is as well but the referee clearly had forgotten that he's already booked Camavinga you can clearly see the way he gives the yellow that he doesn't remember that is the second yellow and it's a red I think Kimmich has to remind him that is Camavinga second yellow. We discussed it on English television with Nadem on Wednesday night as well I think the first yellow he has to make that foul otherwise I think there's big danger Nadem thought that he didn't have to make that first foul for the first yellow but regardless it's bad from Camavinga I know he's still young but you can't let your team down that way. Yeah Real Madrid furious obviously wasting no time in the Madrid press and pointing out that Vincic is Slovenian like the UEFA president. I thought Vincic had a really bad game it wasn't just that it was also on the third goal as well where you know I think that was clear foul in the build up but I felt like he really wasn't in control. Now that said he's shown over the years he's a very good he's a very very good referee who on the night had a terrible game so I wouldn't read too much into that. We will get to buying I think Vincent Company deserves a lot of praise but this draws a line under Real Madrid it's another season without trophies whatever pathway there was for Adbeloa retaining his job which I think really realistically would have meant winning the Champions League that's gone. Where do we go from here. Yeah he's out so the process of recruiting a new manager whether that's a yoga club or somebody else starts from now they won the Super Cup last season in the Intercontinental Cup before the Madrid fans come after Major trophy. Major Real Madrid sized trophies exactly that's two years in a row and that's bad yeah. We touched upon it before I think but it doesn't necessarily matter what we think because obviously Florentino and Florentino but and I don't want to over dumb it down to system coach versus flexible pragmatic coach but in some ways that is how this decision is going to be presented right because you went for Charbelon so who also has the charisma who also has the pedigree who also has the history in the club and he wasn't able to handle it. So my first question would be did the Charbelon situation fail because he's more of a system coach or did it fail because the players were okay with the system but it was the man management that supposedly was lacking. Yeah I think that was the case because you always need that right. Yeah yeah yeah and you would think that with his charisma the career that he had as a player he would have that the players would really relate to that you know and he could create that bond between him and the players and it felt certainly and from what we've heard and what we've been told that it was not really the case. So the problem I have is if you want a pragmatic coach like a manager really more than anything else like Zidane like Arlongelotti there are not many left there if you look at all that generation coming through of managers like Charbelonzo, like Arteta, like company, like Fabregas they are very much system managers. Yeah I think and I think part of that is kind of like a pipeline issue right. You don't get a big job these days I think unless you are a system manager because that means as a system manager and again we're using these terms very loosely we know they're not perfect but as a system manager you work your way up sometimes you work your way up from the bottom sometimes you work your way up from you know a lesser team to a bigger team but you do that through systems there's no pragmatic manager who goes in and says oh look I'm so charismatic and brilliant and I would say even in the cases of the two most off-sided pragmatic coaches, Ancelotti was a thousand percent a system manager that's how he made his name and then he got his reputation the other way he learned to be more pragmatic. Zidan was Zidan he walked into Real Madrid had the intelligence to realize hey look I'm not going to go and implement fancy systems. I do wonder is it a case that maybe with some guys we define as system managers they actually have the pragmatic part down or the man management part down it's just that we don't see it as much and you mentioned Arteta there as far as I know from what I hear Arteta generally hasn't fallen out with too many of his players they seem to genuinely like or appreciate them. I think by changing the way Arsenal have played this season and again it's more of a macro level I think he has shown he can but he is a pragmatic manager. Maybe he doesn't change within the course of a single game as much but I wonder something with these labels do we do we exaggerate a little bit and that actually some of these system coaches are actually very good man managers and can be pragmatic as well. I don't think I don't think so but then again like I'm not really sure exactly what Real Madrid and Florentino Perez will want what those players want if they want somebody quite laid back in a way because Zidan and Ancelotti you know are far more laid back than the intensity of H.I.B. Alonso of a Jürgen Klopp of Michel Arteta and those kind of guys of Vincent Company. I'm not really sure I don't know where you go from here because at one I don't think there's that again we go back to this I don't think there's many managers available that are like Alonso Alotti full stop so you know it's going to be I think a difficult search. I mean I think over the years people in and around Real Madrid have repeated the same thing right this is show biz the players always come first more so than at other clubs right has to do with the size of the club it has to do with the mystique the galactical culture whatever and that is always used as justification why the system coach will will struggle because the coach will come second. I think you can pull it off if you have a certain if you have the right amount of charisma and achievements which obviously Zidane had walking in there which obviously Ancelotti had given that he'd won all those champions league titles before that but realistically I mean unless Pep Guardiola decides he wants to manage Real Madrid which I think is somewhat unlikely you're not going to find you're looking for a unicorn if you want both right. Yeah I don't think that exists. So then maybe the argument is find a guy who the players like and who the players respect because he's won stuff with them and maybe who's a big ish name. Yeah. As or was as a player and just let them do simple things and let the players take over yeah that's alternative right. Yeah I just don't think they I don't think this guy exists I don't think there's just many out there. There's not many but it's not doesn't necessarily need to be I don't know I'm putting this it's not going to be him right but like if Sergio Ramo who gets his coaching bad. Raule is the Canterra coach so yeah maybe try Raule but I'm not sure if Raule is ready if that's the solution and again I can't see if you look outside of the you know the system managers I'm really I really don't know where you where you start. I will throw you a curve ball on this one. We mentioned Saskin passing and look Sask obviously because of his Barcelona history whatever again I'm not saying it's going to be him. I mean watched a lot of comos more so this year because they've been better. I don't know that he's necessarily a system manager he looks like a system manager in city because the football they play is very different from the way most of but ultimately most of the rest of city has played but he's a lot less kind of tactical obsessive and tactical discipline oriented than a lot of other people. Certainly the feedback from the players the players all seem to like him. You need to have the ability to manage superstars which obviously comal don't have the same level of superstars but they have little superstarlets like Nico Pass. So I don't know I would like to see if I were a hundred friend I would like to see something like a very serious hunt very aware and also be aware that if there's a system manager that you really like like we're going to talk about Donny Irola later again he's not coming his style of play I don't think he's suited right now on the surface to having super talented players. Can you imagine Vini and Bapé. They would run with Fabregas they would have to run in Fabregas system too. But the difference is when Irola tells you these things you know it's not going to carry the same way you have to decide like if you are going to find a system manager you have to commit to it and if that makes making painful choices with some of your superstars and maybe even taking a loss then you know I think you have to accept that. If not go for the man manager. Alright I feel like we're understanding Bayern here because this is again a reminder Vincent company relegated at Burnley fifth sixth seventh choice to take over Bayern. The guy has delivered beyond anybody's expectation and you know obviously he did get booked during the game which means he's going to be suspended. For the first time yet. Although of course as we know until UEFA and FIFA take coaching suspensions seriously it's not really going to mean anything and as you know what I think they should do is now before the game no contact you go sit with a chaperone somewhere in the stands if you like but you ain't passing notes or talking on phones or whatever but whatever. But I actually thought he seemed like the calmer of the two coaches throughout and he seemed like the kind of guy where Bayern I thought you can say they didn't play as well but they stuck to their game plan even in the wake of seeing your goalkeeper make two colossal errors like that. Yeah I think the Alfonso Davies exchange was very smart for me in my half time to be fair to just. Doubling down in a way. Yeah yeah just bring a bit more threat especially in the half space that he didn't really explore at all in that first half which is strange because it's one of their strengths from both full backs especially and I think that. But I think that's because the profile of Leimer is very different right to Davies. Yeah but Leimer I think is a half space monster really and to be fair I think Stanley Schitz is very smart to do as well. Obviously Davies has more pace and he's more of a winger playing a left back so he brings something slightly different but I thought that was a smart thing but again I think it's a move that a lot of people would have done. But yeah even without being at the best I really don't think they were at the best. They are such a threat all the time really you know anytime if you just give them a little bit or if you're not fully focused or well organized enough they can punish you at any time and that's the beauty of this team and that front three that again each of them scored last night. You mentioned the front three I look at Luis Diaz and I kind of wonder not to bring it back to Liverpool but. I'm not saying is money ball you want to let a guy leave a year too early the new year too late and whatever but I did not expect that he would have so much to give in this season. Is that actually down to how company is using him? Yeah and the way the start of the team obviously for a winger like him it must be an absolute like feast of playing in the team like that with all that movement all the options such an attacking side you know all the time and plus he's got so much energy that when they lose the ball he's right there the counter pressing probably leading the counter counter pressing more than Cano or even so I think he fitted exactly what they wanted for him and the Bundesliga must be a fun league to play in as we've seen with all the goals they've scored for this kind of Bayern Munich side too so it is great I mean he had a poor game on Wednesday night up to the goal and even the goal is a little bit lucky but before that he was up against the defensive monster that is Trent Alexander Arno. To be fair they're doubling up on him you know worked well again the lack of intensity with the ball of Bayern which is very unlike them was a bit of a problem but it still came a big on the goal that mattered the most anyway so we can say before he was maybe not his best but he scored the goal that he had to score to go through. A word on Noir it seems like so much of these semi-finals have kind of been certainly over the two legs defined by goalkeepers doing very special things and doing not so special things and we should mention of course obligatory T-Bou Courtois was not there T-Bou Courtois there T-Bou Courtois does not make the mistake that Lunen makes. Cat said I'm always interested in spending privilege being around top athletes all my career and seeing how they react to the unexpected how they react to blunders he made two colossal ones early on I think more so with the pass out the back I think the second one again 100% he doesn't short his feet or maybe he isn't reactive enough right but then in the second half he made a huge save off of Kylian Mbappe on that pass from Trent I wanted to get your take on it is that a huge saver was that kind of just a reaction and how does he get back into the mindset? Yeah yeah I think it's a handball save and he makes his serve big and then the ball hits his arm he doesn't move his arm actually it's not his arm towards the ball it's the ball that I must throw his arm but still it's great he's a massive obviously is really big and you know massive and everything big hands all you want and that's that's that's that's a massive massive save for sure the mistakes before that you know he's made he makes regular I think regularly he makes mistakes you know and I think since he booked his leg he hasn't really been back at his best either he's 40 years old too so he's not going to be at his best now he was great in the first leg and made some big saves sure and he's still capable of that but I still think there's there are times like last season two against um or the season before against Ronald Madrid where he also made mistakes so I think it will come with that the the most incredible thing I guess from a German football point of view is that at 40 there's still no one in terms of German goalkeepers close to him even yeah and that's obviously an issue with the uh with the national team I I'm a terrestrial just because I'm a terrestrial guy and if he hadn't suffered all those injuries I thought like okay yeah they'd be set now obviously you're looking at bowman you're looking at or big you're looking at you know this I think new balls done fine yeah but um obviously not going to be as exciting yeah in this in this context but earlier this season for much of the season we've been saying just to broaden out a little bit we've been saying Bayern and Arsenal are the two best teams in Europe I feel like that's been we've consistently had them in the top three four we've added Paris Saint Germain to it based on the second part yeah of of the season and how business really picked up for them um three three of them are in the Champions League semi-finals so you can say kind of the competition's doing what it's supposed to do in the end right yeah absolutely I agree yeah genug Bayern how about some quick hits instead let's go god I'd let you go madrid lose at home two one but they're through an aggregate uh Jules another red card for Barcelona does this hurt more than last season I think they had massive regrets last season I think they will have a lot of regrets this time too I think they can play this tie again and nine out of ten probably they go through they had enough chances in this second leg to qualify or at least to get to you know extra time um so yeah I mean it's hard probably hurt it hurts even more because you're even a step back compare last season you lost in the semi-final this time is the quarter-final and last season if LaMigna Mal takes the ball I don't want to blame him but I'm saying is if you make a different decision LaMigna Mal takes the ball into the corner they're through yeah that's a simple that sure but then you can look again at the second leg and or even the first leg and ping points some moments where how they managed it differently they would have gone through I think they were better team than actually the comrade overall but we also know that their main strength is also a big weakness for them and the highline all of that sure but I think they would feel really really really harshly done in a way by not progressing I'll say this with Raphinha they go through in my view because you don't have those the same you have a different level of intensity you have a different um I don't think those red cards if not both of them happen certainly the you know I don't know if Raphinha would prevent the red cards but certainly the well he would because you would have a different level of pressing the highline we settle along this is an issue it's an attacking issue as much as it is a defensive issue true I mean the Lukman goal has got nothing to do with if Raphinha had been there he would not have prevented that goal either but the red card maybe I don't know I thought Fermin on the left hand side did really what I thought Flick's lineup was spot on the problem is is that Lewandowski and Rashford came on and not good enough so he's not at the level of what you wanted them to do and what Ferran is not as good as Lewandowski but for this game he he just had the perfect profile for it let's talk atleti Gab how about my boy Antoine Griezmann well you mentioned the Lukman goal before he made the Lukman goal yeah that that's how you break the press I thought this was like similar to the position we saw him playing for France at the World Cup kind of as a tré du nion is that that's that's good right no no really really that's an Italian expression where we tell ourselves it's French yeah tré du nion but that's between two generations well no by by in this case it's between midfield and attack was kind of what and attack was basically just Lukman from the left and and Alvarez I thought he sacrificed himself I thought he was absolutely spent when you know when he came off but the rest of the team I think this is not your granddaddy's atleti I think they can actually do something this time and not just because and we need to give credit to the three atlanta players I'm Gabby yeah of course grabbing every single bit of Italianness that I could say all of them were on the pitch when they absolutely destroyed job media darling Cia Bialonso uh but Musso Lukman and also frankly my boy Ruggieri because it's difficult to play against a Minhya Ma'am but in the second half between Ruggieri and all the help that he got I thought he made a difference yeah so so yeah I think the tools are there I think they're a really awkward match up for for Arsenal it's another unconventional lineup from Arnaz Slott unconventional that's kind right so we say something else and it's another two-nil defeat although the second goal came in garbage time Joe's I wasn't expecting to see Alexander Isak start and I suspect neither did you and now Iketike is out too and for the World Cup as well yeah it's really sad for Iketike rupturing his Achilles it's a nine-month layoff for him you know we won't see him again in 2026 which is really sad because he had such a good first season at Liverpool was going to start for France at the World Cup and was going to make us you know better and really good too so it's a real shame for Isak one of the worst adding decisions ever made by Liverpool managers I just can't believe somebody like Arnaz Slott could believe before the game hey I've got a great idea Isak is going to win us this time it's ridiculous using the element of surprise Jules I mean trust me from what I was told by PSG they were delighted when they saw Alexander Isak starting because they knew the guy was not fit and was certainly not ready to play in a game like this certainly not from the start maybe 10 minutes at the end if you're pushing but that for important at how KK starts ahead of Robertson in a game like this where you need a lot of experiences beyond me Salah on the bench even to the next end and Goumora too I mean I thought Slott for me lost this for Liverpool massively let his team down massively and his club down and you know my views on this slot made things worse but he cannot be the only one to be held accountable when you assemble a team like this that's only on him though I'm with you for the whole season and the squad and everything but on this game this is his own choices like the first leg with the back three yeah and Gabbani one team has defended their title as European champion since the great Milan side of Arrigo Saki that was Ron Madrid with Zidane and Cristiano and now your objective how do my PSG boys look well I thank you for calling me objective you are wearing a Paris Saint-Germain school I thought they look good and I thought what impressed me in the second half is I thought there was a lot of who's a lot of maturity when we talked about pragmatism lucid he can no no he's the dreamer but but no no no there was pragmatism there was playing to your strength there was Liverpool are going to take I are going to go and they're going to tire themselves out they're going to get more desperate and we can pick them off on the counter I thought they should have been earlier there was the chance I'm blanking on who it was in the first half yeah but I thought they look very mature I don't know I think they can use Fabian Ruiz I would certainly feel much better if the real Fabian Ruiz came back as an option in midfield because I think you lose a lot if one of those three guys goes out I think the drop-off it's just the way you play it's just different whether this your duet comes in or Kangin Lee or whatever but no they look pretty darn good I don't know that I don't think they're my favorites but they're pretty close Arsenal are also through after a rather drab nil nil draw against sporting um sees them advance one nil on aggregate I think they got a little bit feisty after the game substance over style yeah yeah Declan Rice as well um not always too happy with some of the criticism that they receive which I can I can hear from their point of view because at the end of the day the most important is the results certainly more than the style and they lost three games in a row right so I think that's so then if you're going to play the substance card you got to win every game yeah exactly uh it's still a very good season they're still leading the Premier League and in the semifinal of the Champions League which if you've been told that at the start of the season everybody Arsenal fans included would have taken yes the football is not as good as earlier in the season it's not flowing in the same way they have players missing and things like that but it can also come back for the semifinal you know they can get that flow back at some point but the next few weeks obviously but I think that's a critical part when people talk about this right and this is why I absolutely hate I understand why they do it but I hate it when people in football say oh but look where we are on the table like okay that was before this is now so if you've been playing badly in the last three weeks I'm interested in are you going to be able to get back to the level you were at not 10 years ago but two months ago why can you not get there because if they don't get there they might not get over the line and what went wrong and what could that's why people say this it's not nobody's minimizing your achievements over the course of the season which have been absolutely phenomenal which because unfortunately people won't but people should still remember even if they've ran a second in the Premier League and they get knocked out in the semifinals of the Champions League which at this this stage is the worst case scenario right that's still a very good achievement a much greater achievement than most other teams but I guess people don't do it that way Julian Timber, Ricardo Saca, Martino de Garland, Ricardo Calafiore, four important players out for Arsenal I mean are we sure they are out? No they're out right now right now yeah one or more he's been cagey they were they were out last night yeah that's my question who doesn't need the most so I think I think he's going to have at least two of these guys back is my hunch and I don't think one of them will be Udegard but I don't know because he was all funny about it remember he said before the games as well between Timber and Saca one of those two might be back against Sporting and then neither one was but I think the single most important guy to get back for me is Julian Timber and the reason I say that is there's four center backs stuff which is effectively what you have when most get an ecape play if City come and decide to press the life out of you it becomes a problem right there's no ballers the best baller in that back four is who Saliba and he's not Beckham Bauer so you need Timber or Calafiore or even Luis Skelly who seems to be on the naughty naughty step now you need one of those guys that's going to move the needle more I think than what Saca can bring right now given his injuries more than Udegard because he doesn't fit I think that can allow you to play this version of Arsenal football the Arteza version from two three years ago which is much more expansive and whatever I don't think you should try to bring that back you can't bring it back at this stage of the season now this is back on Monday night but Michael Carrick suffered his first home defeat against Leeds United only a second overall Jules um was here a bit unlucky between the deflected goal and uh Lisandro the Lisandro Martinez red card early in the second half because he was angry yeah the red card I can understand his frustration and his anger about it you can you know I think watch it again and not being too sure about it about don't touch the guys hair at all and you won't be in the situation I know that yeah I guess so I just thought that United were not ready for this game at the start the style is so slow they were so sloppy from the start the fight that they hadn't played for so long was maybe a reason when Leeds played the weekend before and looked much sharper at the start it's a huge win for Leeds the first one I would travel in in what is a massive rivalry between the two clubs since I think 1981 or something and very special for them to stay up for United I think it's a bad defeat but they haven't been playing great for a few games now it's only one win in the last four in the league and they haven't been playing that great against Bournemouth they were not great against Leeds they were not great even then with 10 men it was a bit better because they played with more urgency and could have I guess snatched to draw at the end but still I don't think it was good enough huge game away to Chelsea's Saturday night yeah and sticking with Manchester United Harry Maguire has been handed an additional one game ban after his workout against Bournemouth Gabby you okay with that well so and incidentally with Maguire out Lisandro Martinez also out might be and might might we see a having your own made in heaven partnership yeah um yeah look according to referee he's walked off the pitch Maguire shot at them you're a joke you're all an effing joke yeah um Maguire mumbled something about no I just I said the decision was a joke uh dude don't put yourself in that don't use that word don't put yourself in that position he should have known better you're always at risk people it might remember things differently um but you have to take it on the chin I think yeah the Times report that Byron Munich have made contact with Newcastle regarding Anthony Gordon in a deal worth around 60 million euros does it sound right to you Jules I think I can understand why 55 million pounds yeah I can understand why Byron won a player like him uh for sure to be the backup of Luis Diaz and I guess the backup of Harry Kane as a as a number nine would you take if you were Anthony Gordon I think there should be clubs in the Premier League like Liverpool and Arsenal also interested and for him that probably for me would be a better fit than being going to Byron and at the start certainly being the backup of other players so what I find really interesting here is about this is that in the story it says that they have made contact with um their contact has been made presumably with both the club and the player this to me suggests that Newcastle's financial situation as we know is we know it's not good right um and this could be a way to flesh out other potential buyers perhaps in the Premier League because it looks like they're at the stage where they need to sacrifice one or more of their big guns I wouldn't let Gordon go for that no for that figure and I'm not a Gordon guy as you know but I don't think that's enough. Matt Crocker the US soccer Federation sporting director is leaving his job less than three years after being appointed and less than two months before the start of the World Cup God they seem to be weird. It's hugely weird I think there's stuff that we're not being told about so the stock explanation is that well he did everything he needed to do made some changes to the youth development he signed Emma Hayes and he signed Maritio Pochettino to the job and now he's got like nothing else to do now maybe that's how the sporting director is defined by the US soccer Federation but the fact that you wouldn't want to be around for the World Cup I think is a blow I assume sporting director should be the in-between between the coach Pochettino and the I'm the afe evidently that's not the case here people are saying he's going to Saudi because he's been offered a ton of money but it's not with the Saudi Pro League it's with the Saudi Football Federation maybe with a view towards 2034 I wonder if all he's going to do is just hire a national team coach and then move on somewhere else I would be cautious with that too you've heard the stories about live golf and how the money's drying up there in terms of how they want to spend it I'm hugely disappointed and if I were Pochettino I would definitely go out and I'd want answers I feel undermined. I don't know what has confirmed what many have suspected he's leaving Bournemouth at the end of the season Jules do you think he already knows where he's going next no I don't think so but I think he knows that there would be a lot of jobs available and I think probably up to half of the Premier League clubs might change managers in the summer or we'll be looking for manager in the summer they might reappoint the guys that is currently in charge like a Michael Carrick United maybe but I think from city to Liverpool to you know the likes of Palace and Bournemouth for another Irola is going to go there Chelsea I think there's a lot of top clubs mid-table clubs second half of the table clubs that we'll be looking for new managers so and that's just in England I think in the rest of Europe too we talked about Ramadre earlier and all of that so I think he knows it's probably the right time to leave he also knows that he's done his absolute best and I can't really take this club who will lose some key players again like Tennessee in the summer he can't go again and and probably do better so he would have had three great years although the start was shaky but they kept faith in him and they were right and and now he will get a better job at a better club as a reward of the great work that he's done there so I'm a huge Irola fan I you know the reason he doesn't win manager of the year awards is because they go to people who win silverware fair enough my question is what is his ceiling in the sense that this takes this kind of like ties him back with what we're talking about before right if I look at the players he's had he's always had very athletic players and also players who are kind of like worker bees and I don't say this in a negative thing but players who are who are high effort guys right if you're a superstar that may not always be the case um so I wondered do you think could it work at a higher level could it work with players who are like wait a minute why am I running myself into the ground now when I can just rest and then have the sharpness to dribble past three guys and score because I've done it before yeah yeah I mean I wanted to what degree that would stop a bigger club like a you know an A-list club from looking at him but if you're on board with his ideas then you give him the right platform the right squad what we saw with Luis Enrique or what we've seen with Luis Enrique in in Paris he's a very intense coach he demands a lot of his players intense wise and work rate wise and Irola is kind of similar so if you give him the right players it would work if you give him Vinicius and Mbappe it won't work and that's just as simple as that I think the difference maybe is Luis Enrique won a treble um when he took over and also he generally you know dealt with younger players at at um the players who were on their way up put it that way yeah guys like Virginia and Joghom so of course I'm gonna listen to you you know who am I you know I haven't I haven't achieved anything right yeah no no sure but again that's why if you give Irola the right uh squad it's gotta be the right club yeah and the right squad for sure the right players Max Allegri has reportedly joined Antonio Conte on the book his list as the next italian manager Gabi are you okay with this and who could Milan get to replace him I mean again if I were a Milan fan I would be happy that he's on the book so I think he's do better as a national team manager than as a club manager right now with the restriction let me look you put out Max Allegri at Real Madrid and I'm sure he'll be linked to the Real Madrid job 1000% right because there's certain specific things he does well I don't think for Milan this season I think it's been really disappointing and I don't know that for a club that has the kind of restrictions that Milan has he's the right manager although I look at the names who would be out there to replace him at Milan and I can also tell that nobody's actually put some thought into this because the names are Gasperini if he falls out with uh with Roma with Ranieri and goes there and I don't think putting in another volatile head at Milan with the different fiefdoms that exist at the club I think that would be disastrous Thiago Mokta based on I don't know what yeah and then obviously Cesc who they wanted before yeah sure Cesc would be fantastic nice idea but why would he I guess he wouldn't have to move house if he moves to Milan yeah um for the national team I right now if Allegri and Conte are the two main candidates and this is all media stuff right now because I remind you Italian FA does not have a president yet and won't have one until June 22nd yeah I would still lean Conte for what he can do in a tournament setting but yeah both of them would be an upgrade over the previous manager but that's not saying much no fancy overseas tour for Barcelona next summer Jules they're reportedly doing preseason training at St. George's uh which is the England the FaZe training camp yeah where they're national center yeah I think they're not they won't be the only club big big European club not to go to I don't know the US or Asia or Australia or wherever they usually go because it's a walk-up here so on the back of some of your players might still be at the walk-up anyway when you start preseason to start with secondly it's been a very long season already plus the walk-up because most of those squads of top clubs pretty much 90 or 95 percent of that squad would be at the walk-up with the national teams so it's probably wise to just stay in Europe somewhere I mean you can come to England I'm sure English clubs will go to Spain or somewhere else like that don't travel too far you still have friendlies somewhere maybe in England there's big stadiums where you can make money still maybe not as lucrative as going to Asia or to the US but I think for what you're going to gain by staying here it's probably worth it at the same time and I think they're also talking some lucrative friendlies in Morocco apparently yeah Morocco in August that's where I want to play Mexican president Claudia Scheinbaum announced that FIFA have denied their request to move Iran's game south of the border god what's your reading of this I'm genuinely in two minds about this so obviously we know what's happening with Iran in the US they scheduled to play two games in LA and one game in Seattle I think there's a right reason for FIFA to say no and there's a wrong reason the wrong reason is oh but logistics and we've sold all these tickets and how do we move these group games and then do we do the group no no there's always a solution you can chuck a little bit of your enormous cash reserve at this problem you can reimburse people there's lots of ways to actually do this okay I think more broadly they're not doing this because it would be a massive stain on everybody involved if Iran something happens a safety issue security issue and Iran pull out immediately before the competition and I don't think and I think Johnny's backing himself that he can negotiate with the parties involved that it's not going to come to that now obviously the party's involved Iran is a country and the US president can be a little bit unpredictable because war is unpredictable conflict is unpredictable but I think right now you have to stay the course and believe it it doesn't even people have said oh give them a deadline right what what what deadline you want to give right even if they tell you on June 1 yeah we're coming right and then June 2 something happens what are you gonna do like you know so I don't think I think we find really this is a situation where I actually have sympathy on on on FIFA and I understand why they did this the Times published a detailed survey regarding ball and play time jewels and this has to do with the whole thing as is time wasting and the dark arts on the rise in England give us some highlights yeah gap so the average in the Premier League is 55 and 35 minutes and 31 second which over the 90 minutes is obviously not much but it's pretty much the average in other leagues as well you know slightly lower in the Premier League slightly lower but again 59% in league iron because you guys don't cheat we don't cheat exactly city have the ball in play the most almost 59 minutes Everton is next with 57 and then in the worst you've got Spurs 53 Newcastle 53 as well Bournemouth just under 53 to be fair I think it depends a lot of how your game is going who you face I don't really pay too much attention I think the Premier League average and comparing it maybe with other leagues is interesting I know you're a big advocate of stopping the clock for example and having yeah 60 minutes yeah but yeah yeah I think I mean this is another argument for 60 minutes we should be at 60 minutes everywhere and I think if you had that you would minimize some of this they did a really deep dive on this if you're interested in this kind of nerdy stuff go ahead and take a look they also revealed funny enough Arsenal take the longest to take a corner kick it's like 44 seconds uh Chelsea who I believe also have a fancy set piece specialist or how are you doing well they fired him right couldn't they but I think that was Liverpool all right they take the least so maybe they like to use the element of surprise yeah but yeah score effects obviously but they they get into score effects too like you know if you're winning you're losing weirdly according if I remember this correctly weirdly taught them when they're losing they actually waste more time than when they're winning which makes no sense to me but could be at the heart of all their problems exactly God is that the ff football jose santamaria passed away age 96 yeah so obviously we the Real Madrid teams that won five straight european cups are the stuff of legend uh that was a team of the estefanon pouskas and and and and so on but at the back there was a hard charismatic leader from Uruguay named jose santamaria who often gets who often gets overlooked um he won four of those european cups won six league titles overall and I was sure I was frankly surprised that he was still alive and he 96 years old I mean can you imagine living to 96 I hope I hope it's a life well lived I hope the last 25 years were disease free lucid yeah but yeah truly one of the greats jose we have a new youngster to hype yes Eduardo conceso apparently nicknamed judo but I cannot confirm or deny that uh he's that palmadas and he is ripping it up at the south american under 17s he has a hundred million dollar release clause he signed professional terms he has yet to make his professional debut yeah but he needs to catch up because you're really older than max dalman yes 24 days yeah exactly I mean when you see some of the it's all on youtube the combs everywhere yeah I mean you can watch the whole games and obviously like the south american under 20 tournament which a lot of scats are also watching and a lot of us are also watching to find those new gems from south america there's a lot of people watching the under 17s too and he's doing great to be fair he looks fantastic at that age group which is again a big difference between that and making the step up to professional football and big leagues and you know big guys etc etc but he certainly looks very promising a hundred million dollar release clause is obviously you know for the vibes nobody will ever pay that for him certainly not right now at that age but he looks very promising but but it's um I mean a hundred million dollars it's not that far off what you know ralmadrid played for once you adjust for inflation or not for for veneen and for for endric what what I find interesting about him is he's a big boy he's like you know he's like one meter eight he was strong yeah but it strikes me that and dalman too dalman's that we said this before dalman is not little yeah to see sort of a winger wide forward type with that kind of dribbling ability who also has that kind of physical strength that's kind of a rare combination and I I want to go back we've talked about youth development um it's a topic close to my heart right now but at a young age clearly they worked with coaches who said no no no you know you can probably let's say at a growth point obviously you can go and road grade the other guy but you can we encourage you to dance around him because you're going to come up against bigger players um so surely looks very exciting I also suspect to some degree there are so many highlights of this guy and suddenly they talked about something called the copina which is a regional youth tournament in saupallo and what a big deal it was and they made it seem as if that's like the world cup I suspect he has a pretty slick operation with his permit us or not and that's why his story is out there because uh but he certainly looks like check him out on youtube work up tickets prices continue to scar rocket gab on the second remark and fifa taking a cut of each transaction which is making some people angry and there was a solution to avoid profiting yeah so I think this is this is an interesting sticking point and I feel like some people have raised this and so I want to highlight this too right so fifa's argument about um having what they call dynamic pricing and allowing ticket resellers to buy tickets and sell them legally which isn't allowed uh in many other countries is that well but it's allowed in the u.s we can't go against u.s law right which is a nonsense argument because it's not just about the law it's your competition you go you negotiate and say we do this this and that right um but it's the fact that every time these tickets get bought and sold fifa gets a cut yeah right because they're they're electronic if you wanted to comply with a law and allow people to resell their tickets which arguably you should there was a simple solution to avoid this which other competitions do you don't actually just make it so that you don't actually receive your electronic ticket until say a week before the tour before the game itself right that makes it a lot harder to be bought and sold a thousand times but that also means less revenue yeah less chances for fifa to get cut off each one so when people point to this like I said I can understand fifa's argument I understand both sides I understand they need to make money and whatever else but I don't think they necessarily have a leg to stand on here Javier Machirano has left into Miami and therefore he's left Leonel Messi yes uh Guillermo Hoyos is in charge for now Jules reportedly he's moving on because he has achieved what he wanted to achieve in winning the title are you buying this no because I mean two months ago clearly he hadn't achieved I wanted you know so he started the season coached a few games and then after two months or so in the season thought yeah I've done everything I have you know I wanted to do here I wanted to achieve you got to play in the new state you got to coach in the new stadium maybe I say maybe you're right maybe it was not really ambition maybe it was not winning the title maybe it was just the new stadium and I had something happen clearly whether he so obvious yeah whether he fell out with either Messi or you know Beckham or the owners or whatever but clearly something happened otherwise you leave after the title you say hey this was great Alba is going Busquets is going I'm going to go and look for another adventure another chapter of my career but you don't start the season in two months and say like you know I'm leaving because I've done everything I want to do or maybe there's another job which I think yeah we're going to be a lot of coaching turnovers especially in Europe maybe that maybe start good few weeks for FIFA president Giannino Gabb he gets the endorsement from Cumberball ahead of elections next year and his tribute video on YouTube passes the 22,000 views yes that's right 22,000 views this is weird so it's probably right Cumberball it's important but it's also it's just 10 votes right it's Alejandro Dominguez and friends and also I'm not sure they're going to block vote like I think he will still be FIFA president just because nobody's challenging him elections are next year I think most people are waiting to see what happens at the World Cup logically so the funny thing about his video I don't want to make fun of this but I do actually so you know he's got the Infantino 10 logo and he has a social team and they decided to produce a 30 minute tribute video which is literally a bunch of talking heads some of them FIFA employees some of them FIFA legends some of them I don't know his friends talking about how much he loves football and what a great guy he is they have that that anodyne english voiceover specialist at the beginning which says like this true football lover was to have a profound impact on the game he loved like don't put the use or love twice in the same sentence is bad english I don't know how much his cost to produce it looks like high quality video it is just talking heads so I don't know maybe they did it over maybe they just videoed themselves and they'll have really nice phones yeah it's like cameo or something but this is just a stupid look it's just a bad look it's just strategically whatever you think of him whoever is advising him on this right whoever is so far up his backside that says oh mr president this is really going to help you this is not how you tell the story of his 10 years if that's what you want to do this is not how you make a case for yourself this looks like pure sycophant see and the fact that three weeks I checked this I checked last night so maybe I have a couple more now and maybe you can go watch it yourself and add to the total because I feel bad for him his feelings will be hurt yeah 22,000 views after three weeks for what went into this with all the people appearing in it not good yeah not good just this brings us to an end yeah but I'm told there's a pretty important game in the Premier League this week that's right even you know the Merseyside Darby uh Chelsea against Manchester United as well no no no I'm talking about city against Arsenal for all the marbles possibly uh so we're going to be back to tell you about all about that until then love the game love your neighbor love yourself