USMNT Stumble vs Portugal

from 30 for 30 podcasts. Brian Padda, senior defensive lineman for Miami. Gun down. The key to this case, it's Brian. Boy, it's grand-dad. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction being placed under arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now. Hello, welcome to the latest edition of ESPNFC. I'm Dan Thomas, Ali Moreno alongside. We will kick things off with the U.S. taking on Portugal on Tuesday night. It's back to back to feet from Ritio Pochettino's side as they would lose by two goals to nil. Let's hear from the manager. I think we compete really well. It was again Belgium first half and 20 minutes or 15 minutes on the second half. In details, in a small detail, I think we lose the game. We are USA. We are competing again. Belgium, Portugal. I think for sure, Belgium and Portugal have in the top 100 player few or some player playing in the top 100. I think we don't have. I am more positive now than before because seeing the team compete, we are not far away. It's only details that we need to improve. Well, for more on this, let's welcome in. Shall we go, go USA? Ian D'Arch is with us and we also welcome Jermaine Jones, of course, one of the best goals that the U.S. has ever seen at the World Cup. Jermaine, stick with me on this. If Arsenal beat Burnley 2-0, our lead is obviously Arsenal continuing. No one is talking about Burnley and not turning up. Formations and players that he should have used. Tactics. Portugal have got better players than the U.S. Arsenal have better players than Burnley. Belgium have better players than the U.S. Why is there so much excitement and hype around the U.S. that we are not far away from the World Cup? Why is there so much excitement and hype around what Pochettino should be doing when in reality, none of these U.S. players get into the Portuguese squad? That's just where it is and that's fine. That's fine to accept. Yet there seems to be so much talk around everything else, so much noise, which just seems to exceed all expectations. Yeah, you know, for me it's a little bit that I look at it different because I'm, I played against a real strong Belgium team at the World Cup in 2014 and a real strong team against Portugal. Portugal normally we should win that game. We made a mistake in the last minute and then they scored, they tied the game. Belgium, we were completely in a game, a lot of good sayings from Tim Howard at the time, but nobody had us on the loop. Nobody had even trusted us that we can do anything. First of all, get out of that group and everything. So, and now for me, is it like look at it and go, okay, we play Belgium, but I think when we look at the Belgium game, the first 15 minutes, we were kind of in a game and then it looks like a boxing match. The Belgium is looking and seeing and trying to figure out what we're doing. And then at one point they step it up and we have no chance to come back into the game anymore. The individual players step it up in the different makers of Belgium and I think the same was it against Portugal yesterday. So, when you look at the game in the beginning, we had chances, we were there, but then at one point it feels like if the bigger countries in the soccer world to step it up, then we have no chance to get back into the game. So, and that's something we have to ask. I have the question, my question would be then, why are we not playing the best 11 we have? Why are we not getting used to each other? Because we are 73 days away from the work. So, and if we still try and stuff, we play a bit back three, we play back four, and I think that's the issue we should talk about. Is that a point, Ali? Should we have used this platform to put out that starting 11? I think we could make the argument that throughout Mauricio Pochettino's tenure with the national team, that is a valid question. When have we seen whatever he considers to be the best 11 of the United States played together consistently? It just hasn't happened. This whole idea of culture, the new culture that he was creating within US soccer and within the national team, that he wanted to open up the pool to these players, to those players, to those guys, and this guy. Fine. But once you're settling on what you think is your best 11, then this guy, to your main point, they have to be able to play together. And that just hasn't happened. Beyond that. See, I have no issue with Mauricio Pochettino coming out and saying, look, Belgium and Portugal, they have some of the best players in the world, and so they're just simply better than us. And that is, I think, part of the conversation that you're having, Dan. But you got to put it into context, because a couple of days earlier, the same guy, Mauricio Pochettino, was talking about how the United States should be making it to the semifinals. So one thing doesn't match the other. If you're going to sell me on the idea that the United States should make a semifinal, then in order for them to make that a reality, they will have to be teams like Belgium and Portugal. That's just the reality of a World Cup setting. As you get further into the competition, you eventually are going to meet, literally, you could possibly meet Belgium, but you are going to meet teams of this caliber, of this level. And this is not the best version of Belgium. Let me just say, your main mention, Belgium back in 2014, that was a better version of this one. But neither here nor there. The point is, you have Pochettino saying semifinals is where we should aim. And then a couple of days later, because you have been humbled by a couple of results and a couple of performances, then you say, well, but these guys are better than us. So which one is it? Should we sort of raise our expectations to a semifinal or lower our expectations, given the fact that the United States are not nearly as good as these other teams? You cannot have it both ways. You cannot sell both messages. Jermaine, I'm intrigued as a player to get your view on this and indeed a coach. The four teams that the US are facing leading up to the World Cup, obviously, obviously lost against Belgium, lost yesterday against Portugal, they'll face Senegal and Germany. They're really hard games. As a player, would you have preferred to play someone more on your level, or do you get more out of playing against opposition like this? Because I don't know, if I'm playing tennis against someone who just scores aces past me, what am I learning? I think it's to be honest, I think as a player, you always want to play against the best. So in, in, in, I think you're in the wrong sport. If you say I want to play against smaller teams just to win the games, because like we talked to before, right? Like you go into a World Cup, you have to face anybody there. So in, if you go, we want to get out of the group stage, whoever you get, even like now when I look at the group stage, it's Paraguay, Australia in Turkey. So it's, you're not just walking through that, to that group. That's a, that's a point too. So in, now you're finishing up with Senegal in, with Germany. Germany is, I'm living here right now. I'm looking at it and I go like, guys, don't be, you know, silly. Germany will not be just a walkthrough. They have a really, really strong team. Senegal just come back from winning the Africa Cup. And they have a good team too. So in, but I strongly believe that we have a good team, but we have to find the way to put the best players on the field, put the players in the best positions they can play and not just try to stuff, try stuff out, because we all know it. As closer you get to the World Cup, you have to find the balance in the group. You have to figure out who's working with each other in, in, in, and then you would get like, because now it's about like, bringing in that players have excitement to go to a World Cup. Players have getting trust with the other. They get hope, they believe in that was the login for us. We had always that belief, right? Like we called always in the US, believe and believe. So in, in, in, if you get something like that, even in smaller teams, like what I said before, and go back to that, because Chino says that yeah, Portugal does have bigger players and everything, but hey, we have players that play for Milan. We have for you. We have players in England. If we're not very good players, Jermaine, not very good players, Christian Polisic, as in Scotland's, there's a Sembury struggling to get into this Milan team. He's supposed to be the guy, isn't he? He's supposed to be the focus that's going to carry the US in this summer tournament. Yeah, he can't even get a game domestically at the moment. But that's like, it's, it's, it's depends like how you see it, right? Like a couple, couple years ago, we talked about it and he was somebody who made the difference. And I always said, like, it's, it's, yes, we can, we can say they're not good enough to make it and get not into the team sniveling. But a couple years ago, I remember he was the face of the country and I think he was even outside of the country. He played like really good soccer. So in, we can go through Portugal. We can go to Belgium. Yes, they have good players, but not everybody of them is playing for Man City or for Chelsea or whatever. So, and that's the point. Like in, if you don't have the point of sec two, if you don't have the individual quality that you don't have Chris Rano or whatever, then you have to be a collective as a team. And for me, is it like even there? I think we struggle right now in, in that, I believe that comes just from because everybody's doing his own things. I don't think that everybody's clear. I'm going to the World Cup. I'm not like a pass the ball. I'm shooting for myself to get a bonus to maybe score. Like everybody's still in that feeling when I watched the both games. Everybody's hoping, oh, I'm trying to play my own game to get a good shot to go maybe to the World Cup. So in, in that's just something where I believe if you make a clear picture of like who's going and have an idea, then as a collective, as a team, you will actually play better because you're starting to, you know, fit the pieces in, in get, you know, a better look at, at the whole team. And dog. Well, I think the point that Jermaine is making is a really good one. The time for experiments is over. I mean, it's like England the other night trying to false nine. They're not going to do that at the World Cup. But what I do like about the USA is instead of playing the endless games against ConkerCraft teams, they're playing teams where they will learn something. They might not like the lessons they're learning. They might not like what Belgium did to them in the second half the other day. They might not like losing to Portugal. But these, I think, are very, very important lessons for Pochettino as he just tries to mould this team and get it ready. And I think Jermaine's spot on. He's got to play what he thinks is his best 11 in these two games against Senegal, who are a really good team, by the way, as of course, are Germany. He will learn a lot more there. I mean, the job is to get through that group like Jermaine was saying, you know, OK, Paraguay and Australia in the group. Turkey, I think, makes it tougher with them qualifying. They've got good players led by Gürler, the Real Madrid player. So, yeah, I wouldn't be giving up on the USA on that. It doesn't look good at the moment. And I think one of the big takeaways really from those two games is they're too easy to play against, particularly against Belgium. I mean, that second goal shall Felix scores for Portugal. He has all day for that ball to drop and there's still nobody near him as he rifles it into the corner of the net. I mean, all that's got to change. All that's got to change and they've got to have the stomach and fight and the heart that those teams that Jermaine and others were playing in. Can you talk to me about facing strong opposition? Yeah, look, he's talking about Pochettino is talking about the details. And that's the difference in his mind between Portugal and the United States. Well, no kidding. Yeah, that is the difference. The fact that in the details, they are better than you. That in the details, Trincao finished to the far post, whereas Pulisic did not. And so the difference, yes, it is indeed in the details, but the details are what separates the really good team from the not so good teams. Now, look, I'm not giving up on the United States. And I don't think that's what this conversation is about. I think this team can be a version of themselves that is not about we're going to play teams that are better than us straight up. No, that they can be far more abiding. It's a conversation that we had following the matchup against Belgium is where you can grind. It's something that Ian is talking about that you can fight that. And you can do that against better teams in preparation for the World Cup, because that's how you're going to advance in the World Cup. That's how you're going to be successful in the World Cup. It won't be because you will outplay a superior team. It will be because you outfought and outran and scored in a set piece. That is the more likely scenario. What I don't understand is why this team pretends to be something that they're not. They're not good enough. And by Pocetino's own admission, they're not good enough. To outplay Portugal. So why are you trying to do that? How about you use these games in playing against superior opposition to. Make it into the framework, into the blueprint of how is it that you can go about beating superior teams in the World Cup, making it into a fight, making it into a physical game, making it into set pieces, making it into being difficult to beat. That hasn't been the case for Pocetino teams since he got to the national team. He's always made it about how we're going to play out of the back and we're going to do this and we're going to dominate games and we're going to add that. All those things are fine and well against conca-calf opposition and even then they've had some struggles. But once you get to the better teams, to the superior teams, which is what we have seen so far, they struggle because they don't know how to grind. And it's not something that you learn a couple of months away from the World Cup. So hang on if you're the United States, strap on because this is going to be a really difficult conversation that we're going to have to have during the World Cup. Jermaine, you think of that group that you cut, Ali used the word grind there and no one gave you much of a chance really when you look to the opponents. Within that group, obviously you made it through. It's the kind of opposite going into this World Cup for the US. People are looking at Paraguay, looking at Australia, looking at Turkey thinking, oh, the US should be OK here. Yeah, you know, for me, it's something too. Well, I look at it and I go, no, we're not. Because it's on paper, it looks easy. But I think if you look at the games now, what we've played already so far, it will not be that easy. You know, so and I think it's something we're hoping since the last World Cup, we're hoping that this generation will do something special. We even hope we hoped already in the last World Cup that there's something special. Then we said, OK, they're young, they have to grow and they will grow to the next World Cup. So it will be at home. And I think we don't realize that we play at home, that there's a lot of pressure alone on that, that we have to get out of this group stage alone. The first game opening game for our own country, our own club. It will be everybody's excited. We will hope that we get the win. And if you don't get a win with the first game already, it's a lot of pressure starting. So and I think we always, you know, hoping and hoping and hoping. But I think the hope has to stop in like you guys already said in the studio, we have to start grinding. We have to go back to that what made us strong. We always knew that we play a bigger country. It comes about like you put the heart and soul to the things you do to the Jersey. You have to fight, grind and all that stuff. And then, yes, you will have talent where you can maybe score and make your points and get out of situations. But just to say like, oh, we want to play, we want to get there and do everything. It's not working, you know? And then go back to Procegino that he talks about the details. For me is then second goal when yesterday against Portugal. That's a detail. That's where's the standard coach to explain the guys. Wait a minute, they block you maybe under five and they play a long ball to the second to the box. And then, you know, you can see that there was a surprise. That's details. You know, you can win games with standards and you can lose games with standards. So that's the details we have to focus on that we don't make that kid's mistakes. It's not guaranteed they're getting out of this group. Is it, Ian? Well, it's never guaranteed. Nothing's easy at the World Cup. And there will be shocks. But I think the key is not to lose that first game. Remember, we've got a 48 team World Cup, 12 groups, eight of the third place teams are going to go through. So that makes the draw a little bit more valuable than it would have been because there's now not quite so much jeopardy. So don't lose. That's the first thing against Paraguay. But go for the win. I mean, the home advantage is going to be a big, big factor. You could say it ramps up the pressure on the players, but I think they'll get a tremendous buzz from the atmosphere. There's going to be by the time that World Cup comes around and the feeling around the country for the team. So I think they'll get something from that. You know, Jermaine's right. You look at that squad. I mean, you're saying there's not good players. Policic was, you know, a big money buy and was playing for Chelsea earlier this season. He was on form for Milan. Maybe he's starting to think of the World Cup. Maybe that's why he's forms tailed off a little bit in Italy. I think you'll be there on the day. You've got Western McKinney is good for Juventus, people like Balagan and Weyer. Tyler Adams has been unfit. He'll make a difference in midfield. And that's another area they need to improve the shield in front of the defence. You know, that's another thing to think about. But I wouldn't be giving up on the team. It doesn't look good, but this isn't the time to judge. Jermaine Jones, of course, will be judging with us during the World Cup. We'll have some special shows for you as the tournament progresses. Jermaine, thank you very much for joining us. Keep going. You're doing it. That's the sound of Sam learning to swim in a Hilton resort pool. Oh, that's delicious. And that's the sound of Sam and his family enjoying dinner in the hotel restaurant. Good evening. Welcome back. With stays in your favourite destinations and everything taken care of, you can savour what's important. When you want your holiday to feel like a holiday, it matters where you stay. Book now at hilton.com. Hilton for the stay. What you always back is down and Colombia alongside Congo, then make up group K. Cup, gab. Oh, you can hear a lot more of gab. You could probably hear his tears on the latest edition of the gabbing dual show. Why is that what happens on Thursday? Right, let's get to this, shall we? Here are the current odds to win the World Cup, to win everything. Spain, our first favourite. England, now this isn't our list. This isn't a power out. This isn't Shaka's nonsense. This is the bookies who have come up with the list that England are second favourites to win the World Cup. Jules joins us, but let's start, shall we? With Ian Dark. How on earth are they second favourite? Well, you need a very vivid imagination, having watched the two games at Wembley in the last few days to see England among the favourites, because in plain language, they've stunk the place out twice running, drawing with Uruguay and then losing, deservedly losing to Japan. And I think quite a few players or a few of them anyway, I think have played their way off the aeroplane to the United States. There's a lot of thinking he's got to do. OK, I think you've got to build into it that this was in England without four quite key players, no Harry Kane, no Bukai, Saka, no Jude Bellingham and no Declan Rice. So that is a rider to everything that we're observing. But, you know, looking at that team, look at left back there, Nico O'Reilly, who I think was in pole position to start at left back. Well, he's been exposed, frankly. I mean, he was out of position three or four times, like he was out of position two when Real Madrid scored against Manchester City. So he might have to rethink that. You know what I think? I think it was a good night for anybody who wasn't in that team. I think it was a good night for Harry Maguire. It was a good night for Oli Watkins. It might have even been a good night for Luke Shaw, and it might even, at a stretch, have been a good night for Trent Alexander-Arnold. Thinking back a couple of years, all the excitement around England there, you look at Jude Bellingham, Col Palmer, Phil Foden, and you're like, wow, there's so much to choose from here. And they've all just turned rubbish. Harry Kane and Declan Rice are the only two good players if you're looking at England just on this season. Well, Palmer, I think, you know, he's been struggling with a groin injury all season. So he's been in and out of the Chelsea team. And I think he's suffering from having played in that club World Cup last summer. The guy needed a break. He didn't get a break. And now you're seeing the result of all that as well. Sackers had a few injury problems, too. He could bounce back to form. Declan Rice has been really good. But you know, I think Thomas Tuchel, England haven't beaten anybody in the World Cup 20 since he took over. OK, they haven't played too many people inside the World Cup 20. But what is it? A draw with Uruguay. They lost to Senegal, all in knotting them right at the start of his reign. And they've lost now to Japan. First time England have ever lost to an Asian team, by the way. But it was a terrible performance and really quite a futile exercise. Jan, you do wonder about Tuchel. I mean, for all I know, he may be a genius. It all might come good and England might win the World Cup. But you do wonder when you see Trent Alexander-O'Rohanl, can't get in the best 35 players for England. And Jordan Henderson, OK, great guy, lovely tourists and all that. But everybody thought his England career was way gone. But it looks like he's going to be on the plane as well. So, you know, work that one out. But isn't Tuchel, it doesn't matter anymore, Ian. They're just not very good players. Well, that's what you're going to find out in the summer. What we found out? They're some of the Premier League. They're all rubbish. I'll say the same thing. I mean, the bookmakers have obviously taken the view that, you know, nobody's going to remember what happened in March, friendly's is all going to come down to what happens in the summer. And England have got a lot of talented players. I'm not sure we've got enough talented defenders, by the way, England. The question I was asking all the time and the two Coranis, what's that defense going to look like when we play somebody decent? Well, the answer was pretty alarming, to be honest with you. So, you know, there again, I mean, you know, Harry Maguire, to me, has to walk into the team with all his tournament experience. And, you know, he's hit a bit of form as well. And I think they need him out there. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think he's, I mean, he was supposed to be the fifth choice centre-pack according to Tuchel the other day. That can't be true anymore. It's funny, Tuchels. France. Over the same chances to England, according to the book. And it's interesting looking at that list. And obviously, they're not all rubbish. Obviously, there are good players there, but you've got a lot of players that are out of form or not getting games. Like, you look at someone like Phil Foden, you think that suddenly he's going to set things alight in the US compared to the front line that you boys have got. Yeah, that's right. We talked a little bit about it yesterday, didn't we? And the fact that Tuchel in those two games against Uruguay, Japan never got to play his strongest 11, whereas we've seen pretty much with every other big country in this national break, at least one of the two games, one of the two friendlies for the ones we're playing friendlies. You had the A-team, really, and then a lot of changes for the second game or the other round with Tuchel, because I think he messed things up completely with his squad of 35, leaving some players at home with time off, then bring them by, but then they can't play. So in the end, you've got two mishmash of teams, really, which didn't make much sense and didn't look like much. Either I agree with Ian completely on that. And the problem you're right is more the form, a club level of some of those talented superstars that Englands have, like Bellingham, like Palmer, like Foden, like Saka, to some extent. And the list continues, and that would be the biggest worry if I was to muster to him. Ian, am I being too negative? No, not really. I'm based on what we're seeing. The evidence isn't good. God, you found a flag for the US? No, it's England. What I'm saying is don't write them off on the basis of that. I mean, they had learning exercises against good teams, the US, Belgium, Portugal, Senegal and Germany to come. But England, I think it was a waste of a chance to play something like his best team in one of those games. And for various reasons, and like Jules is saying, it's all a bit of a mish-mash. It didn't happen, so it was really just a waste of space. Not for Japan, of course. They enjoyed it. No, most definitely. Dan, you're focusing on the players. Yeah. When do we ask questions of Thomas Tucho? We get knocked out in the round of 16 of the quarterfinals. Because this is prior to any game being played against Uruguay and Japan. How do you watch Nico Reilly play left back from Manchester City and say, that's the guy for left back for England? That's the guy. Because the conversation that we have had about Manchester City this whole season is about the outside back and how many issues they have there, and that Nico Reilly is far more effective for Manchester City when he plays in the midfield. And yet you say, all right, I'm going to believe in something that is not working and I'm going to actually, you know what? I'm going to race it. And I'm going to take that same player who doesn't feel all that comfortable playing in that position. I'm going to take him to the national team. And I'm going to show that this guy can play there. This version of England right now is looking at a lot like the version of Bayern Munich or Thomas Tucho at the end, where you didn't really know what they were. They had no real identity. And while they may have had talented players on the field, they never look like a team. If we are going to base our opinion on England, thinking about the world cup on what we saw against Uruguay and what we saw against Japan, mommy, not a whole lot to hang on to. Oh, well, there we are. YouTube, of course, is the place to go. And you look so sad. Don't look sad, it's all right. That's all. No, you've changed me up. ESPNFC, of course, is available on YouTube. Go to our channel and subscribe. Spurs, have a new manager, and he has seven games to save their lives in the Premier League. Robert Ertiz and Roberto Deserbe has taken over. Ian, I asked the boys yesterday whether or not he will indeed get them across the line. What do you think? I've got absolutely no idea, frankly, because with these Tottenham players, they were 17th last season, Poster Cogglue couldn't get them to play, Thomas Frank couldn't get them to play, neither could Igor Tudor. So what's the common denominator? The players, I think their mentality midgets. So I don't know what they've got. I mean, Deserbe has got a great reputation. He's admired by other coaches. He's volatile. He's going to shake them up a bit and ruffle some feathers. And maybe that's exactly what they need. But, you know, there's no team in the Premier League playing worse than Tottenham Hot Springs. I mean, their record is appalling, really, particularly at home. So I have no idea what he's going to get from them, but he better do it quick. How big a deal would it be if Spurs go down, Ian? Massive. I think, you know, it's the biggest story, probably, in terms of relegation anyway, less than winning the times. It was probably the biggest story of the Premier League, or what was it, 5,000 to one. But, I mean, Tottenham last went down nearly half a century ago. So it's probably as big a deal as that. Jules, you are very positive when it comes to Deserbe. You feel that he will keep Spurs up. And what was made of the run-in yesterday, where are they going to get the points? Where do you think, in fact, he will help them? Yeah, Craig made quite a big deal. He said, where are the points going to come? I think it's hard to tell, because you could also look at this Sunderland game, where Sunderland, OK, away from home, it's not easy, it's a tough place, blah, blah, blah, all of that. We know, really, all those cliches. But they also have nothing to play for. They can't qualify for Europe, let's be honest. Yeah, they don't really believe in it. They can't go down. They can't meet table team right now, that if you show a different mentality from Spurs, if you go there with a different mentality, and Deserbe has two weeks, it's very easy, slightly less than two weeks. But to get that, at least, and we explained yesterday, he will have to be pragmatic. For somebody who's so dogmatic as him, in terms of tactics, in terms of identity, style, DNA, it might be very difficult for him to move from being very dogmatic to being very pragmatic, but he will have to do, he'll have to be, because it's not in the space of 10 days that this Spurs team, that by the way, not many of those players are suited to the Deserbe ball style of football that we know. So it's not in 10 days that he will implement that to the team. However, he's also very intense. He can have that going home mentality of like, we have to go, we have to fight. I think he's got a charisma to transmit that to the players, and that's how they will have to play between now and the end of the season. Not the Deserbe ball that we saw at Brighton, not the different kind of version that we saw in Marseille. It will have to be very different. I think he's a very good coach, and like I said yesterday, very good coaches, improve their teams, wherever they are, wherever the players are, it won't be the same as Brighton, but for now, I think it'd be enough to keep them up. As a player, how much difference can a coach make within 10 days of training? The feeling, the sensations are different. It was all doom and gloom with Igor Tudor, and he was doom and gloom from the moment he got there. He was doom and gloom before he got there, and somehow he found a way to make it worse. So actually, if you're Roberto Deserbe, anything that seems like a sign of life, it's an improvement. So that, I think, as a manager, you have to go into the locker room and right away separate yourself from the doom and gloom. We're gonna save ourselves. Not only are we gonna save ourselves, we're gonna thrive at the end of the season, and this is how we're gonna do it. And let's go out there and train and compete, and let's make this an environment that we're all excited to come into. And the only way that we're gonna do that is having each other's backs, and covering each other's backs, and working for each other, and sacrificing for each other. It's us together that we're gonna do it. You and I together, we're gonna do this. That's gotta be the message, because Igor Tudor was very quick to separate himself and kind of go, well, let's throw this guy under the bus, see how that works. No, no, I don't think that's gonna work. You're gonna have to massage and lie to these players and massage the ego and have them somehow believe in themselves in a truth that doesn't exist. Manufacture the truth for them, sell it to them, and then you're gonna grind enough results to get this through the line. It's not gonna be easy, because you don't have the personality of players to grind. Yes or no? We. Yes. Yes. Ian, don't say you have no idea. Yeah, I think it will stay out, I think it probably will stay out, but I'm not as sure as Jules and Ali about it. By the way, Ali's team talk, you'd have got the job if he'd have done that. I was ready to go. I was ready to put the boots back on. Test out this new liver, Ian. Yeah. Spurs, of course, have that extra weekend off, because of the FA Cup, those games live on ESPN plus, Manchester City against Liverpool is how we'll start our day, Chelsea against Port Vale, Saints against Arsenal and on Sunday, it's West Ham against Leeds. 911, where's the emergency? It's the middle of the night in a small town on the Jersey Shore. Someone reports an abandoned car on a bridge. A search gets underway for the missing driver, 19-year-old Sarah Stern. Is it a missing person? Is it a suicide? At this point, nobody knows. Old friendships, buried cash, and a sinister plot that was once pitched as a movie plays out in real life. I'm Juju Chang from 2020 and ABC Audio. Listen now to Bridge of Lies, wherever you get your podcasts. Brazil 3, Croatia 1 is how it finished on Tuesday night. Much better from Brazil than we saw in the clash against France. Danilo would open the scoring. Ego Tiago converting a penalty, and Martinelli late on, sealing the deal for Carlo Ancelotti's side. Right then, where should we start with? This was improved, wasn't it? Then it was against France, or is it just you're playing an easier opponent? Yes, it was improved from Brazil, regardless of the opponent. I think what was concerning in the match against France is that when France were at their best, Brazil didn't even seem competitive. And even when they went and went down, when France scored their second goal, how easily they were able to do that once they started combining and those players who proved to be, obviously, one of the leading candidates to win this competition, they looked so much better than Brazil. This version of Brazil was different in the sense that Brazil wasn't trying to outplay Croatia. They gave the ball to Croatia. The possession was with Croatia, especially in the second half. And I think there's a recognition from Carlo Ancelotti that they're going to have a better chance of winning games in the World Cup if they're an counter-attacking team. And if you just look at it tactically, and if we're going to break it down in terms of conceptually, what is it that Brazil can do on the field? If you're only playing with two midfielders, in this case, Casemiro and Danilo, you don't have enough numbers to match up against opposing midfield. So if you're playing against a team that has three and four, mathematically speaking, you're already at a disadvantage. So what can you do to take advantage of that from four? Well, I think it's what we saw yesterday. You're going to set up your line of confrontation a little deeper, where you absorb some pressure. You then find areas where you can press the ball. Once you press that ball and you press it together and you force a turnover, now this guy's this front four that are naturally runners, they're on the run. So Vini is on the run. So Andrew was on the run when he came off the bench. So did Martinelli. This version of Brazil, a counter-attacking version of Brazil, I think is their best in terms of how they're going to go about winning games in the World Cup and their recognition of Carlo Ancelotti to do this. I don't know that Brazilian fans are going to enjoy this. I don't think the Brazilian media is going to enjoy this, but this is what gives them the best opportunity to go deep into the tournament. Do you agree, Jos? Yeah, completely. That's exactly what I would have said on your question, Dan. This is not Brazil's DNA, sure. But right now, this is what they are, and this is what they are best at. I'm still not too convinced with the 4-4. We discussed that. I think it was on Friday on the show already. I think it's too fragile defensively. They could be well too exposed. We saw the Croatia goal from last night. It's far too easy. I know it's late in the game, and there's been a lot of changes, et cetera, but it's still far too easy. A couple of triangles, a bit of movement, and they all over the place. Brazil, it was the same with the second France goal. When they were 10-11, again, far too easy for France in transition to go through the whole midfield and the whole defense, really, and that's the worry. But then again, no Gabrielle in this international break, no Bruno Gimarres, no Paqueta, for example, if you're looking for other players and other potential game changers to play it slightly differently. But maybe that's where Calon Cello is also his best, when actually you don't worry too much about your tactics on the board because it's transition, so it's quick forwards, and you focus more on that kind of team unity that's been missing for Portugal, for Brazil, sorry, but it's only two wins in the last six, by the way, for Brazil. It's not, even since Carlo arrived, they're still not that great. Brazil obviously kind of desperate for that young starlet to emerge in the World Cup. Hendrik? Hendrik, I think, made enough of a case yesterday to be on the team, and that was still up in the air. Let's not forget that Carlo Ancelotti had Hendrik at Real Madrid, and didn't particularly use him as much as Hendrik would have wanted, so much so that now Hendrik is at Lyon. But I think what we see from Hendrik is a player that has speed, power, strength, and he has one purpose in mind, in this set of where they become counter-attacking, he's gonna get after you offensively, and he's gonna exploit spaces in behind. So Hendrik could be that guy, but the question is, is he gonna get on the field? Mm. It's crowded. Who is gonna sit on the bench? And Raffinha's gonna play, Vinny Jr. is gonna play. It seems like Carlo Ancelotti really likes the work of Mateos Cunha, because he's the one guy that kind of drops underneath and can play make from a different position, or from a deeper position, and then the question becomes, Joe Pedro, who struggles to score goals with Brazil, hasn't scored a goal just yet, maybe he's sort of the weak link, if you wanna look at it from that perspective, and maybe that's where Hendrik gets a chance. I don't know that he's gonna get enough opportunities for him to be that breakout star that you're looking for. Any scenario in which name are there, Jules? I think that's the dream for him, for a lot of Brazilian fans, for a lot of football fans, for Stop. If we can get Fitney Ma, the World Cup, I think all of us would want him to be there. It looks like the clock is ticking and not in the right way for him, because he still has all those injury issues, and when he plays, he plays with Santos, because he has to play. If he doesn't play, he's got even less chances to go. So he plays, but he's not fully fixed, so he doesn't play that great. There's a moment of brilliance, of course, because even at 34, it's still name are, and it's still the greatest dribbler of his generation, but he's not 100%, he's not fully fit, and can you really take somebody to a World Cup, the top of the top of any football competition, not fully fit? I'm really not sure. I would love him to be there. I'm not really sure. If you wanna save a few quid British gas have away, you get half price lekkie, and it's called peak save. On every Sunday, it's the smart thing to do if you're regular folk, or furry and blue. 11 till four, let the good times begin. You could charge up the car, or take the dryer for a spin. Half price electricity, what joy that brings with British gas peak save, we're taking care of things. T's and C's apply eligible tariffs and smart meter required. Meanwhile, look at this, how cool is this? Our friends at Marvel have drawn up the big game, of course, this weekend with some of his most well-known superheroes, Adletico Madrid against Barcelona, that game live on ESPN, 3PM Eastern, this Saturday, of course, the biggest superhero of them all, will be on the call, Ian Dahl. Women's Champions League down to the quarter-final stages, Bime unit taking on Manchester United. This one nicely set up, 3-2, of course, in the first leg, and then 11 minutes into this, Mallard would make it 1-0 United, 3-3 on aggregate. Yeah, well, roll keeper. Chiakastrophic! Oh, dear. Good luck. It looked like maybe we'd be going to extra time, but then the ball is scrambled, her and his buying, retake the aggregate lead. Goodies, vehicles dotted, with the finish. It's a good header, 1-1. And then this would seal the victory, the ball cleared initially, but then bam, whacked home by Dolman to make it 5-3 on aggregate. The ball just sat beautifully for her, and then good technique, laces through the ball, good finish. And the celebrations then will continue in Germany late into the night as Bayern are through. Meanwhile, Chelsea taking on Arsenal, remember in the first leg, we were at 3-1 up. Chelsea with it all to do, Elisa Thompson puts it wide. It's a good first touch forward, but drags the ball wide. It's a really good opportunity. Maybe her is a shot up, a little bit too much. Frustrating night for Chelsea, just it did not go their way at all. I know, barely Berman. This is my kind of range then. She hits it straight into the ground, and then off the post and out. Two minutes later, with time very much running out, the ball off the inside of the post. It's a great save. It's a good header, a whole lot of power behind it. Really good save. What's a save? The post, and then down the line, and then out, and you know it's not your night. Too little, too late. It just can't possibly be your night when those things sort of happen. You score there, but in the end, the damage very much done in the first leg as Arsenal advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League. Jules then, so Arsenal and Bayern going through. Yeah, yeah, and I think both of them probably deserve it over the two games. I think it was two great ties between Bayern and Manchester United, both our traffic and at the Allianz Arena tonight. It was great for Arsenal. They wrote their luck a little bit. We didn't show, but they scored a goal. That was ruled out and rightly so, but for a tiny offside from Black Stenius. It was a very competitive game that could have gone. Probably Chelsea's way, and Tonya Bonpasto was really unhappy after the game on Disney+. They should have been a red card for KT MacCabe as well for pulling the hair of Thompson, for example. So again, she was not happy after the first leg. She was not happy after the second leg. Barça, 6-2 up after they win a wear, Ramadri, so they will be the third team. So then the last fourth one will be either Lyon or Volsberg. I'll be there tomorrow in Lyon for Disney+. As well, to present the French coverage of it. But I think that will leave us with a great set of semifinals as well. Most definitely, Jules. Thank you very much. Just a reminder, you can watch the Women's Champions League on ESPN Deportes and also remind you that extra time is coming up next. As we say, thank you very much for watching. Do you think I upset Jermaine Jones? I don't think so. No, that's good. Still time. Stay with us. Welcome to the latest edition of Extra Time. Oh, my prayers have been answered. The curtains are back. We love them, Ian. Yes. I'm never going to take them down. No, no. I've been waiting to take them down, but I keep getting messages. They've got to stay. I tell you what, you could sell them on eBay for a bit. Ian Dark's very own curtains. I might need to soon. Jules, we know Gav will be rooting strongly that Germany don't win the World Cup. What is the one European country you would least likely to win it? I don't have any. I really don't mind. I really don't mind. It's not like Gav. Gav has those teams that he really, really doesn't like and really doesn't want them to do well. Where do you stand on England, Jules? No, I mean, like I said the other day, my children are born here. Obviously, we live here in London. They have nothing English in them at all, apart from the fact that they were born in London. But Meme is Welsh. That is from Paris. They love me. That is from Paris. They love PSG. They love Arsenal as well, but PSG more than anything else. But I would be happy for England. It's been a long time coming. I love the kind of 66, 26, all that kind of stuff. It worked for us in the first 98, 2018. No, I love things like that, Dan. And I would be happy for you and for all my English friends, for sure. And I would not mind the fact that the country would go over the top for the next six years or so. Investigative reporting, Dan. Yes. We have a lie. Oh, no. In front of us. Wow. Well, yes, we do. Who from? Well, because... Jules just said... No, the curtain, that's the truth. Yeah. Jules just said... Did I hear that correctly that he was born in England? No, no, it's kids. Oh, the kids born in England. The kids, yeah. The kids, no. I retract their statement because it says Paris born and bred in the back. And I'm like, wait a minute. Exactly. I said the dad is born in Paris. So if it... No, anyway. Okay, all right. Jules, who do you want to win it if not France? I would love Brazil to win it. I would love Carl-Otto to win it. I really do. I think it would be a great story. I don't think they can... You know what I would really love? I would love a new winner. We've had the same countries really from 1930 all the way. We count Uruguay in that. But if you take out Uruguay, it's always the same ones winning it. And I think it would be great for football if we had somebody new winning it. Another great story to tell. Somebody that, you know, a team that never had that kind of chance and the celebration and everything to go with. So one of those stories, you know, something like Morocco but going all the way, for example, something like Colombia going all the way. And I know it's hard because the super teams are super strong. Obviously, I know that. But I think it would be great Portugal, Belgium, somebody like that would be fantastic. Who do you hate, Ian? No, I don't hate any team. I mean, I always want the team that wins the World Cup to be the team that kind of deserve it and give the tournament its best football. Like, you know, that was definitely true at the last Euro. You know, Spain were the best team by miles, weren't they? And it was good to see that rewarded. So, yeah, that's all I feel really as a commentator. You want to see some kind of justice done. But I kind of agree with Jules. It wouldn't be good if an African country did it. I mean, could the Morocco Senegal story research somewhere along the way? Yeah, that would be interesting. How about Senegal? Oh. What's that? Who do you want and who do you hate? Who do I hate, Ben? Yes. That list is long. Yes, I know. Let's just keep it to the teams in the World Cup. Oh, all right. Sorry. Yeah, I wouldn't want Baraguay to be anywhere near. Right. And the reason being, Baraguay eliminated us from contention in the World Cup, a couple of World Cup cycles in a row. And then they also eliminated us in the semifinal of Copa America 2011 and Penta Kicks in a game in which we were much better. And we might have hit the post and I might have hit the post. But the good thing is that I've turned the page. I really let go. It's something that I do very well, naturally. So who do you want to win? I think Spain. I think there is something likable about the Spanish team and the way they play. That takes me. For Ian, what was your favourite World Cup as a commentator and as a fan? I think probably the one in South Africa, really, because it just all felt so different there. I mean, it was great to travel around and really feel like you were part of Africa. I can't remember the stadium. I think it was Nelspray, which has now changed its name, I'm told, since then. But that was wonderful. You're almost up there by the Kruger National Park, where the wild animals were. So, yeah, I really enjoyed it. Good song as well. Yes. Very good song. Yeah. All right, thank you, Dan. There you go. A little bit of long, Dan. Which player will you miss the most seeing at the World Cup, Ian, because their country failed to qualify? Lewandowski, Kovac Scalia, Garasi, Donnaruma, Sobysly, Ossiman. Well, Sobysly deserves to be at a World Cup the way he's played for Liverpool. This season, he's almost carried them single-handedly, hasn't he? So, yeah, it's tough on Hungry, but they didn't make it. All those players there that you mentioned, yeah, that is sad. It'd be great to see. I mean, Georgia, we kind of fell in love with them a little bit. Euro, so no Kovac, Scalia, yeah. Tough. Still for all those players, really, I do. There we are. Which player is especially hated in your country for something they did in international competition like Jules's Thierry Omri in Ireland? Jules, who did the French hate? I mean, for us, it's a long time ago, and I don't know if you guys will remember 1982 World Cup, the France against West Germany game, of course, and Schumacher going on Batista really hard, yeah, and the referee not giving even a foul. And that, I mean, in all, why were you raised? Because I was born in 1980, so I was not even two at that 1982 World Cup. But whatever you're raised, you've heard this story of this game. Incredible game, by the way, and I think Schumacher should have been sent off, but the game is 3-1 up for France, then it goes to 3-3, it goes to... in doing extra time, it goes to Pen and the Germans win it. But that Schumacher on Batista, I think, in terms of French football memories and history, will always be the one that was not right. That's a grudge worth holding, that is that Jules has got there. I mean, I do remember it. I wasn't who then, as you'll realise. I mean, that was... Jules, that was about six red cards in one, wasn't it? Thanks, Schumacher, and as you say, he did nothing about it. I mean, he was in hospital, he was quite bad internal injuries. Wasn't he Batista for quite a long time? Yeah, I think he had like two ribs broken, he had his jaw broken, the teeth had gone, everything. Yeah, but he was not even a foul. And four years later? Well, yeah, I hardly need to mention that, yeah, the hand of God, of course. Yeah, I would have sorted out, of course. Yeah, it certainly would. I don't think we've been... And the other one? I don't think that we've been relevant enough to actually be able to hate somebody. There hasn't been an opportunity where there has been something egregious done against Venezuela to where it's more like, I get the sense that, as of late, well, I would say as of late over the last 20 years, there's been a sense of pride of what the turnaround of the Venezuelan national team has been. Since you were signed. Last 20 or 30 years then. I include myself in that list, the beginning of that list. And so... But it's getting now to the point to where it was an expanded field in the World Cup. We were in for the longest time, and we're not even able to make it into the playoffs. And now that hate is not as much outward as it is inward. It's towards our own players. And that dislike is toward our own people in like, wait a minute, how many more opportunities do we need? In order for us to make this happen. So let's just say that we're going to keep the hate in-house rather than put it out there. Jules, what are your points on that? What's going on? No, just one more. I just wanted, because Mathe Radzi obviously after what happened in 2006 and Zidane, he's not at the level of Schumacher because at the end Zidane responded, should have never reacted the way he did. However, Mathe Radzi is not far behind Schumacher in terms of those kind of stories. You know what's interesting about the Hanna God? Because he hadn't mentioned that. For as much as he may be, Marilona may be hated in England because of it, the sense in Argentina is like, good on you. You got away with it. Yeah, you got away with it. And then he followed that up with the goal that he scored and it's almost as if like the Hanna God was just a premonition. What's the preview to what then came afterwards? And so it's impossible to, and it's Marilona, it's the career of Marilona as a whole and Marilona as an individual. I think you can encapsulate in those two instances that he was capable of the Hanna God, but he was capable of being God on the field as well. It's, there are so many contradictions about Marilona, but what you cannot deny is how beloved, as hated as he may be in England, how beloved he is in Argentina still. Go ahead, Ian. I don't think he is hated in England. I think what you said there, I mean, I think he's admired in England. Yeah, they don't like the fact that that hand of gold gets counted, but everybody knows, you know, he might have done the most notorious thing ever in the World Cup, but he also scored the greatest goal. You know, you talk to any England player who played that day about Marilona and Justin Orr, frankly, as we all are. I mean, he did it, didn't he? That documentary, he did it on some bumpy pitches with everybody trying to kick him off the park every time he played. He was something else, so yeah, he isn't hated in England really at all. He's admired overall, but resented for the hand of God. So he's just hated by Ian then? No, not the whole of England. Ian couldn't hate anyone. No, no, I just love Marilona. And he's full of heart. And the curtains. Oh, full of love too. OK, Jules, has there ever been a more lucky and undeserving team to qualify for the World Cup than Sweden? They finished last in their qualification group without winning a game and only made the playoffs. They won their group in the third division of the Nations League. Where we can. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Craig yesterday got slightly wrong with his numbers because he said, yeah, they only won two games and they didn't even win. They had two draws and all the rest was defeats. That's how badly they were. And there's a conversation here about how deserving it is to go to the World Cup like this. I know it's an extended World Cup, so you need to find a way of qualifying all those teams. Sure, but surely not like this, because I think there are other teams that got more points in their qualifiers. And again, we made that point yesterday on the show that qualifiers are called qualifiers because you qualify for the World Cup. That's how you should be qualifying regardless. No through the back door of the Nations League and where you finish, even less when you're in the third division of the Nations League. So it's a bit harsh. I think it's easy. It's a bit harsh and a bit cruel for them to qualify. They were very happy, good for Graham Potter, Giocharis, etc., etc. But I think for others, you feel aggrieved really about how Sweden, who are not very good, let's be honest, have qualified. Jules, thank you very much. Ian, you're off to Spain this weekend. Big one. Athletic Championship against Barcelona. Enjoy that. And you're going to Leon's... Well, first in our trilogy, isn't it? It is indeed. Oh, God, you'll get some movie. There you are. First of three, Jules is going to Leon. What are you doing? I'm right here, Dan. What a treat. ESPNFC, then back on your fesiton tomorrow. Where, of course, the tensions I imagine would start to turn to the return of domestic action.