European Structural Chasm & Locker Room Politics: Football Weekly Breakdown

This is the Guardian. Hello and welcome to the Guardian football weekly wins then for all the English sides in the Champions League. Last night, Manchester United defeated Sabah, their teams rise and their managers' story more interesting than the result. The previous night, an excellent comeback from Liverpool at home to Adleti and Arsenal Martin Erdogard keep on keeping on in Naples. Raffinia sits down, the final defence Michael Elise is good, no one's quite sure if the Fenerbahçe managers resigned or not, we'll round up all the Champions League stuff. A hard week for the Carabal Cup to get some air time, but Chelsea's six leads three will do it, and then to a Premier League preview including Manchester Derby. Plus some AOB, your questions, and that's today's Guardian football weekly. On the panel today, Barry Glendani, welcome. Hello Max. Hello Lars Sivitzen. Hello Max. And happy new season. Nathan Manuaher. Yeah, thank you very much. You're welcome. Good to see you Max. Good to be back. Oh, and you'll appear once again. That's how it feels. That's how it feels. I can take your hint. It's all good. It's a come and get me plea from Nathan. Guardian football yearly. Yeah. That's all good. Let's see. What we should do is just say this is the only one we do, Nathan. We just do one a year. Let's start then with Manchester United's win over Sabah, not because it was the most interesting game, but like it was yesterday and the other games were two days ago. Pretty. Barry, and you know, they couldn't win and they could lose, but they did win if that makes any sense. Yeah. I was intrigued to see how Sabah would do. There this year's team in the Champions League, who I'd never heard of. This was their ninth game in this season's competition that played three qualifying rounds and a playoff, which they got through. And I think the story about this game is probably all about their manager, a Lithuanian fellow called Valda Stambrauskas, who most people would probably know the story, but I know for anyone who doesn't, about 20 years ago, he appeared on the Lithuanian version of who wants to be a millionaire. And the story I read, he won a chunk of money that allowed him to move to England to pursue his dream of becoming a football coach. It turns out the chunk of money he won was less than a thousand pounds, but a lot of money in Lithuania at the time, but so he and his partner at the time, now wife and mother of his children, they moved to London, and this guy just seems like a real grafter while holding down a number of part-time jobs, gardening, bar work, cleaning floors, but also anything where he could earn a book to support his family. He was doing attending coaching conferences, doing voluntary work, as a football coach, at grassroots level, then he got a job with Manchester United Soccer School, I think, which paid him a wage, and all this time he was doing his certificates and diplomas and badges and whatnot. He left England in 2010 and has since managed in Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Croatia, again, Greece, Cyprus, Hungary, and now he's rocked up at Sabah in Azerbaijan. And last year he won the, it's quite a new team, I think he'll want to come into existence about nine or maybe nine years ago. He won the league and cop double with them in his first season and has now got them into the Champions League, league stage, which is a phenomenal achievement for him. And I'd say just reading the stories about him and how hard he works and how industrious he is, I'd say that will already have got the antenna twitching of clubs in England, you know, at lower level, league two, league one, certainly peaked my interest anyway. He seems like a very impressive guy. I think Sabah are also the first team from Azerbaijan to play in the Champions League, that aren't Carabag. So they're about 30 miles out north of Baku. I think they're going to have to play their home games in Baku, because their stadium isn't fit for purpose. But yeah, that was the story of this game and then they came, they gave it a bash, they could have scored two goals, missed two good chances, but United were just too good for them. But for this guy who had links to United and it was United's soccer school to give him his start as a professional coach, this must have been a great occasion for him. Yeah, I think he says he's looking forward to going to Arsenal as well, because he's studied on the Holloway Road. Yeah, it's an amazing story. I guess, and they're probably, I mean, not quite of this level, but quite, you know, the stories of people who managed to get into the game who don't have any background in the game. There are probably quite a few of those that we just don't know about. Lars, did you make anything of the Manchester United performance? Just that, like, when you're playing an underdog in the Champions League like this, you do have to be wary. They're not always going to be, be pushovers. But obviously, this is a team that's very inexperienced at this level and they didn't bowl them over from the first minutes, but they got a helping hand with the mistake for the really, early sort of, that they give away. And then once you get going, it's pretty, it was pretty easy for United and it kind of felt almost like a confidence building exercise for some of their forwards as the game progressed. There was some suggestion that character to take an off-grid of Fernandez and rest it in for the weekend. But I actually think when you're just kind of, this is still a group of players that I think are finding their feet together and for them to have 90 pretty comfortable minutes in the game that counts to work on their connections and combinations, I think was not necessarily a bad thing. When you said they're not quite this level, what does that mean when you've played nine games to qualify for this level? It's the thing we've seen. I'm a veteran of this watching Norwegian teams. There is a sort of, you can play TNS and Cups from Finland and teams like this in the qualifiers and even get through the final qualifiers, but then you get and you play some of these bigger teams and it's so brutal. It's like you have one sloppy loss of possession in your own half and you get to see it a little ago. It's like the margin for error is suddenly so difficult. And what we've seen, I mean, the greatest example and the reason again why you should, one of the reasons why we should always take these underdog seriously is what Buddha them to have done. But Buddha glimpses were able to have this campaign they had last season, having had multiple seasons in the conference league in the Europa League, having had quite a lot of European experience of dealing with these situations. And it is just really tough because you're used to playing at a level where you can make a little mistakes where you can, you know, and then you play teams that will punish you immediately. And that combined with the travel and the descriptionals and I feel like it's hard for teams of this caliber to come into this tournament and immediately do well with no runway. I thought your answer was excellent there, Lars. No, it was a good answer, but it's just like when we think about the Champions League, are we thinking about the top, the middle or the bottom of it because they're probably more teams like Sabra that will get the same amount of points throughout the season that also do kind of deserve to be there if that makes sense. That's all it was. Sure, sure. Then the other side, Bruno Fernandes is not coming off. Like Bruno Fernandes plays all the time for Manchester United, like across the years he's been there. He may be he's missing the equivalent of about three weeks worth of football. Like him being in rhythm is probably more important than trying to give him a rest before any particular game. I think he's proven to be incredibly robust and he's wise been one of the stars for them for like the last few years. So I think sometimes from the outside, people start to get a little bit soft and worried about things they don't need to worry about because these professionals, they do know what they're doing. I suppose what's hard is it's so hard to quantify because this is now and then in March, you know, and there's no who knows if you've played 30 games before March that you might do your hammy and you know. See, this is what I'm saying. If you're worried about March, don't play today, or tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after. Just wait till March. Well, the way my hips are, I can play about three times a year later and I do worry about it. And Liverpool have 30 then. I mean, I guess very had to be Alexis McAllister didn't it? Who won it after his? Johnny Lewis was quite funny on stage about this in Hackney saying, you know, he was saying, I'm sad. Ryan's got a new deal and Dominick's got a new deal. I want a new deal and I'm sad. I haven't got one. And then he banked one in from 25 yards. At least we've played English opposition seven times in in group or league phase. In the Champions League, they've never won. I thought this might be there a time to shine, but and despite taking the lead that it score, Alexis McAllister's, you know, pre pre champions league press conferences, even by the standards of football press conferences are incredibly boring. It's just everyone saying we're expecting a tough game. We respect our opponents, blah, blah, blah. But Alexis McAllister sort of rolled a bit of a grenade into the one before this game by voicing his sadness that he hadn't been offered a new deal, unlike his mates, Ryan and Dominick. But I think the fact of the matter is he didn't do an awful last season to earn one. He had a good world cup with the Argentina and has been playing well this season. I thought he was very good going forward in this game, driving driving the team forward, passing well and it took his goal brilliantly on what I believe is his weaker foot. But when everyone didn't have the ball, I thought he was running around a bit like a headless chicken. So he was good in attack, not so good in defense. I would argue. And that is actually a sort of problem for Liverpool's midfield, I guess, isn't it? That they are good in attack and not so good in defense. But I think this win is really important for Ariola. Yeah, I totally agree. And for him to be winning champions league games, as Liverpool manager will bring back a real strong feeling, especially against the side like Atlético, who I think they lost that the weekend. So they're not exactly in the best of shape. But the fact is it's still a let's go Madrid in the Champions League and you do what to start well. But I would say that the Macalister thing, I do find his words really interesting because do we know what question was asked of him that led to the answer? Does anybody know? Because sometimes I think the question is the interesting thing because otherwise it makes it seem like people are just making statements all the time. Alexis Macalister sits down and says, I am sad. I am sad that I don't have a new deal. He's got a new deal. He's got a new deal and I'm happy for my friends. They deserve it. But why not me? You know what I mean? There's a question that's come out there, which may have been a loaded question to bring out said response. And again, I don't know what it is. It could be the opposite. But yeah, for them to be able to score in that, to win in that way from Macalister to score in front of the cup and the passion the emotion you had after you scored it. I think in some ways, you probably said a lot more about where Liverpool are at now, where a player can talk about contracts that they don't have, but still have a lot of support from the fan base. And they still have a connection with them because previously, just from a fun perspective, you just mentioned something even slightly negative about the club and someone will turn on a player. But instead, you'd sort of wonder from a fan's side, whether they're looking at the club and seeing the likes of Kanate, Alexander Arnold, Salah, Van Dykes, all these people we went down to the last year of their deals. I wonder if Macalister is going to be the next person that's going to be doing that. And I take Barry's point that he wasn't great last year, Macalister. But neither was Graven Birch. So are they having like buyers remorse with that deal? Because Graven Birch wasn't great last year and this year is even like a guaranteed starter such in some of these games, possibly not. But yeah, I was actually happy for Macalister because the way you spoke, there are plenty of people who are like having this as their first language, you will not be able to make the points that he made in the money, which he made it because it was very nuanced. There was a lot of sadness, there was praise, there was emotion, didn't say I wanted to leave, said he's going to give everything that he can. And it was all the things you'd want to hear from somebody that's talking about quite a delicate issue for himself on the football club. So yeah, I'm happy for him. Lars, what did you make a barcode, baby? I thought that one chance he had when he had played a little sort of a little one, two with the words it was played through a normal score. I mean, he didn't make the finish, but that was for me like a light bulb moment because my hypothesis ever since Liverpool were linked to Barclay is he's a really good player because he's physical dynamic. He's quite direct runner. He can make runs ahead of the ball. He's fast. He's used to being kicked around in the French League. So I think the climatisation to the Premier League shouldn't be too difficult. But I also think having another sort of willing runner off the ball ahead of him, someone who will make those moves could really help you unlock some of what Florian Birch has to offer because I think being that connective player is harder if people are not making runs off the ball in front of you because it's the move that triggers the past, not the other way around. So I just think, yeah, that was a really promising thing that I'm definitely reading way too much into and he did miss the chance in the end. But sometimes you just see things on the pitch that your brain goes, yes, yes, that works. And I have a feeling that he will be very useful. Liverpool fans may look at it and think we've spent over 100 million on a winger when there's other parts of the team that remain completely unattended. But I do think he will add a lot to the balance of that attack. Great finish from Lorence. I think Kierkes was at full, I think. Well, well, well. So we've just spoken about say gaps in midfield and certainly was a gap when I think it was our whereas turned on it and it was breaking through. Certain things about defending. Like when there's no pressure on the ball, you kind of need to drop a bit and Van Dyke wasn't really dropping either. So Van Dyke and Kierkes from a communications standpoint haven't managed that situation well. I don't think person. I don't think Van Dyke would look at that and say he did the right thing. And then Kierkes again, he's been caught out. But that's usually where a center half will probably be a little bit deeper. So the run from your entay doesn't really turn out to be much. Are you worried about Van Dyke? Sort of worried about him. But you know, he's like, he's slowing down. I think you could make the case that like most players in the later years aren't as good as they were. But I think I'm not concerned about him now because he's very, very good. He's been very, very successful and some of the sort of like physical limitations that may come to some players that they get older. They haven't necessarily been ones which he sort of like had to hang his hat on to this point anyway. I think as long as he's still reading the game the same way that he does, that's great. But my only critique of him sometimes is a bit passive because his presence is enormous. But what use is that when if you give someone like half a yard or yard in front of you to be able to do whatever they want to do. I think as long as you may remain aggressive in terms of how he defends. But I think he'll still be you know, invaluable fall of a pool. But it's just as I say sometimes when he doesn't really affect the people around him and what they're trying to do. And that's sometimes what you do when like look, I've got this on under control. Everything's calm. Well, very quickly turns that to not be the case. Okay, then Napoli no last one. I mean, I was like, good, aren't they last? Like they are good. Like they're here next year 4.05. I mean, I don't have to have some chance in this, but like they just look so well put together. They really do. And I do think it's significant that they are adding. Like they still have this rock solid defensive units that they had last year and that they won the league on the basis of last year. But I can't be the only one thinking they look a little bit more fun and adventures going forward this year. Solis has made a positive impact after coming in and he made a positive impact after coming on here as well. But people just look a little bit fresher. Mucked another go is crucially looking like himself again. And I think that's an interesting thing. I'm not entirely sure how much we attribute the the reason to to why he was a little off color last season. He had a couple of injuries. So he didn't have that many like very long runs of being unfaithed. I think he was playing with some physical pain in in periods. But I also think Arsenal in the second half of the season in particular were quite defensive and conservative and weren't actually again coming back to the Virte Spada Barclay thing. They weren't there wasn't a lot of movement ahead of him which makes it hard for him to pick the kind of pass as he wants. Whatever the reason was he's looking very much back to his old self. The Norwegian national team coach Stolis Solbachin said after the charity shield game or the community shield game that he thinks it's important for Martin to feel like he is the focal point of things not necessarily from like he's not a big diva who demands to be the guy but I think it's important for him as the playmaker to feel connected with the team to feel like he understands the movements of the players around him and that he is at the hub of things and last season partially because of injury partially because as it was preferred occasionally he was a little bit in and out and he was more peripheral and I think he struggles then when that happens. Now he seems to be very much at the heart of things and he is looking very much back to his old self. Mickler of Texas said something interesting after the charity game which nobody seemed to have picked up on he was asked about an old guard and he made a comment to the effect oh he's settled now in his personal life and I just thought it was an odd thing to say I don't know if there was some turmoil in old guard's personal life last season and isn't absolutely none of mine or anyone else's business but I just thought it was an interesting thing Artecha said as far as this game was concerned I mean there wasn't one nail but it was so dominant it was an absolute hiding that gave Napoli despite the score like my only concerns for Arsenal and looking away win the first time out in the Champions League job done great but they missed a lot of chances and once again Victoria Yacarez was very unconvincing I thought he was over there. He's saying Arsenal do Arsenal need a striker what are you saying? I wouldn't like to say anything that controversial but do you know what well producer Tio obviously Arsenal man says that Martin Oedigard became a father I mean that excuses enemy yeah December 2024 he became a father for the first time so it's maybe it's that first 18 months of a fatherhood the word turmoil probably covers that yeah more than adequately added Oedigard Junior starts tantrumming and you know answering back at that age and then that's when his form falls off a cliff I did have a question that is related to that Nathan so we were I think we embarrassed we're joking about either one here or already about you know James Madison had twins and then another kid and then twins again right if you're a footballer and I can't remember Nathan when your kids were born or not but like do you sleep at home with babies the night before a game because like you will be absolutely exhausted the next I mean all right are you always in a hotel when you're at that level like the night before a game or like even before training like would you just say to Mrs. Nathan I've got to on the footballer so I can't I can't do anything in the night so that's a really good question because it allows me to be able to describe how everyone is ultimately quite different sure I've had some peers who immediately bring in like night 90s and stuff like that and their sleep schedule remains exactly the same I've got some say like myself who realized that like this is one of the best things in life to have created life and you just and worse and worse and worse yes yeah of course yeah and like I'm sharing that with my partner you know the rest of my family and so on but then for other people when it comes down to game time like game time to everything for them some players they've got such a specific routine that it will not be budged like it has to be this food at this time I've got to do this thing before bed and so on and I think having a child can at times be the ultimate disruptor because of the chaotic nature of all those everyone's probably seen before but again it just depends because like again maybe it's anecdotal from me but my first child was born in 2014 when I was at QPI in the April they were relegated in the May no no this was this was the this was the April while we were promoted to the Premier League oh wow okay and I think in that first month I scored the very next game and then at the end of that month I was a player of the month and I wasn't sleeping at all but I was on the high of like oh my god I've had my first child this is like the best thing ever but again it's deep anecdotal especially when it's yourself but every player is different and what I would say is stuff away from the field can affect people because not to say this is Martin's case because it's probably not the case to bring a child into the world when two of you have not been used to it before as well can offer its issues for some people sure and I have and I have seen that and some I'm not going to name names here but some people would arrive at the training ground extra early and leave extra late because of the cases that didn't want to be like there's always he was always lost on the training ground yeah that one doesn't obviously 100% yeah so it's different on on that note we've had a lot we it was one of the subplots of the great Norwegian World Cup run is that a lot of the players had had kids roughly the same time in the last two years coincidentally a lot of the players also took of golf took up golf recently right is there a connection there yeah I'm it's not for me to say yeah my golf concert been in a cupboard for five years I don't know the start different note I wrote I wrote I have something to strike on I wrote a piece about this about that dummy and this is a I was trying to posit the theory that tall skillful players look more beautiful than short skillful players yes so like the grace of a berbatoff the berbatoff they're habits right the berbatoff theory that it's it's it's harder for them to look beautiful because you know arms and legs are sort of compared to a messy or a maradona and obviously you watch messy maradona and it is beautiful to see but just when someone told and like language is always the word you use and I thought I just thought that habits dummy I just loved it so much I don't know buried you do you subscribe buried to this a tall beautiful player a hodl is more beautiful than a but what I'm happy to say about that yeah it's not something I've really talked about Max is it only seems because it what they're doing should be more difficult for a tall person just saying it looks kind of more balletic when it's maybe maybe you are so pro habits that you call him a tall elegant player yeah I think he's always been that like he's got like whatever you say about car habits this close control is pretty amazing and I I remember when he came like I watched him for levacus in a fair base and I trumpeted on some podcast or other that he's like if you put Dimitar berbatoff and Michal Balak in a blender and just and just gonna put it together into a human yeah it well there's that but if it works and then and then it would be roughly car habits now that prognosis did proceed to look a little bit silly because it did take car habits some time to win over the haters and losers but I do think the justice for Kai the Kai Harvest and the Kai Harvest truth erism movement has had quite a lot of indication yeah I think he is very very very very good yeah to piggyback on this yet so I do think he's very very good and I think he's the perfect player for us and look front because say for example the way that older guys play now the way you'll drift towards that right hand side you've got sack of they've got been white there but habits will come over as well and you start to see some of these really good one and two touch combinations taking the ball and the pressure and so on and this is why for me someone like a Yokarez doesn't really work with this Arsenal team very well because it has to look a bit different because Yokarez for whatever he's strengths are it's not being able to be that fluid outside of the main spot that he's in and again just my final point on this certain people who do commentary were throwing that fellow under the bus and then they tried to scrub the internet to make it seem like they've always thought he was good there was a point where Kai Harvest was playing against Liverpool I think three seasons ago possibly two and as he was running through towards goal I think he had a shot he was saved and sack of followed up and scored and somebody doing commentary on Super Sunday possibly from Manchester or Salford said Harvest was running through on goal you're looking him he probably didn't think he was going to score I didn't think he was going to score nobody believed he was going to score and I thought that is a very nasty thing to say fast forward a few months when Harvest has more of an influence and he says oh people've been so down and in this season part you know for me I've always thought he's been excellent I thought you'd die a baller call die a baller call for me for my Sky Sports package was nearly straight in the van how dare you all right that'll do for part one part two I will look back at the other Champions League games going to part two of the Guardian football wickley as I buy and five Bodo nil Lars and when I I didn't see the the highlights until after the game so I sort of was nil not half time I was thinking oh Bodo are in this but really it could have been five nil at half time couldn't it I mean Bion were astonishingly good in this game they were um the first half hour I would say Bodo named held on pretty well and then Bion had a couple of big chances um to towards the end of the half but it well I the the Bodo game manager he actually this one was actually quite angry after the game because of the nature of the collapse in the second half and I think Bodo are now at a stage where yes you look at the fixture list and you look at buying away and you're a team from Norway and you think well that's a little bit of a write-off let's go to Bavaria and enjoy the occasion and then take our points somewhere else but I do think after less season and the results they had against some pretty good teams they actually now go into these games thinking we we have done this before we've been able to hang with these teams before and we are expecting to show more of what we can do and having three shots over the course of 90 minutes and conceding five and getting your first choice center half sent off towards the end as well it's just not good so the coach was quite angry after the game and said that he he had he he ominously suggested that the last the second half had given him some answers about who can can be at this level and who can't so he was he was actually quite pissed and not to lose I don't think at all I think everyone accepts that that can happen but to genuinely play it off the park in a way that typically doesn't happen to bullet him to anymore yeah that is really interesting how your expectations change as a you know for a club and for a fan base and everything and and because I don't know I still have you know plucky bodo they're still in the sort of sabre level to me if we're allowed to say that and and they're clearly not I wanted Barry to spend a bit of time talking about the Alfonso Davis strike and I was thinking about that and then I at least say scored an even better goal as I will I don't know I just want to say they're all really good one of those open goal questions that has no answer yeah well Alisa's first goal was just beautiful play the ball out wide to Leonard Carroll received a return pass in right in the middle in Alisa territory and then just Alisa this shot into the top corner just the bend on it was beautiful his second goal was pretty good and yeah the Alfonso Davis strike was was also very good I concur on all counts we're agreed Harry Kane also got a nice header and yeah border glimps were blown away I most confess I only saw highlights of this game and I did notice that the border glimps goalkeeper had to go off at half time and I thought all his replacement must have had a shocker because he made some good the original keeper made some good saves and the first half but there wasn't a huge amount I think he could have done about any of those five in I think you're right bars done a bit fine on five one I mean Nathan the moment of the game is Rafini we were talking about the habit dummy but Rafini of his faint and these fine odd players like it's almost like synchronized swimming you know in the right they just slide past him it's so funny and you'll think in these are two good footballers who are just sliding somewhere else well let me make the case that the reason they slid is because they are good footballers but it's the problem is Rafini is better because after after the touch comes from Limini Mal firstly Rafini are playing as this number nine which he's been excellent at this to start this season I think it scored five goals in four of their five games he takes that first touch body does really well as he runs around the ball like he's going to shoot with his left foot I think it was the right footed player you run straight onto it but when you're seeing Rafini are probably twelve yards out from your goal on his left foot about to take a shot also you think whoa I've got a block this I have to block this and to make it worse there are two players who are very hungry to have an impact there you can't communicate I don't think I've ever heard someone say listen I'm going to slide you don't slide yeah yeah of course I'll go for the dummy yeah I'll tell you exactly yeah someone's got the gun behind the door and the other one's going in yeah exactly yeah you're on my right all this but yesterday both gone to do it and it just looked better because it was so wet you know I mean and then Rafini takes that touch sluss in the corner it's an incredible goal to start the start the game like Rafini has been astonishingly good for Barcelona these last few years and possibly Brazil could have maybe got a round or two further if Rafini was available not to say that they wouldn't have lost an all way but there's potential but yeah my only issue with that goal that game that moment is that in those conditions after you score you have to do a clinsman use a waste of an e-slide I think slightly less wet conditions an e-slide will always work but without one you've got to be just sliding ever on behind you rolling right into it but do us the question like is the clinsman celebration dead are we not going to see that anymore I don't know sometimes but there is a still image of those defenders and it what's funny is they're both because you know you can blockable in any way right side on whether they're literally both on their backs with their legs up in the air and their hands in the air it's like it's just honestly it's an amazing amazing image I think if they're going to put up a statue of Rafini at the camp new that should be it you're in the concourse Jeremiah is used in Sharers Venute cast in bronze they're probably still in the concourse we're Rafina just standing with you're having just sent them out for a hot dog it was incredible incredible yeah can you can you make a statue of someone against their will or would they have to sign off on this I don't need to pay them for like the image right yeah a lot a lot a lot of statues are so bad that you were just saying it's just a coincidence you know like you know you think it's you but Rafini did this in training to someone else yes that for those for those two though like it's kind of like a water defender would a player like to claim an on goal absolutely not so you wouldn't be like no no no no I'm not happy with you putting my image up there of when he sat me down it sort of draws the conversation back into the light so like let them do it and then just don't go back to Barcelona no you probably I mean Adi Amy scored a cracker there's a great ball I think of some pedry for Rafini's second Yamaal was great yes final defending was shocking yeah so so bad Yamaal's free kick like that went through the wall it was just and that kind of some fine or at all I didn't notice they brought on a substitute Shaquille van Percy who I'd never heard of before wow can we guess whose son he is or who he's named after I'm absolutely no idea you've got me stumped there Barry nice head up from Gabrielle Jesus as well PSG beat slow man but I just love a 6-1 Patrick Ferrant Torres his second was the best of them that haven't started league out that well do you want to and lost one there 13th after three games but you know all of that game was actually the slow driver one it was absolutely brilliant from Sula Man camera Cotsin from the left gets around Ilias Barani who yeah he won't want to statue that moment created and makes an angle for the shot and they absolutely wallops the shot pass they keep saffon of into the top corner from a pretty tight angle that that was the goal of the game yeah I think yeah coma be like the 4-1 and a lot of people talking about Como aren't they look great the way they were playing the sort of slicing through the light sheet defense yeah for sure just to go back on something you said as well I think it's significant it was your your story that was manager for slow van and he's the first African manager in the Champions League history wow in his yeah and you saw think oh wow wow and they're like oh wow because it's an African coach and how many can you name that a coach it's a good point I presume there would have been before yeah but you can't think who though you presume it but you can't of course yeah the other side so to Como so at Como this side that very much disrupts us within Syria with Seth Fabregas at their home the way the ownership group is the way that they play the staff was very different to sort of traditionally Italian teams in some ways which is probably a good thing given the relative decline of Italian football across the years not least of all with their national team and Fabregas is doing it his own way and now they are this very much force of Italian football I think two seasons ago they just about stayed up last season their fourth and to put into context how good a job he's done and how good a job did last season last season they had the best defensive record I believe in Syria and the second best attacking record behind intemola so that's who Como are and now they go into the Champions League making history because it's their first ever Champions League appearance planning into light music side that are basically the Champions League I think they're in the 10 of the last 11 years and they just wiped the floor making it seem like it's the easiest thing in the world I think Fabregas is certainly onto something a style of play that have his very entertaining and it's a big moment for them we shouldn't it's very easy to just forget like this is new for Como this is new for those fans this is new for a lot of those players involved for Como like this is new but they are a team that you know shouldn't be taken lightly and maybe you know they might make it to the sort of final knockout stages of the whole competition but there aren't going to be many teams that will enjoy playing against them because how they do it is so different to the way that Italian teams do it they're an odd one because they're they're I think the richest team in seriana basically the team is built on indonesian cigarette money and they're owned by a billionaire but well there's two brothers one of them died in March to indonesian brothers but yeah they made their fortune out of fags basically clove blended fags right which apparently every man over the age of eleven in indonesia smokes so the money is rolling in but they spend big they can pay better wages the most Italian sides are all Italian side but if you look at the squad there's very few players you recognize Trevor Chalibas they're in the heart of their defense but I was hugely impressed by Nicol Paz and a guy called Davis Cass and Martin Baterinna who was the man of the match he was brilliant in midfield for them so spending big but not on instantly recognizable big name players it's an interesting model so are they cigarettes that are made from clothes is that the it's tobacco blended with cloves I think they're called critics because cloves are the secret to a good bread source you know if you put enough clothes in the onion which seems like a more whole something to do with the clothes it does but you probably won't become a billionaire out of making bread source that's the you say that but you haven't tried that you're right okay hello dragons stop your product two lawns three I mean this last was a man love game wasn't it yeah this ended up being on my main screen yesterday because I that this was where the drama was in the second half and Slavia Proud went down to nine to nine men to ten men but still took the lead and and really this game never really looked to me like it was 10 versus 11 I thought Slavia Proud really held their own and made it made it a game a landscape an equalizer and then to the end it looked like Prague had miraculously found a winner from from Daniel Stern but then in extra time Florian Thovan a Newcastle United icon Florian Thovan with a towering header which is people who are familiar with Florian Thovan's game are not necessarily expecting a towering header but that's what they got within assist from a 16-year-old mezzan mezzalub who looks like a massive talent and you think this is a brilliant equalizer for for lawns and I think Slavia Proud maybe slightly overconfidently decided to go pushing for a winner even though they were down to ten and they went pushing for a winner and they were down the other end and trying to get it and then instead they got countered on 33-year-old right back getting up there for lawns Ruben Aguiar to make it 3-2 with a thundering finish really exciting football in Prague. Yeah well done everyone Fenerbahçe won Robert one I mean the big story here is that that's the Fenerbahçe manager of resigning in the press conference after the game and then Archie Brown who scored the equalizer was told about it in front of the Mike Wise by a press officer or someone and looked totally confused by the whole situation. Yeah I watched this game in its entirety it was one of the early kickoff so it was really cool actually second half was brilliant Roma went ahead Fenerbahçe equalized through Archie Brown he's left back but it was a ran-on through a through ball from mezzan Greenwood and his dink over the keeper was sensational I had to google Archie Brown me too a kid from Birmingham well he's 24 I think he's from Birmingham went to West Brom and Darabi academies and then he started playing senior professional football with Lausanne and then Gent and he's now at Fenerbahçe scored a wonderful goal but in the post match press conference Ishmael Cartal the Fenerbahçe head coach who's in his fourth stint as Fenerbahçe coach and was previously assistant coach and a player with them he announced he was resigning because he said the pressure from the fans was too much I mean they've won two and lost two of their opening games of the Turkish Super League season and Drew here I think he got hit by a bottle thrown from the stands during the game as well so he announced he was resigning then a reporter told Archie Brown in a post match interview asked him about the fact that he resigned he came as complete news to Archie who couldn't quite get his head what do you mean he's resigned and he said like when he said resigned as coach as he revived from the cribbage team what's happening you know but there is a club there's a twist say the club president subsequently was asked about and he said he refused to accept the resignation so at the time recording no one seems to know whether Ishmael Cartal is the Fenerbahçe manager or not I think the quote from the club president is great he was asked about whether a Cartal has said he would stay and the president said there is no need for him to say that he'll continue I am his senior I told him to continue and that's it so there's that resignation very much not accepted and got a can say place for Fenerbahçe I didn't know that till I saw him bursting through one midfield rather they've got quite the expendables vibe about them as many Turkish teams do like Ederson Akir Kante Archie so yeah so to Cartal the manager I think is interesting in his in his last stint at Fenerbahçe he finished second behind Galatasaray but he took 99 points he he racked up a 99 point season without winning the league because Galatasaray somehow put up 101 and then lost his job to to marineo they they had to leave the club so they could bring in marineo after putting up 99 points only for marineo to also finish second with 84 points and now here he is back Cartal I guess with some points to prove that yeah I mean that's the point he wants to he wants to not prove those points he's very much wants to leave so I'm not back with our points to prove I wins for Stuttgart over by King Sporting over Galatasaray and PSV Dream One of Peace as well then to the Carabao Cup Chelsea six leads three I don't know made him how much of this you have watched but like fair play to both these sides for you know trying to get the Carabao Cup I mentioned when everything else was happening yeah I was I was doing match of the day when that game was on and it was in the smallest screen right in the top of like the big you got it yeah everyone was like oh there's another goal there's another goal oh there's another goal oh there's another goal and it just kept coming and kept coming and kept coming and and he thought wow that's that's very very impressive and to add to it you know that was the semi-final of the FA Cup last season as well and I think there were lots of leads fans who were disappointed with how that game went because at the time a few people planted them as maybe favorites in that game so here's a light chance of redemption on a midweek traveling down to London Chelsea lead it's a rivalry for you know at least one of those sides anyway and you tune a lot for leads and Chelsea like no no no no let's let's not do that cold parmer in particular and the way that it goes is is incredible and I think those players are in a really unique position to where like when a manager wants to analyse a game afterwards there's a manager that's conceded six that's like what what's just gone on there especially after having scored three and vice versa on the other side you can't really take a positive from the game beyond the fact that you went through because there's so many issues with that and to go to Javier Lanzo as the Chelsea coach when he won the league with Levacus in Germany a lot of that was built around the defence country to what some people think they can see the 24 goals in 34 games I believe it was and now it's multiple goals every single match for as much as like all cold parmer Morgan Rodgers shall Pedro Netto all this stuff I can't help but feel as much as Javier Lanzo that's like going to be pulling his hair out very very soon that you know his team's having to score so many goals to win games of football I was always nicely Danny well back scoring for anyone isn't it so nice to see him get a couple and even though I think Nate him has said I can't do this cold parmer netto Morgan Rodgers all that it's really exciting isn't it anyway I won't have to Chelsea got through that and that'll do for part two part three we'll look into the Premier League weekend welcome to part three of the Guardian football week clear so look game of the weekend is the Manchester Derby is it oh maybe it isn't what do you think it is sorry I'm I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm 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