Ryan Bailey on Total Soccer Show: "Newcastle have lost their three best players [Gordon, Guimarães, Tonali] and they'...

Welcome to the Total Soccer Show and our fourth and final part of our Premier League Previews in which we get to discuss Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Tottenham. Let's go. My name's Ryan Bailey. Join me today. Taylor Rockwells here. Hi, Taylor. How are you? I am well-riding Bailey. Credit to Johnny and Fantino and FIFA for making a 20 team Premier League preview seem like a breeze compared to our 40 team World Cup previews soon to be 60-14. That's perspective for you. That's so true. Thanks, Giannis. What we're saying? We appreciate it. Ryan now officially supports him again in his cast's vote behind him. Oh, right. So, this is shifted from you, big appreciative of him to me. Got it. Got it. Very good. Yeah, very good. You should be a politician. That burden off as much as I can. Indeed. Hi, Graham Ruffin. How are you? I'm good. I'm looking forward to previewing Manchester United on this episode in front of a Manchester United fan. It's all good. It'll come back around when Taylor's previews and Sterling Albion and our Scottish League 2 previews, which I presume we're doing at some point. I must have missed that. They're on TSS plus plus plus plus plus plus minus ESPN, the Ocho, but total soccer show. Yeah, and also we did David June when the Scottish season started. That's right. Yeah, thanks very good. Joe, Larry, how are you? You would be ready to tell us about nothing and forest and such? Oh, absolutely. I am. It is wild Taylor. I've spent longer than I should thinking about how we could preview a 60-14 World Cup. This is what FIFA's doing to me. They're keeping me up at night. Actually, I sleep like a baby. That's not true. But I do think about it sometimes during the day and I worry a little bit. I do worry, guys. I worry. We should probably start now, really. Yeah, that's so true. What we can do, Morocco, for sure. The thing is that 20-30 World Cup is only going to be like calf teams and a few Asian teams, so I guess we'll even get 64. We've got FIFA heavy. Let's pivot away from that. When I got to the end of the list of Premier League teams with previewing this season, Tottenham at the bottom. Tottenham. Only alphabetical Taylor. Let's not jump to conclusions. It gave me an idea to ask you guys, when was the last time Tottenham will alphabetically last in the league? Do you know what I think? Graham and I talked about this at some point, like, off-air. There was a period when there was like six W teams in the Premier League, and now to have none, I honestly cannot remember right. I have no idea. West Ham is one obvious W. Who are the other W's? Well, West Ham's Brawl. Well, of course. Yeah, West Brawl. We will do Watford. We're going to do Watford. Yeah, we're going to do Watford. I'm going to say the last time Ryan was 2008. I'm going to say some trick question, and it's never happened before. Yes, Graham got the answer. Yes, there's always been a W's club in the Premier League. West Ham West Brawl, we're going all the best we've mentioned. So there you go. That might be my favorite stat of any stats or foreign any of these previews. That is, that's genuinely shocking answer. Thank you, right. It is though, but just to talk to the bottom, it threw me for a second, a T team being bottom alphabetically. I'm hung up on this. I shouldn't be. Let's move on. It's not just proof of the big Tottenham agenda. They were like, Tottenham have finished 17th the last couple of scenes. We need to help them out. The only way is up for them to be 20th in the table now. That's right. That's right. That's quite literally true. The only way is up for Tottenham at this point. Very good. We're going to get to them. Taylor's going to talk about them later on. Before we get there, patreon.com slash total soccer show is our bonus feed. It's the best way to support us. Lots of bonus episodes. If you are hastin yourself and check it out, you'll see that we're doing some predictions. We're doing a Premier League predictions episode on the main feed on Friday here. We're going to compliment that on the bonus feed with some predictions outside of the Premier League for this coming European season. It's a join us then, patreon.com. Yeah. Sorry, just getting in early. Was that your sneezing word? That's too bad. That's too bad. That's too already. Good night. Patreon.com slash total soccer show for our bonus content. Thank you very much to everybody who supports us there. All right. Let's get to it. Graham, you're up. It's Manchester United. Let's hear how they're going to do. I feel like United fans are feeling quite bullish about this season. How about you? They were until they were until many United like hadn't made enough signings and then everybody, as of like two days ago, was like, that's it. The seasons lost. They're going to be awful. Oh, Baleba. Okay. Never mind. We're winning the league again. It feels very emotional over Manchester United. And you're a believer. Believe it. Believe it. That's the way. If you were down for Ryan, is that you do you feel good? I could have executed it better. That's right. No, come back stronger tomorrow. No worries. Yeah. Next. I mean, my United fans have more reason than usual to be believers because actually there's there's not been that much to criticism. Criticism for recently because last season finished on a very positive note, right? They finished thirds in the Premier League table despite getting rid of Rubin Amran as their manager halfway through the season when he dared to club to fire him. And they did, which is still one of my favorite moments of last season in the Premier League. Amran's tenure was a disaster. The worst manager of the post-Fergson era, which is saying something, United results were poor. Their performance is even worse. It was a period defined by complete confusion where Amran did his best to shoehorn a team into a shape and approach and an approach that they never suited. So when comes Michael Carrick as interim manager and along with assistant Steve Holland, who people remember from working alongside Gads Southgate with the England set up, the two of them, they simplified Manchester United's game. They played players in their proper position. I know shotcorer, what a revelation. I don't think any of it was revolutionary, but all of a sudden Manchester United started stringing results together. And in fact, from Carrick's appointment until the end of the season, no team in the Premier League won more points than Manchester United. The interesting thing is that a lot of their underlying numbers stayed the same. So that is something to keep an eye on. But I watched a lot of Manchester United in this period. A lot of Manchester United does in general last season because they weren't in Europe, they kept on putting them on these Monday night games when there's nothing else. So I watched loads of Manchester United last year and they were clearly more comfortable. There was, despite what the underlying statistics say, the I test improved that they were a better team after Aberdeen left and Carrick came in. It helped that they played just four to games last season, which is the fewest that they could have played. They went out early in both cups, and they didn't have any European soccer, as I said. So that helped Carrick set up his team from week to week. So that will be very different this season because they are back in the Champions League. It has been a relatively quiet summer so far, which I will caveat in a little bit. In terms of outgoing, Casamero is the most significant player to leave, and it was funny because it seemed like Manchester United were desperate for him to leave until he said he was leaving, and then he became one of the best Asian footballers in the league and became the Casamero who played for Real Madrid. So he has left that a big hole to fill in the middle of this team. That has been the focus of the summer business until now. Andrew Santos has come in from Chelsea. Yuri Telemens was a surprise signing from Ashen Villa. I think we all know what Yuri Telemens offers, and for £35 million, even at £29, I think that could be a really good volume move. Santos is a bit more of an unknown, but he has been really impressive in preseason, and the Metin, I was listening to the talk of the Devils podcast, and the Metin called him the player of preseason for Manchester United. And I think the main thing that has caught the eye is his willingness to play forward, which is something that Manchester United have lacked in that deep-lying midfield double pivot. It is very likely that Manchester United will make at least one more signing, and until a few hours before we started recording, it seemed like there was some internal debate over which position to target. Everyone thought it was going to be a third-century midfielder, then Mason Mount made a really good impression in a deeper role in preseason, but he can't stay fit. That's the Mason Mount thing, and he has already gone down with an injury, and we'll miss this first game of the season. So that is maybe Force Manchester United's hand a little bit. They've also been linked with Louis Hall. I think a new left back would be very useful, because counting on Luke Shaw to play twice a week has not worked out in the past from Manchester United, but Newcastle don't want to sell yet another key player, so that could be difficult to get done. A left-winger could be another priority, but Marcus Rashford has returned from Barcelona, and it's now training and playing again. So that was the debate up until Wednesday morning when David Ornstein dropped an Ornstein bomb that Carlos Belieba has previously referenced. It's close to joining, and with that signing, I think I really like United's midfield rebuild. It's £60 million, plus £5 million in add-ons for Belieba, which is great value considering Brighton White. A hundred million for him last season should mention he had a pretty poor 25-26 campaign for Brighton, but Minority are biting the dip. The talent is clearly there. He has the legs that Manchester United needs, not to give ourselves too much credit, but Joe, you and I, when I think we discussed what might need for that third-century midfielder, we said the needed legs, and I'm pretty sure Carlos Belieba's name came up in that discussion. So this makes a lot of sense, and so for roughly £150 million, £145 million to be specific, Manchester United have got Santos, Telemens and Belieba. In this inflated market, we're basically that is the price of an LA Anderson, not far off, or a Morgan Rogers, and so I think that seems like pretty good value if they get that Belieba deal done quickly. They'll give themselves two weeks, I guess, to have a cracket loose hole and see if that can be done. On the manager, as I mentioned, Michael Carrick was interim manager for the second half of the last season, has now been made the permanent manager. I think this season is going to be completely different for him with European soccer, with a squad that's still despite those signings doesn't have a whole lot of depth, but there is no denying that Michael Carrick has made a really good impression as much as stated manager. One of the things I like about him and it's a vibes thing on Michael Carrick, but one of the things I like about him is he has this very calming personality, and it is in stark contrast to Amran who got wound up by everything, and I'm now working off this theory that there are certain clubs where having a manager who adds fuel to the fire and press conferences and just everything that they do is detrimental. Amran did that. Carrick does the complete opposite. He's been in this job for like seven months now. I don't think he's had a single notable thing or headline where they think, and he gives the media nothing, and it reminds me kind of purely on his media persona, right, make that separation, but it reminds me of like Ancelotti or Zadan, at Real Madrid in that respect. And so I like that. I think he's a much more of an arm around the shoulder manager to Amran, and it seems like this squad has responded well to that. The style of play that Carrick has used has been a bit of a hybrid approach because United have had more control of games in it at a possession because they pushed their midfielders closer together. That was one of the things where Amran was the spaces were just so huge. And so essentially by ditching the back three, they've added another body into the center of the pitch. But United, they still play on the counterattack and then quick transition, and that's suited them in the players that they have. So it'll be interesting to see if Carrick makes any changes there. My net have been an effective counter attacking team in the post-Ferricks and age before. That's what they wear under social. And as soon as he tried to turn the dial to be more kind of possession-oriented things fell apart. So I'm interested to see if Carrick makes that same mistake or decides to double down on this approach. In terms of key players, there is nobody more key to Manchester United or maybe any other team in the Premier League than Bruno Fernandez, who was player of the year in the Premier League last season. Nine goals and a record 21 assists for him in 3,000 league minutes, which is a brilliant return for a player who played in a deeper role for half of the season under Rubin Amran. Imagine what his numbers would have been if he'd played as a number 10 for the full season. But everyone knows how good Fernandez is. There's a bit chat around him right now as we're recording with interest from Galatasaray. Seems like Manchester United, it seems like the likely outcome of that is Manchester are going to put them on another new contract to keep them at the club. Also Fernandez has had huge offers in the past and he's turned them down. So it seems like he does genuinely want to stick it out in Manchester United. Next to Fernandez in the midfield, Kobe Manu was brought in from the cold by Carrick. Someone who inexplicably was sidelined by Rubin Amran. I think he's really important to giving United cohesion through the middle. Kunia and Emboemo were both really productive in the forward line last season. Sesco also grew into the campaign. Keep in mind all three of those were new signings for United last season. They all bedded in relatively quickly. I think with Sesco, Carrick has done a good job of keeping some of the pressure off him as the number nine while also developing him getting more out of him. So I really like that if they can stay fit. I really like that forward line of Kunia and Emboemo and Sesco. And United even have players like Ahmad Diallo as an option. Marcus Rashford. There's obviously a big question mark over him, but we know what he is capable of. So I think there are worse. There are teams in this league. They're in worse attacking shape than Manchester. They do have some good options. Luke Shaw mentioned him. He played more minutes than any other United player last season. And he did have a good season, but we all know what his fitness record is like. So I don't know if he'll be able to replicate that this year. Harry McGuire was another player who was brought back in by Carrick out of the cold. He finished the season strongly, but the final key player I'm going to highlight is Seni Lamons, who I think was arguably the signing of the certainly the one of the best value signings in the Premier League last season. He was an unknown. I certainly hadn't heard of him when he came in from Antwerp to be their starting goalkeeper last season. And he was tremendous. The underlying stats back that up has a calming presence. Just seems like a top level goalkeeper and all. Despite that mistake he made at the World Cup for Belgium is a top level goalkeeper in the making. I don't think my net would have finished third last season without Seni Lamons. So he's a very important player. And to finish off with my VSP, I am going to predict. I've been quite positive about Manchester United, but I think the demands of Europe and having more games is going to be a real test for them this year. And so I'm actually going to go a little bit negative with my VSP. I'm going to predict that Manchester United have a 1 percentage of less than 30% in games immediately after Champions League matches this season. I worry for them that they're not going to have the depth to handle the number of games they'll have to play this season. You're looking at what 50 over 50% to really have like a strong season. So that is quite a dip below 30%. I think we're going to see a bit of a trend in that respect. Graham, if it isn't, Luke Shaw, because that is an area that I am really concerned about. Like who are the most viable options to deputize in your opinion? Yeah, so my net have a couple of fullbacks who are most comfortable on the right side, but can play on the left side. So Diogo Dallo can play on the left side. Ms. Raway is another one who has versatility across the back line. The young player that there's been quite a bit of hype around in preseason as a player called Harry Amass. Now, Laurie Wettwell, when I listen to the talk of the devil's podcast, suggested that Amass might be one of the players that's moved on. There's some interest from the bottom half of the Premier League and from the top half of the championship in him. They could maybe raise like 10 million plus from selling him. But if it came to it and they can't get a deal done for Hall and Newcastle just simply don't want to sell another key player in this window, it might be the case that Harry Amass becomes the deputy to Luke Shaw. And I think that is something we're going to see from Karik as Manchester City manager is Ruben Amman had a very complicated relationship with the youth academy at Manchester. And I think Michael Karik is going to be giving his background is going to be much more willing to use players like Harry Amass. Shay Lacey is another one I've seen how his name mentioned in preseason. He's a winger and so there might be some minutes for him. JJ Gabriel, who's 15 years old, so maybe a season or two too early for him. But it does seem like Manchester City's academy might have a bit more of a moment in the spotlight this season. I would very much enjoy that because I don't think the options you mentioned plus I guess Patrick Dorgu could be there as well. I don't think any of that have included me. Although I don't know what he is. It can make me a forward player. But yeah, I forgot. But I think that's the point, right? Is that like they're not going to give you like lockdown defensive contributions. They're not going to be overly focused on the defensive side of things necessarily. So maybe that is academy players like giving a run out and see how they do that has been more excited. Thank you, Graham. Graham, I wanted to ask you just just quick gut gut check. Doesn't need to be entirely accurate. When is the last time Manchester United had to squad this good? And Taylor, you can answer this question too, if you like. And the Marineo seasons like 2016, 2017, I would say it was the last time I felt that's good a bit. My chase needs that feel ballpark right to you, Taylor, like they're about. I think so, because it's also just been so long since they had a manager that like really seemed like he actually did have buy in like it probably is so shy to Graham's point. So it feels like it's been a while since they had like the manager there with the talent and players behind them. So I think Graham's numbers. Yeah, probably pretty accurate. I think I think I got great. I'm just feeling to something, but yeah. Oh, no, you go first then. I just wanted to add, I do think Michael Karek is positioned himself so delightfully and all this has made. I mean, the narrative boost of being the one to follow Amoram is just incredible. Like you could be a silent bag of rocks and you would be regarded more highly than Rubin Amoramam at Manchester United. Like already checking that box. And then you get to the fact that this is the most competent Manchester United squad in a decade. Like it's so clearly better than any squad that any of the recent managers have had these coaches come through. We say they're rubbish and they move on. Well, the reality is the squad wasn't any good. And now the squad is quite good. Really? Like I don't think any of us would be shocked if Manchester United were hanging roughly around the title conversation. Yeah, not say that they're favorites by any stretch of imagination. They're not. I don't need they're going to win it. I think it's more likely they finished fifth than they finished second probably somewhere. But still, this is a much obviously better team than it's been in so long. And I just can already feel the narrative of all character genius character genius. This that sure, I'm not saying he's he's not a good coach. I'm sure he's a fine coach. Yeah, but just the fact that they have so systematically improved the squad window by window over the last I don't know three or four windows now. It is really encouraging if I was a Manchester United team. Yeah, and I don't think there's any doubt that off the field like in a front office sense, they are operating much better now than at any point since Ferguson left. Like even the way they're doing deals like one of my favorite things. I've spoken to you guys off air about this. One of my favorite things about the summer has been the Manchester United Ornstein bomb where they are doing deals behind closed doors like how different is that because even when my head have done deals in the past. It's been like three months of stories and rumors and reporting and eventually they get the deal done. The way they've signed Santos telemins and it seems like belieba now has been it's dropped out of the air and the deal is done in four eight hours. Like that's such a vast difference to the way that Manchester United have operated in the past. So I look, I don't know. I'm worried about the depth. I'm worried about the extra matches. I still as much as I was positive a bit carrot last season. There's still a question mark over Michael Carrick. Things could fall apart this season for them quite feasibly, but I'm so much more positive about them as a club in the way they're being operated. Yeah, I think like to bring it home because I agree with all of that. I think there are still obvious areas of need and potential vulnerability, but I look at like Arsenal and the way they obviously spend a ton of money, have a ton of talent, have a lot of depth. But when they bring through young players, it therefore feels a bit more like, okay, this kid has like proven himself in training, has justified the selection. Maybe it is an injury crisis. Maybe it is a suspension or something that gets them in there, but there's a feeling that this is like a natural inclusion versus a desperation inclusion. And Manchester United for so long had that idea of playing bringing through Academy players in like, maybe less important games, but it felt like, okay, this is a kid who maybe has proved it, maybe has shown something, maybe has shown that spark. And in recent seasons, it's felt more like, let's plug holes with whatever name we can find, and we'll figure it out. And if there is an Academy player playing, it feels more like a crisis than it does a planned aspect of things. And so in that way, having some level of like, yeah, we're going to try this and see how it goes feels more intentional. It feels more representative of that, like, simplified stripped down approach that Karek has brought. Excellent stuff. Very good. And yes, you're right, Graham. Business does seem to be done much better. I mean, United, like that Believer deal, which they were publicly doing last year, they wrapped that up in place. The thing is they bought to the price, right? And that's a important part of the process. Like Manchester City and the past would have just paid that money, whereas they've come back a year later and they're going to get, it seems like they're going to get them for $60 million. So I still think that's proof of how they've improved. That they were not linked with Venetius is to me a huge sign of the changing of the types. That's all Chelsea. That's all other clubs in England. That is progress in the sense that a one-away Madrid player wasn't using Manchester United as leverage. Is that a good thing? Well, to be used as leverage is not a great thing. If they actually are going to sign Venetian Junior, that's probably never a discussion. But yeah, it's just too many who did it early in the when or when, but we won't mention now. Very good. Oh, maybe there's a new Premier League benchmarks for leveraging your deal, it seems. Man United there, thank you very much. Let's take a quick break when we come back. We've got Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Tottenham. Join us then. Total soccer show, welcome back to our Premier League previews. It's time to head to the Northeast and talk about Newcastle United who are at home to Liverpool on Sunday to kick off their campaign, evoking a classic Premier League fixture of Yonder. Very good stuff. So what did Newcastle do last season? Less than expected. I think it's the short answer there. They finished in 12. They fell away in the second half of the season for short. They were fifth in January with Newcastle. They only got 17 more points there after. There's a stat for you Graham. Yeah, only 14 wins all season as well. So to clarify, one of the richest teams in all of sports on paper at the very least had a bit of a dip last season and finished low. They would expect it would be expected. And of course, their Champions League campaign ended at the round of 16 level out to Barcelona with just the casual seven to loss at the new camp. A bit of a slip, I would suggest for a team that qualified for two to last three Champions League seasons. They won the league cup two seasons before that. So last season a little bit underwhelming. Of course, last season was under Eddie Howe who is no more. It was under top goal scorer and all competitions. Anthony Gordon who is no more and top league goalscorer Bruno Gamarish who is no more. It's a new era ahead for Newcastle United. So to look at what they've done over the summer, they've evoked concern is probably the short way of putting it out. I would say but they have spent quite a bit of money on quite a few players as I'm on a Torre the Ivorin left wing has come in from Hoffenheim for 42 million. He's going to bring some pace and directness. I suppose effectively an Anthony Gordon replacement there. So that's in a very exciting signing for Newcastle. In the centre of the park, they've got Sean Stewart from Iaxx, excuse me, and a Ludgy Bamba from Monaco. I suppose they're the Sandra Janali and Bruno Gamarish fillings, but obviously different profiles. Their profiles are not as good as soccer players, but it's less clear if they're going to have the same level of midfield control. This season, I suppose, they've also got Omar Dejitch in from Benfica for nearly 30 million. He's a right back. A couple of goalkeepers as well. It's not often you see two big money goalkeepers signed by a team in the same window. Lucas Horacek from Braga and Rems, Yuan, Yuan coming in over 40 million spent on two goalkeepers. As far as I can see, Nick Pope still has the number one ship. I'm not sure he's going to be number one between them. And the goalkeeper that they've wanted for the last couple years, joined another team, Jim's Trafford. So, yeah, scary gun. Cool, cool, cool, cool. Yeah, very good. So, yeah, lost Anthony Gordon, Bruno Gamarish, Sandra Narin, they've lost their three best players, and they spent a lot on unproven talent at this level. Proven talent, of course. I mean, Bumber and Torif played in the Champions League as teenagers. It's a gamble, but the rationale is that this is a young, moldable team of players for the long term and for their new manager. And they're going to have no European campaigns as well. That's going to really help them on to their manager, their new manager, Matthias Yosler, a very progressive manager, German previously at Allalee in Saudi Arabia. God, his titles, I should say, I'll be Southburg before that one, two austriot Buddhist league titles there. This is by far his biggest gig. Looking at everything here, I've outnaped so far. I'm not saying they're heading in the wrong direction, but I'm not sure it feels like the correct direction, but I can see the rationale that's going on here. There's still a strong foundation in the team. I think that the central defense, he's where it strength is, clearly, spent bottom and dam burn, I'm out to all solid. I think there's a strength in the base there. And I can see what they're going for with these signings and with Yosler in charge. He, quote from him, he wants to play front footed, intense, aggressive, and of course, successful soccer. Don't worry, everybody. Don't worry. You want to play successful soccer. So he's got it nailed there. We want to develop and improve in a short amount of time. We want to use every minute of every day. It's a big challenge when there's a transitional period, but it's not time to complain. It doesn't make sense to see the negative things. Don't worry, guys. You don't have to see negative things. It's still cool. Everything's going to be great. What he said there is, yeah, it's a long, there's a lot to develop here in a short amount of time. And that is my central thesis of what the challenge that lies ahead of Newcastle United and adjusting to the new Yosler system. So he typically plays in a 4-3-3, counter-attacking style. He's going to need to get players new and old on board with his new pressing style. The kind of coaching methods he's developed at Red Bull, aggressive counter-pressing, rapid vertical transitions, wing play through direct runners. A lot of pace out wide. It's the fallbacks pushing up. It's aggressive. I suppose like Pep Guardiola, a bit more physical. And with less players. This is a young squad that's being built for a high tempo game. It's I think the best you can say about it. It's the time to see it's going to need to execute, pressing a possession set up is very well. Team being shaped, pressing a final third, and compete aggressively. Whether that works or not is the crapshoot, I think, for Newcastle. Certainly in the first couple of months of the campaigns, we're going to see how that unfolds. Key players, besides those I mentioned already, I'll shout out Joe Linton because I think he's probably the best suited player already to YSTER's system. Lots of energy, nose out press, feels like a YSTER player I would suggest. Longest serving outfield player at Newcastle United, Joe Linton, as well, which is a fun stat for you. He's a great competitive midfielder. I think he'll do very well. And, young Whistler, I think, is going to be leaned on hard for the goals in this campaign as well. I took debate about my very specific prediction for Newcastle United. I think there's two teams, I would say, who are hardest to predict this season, and it's Newcastle and Chelsea, who we covered previously. With YSTER and his system, it could be amazing. It could be a top-up finish. It could also be relegation. I think it's that binary I really do. This is Newcastle's tenth successive Premier League season. Maybe it's a last for a while. Maybe it's the most successful for a while. I think you flip a coin with this one. I do think this is a team that's going to concede a lot of goals. I think the high pressing system that's not bedded in yet is going to be suspect for that. But I've got something a bit more technical for my VSP. Newcastle will score eight goals or more from attacks started by a high turnovers in this season, which I think speaks to the eyes of the system, focused on turning pressure into immediate attacking opportunities in the final third. As Southburg, that's kind of what his team did, pressing narrowly and aggressively, attempting to force opponents wide before bouncing on the ball and getting it in the final third. I can see that kind of being the rationale for Newcastle here. So my number here, eight goals or more from attacks started by high turnovers. Last year, Premier League sides forced 13.3 high turnovers per game on average. That's basically turnovers in the final third to be clear there. I expect Newcastle to exceed that. Let's say 15 again. That's 570 per season in the 38 game season. And from the stats last year, around 16% of Premier League turnovers produced shots last year. So that's about 90 shots. So I'm saying Newcastle going to score about eight of those 90 shots, which is quite high, it's less, I suppose, roughly less than 10% by being bullish with that one, because I think they're going to create a lot of these opportunities. So they're going to concede a lot, but I think if anything, this Newcastle team's going to be entertaining. At what end of the table, they're going to be entertaining. I just don't know. I could see them really struggling at having a relegation scrap, but also if the system takes and it takes quickly, then this could be great for them. I don't, I don't see them having a relegation scrap or even really coming all that close to it. But Ryan, when you hear things like the quote that you read from Yassala, where it's just dripping with coach speak, right? I mean, these people are trained very carefully about what to say or at least they're very conscious of what they say, because they're repercussions to those things, right? And even dripping with coach speak, we want to play successful soccer, use every minute of every day blah, blah, blah nonsense who cares. And he still can't, can't finish the quote without it doesn't make sense to see the negative things. Not even if they're not there. He's like, well, just don't, it doesn't, it's illogical to see the negative. It sounds tiny, doesn't it? Yeah, very much so. Like it's, and understandably, I mean, you look through the business that's been done so far. And I think we all probably believe that Newcastle will add at least one more piece there and spin talks about Niko Gonzalez in Manchester City. Being an option for them, Lucas Verkball at Tottenham. I mean, I think there've been other links as well. They wanted Monsombi before that didn't happen. I think they recognize that there is still need to add a little bit more talent. But even with that, if the, if there's, that one more key addition, the team is still not better than they were last season. And last season, sure, maybe they underperformed the underlines a little bit. But really, like, are they meaningfully a, a top third of the Premier League team? I don't think so. I mean, that's where I see we were coming from. Ryan is, is, would it shock me if they finished seventh? No, not really. Would it shock me if they finished 14th? Stranger Things have happened. Like there, there is a broad band of outcomes here. It just feels like a complete reset of the parameters of this club. And like, the expectations of this club, where when Saudi Arabia, when Piff, that consortium by Newcastle, we all expected them to be the next man's site or the next PSG. And it kind of now seems like the aim is to be the next Dortmunds and like, and that can be good, right? Like a Dort, being a Dortmund fan must be fun. And like, great players pass through that club. And they produce a gen at Gem every so often and sell them on for 100 million. It just feels like that's become the aim for Newcastle. And if that is the aim, well, first phase, complete, right? Because this summer, they've sold on about actually between the last few windows, they've sold on a whole bunch of talent. Esa, Gamarez, Gordon, I'm forgetting others in there, but they've sold on a whole bunch. Now the challenge is, I mean, the beauty in what Dortmund were able to do for so many years is the renewal part. And that's the trickiest part. So yeah, I agree with Joe, like, I'd be surprised if there are relegation candidates, but certainly they could be bottom half of the table candidates. And there's just so much uncertainty around them right now. Yeah. My boldest, if I was going to give you my boldest predictions, these will be the Newcastle gear relegated. But I can't stand by it. I'm because, I think, as I say, it's binary. It could go either way because commentary, hull, and absolutely certainly, there's that factor too. There is indeed. Yes. Very good. All right, Newcastle United. Check. Let's move on to a club with completely normal ownership and everything. Totally cool. Nottingham Forrest Joe, tell us about them. I would love to. Nottingham Forrest finished 16th in the league last season on 44 points. There were 16th and expect a gold differential as well. Forrest season was somewhat redeemed by a Europa League semi-final run in their first European campaign in three decades. And the fact that they didn't get relegated, that's pretty cool too. The year was chaotic though. Four coaches in one season, you had Nuno Espirito Santo, you had Angus Pascaglio, Sean Dijkchen, finally Vittor Pereira, things stabilized a little bit under Pereira who took over in February, forrest ended up safe from relegation with a couple games remaining. There's also been turmoil higher up the org chart too. You never would have guessed that from the fact that they've cycled through so many coaches. With Idu, the former Arsenal tactical director taking over as Forrest's global head of football, business card, Erie, whatever, that had been last July, and he got axed in March. So, yeah, there's been a lot of turnover. Morgan Gives White was impressive with 15 goals. Elliot Anderson became a star, really firmly a star, but there was far more bad, I think, than good, at least in the domestic campaign for a team that spent at a top half-level on transfer fees across the last summer and the year before. They've been spending like a team that is not relegation threatened, and they've been playing like a team that is relegation threatened. Not great. What have they done over the summer? Well, they hired all of a glasner, as their new manager, more on that later. Joseph Outgoing's Incomings, one very noble, black-going move, that aforementioned Elliot Anderson, who has come up previously in these previous 23-year-old after Man City for an insane amount of money, which is fine. I think he's a great player, but second-highest transfer fee ever for a British player just behind Morgan Rodgers to Chelsea. I like the numbers behind this move much more than I like the numbers for the Morgan Rodgers move. Anderson started all but won game for Forrest last season, put up four and four, covered in an insane amount of ground, huge money meant to loss for a team of nottingham Forrest's quality. They've also moved on from Taiwan, I want to eat. He's coming true now for 11 million euros. To his Incomings, not a tongue here. So far, Osmone, Diamonday, the 22-year-old centerback coming from sporting for 40 million euros, and with Glasner in the door adding another centerback so they can play with three, I think makes sense. Not really a surprise. I see a deal like this happen. Also, I have Xavier Schlager, the 28-year-old RB Life Sigma Fielder joining on a free transfer. He'll be a good player. I think fine, serviceable, primary league level player. Hard to imagine, to me, though, that this team has done anything but take a noticeable step back in the window so far, there is still interest reportedly in them adding a right back as well as a central midfielder, data a bid for Spurs, Lucas Barclay, just mentioned Newcastle Living Interest in, rejected already, but I think they're still in the market. I think they're also still light in the attack, to be honest, as well. We'll see how this all plays out. Man of G really, I mentioned Glasner's name, the 51-year-old Austrian, started his career in Austria, went on to coach at Lask, then over to Germany with Wolfsburg and Frankfurt, then Palace, starting in February of 2024. Things didn't end all that emically for Glasner at Palace. He's a bit of a combustible character. In January, he announced that he would leave at the end of the season, just normal stuff. Then he publicly criticized Palace's transfer policy, was angry that they sold Markei to City. Now he's at Forest, where I think maybe he's met his combustible match in Maranacus, the owner of Nottingham Forest, really hoping we get a lot of drama out of that situation. Style of play for Glasner. Base formation is largely a 3-4-3 with Palace, and with the Dio Monde addition, it certainly looks like he's going to use it back three at Forest as well. In terms of his principles, he emphasizes a lot of counter pressing defensive solidity, attacking quickly after retaining the ball. This is not a team that is going to seek to have lots of possession. By any stretch of the imagination, transition is the huge emphasis, and it was a pretty effective tool at Palace, where there's probably a bit more talent than Forest. I'll say that much, but in the 18 months after the start of the 2024-25 season, this just want to confine the numbers. So basically up until last January, Palace had averaged 0.9 shots from fast breaks per 90 minutes, which was second only to Liverpool and Chelsea. Lots of quick passes to release attackers or wing backs in the space before the opponent can reorganize. They want to be lightning quick in transition. Without the ball, they generally use a pretty narrow mid block, try to avoid opposing teams playing boot central areas. Glasner really will deliberately concede some space out wide to protect those midfield pockets. I think they're counter pressing is central. Immediately after losing the ball, they're going to swarm the ball carrier, win the ball back or force the opponent backwards. That's sort of the goal. And at Forest, I would expect a very similar set up, where it's a direct attacking team that uses a mid to low block. In terms of key players, we're going to be executing that system. At center back, we know about Mario and Malenkovich. Now, newcomer D'Amanda, I think there is real quality in that part of the field, which is huge for Forest. Left wing back, you look at Nico Williams. I think he's going to get a lot of minutes this year. Right wing back is a bit of a question mark. Center mid, again, looking to add more talent, but even he's saying, all right, I'm a big fan of his. He's in this team as well as Avarshalger. Elliott Anderson's absence, Looms large until it doesn't basically. It still does right now in the attacking midfield, winger spots guys that can do a little bit of of those things. Morgan gives white still in the team. Calmuts and Adoy, very much at a wide threat there. Dan and Doyam are Hutchinson. Those guys do play in those roles as well. And that's right, Egor J. Zeus looks like he's going to be the main man. I think there's talent in this team. I certainly think there's enough talent for them to not really be nearly as threatened by relegation as it were last season. Is it a great team that got better by no means as far as I'm concerned? Very specific prediction for my Forest preview here. I think Nottingham Forest will be one of the three fastest teams in the Premier League based on direct attacking speed. And so that is basically the amount of meters you're moving towards the opposing goal per second. So according to Opta, Glazner's palace team was the fastest attacking team in the league last season at two vertical meters per second. Forest was the eighth slowest team based on direct attacking speed. I think that is going to transform it. And hope is that then becoming more direct and more transitional is going to help maximize the talent that they have, especially without someone of Anderson's quality, even though I think you would thrive in this system as well. They can maybe cover for a not hyper-talented squad relative to whether we're last year relative to a lot of teams in the league. They can compensate for that by being a bit more chaotic and direct where you don't need players to play in small spaces. You're going to players to play in big spaces. I think Forest are going to become super direct this year in the Glazner mold and in the hope for them, obviously, is that that's going to do the moral of good. Wow. Joe, did you quote vertical meters per second as your metric there? I did. So the amount of space you're moving towards the opposing goal, like in a straight line. I mean, it doesn't have to be a straight line, but you can do geometry. Not super hard, right? Oh, fire beast. Fire beast. I claim fire beast. Next slide. Good thing, Geronner. That's a new one on me. I like it. Very good. Thank you very much, Joe. Good stuff. All right. Unless there's any comments on Forest, we should have a little pause and come back in. I'll take that as a have a little pause when we come back. Sunderland and top them. Join us then. Total soccer show. Welcome back to our Premier League previews. We're on the home straight everybody. It's time for Graham Rutheran to take us to the land of Sunder. Sunderland time. Graham, let's go. Yeah, or the black cats as their nicknames because of a story from the 1937, I didn't know this until the research says a story from the 1937 FA Cup final when a 12-year-old Sunderland fans smuggle the black cat into Wembley for the game. Sunderland beat pressed in 3-0 and so it became a good luck charm and that is apparently where the nickname comes from. Did anyone know that smuggled in like I picture it sitting on the shoulder and just going in. You know, people used to take dogs of the stuff into games back then, right? Or like under a hat like the Rat and Ratatouille. Yeah. Like controlling a fan. Look at that. Cheering a go, controlled by the cat. Anyway, we've gone down a strange path here. Sunderland last season had a surprisingly good season, surprising because a lot of people, including myself, predicted they would be in a relegation fight after coming up from the champo and they were nowhere near the bottom three. In fact, they ended up finishing seventh and qualifying for the Europa League on the final day of the season. So that was an incredible success that really reflects how the days of the Sunderland till I die days of that club being a basket case are long gone, thankfully for supporters of that team. Seryl Lewis-Dreyfus, cousin of Julia, is the Sunderland owner and has been since 2022 when he bought the club and they were in league one at that time. Since then, yes, Sunderland have spent a lot of money but they have spent that money really wisely and I think they very much deserve to be in the sort of the Brighton Brentford. Joe, what term did you call it again? The Brightford, the Brightford bracket of clubs. These are the Brenton, isn't it? Brenton feels too prox for me. I don't know. Brenton feels like head boy at Oxford or something. I thought about it like three more times since he said it. It might be the most perfect portmanteau I've ever heard. You really can go so many different ways. The perfect combination of Rames. Nicely done, Joe. I'm not at all because I was talking too fast in NNCA, poorly. Definitely the first thing. Let's not introduce Sunderland to that equation because I'm not entirely sure how that works. Anyway, they are very much in that bracket of clubs that know what they're doing in the transfer market, which is just so vastly different to the reputation that Sunderland had for such a long time. I still have visions of the well-grig negotiation on Deadline Day bourbon to my fire beast. We just say that as an exclamation now. We're in relation to anything. I don't worry about a gram. Okay, sure. There is no denying the outlook at Sunderland is positive right now. However, not to bring the tone down, I do have to mention the fact that they vastly outperformed a lot of their underlying numbers last season. They finished seventh, as I mentioned. They were ranked 18th for expected goals difference. They were also ranked near the bottom for a lot of attacking metrics last season. That's obviously a crude reading of things, but it's just something to keep an eye on as they enter the second season back in the Premier League. Not a huge amount has changed over the the summer. Elisir Mayenda has left for Ren. He started 20 league games last season for Sunderland. A few other French players have, at the time of recording, been released as well. Gunnett Jacques's future was a big story for a while. Chelsea made a big effort to sign him, along with every single other veteran player in the Premier League. But Sunderland dug their heels in and refused to sell them, which is good news for them. I will come on to Zaka more a little bit later on. In terms of incoming at the time of recording, they've just made one new edition, and that is the signing of Thomas Munier as a free agent. I expect they will make more signings before the transfer window closes, especially because Sunderland's position, while they have spent quite a bit of money, certainly last year. Their position with the new squad cost ratio, rules in the Premier League, which is partly replacing the PSR rules, it's actually really positive. They've got quite a bit of headroom, so they can spend money if they they want to, and I expect that they will before the windows is closed. Regis Lebrie is the Sunderland manager. Still, someone I think who flies under the radar for the job that he has done as Sunderland manager, probably because of the model that Sunderland have, the money they spent, the money they spent wisely. But nonetheless, he's a very impressive person, holds a doctorate in physiology and biomechanics, and has a diploma in the mental training of elite athletes. Actually, didn't coach his first team professionally until 2022. So he has had an incredibly swift rise to this level. I enjoy listening to him. He's quite understated, quite softly spoken. I think he has an element of like arson vengar to him, and so I enjoy listening to him and he seems quite a sharp tactician as well. In terms of their style of play, Sunderland are difficult to break down. They achieve that by sitting in a low block. They are also, I know this is sort of contradictory, but they are also capable at times of pressing high. They have their triggers. There's a pragmatism to the way that Sunderland play. They're not overly idyllistic in the way that some other promoted teams have been in the past, and so they recognise they couldn't go with like a full court press against stronger teams. Equally, Libri knows that you can't be too passive, and I think that toggle between the two approaches is part of the reason that I enjoyed watching them last season. They're particularly really effective at pressing high from go kicks. That was one of their things. They would camp on the edge of the box and have like four players right on the 18 yard line and set out their style from there. And then once they would be played around, on occasion when they'd be played around, they would then drop back into their mid or even their low block. So they do have that sort of toggle. In possession, Sunderland play a positional game, which means Libri wants his team to occupy certain zones of the pitch. He wants that consistent spacing. He wants them to be well organised in that sense. They are a decent enough team in building out from the back with the ball, but they are to continue a theme of, I guess, variety. They're also willing to go long and direct. They like to get into good crossing positions out wide. Then they load the penalty box with with bodies. That's a key part of how they attack. One of the players who makes that latter approach, the crossing approach possible, is Mr. Broadway himself, Brian Robbie, who was a bit of a sensation last season. Scored seven goals in 22 starts. I actually thought he might have scored more than that given how often we talked about him, but some of those goals, like he's so chaotic, Brian, and I mean that in a positive way. I mean that as a compliment. He scored this goal, and I can't even describe it, listers need to go and search for it. He scored this goal in pre-season, which I've never seen a goal like it. He started to barge his one player out of the way, and then another defender has the ball inside his own box. He just barges him out of the way as well, and the goal is completely empty. He scores into an empty net. The most Brian Broadway goal that I've ever seen, but he's physically strong. I think his all round game is better than a lot of people give him credit for. Keep in mind, he started games for the Netherlands as a centre forward at the World Cup, and while obviously he's a bit of a battering ram, I don't think you can do that if you're not able to play with a ball at your feet. So he's all round good centre forward. Wilson Esador is another attacking player who made that an impact in the Premier League last season. Enzo Lafay, another impressive performer, excuse me, he is often the one who wants to get into the half-spaces and play forward or get across into the box. He will do this thing where he peels away to the wide areas from the central midfield area. Nobody created more big chances for Sunderland last season than him. I mentioned him already. Granite Jacques is probably Sunderland's most important player with the way that he dictates their possession from deep. He honestly might still be one of the best central midfielders in the Premier League. It's still really impressive that Sunderland were able to get him a year ago, and I guess even more impressive that a mid-interest from Chelsea and possibly others, they've managed to keep him for this season as well. Nordy Mouquet-Ele is another important player at the heart of the defence, played close to 3,000 minutes in league last season, was a bit of a rock at the back. Also a goal threat had a good number of goal contributions. He likes to go on amazing every so often, Mouquet-Ele. He will get forward, he will make runs, unexpected runs into the box, so he's another chaos merchant, in that sense, who I really like. And then finally, I have to highlight Robin Rufs, who has become a bit of a cult hero for the Sunderland fans, who chant his name every time he makes a save. They do this sort of Rude Van Nisteroi thing of Rooos every time he makes a save. I love the story of Rude Van Nisteroi thinking fans were booing him for the first six months he was at Manchester United, but Robin Rufs, I presume, knows that fans like him because he ranked as one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League last season for saves per 90 minutes. His highlight real last season was ridiculous. I don't know if there's a goalkeeper out there who made more eye-catching saves, and so he's really important to Sunderland's chances of having another good season. So to finish off, my VSP for Sunderland, unfortunately, as I think this season might be a little bit more of a revert to the mean, they're going to have European football, I think that's going to be a challenge, that's going to push the depth of their squad. Maybe over the next couple weeks, they're going to go big in the transfer market, that hasn't happened yet. I do think they will spend some money, so maybe that changes my general outlook of this team. But my VSP is that their points per average, points per game average will drop below 1.3. It was 1.42 last season, which I know doesn't sound like a big drop, but over the course of a full season, that is enough to take a team from 7th to 14th or 15th at best. So I'm a little bit worried about them. I've seen some people suggesting, I've seen some people out there put them in their bottom three, suggest this is going to be a relegation fight for them. I wouldn't go that far, but unfortunately, I think maybe a bomb half finish might be on the cards for them. So, if I may interject from Graham's lovely preview, how do you feel about these two coming on your turf and just doing all these numbers and math predictions? When Ryan was like a vertical distance per whatever, and he just dropped like final third regains and clearly defined it, and I was like, what do you mean? This is not, I love it. I love that this is what we're at these days. It makes me very happy. I'm the only one with glasses Taylor. No one can come from my territory truly. Come on. The 19 year old intern that Ryan hired with that telling us to do all that math research. Yeah, Ryan had a farce per 90 minutes VSP until the intern persuaded them. Otherwise, fine, we'll save the farce for later. But legit, my VSP was just going to be Newcastle to get relegated. So, I did elevate from there. You're very welcome. Thank you very much, Graham, for telling us all about Sunderland. That leaves us one club. You've been very patient Tottenham fans. We're going to get to you now. Taylor Rockwell is more specifically. Taylor is a new look Tottenham. They've spent a lot of money. And as we've established both alphabetically and from last season, it can't be any worse. Could be. You never know. We'll see. We've said that a couple times now about Tottenham. Yeah. When last we left them, 17th of the table for the second straight year, narrowly avoiding relegation, a very rough start to life under what I'd manager Thomas Frank ended up with his dismissal. Igor Tudor's brief appointment and his philosophy of life is meaningless. And when you're born, you start dying. Did not fit like did not spark the happy turnaround that maybe Tottenham were hoping for. And so in came Roberta Deserbi, an appointment that at the time, I was equally skeptical and concerned about given the way things had gone for him at checks. No, it's literally every club he has ever managed. But he did spark the turnaround. He did get by in. He did not drastically change the tactics from what they had been. It seemed like it was largely vibes and belief and confidence. And he seems to have instilled a lot of that into Tottenham. And so they end up surviving. And then they have ended up strengthening this summer quite a bit. They do lose Sergio Romero to have that go Madrid for 40 million pounds. And Jed spends to enter for between 26 and 30, depending on add-ons plus Vicario returns to Serie Ajo join UV on loan. So that leaves Kinski in goal. And I think that might fit their style just a little bit better. I also think the Romero was a, I don't even know what to say, like a key player for them in ways. Also, maybe not the most reliable of player in ways. And I think all of their signings have made them a better team because my goodness have there been some signings. And they are very split in what they have been. There is money and then there is a stuute. And sometimes they could be both. But Sandra Tanale from Newcastle for over 100 million euros. Matthias Fernandez from West Ham for right around 100 million euros. And then y'all pawn Yon Paul Venhaka from Brighton for around 60 million euros. That's a crazy outlay for three players. But that makes their spine so ridiculously solid. You've got Mickey Vendavan and Venhaka as your two starting centerbacks. Most likely you've got Justin Udoge and Pedro Poro as your wingbacks or fullbacks. And then you've got Tanale and Matthias Fernandez in front. Like that's just such a good defensive unit or experience defensive unit. But Tanale and Matthias Fernandez together just could reinvigorates that entire Tottenham team gives them so many different looks, gives them so much more stability. But then they've rounded out with really smart free agent signings. They bring in Andy Robertson to compete at left back if a doggy picks up an injury, which he has done more recently. Marco Sinesi comes in on a free. He will likely challenge for centerback minutes alongside Kevin Dunso. And then Martin Dubrovka in on a free to be an experienced and reliable goalkeeper, obviously with them letting Vicario go. That was something that was needed. I think they are still looking for reinforcements in and around the attacking area. And that's where we've seen links to Cody Gackbo. There's been Savino talk that is ongoing. I think even Pedro Netzo has it has been rumored of a link to Tottenham because the attack itself is I would say it's it's very good by many standards in terms of what I think Tottenham want to be and to be a really consistent attacking threat in the Premier League. It just has a lot of players who could get there, but have not yet gotten there. And that's his tell on the left is most likely to start. I'm a kudush on the right similar things. Dominic Salonke for Charleston both still there is the best way I would put it like and in for Charleston's case that is meant to be praise because it feels like he has been almost out the door like five times since signing for Tottenham and yet he endures has had a strong preseason. Decent chance he ends up starting if they don't make more acquisitions because Salonke just has not really met the expectation that he had coming in that could still change. But for now it seems like it's for Charleston with maybe James Madison behind. Travis even summons recovering from long term injury. So he'll obviously be in the mix at some point too. Madison himself recovering from injury as he often is. So we'll see what the midfield ends up looking like there. If it's not either one of them, it seems like it will be Lucas Berryval who has been mentioned previous in this episode with links away. And it did seem like he was going to be moved on could like cash a sizable check and wasn't really key to their way of playing and has by all accounts become one of her brutal deservedly like most trusted players in preseason going from on the outs to like a reliable performer who has looked to elevate the attack in moments in preseason admittedly in preseason. But when you can get kind of performances like that out of players that you thought might be surplus of requirement, it does mean maybe there will be more experimentation and a little bit more flexibility in the attack rather than just we have to invest otherwise we are in trouble. They do have players who we will we assume will be back sooner rather than later in Wilson, Otobair, Chubby Siemens and they don't cool us up ski still recovering from long term injuries. There's been a changing in the medical department at Tottenham given how many injuries they had and how many injuries they have had in the past few seasons. So they are trying to kind of deal with that and find new ways to keep people fit and ready to go. And then keeping the motivated will be the aforementioned Roberta the Zerby and I'm just going to stay up front like I am buying the cool. I'm drinking the cool. I am buying what they are selling this time. And if you are not, there are reasons not to. But like we've been here before with Tottenham managers. We've been here before with Tottenham. It could wheels could come off right away or maybe it all goes quite well. We'll find out. But like he the way he gets the response at the end of last season that felt to me like if you are a Tottenham player, he is taking that gig knowing there's a decent chance they get relegated knowing what the vibes were and he bought into a sinking ship and then help save that ship. So I feel like right away there is buy in and a sort of like collective bonding because they went through some struggles together. I said at the end of last season we had a question about like what should Tottenham's approach be now. And my first thing was like make sure this is your guy and yes, you have like signed him in. He kept you up. But I think it was really important that they decide this is the person we want for the long term. And it seems like they have done that. But deserving can be tricky is the best way I would put it because if things go wrong, they go wrong big and loud. He lasted 590 days about 69 matches with Marseille, which is to be fair. Longer than their average manager, you'll stand to 374 days. I think he was their seventh permanent manager since Frank McCourt had taken over in three years. But he has a track record of clashing with club officials, either largely because of signings or recruitment philosophy that goes back to Brighton and Cecilia before that. And then he has a pattern of clashing with players. And there was a very like high profile moment last season with Amir Maria, where during a video review session, he basically like just put all of the blame on him for a couple moments in a game. Said he had no future at the club, like really publicly questioned him and criticized him and then didn't really seek to restore him. There was video and training of him doing the same with other players. And there was just kind of a falling out from a locker room that he had done well to bond because it was a very disparate and chaotic locker room. And so it seems like if there's buy in there and he is feeling confident as we saw in his early days with Brighton, he's an elite manager who seems destined for like the top gigs in the world. When there are stumbles, when there is criticism, when there are players that aren't meeting his expectations, he will be a little bit more public. He will be a little bit more open in his feelings and that can get him into trouble. But so far, it seems like it's been pretty smooth sailing in preseason. It seems like he has good buy in. And I think with the way spurs have invested, he does have more depth where he won't be kind of running them into the ground in his training sessions, which is a thing that I think some Brighton supporters felt he did prior to his departure there. I like that he has strong connections with players. I like that his tactics are are bold, but I think could pay off really well. They essentially invite pressure create like a dangerous situation for themselves that then uses the opposition pressure against them. They break that first line of pressure usually with risky passes or risky decisions. And bear of all did that in their most recent preseason friendly. I think he gets the ball inside his own box with like two players on him turns out of that pressure, evades another tackler and then launches a counter attack from there. And that is kind of what they want to do is they want to play risky football. And I think sometimes it is not going to work and it's going to look high profile bad, which is again, where things could bubble over. But I think the signings they have made give them so much stability through the middle. And I think give them so much more strength than they have had in seasons past. And so my VSB is that I think Tottenham had the seventh worst record in terms of points lost from winning position last season. They lost 19 points from winning position. I think this season it will go the other way and they will be a top 17 in that regard. Because basically I think last season chaotic games up and down. It never felt like they were really in control of things until maybe the very end of the campaign. They were too open. They were maybe too unpredictable at times. And I don't think there will be as much of that in this campaign just because they are so much more solid in areas where they need to be. So I think they will be ahead more often or even if they're not in the lead. I think they are more capable of being in control and capable of seeing out wins. So I think this will be a more comprehensively strong Tottenham team still with areas of need, still with with questions to be answered heading into the season. But I do think they are a Tottenham team that if things click should be and can be in that top five conversation. I think tell you've approached this preview with the right level of shoulder shrug, right? Because there are so many things that are unknown about how exactly all these pieces fit together. But I share some of your potential optimism about this first team. I think they've had a really good window. And if they can add one more piece to that attack, which I think they really do need to add. And you've brought that out really well. There's a lot of promise here. There's also I think we've used this phrase a lot this week and it's fair. There's a wide array of outcomes that could follow Tottenham because I mean, we're going to do spoiler alert later on in the week our Friday show is going to be about about like Premier League predictions. And one of the categories we're going to talk about is manager to be fired first. It would not shock any one of us. If disurvy was the first manager fired, it wouldn't like we might be a little surprise. Wouldn't be shocked. Wouldn't be anywhere near shocked. So I think that kind of speaks to just how many different things are on the table for spur. Just because that's volatile. It's usual, right? Yeah. Yeah. He's a crazy person. He's like, he's absolutely a crazy person. He like, but then also cannot be when it is like, oh, never mind. Things are fine. Like then he's like good vibes and like picking you up and stuff. Joe, I agree with you. Like the comparison, I kept wanting to make, but I was like, it just feels unfair because disurvy does have a better track record. I always go back to when Palo de Coneo saves Sunderland way back when he pre-saddle into linings. Oh, come on. Does he have his parents? But I remember that. I remember the time to say that. He saves them. He saves Sunderland. Every single preview is about like finally they've got their guy. Sunderland, after so much managerial chopping and changing, they found a guy who can like speak to the spirit of the club and spark this response. And now they've had a pre-season and he is sacked so, so quickly. And it just all falls apart immediately. Like there is always that potentiality with Tottenham, especially given the way the last two seasons have gone. There's just also that spark in disarby that like I was so hyped about him in his early days at Brighton. Even some of his more say performances, I felt like, okay, this is that guy who can find a way to get performances out of players that I do not think he could do. Yeah, I'd rate disarby so high. Like I think he's a top three manager in the Premier League right now. And my boldest of takes is if the time had been a little bit, had worked out a little bit better, disarbies who I would have gone for if I was man-city to replace Pep Guardiola. And I accept all of volatility. I kind of wonder if there's an element of if you put Pep Guardiola into Brighton or Marseille or Tottenham, would you get the same outcome? Would you get the same frustration? If you put disarby in a functioning club with a functioning front office, which by the way, I'm still not convinced that is Tottenham Hotspur. So I'm not ruling out the blow-up, right? But if Tottenham gets things right off the field, which has to be their first priority, I feel like disarby could be a perfect fit for this team in this club where they are. And I just, I was so high on his appointment when he came in, feel kind of vindicated in the way he was able to save them and looking at their summer business, I see a disarby team in the making. And yes, he flamed out of Brighton and yes, he flamed out of Marseille. But he had initial success at both of those clubs and I think we're going to see a big up swing from Tottenham this season. But I've been burning for it. Yeah, but like Marseille to your point, Graham, like the Marseille flamed out is I feel like that's probably more Marseille than disarby. He doesn't help certainly, but I feel like there's so much chaos with that club and so many different strange things that they were doing. And then with Brighton, it does seem to have been much more amicable. Like, the parting statements are very much like two glorious years or I think forget what he said when he walked away. But it seems to have largely been that he just he wanted a lot more say in the squad and in the recruitment and Tony Bloom's model does not allow for that. And I think it came to a head when they sold like Alexis McAllister and Moises Kaiseido and two other players and only like signed one like 19 year old left back as a replacement. It was just sort of like, now we know what we've got. We know what we're doing. We have our model. We know how it's going to be. And I think he felt frustration that there wasn't like an allowance for him to kick on and improve the team and maybe seek even greener pastors. So he did that by moving away. Tottenham might be that Tottenham might be the kind of blend of they're giving him a lot of control, but they're also kind of trying to rain him in a little bit. It seems like it's a position where they need him and he needs them. So at time of recording, it seems like a pretty good match. Yeah, Tottenham was given the managers what they need. Yeah. Yeah. They're like, he's I feel like having just said that it's like a really good match. And three weeks in, does Erby has been so I got it. It's supposed to be like season is going to be crazy. And it's and crazy in the sense that like Arsenal might stroll to the title, which in and of itself is kind of crazy, given the amount of money spent in this league. But like almost every other team and even kind of Arsenal, but them aside, almost every other big club has asterisk around them reasons for why it might not work reasons why they could finish second or seventh. And then some of like the mid tableclubs feel like they could do the same thing, but also fall into a relegation battle. And then there's the three promoted teams credit to them. But it does seem like it's going to be a very chaotic, wide open tumultuous season. And it always is, but maybe even more so, I am hyped for the Premier League. Yes. Likewise, a good note to end on Taylor Rockwell. Congratulations, List of You. And now fully educated on all 20 Premier League teams going into this season. Very good. As Joe noted, we will be doing a probably predictions episode on Friday and on our bonus feed. We've got predictions from around the rest of Europe. So join us there on Patreon.com. So it'll talk to us Joe. If you are so inclined. But for now, Taylor Rockwell, thank you again for your services to predictions and to Rich McKicker shirts and to everything else. Thank you very much. My pleasure. And I think we go bright for the land. That's that's a like a medieval kingdom I would have lived in. If we're going to add some of them to the portmanteau, Sunda Brightford. You're welcome to live wherever you want, right? Let's workshop. Great. Well, thank you very much. You did. Thank you, Ryan Billy. Thank you again, Joe Larry. Thank you, darling. And thank you very much, List of The Joining Us on this one. We'll be back on the feed very shortly with those probably predictions. But for now, bye.