Merry Goalsmas from Tottenham Ho Ho Hotspur!
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Let's go. Play at Labbrooks. 18 plus. Be gamble aware.org. Terms and conditions apply. Hello and welcome to Premier League All Access with me, Sam Matterface. Talk sports chief football correspondent Alex Crook and the former Chelsea Benfica West Ham and Charlton defender Scott Minto is in the building. Here's what's coming up on the show.

Ange Postacoglu has to respect an opponent of the calibre of Liverpool and respect the fact that he's missing several players who are central to his game plan and play a different way. There'd have been no shame for Tottenham in trying to keep that game at 0-0 for as long as possible. These goals didn't mean anything.

By the end of the game, people were scoring goals and we were almost laughing at it. And I think that was the general view because there was no jeopardy, was there? Is it an unpopular opinion? And what they've got in Mo Salah, it reminds me a little bit of Messi in that World Cup in Qatar. He is on a one-man mission to make sure that Liverpool win the title, be it because maybe it's his last year at Anfield.

If, and I don't think he can, but if he was able to reproduce that on a week in, week out, he's my England number 10. He was that good.

It's the Premier League All Access podcast with me, Sam Adafais, Alex Crook and Scott Minto. Now, with Leicester, Manchester United and Tottenham defending so badly this week and conceding goals for fun, I was trying to scratch my head as I think the last time I'd seen such bad defending. I think it was probably Liz Truss at the dispatch box sticking up for her economics.

plan. That was the last time I've seen such a forlorn defence. There's so many goals that went in. It was so leaky. In fact, the worst thing about this weekend for Manchester United was not the fact that they'd conceded more goals than the avalanche that they did. It was actually that when they walked into the press room to discuss that afterwards, the roof literally caved in. That has been the week that was in the Premier League. Is the art of defending a forgotten art, Scott?

You mentioned Liz Truss. We can talk about Rachel Reeves as well, but let's not get political on all this, shall we? Look, we've talked about how football has evolved. I'm not going to say necessarily always for the better, but defenders now are being asked and coached from a younger age to almost be that central midfielder rather than actually to defend. And I think the way that managers control players

training and matches as well now. It's almost like players are not taught to be leaders. They're just taught to be told what to do. So there's definitely a big issue. But look, we're enjoying it, aren't we? There's lots of goals to talk about. Well, we'll get to that in just a second. Crooked, you were at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium yesterday. Did you have a little run-in with Ange afterwards? How did that go? Was it good?

Well, I think producer Jeremy worked out we had a 53-second interview, which might be a record. His last answer was four words. I mean, if his team only conceded four goals a game, he'd be in a better place, wouldn't he? I've said my bit on Ange. People defending him in the national papers this morning saying that he should be praised for his bravery and the fact that he's still trying to play this football without his two best defenders and his best goalkeeper. That's not bravery. That's just rank stupidity. You're going to get battered, mate.

Right, OK, so let's get on to the weekend's action, starting with more chaos at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This is how it sounded. Tottenham 0, Liverpool 1, Luis Diaz. Here's a stat for you. Tottenham have now conceded the opening goal in 14 different home games in the Premier League in the calendar year. That's more than any other team. Tottenham 0, Liverpool 2. Could be a chance of a fourth here. Sir Bosley couldn't smuggle it home. Mo Salah does. And Liverpool...

Again, four points clear at the top of the table. 63 minutes gone. Tottenham 1, Liverpool 5. The latest goal converted by Mo Salah, his second of the afternoon. This is Spurs times about four or five. I mean, this is just all the old flaws exacerbated. Tottenham 3, Liverpool 6. Another assist from Mo Salah as he just flicked the ball nonchalantly.

into the path of Luis Diaz. Yeah, painful one for us when you lose in that manner and credit to Liverpool, they were too good for us today. They were a very good side and they were in a sort of great moment. They settled in great form with great belief and we kind of lacked a little bit of energy today which I think is understandable and we paid the price. For the last part, very positive of course. I think the way we played, the way we brought the ball out from the back, the way we pressed Tottenham

was outstanding. You couldn't have asked for more. Spurs back up a chaotic win over Manchester United midweek with an equally chaotic defeat to Liverpool. But are we all wrong to criticise, Ang? As Crooks already alluded to, lots of people today suggesting, you know, he's just being brave. And he says he's going to stop answering questions if

We keep asking about tweaking his style. He says he's doing it for the long-term health of the club. They're trying to build something. I mean, the long-term health of his fans, clearly not one of his considerations because half of their hearts have skipped a few beats this week, Scott. But what's your view on it? Well, didn't he say he lost 18 months of his life as well after that Man United game? He does like to say one thing and then say another in the same interview. Yeah, yeah. Look...

I think we all think the same thing, don't we? You know, being a neutral, I love watching Spurs. I'm sure you guys love going to Spurs, although maybe not enjoying so much, Kriki, the post-match interview. And I see that Kriki just mated him off there.

Look, it's such a high tariff thing to do. And I've heard Gary Neville even say that he wouldn't want to be playing in this Tottenham side right now because with the high line, the high intensity, the pressing all the time, you have to sprint all the time. You have to go to the nearest man. Quite often it's a man-to-man type situation. You need to be fit. You need to be tactically astute. And it just takes one person to be off it. And then suddenly your team is open.

And to do that when you haven't got your full strength side out, especially four of your back five, I think is just such a difficult thing to do. I like him. I do like him. I like his philosophy. I think it's exciting. I'd rather that than just be boring and defensive and pragmatic in this Antonio Conte way. And he has won titles in Japan and Scotland, but he's not going to win a title in the EPL. And it's all very well talking about the long term,

He won't have a long-term job if he carries on like this. You know, he does have a chance of winning a cup this year. Maybe not the Carabao Cup with Liverpool still in it, but he does with the Europa League. But he's not going to get anywhere near not just the league, but top four this year. And then we'll have to wait and see what happens in the summer.

One of the big problems that he had yesterday was that he was without his proper defence, right? Because there was no Van de Ven, there was no Christian Romero. Destiny Hedoghi had passed a fitness test, but it was only on the bench. So he had Dragosin, Gray and Spence. And that was exposed against a really good opposition, which I think most of us thought it was going to be against Liverpool. But...

asking Archie Gray to do what Mickey Van Der Ven does is not something that he can do. It's impossible for him to be able to do that. So is it a neglection of duty to try and impose that style on a young kid who's playing out of position? Because I would have thought

If you're in that situation, it's not really good for the long-term health of Archie Gray to sit there and get ripped apart by Liverpool when he's playing in the glare of the Premier League. I would have thought one of the things you would have said was to Papsar and to Yves Bissouma, who was sitting in front of him, whatever you do, do your best to try and protect those boys because they're new to the position. They're playing a different style. We need to make sure we give them as much help as possible. Well, they didn't do that.

No, I think Alan Pardew said similar, didn't he? On the final word on Sunday night, I felt really sorry for Archie Gray. He wasn't the worst of the two, by the way. Dragerson was much more at fault for the fact Liverpool scored six than the teenager was. But you used the word on Sunday during the Sunday session, Sam, respect.

And Ange Postakoglu has to respect an opponent of the calibre of Liverpool and respect the fact that he's missing several players who are central to his game plan and play a different way. There'd have been no shame for Tottenham in trying to keep that game at nil-nil for as long as possible and look to hit on the counter-attack, as Eric Ten Haag did actually at Anfield last season and came away with a ball of joy. He got criticised in some quarters. But if you're not as good as your opponent, you have to try and find a way to negate them. And going toe-to-toe with Liverpool is madness.

Thing is, Sam, you know, even after the game up at Goodison Park, what did Enzo Maresca say? And he's someone who was embedded to his 4-3-3. He said, we are learning that you have to play a different game. Sometimes you have to play a different game. And that's where I couldn't be more impressed of Enzo Maresca, considering I know what the philosophy that he has, but he has tweaked it and changes it for different games and doesn't. And it's all very well saying this is who we are, mate, and this is what we do. And I'm getting fed up of...

Well, you're conceding six, you're conceding four, you're conceding three. You can't be expecting to score four and five to win a game. That's just not going to happen. And I do worry that as much as I enjoy watching his teams play and genuinely do want him to do well, at least win a cup, he's going to fall on his sword. Well, I mean, that all remains to be seen. But one of the things that sort of was sticking in my mind yesterday and we discussed it on the Sunday session was that

When did the game stop being about winning? I know that Arna Slot said something a bit strange in the build-up to the game. I wonder whether he was just sort of fluffing Angie's ego to sort of, you know, soften him up for the weekend. But he said, you know, everyone talks about trophies, trophies, trophies. His brand of football is so much more important. I was like,

You can't mean that, right? Because football has always been about winning. I told this story on the Sunday session about how Terry Gibson, when he was playing in Rod Stewart's made up Sunday team that played only 10 times a year and invented a trophy to play against a Dave Whelan 11, hired a private jet to ensure that Terry got there from Wickham Wanderers training because he was so desperate to, to capitalize on the two nil home advantage they'd got in the first leg. You know,

Football means things because you have to win, right? Okay, winning is everything about it. I was reading a book. It's called Analyzing Football. It's by an esteemed coach. And the first line of it is, don't fall into the mistake that many coaches and managers fall into, which is we're playing well and we did this metric brilliantly. The ultimate metric is the scoreboard. I can't believe that that isn't a thing. Yeah, and...

The atmosphere was weird inside the stadium with Tottenham fans as well because there was some pro, I mean, it was a really poor protest to be honest. It was the smallest protest I've ever seen. There were a few balloons released a minute after they'd fallen behind because they wanted to protest about Daniel Levy's 24 years in charge. But when they got it back to 5-2, I think it was,

All of a sudden they were singing, come on you Spurs. And it was like, it was like they genuinely believed that they were going to get something from the game. I think you, again, you sent a private message last night at no point, considering it was only three goals in the end, at no point were Tottenham really in it. You know, the conventional wisdom is, is that this is a thrilling game and it was great. And there was loads of goals and it was so brilliant.

But it wasn't edge-of-your-seat drama. There was no jeopardy in this game at all. Liverpool should have and could have scored a lot more goals in the match. They just switched off. I'm not saying it wasn't fun.

I'm sure people were having fun watching nine goals go in. It was fun. We were having a great time listening and talking about it. But it wasn't Liverpool 4, Newcastle 3. It wasn't the World Cup final of 2022. I mean, there were a lot of goals in those games, but they meant something. These goals didn't mean anything.

By the end of the game, people were scoring goals and we were just, we were almost laughing at it. And I think that was the general view because there was no, there was no jeopardy, was there? I mean, is it an unpopular opinion? No, no, no. I was dipping in and out because I was out and about listening to you, Sam, listening to both of you on the Sunday session. So I didn't watch the game until later. And then I switched off when I started watching. I thought, I'm not going to look at any sort of messages afterwards.

And I sent the message, didn't I? And that you said, you said on air, how can a team score three at home and yet never be in the game? It was just...

And look, you know, Liverpool for me, and we should absolutely touch on them, and I know we will, were sensational. And they look like champions right now. They really do. But then even more so how well they're playing at the moment, the fact that they had that extra day's rest, the fact that they made eight changes in midweek, the fact that they are so good right now. You know, why not just tweak it? But he's embedded himself so much into this is who we are. This is what we do. I'm looking for the long term.

It would almost be people be looking at him saying what you're doing if you change. And he's almost got himself between a rock and a hard place now. And again, I don't see in the long term it being a good ending for him. Oh, look, I mean, he's not going to change. He was, and he thinks you're an idiot if you ask him to. He, I mean, he really is dismissive of,

that I mean he actually spoke to one of the interviewers last night who I thought had a quite an awkward exchange with him and and the guy said to me actually no we had a relatively good conversation after that you only just saw a little bit of it the interview that he did with match of the day and the interview that he did with Sky and in the press conference itself he had the same line pre-prepared which was I'm not going to keep answering questions about this

I'm going to stop talking about it because if you can't see what is obvious, then there's no point in me pointing it out to you. Which again, it's okay thinking that reporters are not on your wavelength. I get that. We're not. We're not as qualified as he is to assess a football match and to analyse one. I completely get it.

But we're asking the questions because the supporters demand answers. They want answers. They want an explanation. And if you're not communicating that well enough for them all to understand and for all of us to understand, then I'm afraid you're going to continue to be questioned.

You took the words out of my mouth. He's not there to answer our questions. He's there to answer questions that we're putting on behalf of the supporters. Actually, again, listening to the phone in on Sunday night, there was one Tottenham fan who hit the nail on the head. He described it as arrogant, thinking he doesn't have to be held accountable for the fact that his kamikaze football sees Spurs languishing in the bottom half of the table. They've conceded more goals. They face more shots than any team in the Premier League in the month of December. He's got to take some responsibility for that.

Yes, Sam. And what I would say as well, I mean, you know, you're right that managers and I've never been a manager, you've never been a manager, crookie, but we're not silly. You know, this is pretty obvious stuff. And it's not even asking on behalf of the fans, which you are, but...

This is just so obvious. It's like, can you not see the scoreline and how many chances actually you're conceiving as well? He doesn't look at the scoreline, mate. He doesn't look at the clock or the scoreline. Well, even if he looked at the game without actually the ball going over the line, Liverpool could have scored 10. You know, it could have been 10-4.

And it wouldn't have been a ridiculous game considering the chances. And look, I understand, again, what he's trying to do. But you can only do something like that, which is an extremely high tariff thing to do when you get even someone like Gary Neville saying he wouldn't want to be playing on this side and you haven't even got four of your best back five.

It's just, you have to tweak it. You have to. You're not doing your players a favour because you're putting them under so much pressure. And for me, it's unneeded as well. So it's all very well having this philosophy, but the squad isn't strong enough to deal with this philosophy. And at times you have to tweak it. And the Liverpool game was one of those.

Okay, let's talk about Liverpool because you're right that Liverpool is top of the league. They're cruising. They look like champions. They look like a great squad. Arnaud Slot's done brilliantly. He's seamlessly walked in after Jurgen Klopp and revived this side. And now a team that actually at one point last year looked like they're going to win the quadruple or certainly were in with a chance of winning the quadruple, even if they maybe didn't go up that far.

and end up winning enough. It certainly made an impact on the city of Liverpool and the club this year by just tweaking little bits here and there. Now, if you look back at the last six years, Arsenal, Arsenal, Liverpool and Liverpool in four of those years have what in common, Scott Minto? Top of Christmas. And?

Didn't win it. Yes, so four of the last six leaders at Christmas have not won the league. The two that did, Liverpool in 1920 when they won the league by a mile and Manchester City in 21-22. Over the course of time, if you go back a lot further, it's more of an indicator that you win the league if you're top on Christmas Day. The last four times a team has come from behind to win the title on Christmas Day, it has been Manchester City first.

Safe to say it's not going to happen this time around, I don't think. And we'll talk about that game in just a second. But with Mo Salah playing as he is, 15 goals, 11 assists in the Premier League before Christmas Day, that's quite amazing. Are they now in a position where it's theirs to lose, Crook?

I think they have to be. Four points clear with a game in hand, albeit a Merseyside derby, which is going to be emotionally charged at Goodison Park. They've scored more goals than anybody else in the division. They've

barring Tottenham, ironically. They've got the joint best defensive record as well, along with Arsenal. So they're clearly getting it right at both ends of the pitch. And as good as Mo Salah was yesterday, he wasn't the only one. I thought Luis Diaz was sensational. I thought that the midfield trio, actually, of Gravenberg, Saboslai and McAllister were all superb as well. You've got both full-backs,

chucking in crosses from the two wide areas. So I think they've got it all. And what they've got in Mo Salah, it reminds me a little bit of Messi in that World Cup in Qatar. He is on a one-man mission to make sure that Liverpool win the title, be it because maybe it's his last year at Anfield, or be it just because he's happier now under Arna Slott than he was towards the end of Jurgen Klopp's reign. If he stays fit, I don't see any way that Liverpool get reeled back in.

Well, we'll look at some of the contenders in just a moment.

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Brilliant game on Saturday, and we'll discuss that as well. We'll look quickly at Chelsea too. Lots to talk about for the rest of Sunday now. Vito Pereira hits the ground running at Wolves, and things go bad to worse for Ruben Amorim and Manchester United. I was at Southerford on Sunday, knocked out of the Cup midweek, thrashed by Bournemouth at home a few days later, and to make matters worse, the actual roof caving in on Amorim during his post-match press conference.

Manchester United are in a horrible place. And Ruben Amorim is a great communicator. He's brilliant at talking. After the game, he was saying, you've got to stick with us on this journey. We know the fans are suffering. We know we've got to win short term, but also build for the long term. But crikey. I mean, I looked at the players yesterday, Scott, and they were so far off the Bournemouth level. It's frightening. How does that happen? Yeah, I think it's the...

Well, one, it's the pressure of playing for Manchester United and realising what's gone on in recent years and not just under Ten Hag, but for the last decade or so. That Manchester United shirt weighs so heavy right now. It's unbelievable. But you obviously also have a manager coming in who's trying to completely change the system. And, you know, people are still getting used to it. And he's still rotating and finding out who's his best 11, basically, and who can play that.

On top of dealing, and I think dealing well with what's happened with Marcus Rashford. I mean, I looked at that century midfield, which I think is key. I mean, I always say, you know, you win games in both boxes and that's most important, but you control the tempo and how you want to play in midfield. And I looked at Kobi Mainu and Agata and I thought, well, that's going to be going forward, the two century midfielders that he will want. And yet, you know, you were telling me because you were at the game,

no control of the game at all. Kobi Mainu was miles off it. And if you haven't got that, and then you also haven't got the protection for the three in front, it's just a recipe for disaster. But still, as good as Iriola's been, as good as Bournemouth are right now, and they've beaten some big teams already this season, they've been sensational. You cannot be losing 3-0 at home to Bournemouth at Old Trafford.

But it's also, there is again a bit more of that sort of idea of, should we have just changed a little bit the way we play? We know that Bournemouth are brilliant at high pressure and they turn the ball over high up the field. Do we need to? Especially in terrible conditions, by the way. The weather was awful. The wind was swirling around in the first half.

playing balls across the box, high balls across the box that was dropping from the sky because they were caught in the wind. You know, don't put yourself under more pressure than you need to, you know, react to the circumstances of the game. Surely, you know, you know what Bournemouth are going to do. It's pretty telegraphed. They've been doing it for a year and a half. And also, and this is a big issue for me,

No control is one thing because Manchester United have always thrived in chaos over the last few years, even under Ten Hag. They love the chaos moments. You know, look at that Liverpool game, the West Ham game, the Fulham game in the FA Cup, all those matches. They love that. They love the chaos because they've got good players who can produce individual moments, but they don't do enough as a team.

But they're missing so many chances, Crook. They never score any goals. Okay, they scored three goals against Tottenham, but you know, everyone does that. They don't score enough goals. Last year, they were the lowest scorers in the top half of the table. The year before, they were the lowest scorers in the top six. This year, when it comes to the crunch, they're just not putting away the chances. Yeah, but that comes down to the fact the squad's not good enough. And I do feel for Ruben Amorim because I'm not sure even he realised the severity of the situation that he was walking into. He's been left...

utter dross really not just by ten hard but by several predecessors there are just too many players who are not fit for purpose if you're talking about manchester united in terms of being a top six top four challenger they look miles off that at this moment in time it's going to take several windows to fix that and i'm not sure it is easily fixable because as we've spoken about on this podcast they're they're right up against it when it comes to psr so i don't really know where the money is coming from i totally get the question if i'm going to hammer

Poster Coghlu for not having a plan B. I can't let off Amarine Scott three either. He's got this idealism of the way that he wants to play. But you're right, against certain opposition in certain conditions, it isn't going to work. And I think you do maybe need to be a little bit more tactically flexible. I'm not sure the squad is equipped to play the system he wants to play either. And there's some players, Gnaccio for one, who I just don't see what the role is. And obviously he's one of the more talented players. So it's a big problem.

Scott, how much blame is on Ruben Amorim? Because he obviously didn't recruit all of these players, but he does keep changing them every single game. Another six changes this weekend, six changes for the cup tie in midweek. If you continually keep changing that many players and using five substitutes in

every match, you're basically changing every single member of personnel throughout some point during the match, aren't you? I mean, how do you build combinations in that rhythm? Yeah, you don't. It's a really good point. And look, I like Ruben Amarine and I think he's one of the best young coaches out there.

I think he has the decision to make. Do I go short term and just try and put a plaster on it and say, what is the squad I've got? What is the best system for this squad? Or do I say, look, I need to know going forward, which of these players can, one, mentality wise, but also to deal with this 3-4-2-1 system.

And while it's horrible to see if you're a United fan and, and, and quickies got a constant frown on his face all the time. And I don't blame him at all. I, I, my life philosophy is look long-term. I think you have to look long-term. Um, and, and,

There does come a point, though, where he's got to make a decision because how do you get those results in the short term? You hit the nail on the head by saying you get people to have relationships on the pitch. You have that kind of, you know, if I'm here, where does he go there? And I know how he might not always come back. I can deal with that in this particular position. It's very nuanced. So, look, it...

It's not been the start that he's wanted and clearly he wanted it to be a lot better, but I still feel that he's got to realise, and I'm sure he's already speaking to the hierarchy in January. I want to do this in the summer. We've got to do this.

but he does take a little bit of the brain because there comes a point where you can't be making six changes in five subs week in week out I think he's got to get some players in in January maybe just one or two just to help him out people that he knows and he can rely on that's managers are very good at doing that you know bringing someone who they know they can pass instructions on to and they will deliver I think he's then got to decide who he doesn't want and he's got to get rid of them or he's got to push them to one side he's got to be ruthless if

because you have to be a bit nasty in this business as well. I was listening to Ian Holloway talk about the biggest mistakes that he's made. And he said one of the biggest ones was walking into Leicester, having too many players and not deciding, I'm only going to use this group. It's what Maresca has done brilliantly. Just get rid of this one, this one and this one. Although I heard a story about that the other day, and I'll maybe elaborate on that later on.

But he's got to choose who it is he wants to work with. And those players have got to play more often. Because at the moment, I mean, I think his excuse for it is the reason he's changing it, Crook, is because he doesn't think they're fit enough to be able to carry out what he wants them to do. But they're so miles off the pace. I mean, the fitness of Bournemouth and the intensity of even Spurs in comparison to Manchester United is night and day. I mean, they are not at that level. They're just not. It's obvious, if you want.

if you watch it. No, they're not. And I think United are the classic example of how not to run a football club, whereas Bournemouth are the perfect example of how to run a football club. I've had the privilege of getting to know Bill Foley reasonably well. He is the dream owner, you know, because he has ambitions. He's willing to put his money where his mouth is, but he doesn't meddle. He's got football people making the football decisions himself.

brilliant piece of scouting to find Andoni Iriola. I think Richard Hughes now at Liverpool deserves the credit for that. You spoke about it on air. Milos Kirkes, what a signing he is. He's going to play at the top, top level. Zabani's a good player. Dean Howson, a teenager. I know they were surprised they were able to prize him away with some big clubs lurking in the summer. Semenyo has come from the Championship and looks right at home in the Premier League. And these are players they haven't

paid overly extravagant sums for. It's just good old-fashioned, good recruitment. And Manchester United are going to need to take a lesson out of that book. Bournemouth aren't fifth in the Premier League by accident.

The only thing I'd say to that, and you're absolutely right, Krooky, is that trust me, it's a million miles difference between playing for Bournemouth and playing for Manchester United. There's a different weight of expectation. There's a different level of pressure and scrutiny. The mentality is everything. And when you even hear about Alan Shearer talking about having lacked confidence at different times or at times in his career or how important confidence is,

You just know that that thing between your ears is absolutely key. And that is key. And it's absolutely well worth pointing out. But also there are better players in that Bournemouth team than there are in that Manchester United teams in certain positions. So, for example, you look at their left back.

and you look at the left-back that's playing for Manchester United, you probably would have recruited... When you're doing your big study with your algorithm, those two probably come up. Malasia and Kyrkos probably come up in the same filters.

attacking left back, lots of dynamism, et cetera, et cetera. But Kyrkos is so far ahead of him. It is unreal. And you're not telling me that he hasn't got the mentality to be able to deal with it because I think he has. He'll go on and have a great career. Possibly, possibly. And I'm not saying he won't. I'm just saying at this moment in time, the stats will look much better for him. Put him in this situation for one of the biggest clubs in the world where they've been absolutely miles off it for years.

and the drip feed of day after day after day, you have to be mentally strong to deal with that. So at this moment in time, you'd go for Cook as every day of the week doesn't necessarily mean he's the better player. Interesting to see what happens with Dean Howson as well, because he's only 19 years of age and he looks terrific fine. I mean, the goal was really good, right? Okay. So he flicks it back and it goes in. You'd have to question the marking again from set pieces, which was dreadful. Joshua Xerxe, who was supposed to be looking after him, ended up sort of heading back.

fresh air. I don't know what he was doing. He certainly wasn't getting anywhere near the ball. But he's a threat in the opposition's box, but he's also very well versed in defending. He came from Juventus. It wasn't a great fee, was it, Krook? They didn't spend millions and millions. I think it was £12.5 million, I think.

But with add-ons, yeah, maybe. But it's not like a huge fee. But I think he'll end up moving on. But if you're Bournemouth, you'll end up raising a load of money from these players. Then you can replace your squad. They're in a great place. I think they've done really well. Crook's absolutely right. They've got good owners. They've got good football people. They had Liverpool's recruitment guy there last year. He's now gone on. He was the one who hired Arna Slott, by the way, Richard Hughes. I think he's done a pretty good job. He's first and fifth in the Premier League at Christmas. He's not...

I'm sure there was people having a go at him earlier in the season because he hadn't done the contracts for Van Dijk, Salah and Trent Alexander. Or hadn't bought many in the summer. Yeah, let's see what happens next. What's happened next to Ruben Nisteroi? Leicester 0, Wolverhampton 1-3. Wolves begin the post-Gary O'Neill era in some style, thrashing relegation rivals Leicester. Look...

Quite clearly, this is one of those situations where a new manager's come in, it is a bit of a change, it's away from home. So I don't think there's an atmosphere issue anyway. But Wolves were never shy of scoring goals, were they? I mean, they scored four at Fulham not so long ago. It's keeping them out at the other end that has been the issue and they were better at that this weekend. But Leicester's defending was ridiculous.

Yeah, I think the reason they went for Vitor Pereira when we were sort of getting a breeze from the club is that they believe he can tighten up what's been a very leaky defence. And if he does do that, as he did at the weekend, then they'll be okay, won't they? Because you're right, they've got bags of talent going forward. I feel a little bit for Leicester because Matthias Kuhn, I think he's going to get hit with a suspension. So probably shouldn't have played in that game. But actually, in the end, it was a comfortable victory. And I think what we've seen after the initial Van Nistelrooy honeymoon is

is ruthlessly Leicester's own defensive deficiencies exposed. They conceded four against Newcastle, three more here. I think we were at Brentford, weren't we, Scott, when they conceded loads of goals there with Van Nistelrooy watching in the stands. How many goals come down Leicester's right-hand side? I don't want to pick out individuals, but I will. How poor is James Justin? He's playing the wrong side. He doesn't want to play there. He doesn't want to play at right-back. He wants to play at left-back, but they've got Christensen. They haven't got anybody else to play on this near side because Pereira is injured, perennially injured.

So he's technically out of position. He doesn't want to play on that. He doesn't like playing on that side. He prefers to be on the left. And he obviously finds it difficult. You still do your job though, don't you? You can still do the basics. Yeah, but you know, there's all sorts of problems. He's also playing, is he playing, I don't know, I couldn't remember who was playing at centre-half yesterday. Was Vout Fas playing next to him? No, Cody and the rest of the guards and Fas came on. I mean, I think he made, did he make four or five substitutions between half-time and 60 minutes? Something like that.

Look, it's... Connor Cody's a great lad. Vestergaard isn't, but they're a championship pairing, aren't they? He's great at talking and organising, but if he hasn't got players around him, it's going to be trouble. And it was trouble yesterday, and it will be trouble going forward. The good news for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Scott, is that they've got two games where they'll be thinking they're probably going to get six points from. They've got Manchester United and Tottenham next. Well, I'll tell you what... It's a joke. Don't tweet me. I don't read them anyway.

Look, it's the perfect start for him. You know, we've talked about we talked about him last week and, you know, we I sort of had came to the conclusion that I've no idea how this is going to go. But what what a brilliant start. You know, Leicester from Leicester's point of view, they would have been looking at this as we've got to get three points here, not just one point and definitely not zero points. So that's a big blow and not just a big blow. But again, we talk about the mental side of things when you're down there.

One thing to lose is another thing to lose badly and at home and have lost the game by halftime. So there's a big problem there for Rude, for sure. But he was right to say individual mistakes. There were some really bad mistakes. But then, you know, who's going to step up and not make those mistakes? In terms of Wolves, that was massive. That was massive. Interestingly, he went with three at the back. We know that Gary's flirted between three and four during the season.

And if he does sort, you're absolutely right, if he does sort the defensive side out, then they will score goals and they will get away from trouble. What are we thinking in terms of the amount of games, Kroenke, that Kunja could get? Because he will get banned, won't he? Oh, he's definitely going to get banned. I mean, we've had the advisory. He's been charged by the FA. But he gave his written reasons, didn't he, on Thursday. He had until Thursday to respond. And then no one heard anything from the FA after that.

I think they all went on their Christmas do and then didn't come back to work on Friday. So no one said anything. That meant he's got the opportunity to play all over Christmas now because no one's going to do any work between now and then. But I think he's going to get back. I mean, you can't go out to someone, push them in the face, a member of staff and nick their glasses. I mean, Krooky wouldn't even do that down the pub on a Friday night.

I'm a lover, not a fighter, so no danger of me doing that. But yeah, it is bizarre. I don't see why these things can't be dealt with quickly. He should have been charged on Monday. He should have had until Tuesday to respond. They should have made a decision on Wednesday. It's not difficult, is it? Yeah. But again, going back to the psychological side of a team that's been down there and, you know, almost fighting opposition, you know,

during the game or after the game, that was massive. As bad as it was for Leicester, and it was really bad. That was really good for Wolves. And look, you know, you joke, but you only say it in half chest. There's two teams they're about to play that are very vulnerable. So if he works hard, which I'm sure he will, Pereira gets them right. If the players do the right tactics, then

Why can't they do what Bournemouth did? Very much Yorkshire pudding, turkey and cranberry sauce for those Wolves players this week. I wouldn't have thought they'll be in training, preparing themselves for Manchester United at home on Boxing Day and then Tottenham Hotspur after that. Quick word on Chelsea because we're still on Sunday. They missed the chance to go top, albeit briefly, away at Everton. And unusually for them, Scott, they couldn't find a goal. Yeah, exactly.

Everton are a difficult side to break down, just ask Arsenal. I think out of the last seven matches, it's five or six clean sheets they've kept. So clearly Sean Dyche is saying, listen, let's just don't worry too much about scoring. He talked post-match that the balance between scoring and keeping a clean sheet is very difficult. So what do you do if you haven't got prolific goal scorers, you concentrate more on the defensive side?

This is just another game, Sam, where you and I will turn around and say that Chelsea aren't ready. You know, it's a difficult place to go, Goodison Park, under a well-organised side. It is for Chelsea. It's the worst place for Chelsea to go. Chelsea can't wait for it to be knocked down. Unless you're Didier Drogba, of course, who's scored a worldie or two. It's a long time ago now. It's a long time ago. But it says everything, doesn't it, about Chelsea? You know, they're ahead of their schedule at the moment.

I think Liverpool are the standout team. I really do. Yeah. One of the things I wanted to ask you about after Sunday's matches and before Sunday's matches was this love-in that we've got from all the managers now, right? So Arna Slot thinks that Ange Postakoglou is brilliant, loves him, he's brand of football, he's wonderful. Ange Postakoglou said the same thing. Sean Dyche, um,

was responding to comments from Enzo Maresca. Enzo Maresca saying how great Sean Dyche was and how brilliant he is at getting them organised. Sean Dyche going, well, I think he's brilliant. He's great. What's happened here? Is the season of goodwill broken out? Is there a Christmas spirit floating around the Premier League or what? What's happening? What's happening? Crook, this is not, you don't like this, do you, Crook? You hate this kind of thing. It's like a light show at a football match. It's not for you, is it?

No, stick it in Room 101, light shows and managerial lovings. But I think in the case of Arna Slott, he was humouring Postacoglu, wasn't he? Of course, he's going to praise his style of football because he knows that Liverpool are going to pick up three points. Maybe a bit different between Deitch and Maresca. But I guess maybe now, you know, there's probably more scrutiny and more pressure on managers than ever before. And we speak about that a lot on this podcast. Maybe they do just feel like they need to have each other's backs because the sack is only around the corner.

It is. In fact, it's just two days away and Santa will be delivering his presence. And then he will unload it on Boxing Day and give you 10 live commentaries. I'll be at Manchester City. Their away day slump continued this weekend. Well, I've got to say, Villa are brilliant. They were absolutely superb on Saturday and they truly deserved the

three points. They were good without the ball in the first half. They sat off. They soaked up the pressure, then struck. And in the second half, they just bossed the game entirely. They had better possession. They had loads of shots. They were great until the last few minutes where it just went silly because City were gambling. They were completely in control of the match. I thought they were terrific and they deserve a lot of praise before we get into having a go at Manchester City's set-up. Crook?

Yeah, I agree. I mean, I was tipping City to bounce back in this game just on the law of averages, really. But I underestimated Villa, who were just as good probably on Saturday as they were in this fixture last season. Morgan Rodgers, the case of the ex coming back to haunt you. And I saw a lot of...

A lot of Bournemouth fans actually using it to beat Scott Parker with because he was on loan at the Cherries in the Championship and didn't get a look in. But what a player he's been for Aston Villa. I thought they dominated the midfield battle. I think City were lucky. I only finished 2-1, actually. They could have been three up at half-time, couldn't they, Villa? Don't underestimate how good that goal is. That goal is terrific, the one that he scores that clinches the game. He picks it up 10 yards outside his own box. He slaloms his way through.

several Manchester City players gets into a good position and then thinks, do you know what? I've got to lay this off because I've got too much pressure. There isn't a route to goal for me. Does lay it off, then goes for the return. And the finish is great. You know, it's really calm under pressure. I thought he was, I mean, I said in the commentary, you know, he's come back to take on Manchester City. They let him go. He wasn't good enough for them, but he's definitely the villain of this piece.

And he was the star of the show. Scott, you sat next to me throughout the whole game. And both of us were, you know, we were gooey-eyed over his performance. Yeah, we were. And if he hadn't have laid it off and found a way to score from when he picked up the ball to the end, it would almost be up there with George Weir. You know, that goal that he scored. It would have been Maradona. Yeah. 86. Honestly, Sam, and I'm not one for sort of making massive statements.

But I did come away thinking the confidence that he's got at the moment, the ability, the awareness, the assist making, as well as the finishing, which actually makes it look so simple, but the top players make it look simple. It wasn't what he did to let it run across his body. First touch, brilliant. And then second touch, bang, giving Edison no chance whatsoever. And I came away thinking, look, I think you even mentioned it on air about, you know, England and the international set-up.

If, and I don't think he can, but if he was able to reproduce that on a week in, week out, he's my England number 10. And I put that in front of Cole Palmer and Phil Foden and even Jude Bellingham. I'd have to find different positions, certainly for two of those three. He was that good.

He dominated the game, not just in terms of scoring and assisting, but just the way he controlled the game. And where I was expecting, I was like, cricky, I was expecting City, certainly in the second half, because actually they weren't that bad in the first half. Jack Grealish was their danger man.

But it was Villa that stepped it up, not City. And it was Morgan Rodgers who led it. And he was nothing short of sensational. They suffered a setback in the first few minutes. I must admit, they came out of the traps really well, Aston Villa as well. The first two minutes of the game, they had a shot on target, which was saved, which I think John Duran was a little bit cold and rushed a little bit when he went through after about 15 seconds.

Then they had two corners, one of which basically went over the line, you know, from Pau Torres, his little flicked header. Don't know how Stefan Ortega pulled it back, but as Scott rightly pointed out, the ball was seven eighths over the line. It was like literally tiny, tiny, tiny little bit still on the line. And that's what saved them from conceding a very, very early goal in that game. What do you make of Manchester City now? Because I think,

Pep has probably decided that it's over. This season is a write-off in terms of the Premier League. It's time to think about what's next.

Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. And I think their January window is going to be fascinating. Do they go all out in January knowing they're not going to win the Premier League, but maybe still have a chance in Europe, although it's looking dicey in terms of qualifications, the last 16 in the Champions League as well? Or do they keep their powder dry and really go hard in the summer? One way or another, this is a squad in massive need of a revamp because there's so many players there who

look like they're coming to the end all at the same time or certainly aren't at the peak of their powers anymore De Bruyne Walker Bernardo Silva I'm not going to write off Erling Haaland but if he's not being given chances on a plate he offers very little so I think at some point they might have to take him out of the firing line as well some of the young players I

I think Rico Lewis hasn't kicked on as we expected. So there's some massive decisions that need to be made. And unfortunately, if you're looking for sticks to beat people with, there's so many ex-Manchester City players, Morgan Rodgers being one, Cole Palmer, we can mention as well, that are excelling elsewhere, that actually some people are starting to question their judgment, letting certain players go. They certainly shouldn't let Palmer go, should they?

Well, I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago that I wonder whether or not we'd missed the trick, actually. When Chicky Big Eerestain decided to move on, was it that they were happy for him to move on? Were they quite pleased about that, bearing in mind that the recruitment over the last couple of years has not been anywhere near as good as it was previously? This group isn't good enough, and I think that you can sort of point to injuries, and they've had several of those at the back. They've had other personal issues which have caused problems.

dips in form and other problems. There's obviously the looming charges which are hanging over them and we don't know what the psychological effect of all that is. And there's a number of different problems, I'm sure, that go into the melting pot. But the players aren't good enough.

the level of player is not the same anymore. And you've had a lot of players get to the latter part of their career, allowed to get to the latter part of their career without being replaced and haven't already made replacements coming in underneath it. The squad's too light. There's not enough there. Very quickly, you get to youth team players if Manchester City pick up a couple of injuries. My understanding is now is that they're going to bring in six players

players as soon as possible, six players again the next window. So it's either going to be six in the summer, then six in January or six in January and six in the summer. Try and very quickly turn the squad around. And Pep Guardiola is going to try and focus on the next two years of building the second coming of Manchester City. Yeah, absolutely. Look, you know, we talked about it a lot.

They've gone mentally at the moment. I mean, it's one thing to have one win in 12. It's another thing to have lost nine of those games. And some of those games they've lost heavily as well. And when you've got, you know, one of your defenders saying, when we concede, it feels like it's our destiny to lose. It's really not good. Again, I talk about that grey matter. You know, before the Tottenham game in the Carabao Cup,

Would anyone had said within a couple of months, everyone's going to be saying that these players have gone and some even questioning Pep and saying that he should go, which I'm hearing on radio phone-ins. Look, he's just signed the new year two-year contract. It was a mistake with hindsight to not strengthen the squad. He's even admitted that.

but then how ruthless would that have been? And so Alex Ferguson did it. And if they'd have somehow not started, well, people would have said it was the wrong decision. If they'd have got rid of the players that people are telling them we should get rid of now and brought different players in. But the bottom line is this is not good enough. It's not a title challenge right now anymore. It's just the race to get into the top four. It's a, I,

I wouldn't be surprised, although they still might not even qualify for the playoffs of the Champions League. But I wouldn't be surprised if by towards the end of the season, they've got themselves back on track a little bit more. And then in cup competitions, which seems strange to say, they can go on and win the Champions League. I would not rule that out. But at this moment in time,

It's let's sit down. What do you need, Pep? And don't forget, they made a lot of money, the most money in the summer of all the Premier League clubs in terms of the finances and the transfer window. So PSR is not a problem for them.

interesting to see what happens he doesn't like January he says they don't get any good players in January he's only ever signed one player in seven years and that was Emerick Laporte and that players who aren't playing are the only ones that are available so it's a difficult pond from which to to to fish but let's see what happens I definitely think there'll be a big churn maybe not in January but definitely then over the summer for Manchester City

Crystal Palace won Arsenal 5 Alex wasn't convinced that Gabriel Jesus could replicate his performance from midweek well well crooky Jesus the second coming was even better arguably he could have scored about 7 on Saturday night he was absolutely terrific assisting goals making goals and scoring twice they found their saviour

Yeah, Jesus making headlines at Christmas and resurrecting Arsenal's title bid. I've got to say, I was surprised by this scoreline because I thought Crystal Palace were in a decent groove, saw them hold Man City to a draw and maybe unlucky not to win that game. But I mean, this was a thrashing at home, wasn't it, for Palace? Although in the first half,

David Rye has made a couple of big saves that could have changed the course of proceedings. But credit to Arsenal because that's three times in recent weeks they've scored five goals away from home. And Jesus, very much a big part of it at the weekend. I still think they've got a lot to do to catch Liverpool, but they seem to have rediscovered their mojo.

The big worry, obviously, is whether or not Bukayo Saka is going to recover quickly from that hamstring injury because they can't afford to be without him for any big spell of time. The last thing that anyone wants to see is Bukayo Saka, who's one of the nicest lads around, walking around on crutches as he was after the game and the hamstring injury that we saw

hear about now is that it will be a bit of a spell out and when we've already seen them drop off considerably after losing one talisman this year that will be a massive concern to Mikel Arteta I mean the Sterling signing hasn't worked out for them at all he's hardly played any games but maybe he'll have to now Scott yeah there's one area as well who can obviously do a job and

I don't get the Raheem Sterling one. I don't, you know, he's hardly played unless he's kind of gone.

from a physical point of view, I thought that looked a great signing. I really did. And time for him to step up and it's going to be fascinating to see if he isn't given that berth in the next few games, then clearly Arteta thinks the same thing. He likes him clearly as a person. I think he's a very good professional. I respect him a lot. I don't know him, but I respect him not just as a player, but as a person, everything he's had to deal with, both the club and country. So I think he's a very good professional and

I really want to see him do well. It's a great opportunity for him. But Krooky's right. This is a massive blow. This is as big, if not bigger, than Odegaard being injured because he is, you know, we talked about it last week. Even before Arsenal got really good, you know, he was almost carrying the side.

So it's a massive, massive blow. And I hope he's back soon. So Palace, we thought, turned a corner a little bit, right? One of the big issues at the beginning of the season was the chopping and changing of the back line and changing who was playing in that back three. Over the last few weeks, they'd sort of settled on Gehi, Lacroix and Chalaba. And they look solid. They look much better. It was a good platform for them. Why did he change it on Saturday?

He's changed it and taken Chalabar out of the team. And again, now they've conceded five goals and he's probably going to have to change it again. I don't get that. I mean, you've found your back three. Unless there's an injury problem for Chalabar, what are you doing?

No, I think we're going to see a lot though, aren't we, over this period. Managers rotating players. Maybe he took the decision that they weren't likely to beat Arsenal. Whatever happened, I'm just looking their next game is away at Bournemouth. Not easy, but easier, I would suggest, than playing Arsenal. So it's probably just rotation. I still don't fear for Palace. I think it's still three from four to go down at the moment. You'd probably say it's going to be the three newly promoted teams again.

Sam, it can only be that he had a niggle. It makes no sense, especially the run that they've been on, as Kriki was saying. They will get themselves away from trouble. I mean, I still think he's Chelsea's best defender, central defender, let alone Crystal Palace's. Can you imagine if Chelsea had Gueye and Chalaba in that team? Yeah. Yeah, well, let's not go there. But...

But, you know, the decision was made to loan him out to Palace. And I think he's been brilliant in that back three. I don't get it. And I'm sure he won't do that again if he is 100% fit. A big preview pod coming tomorrow ahead of Boxing Day. We've got Dean Ashton with us. Yeah. He's going to be a big part of the game.

he's coming not that we don't want scott we've got dean ashton as well he's looking really sexy by the way dean ashton he's been doing all sorts of weights and gym work he didn't look very sexy in the picture he sent of me uh after a few beers at the darts last night i'll share it with you later because he because he sent a picture of you that's what if he sends you a picture of you then he's it's not going to look very sexy sent to me to me oh right okay sorry if he sends a picture of himself that's a different matter although he has been on it this week um

Big time. Yeah, he's been everywhere. All that on his Insta. Literally, I think he's been to every Christmas party that London has had in the last week. He's booked a hotel. Do you know he booked a hotel in London for the whole week, right? With his family and took them out during the day to different places. And then at night time just went to every Christmas party available.

Fantastic. He's my hero. Well done. We're back tomorrow then to preview all the Boxing Day games. Thank you very much for listening. And remember, huge amount of football for you over the Christmas period, so stick it with TalkSport.

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