In Episode #145 of the Squeaky Bum Time Podcast, Tottenham have won the league! Just kidding, but they did complete the double over Manchester City and make a title race out of this season yet. What’s the difference?! Also:
- The guys join forces take Liverpool fans to task for simply existing
- Title race back on? Liverpool with the game in hand
- Manchester United win a wild edition of the War of the Roses over Leeds
- Previewing a massive game between Wolves and Arsenal in the Top 4 race
Follow us on Twitter (@SqueakyBum_Pod), Instagram (@SqueakyBumTimePod) and Facebook (Squeaky Bum Time Podcast) to stay up to date!
Part of the Chop Sports Media Network!
Transcript
hello and welcome to the squeakiest bum
time podcast with mike laurent it is
tuesday
february 22nd of the 22nd year of the
20th century uh in this episode the war
of the roses is resumed for those who
don't know that's men united versus
leeds the title race gets a lifeline but
first mike are you alive are you okay
and also how am i doing am i okay
no you're not you're never okay though
in fact
you're happy that man city lost so that
you have something to talk about but on
the anniversary
of the miracle on ice we sit here
talking about the first time in the
history of el duchico that tottenham
hotspur has done the double duchy cup
they have taken all six
of six available points from manchester
city after an absolute
barn burner
on saturday afternoon tottenham three
manchester city two i i jumped ahead to
that the most important score of the
weekend we're going to talk about it
almost exclusively in this episode if
you don't care about this game you're
lying first of all second goodbye it's
okay
all right let me go
to the scores west ham won newcastle won
the how revolution is revolutionizing
and west ham take a dup a dump on their
own side they are in trouble but uh west
ham playing really well arsenal staked
their claim again brentford's still
sliding they are up 2-1 the young kids
are there smith rowe and soccer with the
goals brentford pilgrim back late my
beloved brighton lose at home to burnley
[ __ ] sake what's going on tough loss
uh liverpool
find a way winning 3-1 after going down
versus norwich for a minute there it
looked like they were going to lose but
then nor liverpool was like get the [ __ ]
it never really did they put the hammer
down
southampton and the hassan hoodle uh who
do take win two nil at home against
everton i guess uh frank lampard's not
actually that good and then the lan with
his other friend mr
gerard at home losing to watford one-nil
the girard revolution not really going
well everything's running through
coutinho maybe the continuum thing's
going to fail chelsea get lucky lukaku
has seven touches in the game two and a
half beat crystal palace one nil it was
not as good a game as i thought but
chelsea can still defend like [ __ ]
but no uh no gallagher so we give them a
pass there tottenham three uh
32 don't want to talk about that in the
war of the roses of classic mud blood
thunder fighting wetness soggy pitches
leads to manchester united four it was a
fun game i'll admit it and wolves
continue and lester's uh world still
sinks in the battle of the dogs wolves
to
leicester city one uh with rogers
getting the dreaded vote of confidence
but let us go
to the uh aforementioned etihad where
we're hiding funds on our sponsored
stadium i'm sure it's over inflated
because that's what everyone says about
city and city and their million dollar
team their hundred million dollar
players on the bench and the narrative
shift shift shift of two to three
west ham tottenham beating city uh
setting the record for
expected goals on shots something like
0.2 per shot so that means all the
chances that spurs created were
incredible chances and they could have
scored more
city dominate possession they huff they
puff they do nothing they get
they go level on a dubious penalty i
almost wrote hold on no don't wait i
didn't want it i didn't want it we're
gonna go through every single [ __ ]
inch of this match
starting with the fourth minute of the
game
a classic throwback to the champions
league clash between us
uh
where
sun is gone in a way
off of an absolutely incredible pass
from yep harry should have been player
of the season last year
you finished eight okay thank you he
is
buying by far the best player in the
country it is not close it was on full
display in every aspect of the game on
saturday and it is irrefutable
and i
welcome someone to come on the show you
know what he literally i think some i
saw something or i have to look it up
someone did a study he's literally
running faster now
yeah well i believe it he hasn't had a
knee or an ankle injury and yeah he's
literally fitter like he looked good
like handsomer yeah well okay so
the interesting thing is that
everybody's talking about how the fact
that manchester city had 72 percent
possession they had 20 plus shots it
didn't matter and they're talking [ __ ]
about antonio conte's tactics because
it's it's only it's only when his
tactics actually tottenham
are under scrutiny right not when he's
at chelsea not when he's i don't i don't
so so hold on but so antonio conte
earlier yesterday or late this evening i
should say
hit back and he had the replay of the
first goal which started with laura
sinnett passing it out
everything was out from the back out
from the back into kanan central who
pings it all the way away to sunny and
you have seen this in your nightmare so
many times but instead of him pushing it
away because ederson comes sprinting out
off his line he squares it to dion
kulasevsky new boy and he's he nutmegs
uh cancelo i believe yes and it he goes
whisking away uh into the empty net one
nil it's a spurs and at which point i go
well that was hilarious i didn't even
react because hey i thought sonny was
offside b he was not b i was like
all right
i mean
well we're gonna do this so
uh
this game was very reminiscent watching
it of like the second half of iax for me
the the famous iax game because the
first goal i was like
all right man like now they're just now
you just pissed them off like why'd you
go and do that see i i don't agree i i
really felt like from a city perspective
as i re-watched the game because i was
uh i
mean proud of evelyn she did her first
confession i don't know what she said
but uh it was my dad curses a lot when
he watches sports
yeah yeah so i don't know what she said
but congrats she got her cross she's uh
catholic the guilt is now not just from
me but from god as well so that's
exciting so i didn't get to watch the
game live i sort of follow along but i
thought as i was as i rewatched it i saw
all the hallmarks of
city are going to lose this game
or we're in trouble
the early goal i think
gives
spurs confidence and i think allows
and gives the feeling that the defense
has something to hold on to it's not
just we're defending it was active
defending right yes they were deep yes
it was 541 and all this stuff that's
fine
but it was not
weak sort of we're standing here for no
reason everyone was pushing out everyone
attacked challenges the whole group
fought for
each other in that thing in those
moments and when spurs attacked they
were
clinical all the attacks were okay
except for the fact that they were
fighting for each other and it didn't
work okay because uh you had gundam on
hitting the post you had sterling
surging down the side of the play
everybody was flying for city and the
goal comes off of and by the way
in our match preview i said that i felt
good for no reason whatsoever i thought
that spurs would get a draw out of this
i thought they would go 1-1 and i
thought loris would be the man of the
match
and well put it this way he was as
important in the second half as he was
questionable in the first now the goal
that they score to tie it
is a low sinking ball and it sort of
short hops him and it escapes him right
and gundawan is there to deposit it and
it's 1-1 um that's harsh on hugo because
it's a very difficult it is
of course it's his mistake right like it
comes down to him he's a world-class
goalkeeper that's you're supposed to
smother that but the way the ball hits
the turf right in front of him it's he's
going he fumbles that in fact most
goalkeepers in that spot
they they parry it out right they don't
necessarily have the ability to hang on
to it the unfortunate thing is that it
came right to gunduan and he was one of
i think like five players in the box for
city at that moment and he puts it in so
so that's one one and at this point
you're just sitting there like the whole
first half okay
is just god [ __ ] ah come on just get
to halftime just get to halftime it was
the point where i wanted them to score
before half time so that i didn't have
to watch the second half i said that to
a number of people i was watching the
game alongside with text messages
whatever so um
it was the writing was completely on the
wall for the second part of the first
half after not even after pretty much
after spur scored in the fourth minute
so
um
you go into the break square
and now
spurs have
basically been given second life okay
and and that's where you go okay we're
gonna [ __ ] do this we're gonna have a
couple of chances none of them are gonna
go our way city's gonna score a goal and
i'm just gonna be angry
when i told myself not to be angry about
this this is how i'm entering the second
half okay
kane
was
everywhere i've seen him in some
big games disappear i've seen him in
some other games be an absolute force
and be unfucking stoppable
this was as good as i've ever seen him
in all facets yeah right
and and and sonny was right there to
play the robin to his batman again
um
he puts him
he basically is the he has to cross on
the second goal uh i believe so on 60
minutes
city didn't really do much in the
beginning of the second half spurs were
in but then after after the sec there is
a there is a concerted
after the cane goal
there is a good
there's a good
10 15 minute period where you're just
like oh [ __ ]
yes you guys are in trouble yeah yeah
well so so yeah and and so kane goes
takes us up to one and the save by loris
on gunduan is the [ __ ] that i'm talking
about that would just save that's to say
that one to maybe i would say the one
where he like where he where he's like i
broke my elbow yes
yeah he's full extension
on goon
i i would say there's not more than
three keepers in in the world not
necessarily you know you don't have to
you don't have to i mean you're going to
defend your guys it's a good safe
i get it i i just
you know there's so many things about
city that it's it's it can be really
difficult to talk about city because
they looked right
um i think defensively
there was some mistakes like the the sun
goal
diaz steps up he gets way out of
position but i think he thought
the pass from kane was so good i think
he thought kane would take a touch
because he was like he's not just going
to pass us around a corner on one touch
and kane had confidence early right to
put that ball behind but we've had he
taken a touchdown
of last season right like kane actually
he he sees the ball coming goes sonny's
over there right all he has to do
on that first touch is put it into an
area that's the thing he knows he knows
you're playing a high line he knows
sonny's already got ahead of steam going
he just has to go put it where and the
and they're the runners
and the runs from sun are so good
they're timed perfectly he's
he's not offside awesome but he was
extra extra good about not being offside
and i thought that
kulashevsky
was running with him and he has that
he's that weird winger those weird
wingers that are like yarmolenko
speaking of ukrainians thing hopefully i
think they got invaded today but i'm not
sure it doesn't really matter
in that they're tall and big and you're
like you're not supposed to be a winger
but he is fast
right and he was he worked and he was
working with the group and i think that
that group will come together and it'll
at least like it at least give more give
other teams something to think about
more will still be there but more is
almost 30. so that was good right right
uh i think your whole group i thought
hoiberg was good even though he'd been
terrible we were really and i think you
know if we want to be fair like having
dyer in the side made a difference
there's no doubt about it i would have
uh when the lineup came out i was
talking to a friend and i would have i
guess had sanchez in for davies which is
very much a pick your poison scenario
but having having eric dyer
calmed everything down and dyer and
romero are a [ __ ] force they all
they're they're very similar style of
play and they feed off of each other in
a very very uh advantageous way for
spurs in the back so um
they're going to get their into their
fair share of trouble because they are
both aggressive type center backs um
they always they take trying to take a
bite out of a challenge here and there
so
there will be problems down the line but
they will
be far more beneficial than they are
harmful if they are consistently a pair
for the rest of this season and beyond
but i think one player i want to bring
up in speaking of the you know the the
the tottenham defense
uh the other signing betting cure was
terrific rodrigo bentenger he
pocketed kevin de bruyne there really
wasn't much for de bruyne to do in this
game and that and that came down to
bettencourt being all around him there
were three or four instances that i was
just watching before we started
recording where he makes a sliding
tackle on him or he's just like
completely dispossesses de bruyne which
that's not something that happens
frequently
no yeah i mean de bruyne did not have a
great game only 70 past completion
you know didn't have his he didn't lead
the team in in shot creating actions
only had three so he he did not have a
great game he had a lot of touches but
they didn't he didn't he didn't affect
the game right like we were saying it
just before we started recording it was
it was an instance where spurs played
great but it wasn't like it wasn't like
city played poorly city played decent
they've had their chances i mean i think
there was a couple of mistakes on the on
the goals i think yeah the offside
the
diaz got turned around i think that that
sort of caused a problem i wouldn't say
i think
when city lose games
this was not a this was not a we had
lots of chances and didn't take them the
chances we had were okay it wasn't one
of those and spurs has the players to
beat city like you played spurs played
their best game that they've played
probably since the last time they played
city honestly
oh so there's that um you know i
city did pull level i think the the
penalty
i didn't like it it didn't make me yeah
you missed you missed i mean we've got
all the side goals
right so so we're sitting there and and
as soon as that doesn't go spurs way
yeah i mean that gave the current team a
lift
here we go right so i think um this is
one where you know you you start to feel
not when not if but when is this going
to go can i take one step back the
second goal is [ __ ] incredible by the
way
like it's
counted
yeah yeah the one that counted yeah
in the 60th minute first of all cecinone
was in a part of it i'm always going to
hold on to session as my guy he's one of
my sons from the championship
so i want him to be good but uh he he's
part of the he gets the hockey assist
but the finish is not easy at all and he
made it look easy it's on the half
valley on the run he starts to move gets
and gets it to sesano in the first place
who then kicks it on to sunny who who
puts it into kane so all of it was kane
you know it was just one of these things
where he's doing that he's the ten and
the nine
how he's how he's finding that energy in
that fight it was very much um i like to
use the the michael jordan one it's a
[ __ ] you game it's like yeah
we're not we're not doing this sale yeah
okay
we're doing this then i'm showing you
what you're missing uh i'm i'm ready
and i don't and i don't get to see kane
all the time as much as you do so this
is one of those where you go [ __ ]
god damn it like yeah it's one of those
it's weird having that guy
and still not being that good like it's
it's very very it's
it's like watching and this is a nice
thing it's like watching it's like
watching the oilers it's yeah thank you
uh it's like watching um like conor
mcdavid do what he does in edmonton and
you're like how are the [ __ ] are you not
really good by now and we blank sport
right just need one or two yeah yeah but
one you you have only one defensive
pairing and you need three and all those
other two guys you're just hanging on
i'm trying to find i'm trying to find
where in the mo because it was after the
var
uh goal was taken back
it would have been 3-1 for good uh but
edderson makes a huge save off of off of
kane uh i forgot harry kane saved on 64
from sun and benton court also it was
before
it was before the uh oh that's right no
no no no no
it doesn't matter in this yeah it's it's
right before the gundagan shot
oh right okay yes that's right because
because that's that's right that went
almost a one-two which would have just
decimated me right and that was that ten
minute period in from about 60
through to about
75 that city put a lot of pressure yep
yep yeah yeah it was
and you were getting nervous yeah and so
kane goes down on the in like 80th and
i'm like yup here you go var yup cane
injury yep uh let's see what else is
gonna happen next like spurs like spurs
missing a huge opportunity it was like
check all the boxes of a spurs city
match um so when when kane went down i
was no longer concerned about winning
the game i just didn't want to lose it
at that moment um
and obviously late in the game it's a
[ __ ] penalty in the sense that it is the
correct call right i don't want it
though i don't there's no question about
that well hold on i didn't want you to
have it um i [ __ ] hated it i did i
was like this is [ __ ]
but uh sure but let's be clear christian
marrow goes to ground he puts his hand
in front of his face so that he does not
doesn't get in the face
and it hits him in the wrist
look is
is the hand away from his body no
is a hand in an unnatural position no
so
on paper i actually still have some some
you know i have some qualms with that
rule um i don't think that's one that
you realistically
i hate it i didn't want it i was like
this is [ __ ] so we had the draw
well
now that you've got drama because loris
owns you guys on penalties
oh i wasn't worried about that well i
was i was hopeful and you know what
mahrez put it where nobody could stop it
because if he didn't have if he put it
anywhere close because laura's guessed
right and he got a good push he was
gonna stop that yeah um so it was a very
very well taken penalty and yeah i mean
at that point you're like
okay uh well it's been the penalty it's
been the va review you already have six
minutes they're gonna give city as much
time as they need like that was
genuinely the feel that i had watching
this i'm like six minutes we're not
loved are you kidding who are you
kidding i'm telling you and i have i
have and i have a piece of data to back
that up
but so
everyone hates city everyone the whole
world i think that's one thing you and i
have in common but
uh
out of nowhere right kuwastevsky runs
down the fight i think it was bettencure
that put the ball into him
and in comes kane in the 95th minute
and he
buries kyle walker which by the way on
replay made this even better yeah he's
kind of weak i just i i i kind of i
couldn't believe it right like like
there's
there's no way that tottenham just won
this game for arguably the fourth
[ __ ] time
you did
at the etihad and so of all of the
dramatic games that we've had this is i
mean it's it's not number one it can't
ever be number one but like this is
comfortably the second best tot in a
manchester city game i think i've ever
you know been a part of as a fan so
um
but but i will say there were two things
a if you watched the replay of pep
crumbling and connor is amazing [ __ ]
his pants that's amazing i forget the
name of the fourth official but he gives
like a disgusted look when the ball goes
in so i'm like you [ __ ] oh come
on get out of here anyway uh i you know
i give a lot of respect to spurs i think
what's interesting to me
is the entire
premier league industrial complex is
like oh thank god oh thank god and we'll
go into liverpool liverpool are at
anfield they go down a goal to norwich
and they win it and the effusion for
liverpool getting the lead in this game
is like as though they beat the greatest
team ever it's [ __ ] norwich one of
the worst teams in the league
fine
money with a good goal alison with a
cross to salah who scores a goal and
then diaz gets a goal as well so they so
liverpool do what they're supposed to do
which is beating orange 3-1 it was a
dramatic but the
is the league back on is the whole thing
going we couldn't even let tottenham
have a goal celebration without shoving
that in and that was
that was the problem i had is that
in the context of this game now now
i hate people who are fly by tottenham
fans what i mean by that are
folks who are fans of other teams who
need tottenham to show up usually when
they play city or liverpool or united or
something like that no but that's the
nature of fandom that's where you know
what
i wanted to lose so that they would be
mad because i woke up going we have to
play manchester city today i'm not going
to be happy but if you can also be
unhappy then i can be happy and so the
problem is like i'm going to be rooting
for leads harder for that i've ever
rooted for every team well sure
absolutely and look is it good for the
league that there seems to be the um
the
idea of a title race yeah sure great
terrific i'm psyched about it but you
know what manchester city is still so
much [ __ ] better than liverpool on
paper is that close
yes they are yes they are it's very
close it's not close
look
here's one thing
liverpool has a gripe fine but i heard
from a chelsea fan who was like hey
thanks for beating city i'm like what
[ __ ] delusion are you [ __ ] you don't
even talk let me be very clear chelsea
tottenham are closer to chelsea than
chelsea are to manchester city okay so
why don't we just put that one on for
size and say wait a second you don't
have a [ __ ] prayer of being anywhere
close to these two teams and we've been
saying that on the show for a long time
so i think it was the combination of
hearing from a number of fans united
fans included who just hate you and want
but like that's funny but if
if you have to choose between city and
liverpool winning the league as a united
fan wouldn't you just pick isis i don't
know but like
if there are i think anybody
doesn't have a dog in the fight and then
gets to say that they were rooting for
tottenham you don't get to ever ever sit
at a chelsea arsenal game and have
everybody stand up if you hate tottenham
you guys are so obsessed with us that
you can't be there and say hey nice job
you guys beat city go [ __ ] fist
yourself out of here with that liverpool
fans i have another gripe with you
because i'm just nobody
nobody deserves to be sad
as much as you do because you act like
beating norwich you act like anything
that your club accomplishes should be
remembered for time in memoriam
and
just never not talked about to the point
where manchester city have been
significantly and i mean significantly
better than you you threw your absolute
best punch the best ones your team's
history has ever had and city [ __ ]
beat them and they stand there and they
have the dick and or balls to still talk
about how great that liverpool squad was
are you crazy they didn't win a goddamn
thing so the next time you talk to me
about being trophy-less [ __ ] how about
we talk about the fact that you guys
just can't get over the fact that you
are in love with yourselves and nobody
else and that's why everybody should
hate you and not manchester city this
this guise of financial fair play on
fairness is
oh get over yourselves just knock it the
[ __ ] off okay you're one of your owners
is lebron james i don't want to hear
about how you are poor penniless
liverpool okay this is not this is not
the same thing
yeah i i i i can't deal with the there's
just like constant din of city and their
money i mean it's 15 years already they
literally have created a structure to
move on i don't i hate that 1314 is
liverpool losing the league and not city
winning the league yaya tori had 20
goals i'm still salty he should have
been the pfa player of the year but
instead all we see is gerard slipping it
becomes the liverpool season uh my team
won't be loved and i have to accept that
glory has to be earned i think i've had
this rant before it's going to take
another 20 years it's going to take a
european night classic where city wins
it's going to take a long time that
teams like liverpool have had their
narrative built on [ __ ] bill shankly
and his communist socialist [ __ ] city
he literally would say i am a socialist
uh you know that's what your club ethos
is but you don't really care about other
people because you're full of [ __ ] you
don't have jobs uh in in liverpool as
far as i understand uh then a bunch of
scousers tried to attack phil philden's
mom at a fight which was [ __ ] up
that happened i beat you
slapped a woman in the face did she put
out a cigarette on somebody's forehead
that's what i see when i see phil
phone's mom phil barton's mom's got a
nice rack she's a little round feisty
[ __ ] all right yeah that's what i'm
saying
have you seen the video it's pretty no i
haven't i'll look it up right afterwards
definitely look that up so phil foden
was at the fight in manchester famous
english fighters and these guys just
started [ __ ] with him in his suite
and his mom comes out and slaps a gun
i love that and then she gets hit and
then he comes out for a second he's like
wait a minute i feel floated i gotta go
back in this room
and then another guy comes and starts
swinging a [ __ ] um
a fire extinguisher it was pretty
intense oh that's outstanding and then
of course because they're scousers
they're giggling like this is normal fun
stuff these are sick people anyway i
don't like liverpool i understand that
city have to earn their glory and have
their moments and we will see you on
april 4th at the etihad but
what's crazy is city won 1 13 of 14 45
43 of 45 points they lose one [ __ ]
game right
and it's back on
uh liverpool are a worthy opponent i
hate them but they are [ __ ] good and
that goddamn anfield roar and i say it
with sadness
my stadium
right here main road was the equivalent
of [ __ ] anfield and it was torn down
and i have this to say
uh as i think about things
when you lose your home it [ __ ]
matters you can never get it back
it is a thing that is missing you can't
recreate it you can't find that energy
the etihad will never be main road uh
the london stadium will never be the
bowling ground
or
those teams highbury will never come
back you'll never have uh
um
old spurs stadium it's gone yeah uh
white hart lane won't ever come back so
it is a shame it does suck that modern
economics require it but anfield has
that so they have an advantage
old trafford has it they have an
advantage to be in their homes and we
can go talk about [ __ ] uh ellen road
and manchester united playing leads
those ancestral homes that [ __ ]
matters right like i was watching an old
seinfeld and they cut to george being at
yankee stadium and i saw the bat and i
saw you know
yankee state and i was like
it's [ __ ] gone and i just was like
it's not the same it wasn't worth it
it's never worth it unless of course
your team is [ __ ] and shea stadium
nobody misses shea stadium but anyway
that's a whole nother sport that's a
whole nother thing but we have to
remember these places they hold the
memories right they hold time and i
think
it's unfair that liverpool get to
[ __ ] hold on to [ __ ] because they
have their memories of every game at
anfield it's the same stadium they live
in the same dilapidated neighborhood
everything's still falling apart it's
all the same
and i and city have to overcome that and
create their memories within the context
of the etihad which we have one memory
whereas liverpool has all of their
memories
[Laughter]
right i'm sure there there's not [ __ ]
cloudy arena 2002 oh remember that time
they scored a goal to stay out of the
relegation zone i don't think those
those don't hold moments right no
so city have to create that and
hopefully we can i don't know what i was
talking about i just hate liverpool so
much you were gonna you were gonna
you were gonna transition to the leeds
united game but i'm gonna hold on on
that one second i want to look through a
little bit more
of because you know what whether i like
it or not it's good for the league that
we do have a title race do i think it
might be short-lived yeah
do i think city are going to come out
basically as if we kicked the hornet's
nest and ran away before any of them
showed how much better can they get is
the problem
they can't get better they can get
angrier and everton on saturday is gonna
get like if the if the spread is four
take it like city is going to beat them
and they're going to make a [ __ ]
statement and an example out of them
they're like hey
you first and then your [ __ ]
neighbors
i think one thing that i didn't bring up
was city had played in the week and that
made a difference there was a little bit
of something different
a little we talked about it well so did
well uh spurs didn't i suppose a little
a little a little um
no now city didn't make any changes they
only made one change which you have in
planes shut the [ __ ] up because yeah you
didn't even use your subs that's true in
a 5-0 game so uh against sporting in
midweek that we talked about before on
the last show but yeah i mean
look
there are tough games on cities running
okay
they have to play they host united on
march 6th that has now become a [ __ ]
massive game in fact after everton
that's the next um uh premier league
game for city
they go to palace never easy they host
brighton that's not easy burnley is it
should be a laugher then the big one on
april 9th where they host liverpool okay
they don't have an easy run in either
wolves
i was getting to that yeah but also i
happened to notice
that i'm trying to find where the first
match was between these two clubs this
season
i'm getting there eventually
no we're like uh with liverpool
okay yeah they drew at at that's right
at anfield so big ben enfield is not on
their side in the specific case of that
game they're going to have to go to the
etihad and they're going to have to
perform so that's another feather in
cities cap you've got wolves not an easy
game but a winnable game if you're the
champions you go win that game
watford leads newcastle west ham and
villa to end the season
show me the show me the drop points
right like so so even if even if
liverpool pull off that win and you're
even and you're probably down on goal
difference at that point okay
between now and then liverpool west ham
brighton
arsenal man united uh you guys obviously
villa everton newcastle spurs
hey
everybody will be a spurs supporter that
day two i'll tell you that right [ __ ]
now uh newcastle wolves so so a lot of
the same but i still think looking at
this and they also by the way they have
the uh
coming up on next sunday the efl cup
final against chelsea
so they're they're
already have one or two more games
packed in then city over the course of
the next two and a half they're both
going to be trying to win the champions
league they're both going to be going
hard on the champions league so they may
end up facing each other which would
suck that would be hilarious but
yeah no you're both going to be in the
quarterfinals so god knows how that draw
is going to go um but there's not many
there's not many buy rounds left could
be four english teams easily uh yeah
well yeah it could it could certainly be
three atletico is terrible it's
certainly going to be three yeah
um chelsea's gonna beat will they
playing will so um and that's this week
but not a [ __ ] hotbed of i mean
they're a good team they've won the
league they're there for a reason but
they're not in the class of no no of
course not teams at all but
so effectively what i'm saying is you've
got
for liverpool the difference is arsenal
and tottenham
uh you are still left on arsenal's
schedule
versus clubs like
leeds
and watford
right i think i think liverpool doesn't
play wofford all right you know oh no
they do the point being
i think the city has a more advantageous
schedule in the sense five there's
basically
five more drop points
left that's it for for either whoever
drops five first loses well and that's
and and all that comes down to is april
9th essentially then right
uh maybe six whoever drops whoever first
to sit first to drop six loses
yeah definitely because that would mean
you lost the derby and you lost to
someone else yep
yep or you drew lots and lots of games
but yeah i mean that'd be my guess six
more drop points
it's gonna be i mean
as we look at them like
leads will play into liverpool's
strength they're gonna win they're gonna
get blown
unless unless unless we sort of go hey
but leeds have just played in we're
gonna go into this leeds game we just
this united game where it was
full-throated
1990
leads
dirty leads like i don't think this is
one of these moments where if you're not
a premier league fan or you're one of
our dwindling american fans
but hey hello england um
leeds reunited is a real deal
hatred
rivalry it's municipal it's cities
hating each other it goes it's got long
history uh leads in the early
leads were the last team to win the
championship before the premier league
was started so they were the last
champion they did beat united remember
ferguson was not the manager was the
manager from 86 he had been there
already five years before the premier
league even starts
so
there's a lot of history before the
premier league even starts young folks
and leeds at versus manchester united is
a big game and it just went right back
to it and it comes from the leeds fans
who are are very much the middle of the
north yeah they don't forget
it's funny because you know united gets
[ __ ] like all their fans travel up from
london right but um but leads leads like
no we've been here the whole [ __ ]
time we've been we've been here the
whole time
suffering and yeah right exactly
suffering like this
two levels you know they they have
they don't they probably have stronger i
mean they have stronger history than
city but they were in the wilderness and
they're happy to be back and they have
bielsa and they came to fight
and it was wet and it was dirty and
mctominay seemed to embody the the power
of united they went in hard the guys got
tackled they were wet they were cold
they were [ __ ] water sheens of of the
ball stopping they essentially had a
torrential rain at halftime that soaked
ellen road who if you remember last
season remember the pitch kept falling
apart yes it's still not quite there yet
yeah
so so leads came out they got it looked
like united was going to have an easy
game they scored two goals early uh they
scored their first headed goal by the
slab ed himself they're 104 they had 140
straight corners without a [ __ ] goal
which is pretty crazy for that team with
ronaldo and slap ed uh harry maguire uh
but he was into it then um uh bruno
fernandez got a goal as well and then it
in two minutes leads get themselves back
into the game in the second half rodrigo
comes on who we know is that round tree
goes rafinha comes on who we know is
like the greatest player
not on the top six basically uh although
maybe coutinho now takes the title
and um
rodrigo does a cross it goes in then uh
daniel james who's turned out to be
pretty pretty good he's been a little
plucky here down the stretch huh he's
been coming over and listen he wasn't
good at united maybe the club was too
big to him
i do think that in a year's time united
are gonna be like
maybe we should have kept him and not
ronaldo
because he he's the kind of player that
rang nick would be like yes [ __ ]
press you little bastard yeah he's a
psychotic little he's a psychotic runner
and they they get back into the game but
then you know united's quality just come
through and you know leeds defense is
just it's just [ __ ] laughable at this
point alanga misses one but then scores
one on the break and it was it was a fun
game to watch it really enjoyable cold
and wet and rainy and salty and just
classic war of the roses lancashire uh
versus everyone and united do
keep their place in the top four
but
their friends from london their
historical rivals are as we talk about
ferguson we can talk about wenger and we
can talk about arsenal
pulling it together smith rowan saga
making things work uh i did see there
was some hate for lacazette every time i
watch lacazette i'm like he's [ __ ]
good
he's inconsistent though it's hard but
his problem is he doesn't finish you
want him to score but he does the job
right he comes drops short he gets get
he draws fouls he brings other players
in like you want him to get more
finishes and more goals but he's
doing jerus things
so we're we're looking at a tremendously
important week here coming up
for the top four race who's real who's
not and there are three questions we
have
um
as west ham by the way we're not going
to cover it probably 1-1 with newcastle
huge point for newcastle uh but again
west ham dropping points and games at
home that they should win uh
they're not real right like they're on
26 games played they're four points
behind united conversely
arsenal are on 42 points with 23 games
played wolves are on 40 points with 24
games played and spurs are on 39 points
with 23. so so those are the three teams
i'm focusing on right now because you're
looking at the fixtures coming up you've
got burnley spurs and i mean [ __ ] if you
can beat the [ __ ] champions you can
go to burnley on a wednesday night he
said foolishly
you know what no because you can't
counter attack against burnley you're
gonna have to break them down no i know
i know i know but but so largely let's
pretend that spurs win this game okay
uh for now
it really is irrelevant for the moment
i know i know it's irrelevant because
you're going to have arsenal and wolves
playing again because it's a a postponed
game from earlier in the season at uh
the emirates
huge huge game this is where wolves
stand up and be counted or fall back
into the the nether regions of the under
they can't uh score
dude no here no i disagree gore i
disagree they sold the domitroy ra and
they stopped having all of their golden
chances hit into rosie these guys can
finish
raul jimenez is back
score no i disagree they are they're i'm
not saying they're scoring four and five
goals a game they can get off the mark
now and i think jimenez is really become
a really important player that the
player that they've missed really since
he got hurt uh was that almost two years
ago now
and
by the way pedro neto is close to
returning and makes a huge difference if
he's anywhere close to healthy huge
question the the player that they have
that makes the difference for them is
jose saw who is keeper of the season
he's the emmy martinez of this season i
remember we talked but
if they can't score they're not making
the top four i don't care if they have
jose saw or you in net right so
you're absolutely right this is part of
the reason they are where they are right
now but now they need to kick on they
need to win games
you're not playing the everton league
brentford part of the schedule right now
you're playing tottenham who you took
care of business with a week ago now
you're going into the emirates right you
just had a game at home where you
dropped you dropped the game one nil
despite being 20 minutes uh up a man at
the end of the game you couldn't get
that equalizer so now you have a chance
to rectify that right do you take
advantage of it or does arsenal take
that chance and go hey man united knock
knock knock we're right on your ass with
two games in hand
so that's a huge few days again to spur
even if spurs win
right they're on 42
i
arsenal can render it irrelevant
essentially and of course now that i say
this both teams will draw and the four
top four race will be effectively over
but um
i i like though i like i'm excited for
the arsenal wolves match on thursday uh
because i think that's going to teach us
if we really have a top four race or if
we have a couple of pretenders that's a
that's a game where
it will be determined
if if it's moutinho and neves
gran chaka has to not [ __ ] up
that is the game yeah in the midfield
yeah because because smith rowe i mean
sorry because parte has been playing
well he was good in this game
odegaard was
incredible versus brentford like he's
really really really special and when he
figures out that he can shoot and score
goals he has not put that into his game
yet he has the runners with him
they were so so good like i really
enjoyed watching arsenal now granted
like i said they are gonna make their
hay against the bottom half of the
league where they can play um
this will be a game that i think arsenal
will like their chances against wolves
because they're like okay so we just
played somebody who sits deep and tries
to hit on the break
we can do this uh but it'll be
whether moutinho and neves can stop
partay and odigar to a lesser extent and
make sure that shaka does not [ __ ] it up
because this is the type of game where
it's salty it's conor cody it's bad
weather wolves are a traditional team
they play they have the englishness
that's necessary i think the portuguese
secretly play english football it
weirdly when they're in some like the
the top one percent don't and then the
rest of them
the rest of them are like uh
pepe right yeah like they've got the
englishness yeah so i kind of like that
i really like i really really like
moutinho even though he's old i like the
idea of that old central midfielder
that's hanging in there and
it'll be a battle of the midfield i
could see wolves being like we'll take
that nil nil and then we'll take shots
and see what happens there
uh but that that should be going really
well um the less talked about this
chelsea game the better i don't i think
there chelsea are in a weird spot right
now where it's champions league they've
got the efl but
they're really locked into that third
slot they really can't
go anywhere i i can't imagine united
catching them
because they're so much better than
united but they could get dragged in if
they keep
slotting around they could be pulled
into
three out of uh make that extra third
spot available they're they're still the
only team that they can make it
available to was united right like yeah
the worst chelsea can do they're not
going to finish fifth okay so the the
worst thing that could happen to this
top four race is united
kick on and they start to catch chelsea
because then they both are basically out
of sight um but i think uh chelsea are
effectively a cup team this year their
relative indifference to
where they are in in the premier league
especially off the backs of a few like
[ __ ] miraculous wins especially the
one this weekend
um
it sort of makes them a much more
dangerous cup team they're in the efl
final i believe they're in the fa cup
fifth round are the quarterfinals and
obviously uh starting on wednesday
they'll be in the uh the in this round
of 16 in the champions league with an
easy match up so in all likelihood
they'll be in a final and two quarter
finals right off the jump they could do
three trophies this year without really
thinking about it and cruising in the
premier league without losing that much
room
the issue they have in this they're
they're almost like a
rich man's wolves right like they can't
score
they [ __ ] because they've got this
lukaku problem where he literally did
not show up in this game whether it's
the way i don't know what happens when
you put on the [ __ ] number nine shirt
for chelsea but unless you're digio
drogba or
you just simply vanish
they've got harvard they spent
i mean they if we go over the last 10
years they've probably spent
more than a half a million dollars on
strikers and have nothing
and they fleeced the greatest fleece job
in [ __ ] history when they sold uh
eden hazard fat ed and hazard
they
took they [ __ ] pulled the wall over
madrid's eyes and they spent it on
german players and they're getting
nothing
from up front
and unless they get these sort of
goals from their wingers which they got
with zach and they were getting from
reese james and getting from uh from
what's the ben what's the other guy that
got injured chill well all their goals
were coming from defense yeah
without those goals from defense or wing
backs they're [ __ ] but the thing is is
like they have this weird thing where
the theoretical chelsea
is really good like better than
any team in the league right
what if
20 goal
werner shows up what if 15 goal havarts
shows up what if
20 goal 25 goal lukaku shows up then all
of a sudden they're not stoppable
yeah it doesn't exist no i think i think
ziak has really been coming of age in
the last call it month or so he's 30.
coming of age he's 28 years old 28 all
right well my point he still is only
second season in the premier league yeah
so um and he's really what my point is
that he's been bettered in
uh he's become an important player that
they bought they thought that they
thought they bought right like um
so he's been he's been as good as lukaku
has been bad lately and i think that's
been the difference in a few games is so
bad but right but so
my question then becomes well who else
is going to be his supporting cast right
like you mentioned verner is this his
time to shine right how many times do we
have to hear about thomas tuco just
smoking romelu lukaku in the media when
are you going to give werner a go right
at this point yeah again yeah yeah so
i
i i don't know what the answer is for
chelsea up front but you're right
there's i mean it's not christian
right like
and that's the other thing you know like
you have all this attacking talent it's
almost as if they have this similar
problem as city except they have a
couple of number nines and they wish
they didn't right right right they
should just not do it right they should
just go the other way uh and just go the
other way yeah i i agree i'm just
looking at the lineup that they played
lukaku zhich
havertz
how do they not is mason mount hurt
i think so
he's the one that makes the whole thing
work
without mount they they yeah i guess
they had a lot of guys here look their
team's weird i don't know what they're
up to like they brought yeah they had to
bring [ __ ] loftus cheek back in
that's how you know they were in trouble
yeah
anytime you see loftus-cheek you're like
oh that guy you're you're clearly you're
cl he's there nathan aka he's their deli
[Laughter]
yeah i mean they have been hurt
at delhi yeah we're not gonna like
lament the pains of chelsea but they are
good they do have a good coach they just
have to figure out the lukaku thing
otherwise they've got a hundred million
dollar millstone
uh i thought that i think he has just
disappeared since that fake controversy
where he's like i want to go back to
inter i was like so wait let's i brought
this up in the squeaky bomb time uh
facebook group which you are all welcome
and encouraged to join yeah um
and i put a poll and let me see what the
results of that poll were um but last i
saw the question was uh who spent 100
million dollars worse manchester city on
jack reelish or chelsea on romelu lukaku
again um
so i i put that out there without much
context
and the votes it was close it was 60 40
grealish uh
over lukaku and
i think i think there's i think that's
coming off the uh
the weekend's events shall we say well
greelish isn't even playing so
it doesn't matter this guy um but also
uh i i think that there's not really
we've talked about it on the show but i
don't think that there's a broader
appreciation for what grealish
sort of
is meant to be but also think back to
when they purchased grealish and we've
yeah we've talked about this
kgb wasn't was a question mark he was on
one leg right he was he was a mess he
was he literally said i should not have
played they gave me painkillers in my
ankle right he was playing for love of
country in the euros and he was
remarkable by the way yeah um
but it was always a question like is he
really going to be able to go again for
city at this point or is he going to
miss a couple of months or is something
else so greelish not getting into the
side is twofold a de bruyne thankfully
you know you don't want players like
that to be hurt you know all world
players like that uh thankfully has come
come good and he's been okay um but also
jack reelish and phil foden were [ __ ]
off right like foden got the headlines
but krillis was right there with him
being idiots going out having a good
time when peppa's like don't be an
[ __ ] right city has
the luxury of being like
you're playing great and he says it
every time and to be fair greelish has
been good he's had to completely rewire
his brain to pet ball and go away from
i dropped for the ball it comes to me
and then i just sit on it and just
[ __ ] around and he can't do that anymore
and he's slowly had to get out of it
he's taken his shots
it's a 100 million dollar price tag i
i i'm not worried about him because
there's been so many players that have
come through city from mahrez to
bernardo to
even raheem sterling has been in and out
and he comes back that's the beauty of
city if you drop your levels you don't
play
period i don't care who the [ __ ] you are
there's no automatics the only automatic
player on that team is edison
and diaz and that's it and if diaz
starts to [ __ ] up
if you don't think that pep guardiola
will go to john stones and laporte he
will
right it's not in stone
otamendi was the [ __ ] main center
back on a team that earned 100 points he
was gone in 18 months it's like bye [ __ ]
off yeah
yeah
so
that is the nature of city that you can
buy a hundred million dollar player it's
not the end of the world we just go all
right
when he's ready yeah
now other teams can't do that
no all the teams can't do that but also
like you said they had he had to
basically adjust the way he plays the
game but
he was bought at least maybe and they
were hoping it wouldn't be the immediate
future but with the the kdb less
future they always reload they have a
whole system of like rodri came in
before fernandinho was washed up and
they kind of oh can they play together
oh they play some we had that weird
season where all the center box got hurt
and he had to play in defense and you
know rodrigo
rodriguez a problem now this season
along with silva he's probably been
city's best player and it took two years
three years for him to get into that
level so greelish is 25
he'll peak at 27.
de bruyne will will be probably be off
the team by then yeah he'll be he'll be
part-time
so if we were to look at this poll in
two years we'll we'll probably be
laughing at it right like yeah he might
be player of the year by then lukaku
will be back in italy scoring for
juventus or some [ __ ]
and and grealish will be black players
in italy
well i'm you know he did it for answers
what i'm saying
it never goes well well my point is that
greeley should have ten and ten
and he'll be powering city to the near
the top of the table yeah with him and
voting and and
and and maybe harry kane or maybe oh
don't you start that again or what's the
other guy that are alvarez that just
scored a hat trick in the cup right yeah
the new rumor is that uh kane's gonna
run down the contract now so they're so
tired of making rumors about him leaving
that now they're gonna say actually he's
just gonna stay next year and then run
it down and leave on a free what will
happen is is whoever doesn't get
the holland
mbappe thing
yeah will come after kane sure right and
that might be city again i don't know
maybe this time they'll just do it maybe
maybe uh levy will be like you know what
uh kante you're it's
so weird to me that we sit here and
they're top of the table they have
they've they've lost in the efl cup for
the first time since the war of 1812 but
they have
won off the most goals in the league
and
they're sitting here still talking about
their striker problem was was striker
no
well i mean
technically yes because we literally
don't have one no
but no no but like the idea that you
need one
is if it's made up it's made up
it is
english
problems and english issues of you must
have one if you don't have one what will
we do right exactly we're just going to
talk about how you don't have one even
though you have 63 goals in 26 games
played even though you're comfortably
into the quarterfinals of the champions
league even though you've won the
[ __ ] title only when we lose do we
need a striker right but that's
impossible kyle walker got abused on
that last goal do you need a new right
back no
you know
you don't you just got i wanted you for
the third time in 26 games two of which
by tottenham by the way
and this is not a problem you're just
not the team that's going to defeat
everybody five nothing 38 times in a row
that's that's what we are guessing but
that's what i love i i love it i'm not
i'm nervous i'm scared i don't want to
play liverpool i'm glad it's not at
anfield where we have but we could
potentially have some classics we've got
city going to manchester we got yeah so
we've got the the the manchester darby
we've got liverpool versus manchester
still to come we've got leeds versus
leeds is going to show up versus
liverpool because they have pride
oh no they're not but we've got spurs
they've always been going to anfield i
think going right
yeah we've got some
barn burners still to come um less
concerned about chelsea but this race is
not over and city there's going to be
some moments and what is the cliches
twists in the tail i don't know where
these english people are twisting
people's tails that sounds really
[ __ ] painful it sounds like something
the nazis it's a fairy tale because they
have
tails come on come on
no no anyway
no i don't mean that we're all just
kidding around that was the squeaky fun
time podcast with michael laurent we're
not anti-semitic definitely not mike
maybe me we are the football wing of the
chop sports network we record on
tuesdays and fridays so be sure to
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