Salah gives FSG 'no brainer' & Guardiola rattled as Liverpool hit the road
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The Athletic FC Podcast Network. All right, Reds. Tony Evans here with Walk On, your Liverpool podcast from The Athletic. I'm here with James Pearce and Simon Hughes. Manchester City humbled. Another Salah masterclass. And Liverpool sit nine points clear at the top of the table. Well, we'll talk about that win over City. Look forward to Wednesday's visit to Newcastle. And, of course, Contract Weekly. But let's start with those three words.

James, I'll start with you this week. I'm going to go for Poetry in Motion. Poetry in Motion, that seems like a throwback to a different time. I think it sums up the last week nicely. Yeah, yeah, I like it, I like it. Si?

I've been playing with this the last couple of hours, actually. I've been thinking about it. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Are we going back to whether don't is one word or two? What's worrying you? No, no, no, no. There's quite a lot of things that I could use today based around the fact that we're in Man City and then I suppose we have a contract weekly update to talk about. So I was torn between Wake Up Richard, which would be a little bit harsh maybe,

or sign them up. I like both of them. Well, let's see what you're saying. Phil Keane, not tested yet. I presume there's an amount of irony in that. Peter Storch, starting to believe. Well, yeah, yeah. Damon Kirwan, Christmas come early. Dave Frew, peps rarely rattled, I'll say. To join our community of listeners on Facebook, just search Walk On Podcast and join the group.

Well, that was some week, wasn't it? Real Madrid, Manchester City, both swept aside with ease. James, you wrote after the Man City win, the reigning champions of Germany, Spain and England have been swept aside by a combined score of 8-0. That isn't normal. Well, it's a new normal. Yeah, yeah, it's just been a remarkable run of results, hasn't it? And I think it's not just...

beating Real Madrid and Manchester City but it's the manner in which Liverpool have done it. It's not been through little bursts of playing well, it's not been through riding your luck at times or goalkeeping heroics or just a piece of individual brilliance that settled a tight game. It's been total domination. You think back to the Real Madrid game last week,

and you know they didn't have a shot on target until stoppage time the game was already dead Manchester City on Sunday at Anfield didn't have a shot on target until inside the last 10 minutes when again the result is already a foregone conclusion and even you know Keller's first proper save came from a very rare mistake from Van Dijk that De Bruyne ended up not punishing so

So yeah, two real big statements of intent to boss the European champions and then the Premier League champions in that manner. I know Liverpool have beaten City by greater margins in this kind of modern era. You think back to the 3-0 win in the Champions League quarterfinal first leg, I think 2018, but they've never ever comprehensively outclassed City in

for 90 minutes like they did on Sunday. Yes, I... James has just spoken about poetry there. So, knowing that you're a lover of stats and XG, well, listen to this. The difference between expected goals between the teams was even greater than when Liverpool thrashed Manchester United 7-0 in March last year. Back then, it was 2.78 versus 0.82. But on Sunday, it was 3.43 versus 0.83. Can we run through that again, please, Tony?

Me not speaking stats. I did enjoy the Brendan Rodgers interview last week. I know you're a big Brendan Rodgers fan. I think a reporter, a very young reporter, started throwing a load of XG stats at him. And he just responded, yes. Christos Chalas is someone who could cause a lot of issues for Celtic tomorrow night. He's the Bruges life winger. Scored four goals in 48 minutes at the weekend.

He's got an average sofa score rating of 7.71 in his last 10 starts, which, just to give a comparison, Nicholas Coon has an average of 6.6, so that kind of tells us who we're up against in terms of the quality of player. With Alistair Johnson already on a booking from a recent European game, is it important we nullify Bruges before the ball gets to him so that it's less of a possibility of maybe a foul being committed because

He's a player that does get fouled as well because in his last 10 games, again, he's been fouled on an average of 1.9 times, so just under two. And Alistair Johnson commits an average of 1.2 fouls per game. So is it, again, important that we notify Bruges before the ball gets to him to sort of prevent maybe an issue for the next game where Alistair Johnson might not be available? Yes.

I mean, I was totally lost as well. I could sort of see what the lad was saying, but it probably didn't need as much data as that to ask the question. Anyway, yes. I mean, back to Liverpool, I suppose. But Liverpool, I just thought, was superior again. I mean, I've never...

Over the years watching Liverpool, we've seen all sorts of different versions of Liverpool. Under Benitez, it was sort of plucky Liverpool would really annoy the opponent and find a way to win. Maybe that's belittling, you know, the style under Benitez. Certainly in the early years of Benitez, they got better much later. Obviously under Rodgers, they had the sort of chaos of Suarez. Under Klopp, they would beat teams into submission. Whereas Liverpool,

I think certainly the victories over Real Madrid and Man City have proven that this team can do a bit of both, do a bit of everything and just be in total control of the game. I did not fear at any moment of either game against Real Madrid or Man City that Liverpool were going to end up without a victory. They were just brilliant, really. I think one thing, Tony, the big thing for me at the moment is

I can understand people are saying, talking about the passing and the way they keep the ball, you know, Salah and attacking areas have been brilliant, but I just think defensively they've been superb as well. They don't give many chances away. And as James said before, the only sniff City had was through a mistake. Well, that bum Van Dijk, you know what? I'm glad he's out of contract. Get rid of him. Oh, what a performance. I mean, he was so good. I mean, it reminded me of the game when Liverpool played Red Bull Salzburg a few years ago, actually, when he was up against Holmgren.

Obviously, Haaland had scored at Anfield for Salzburg and everyone was sort of saying, oh, you know, he had a right go of Van Dijk there and, you know, what's he going to do in the second leg in Austria? I remember at the time, I remember thinking, you know, Van Dijk was just so much better than him. He made Haaland look like a boss with no breaks. Just, he couldn't match up to him at all. And I thought...

different performance of course Harlan's a much better player now but he was just in control of him throughout the whole game and not only that you know what I love about Virgil van Dijk is he's a classy player but again at the weekend he does the dirty stuff when he has to as well he doesn't mind throwing a leg at it he doesn't mind hoofing it to get rid of it you know just to relieve the pressure a bit

He's a very clever defender. Another reminder of why, I mean, there's just nobody better than him at the moment, I think, in European football. If somebody can say to me, Liverpool, you know, if somebody can write in on our Facebook page and tell me who is better than him,

I'm prepared to enter a debate with them because I just cannot see anybody who is. I think he's alright at the top. How would that debate go? You're wrong. There you go. Such and such is a better player than Van Dijk. And you go, you're an idiot. Exactly. That's exactly how it'd play out, Tony. You talked about control. One of the things that, I mean, you're both too young for this, but reminds me more of the teams in the late 70s who...

They go in front in games and kills it and never looked like they were going to be in trouble. And I'll tell you what, it's a brilliant thing to see. It takes me back to my youth and it'll bring trophies back to Anfield. Let's hope so. James, before we finish with Manchester City, what's going on with Guardiola? I mean, I'm getting a bit uncomfortable watching him now. The man has signed a new contract. He should have booked in another sabbatical.

Yeah, he's in uncharted territory, isn't he? And you can see that because he doesn't know how to deal with it. And I think he's really, really struggling with it. And I thought it was a bizarre reaction from him to the chance of you getting sacked in the morning. It was a bad chance. It was a bad chance, to be fair. No, I liked it. Why is it a bad chance? No.

It's something like Leicester fans have seen, isn't it? No creativity. Here's my offering. Here's my offering. It should have been you getting scratched in the morning. I like it. No, I think, when you think how much Liverpool have suffered at the hands of City in this,

in this era. There's going to be a sense of absolute collective glee of the mess that they're now in and the problems that are stacking up for Guardiola. And let's not forget, he's had more resources than any other manager to build that squad. And I think there are parallels with Liverpool in 22-23 in terms of

massively misjudging what that group of players had left in the tank. Because I know the modern era says, be stupid to write off City. But how can you possibly look at that team on Sunday and think they'll put together 15, 16 wins sometime between now and May? I just don't see it happening because I'd never seen, certainly not for a long, long time, a City midfield that was just so easy to play through. I mean, Gundogan looks...

absolutely a spent force. Where was he playing, James? I couldn't figure out. It seemed like he was left back most of the time. Well, he was in midfield, but it was almost like Guardiola had decided when he doesn't have the legs, I can't trust him to play as that shield. So we'll play Bernardo Silva deeper, which baffled me as well. And then, you know, Kyle Walker is looking every bit

De Bruyne is obviously fit again, yet weird that he didn't even think about bringing on De Bruyne until, again, the game was gone, wasn't it? It was at 2-0 when he brought him off the bench. So they just look such a pale shadow of what they were. Now, I didn't have a problem with the chance because...

I just think, I think when you've missed out on titles by what was it, you know, one point on two occasions, there's also, you know, clearly that lingering feeling around the 115 charges that of course City deny and we're waiting to find out the outcome of that hearing. So no, and also, you know, I don't know if you saw Ortega's comments afterwards, but I

I don't know, just, just a lack of class. I thought, you know, Ortega was started talking about, well, someone told me before that this area, Liverpool is not the best part of the UK. And it's like, you know, like really, is that where we're going? You know, it's, you know, it's,

For a start, the streets of Manchester are just paved with gold. There are no social issues at all whatsoever in that area. And whoever had whispered that in Ortega's ear in the build-up to the game or whatever should be ashamed of themselves as well. I just...

I just thought, you know, that he's let himself down there, Ortega. You know, he should have been holding his hands up to a ridiculous goalkeeping error that gave Liverpool the chance to kill the game off with the way he took Diaz out in the box. Can I have my say on him? He is a bang average goalkeeper coming out with absolute s*** like that. You know, he's arguably cost City the game, as you said, James. I don't think he's the best part of the Manchester City team. No.

I think he's absolutely, he's the luckiest man in Germany. The backup goalkeeper for Man City. You know, decent with the ball at his feet. Can't use his hands. Can't kick. Obviously, Hazard's some sort of headectomy coming out with comments like that.

He should just keep his mouth shut, to be honest. Whether or not he's been informed of this revelation, as James says, I was in Manchester a couple of weeks ago and I was really shocked by the levels of homelessness there. Maybe he should shine a light on what's going on in the city that he's representing at the moment rather than

you know, ramping out old tropes that have, you know, I'm not saying Liverpool isn't without its social problems, but he should look a little bit closer to the city that gives him employment, I would say. The one thing I will say, just to round off your comments about getting sacked in the morning, ordinarily I would agree with you.

But it did elicit a response from Guardiola. And the response was the sort of thing that Jose Mourinho would have done years ago. He lowered himself to that level and revealed something about himself that maybe we haven't seen publicly before. So it did have a desired effect, whether you think that the challenge...

there could have been something a little bit more original i agree i would like to hear something a little bit more original but it did get a response and it just shows you exactly how he is thinking at the moment a little bit you know he's he's right under pressure um and as james says i totally agrees he just he doesn't seem to know how to deal with it it's gonna be fascinating to see how he gets out of it because he tried a number of things at the weekend which

just didn't work. I was really surprised to see Nunes playing off the left, cutting in. Everything was drifting infield. Now, you might say that, you know, the City have had a lot of success playing that way over a number of years, but it didn't work on Sunday. And Slot had the measure of him. Well, definitely, definitely. Well, this is Limp On, the Manchester City podcast.

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11 ahead of Manchester City. When do we get the trophy? Is it at St. James' Park? Yeah, yeah. I'm not quite at that point yet, Tony. I've got to be honest. No, I'm not joking. Some people are. Some people are. Some people are getting very excited. Understandably, that is what football is about. If you can't get excited about this, what is the point in investing yourself with all the emotion? But the next two matches, it's a big week for Liverpool. It's two away games and fixtures where...

OK, the records at St James' Park and Goodison Park are historically good, but you can slip up there if you're not careful. Liverpool are getting more injuries. I do think that they can't afford too many more. I think if you come through this week with two good results, two positive results, you know, it'll give them a massive kick going into...

into the Christmas period. And I do think as well, I must stress, despite saying that, I think the play in these teams, you know, Newcastle and Everton had a good time because, you know, obviously Newcastle coming off the back of a bad victory and Everton,

you know, having obviously surrounded... A bad victory? A bad victory, sorry. A bad defeat, sorry. Sorry. It's a terrible win. There's no such thing, sorry. There's no such thing as a bad victory. Yeah, I met a good friend of mine, actually, funnily enough, an Evertonian, who we still routinely take the mickey out of for saying this. He said it was a good defeat against Manchester City a few years ago. And I was like, there is no such thing. There is no such thing. A morale boosting defeat. Yeah.

They don't mind getting beaten by the Mancunian friends, do they? Just because they think it hurts us. But James, one of the things that's starting, and you know what? We had it, didn't we? The last time we won the league with Covid. Oh, you know, you've got Lougheed putting an asterisk on it. The league was won before the pandemic hit.

But, you know, we're getting like, oh, they're running out in front because everyone else is being rubbish. And you're like, yeah, and? We've been great. You've been rubbish. That's why you're at the top. But it's not like some sort of mitigation for everyone else. Liverpool won the league because we were all rubbish. Oh, well, that's all right then. Take it off us. Well, the one I like at the moment is apparently Liverpool are just very, very lucky that only other clubs get injuries. Which...

I think kind of doesn't really take into account the absence of, of Alison, of Jota, the fact they've only just got Trent back. The fact that they're only summer signing. Chiesa's barely kicked a ball yet. That Simakas and Kanate are both on crutches. They've lost Connor Bradley for a few weeks as well. Yeah. It's funny, isn't it? The reaction. I mean, the kind of narrative from other, other sets of fans has changed because, because,

obviously six, seven weeks ago, it was Liverpool haven't played anyone yet. And that doesn't really wash now, having beaten the German, Spanish and English champions without conceding a goal. But yeah, I mean, it is still too far out. People

People have said to me, well, it's done and dusted, isn't it? Don't be stupid. It's nine points and we're at the start of December. I mean, it is an unbelievable position to be in. I think Opta put out a stat on Sunday that only, I think the last time anyone had such a lead after 13 games was United were 11 points clear in 93-94, I think it was. So that gives you an idea. It is extraordinary to be so far ahead of

after, what, a third of the season. But I agree with Simon. I think this is another big, big week because, yes, there are two games that Liverpool are expected to win and common sense tells you they'll be too strong for both Newcastle and Everton. But they're also playing two opponents who are really wounded today.

and have that benefit of going into this with almost like pressure off and you know and we know that Everton we've seen it time and time again at Goodison over the years haven't we that you know

It is their cup final, so they will be massively, massively up for it. They won't capitulate like they did at Old Trafford last weekend. And the same with Newcastle, you know, under the lights at St. James'. You think back to the game there last season, yes, Liverpool win, but that was a hell of a scare. You know, Van Dijk gets sent off. It's looking like a miserable defeat. And then big Darwin Nunes comes on and turns it on its head with two late goals.

James, if Everton beat us, I'm blaming you because Dyche will be clipping this podcast and putting it on a loop in the Everton dressing room. You know, all we'll hear in that Everton dressing room is James Pearce saying, this is Everton's cup final. This is Everton's cup final. It'll be like a rap record. And they'll have that sort of music. I think he'd be telling them that himself. I think the problem for Dyche at the moment is, I mean, you know, when you're sort of speaking to

Evertonians in this city they all want them gone you know they all want them gone so if Liverpool can get on top of them early I think it's going to be very difficult for Everton at home actually I think it's going to be

really hard you know if Liverpool take the lead he could be in a bad place good listen it's good but the only thing that I must stress though Tony you know Liverpool's record there over the last 10 years even under Klopp it was okay it wasn't a bad record you know they had some good victories but

But it was always a tough game, you know, by and large. It's been a lot of draws. A lot of draws, you're right, James. Obviously, there was the 2021-22 season where they battered them. Yeah. But beyond that, you know, it's been tough for them. So I think if Liverpool start well, they'll win the game. But it's still a sort of game that...

They haven't found easy going over the last 10 years. It's a different manager at the end of the day, isn't it? Well, we'll have more about that because we may well have a sneaky extra derby pod later on in the week. Oof. Now for Contract Weekly. Si, you had a rattling good story, didn't you? Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, following on from James is a conversation from Salah this week. Broke the story yesterday that Mohamed Salah is...

is open to the idea of a one-year contract at Liverpool, a one-year contract extension. Of course, there's been a lot of debate over the last couple of weeks about what his expectations are. I mean, the information that I've had, which have put in the piece, is that he's very frustrated at the pace of the negotiations and where they are at at the moment. It's certainly not a case of him saying, right, I want three years, all that security. But what he does expect is to be paid...

keep him with the best players in the world which I don't think anybody can deny that he is at the moment and

From my perspective, I mean, it seems like quite a, would be a sensible thing for everybody to agree on, really. It's a PR masterstroke. It's back Fenway Sports Group into a corner. And if now he leaves signed to pre-contract with a foreign club on the 1st of January, everyone would turn and point fingers. He's compromised. He's not saying, I want a place on them 39 or anything. He's saying, just give me another year. I want to stay at Anfields.

Well, I know what you're saying, Pierre, Tony, but the ultimate reality is, you know, he is prepared to take that. You know, he would take that if he was there. Yeah, no, no, no. I don't mean in that sense. I mean, he definitely will do. But he has taken the high ground. He's like, Liverpool fans, I want to stay.

If they don't want me, it's not my fault. Yeah, and I can understand why he would put it on the toes a bit because at the moment, this moment in time, as he said to James, you know, he's more out than in. That wasn't an exaggeration. He does feel like his future could be away from Liverpool unless Liverpool get a move on, really. I mean, it's 1st of January is less than a month away now and from that point onwards...

is representative Rami Abbas and Mo Salah can go and speak to whoever they want to, you know, under the terms of the contract. And I believe that they will do that. You know, there has been interest from other top European clubs, although I'm not too sure exactly which clubs. I know that there was a report in Le Keep over the weekend about Paris Saint-Germain being interested in

PSG have rejected that idea. I guess they have to because, you know, if the fans have been negotiating at this stage, they could find themselves in a bit of trouble. But I think that you're right, Tony. I think that Liverpool have to try and do something really now to try and

that they're serious about winning, you know, and about keeping him. Because at the moment, it's very clear to me that Mohamed Salah feels like Liverpool aren't quite as keen as keeping him as he is staying. Yeah, he's right. He's right. James, what's your take on it? Yeah, I think it's interesting because in so much as that's been one of the big talking points, hasn't it, throughout this kind of ongoing saga, from Liverpool's perspective,

This thing about the fear of committing to a deal that's so long that you're having to then think, well, what is he going to still be doing at the age of 35 or 36? And is that, you know, a good use of our resource when, you know, that 400k a week or whatever it is, plus bonuses could be better used now?

elsewhere and obviously it's very difficult to replace Salah and bring a successor in whilst he's still in situ because of the financial outlay and also someone of his calibre isn't going to accept being relegated to a bit part role anyway. So yeah, I think for me it just cranks up the pressure on the club and

even more, isn't it? I think we've seen it kind of grow and grow in the last few weeks. And I don't think it's any coincidence that it's happened at a time where Salah has been so ridiculously influential to this incredible run that Liverpool are on. I mean, was it 13 goals, 11 assists now, you know, a goal involvement every 67 minutes in all comps.

so far this season. I mean, there's very few players in world football who could have played that kind of eye of a needle pass for Gagpo's opener. Yes, of course, his goal was from the penalty spot, putting things right after the one he'd missed in midweek against Real Madrid. But he's just...

he's just so, so important, isn't he? And if he is willing to sign that one year, and of course the caveat being, well, what would he want for that one year? Would there be, you know, because it's only a one year that doesn't give him particular security, would he want a hefty pay hike or whatever? You know, there's obviously a little bit of a grey area there. But if he is serious about that and he's willing to

similar terms I'd say to what he's on currently then it does make it a no-brainer the only thing is in you know seven eight months time we'll be sat here talking about talking about contract weekly again regarding Mo Salah because that time will go or go quickly but yeah it's another interesting development

And it just feels like this is such a crucial period now because as Simon said, you know, that any other top club in Europe looking at Salah and looking at how good he still is, the shape he's in, the durability, the influence on games, you know, you would just be ticking off the days, wouldn't you, down to January the 1st where you could stick an offer under his nose. Yeah, definitely, definitely. And, you know, as far as I'm concerned,

I think if they're stupid enough to let him walk away now after saying he'd take a year, then there's, you know, I'm going to lead the mob to the cop with pitchforks and torches. It's a metaphorical mob because it's not for real, but I'll be outraged. You're listening to Walk On, brought to you by The Athletic.

Well, join us now before the trip to St. James' Park. We've got the Athletics Newcastle United writer, George Culkin. George, great to have you here. You're going to roll over for us, aren't you? Yes. That was George Culkin, the Athletics Newcastle.

Well, that is certainly my fear. Yeah, it doesn't feel like a great time to be playing Liverpool. If you'd been asking me that question a couple of weeks ago, I might have had a different answer for you when things felt pretty positive from a Newcastle perspective. But it's been the story of their season, really, that there's just this inconsistency kind of bakes into them at the minute. And after those kind of really good results against Chelsea in the League Cup, against Arsenal in the League, against Nottingham Forest...

felt that they'd cracked it, felt that the kind of old Newcastle, the recognisable Newcastle was back. They've then had two really poor performances against West Ham and Palace and it feels like it's kind of back to square one a bit. Eddie Howe's under a bit of pressure there, isn't he? Well, I mean, yes, yes and no. I mean, without, you know, resorting to the kind of usual cliches, every manager is in the Premier League.

But it's slightly different in Newcastle. I mean, obviously, the job he did, particularly at the start, was so exceptional and

Yes, backed by with money, but, you know, leading them to safety from relegation from a, you know, really pretty hopeless position to then immediately getting into the top four. It has inflated expectations, a word that I absolutely detest. But they weren't ready. You know, they weren't ready for the Champions League. They weren't ready as a club. They weren't ready as a squad. And last season proved very, very challenging in terms of injuries and injuries.

This season has proved very challenging, largely because of kind of what happened over the summer. There was that, you know, desperate scramble to hit their PSR target. You know, we saw, obviously, those negotiations with Liverpool about Anthony Gordon. And those sorts of things have kind of rippled out into this season. The big players, including Gordon, have not performed at the levels that they showed last season. Same applies to Alexander Isak. Same applies to Bruno Guimaraes, who had this release clause in his contract last

Nobody met it. He's been made captain this season. It hasn't quite worked. And those players are kind of groping for form. But I think the whole club and the team are sort of having to re-examine what progress looks like because it was so obvious to everybody over the first 18 months that

post-takeover and there's been a kind of real levelling off since then. The first team has led everything and it's been a struggle for the first team since then. They've not signed a first team ready player for two windows now and that's being felt, I think. George, you know, in terms of Anthony Gordon, do you think all that Liverpool talk unsettled him? Do you think that this season's been the knock-on effect of that? Definitely. Yeah, definitely. I mean, he signed a new contract and that's welcome. There's been flashes of it.

And, again, there have been issues about where to play him. He's obviously excellent in that left wing position. He was definitely Newcastle's player of the season last season in a really difficult season. I mean, partly that was down to the fact that he was available most weeks, but he was really, really good there.

And, you know, I think from his perspective, that move to Liverpool was close. You know about that, James. You've written about that sort of extensively. Newcastle were having to kind of consider everything in that kind of horrible fortnight before the end of June. There were kind of substantive talks with Liverpool about that. In the end, they brought that back around. They never wanted to sell him. But I think it's been difficult for him. I think mentally, I think he had probably thought he was

he was going to move it didn't happen and you know rediscovering that focus that sharpness has been a struggle. James you mentioned Darwin earlier on you think he'll be back for this game I mean because it's a happy hunting ground for him isn't it? Yeah yeah yeah I fully expect Nunes to come back into the starting lineup I think that was very much a kind of

Horses for courses approach from Slott in terms of against City wanting just something a bit different I think in that number nine role knowing that Diaz probably better able to kind of drag City's defenders out into areas they didn't want to be in well Nunes is obviously more of a traditional number nine player.

so yeah slots options are pretty limited aren't they in terms of kind of rotation at the minute with the injuries especially defensively he was talking about that earlier on this morning that that is a concern for him with so many games in December and of course no Bradley no Canate you know no Simakas we saw he had to kind of make do with what he had on Sunday in terms of playing Kwanzaa right back late on because he felt that

Alexander-Arnold can't play the full 90, having just come back from that hamstring issue. He said that he probably will find himself in the same position at Newcastle in terms of not wanting to push Trent through the full 90 again with one eye on the Merseyside derby. But yeah, I think Nunes to come back in is pretty much nailed on. And I don't expect Curtis Jones...

to be recalled in midfield as well because him missing out against City certainly wasn't anything against his recent contributions because he was fantastic against Real Madrid in midweek I think it was just a case of wanting that freshness and dynamism and the

To be fair, slot got with Zabozlai. But yeah, I think Curtis coming back in and Darwin is highly likely. Does that make you feel any better, George? Yeah, absolutely. Full of beans after that. Thank you. So, I mean, you know, they have been successful up at Newcastle. They've won five of the last six visits and...

It's a place where they seem to enjoy going. It's my favourite stadium in the Premier League, St. James' Park. What I love about it, I mean, to be fair, if only I ever watched a game from the press box and the away end, certainly the away end, you get a very different view of the match. You know, you're so far away from

You can see all the way out to the North Sea. You're in Edinburgh, aren't you? Yeah, more or less, yeah. You can see the whole of the north of England. It's incredible. Maybe I like it more because Liverpool's record has been good there over quite a long period of time, really. But the game that stands out for me was that one...

in the 2018-19 season, which I think the Barcelona game, obviously that the 4-0, it might not happen without the Newcastle victory a few days earlier. You know, it was an incredible game that because Newcastle really put Liverpool under the grill,

Classic Benitez performance, yet Liverpool clawed out a victory with a... Well, I think it was given as an own goal in the end, wasn't it? But Divock Origi seemed to get his head onto a cross in injury time. Shaqiri takes it in the end. And Origi! Divock Origi jumped! And that could just be the most important Liverpool goal of their fantastic season. It just sucked the whole energy out of the stadium. And it was fascinating just watching...

the two benches right in front of us in the press box because you know I think there's always this sense of sort of cordiality particularly when there's a current Liverpool manager and a former Liverpool manager but certainly the support staff around Klopp and Benitez were having a right old go at each other as the game was going on I remember Klopp turned to Benitez and his staff at one point saying are we actually playing football here

which was a bit cutting. And then after the game, everybody was saying how wonderful the other manager was. I was like, it didn't seem that way 10 minutes ago, you know. But yeah, I mean, it's a great stadium. It's another place, it is another place though where you do have to show up. You can't just think, well, you know, we're top of the league and Newcastle have had a bad result at the weekend. They're going to win. I think,

It's the sort of place that where if there's any sort of perceived slight or there's any little bit of advantage that's to be taken, you know, from a moment, a big tackle, a goal, a bit like Anfield, the crowds will get right behind the team. Altogether, very different challenge, I would say, to the Everton game at the moment, at the weekend, where it almost feels like the Evertonians are waiting for Deitch to go. I mean, I sense from afar that...

Newcastle fans want how to get it right. They want them to turn it around, right? They want them to find a solution. So any little sort of moment that goes Newcastle's way, I'm sure that the Newcastle fans will be right on it. Yeah, I mean, it should be a kind of great atmosphere. These games usually are. And no, you're totally right. I mean, I think, you know, kind of online, there's been a response to the last kind of couple of games. And as Tony sort of mentioned earlier, it's been a tough year. And for all the kind of context about injuries, injuries,

last season and then what happened in the summer or didn't happen in terms of new signings in the summer people want to see performances in individual matches and when it doesn't happen there's a sort of response to that we all kind of get that but no I mean the the kind of in stadium response to how remains remains very positive one thing I was going to mention actually in terms of those important matches between the two teams I'd refer back to that

you know, devastating defeat that Newcastle suffered back in August 2022, the 2-1 defeat that happened very, you know, if you remember, happened very, very late on. And Newcastle, but I think the important thing about that was that Newcastle had gone to Anfield and showed that they were prepared to fight dirty, prepared to kind of do whatever it took to try and get a result. And, you know, were very close to doing it.

And albeit that 2-1 defeat was damaging and hurt them, I think that sort of set Newcastle up that season. Results didn't come straight afterwards, but certainly that lingering feeling did. They'd proved a point, I think, by going to Anfield, by getting up

Anfield's nose is and sort of not being the team that goes to places like that gets pats on their head for being great fans and all of that kind of thing and I think that was a very very kind of important moment albeit a difficult one and you know that was the Newcastle that sort of Eddie Howe helped unleash and you know

I think from a perspective as a journalist but also as a Newcastle fan, I think he recognised something within the Newcastle psyche that had just been buried for so long. That whole idea of being the entertainers in the Keegan era was lovely, it was great. But that wasn't really what Newcastle fans were bothered about. They wanted to win, they wanted to play hard, they wanted to give a good account of themselves, to represent their city. And I think...

Howe has found a way of doing that. We're just longing to kind of get back to that team because we haven't seen enough of it over the last 12 months. And one last question, George. James is our resident glutton. Where should he eat? Which trough should he put his snout in? Michelin stars are optional.

Well, I mean, we're talking about the home of Greg's. So I can't look too far away from that. I mean, one of the sort of tangible things that have kind of happened at Newcastle since the takeover, we're waiting, you know, we're, I think, still kind of waiting for that great leap forward in terms of big infrastructure projects, you know, whether it's the stadium or potentially a new training ground. And there are questions about, you

and how much they're going to invest or whether that investment is being withdrawn back into Saudi. And I think those questions are going to linger. One change in the match day area around the stadium is this new stack venture, which is in the Gallagate, beneath the Gallagate. There's a fan zone there. It is quite impressive. There are lots of good local food producers who are in there, sort of street food producers.

So if you fancy a bit of that, James, don't go in wearing your Liverpool shirt. I know you wouldn't do that anyway, but you would get a decent pint, some decent scran in there. Sounds good. I'll report back, Tony. We want to hear it. We want to hear it. Your culinary adventures are probably, yeah, all right, they might be second to your football and knowledge, but, you know, we still like to hear about it.

Well, that's it from Walk On, your Liverpool podcast brought to you by The Athletic. Thanks to James, Simon and George for joining me and you for listening. And yes, we'll be back later in the week with a bonus pod before the last Cutherson derby. You better be listening. The Athletic FC Podcast Network.