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Welcome to the Total Soccer Show on part 3 of our Premier League previews. Today we go to Holland back, we look at Ed Sheeran FC aka Ipswich, we say fuck a year about leads. We see if Liverpool's groove will be passed and move and we have a look at life after Pep at Manchester City. My name is Ryan Bailey, joy to be today. Taylor Rocco here. Hi Taylor, how are you? I'm Will Wildard. What just happened with leads? He is the manager's name to basically get a censored from all platforms forever. Ah, there it is. Okay, now I'm back on board. What did I do wrong? You did nothing wrong, darling. It was wonderful. It was a great introduction and I got a lot of entertainment out of it right up until I thought you dropped an F-bomb four seconds into recording. I'm just here to say the names of managers. That's all I'm doing. Taylor Rocco, I'm pleasure to have you here. We'll be hearing from you very shortly. Tell us about whole city and also man city later on in this episode. Joe Larry's here as well. Hi Joe, how are you? Hey Ryan, I'm great. I am wondering how long you could keep up only using managers' names as a form of communication. You could probably have some that would be sad, like Sean Ditch, like I'm sad. Happy might be, I don't know, are any of them happy? Maybe none of them are happy. This might be harder than I thought. I feel like you could get away with it for at least a while amongst the four of us. I mean, it was the happy one for a while. Well, how many it never was, but that's what he said he was. We know when Ryan's feeling confident, he'll say Joe's in Maria. We know that. Yeah. And if I want to drop another F-bomb, that'll be a Yai Slur on the screen. Yeah, yeah, Graham, I'm not gonna say it. Hi, Graham, how are you? I'm not sure if I do. I do love that. I am looking forward to the primary league season of Ryan. Two days. It kicks off on a Friday night. Is that a new thing if they've done that before? I'm not sure, but there we go. That's what's happening. It feels like they've done that before. I'm just not paying attention clearly. Hey, but you have been paying very good attention, Graham, to Ipswich Town. We're gonna hear about them much later in this episode. Let's go. Tractor Boys. Before we get to the screen with you. Oh, that's what that was. Thank you for your feedback for our YouTube audience. What you were doing right there. Boy Tractor. Yeah, okay. Patreon.com's last Total Soccer Show is where you get our bonus content, by the way. Oh, bonus episodes. Oh, bonus video. Mm, discord access. All on patreon.com slash Total Soccer Show. Thank you to everybody who supports us via that median. All right, let's get straight to it, shall we? Let's go to Hall. Taylor Rocco is gonna tell us all about last year's playoff winners who are last in this Premier League 2017. Seems like that was a longer time ago than I thought Taylor. Tell us about them a little bit. It's better time. I will also say convenient of the people doing driveway construction next door to wait until I started speaking to hit the wheelbarrow with a sludge hammer. So that might be happening as we go. Is that how you better driveway? Evidently, evidently, but it seems appropriate for whole city given chaos and heavy metal energy, but also maybe they're gonna hit you with a hammer at times this season because they defied a lot of expectations last season. They were pipped for relegation when they were in the championship. Largely due to a transfer embargo relating to late payments to players, financial issues, there were sales necessary this summer to avoid a points deduction. And with all of that pressure with the transfer embargo, they still finish sixth in the shampoo after leapfrogging rexam on the final day. They drew Millwall at home and then won on the road 2-0 in the playoff to set up the final, which they beat burrow in to advance to the Premier League. And here we are. And what they have done this summer is tried to make sure they're not going to get crushed this season. And I will say up front, like whole city supporters. I've read a lot of comments. I've read a lot of previews. There is a lot of optimism for this team. And I think there is reason if you are a whole city supporter to be optimistic to be back in the Premier League. You have an exciting manager. You've got some good players. Like it could go well. I think there is a strong chance that this team is rooted to the bottom of the table for reasons that I am about to enumerate because I don't know how much they have actually been able to do to address them. Because last season they conceded 66 goals. That was the fourth highest in the shampoo. They were second bottom for expected points at 53.1, which means they won 19.9 points more than they were expected to, which I believe I am led to believe is not always a thing that could be replicated in a higher, more difficult league with a lot more money behind it. And so I think there's a scenario in which they have to kind of change a lot of their identity. And they did do that in those playoff games. They went from a 4231 as the base formation to a back three. And that's where they got more consistent results. That's where they got wins. And that's when they were able to get promotion to the Premier League. So I think there will be some tactical reshuffling. I think this is going to be a stodgy defend first. Defend always get numbers behind the ball counter when we can and see how it goes sort of team. The one thing you will see when you read Hall City previews is how much they are directly linked to Sunderland, not just with player acquisitions, but with, well, Sunderland did it. So why can't we? Because owner Akun Ilijala is a target Turkish. I believe former like like a pundit turned media mogul. Good work if you can get it. But he is essentially targeted a Sunderland-esque summer. They wanted 14 signings at time of recording. It may have changed even by the time I've said this. 11 have arrived so far. And they're basically trying to build an entire team that can be functional and successful in the Premier League. I previewed Sunderland last season. I was skeptical of that build. But more positive than I think a lot of people were and a lot of that had to do with their coach with the kind of way they were identifying talent. The way they were developing their own talent. And it just felt like there was a lot of like good intellect there plus a huge amount of inherited ancestral money that does a good amount to kind of make teams functional. Whereas this whole city team have had to sell Evor Pandor who was their standout goalkeeper last season. They sold him to Rangers for 7 million euros. They did replace him with with Jack Butler and going the other way who is now injured. So kind of a bummer there. They sold Kyle Joseph to Middlesbrough for 4.7 million euros. Those were both kind of key performers for them in the champo. And then they've spent a lot of money to bring in a lot of players. Now that they don't have the ban. Now that they have the money from the primary league. They brought in 23 year old goalkeeper or constantinos solacos from Olympiacos for 23.3 million euros. As I said, they also signed Jack Butler and it felt like the expectation was that he would be the starter. But with the amount they've outlaid for solacos plus Butler being injured for at least a few months. I think solacos is going to be the starter for sure. The other notable addition or the I would say the biggest notable addition before I make Joe mad by not including him. 21 year old center back noble mendi from rio via cano for 23.4 million euros. That to me speaks to them trying to strengthen out the back line to make it into a back three instead of a back four. Charlie Hughes, John Egan were like ever present fixtures there. Semia Jai was starting a lot by the end of the season. He's in his mid 30s. And I don't know if he's a player they're going to rely on in the primary league. So you bring in a reliable Lavega center back that gives you some more strength there. And then you bring in an unproven center back or a less proven center back. I should say in 18 year old Lucas Harrington from the Colorado Rapids. He is their third biggest outlay of the window. Joe, what do you think? I love Lucas Harrington. I don't know that Lucas Harrington is the perfect player right now. If he was, he probably would not be playing at whole city. Barcelona were interested in Lucas Harrington. Barcelona bid for Lucas Harrington. I think that tells you a little bit of the level of player he is. I think my one critique and really it might only be one notable one for Harrington is I don't think he feels out his shirt just yet. Like literally physically I think he has some work to do. But he is excellent on the ball. I think his defensive instincts are really good. Incredibly smart player with way more experience the professional level than you would expect for a player of his age. He's really good man. And at this season goes how I fear it will for whole apologies to those who are listening and watching. I do think this might be like a bounce for him to get somewhere else. But I mean, it's all the incentives are lines here. Harrington plays Harrington plays well. Hole are going to benefit financially and tolls chances of staying up increase as well. Really, really bright player. One of the best exports to come out of MLS ever. And it does seem like with that in mind all of these signings are a huge percentage of these signings are 23 years of age or younger. They are less proven at this level certainly. But there is a justifiable hype behind them. So even somebody like Yens Hepho Dahl who they signed from thromso for 2.5 million euros. Like he's one I knew nothing about before the signing and it feels for the moment like, yeah, it's 110 million like it's the premier league is that really going to help them. But like a really reliable, capable central midfielder only 20 years of age. So another one that maybe like makes that jump and has a point to prove. But also like if he's even like standardly good, you would assume can be flipped if whole city are in trouble at the end of the season. And then there's other just smart acquisitions they made Joe Gellhart's lone permanent from leads. They brought in 31 year old Hidemasa Morayata from sporting club to Portugal who'd been there for four years, won a lot of silverware, wanted to challenge himself in the premier league. And so he comes in on a free. So there've been smart veteran acquisitions, there've been youth signings, there've been some players that I think will start right away. And all of that benefits manager Sergei Yakirovich, excuse me. He's a former central midfielder slash central defender played for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Led Dino Mosegreb to the Croatian League and cut double in 2024. He goes to Kaiserisbore in June of 2025 as owner Akun Ilyjele's is basically running through managers at whole city. He's an okay time at Kaiserisbore and then he moves and becomes Ilyjele's fifth manager since he took over the club in early 2022. But last season, he cemented himself as a legend. The club were playing as I said, a 4-2-3-1 for most of the season pivoted to that back three. I think we'll see more of that back three. And I think they'll have to because they just they were too wide open. I think they they they could not handle some of the like quick combination plays of the better championship teams. And I'm not sure how that will work in the premier league. They were really poor at setpiece defending as well. Free kicks, corners, even throwins. They tended to concede a goal of an average around I think like one set piece goal every three games. Four teams of the top half of the table in the chamber that was usually one in every six or seven games. They can see a lot of shots from corners. Their zonal marking system was largely ineffective. So whether or not they'd roll that back or if they try something very different this season, all of that speaks to like truly they seem to get by on like vibes and energy and commitment and just finding a way to get results when statistically they should not have been able to. And so that's the thing is like maybe they can do that again. Maybe they can keep punching above their weight. Maybe they have found this kind of lightning in a bottle moment or or combination. But it also does feel like a very explosive situation in which you have a manager who was brought in kind of to do some firefighting. No one had any expectations. Maybe they're going to get relegated from the second division. Now suddenly they're in the top division with the same manager, but a kind of I don't know emotional owner who has some some big swings at times. They've got an untested squad. They do have key players in there like Charlie Hughes, who's a 22 year old left-sided center back young player of the season for whole last year. Of course, he had herniac surgery. He's out for at least the first two months of the campaign. He was their better center back on the ball with his good passing range. And so I think they're going to need trusted names like the legend himself Graham, Ollie McBurney, top scorer last season with 19 goals. I think his ability to hold up play is going to be more important than anything else because I think it's going to be a lot of him standing up top by himself with balls kind of lumped in his vague direction. I don't know how effective or efficient he is going to look in front of goal as a result. I doubt he scores 19 goals this season, but I think for the role he can play and what he can bring into that team, I think he's going to be critical even as Jakirovich has publicly talked about wanting other options there. The two that seem to be linked most heavily would be Wilson Isidore from Sunderland and Zvan Vipotnik. I did not know anything about him, but he was Swansea's top scorer and I believe the top scorer of the championship last season. Who knows if they will end up making any of those signings? Who knows how this season will go for Hall? As I said, I think it is more likely that they are rooted to the bottom of the table. And that a lot of the kind of preseason previews are focused on maybe they'll be Sunderland, maybe they'll be that whole city from that one season when they were like fourth at Christmas and nobody saw that coming. But I think that they're going to be in a really relegation battle from the start. And I think that means they're going to go back against the wall, physicality and dark arts. And that is how they're going to push for success this season. They loved a tackle last year. They got, I think, had more tackles per player than any player in the championship or something like that. The whole team will get stuck in most yellow cards in the championship, but very much spread out across the team. So everybody is willing to battle and fight. And that includes the goalkeeper. And this is my very specific prediction to bring us home. Last season, Yvour Pandora got eight yellow cards for time wasting. He is no longer there, but I think Constantine Solakis will get at least four yellows for time wasting this time, which doesn't seem as bold of a prediction, except that I do not think whole city will have the lead nearly as often or be, it will be known they'll nearly as often in games. And so I think they won't be like able to time waste, but I think the moment they can, they will. And so I don't think they're going to lead as many games. I don't think he will get as many yellows, but I think he's getting at least four. And I won't be surprised if like one of them is in the 40th minute for time wasting, because I think they are going to do everything they possibly can. They're going to fight and scrap and do everything possible because I don't think that it's solid talent. But I think this is my TV effort and the energy. Let's go. This is my team that sounds decidedly Scottish. They're going to finish bottom of the table, but possibly that feels like it's sort of team that I back. They've got a Scottish striker as well. All in that Bernie's got a bit of a reputation that seems to fit in with this team. And it's like, what's your last time on morphine? So yeah, I'm sold. This is my, this is my site. But they're going to do, I love that, Graham. That makes me very happy that you're all in. They, they, they absolutely, like I could see them getting like 18 points this season. And then also taking like three points off city or arsenal or something, like just catching them on the wrong day, we're holler up for it. And that team is not and expects it to be an easy game. And it goes the other way. Like I think they will spring surprises, but I think they'll also spring some surprises on themselves. Wow. So they go whole entertaining, but bad. Is that the I don't know because they were good last year and they overperformed. It's like so like not bad, but then also in a much more difficult competition. And again, to reiterate, they barely made it into the playoffs. It's not as though they did this and finished top of the championship. They finished six and then kind of found a way to grind through. So maybe bad. I think at the very least they will be entertaining for the first three months of the season. And then maybe thereafter. Yeah, also worth mentioning that there were stuff that happened. There was stuff that happened in the last season's champion playoffs that maybe played into Hull's hands as well with other teams getting banned and all that sort of distraction. That was Taylor. That was Middlesbrough side. They're right. Yes. That was the other side of the draw. But I mean, they obviously had to play Middlesbrough in the final. And I don't know whether they had the prep time. I don't know when they were able to prep. Yeah, we'll never be able to quantify that. But Taylor, you said they've tried to replicate like the Sunderland model in terms of how they'll play. Do you anticipate them doing? Because I've got a working theory and it doesn't really, the data doesn't really back this up. And anecdotal theory that I've got that sometimes the teams that come up through the playoffs or maybe haven't won the title in the championship often stand a better chance in the Premier League because of the way their game model is. Whereas if you've been like a dominant team that's won the championship title with a hundred points, trying to replicate that in the Premier League is really difficult. So I think Sunderland were a perfect example of that last season where the way that they played on the counter and their low line of confrontation benefited them and they had the prep from the championship. Do you think there's anything and how we'll be able to replicate that? I mean, just that they've had to like scrap to get here. So in that way, they're coming in like hungerier and maybe with an awareness of how like ruthless this can be to get out of the playoffs and to get into the Premier League. And then yeah, like I think there is a weird chaos to not having like there is an identifiable system. I'm not trying to like shortchange them. It's just that it changed in the playoffs and that is a thing that I keep spotlighting because prior to that, it was of like a four two three one where the wingers get back. You defend in more of a four four two or a four four one one. And it's pretty like standard. But then when you counter, everybody breaks, everybody goes and you try to just absolutely capitalize on like the one or two moments you're going to get, which I think they were effective at, which is how they were able to kind of get points when they weren't expected to. Then there's that shift into the back three where it feels like it's it's Lewis coil and Ryan Giles are the two wingbacks in that one, even though I'm not sure either one is fully a wingback. And then it was them bombing forward, but then trying to get back. And I think as the playoffs went on, they started to stay back a little bit more your two kind of more advanced playmakers would drift into the half spaces. And that's where you would start to get some numbers. So all of that to say like they've had to do a lot of different things in a lot of different moments last season. They've had to grind their way through and there hasn't been to your point a unifying philosophy in my mind of like, this is how we have to play. This is how we have to attack. This is how we have to possess. They feel pretty fluid. They feel pretty adaptable. And they seem like a team that's just going to work their socks off to make up that difference. So yeah, it's in the student point. I think it's mostly just that Sunderland signed a bunch of players and had money. And it's an easy way to be like, well, you never know. Like it seems a slightly lazy way in my opinion of previewing them by being like, well, it worked for them. Maybe it works for Hall. Like I think there's probably a little bit more nuance to what Sunderland did and what Hall they're trying to do. All right. There we go. That's the four tunes on a predicted fortunes of Kingston upon Hall. Let's take a quick break when we come back. We've got Ipswich Leeds and Liverpool and Man City all to come on this episode. Join us then. So in a soccer show, welcome back to our Premier League previews. It's time to hand the mic to Mr Graham Ruffin who's going to tell us all about Ipswich Town back first time of asking Ipswich. Tell us about him, Graham. And did they are? Ipswich Town, the club of Sir Bobby Robson. Do you have anything? Do you have like a soft spot for Ipswich for that reason or are not really just for Sir Bobby himself? I do. They've got a statue, haven't they? They did. I like that very much. I like there a small club that tends to punch above its weight. They've been in European competition and it's very flat there in East Anglia. I like that. I don't like running up hills. Good for tractors. Great nickname as well. The tractor boys. I think it might be the best nickname in English soccer. Called that because, as you mentioned, Ryan Ipswich is quite an agricultural area and opposition fans used to mock them for that and then they decided to just take ownership of it and call themselves the tractor boys. So great nickname. Last season, Ipswich were in the championship. They won promotion for the second time under Keir McKenna. That was actually Ipswich's third promotion in four seasons under Keir McKenna. So as you say, Ryan, this was an immediate return to the Premier League after being relegated from the top of the vision the season before. Wasn't a completely smooth return because they actually started quite slowly. It wasn't quite the kind of swashbuckling season that it was when they got promoted to the Premier League the first time around under Keir McKenna. But I guess that says something about how far that they have come that they maybe weren't dominant for the full season but they were still able to finish second and go up to the Premier League. This time though, Keir McKenna won't be at the helm for Ipswich in the Premier League because he resigned in early June and at the time, I think a lot of people believe that he had another job lined up because obviously he has been linked with so many clubs over the last two years or so. The full-time job was vacant at that time. That was the obvious link but McKenna insisted he was taking some time off to be with his family and recharges batteries. That might be true and he hasn't taken a new job yet. He's not got a Premier League job for the start of this season or any other job. A cynic me might also say that he knows keeping Ipswich up is going to be just as difficult as it was the first time around and leaving now Keir McKenna keeps his stock high and allows him to bring that chapter down. On a positive note, he's left Ipswich as an absolute legend to that club and it's been a busy summer for Ipswich. They have spent roughly 120 million pounds on new players. It's a de-op has arrived from Fulham after playing in the World Cup. That is a meada has signed from Celtic more on him later. I cannot wait to see how he gets on in the Premier League. Esas Alichic has come in also from Fulham. They spent the best part of 30 million pounds on Emerson from Toulouse who is a young Brazilian striker. They have high hopes for. He is their new club record signing. Julio and Ciso has returned as well. He has been good for them before on loan and they have kept the bulk of their promotion winning squad together as well. It does seem like Ipswich are being a bit more bullish this time than they were a couple of seasons ago when they went up to the Premier League and when they prioritise a lot of that money on infrastructure spend. I should mention some of that infrastructure spend is bearing fruit now. They are nearing completion on a 30 million pound training facility that I believe will be completed in the next few weeks and months. I have seen pictures of what it will look like compared to the current facility. It is a night and day difference. They are focusing a lot on off the field stuff and that is bearing fruit now. The current one is a barn with some high bales. It is a pigstie. The new one looks a lot better if not a pigstie. In terms of the manager, as I mentioned, it is no longer Curen McKenna. It is Gary O'Neill and he is probably the most significant new arrival. O'Neill has had a strange career so far where he has been born with manager. He did quite well at born with. He was maybe harshly sat. Obviously he was succeeded by Erie Ola so that went quite well for born with but he was decent for born with. Then he was Will's manager. He didn't go so well there but I mean Will's for an absolute basket case and went down anyway. He has done okay at times. I also feel like he is a good speaker. He is one of the best guests on Monday night football for whatever that is worth. Clearly has a lot of belief in his own ability. He can communicate tactical ideas really well. He was the Strasbourg manager for a period last season and did quite well there but he has returned to England to take over at Portman Road to go and tailor. How many people with? How many people with the Strasbourg manager at one point last season? So Liam Rossignor and then Gary O'Neill and now they have another manager as well so they are going through them quickly. They are rating us. Good old Strasbourg. Salad ownership. By all accounts it seems like he is a coach Gary O'Neill in the true sense and from what I have read and what I have seen he did a good job of I believe Strasbourg and European football this season for the first time ever or the first time in a long time. He was head hunted from Ipswich. I don't believe he was sat. He left to take the Ipswich job for this season and under McKenna Ipswich there are a few principles that they underpinned the whole thing. They were a team that liked to have the ball. They averaged the third highest possession share per match in the championship last season. They also generated shots from 22.2% of high turnovers which was more than double the championship's average rate of 10% which is to say when they won the ball back and they were very proactive in trying to win the ball back quickly. When they did that they were quick to create shots from those opportunities. So that is a key part of how they play. Strasbourg looking at what O'Neill has done. They were also fifth in the run for average possession share as well. So I think we are going to see by all accounts unless there is some drastic unforeseen change that comes out of nowhere. I think we are going to see an Ipswich team that wants to play with the ball, wants to win the ball back quickly and create from counterpressing moments which is something that Gary O'Neill likes to do as well. The problem is that as a promoted team in the strongest league in the world that is going to be much more difficult. And the last time Ipswich went up they were maybe a little bit too idealistic in the way that they played. They earned a lot of plaudits for the way that they played. They were really attractive at times. McKenna did try and adapt things over the course of the season but I look at the way that Leeds and Sunderland in particular stayed up last season which was by playing this sort of counter-attacking game that was really pragmatic and I wonder if Ipswich might be wise going down that route a little bit more thoroughly. In preseason it does look to have been as a broad shape a 4-2-3-1 that tends to shift into a 4-4-2 against the ball. They have quite a robust midfield double pivot that sits in the mid block and then the wide players will push up to help the front to pinch on opposition fullbacks when they can. I saw that a whole bunch in their preseason games or the couple of preseason games that I watched. They will also play quite direct and a couple of their summer signings suggest that they are going to press from the front. I've already mentioned them in passing but Dyson Maeda is one of those summer signings and one of those players that's going to help them press from the front. He has arrived from Celtic and while Dyson Maeda has his flaws he hasn't always been the most clinical of finishers but in my opinion I've said this on the show before he is the best individual presser in world football. That's surely why Ipswich have signed him and it looks like he's going to operate off the left side which as I mentioned they like to pinch those fullbacks. He's going to be a nightmare to play against in the Premier League. It's his one thing he's great at. On that same side, Leif Davis is still one of Ipswich's most important players. He is really willing to get forward from the left back position. The most impressive thing about him he has a very consistent final product. A lot of his underlying numbers are really impressive. It will be interesting to see where Jack Clark fits in because he scored 16 lead goals last season and as far as I'm aware he usually played off the left side. There's some good competition on that left side. Maybe Dyson Maeda ends up playing as a centre forward with Clark on the left side and then Davis as the overlapping fullback. Marcelino Nunez played as a number 10 last season, put up some good creativity numbers as well. Davis was the only player who created more chances than Nunez. In general, highlighting Ipswich's key players right now is challenging because they've made so many summer signings and I think they'll do the Sunderland thing a couple mentions of Sunderland and their model on this episode so far. They're trying to do the Sunderland thing of having a new team for going up to the Premier League. I think it's a de-op. We'll be a starting centre back for them. Florentino Louise has been a starting central midfielder for them in pre-season since joining from Burnley. Abdul Fatoubo has been starting off the right wing as well. He joined from Leicester City. There's a lot of change over here over the summer and they've spent quite a bit of money. I'm quite bullish on them being more competitive than the last time they were in the Premier League but it's just a question of whether it's going to be enough. So to finish things off, my VSP for the tractor boys, I'll say that nickname as often as I can this season, is that Dyson Meida is going to be in the top 10 for Possessions 1 in the final third per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season. I would have them even higher if he was on a better team. I looked through last season's numbers in this metric and it was like all the good teams in the league. So that's why top 10, I feel like, is not too... I think top 10 is even going to be really difficult for you. It is going to be really difficult but Meida is a pressing machine and assuming he can stay fit, which is another question mark over Meida, I think it's going to be a really important player for us, which so that's something I'll be keeping an eye on. I need a team full of Meida's and Brendan Aronsons. I mean, coaches dream FC, that's all that is. We need to see that for science. Is that your dream or your nightmare, Joe? More of my nightmare, but like a great team to be on. Can you imagine just like the coach or that team would be just delightful? Elite stuff. Graham, just to clarify, you said the top goalscorer for APSW season will be Axel Wooden and a Rockwell couple in Aliyah Mahdi, right? That's right. That's right. Yeah, that's right. He's definitely going to be a starting player for them, for sure. Definitely. He's not. Joe's still stuck on what that team would be like. I feel like it would just be like, oh, it's a day after a game. We're just all going to go on a casual 20-mile split. Everybody on board? Let's get it. What now? No, resting? No. Okay. That's spot on. Do I hear the desire for some Brendan Aronson check? Because I've got a team for you. I'd like to talk about next. Wow. It's lead United everybody who start their campaign on Saturday at Nottingham Forest. Leeds Nottingham Forest has a good heartland match. I like the sound of that one. I'm looking forward to that one very much indeed. Last season, leads finish 14th, back in the Premier League after winning the Champions League. The previous season, eight points above the drop. They finished, spent most of the season in a lot of position than the one they finished with, but a strong finish. Daniel Farca, Farca, did well to keep them up. Got them in the FA Cup semi-finals as well, losing narrowly to Chelsea in the end in that one. Their summer, they kicked it off by losing to America's team Rexham in Tampa Bay, Florida, which I don't know if that's an omen of anything, but that's what they did. They had a better preseason campaign after that. In terms of signings, big signing centre-back Bosnian, a taric mojaramovic from Cessuolo for 34 million. He's looked very good in preseason, actually, very physical, very aggressive, but not aggressive in the Christian Romero way. I will suggest he helps Cessuolo go up to the top tier of Italy and they finished mid-table last season, so he's got a good resume behind him. He can play in a back three or a back four, which might come in handy more on that later. They've also signed. They're record signing this summer. James Trafford, who's passed around like currency between clubs at the moment. This is his third club in four seasons, I believe, but I'm imagining he's going to go between the sticks and very much deserves a number one seat at a Premier League club, I would say. So some big spine upgrades, upgrades at the back four leads. Also, perhaps the biggest boon of this summer, getting Harry Wilson in from Fulham for a free as well. So he's going to be very useful in providing service for Dominic Calvert-Luin. That might be less useful for Brendan Aronson, who I don't know, maybe Harry Wilson takes a minute off Aronson if he's going to play on the right by suspect Aronson is going to be more in that number 10 central role. Doing hard work. So we'll see about that one. Outgoing is nothing too major for Leeds. Jack Harrison has gone to the revolution, of course, but sort of the TLDR of their summer. They bought pretty well. No major losses. Not a flashy window, a functional one. And looking forward, no European campaign to tie them out this season. I think it's going to work really well for them. But something I have my car practice doesn't say to me. I like this spine. The goalkeeper, new centre back, Aronsdak, and even Ampedu in the middle and Dominic Calvert-Luin at the top. Like the look at that, that seems very strong, very Daniel Farca in terms of what it can achieve. Last season, Leeds conceded 56 goals in the Premier League. That was 16th in the division, only Spurs and the relegated teams worse than that. I think they're going to be harder to score against this year, another year on with the Farca project. I think they look pretty balanced, to be honest, for hardworking players, as we've mentioned, one in particular, and a demanding manager here, and a pretty clear identity that Farca has. And as I say, it's one season on with him, so I would expect things to get a little bit better this season, and the ingredients are there for them to do so. I mean, looking at the vibe among Leeds fans, they probably take anything above 17th place this season, but top half is going to be the goal for Leeds United this season. Interestingly, also working on a stadium renovation, they're increasing the stadium size, apparently, to around 53,000. It does look like Ellen Roderstein better days if you take a look at it, certainly from the aerial perspective. They're owned by the 49ers enterprises, of course, out of California, a USA. So they might be getting a nicer home in the next season or two. Back to Farca, former lower division striker, he says his personality is, and I quote, 95% coffee and cake on the sofa, and 5% fire beast. That's a good quote, isn't it? It's not good. I thought the 5% was going to be football, but they were fire beast. Fire beast. But he doesn't specify whether the fire beast comes out at the football. It might be at home, you know, when he's gone after sofa. It's hard to know. But I will say, coffee and cake on the social with Daniel Farca, that does sound nice. I saw a social media comment maybe last night that he looks like he might be the best smelling manager in the Premier League. So I'd like to maybe share some coffee and cake with him on the couch. That's besides the point. He's proven at this level, Daniel Farca. He's tactically the best smell and after a coffee and cake. Well, fire beast, you know, clears a lot out, Graham. He's tactically flexible, which was shown last season. He went to a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-2 wider fitels cabinet, lo and up top on his own. And their fortunes, the fortunes of the league, United, very much improved when they made their switch away from a back four. I think they're going to stick with the back three this season, but we will see. Quote again from Farca, my brand of football normally suits teams who dominate possession, but I'm always switched on to what is necessary, which I think is his way of saying, I'm flexible. I can go to a back three if it works my side, which I've got, which he has done. So he can do either system. No percentages. That's time to describe his brand of football. He didn't say whether he's in five these mode when he sent that as well. I'd like to have an indication of that, but I think it should be obvious going forward. He likes obviously possession tactically disciplines, likes to have the ball to construct counterattacks and use the width of the middle five or the back five, whatever you want to call it there, in his setup. Key players mentioned it before. Dominic Calvert, Lewin is very, very important to lead United, new slash everybody, 15 goals in all competitions last season. I think the success and maybe that creeping into the top half of Leeds very much depends on him staying fit. And I think if you were to ask Leeds fans who their sort of heartbeat is Ethan Amperdo in the middle of the field, very important to this team, not scared of a tackle, he strikes me as the loudest voice in the dressing room kind of guy as well. So I've got a few hard workers in this team. Amperdo very much embodying that as well. My very specific prediction for Leeds United is relating to set pieces, which they're surprisingly good at. I say Leeds are going to score at least 15 non penalty set pieces this season. That'll put them in the top five of the Premier League ambitious VSP Ryan. Yes, I know, but they scored 16 last year, non penalty set pieces and only 26 goals from open play. That's a wild ratio. 16 set pieces and 26 goals from open play for Leeds United. I think this very much plays their strengths, which is Calvert Lewin and his area ability. It's those wire players, now Harry Wilson amongst them who's going to get some good dead balls into the middle. So that's my VSP. That is Leeds United. I like that VSP Ryan, especially because just this morning, before we started recording, they've also signed Niko Elvedi from Gladbach, who I believe is a Swiss defender who played at the World Cup from memory as a giant. He's like six feet through your something and lights to get forward from for set pieces. So that feeds into your VSP very nicely. There you go. Six three in the giant. Graham, aren't you six one? I don't know, I feel about that. And you tell me I'm a giant every time you see me. So you're a wee giant. Okay, that's, that's, that's better. Do you tell yourself you're a giant in the mirror in the morning, Graham? And five percent. These are giant of coffee and cake on the sofa. Very good. All right, I think we should all take a little break. And when we come back, we should talk about Liverpool and Manchester City. Yeah, that's a plan. Let's do that. Join us in a second. So the soccer show, welcome back to our Premier League previews. It's Liverpool time. It's Iriola's team. It's Jeff Bezos' team. And it's Jolary's turn to tell us all about them. Go ahead, Joe. Liverpool last season finished fifth with 60 points. They were fourth and expected goal differential. It was a rough season for Liverpool with the passing of Diego Jata, Looming Large, and still does, of course, Looming Large. For so many, Liverpool loaded up on a bunch of talent in the summer window, fresh off of winning the Premier League title in Arnit's Lots for a season in charge. The first of the post-Clock era, there's lots of exciting things happening. They signed Alex and their ESAC after a drawn-out transfer song. But that was fun, wasn't it? I kind of do remember joining that, looking back on it, lots of drama. The send you go, I could TK and Florian Vertson, Milos Kirkhead, and Jeremy Frimpong. You could argue that really only one of those players hit in that player was you go, I could TK. He was terrific. And then he ruptured as Achilles tendon in April. And you kind of wonder if you'll ever reach the same heights again. So, really rough year, all the way across the board for Liverpool despite them qualifying for the Champions League. They aim for title contention, but they weren't even near that, finishing 25 points behind Arsenal. Trent Alexander, Arnold Gone, revamped on the right side, different profiles in the attack. Both Virgil Vendek and Salah, another year older, the team just wasn't the same. Salah and Slot got into a tiff that spilled over into the public sphere. That led to Salah and Liverpool terminating his contract one year early, and Slot was fired. Say to say, Liverpool are ready for a refresh. So what have they done this summer? Well, Ryan, you mentioned it. They've hired Indoni Eureola from Bournemouth, which we'll get to in just a minute. On the player front, lots of dominoes, I think, that are still to fall for Liverpool, or at least there'd better be if they want to be a serious team this year. In terms of outgoing, most Salah, who signed for Chaps and Sport, it's gone. He put up seven goals and seven assists in the league last year. Andy Robertson is gone. He's over at Tottenham on a free. We've known that for a while now. Maybe most notably from an on-field perspective, Ibrahim Konate has gone to Ramadrid on a free transfer. French centre-back started 36 games and was crucial for Liverpool in the back line last year. Kurtz Jones reportedly is off into Milan for 35 million euros, valuable player, 25 years old, and during the final year of his contract and had not agreed to an extension. So it seems like this was inevitable. And there's some heat on a Cody Gappo exit as well, which all admit was not on my bingo card. Spurs won him. Fair play, another one from my spurs are kind of building a good squad quietly. If they're able to get this deal done agenda, Liverpool have not been itching to sell, understandably so, given their lack of options right now who are healthy and available, but he plays on the left. And a player they want, probably a barcola from PSG also plays on the left. Could they move on from Gappo? Stranger things have happened and it feels like there's a bit of momentum behind this. We'll see how this all plays out. Those of incoming. There has not been as much movement as I thought there would be at this point in the window. I think there will be more to come later in the window. Jeremy Jacket has joined for 64 million euros from Ren. We knew this back in February, the 20, the 20 year old center back has signed and that deal was going to see him join this summer. Now we're in the summer. He's wearing Kanate's old number. He's capped by France at youth level. Hasn't debuted for their senior team just yet, but he seems like a really, really good player. Another reinforcement at center back is Ronald Arajo, who the 27 year old center back has joined on loan with an option to make the deal permanent for 55 million euros. There's been a bit of a center back injury crisis. I think getting Arajo in the door was really important to Liverpool. When you're 50, Munoz has signed the 23 year old spaniard. He's come in for 40 million euros from Osasuna, but Liverpool have still been searching for their big fish and that is Bradley Barclup. PSG want a lot of money for him. They want nine high nine figures, not high nine figures. They want low nine, low nine figures, but not figures nonetheless. I don't know if they're going to get that deal over the line, Liverpool, but it does sort of seem like things are blowing in that direction. PSG continue to make additions in Liverpool. Really haven't. So it seems like there's going to be something that comes to this. Right now their attack is quite light. There's really no obvious backup number nine. If Gakbo goes and Barclup comes in, I think there's still a little light on options for that right side. A Rio and Gamola is going to get a lot of run over there. We'll see he's gotten some run in preseason. I think that'd be quite exciting. Is that ideal? Uh huh. Their midfield depth is light. Their center back room is a bit light as well. I think Adoni Uriel has quite a lot on his hands. The 44 year old spanish manager from the bass country. One of the incredibly large number of top level coaches from there. His first senior job came in Cyprus. Then the spanish second tier, then Rive Icono, then Bournemouth, now Liverpool. Uh he loves the book Dracula. He also talks about how the game is for the players, which I love because it is obviously, uh, all the coaches at a big club. You really? He's simultaneously, Joe. What's that? No, they're just different. Yeah. There's a lot of players that also I love Dracula. Yeah. See you. Yeah. I mean, I don't have, I don't think his grandpa can see to the first goal in Loliga history. So I had to go somewhere else. Um, of all the of all the coaches at that. That's right. At all the big clubs. Uriel is the only one truly doing something different. I think at least in England anyway, when it comes to his tactical approach. And I, I, I haven't say that all the big clubs all tend to kind of play the same versions of the same way or at least somewhat disparate versions of the same way. Uriel is different. He hasn't ever coached a big team like a truly big club. And now he is and they won't play like a pep team. They won't play like a, a highly possession, positional play dominant sort of team. I am fascinated to see how things go for him and Liverpool. I think is one of the most interesting storylines of anywhere in Europe this upcoming season. I'd born with his teams didn't dominate the ball. They, they could play with it, but they tended to dominate other areas of the game. They attacked quickly. Couple seasons ago. Born with, we're second in the Premier League in long passes. There was second in the league that season and crosses. Uh, they, the seventh, the most tackles in the final third. They were surrounded by all the big clubs in that metric and then Brightford and, uh, Brightford. Well, I'm going to roll with that portmato for Brighton and Brentford. We're sticking with that. Boys. I think that might stick actually in my own personal vernacular. Right. There was a point under Uriel that born with where no team in the Premier League, the Bundesliga, Syria or the Liga had won the ball more often than born with in the final third. Like they are a dynamo of a defensive team causing chaos wherever they go. Generating shots and regains, maybe more than they are from established possession sequences. Their games are chaotic rather than control. I think that might be the, the, the TLDR on how Uriel wants to play. How much control is he going to add to his approach now that he's at a club with players that can do more? How much defensive work is he going to remove? Now, he's at a club where players probably don't expect to do that same amount of defensive work. I don't know. I really don't, but I am itching to find out. I mean, your club sort of had a similar background in some ways and Adortman's a bigger club than, than, than Bournemouth and really any, any metric, but he comes into Liverpool and it's much more combative and transitional at first. And then over the years, the club has there, it becomes much more possession oriented. And there are more elements of positional play. Club change did happen gradually. How are Uriel adapt? Does he need to? Are the players going to like what he's doing? Are they not? Is there even enough talent for any of this to matter relative to the title race? We're going to find out. In terms of key players, Verge Medec is still around. Araho, Jacquet, Gomez is still around. Giovanni Leone, quite young. Those couple of those last two options. At fullback, you're looking at Frimpong and Conor Bradley and maybe even Araho who can play it right back. Corkes was with Uriel at Bournemouth. I think there could be something in that for him this season. In midfield, again, it's quite light. I think in terms of options, you're really happy about seeing the field. It's Ryan Gravenberg. It's Alexis McAllister and it's Subusly. And I don't think there's another name that I would really read off on that list. You have Florian Verge, but he's much more of a 10 half space guy. He's going to get a lot of minutes to see. You're going to be a key player and hopefully he'll have more production this year than last year. On the wing, I really don't know, man. Victor Munoz is in. Like I said, Rio and Gamoa is here. I think he's going to get more minutes this year, exactly what his world looks like. We'll find out. Will Cody Gakpo be here? Will Bradley Barcola? At Striker, you've got Alexander Esak and then Shrug emoji. The depth is thin. Like the talent is real. There's a lot of really good players in this team, but they've got a lot in their play this season and a lot of expectations to bounce back from last season after a super busy window that moves are not coming in as they can fast this time around. What does that mean? What does it mean for their future? Now, VSP for Liverpool. And so they will be top three in the Premier League and passes allowed per defensive action. That's a metric of how much you press. So if you're allowing fewer passes from the opposition per intervening defensively, right, per defensive action, then you are a more aggressive pressing team. If you allow a lot of actions from the opposition, a lot of passes, excuse me, before interviewing defensively, then you're you're a much more passive team. It's not a perfect proxy for pressing, but it's a pretty widely available, easily trackable sort of metric. Last year, Liverpool will eighth in that metric and born with 3rd. So I'm thinking Liverpool are going to be born with in that metric this season because that's what Iriola wants to play. Will it work? Will they win a lot of stuff? That's a harder question to answer. That's my Liverpool preview, folks. Yeah, they have such a weird squad, Liverpool right now, and there are genuine superstars everywhere. And yet so many question marks against them. I'm just looking through their squad now, like Alexander Isaac, question mark, Florian Verts, question mark, Ryan Gravenberts, who was excellent previously. I think had a major drop off in terms of if he's physicality last year, along with Alexa McAllister. So two tremendous players, both big question marks against them, heading into this season. Melos Kirka is question mark, Jeremy Frimpong, question mark, even someone like Alison Becker, who missies huge swathes of seasons that threw to injury and had been liked with Juventus earlier in the window. And maybe that was the right time to move them on, as excellent as he is on his day. Big old question mark against him, question mark against who's going to play next to Virgil Van Dykel, though I feel a little bit better having watched their recent friendly against Como, where Jeremy Jackie played in that position. And for 45 minutes looked excellent. So he might be ready to slot into that position right away. Liverpool also have Giovanni Leone, who signed last year from Italy. I can't with Atlanta. I can't quite recall the club that he came from, but got our ACL like our serious injury and like his first game or his first training session. So he's only just returning now. So there's so much talent in this Liverpool squad. I just expected to have cleared our firmer answers on how it's all going to fit together in their area. And just looking at his demeanor and some of the press conferences seems like a little bit of exasperation is growing for him already with the lack of activity. So really interesting at Liverpool right now. Yeah, it was parmer and a great grim totally. I think there absolutely has to be more movement. And I think it's not just Barclay and you call it a day. I think it has to be Barclay and at least one option in Central Midfield, who can be a player that can soak up a huge number of minutes across maybe a couple of different positions. This year in that in that part of the field. Yeah, it's going to be really, really fascinating. Interesting times ahead for Liverpool. Thank you very much. Joe, one more team to cover in this here episode. It is Manchester City. Big coaches gone. Rotary's gone. But what are the fortunes looking like for Man City Taylor Rockwell? Take it away now. Is that enough? Is that okay? We're done. Done. All right, extrapolate on that. I will. And I will say up front as I often do in these types of moments. I am a man United fan. I have tried to not let that bias influence me because Man City are occasionally a fun team to watch. And I think this season will be a very interesting club to keep an eye on. But I have some skepticism skepticism. I have some doubt and we'll get into it. So last season, they didn't do a lot by their standards and that's kind of ridiculous given that they did win the domestic cup double. But that is the kind of standard that Pep Guardiola had set at this club where even if you win the FA Cup, even if you win League Cup, if you don't win the Premier League or if you don't go far in the Champions League, is it a successful season? I think in the past, it would have been this time around less so. They lose the title to Arsenal and bar like one, maybe like three week period. It felt like never really made it feel like it was going to be all that close booted out of the Champions League in the round of 16 by a dysfunctional round Madrid team five to one on aggregate. That was unexpected. But still like you win the cups. It's seen as kind of a successful season, but really, it is a season in which like they didn't really meet expectations and then Pep Guardiola departs. An income ends on Maresca and I am excited for a Premier League without Pep Guardiola, although I will miss him. I'm realizing how much of the Man City Mystique was his ability to evolve and just find solutions. It reminds me of Merino when he was first at Chelsea in that sort of like yes, they're a very good team and they have really good players. But it's that manager that is always going to give you something to be afraid of. What are they going to figure out? What are they going to try? What wrinkle are they going to throw when it halftime that you have to adjust to? And I think Meresca is more than capable of that. But it's still this is my question for the group. Like where is it in terms of Pep on the biggest ever shoes to fill in the Premier League list? Like Sir Alex Ferguson would be up there for sure. One or two if we're not doing players involved, it players maybe complicates things slightly, but but even then he's very, very high on the list. And I think maybe even bigger shoes in Ferguson because there wasn't a whole load of philosophical stuff attached to Ferguson where with Pep there is. And so it's a huge job. It reminds me of like in a better way than this. Like in the office, there's the joke that like Kevin the accountant makes up his own number called a clever and that's how he bounces his books to get home in time, which does lead to aspiring. I feel like if you go through the history of Pep Guardiola, if you look at like the construction of that club, there's a lot of like wait, what happened here? Like why does this look like there was an explosion? It was like, oh, that was one of the times you got into a fight with Kyle Walker. And then Kyle Walker had to kind of find a way back into its good graces. So there is a lot of like, I think improvisation and what Pep brought ultimately leading to 20 trophies in 10 years and some lovely soccer along the way. Are they going to be as capable of that this season? We'll find out. They have spent plenty of money, most of it in one location that being 23 year old, excuse me, central midfielder Elliott Anderson brought in from Nottingham Forest for 135 million euros. They've signed other players too, one of whom is already back on loan with Troy, that would be Matis Ditturbe, brought in the best name in soccer by some distance, Geronema Rulie from Marseille to be their backup goalkeeper, got to get him in there. But they're also quite a few departures to mention John Stone to Bernardo Silva on freeze to Inter and Real Madrid respectively. They sell James Trafford, who Ryan mentioned previously, Mental Ecology and Nathan Okaye also out the door on permanent deals. And then the big one, Roderie, moving to Barcelona. I forget where we are in terms of that being official, but it's pretty official to me. It felt like it was official a week ago and then wasn't, and then hasn't been, but then has been. But 60 million euros are there about for him. And again, it's really interesting to have read previews before that move happened. Several of them were like, as long as you've got Roderie, you're fine. He does so much for this team like Maresa can hit the ground running and then it suddenly you pull that out. I'm not even trying to agree with that in the first place, but you pull that out. And it's essentially Elliot Anderson goes from being the Roderie heir apparent to now just has to be the Roderie. And that's a role that Roderie himself struggled with. And in Pep Systems, that player coming in who's supposed to be the deep-lying midfielder or like the defensive midfielder who can also be a playmaker can also play really simple, can also read defenses, can also contribute to attack. You're asked to do so many things like it takes like six months oftentimes to get up to speed with what Pep was asking of you, maybe Maresa is asking less and in a different way, but there's still going to be a huge learning curve and a huge amount of pressure on Anderson, given the departure of Roderie, given that price tag. And that puts a huge amount of pressure on Enzo Maresa, who for people who are not as familiar, had the lesser time, had the Chelsea time was twice an assistant under Pep Guardiola was credited with like a good working relationship with Bernardo Silva, which won't help him this season, was credited with moving John Stones into the middle, which won't help him this season, because both of them are gone. And this is where I think like like you're starting to hear the negativity already, obviously, but it feels like they wanted to replace Pep with Pep, or like the closest PEP facsimile that they could get. And like to Joe's point about Iriola, Liverpool have gone a different direction, but I think it's a more pragmatic like getting back to like our roots and then we can evolve if we want to. Maresa seems like he has been brought into basically like, can you just kind of be Pep? And I mean like even the images used in the previews make him look like Pep, he has the shaved head, he has the stubble, he's usually in like some sort of like roll next sweater, he's usually screaming in a frustrated way, like like his profile picture on Fought Mob looks like Pep is still there. It just seems like they're kind of like if we keep the guy who looks like Pep who worked with Pep, who has the same ideas as Pep, like an AI image. You know, maybe people won't look close enough. And dude, yeah, and so like, it's a strange thing where so many of the previews I've read and listened to and watched are about like, it's a no-brainer. You bring in this guy who has familiarity with the club. He's been there before. He understands the style. He understands the philosophy. He's an excellent coach. And yet for all of those like, I see them going the other way of like, I think that's them trying to find Pep again. And I think we're going to be met with a lot of like, do you think you're Pep? This season, both from City Personnel and fans and even some players, which we'll get to my prediction later on. But I think it's still going to be an incredibly good team. Like they are stacked beyond compare. Most players at the World Cup of any club, at least in the Premier League. And they've got this guy, Erling Holland, who's pretty okay. 198 city appearances, 162 goals, 38 goals last season in all competitions, won the Premier League Golden Boot. And as we saw with Norway, like even if he doesn't have elite players around him, it's still going to create his own shot. It's still going to create his own goal. But then can also function within a unit. And I think he is going to be really, really critical to Maraska's team hitting the ground running and looking comprehensively good from the jump. And that's a thing that they did not look in the community shield. I think Elliot Anderson is obviously going to be incredibly important. That was prior to the departure of Roger. But now it is him coming in. And I think really being looked to want to stabilize that midfield. Roll that I think could be really tricky. But like aside from that, like Holland, Cherokee, Doku, Semenio, Marmush, Grielis, Savinio, Phil Foden, all pretty viable attacking options. Mateo Kovacic is still there. So he can deputize in the Roger roll or maybe kind of lead off, as long as his fitness allows. Give Anderson a little bit more time to get acclimated. Still an incredibly strong defense. Still have Jean-Louis G. Don Aruma in goal. But like, I just, I look at them from the community shield this past weekend. And I want to note that in the 2022 community shield, that was the three-to-one win for Liverpool over Man City. It was the debut I believe for Darwin Nunez and Erling Holland. And I think I was the only one remember that. I was the only one on the show who was like, I don't know man, this Nunez guy. He might be a little bit better than Holland. And I have held my head in shame ever since. And I bring it up now to say, like, I don't want to look at the community shield as a reliable indicator of what's to come. But that midfield looked disjointed. They did not seem like they understood how to connect with Erling Holland. They didn't seem like they had a clear way of how they wanted to both build into attack, but then also transition into defense. And Moreska's teams are oftentimes really, really aggressive counterpress upon possession loss, like immediate press, hardcore press, and then maybe sitting off of that's not there. They want to control the ball. They want to control numbers to the middle. They want to create overloads in the middle. And that is where we might see Holland have a few like Baron patches this season because at Lester and at Chelsea, Moreska's forwards would like occupy the centerbacks, try to kind of create openings for other players, get on the end of crosses, get on the end of balls in the box, but also drop deeper to create overload. So if it's a 3v3 or 4v4 in the middle, that center forward coming deeper creates an overload. I don't think that works as well for Holland. And I think that's a thing that had to learn early on. Like I remember him saying like Pat still had or Holland stuff to learn our style and other players saying the same. And then it feels like Pat kind of adjusted his style to suit with suit Holland. And so like it's a weird one where on a lot of ways Holland is a perfect player for Enzo Moreska. And then in other ways might be a huge headache for Enzo Moreska simultaneously. And all of that leads to my VSB, which is a kind of two fur because it felt too vague to have two vague ones. So together though, they make one specific one. I think Enzo Moreska will have an obvious falling out with at least one city player this season, but Erling Holland, even if he is that player, will still win the Golden Boot. Even if he does have a Baron patch, even if they are not as comprehensively good man city, part of that is because Erling Holland is so comfortably one, the Golden Boot last season with 27 goals. I think it was Igor Thiago had 22 and then Antoine Semenio was 17. A lot of those before he moved to Manchester City. So like and I don't know who else like closes that gap that quickly. I think there's a lot of teams who have a lot of question marks. And so I think Holland is still going to be Holland and score a ton of goals. But I think we will have moments of a player, but maybe we won't know it publicly. But I think we will see obvious signs of like Pat can ask that of me. Pat can yell at me that way. Pat can tell me that I'm to blame for his divorce, which is a thing that a pet kind of did last season apparently. According to the Amazon documentary, which I really want to watch. There's so many stories that I've seen the kind of Walker clip and that's explosive. I've only seen like the clip and I've only seen like the summaries of it. It made me like pet more because I like he really is just a human. He really I think like the just was like I lost the most beautiful woman on your planet, which was odd freezing. Like and I'm here with you all. He just seems so angry when they lost a game when they were going through that. And so I just think like there's going to be those moments. There's going to be those like do you think your pet you can't tell me to do that. I'm you know, I'm established. I'm an established player or you're asking me to play out a position and it's going to be some growing pains. I think from Araska, I think he could still come good. I think they could still. I don't think that they will win the title. I don't know if they will be comfortably challenging for the title. I think there's a different team that I'm yet to preview who might be in that top four conversation in a way that it didn't expect them to be Joe Tottenham. I'm feeling pretty positive. But for city, I think there's going to be some chaos. I think there's going to be some tumult. I think there's going to be a player frozen out. But I don't think it will be Erling Holland who still finishes as you're going boot winner. Yeah, there's there's different ways to look at Man City right now. One way to look at them is they there's they still got so much money, so much wealth. There's there's squad is full of talent. I expect medium to long term. There's still going to win titles and trophies. And in that sense, I don't think we're going to see a fall off in the same way that we saw post Venger Arsenal or post Ferguson at Manchester United. At the same time, the more I see of man sitting under Mareska, the more time I've had to sit with the Mareska appointment as well. I don't love it. I look at Mareska as someone who has in his last two jobs has left. Leicester City fans were quite happy to I mean, he won the championship with them and their fans were quite happy, quite content to move him on. Chelsea fans, I don't think we're distraught to see the back at ends of Mareska either. And the biggest complaint at Mareska has been that he does not evolve teams from over the course of seasons and from point A to point B. And that was one of the things that pep was, I think it was the greatest of all time at that in management of evolving teams. Yes, he had the tiggy tack of basis, but from there, he went in totally different directions, especially with this Manchester City team over 10 years. And I've got no evidence to suggest that Mareska will be capable of the of the same thing. So it's almost like it's almost like a crude reading of what Man City believed Guardula was to go and get a guy who, well, this guy wants teams to play with the ball. And like, they're good in possession and look at the possession stats. And like, that's the way we used to look at things 15 years ago. Like, we've evolved beyond that point. And I just, I don't love his appointment. Leicester's I've been nodding and pointing at the screen because Graham is nailing it and Graham is nailing it in a way, I think a way better than I did as to why I have this like concern. Is it feels like city for so long have been this team that led the way in like analytics and in data tracking and in player acquisitions, obviously, and in so many different areas. And this one, like, there've just been little moments of like, like, the city machine and how we got, we just got to keep the machine going. And we are this, this juggernaut that just does what it does. And again, part of that, like, like, the excerpts I saw and the clips I saw from the the documentary is like, like, Kevin De Bruyne of being told, basically, like, you're not part of the plans anymore in him, like, apparently having a breakdown and being very upset about that. But then sort of being like, yep, like, we're a machine. We keep it moving. This is how we do it. And there can be an efficiency and effectiveness to that. But as we know from questioning our future relationship to the machines, it can go sour. And that's what it feels like a little bit here is. It sort of feels like, did they make an autopilot appointment of it's the, it's the new pep. It's the same pep. We're going to be the same team. It's all going to be fine. We don't need to do that much. And then you realize just how much pep was carrying. That's the thing that I can't really shake. Even if Maresca does end up having a successful season, I think there's going to be some pretty rough growing pains early on. There we go. I love the unmanifesting drama in your BSP as well, Taylor. That's what we need around these parts. I like, it just, I think because they've been a team that even with all the drama we've just talked about, like, haven't felt very dramatic. Like it's one of the things about city. It's just they've been this just reliable machine that aren't always the most fun to watch until they have that weird period in the second half of the season when they just are undefeatable and conquer everything. Like they just, they kind of avoid a lot of drama, even while having public drama because they are so good. If you're not as good or if you are having these growing pains or there are shaky moments or there are some players who aren't meeting the expectation, does that drama come more to the forefront? I think we will find out soon. Mmm, we shall. Thank you very much, Taylor Rockwell for your Manchester City thoughts. We've got one more Premier League preview to come down the pipeline this week on Thursday, you're going to hear about Man United, Newcastle, Forest, Sunderland and a perspective top four title challenges, Tottenham. Mmm, framing. Interesting. But for now, Taylor Rockwell, thank you very much indeed for your services to podcasting and such. The pleasure was mine. I meant whole as being the potential top four title challengers, but yeah, Tottenham too, why not? I didn't mean all. Sure. All right, very good. Sounds good. Graham Rothen, thank you very much. Thank you very much, Joe Larry. Hey, thanks, friend. And thank you again, Lister, for joining us in this one. We'll be back with our final Premier League preview very shortly indeed, but for now, bye!
