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This is The Guardian. Hello and welcome to The Guardian Football Weekly, Arsenal, Ed Past, Chelsea at the Emirates. It had lots of things you'd expect, goals from corners, lots of holding, a Chelsea red card and Robert Sanchez flapping about. Chelsea almost equalised, but it's as you were after Man City's win at Leeds on Saturday, a great chance to repeat how good Semenio and Mark Gay have been. Also today, why did you fall in love with football sun? Well, it was that time they zoomed closer and closer onto the left arm of Ashley Barnes. A great game at Turfmore, barely coming from three down, but losing at the end went some on think of Scott Parker. Liverpool hit five at home to West Ham, Jordan Pickford makes an unbelievable say for Everton as one goes in off Barry's backside, didn't it Barry? Igor Tudas has spurs lacked everything, which is quite a lot of things, relief for them, then Forrest also lost. Manchester United go third with Victory over Palace, while Wolves win their second game in the season. Also, Celtic come back right at the end of the old firm, there's a lot-sided Champions League draw to digest. We'll discuss the implications of Iran potentially not playing in the World Cup, and as the latest in the series of Barney's Celebrity Vaping. We'll answer your questions, and that's today's Guardian Football Week, Cleve. On the panel today, Barry Glenn Denny, welcome. Hi. I know you just want to go straight to Barney's Celebrity Vaping. We'll do the pod first, Barney. Welcome. Yeah, hi, Lex. Hi, Barney. No. I'm really comfortable with this. With what being in a studio? Yeah, being in the same room together. You only like to have some kind of screen or large, do you normally, you've been sort of bounced around the world, your banter, and your face have been bounced around the world. Is it too much when it's this close? It's a bit much. It's a bit too real. But we'd have turned it down. Maybe you could just talk with a slight delay. I'll do what I can do. Bonjour, Jocéve. Mon pedicution. Exactly right. I agree. Let's start at the end. It's then Arsenal 2, Chelsea 1. Barney, you were there, and you were just saying he went on a journey. Yeah, it was a journey, Max. It was, it had to be something, so it became a journey. Okay. I mean, it was, it was one of those really dense games of football, where you don't really know what you're watching. It's always, it's always really dangerous to kind of prejudices games, often primarily games are light of this nature, a very tight of the start. But it was really tempting to think, this is what we've created. You know, we've spent billions in, we've raided other leagues. We've relentlessly trumpeted this thing, and here are the world champions and the best team in the world currently. And there was just, it was like watching some robots stack a shelf. There wasn't like, there wasn't any invention or creativity. That wasn't in the plan. That wasn't supposed to be there. It was people running patterns, but, and so I was going to give you some negative take on it, like, but as the game went on, I sort of realized that I was really enjoying it. And that I actually like this. It does feel like high stakes sport. It feels like everyone there is incredibly invested in it. I realize, I actually do really like the obsessiveness of Michael Arteta. I always think that the greatest danger to sport is it not mattering. I've always thought of Chelsea, you know, when they had people brushing their teeth behind the dugout because they're advertising a film, when they're signing players that aren't really for a team, it's because it's a clearinghouse, it's a hedge fund ball. That's going to kill sport. But this didn't feel like that. It felt like something that everybody involved, your petrionetic, getting sent off because he cannot stop himself from doing something. It's really good. And it felt epic to me. And I realized that even though there will be a temptation to say it's like not a great title race or arsenaura, a boring team because they're not providing you with moments and clips and reels and numbers, it's actually a brilliant title race. If someone were to tell you what's going to happen, now you put your hands over you, I don't want to know because I want to see what happens because it's like this referendum on this thing, are these people that the stakes feel really high and obviously the stakes aren't really high. It doesn't really make any difference. You can first or second, but it feels like there's a massive emotional arc to it. And I want to know what happens. And if it goes to the end, I think we might say it's been a great title race. Barry, have you been on that journey? Not an identical one. I think it does matter to the fans of all teams who finish his first and second. I think matter is a great deal to our still fans. But that's my exact point, like financially it doesn't matter. OK, yeah, right. But to the people involved, it massively matters. And that's, we often take that for granted, I think. Yeah, in terms of the game, yeah, that was all right. But I don't think any team was anywhere near their best. There's obviously been a huge amount of focus on the grappling and the wrestling and the pulling and the dragging in corners, which is kind of tedious, kind of funny. The grappling and the pulling and dragging is tedious. And the talk about it is tedious. I'm now adding to that discourse. I suppose it was a handy fix for people who were jonesing for the rugby in this break during the Six Nations. I think the only real difference between the two teams were the goalkeepers. David Ray was brilliant. And Robert Sanchez had one of his Robert Sanchez games. The kind we thought he'd sort of put behind him, but I think he was the main difference. He didn't have a good game and RSL's goalkeeper was outstanding. You are an Arsenal fan, Philip. Actually, that moment of the end, the one that, that one, you see that ball go in a lot, don't you? Because he's got a weight right here before he pushes around the post. Yeah. And I thought it was going into me, absolutely. And I think everybody, it's funny because my experience of it was completely different, because I was experiencing one of those weird associations. One of them was, I had a professional interest in the game, obviously. And the other, I was consumed by fear. And which I think most people were in the ground. I mean, I think that this Arsenal team is about a mixture of fearlessness and fear and terror. Both of them put together a mix in the kind of an artet-type cauldron. And he's actually the chief, the fear monger. When you look at him, he's, it's more than tension. He's, it's not panic. It's a kind of, oh my god, oh my god. And I think I was thinking, oh my god, oh my god, for most of the second half, where I thought Chelsea were actually better. And they were indeed better after Pedro Neto was sent off. And that's an incredible start. Is that after the red card, Arsenal completed 55 passes to Chelsea's 114. Gives you an idea of how the fear had actually seeped into the system of Arsenal players. We're actually quite a few of them performing well below par. And you wonder is it just the fact that they're drained physically? Some of them have been playing non-stop since the beginning of the season. You wonder if it is the fear factor again. I'm thinking of Zubi Mendi in particular, who's been phenomenal for, I say, five months of the season. And now seems to, well, panic as well, hence his backpours to to Raya, which very much, you know, could have resulted in the Chelsea goal. So it was a weird one. The arc was one of a concern to start with because Arsenal did what they do when they have a bad game. So this start really slowly passing the ball sideways and going into fear. And at the end, watching from behind the sofa and thinking, thinking, you know, I don't know, David Raya, I think, I was going to say God, but no, David Raya for doing what he did. I think they're interchangeable on that. Yes, I filled a bit like that at the time, yes. Alan says his foot will just corner us now. It's incredibly boring. How would you reply to that? Yeah, first position, nobody wants to watch that. I mean, when I say that I ended up finding a kind of gripping quality in this, that obviously gripping is the word. Yeah, I mean, there's something, there's something just dreadful about it. I mean, it's interesting that the sort of fad for corners and set pieces and long throws has been described because we have, we have to have content, has been discussed as though it's some kind of tactical direction or a masterstroke or a function of the man who stands on the edge of the six yard box in a tracksuit who is a kind of genius set piece coach. If you look at what's actually happening, it's always the same. And you're just throwing a ball into the box, long throw is just someone who can throw the ball a long way. The corners are always the same. You start at the back, you put everyone at the back so that people defending who've been taught to defend their area, can't see them, they run forward, Gabriel runs around the back. The same thing happens all the time. I think I could earn a lot of money as a set piece coach just by coming and saying, it's Gabriel, it's not Gabriel. It's always him, it's always him. And the leap for the goal was prodigious. But I feel sad that I have to talk about a prodigious leap as being a great moment. My favourite moment in that goal was actually Sakka played a really nice pass outside in the process to winning the corner for Arsenal's first goal. Because I'm kind of worried about Sakka, I'm worried that he's stuck at Glitch. He's got stuck in that coming inside. I've watched him so much. I know what he's going to do. Everyone, he had begun to go outside more onto his right foot. But this season he hasn't really been doing it. And I was wondering about him live, watching that thinking. He's just coming inside, he's coming inside. And then he made a really nice outside pass to Timber running behind him. And that was a kind of moment that felt like, okay, good. This is the Sakka I want to see, different gears, different moves. And from that pass, the corner happened and we saw a prodigious leap. We did see it in a leap for the ages. The thing from the corners, Barry, it's like, there's just lots of people facing completely the wrong way, hugging someone out. You know, like the deck and rice handball went just before the goal. Where he's just completely facing the other way. I don't know how you police it, because it's just happening everywhere. Like, there's no, I don't know what the solution is. Well, I think the problem is, if you give footballers an inch, they will take a mile and the still of that moment where rice handles the ball towards his own goal. And David Ryan makes one of his very good saves. Rice is completely, has Derell Hato in a beer hug. If you look behind him, three other players have various Chelsea players in beer hugs. That shouldn't be allowed. But refs are allowing it. And as long as refs allow it, arousal players, players from any other team will continue to do it. Yeah. But it's weighted so heavily. Incompetent among the officials to sort it out. Sure, but they're not sure on any appetite to do that. But it's hard because it's so weighted in favor of the attacking team, right? Because if you're an attacking, you can hug someone. And it's, it doesn't matter, really, you lose, you know, free kick, but the defender can't really hug back, you know? It's a one way, you know, one way, look. We've all been in relation to that. It looks a bit like those things and they shoot horses down there, you know, doing the marathon. The dance marathon, the dance marathon and all like that. Somebody came up with the idea of having a new zone defined in the box, having an arc, which goes from one post to the next, and in which you wouldn't be able to have any players present. It would be a small area, but big enough for the keeper to have some space to move in, and hopefully to put some reason. Oh, good. What is going on? That sounds to me like a terrible idea. Can you imagine a goalkeeper with his own, can you imagine what Jordan Pickford's doing in that space? Is dedicated social distance, his dance floor? The thing, but which I find extraordinary is that it's the only time, I mean, the double situations, the only time you have your arms in your hands over somebody else, you know, it's not allowed in the laws of football to have that. But I've found you're absolutely baffling that that wasn't a penalty. Well, the idea was that his hand was in a natural position. Well, if you're hugging someone, your hands are in a different position. But what is the natural, I can't understand why there wasn't a penalty. It was, had his hand been forced up there, but it was only forced up there because he was trying to grapple some. I mean, I think in all seriousness, what's happened here is this is a response to Guardiola style possession play, to the way we've changed what defending is. So for a long time, it wasn't necessary to defend like this. Steve Bald is not going a game, probably, or John Terry's getting a game, but you know, people who have grown up being tied together with a rope by George Graham and just told a head thing, training is just heading things. They don't get to play football anymore. They get to play in the Premier League. They play, maybe lower down the leagues. But so that skill, so it's low hanging through, like managers of what this is out, that's where this has come from. And the way to stop here is for defending to change again. And obviously, a really great, there are defenders around you can do both of these things, who can have possession and also defend set pieces really well. But this wouldn't work in the 1980s. You wouldn't, I mean, football wasn't, was different then, but the kind of defenders that existed then would easily repel these attacks. What I was trying to say by saying there's nothing sophisticated about the set pieces, like we need a genius with a beard in a track suit to do it. We don't, it's just that you're identifying there's a weakness there, that there are defenders who are in the team because they're good at playing football. You need Liam Deish. I think Barry Frye say he'd had a jumbo jet out of the penalty area. Yes, exactly. Yeah, that's right. But that was seen as like the key skill. Whereas now the key skill is take the ball on a half turn. If you can't do that, you're not going to play in these teams. And it's smart that people have identified that. But there will be a reaction to that again that we different coach, really the coach that you want is someone who can teach you how to defend these things and that doesn't seem to really be happening. And it's not that complicated. So that was important for us, not anyway, but because Man City won at Leeds. And it wasn't very uneasy. It wasn't an easy win for them. That is four in a row, one loss in the last seven. And again, it's Mark Gaye and Antoine Semenier who are both standout players for them in a minute. Yeah, they did stand out for City. They've been brilliant acquisitions, hit the ground running. Obviously, they're primarily ready when they arrive at City. But they didn't have it all their own way in this game. Much has been made of Leeds performing under the Friday night lights or whatever night it happened to be. Saturday night lights. And I think Leeds probably should have taken the lead in this game. Possibly could have been 2-0 up. Before City scored, Dominic Calvert-Loon missed a good chance, Brendan Aronson missed a good chance. Antoine Semenier put City in front and they hold on to that lead. Leeds did have chances in the second half. And I think Leeds had a half-decent shout for a penalty as well from Matthias Nunez-Henbal that wasn't given. And at the end of the match, we saw very uncharacteristically Chippy Daniel Farck gets red-carred at for having the audacity to approach referees, pizza banks at the final whistle, looking mildly annoyed. And I don't think I've ever seen a red-carred brandished in a more contemptuous and arrogant fashion as that one by Mr. Banks. Yeah, I was sort of looking. It wasn't even looking at me in the eye. A no-look red card. Red card. Yeah, angry Farck was a new type of Farck. So, I mean, Manchester City are five points behind us, and they've got a game in hand. They've sort of played each other as well, Barney. And you've got that caribou cut final, which some people say whoever wins that will definitely go on and win the league. I don't know if this is very follows, but it does add to the story that you don't want to know the end. Well, because of the sort of psychodrama that is either happening or we're projecting onto the fact that lots of teams are very good and that's why teams drop points. I don't know which one it is, but I like both of them. That final does feel relevant, because a lot of this is about can Arsenal continue to win? I mean, that's really important, and there was he good enough to do that. If you look, they've got nine games left. I would say three of them are on paper, the trickier ones, City, Brighton away, Newcastle home just because of previous results against Newcastle. I'm not being disrespectful to the other teams. I'm just looking at the table and who's been playing the league recently. Brighton away is this Wednesday. Yeah, that's a really big game, but you would expect Arsenal to be able to win those games. On the other hand, the games where they drop points have been wolves. Although wolves are pretty good team these days, and I just feel a lot of it is to do with that sort of psychological fear angle. And the interesting thing with City, I think the best thing I've got at the moment is that they're really enjoying it. It looks happy, Pepp's got a really good jacket. He's sorted out. He's really sorted out as, look, it looks good. It's not like business shoes, tracksuit bottoms, hoodie anymore. It's like a really good jacket, he's smiling. Anton Semenio's playing the guitar. Well, Philippe is playing chords, wasn't he? Yeah, he's playing chords. I had sort of, you could like George Foreman style. George Foren B. Yeah, George Foreman style. Trying with boxing glasses, really easy. I wonder if it was a fun barrage. Was it a mocking oasis reference? Because he was blandly strong. I mean, which case has gone up in nice to mention even more? Yeah, I don't know what was happening there, but it looked fun and I liked it and I thought, yeah, you're not afraid. You actually are on the fun bus. You know what a fun bus is. You know what fun is, it's not just a phrase. And I think it's a tactic. I think Peppers sat down, crunched the numbers and he's decided that fun is important and it's going to be factored into the, it's what they have, the arson don't seem to have at the moment. Well, one thing I did my own little research for this, so that's why I've got my notepad with me. Because people think, I mean, like arsonals have got an experience of losing the league, right? It's happened quite a few times over the recent years. So there's that, which is feeding the fear. And on the other hand, people say, oh, Manchester City have the experience of winning it. And I thought, actually, of these players, how many have won the league? Hardly any. I really, yeah. Because if you look at the team that was at Leeds, those players, I mean, or really, the first season 24, 25, semi new, 25, 26, gay, 25, 26, white, nori, 25, 26, Marmouche 24, 25 arriving in January, Donna Ruma 25, 26, Cherokee 25, 26. These are actually players who have just joined. But do you think you just, so they have the fear less than the vibe of the field? Yeah, but from the manager, certainly. Yeah, a certain type of guardia. Yeah, from the manager, yes. The winning is man in winging. But I would also say it's a very young team and therefore there's a certain fearlessness that you would associate with the young team. And the fact that, actually, they haven't been in this kind of situation before. And in a way, chasing is easier when you're in the situation. And because they really didn't have everything their own way at all, they don't look, you know, like the big Pep Guardiola size which could go on winning 15 games on the trot, they don't look like that. They look like they could lose. And, you know, if counterpart losing, you said one chance, you had three, and some of them more difficult than others. But you had many chances. Yeah. Yeah, Pep scored on football supporters to respect religion and diversity after some fans booed a brief stoppage in play at Elan Road to allow Muslim players to break their Ramadan fast. He said, you see what's happening in the world today, respect religion diversity. That's the point. The Premier League says you can have one or two minutes. You can have for the fasting players to break their fast. We took on a little bit of vitamins because Ray and Cherokee, Rann at Nori, did not eat today. No more than that. The question is, can they do it or not? What's the problem? Kick it out, said it's massively disappointing. Some leads fans jeered. When the city players broke their fast during the first half, this was compounded by the fact an explanation was displayed on a big screen inside the stadium. Posing the game to allow Muslim players to break their fast has been an agreed protocol for several years. It's an important, visible part of making the game welcoming for Muslim players and communities. Nick got in touch to say, I expect the leads that are building might get a mention and rightly so. Can I just point out how small the big screen at N and Road is though it was stupid to expect a written message on there to be enough for everyone to know what was going on? Some would have booed anyway, of course, but they just made it worse. I guess that's the point, Barry, isn't it? That we know religious intolerance exists and that is shameful, but it's possible that some leads fans didn't know what was happening and we're just booing a stoppage. Yeah, I've seen on social media some leads fans say they were booing because their team was on top of the time and Pep used this break to have one of his tactical discussions on the sideline with his players gathered around him. Others said, we're saying openly that yes, we were booing the fact that these Muslim players are allowed to interrupt the game to take out the refreshments on board. And I'd say quite a sizable proportion. They were just booing because other people were booing and they didn't really know why. I have no problem with the game being interrupted for so players can break the fast. I guess other opinions are available, but certainly there are more forced things in football that I don't know how long it'll last for sure. Yeah, I mean, I think respect is the right word. I mean, it's not a referendum on whether you believe in certain deities. It's just respect for somebody having a drink. And it's also, this is their job. In jobs all over the country and the world, people will stop at this moment to break their fast. And do you want to see players able to play and concentrate properly? I'd rather they faint. I'm gonna boo and I'd rather they faint. I really don't want to believe that anyone was actually booing this because they were booing a religion. And it is football, and I do respect people's right to just shout things, but it was very disrespectful and let's not get into that. We mentioned what happened in France so we can because in France, as you know, Laïcite is very important. So all displays of religious faith in the public sphere that is not private, not the private sphere, obviously, but the public sphere are prohibited. And because of that, in France, you cannot have breaks for players breaking their fast. And what happened is the game against not. And the keeper from the New York Post and the Portuguese keeper, fainted during the game, so that his Muslim teammates could actually have a drink and some protein, which hasn't been taken very well. Some parts. So that you have a completely different culture really, it's actually fascinating, but the fact that a keeper felt compelled to faint injury, I'm sure it was pre-agreed with this team. And he's pointing his mates, right? Yeah. And more, I mean, as a serious point, like we do have a problem in football, which is very integrated in lots of ways with representation of South Asian population in the UK. And if doing this makes five kids think, that looks good, I might be welcome there too. What's the problem? Only connect, it doesn't, it doesn't hell it to anyone, it's just saying it's fine. And surely everybody wants people to integrate with each other, but this is just a tiny little thing that helps them. Sure, everyone knows it. I'll fix it. I mean, I may have been having this experience. You've been on a journey. I only have. I mean, you've been on a journey. You've been on a journey for too long, right? Everyone loves each other here, did they now? Yeah, I missed that. Anyway, yeah, you're absolutely right. And that'll do for part one, part two, we'll begin in Burnley. How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? How long has it been? We stare at for hours and hours. Yeah. And it gets grainy or ingrained in you as you get closer into the point where you're not sure it's actually an arm. But you know it belongs to Ashley Barnes. From all of this season I wasn't even aware that Ashley Barnes was still at Burnley or even playing football. And now you know. And now I feel I've seen far more of Ashley Barnes than I ever need to. I've seen, I've had my quarter of Ashley Barnes for a lifetime. I think the important thing, but it got to the city where I just didn't care whether the ball is history's arm or not. And I'm still not sure whether it did or not. I think it probably did. But if it takes five minutes to take you two days and you're still not sure, if it's taking five minutes to figure out probably getting the benefit of the dough. Who wants this? Who wants this? Lots of people wanted this. This is the game people wanted. Do you not care about rules, Max? Do the rules mean nothing? Can I trust you? If this is your attitude to rules? What I find interesting is that some of the most high profile journalists, broadcasters who were demanding of our, however many years ago, was introduced are now among its most vocal critics. Name names, Barry. Name names. Don't talk in the abstract. But they never, when they're now criticizing it, they never harryk back. You know, it's okay to change your mind. But at least let everyone know. You know, I really wanted this six years ago. Now I hate it. I do think they should provide that sort of background information. Well, I don't know what your journey's been. Mine was, my journey's been, I'm not sure. I'll see how it goes. I'm indifferent. I definitely don't want it. That's my being honest, being trustworthy. Yeah. It's absolutely fine to have no opinion. That's the thing you don't, you don't have to have an opinion. I've got one now. I don't want it. You have one now? Okay, good. I'm not to show myself. And I think it's got to do more with the laws themselves and the interpretation of the laws than with the actual varring. So there we go down this maze, this moral maze and legal maze. My first reaction, what I hate is the interruption. That's what I hate more than anything. You have to, by the way, salute the equanimity of Scott Parker after the game when he was asked about that because he could have used that as a means to, well, like Sean Dutch would have done, for example, to say, well, you know, the reason why we, in the end, we didn't take any pointers because of this ridiculous interpretation. But he said, no, offside is offside, handball is handball. Which I thought was remarkably fair, minded of him. In the spirit, I don't want either of those goals to be disallowed by me. No, the first ones ridiculous. The first ones absurd. I mean, there's no advantage in there. He's shoulder is offside. If you can't see it with the eye, that means that there's no advantage just because you can find a part of your body which is ridiculous. Like, that was a really brave... You could have called this shoulder from 20 yards out. Yeah, well, maybe. But it was a brave, inventive, creative moment of football in a game that's increasingly, you know, very tight and difficult. And it was really... It's a kind of ideological view that you're going to say, I'm going to disallow that. You can't just say, well, these are the rules, lived by the rules. You're taking a view that this is the way we're going to do it. And it's creeping. You know, there are going to be more. VAR is getting bigger. There's a meeting at the moment, isn't there, a VIFAB? They want to VAR attacking corners. For instance, if I was in the hacking team, you can revive that. Second yellow card. What happens in the meeting that closes the door again? I think VAR's going well, guys. Let's have some more. Let's have more. I mean, I was always... I was really anti-air to begin with, and then I tried to kind of get on board because some people who I... People I respected were like, no, no, this could be good. This is good. And now... I mean, I'm completely lovedite on it now. And can I just say the loveites are misrepresented. The ideas that you hate to technology. We don't want technology. Actually, the loveites were resisting mechanization that reduced the quality of the product and lost kind of artisanal skills that men with manbands and tattoos are currently trying to reinsert into our society everywhere to correct this. So the loveites actually had a point. They were saying, what we do is really good if you introduce these machines. It will be of a lower quality, but there'll be more of it. And so I'm very lovedite on... I don't know how you put it back in the box. I disagree with fully been one sense that I think part of the problem is the people who are administrating it. It's the same people. I mean, you just have a larger kind of canvas for your incompetence. And the... The way it's structured, the way that they feel they're being... I'm very sympathetic to them as well, because referees feel they're being constantly... Well, they are being constantly judged. But they're being judged from everywhere, from outside, from within. And that's why we have these ludicrous... Sorry, I probably misrepresentable, you say. Well, the referees I had in mind is the law setters, which is completely different. The referees have to do their job. And if they don't do their job properly, they lose their job. So they... They're just going to do their job very well. But I, Fab, I have a... It's, you know, in Fantino, and I'm not... I mean, I have a problem with him, but, you know, Kalina and Ellery and that, you know, whatever castle they're in, saying... How bald is going on out there? It's a... So if you... To pursue the ludicrous argument is... Is VAR basically to football what AI is to academic research? Well, yeah, I guess so. I mean, AI is another topic, isn't it? Yeah, I know, but it's a case of a technology going mad, and not actually offering what it's supposed to offer. Yeah, and people defending it. No, but I think AI is something that will... It's a product we're being sort of sold. Is this actually a Google search? AI VAR is on the way. There's absolutely no doubt about that. Just one thing about this game, because you were mentioning the one moment of imagination, there's one player I thought who shone in that game, and it's not the first time I've seen him do very, very well indeed. For Burnley, it's Hannibal. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, he's looking really good, doesn't he? He looks really, really wonderful. Some of his passing was just absolutely exquisite. Well, he's involved in two of the rules. Yeah, he's really aggressive and fearless. You know, he's great. He actually is now playing in a way that entirely justifies his hair. And his name being named after... Been called Hannibal here. He's 18, of course. Brentford a seventh. Keith Andrews just signed a new contract. Stay there, Keith. Look at what's happened to all the Brentford managers who've moved on. Liverpool beat West Ham five-two. One-sixth of the last seven. They were in a good run. Was this a not a very exciting five-two? You see five-two, Barry, you think, what a great game. But I sort of watched it thinking, I'm not sure how good this was. Well, we are obliged, of course, to point out that Liverpool did score three goals from Corners. The first three goals from Corners, which I think it made seven goals in a row that scored from set-pieces. Seven from nine, yes. So we have to say that, or ours fans will get upset. West Ham played well, but still got hammered. So that's, I suppose, decided that their XG was better than Liverpool's. But if you are conceding three goals from Corners, then it's very unlikely that you're going to get anything from the game. And while they did create several good chances, they didn't score enough of them. And, yeah, I'd agree, probably wasn't a very good five-two. I think what you were groping for there, man. Yes, figuratively. Was there, it felt like a game that happened in May, in the end of May, that you never remember. A five-two at the end of the season. Andy Carroll scored another kick. Someone's been sent off. No one will remember it next season. It was really strange. You felt like everything was slightly collapsing around it. Yeah. For West Ham, I mean, I'm looking at this in from a very spurs lens. And they have a tricky run. This is part of their tricky run, Philippe. Philippe and Sissy are home and Villa are away. Okay, Villa are fallen off a cliff, haven't they, actually. But... Tell me they'll get no points. What are you saying? Okay, deal to get no points. Perfect. Thank you. West Ham playing quite well, man. They are. Be worried. I think this was a blip. Jacob is confident. I'm just going to say that. No, I mean, I'll look. And from that game, I would add one thing which is... That was another demonstration of how good you go to kick. Oh, yes. And the fact that in France, this is not going a noticed. And that there are more and more people thinking he should actually be, obviously, on the plane. But not just that, he should actually start for France. And where would he... Down the middle. Down the middle with Bappe going back to the left hand side. And he feels fit because you know he's got some serious problems, fitness problems at the moment with his knee. Who's on the right, in that? Over you've got Dembele. You can put on the right. You can put on the right. I've heard of it. A certain Osman Dembele. Yeah. You may ask. It is a red wig and play on both sides. Yeah, exactly. Rubbish. And that's good as well. Rubbish. Kind of good, isn't it? It's not too bad. But the kitty came in the first school was just... Hmm. His balance is incredible, isn't it? He's a really intelligent player as well. I like him. At Newcastle, two, Everton, three. I wish it'd start for that save from Pickford. Oh, God. It is unbelievable. It's the moment of all... I think it might be the greatest bit of football of the weekend. Just the moment where I was like... Some people are saying it was actually sort of just a sort of normal save. It's an unbelievable save. It's the pace of the ball. I mean, you would have expected the hand to fly off, at least over the glove to fly and the ball to go in. It was incredible. And Pickford certainly made sure that we all noticed it was incredible. He needed very separate movements. He embodied three emojis all at once. The reason why it is maybe the most memorable moment is also because the strike is absolutely phenomenal. It's just beautiful. It's the kind of clean strike with the ball staying almost still and invading with such power. And it mattered, right? It was three-two at the time, wasn't it? Oh, yeah, yeah. It was right at the end. And obviously the thing with the celebration was that he'd been being told he was a Sunderland or whatever the fans behind the goal. The fact that he was so in that moment was really fun. He really is one of those people who's just out there, like he's just engaging with every moment. He is such a good goalkeeper. I really hope he stays at Everton forever, by the way, because it's really great the player that good stays at a club. A nice juxtaposition from that moment of skill, Barry, too. Barry's winner. You know, and many people getting in touch to say, you know, if you just need one to go in off your ass, it's great when a goal actually goes in off your ass. Yeah, and I think he was shoved in the build-up, wasn't he? So it wasn't actually his fall to his went in off his backside. I mean, Everton are crying out for a decent striker and if they had one, I mean, they must look at Dominic Calvert-Loon at Leeds, and go, hmm, maybe we should have offered him a new deal. But I'm not sure he'd be that much of an upgrade on what they have at the moment. Everton is doing really well. I mean, we all know I predicted they'd get relegated and they could qualify for Europe. And Newcastle are a bit of a mess on the domestic front, at least. I think when the Saudis took over, Newcastle fans had very high hopes and expectations, and I suspect they didn't expect to be behind Sondland in the Premier League table, because Sondland were a league one side at the time. At the end of Barry now, the top-scoring Barry in Everton history. He has six, Gareth Barry five, Barry Horn three, and Barry Reese two. So well done to him. The Lewis will get an assist for what he did, because if he doesn't push Barry, the ball is not scored. Actually, I think Tanali pushes Brantway before his header for the goal as well. That's two assists for Newcastle players. Lee says, what makes everyone think Spurs have too much to go down? Increasingly, I don't think everyone thinks that Lee. As Spurs found, we are the worst team in the league and are going down. I mean, they picked up a bit in the second half, but honestly, the apathy. The eagle tutors said we were not good. We lacked everything. Yes, everything. I mean, they are... They're having only feet left. The feet have been shot off completely. They're running on stumps. And those stumps are being shot off as well, they're being shot down to the knee. How much more shooting off can they do? Appointing... Sounds a bit like Monty Python. Yeah, well... Appointing eagle tutors on this, what everybody knows is a temporary contract and expecting disenfranchised players who have already sort of disrespected one manager out of a job to take this seriously. Is insane. He's making them just do sort of John Beck type army camps. Yeah, I know. I was told to someone who works for Spurs, who told me that... Well, this is just hearsay, but he's got the players are doing press ups. He's got them doing press ups. Like, what's press ups going to do? Is that really going to motivate this... To be fair, they... You know, everyone near Calvin Bassy needed to do some more press ups. But I tell my team his sons to do press ups. So the press ups are good, but I don't know. They also don't listen to me, and they're not on 300,000 pounds a week. But he's already distancing himself from the team. He's already thinking, what's my legacy here? I need to say that these players are weak, rubbish, and it's not my fault. Like, you've already two days in, got this guy cut in the barrackshoot chords and whatever the correct metaphor is, and leaping out of the back of the open cargo plane, like Tom Cruise, like it's Tom Cruise basically always doing, isn't he? Yeah, I think so. One of those things. It's a terrible, terrible piece of mismanagement. I still think that they'll get out of it. Everyone's saying that. No, no, no. It's not a kind of thing to say, oh, you're saying they're going to go. But I think I'm now going the other one saying, well, actually, there is a reason for that. The someone, you know, someone will score a goal somewhere. But who? There's no creativity at all. They can't pass it to each other. Yes, but it's probably going to go down as well. Sure. So it's three teams in it, and probably West Ham, four points behind it. Someone will rescue Spurs. I think it's a great story for Spurs to get relegated. It's probably the only interesting thing that could happen to Spurs at this stage, because it's an amazing piece of narrative that you build that stadium. And they'll be so bad in the championship. We're not so bad in it. We're not so bad in it. We're not trophy. Get into the Champions League and get relegated. It's an incredible story arc. I think in a way Spurs fans would kind of love it, and it's like a pairing back. At some point, you will think, why not? You know, we're still going to exist. There'll still be a talk of them at Spurs. I don't really like the way this thing is so burn it all down and see where the cards land. I kind of, in a way, it probably quite likes that, kind of just get rid of it. Or it's like a post-globalist view of, you still have a club. There'll still be a Spurs. It's fine. Rebuild that. It'll be the best Arsenal season ever. Yeah. Shadow and Frodo is not my game. No. Okay. He said, with a smile. It's a stunning game. I think Tudor has been hugely unimpressive so far. He's come in. He's done the usual thing of slagging off. Well, tacitly slagging off the previous head coach by criticising his players lack of fitness. Yesterday, he was blaming the referee. He's overseeing two games. Spurs lost them both. They should've lost more yesterday. That two-one scoreline flattered them immensely. Yeah, he's tried two different formations. Neither of them worked. And the player is very much like, looked like they think a relegation battle is beneath them. And that would be Mike Mingles. And I think they'll probably be okay, just because West Ham and Forest are slightly, slightly worse than them. I don't know if they are. Or if not, on the same level of badness, but with fewer boys. That's true. It's worth pointing out, a Wobby's finish was absolutely. That is the same. I was lovely, wasn't it? Absolutely. I love the way he's so casual when he's being good. He's not really casual. He just looks like he's sort of playing with a bag on his shoulder and sort of his... He could've been walking past it. Yeah, can I just be having a play? Yeah, yeah. But he's really... He's had a great time at full of him. He's a very good player. I wonder, we have to mention, because that's a boat bear of mine. Another one. The fact that Richard Wilson was not sent off. For strangling Bessie. Did you see Bessie's face from the 11th? He was laughing. And strangled Calvin Bessie. He's like a nice man. He's trying to strangle, I think. But Bessie was annoyed. As a spursman, I was like, let go of the ball, Calvin. But there's no reason why he should let go of the ball. The ball has been... There's a goal that's been scored. The ball belongs to the team, which has been scored against. Which is going to bring the ball back. I'm not sure. I think he belongs to the referee. I don't think he belongs to Calvin Bessie. He does hugging it like it's his child. He's basically saying, he's off man. And the reaction from Richard Wilson is totally... Well, Richard Wilson is... Also, can I say does Richard Wilson love us and the multi-ball system? Yeah. Has this not been told Richard Wilson about the multi-ball system? Well... That's the point here. Well, maybe not. But anyway... I think... I liked how Calvin was laughing about it as well. I can't remember what game it was. It was one... A goal was scored. It might have been the United Game yesterday. And one of the players, by way of celebration, kicked one of the multi-balls off a tee. And the ball-boy was like... You're so angry with him. That's my ball. All his hard work. He put it on that blend. You're right. All right, that'll do for Part 3. Part 3 will wrap up with the other games. Welcome to Part 3 of the Guardian Football Weekly. Man United 2, Palace 1. Man United coming back from behind. And actually, Barney, the Cessco header was brilliant, isn't it? Yes, he's a really good finisher. He scored some really... He's sort of old school. He scores goals that look like the goals Alan Shira would score. I'm not saying he's anything like Alan Shira, but it's a 90s goal. He scores quite a few of them. I'm really pleased for him. I like his prodigious leap. I like his gazelle-like quality of innocence. And I think he's just quite young and needs to get ready for it. And Man United will finish in the top four. Hmm. The red cards for La Croix. Some people wondering if, you know, the double jeopardy of a penalty on a foul. But if you're not going for the ball for leap, what do you think? That's where I'm really sitting on the fence. I thought that the penalty decision was soft. Yes. Yeah. Very, very soft. So it seems a bit harsh. Also, the ball is already a few yards away from him, but the keeper has on left his line. So probably according to the letter of the law correct, but it didn't feel right. And certainly changed the whole game. Six wins and a draw from seven games for Michael Carrick. It's almost... I think it's almost a bigger risk not to hire him if this carries on, Barry. I think if it carries on, it would be... I think it would be hard not to give him the job. I'd love to know what Ruben Emmer and Mix have all this. He's a holiday with Thomas Frank. So I'm going... No, I'm there. Ad saying, laughing my head off at the Man United game where the ref from Yorkshire announced the bad decision. They really do all come from the same place. It's so funny. Every time I say, after review, I'm like, hold on. Hold on. I still need to do that radio quiz where you play the ref's name, and you have to guess who it is, because they are all exactly the same. Will's beat Villa 2 now. The end of Villa's title race, according to Unai Emmery. And you know, Robeda was getting a tuna of this ballside for me. Yeah, so we've been talking about that for a few weeks now. Yeah, and you wonder what could have been the case if he had the chance to do something? I mean, it might be the fact that, you know, they don't have any fear whatsoever. They know that they're doomed. I mean, it would take an absolute miracle for them to get up of the bottom three, and therefore they play. And that's one thing. When you see the quality of some of their football, there is the argument that what we're saying is also because the quality has improved a lot in the Premier League. I think that's exhibit A would be wolves. Yes, because that's interesting, because you say often about teams, it was sort of 15th to 18th, or whatever. That's what's too good to be there. But then you say, well, who scored, isn't it? Yeah. Well, this is the extreme wealth of the Premier League. You create a situation where your 20th club is the kind of 30th richest club in the world, and the other side of what Philippe just said is looking at leagues in the rest of Europe, which have been completely denuded of talent and don't have proper title races and so on. I think Will's made more money, more TV money than Barcelona last season. It's not true from La Liga, yeah. You should compare it, yeah. Even with the way they organize things in Spain. If I'm Barcelona, I'm going direct to consumer. I'm going Barca Flix. It is fun though, because they're going down with the Gornhown swinging haymaker. There's a bloody and a few big noses on the way. You know, they've got that draw over there. It's on the beat, Villa. Yeah, all past them. And they've finished on, they've gone above Derby's 11 points now, and they've finished with four go-misses on the pitch. Excellent, which is great. He's got two buenos. They're also weird, so common themes in these teams down there, isn't it? Could we have a season where all three teams go down of him managed by Nuno Espirito Santo? And there's kind of an engine in the mix as well. There's a strange kind of synergy down there. Yeah, a Brighton Beat Forest 2-1, all the goals in the opening, 15 minutes. That's another good win for Brighton, two in a row, after there was some pressure on Herzelder. And Vito Pereira still with that, I win as Forest Boss. They have, looks better under him. Yeah, I thought they were desperately unlocking off to get something from the game against Liverpool, was it? And they're decent and off yesterday, but there's no point looking good if you're not getting points. And actually, I don't think they were particularly good yesterday. I did thoroughly deserve to lose that game, but I have to scrap that. Even as I was saying that, I was comfortable. You need the square brackets and subs, please, editor. I mean, the odds of us editing that out are slim. I would say that. This is exactly not when Boris Johnson wrote two articles about the EU barrier. Hold on, here's my nodding for us for brilliant. Yeah, they weren't good yesterday. They weren't unlocking against it, but they just need to get points on the board. Yeah, I wanted to do it. You wanted to have a quick word about Jared Gillett, the only non-Norrie. Not really. I had a word about it. Lots of people say that this was in the Bournemouth Sondland game. Yeah, Bournemouth Sondland, one-one, probably a fair result. Lots of people say the solution to the refereeing crisis, such as it is in the Premier League, is to bring in foreign referees. Jared Gillett is a foreign referee. His performance in that game between Bournemouth Sondland was pretty bad. Tell me, is the draw, then? It's quite lopsided, isn't it? PSG Chelsea, Galatasaray Liverpool, Real Madrid City, Atlanta, Bayern on one side, Newcastle Barça, Athleti Spurs, Bodo Sporting, and Levy Cootan Arson on the other. When the draw was made, I was in the talk's port office, and there's lots of Arsenal fans there, because there are lots of Arsenal fans everywhere, and they basically said, you might as well just give us the trophy now, after that draw. I mean, if Michel Rotator had been allowed just to make the draw and check all the balls and make it himself, that's pretty much what he would have come up with. I think if it had been around Madrid in that position, people would have said it was a corrupt draw. But it is a good draw, isn't it? Yes. A fit bar, which we'll do properly, soon, hearts one. It's a brilliant weekend for hearts, that the draw is perfect for them, and in fact, we could now have a two-horse race that is Motherwell and hearts, and it doesn't, it's the other city. It does involve them, you're right. Now, the use of committee, I've had kick for a range, is absolutely brilliant. And then, Real Rotator Heat, he got great stats for that penalty, because he gets two shots on target that were both, the penalty saved, then the rebound is saved by Jack Butler, and then he puts in the third. So, to get three shots on target, very good for his stats there. But yeah, we'll do it properly. Anyway, onto a run. Bryant is at this point, with everyone filled just a bit relieved if the World Cup was cancelled. So, over the weekend, there were US and Israeli missile strikes on a run. You probably all know this. The Iranian leader, Ayatollah Al-Khamani, was killed. There was a joint episode from today in focus, and Politics Weekly America, which we're going to detail on that, and that is that now, so you can listen to that. As a football weekly listener, we ask the question about what this means for the World Cup, Philippe. Because Iran said they might pull out of the World Cup. They're in a group with New Zealand, Belgium, and Egypt, all those games scheduled to play in the US. Yeah. Los Angeles and Seattle, yeah. So, if they do pull out, what happens? Nobody knows. Is the short and long of, we, because it's a question that, I and a few colleagues have been putting to FIFA, to ask them, you know, what if Iran just withdraws from the competition, and that doesn't seem to be anything in the regulations and the statutes, which says, okay, like, for example, if they had taken part in a playoff, the other team would automatically be qualified. In this particular case, they topped their group in front of those Pakistan, I believe. So, you would think, well, maybe it's Pakistan. But the way that the qualification worked in the Asian Confederation means that would be so unfair to all the other teams. So, there's absolutely nothing in place, and no comment from the time being, FIFA is satisfying itself with saying, we are closely monitoring the situation. And to be honest, the problem is not just Iran, but I mean, it has an impact, obviously, on football in the whole region. You will have seen that the Gulf States have suspended their domestic leagues, that we were supposed to have the finale SEMA, which is the intercontinental cup between Spain and Argentina taking place at the end of the month, well, in Qatar, and that's probably not going to happen if what we see in Iran carries on, which unfortunately, it might well do. So, at the moment, I think nobody knows, nobody has a clue of what is going to go on. I mean, many touched the President of the Iranian Federation, good friend of Janine Fontino, by the way, who had complimented him on his reelection to the top of the Iran FA, said basically the decision was in the hands of the people who are the head of sports, with the Ministry of Sports, basically, of Iran, and so basically the government. So, nobody knows what's going on. Sure. And then maybe regime change, and then maybe regime change. Absolutely. There's also... I mean, there's not going to be regime change. In that time. How is it possibly going to happen? Did you saw Donald Trump's absurd message calling on the people of Iran to throw themselves in front of the bullets of the... Yeah. ...I mean, ridiculous. We remember what happened after the First Gulf War, when he called on the Kurds to rise up events, Saddam Hussein, and they were slaughtered. I mean, he was speaking there to some distant historical narrative of how he can justify this. It was a ridiculous... I don't know. It feels ridiculous to talk about football, but we are a football podcast. But football has blood on its hands here. Genie and Fantina has... You know that the hat that Trump was wearing while he made that. Yeah. There's the same hat that Fantina was wearing at the Board of Peace meeting, just a different change. Lost his head off. It's a piece of Trump merchandise. He's literally selling merch while delivering a message to the people of Iran. This is the person football has aggressively aligned itself in a way you do not have to do that. You don't have to do it. There are no implications for Fantina. Not for the time being. Not for the time being, but he is the propaganda minister for someone who I... You know, you don't need me to describe that person. And he is winningly accepted that role. He did not have to do it. And he's dragging us all with him. And it is... From a purely sport point of view, utterly grotesque... But what do you think the consequences... The immediate consequences for Fantina was zero. Yes. But long... Will there ever be a... A come-up once for him from... Oh, there'll be a come-up once in the end for everyone. But it won't come because he's done something that's considered morally wrong. It will come because... A different faction decides this time to give him... Sure. And it is worth saying. You were saying in the WhatsApp group, you know, Iran's repressive regime has, of course, because football is part of society. Lots of footballers have people... Iran should have been kicked out of FIFA a long time ago. Banded by FIFA a long time ago. I mean, we're preparing something with Yosemar. Actually, one of the pieces that has caused me the most grief and I really mean that, literally, by a young Iranian journalist who has compiled the names of all the footballers, male and female, who've been killed by this awful regime. It was very, very hard work. And this has been happening for a long time. In fact, we think that just on 8th and 9th January, when the wheelchair was its highest, the regime killed enough footballers. And I mean, quite a high level footballers to have two teams on the pitch killed them. Footballers as young as 15 who were with, you know, the development team of some of the Iran Gulf pro league and so forth. So it is one of those where, I mean, your heart goes out to that country and the people there just don't deserve that. And as to in Fantino, people talked about the verdict, talk about the verdict of history. That verdict usually comes very, very late and too late, but it won't be a kind one. That's for sure. And I'd say, Barling, talk about football seems ridiculous. People questioning whether this World Cup will go ahead. Like, they always do. Yeah, it's not ridiculous, because football's forced itself into this conversation. Yeah. It's entirely right, because he's wearing a hat made by Trump, incorporated. So yeah, it is ridiculous, but it's also not, it's entirely understandable. I've probably weekly gear change to Barney's celebrity vaping. I don't know how to do that in a, it's meant to be a skilled way to get from one thing to another. I'm not sure I've managed it, but I mean, this was, this was really just a behind the scenes. All right. Glimps. Barry is obviously right now. There's a good chance to publicise Barry's charitable work that he does not like to talk. He does not like to talk. He does not like to talk. He hates it. Look at him now. He's actually squirming about. He's squirming about. But. He ran nine miles on Saturday. Yeah, he ran nine. Are you actually proud of him? And you can still, you can still sponsor Barry. You can still get behind him. You still get around Barry and his campaign single-handedly. Well, don't save the world. Actually, he said, well, donating thousands of pounds to Great Ormond Street. Stop my money. Yeah, no, but you're rallying people too. I know. I'm increasing your money. But Barry sent him. Stop backing away from this. Allow yourself to do something good. Okay. No, it's great. So you, but as part of this discussion, I question Barry on whether he had as a consequence, cut out all vices from his life. Which he delivered the line. The epic line, which I think he's just gone on speed dial in his pocket. No, I'm actually drinking a lot more. The benefit. I'm drinking more. Yeah. But he did say that he stopped smoking. At which point? I said, but you're still vaping, aren't you? Yeah, of course, of course. And I was able to reassure Barry that the other day, I went to a kind of PR company's drink. It was actually an amazing PR company. In their lobby, they have the drum from the cover of Sergeant Pepper's... All right. Yeah. It's really bizarre. Yeah. And there it was. So obviously I had a big bang on that and rolled it around a bit. Yeah, yeah. But I met at this due, the most famous health. I mean, like, just think through the roof. Name your most... Doctor... Doctor Hilary... What's his name? Clinton. Doctor Henry. That guy. Hilary. No, Hilary... Hilary Jones. Is he still alive? Is he still alive? Max. Doctor Hilary, well, I know, Doctor Hilary. Yeah, yeah. And the most famous... You said before the most famous person in the world. No, well, the most famous person, you would connect to celebrity vaping advice. Right. Yes. And he told me... vaping's absolutely fine. I'm massively underwhelmed by this. I was led to believe it. Yeah, I know. You were... I was talking about Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift. Yeah. But I mean... Doctor Hilary. No, he's... No, sorry. He is huge. Like, isn't... Is he? Well, I know who he is. Yeah, exactly. Martin says, did Max Barron everyone. My friend Victor's celebrating his 69th birthday on March the 2nd today. Victor has, as my much older and less handsome friend, I'll turn 50 this year, been a role model band-mate, great friend over the years, most importantly, introduced me to the joys and pain of football fandom and football weekly. We're both religious listeners. I'd love it if you could give a shoutout to Victor on or near his birthday. He's a huge Manchester United fan, season ticket holder to the Vermont Green in USL2. Who had a great round to the championship last year. He's such a good friend that he missed that last championship game because of a pre-arranged visit to see me and attend a Philadelphia Union friendly, a terrible mistake. I hope you'll consider wishing Victor a happy birthday. We're hoping to coordinate on a 70th birthday celebration trip across the pond. In 2020, the 70th as he matches United and a football weekly live show, which we haven't planned yet. Thanks for all you're doing, providing both humour and coverage of serious issues in the game, Martin. Would you like to give a shoutout? I have considered wishing Victor a happy 60th birthday. And I'm sorry that I'm not caught. Oh, why not? Dude, I mean that is made. There's a really big builder. Well, am I not tacitly wishing him a happy birthday by acknowledging the fact that it's his birthday? It's a side ways gone, sir. It is. That's what we are. I'll wish you a happy birthday, Victor. I hope you have a lovely day. producer Joel says there are alternative views on vaping. I'm sure. Anyway, there we are. That's all to be today. Thanks, everybody. Thank you, Barry. Thank you. Thank you, Barney. Thanks, Max. Thank you, Philip. Thank you, Max. Football Weekly is produced by Taya Papula. Our executive producer is Joel Grove. And Robin Cowan, we hosting on Wednesday. I'll be in mid-air. Thank you. Thank you.
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