Shownotes Transcript
Seriously popular. How's it going, Ian? You, uh, you're on top of the situation? I've asserted a position of control over this animal. I'm basically... Did you not feed it properly? I'm in this situation... Why would it try and attack you if you fed it properly?
Don't pretend you're some kind of doctor doodle. Well, I've got seven cats and none of them are trying to attack me. Yeah, you've got seven cats. Look at you with your hand up. You do look quite scared, Ian. You've got seven cats and you've got another 15 in boxes. They all had a long and happy life. Why are you holding your hand up in that position? Because I'm trying to get him off the... If you stroked it and caressed it and showed a bit of love to it, maybe it wouldn't want to attack you. Oh, f***! You see that?
I didn't actually. Stroke it. I was stroking it. Don't tell me how to look after my cat. He's picking up on your stress. Come on, down. That's embarrassing. Off you go. I was lucky there. That's embarrassing. I don't have that problem with my cats at all. I know, because when your cats kick up, you just put them down.
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Morning, Chris Sutton. Domestic football is back, and so is it's all kicking off. I'm sitting here having just been attacked by the cat. You seem to find that amusing, but as I look down onto my right tricep, I have, no, my right forearm. You don't even know what your tricep, from your forearm, from your elbow. I haven't got any tricep. Look down at my right forearm, I've got a...
a gash of about at least three inches from the cat and another one on the other side of my arm. That's what happens when... Just a quick question on the cat. Is the cat, I mean, has it got roots from, yeah, Humphrey, has it got roots from Newcastle? Scottish, actually, Humphrey. Scottish. Yeah, it came from near Lockerbie, actually. Anyway, there we go. The only reason I said Newcastle is you've had a few attacks, haven't you?
Yeah, Newcastle fans are now doing to me what Everton fans have spent a couple of months doing to me. Is it them or is it you? Well, Dan Byrne didn't play in the second game for...
for England against Latvia. So maybe Thomas Tuchel saw something similar to what I saw against Albania. Who knows? Anyway, let's move quickly on from that subject. You can't let things like that go, can you? I mean, you don't always have to have the last word. That's all I'm saying. Well, I do. I do. I do.
Let's move on. I absolutely do. Yeah, I know. Although it's actually impossible to have a last word on Twitter, isn't it? It is actually impossible to have a last word on Twitter because there's always someone else. There's always someone else who will come riding along with another kind of wave of absolute nonsense to throw at you. I think you do a pretty good job of getting that last word in.
Anyway, we'll have to talk about Newcastle today because they're not playing. It's FA Cup weekend. Thank God for you. Look, the sun is out. How's life on the farm, Chris? What's happening in spring? What does spring involve down on your Norfolk freeholding?
Well, the spring involves grass growing, although we have had a couple of frosts, which has been disappointing. And of course, grass growing means don't have to feed the horses hay. So it's always a time of year I really look forward to. Why? Do they just let them out and eat the grass today? Is that what happens? Well, yeah, it's cheaper.
Yeah, yeah, okay. Okay, good. And given how much you spent in New York last week, that's probably the most important thing at the moment. You're still unhappy about that $160 it cost you to get you and your lad up and down the Empire State Building. I wonder if it costs less if you just go up and find your own way down.
All I'd say is I remember going up to the top of Norwich Castle when I was a middle school and it didn't cost $160. There's a reason for that. Several reasons for that. Anyway, come on, let's talk about the issue of the day before we get on to talk about some FA Cup games. The issue of the day is Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Getting it in the net from some Liverpool supporters, it's always difficult to tell, isn't it? You mentioned to me on Monday to be careful not to take all my learnings and all my feelings from social media. It's a fair point. But until Trent Alexander-Arnold next runs out at Anfield, which could be a while given that he's currently injured, we won't really know what the depth of feeling is
about his proposed move to Real Madrid. But what's happened this week is that that move appears to have got a little bit closer. Some leaks out of Spain that conversations are accelerating between Trent and the Spanish club. And this has gone down like the proverbial lead balloon on Merseyside. Shirt's been burnt. He's been called a traitor, ruined his legacy, get out of our club, blah, blah, blah.
And before I ask you what you make of it, Chris, I will just read something that I spotted this morning. This is from Jamie Carragher, who was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast. Jamie Carragher, of course, a one-man player for Liverpool. If you're a Liverpool fan and a local player, I'm just disappointed that he doesn't think that way.
I'm putting myself in his position where I'd be thinking that we could go level with Man United in league trophies. I would have another seven or eight years at Liverpool and I'd want to get three or four ahead of them with a couple more European cups. That's Jamie Carragher's take on Trent Alexander-Arnold's proposed move to Real Madrid.
Yeah, I mean, because Trent, you know, wants to leave, it doesn't mean that he doesn't have great affection for Liverpool. He's been there for more than 20 years, I think, you know, all in all. And it's his choice, I think, that this backlash, which you've mentioned, I mean, you know, the bottom line is, you know, do these people...
have a great understanding of football. I think that the backlash is from the nuggets and knuckleheads, really. I think he's given great service to Liverpool. He wants to try something different. You know, he's won everything he, you know, he can win with the club.
And, you know, how many players in sort of the modern age, especially, do you see as a one club player? Do they stay a club forever? And going to Real Madrid, the most successful club, I think, in the world, certainly in Europe, is...
I don't see any issue with that. Great loyalty, wants to try something different. So the criticism of him, I do not get in any way, shape or form. You always have a hardcore element of fans who will never forgive you because it's their club. And do I understand that? Not necessarily, but there are always that hardcore, small percentage who feel that way. You can never leave a club. It's our club, blah, blah, blah.
But, you know, as I say, I don't begrudge him the fact that he wants a different challenge. He's won everything. He's done everything. So, you know, good luck to him. And this whole notion about that this has just sprung up, him going to Real Madrid, this was happening a year ago. Everybody knew it. The fact that he was letting his contract run down, everybody knew what was going to happen. And really, everybody had an idea where he was going to go. I think I'm right in saying, Ian? Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely. It's been an open secret for a while. I don't disagree with much of what, or indeed probably anything with what you've said there. I...
I do take issue with something that Jamie Carragher said. When he said, you know, I'm putting myself in his position, says Carragher, seven or eight years left at Liverpool. I want to get three or four more league titles, couple more European Cups. Jamie says that almost as though that's taken for granted if Trent stays. I mean, it's worth reminding ourselves that Liverpool, unless I'm wrong, have won one European Cup in the last 20 years, right?
They obviously won in 2005 in Istanbul and then they won one out of three attempts under three finals under Jurgen Klopp. That shows how hard it is to win the European Cup. Real Madrid, like it or not,
seem to win them all the time. It's also very difficult to win league titles. Who knows what's going to happen after this season? Liverpool look like they're going to win the league this year. Who knows what will happen next year with Arsenal coming again, probably with a centre forward and Manchester City revitalised, et cetera, et cetera. Absolutely no guarantee that Trent stays and wins.
I'm absolutely in your court with this, Chris. Sometimes I think you can't win. You can't win. Liverpool fans are having a go at Trent for the timing of this week's flurry of stories. But that's not his fault.
That's not his fault. He's not leaked those stories. We know that Real Madrid are a club that leak like a sieve. They probably feel it's advantageous to them for the story to be out right now. I think that this is suggesting that Louis Steele, our Merseyside correspondent, has made in his Liverpool Confidential column that Madrid would quite like to get this deal done
right at the end of the season so that Trent can go to the Club World Cup. Maybe that's why Real Madrid are leaking it to try and hurry it along. Whatever the case, I don't think we can blame Trent for that. You were involved in several high-profile transfers in your career, Chris. I'm sure most of those reached the pages of the newspapers as it would have been back then. And I'd be absolutely amazed if you were behind any of those stories, you'd have wanted it under the radar, wouldn't you, as a player? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think so. I mean, Trent...
you know, wouldn't want any of this out at this particular stage. I think he would have wanted a clean cut off at the end of the season. But, you know, the fact that the fact of the matter is he is high profile and there are always going to be stories which grow arms and legs. Another thing on Jamie Carragher and what he said, it's,
It's quite easy for him to turn around after being a one club man and to judge somebody because of his sort of status at the club and the loyalty which he showed. But, you know, maybe he never had an offer to go to Real Madrid. You know, Jamie Carrick was, you know, was an excellent player. But I think, you know, it's very easy in these circumstances just to turn around and say, well, he should stick at Liverpool.
forever because, you know, he's a Liverpool lad. But these things, you know, it doesn't happen so much in this day and age. And the fact of the matter is, some people could maybe look at this and think, well, if he didn't go to Real Madrid, that he lacks ambition. Where does he stand in the list of great Premier League full-backs? I'm saying full-backs, not just right-backs. If you think of people...
Off the top of my head, such as Ashley Cole and Kyle Walker and Gary Neville and others, et cetera. Where do you think, and people like also Graham Lasso, I think we've mentioned before, where would you, where would you put Trent on in, in, is he, is he belong, does he belong in that company?
I think so. I think all the names you've mentioned, Chuck and Patrice Evra as well. Yeah, yeah. And there'll be others, I'm sure. Azpilicueta at Chelsea. I think in terms of footballing ability, he tops a lot. It's just that there's always, and there still is, isn't there, that question mark over him defensively. But I think he would be up there. He wouldn't be top of the list, but...
But, you know, he's still really young, isn't he? But in terms of footballing ability, I think he would be top of the list in terms of sort of that defensive instinct and 1v1 situations. And, you know, he has been caught out a few times.
But yeah, there'd be better defenders in there. Who would be top of your list? I think maybe Asti Cole might be top of mind. I think he was the only player who ever really managed to get to grips with Cristiano Ronaldo in that era. Putting you on the spot a little bit there, but off the top of your head, who would you choose if you were in a fantasy team?
Do you know who's going back? Can I go back? Are we allowed to... Go back as far as you want. Are we allowed fullbacks from the early Premier League days? Of course, yeah. Stuart Pearce would be top of my list. Just for his thighs.
Just for that. Stuart Pearce, by the way. I know we mentioned it on the show a couple of weeks ago. We know about the health scare that Stuart had on the plane on the way home from America. He was at Wembley. He's back at work. He was at Wembley last Friday for the England game. He talks sport. I honestly had to give it a double take.
Well, I was actually, even though it's Stuart Pearce, I actually gave him a double take when I walked through the press room. He looked absolutely right as rain. I mean, just to be honest with you. I mean, you wouldn't want to be his doctor, would you? Trying to keep him in his armchair for a couple of weeks. You wouldn't want to be that bloke, would you? You wouldn't want to be that bloke.
Anyway, look, before we move out, my final say on Trent before we move out is he's a 26-year-old, 26 years old, good years ahead of him, hopefully. Quite, quite, it's a slight risk if he goes to Madrid only because if it doesn't work out, I don't think there'd be a route back to Liverpool. And then he's got to try and find himself another club that would indulge him in the way that Liverpool have indulged him. Because you mentioned there about the nuts and bolts, defending, et cetera, et cetera.
Liverpool have indulged him. Jurgen Klopp kind of almost built a philosophy around him on a slot as it managed to incorporate him as well. Some managers, some coaches would look at him and think, no, it was my right back.
I want to write back who first and foremost does all the traditional defensive bits. Anyway, there we go. Trent Alexander-Arnold, we don't think he should be getting the grief that he's getting from some Liverpool fans. Like I say, let's see what happens when he next runs out at Anfield. It may not be quite the same. Let us know what you think on that. It's an emotive topic. You know where to find us. You can find us on XLadiesman and Sutton. You can go to Malesports social accounts at XLadiesman.
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FA Cup weekend, Chris, we said before, we think it's a cracker, the four ties that we've got in the quarterfinals. Off the top of my head, Fulham against, my God, I really should have these written down. Preston at home to Villa, Brighton at home to Forest, Fulham at home to Villa,
Fulham at home to Palace, Bournemouth at home to City. Not necessarily in that order. All of those eight teams would love to win this competition. We've said it before. I think it's shaping up to be a great weekend and hopefully on to be great semifinals. Quick question. Yes or no? Would you do anything to incentivise winning the FA Cup? It has been discussed before. Champions League place for the winner, blah, blah, blah. Does the Grand Ole competition need that or not?
Would you like to see Preston in the Champions League? That'd be magnificent, wouldn't it? Yeah, I don't mind that. I mean, my opinion on the FA Cup is it should be a big enough incentive trying to win it because it's the FA Cup. But that's, you know, that's it.
Yeah, I agree. Okay, I think one tie that's grabbed my attention, Brighton at home to Nottingham Forest. There's several layers to this, particularly because on February the 1st of this year, Brighton went to the city ground by the banks of the Trent in your native Nottingham, Chris, and lost 7-0.
7-0. And I remember at the time thinking, goodness me, how are they going to recover from that? Well, they've subsequently gone on to play seven games and they've won the first six of those and drew the most recent one, which was away at Manchester City. On that run, they've beaten Chelsea twice, once in the FA Cup, Fulham, Bournemouth, Newcastle. They've not exactly been free hits. That is the way to recover from a hiding, is it not?
Yeah, and I think they would have viewed it. I mean, you interviewed Danny Welbeck, didn't you, this week? Yeah. I think that they would have viewed it as most players would view it. It's a one-off over the course of the season. Brighton had performed well up to playing Nottingham Forest at the Sydney ground. And then after one heavy defeat, it's about how you respond. And they've responded well, but it's...
If they went on a run and lost seven and four and five and that sort of dragged out a bit, then maybe it would be something to worry about, but...
I'm sure, you know, after the next game and the victory in the next game, they'd have just been back on track. They would have viewed it as a one-off, simple as that. Interesting. The next game they played after that defeat at Forest was actually in the FA Cup. It was Friday night at home to Chelsea and they won that one 2-1, I think. And you could look back now and think how important that was. As you mentioned, I went to see Danny Welbeck at Brighton's training ground this week.
to do an interview that will be running across male sports platforms over the weekend. Lovely lad, Danny, has the best Manchester accent in the whole of the Premier League, has not lost it yet. And I asked him about the seven. Obviously, Danny's been around the block. He's 34. I asked him about that 7-0. And I said, have you ever felt like that? He was very honest. He said afterwards, he said, we did wonder that it might torpedo our season. He said, we did think that.
He said, it was so bad. And I said, have you ever felt like that before on a pitch? And he said, well, I had actually. And he said, I was in that Man United team that got beat 6-1 at home by Manchester City in 2011. And he said, and I always remember, he said, what Alex Ferguson said in the dressing room after that game was,
And I'm just going to quote something that Danny said to me on Tuesday. He said, Fergie said to us, remember this feeling, remember how much it hurts, remember it and use it. Just remember what it's like and tell yourself you never want to feel like this again. And Danny said, so when it happened at Forest a few weeks ago, that was my feeling and my message to the young players there.
at Brighton. Hold on to that feeling and never forget it, which I thought was quite interesting.
Yes, it's that feeling of humiliation. I mean, I played at centre-back for Norwich when we lost 7-1 to Blackburn and it's similar. You know, you do feel humiliated for 24, 48 hours or, you know, up until the next game. And there's always naturally the sort of desperation
doubt, I suppose, in the back of your mind that, you know, you could, you know, it could be the start of something, but then there's that determination to really make sure that the next game you put it right and that you don't want that, you know, that sort of sickening feeling to carry on. Yeah.
And so that's the way every, I think, sports person would feel in that situation. You don't want that sort of humiliation and have your pants pulled down every week. But it's about the thought process has to be about the next game and that determination and to play with the desired sort of
ferociousness in your performance to get back on track as quickly as possible. But you also, you do also have to remember the journey that Brighton have been on the whole season. And that's where, had it happened first game of the season and then, you know, that sort of gone on and the run carried on, they couldn't buy a win or whatever, then it would be a problem.
But you'd also, you also in the back of your mind would have that comfort knowing that there has been a successful season up to that point. And then you think, well, why should the wheels fall off really based on the performances of the, of the whole season? So that's essentially what I think the, the,
whole of the Brighton squad would have felt. That Norwich performance you talked about, the 7-1 against Blackburn, we touched on that briefly last season, you and I. And I remember you telling me, like you say, you're a young player, you're centre-half. Your captain called you out after that game, didn't he? Which really is the exact opposite of what you need, isn't it? You need some kind of unity after a defeat like that. You don't need to be blaming each other. But your captain called you out on television, didn't
Yeah, well, just with you guys and the press. He said he told me to keep my head up when really he put a fair bit of the blame onto me. I quite like that, blaming everybody else as captain, a bit of mutiny. Yeah. So, I mean, did it affect me? Not really. I just thought that was a bit...
A bit cheap, really. Yeah, you don't need that, do you? You absolutely don't need that. As a young player, that's when you need to keep things in-house and just go down with you guys, toe the party line, not good enough, disappointed, need to bounce back, get all the stereotypes out there and cliches out there. And then get on the bus and start punching fingers at each other.
Yeah, get on the bus, have a... And that was when, you know, we could get on the bus and have crates of beer and what have you. So that sort of softened the blow back to courage. Get on the bus, have eight bites and chips. And by the time you get off the bus, you can't remember what the score even was. Yeah.
Danny said to me that they wouldn't be looking at it because obviously with them playing Forest this weekend, the team that hammered them, he said, oh no, it's not about revenge. It'll be about revenge. Of course it's about revenge. Danny, by the way, I did point out to him, he's 34. Obviously he scored the goal against Newcastle in the last round that got Brighton through to this stage.
he scored his first FA Cup goal when he was 18 and he scored his most recent FA Cup goal at the age of 34. That's longevity. And having spent an hour with him on Tuesday, I tell you what, he absolutely looks as though he's got three or four seasons left in him for sure. So anyway, fingers crossed. Like I say, that interview can be found for those of you who are interested across male sports platforms over the weekend. City go to Bournemouth on Sunday,
Chris, that's the last game of the four. Probably the most important cup game Manchester City have played for quite a while, given the way that they've fallen off the face of the planet in the Premier League and, of course, gone out of the Champions League already this season. Yeah, who could have believed that it's FA Cup or bus for Manchester City? So, yeah, absolutely enormous at Pebble Stadium.
be so desperate to win a trophy after their dominance in previous seasons. But there's nothing, there's nothing to suggest that you trust City going to Bournemouth and that all of a sudden they're going to click into gear and find a result. I think it's 50-50 this game. I absolutely do because Bournemouth are just fearless. But...
But Bournemouth are currently on the poorest run of the season, actually, which is relative because they've had a very, very good season. But they have been struggling a little bit. The only team of note that Bournemouth have beaten since January 25th
Everton in the FA Cup and they got through the last round by beating Wolves on penalties so their form hasn't been amazing but equally what about this for the omen for an omen it was actually Bournemouth who kick-started City's troubles back in early winter when they beat City 2-1 and
on the South Coast at the start of November. That was actually City's first league defeat of the season. And since that day, City have gone on to win only seven of the 19 league games that have followed. So it was Bournemouth who started it. And as you say, despite their own slightly iffy form, you'd imagine a Doni Arreola would have a plan, that is for sure.
Yeah, well, we know the way that Bournemouth play and that they're brave and they'll get after Manchester City and they'll press. I think it's about how brave Manchester City are. And when I talk about how brave Manchester City are, I mean brave on the ball, whether they're still going to be prepared to play through the thirds, play out from the back, because that's what Bournemouth want.
And they'll back their press to beat Manchester City's build-up. So why, just explain why Bournemouth want teams to do that? Why does that play into Bournemouth's hands? What is it that they're looking for when that happens?
Well, Manchester City like to draw teams onto them and provoke a press. And then play through them. Yeah, and play through them. But Bournemouth are brave enough and it's the way that Iriola sets them up. I don't think Iriola is bothered about possession necessarily. It's all about winning the ball.
high up and then entries into the box and playing quickly forward and getting chances. And Bournemouth create a lot of chances. I'm not into XG and what have you, but they do do. And Manchester City this season just haven't quite had that confidence
and maybe not trust in each other to play out from the back. We know they've missed Rodri, but it hasn't quite clicked. And Bournemouth are one of those teams who could certainly take advantage of that. As I say, not bothered about possession, more about how they press. And they're very, very good at it. Interesting.
whether he'll, whether he'll still be at Bournemouth next season. There's talk about Tottenham and you can, you can kind of see why, can't you? With, you know, Poster Coghlu, um, ongoing debate about his future, et cetera. Um, really interesting to, to ponder how, uh,
easy that step would be for Iriola or indeed any step because I think we touched on this before what you say about Bournemouth's possession is really really interesting because they do they are one of those Premier League teams that are happy for other teams to have the ball and then strike when they get it
When you're at a club like Tottenham or a club of that ilk, it's slightly different, isn't it? Because your supporters expect you to have the ball and to dictate play. There's a slightly different level of expectation. Yeah, there is that, but...
But then, for example, if you look at Nottingham Forest and, you know, remember when Nuno got the job and we sort of said, well, both of us, I think, questioned Nuno Espirito Santo, his style of play. Having had the job at Tottenham and failed. Well...
Well, been sacked. It wasn't, yeah. You know, he had 10 or 11 games, whatever. So, but, you know, and that may have been a big part of it because of, you know, his brand of football, the way that he played at Wolves. Nottingham Forest, because of results, because of results and Forest's success and how high they're up in the Premier League, you know, the Forest fans love him, but Forest aren't a possession...
possession-based oriented team, are they? You know, that they actually, they'll sit deep, sit very deep at times, defend and break, and they're excellent at it. At Tottenham, the onus was on when Ange Postakoglu got the job was them to
The Spurs fans wanted the team to play fast, free-flowing football the way it was back in the 80s, 90s, when they had the likes of Hoddle, Waddle, Gascoigne, Teddy Sheringham. And go back to that sort of brand of football. They're not winning trophies, so they want to watch good football.
every week. So that will be, you know, if Tottenham eventually do go down that line and bring Iriola in, there will naturally always be the danger of style and criticism from
of style. But, you know, it's always about, I mean, at Tottenham, it's about winning trophies, but Tottenham, you know, haven't won trophies when they've had managers who have gone in with, who have had trophy-laden careers, Conte and, you know, and Mourinho. They've tried absolutely everything
sort of every type of manager, I think, in the last decade, 20 years. And we should mention that it's still an opportunity for Tottenham to win a trophy this year. They're still in the Europa League, of course. So we'll see how we go and we wish them well. A couple of comments here on Spotify. This one from Sean Punk says,
who says, why is Ian not criticised, Thomas Tuchel, for not singing the Nassau Anthem like he did Lee Carsley? It was clearly because Carsley... Great point, Sean. Clearly because Carsley was Irish. Well, it would be a great point were it true. Well,
but it's not true because I never criticise Lee Carsey for not singing the national anthem. So that's kind of the end of that one. There you are, last word. Thanks for your interest, Sean. And this one is from a regular contributor at JNS 1971 who actually might have a point. Ian, describing teams like Serbia and Albania as free hits is not only English arrogance,
but borders on professional incompetence. Serbia have beaten Germany and Portugal in previous qualifiers, while Albania have beaten Hungary and the Czechs. No wonder some people get disappointed when England don't thrash every team after listening to such.
Nonsense. I could take issue with JNS over Albania, given that England have just beaten them with their eyes closed. But he's got a point about Serbia. He has an absolute point about Serbia. That is not... Well, and about Albania, I think that, you know, at the Euros and, you know, they...
They're on English arrogance from you. I'll take a step backwards on that one, J&S Fair Play. I don't think it necessarily just has to be English arrogance from you, just arrogance. Just a general... Thank you very much. General arrogance. Yeah, I'm very arrogant and confident apart from when it comes to dealing with my cat. Pressed against Villa Deepdale. That's the one that's got the TV companies buzzing, I suppose. I...
Very quickly, Chris, when you played at a lower league club in the FA Cup, whether it be in the FA Cup or the Scottish Cup, what's your mentality? Come on, what's it got to be when you go into a game like that? You've got to earn the right. That's as simple as that. And...
I mean, we're now at the stage quarterfinal. What an opportunity. Villa fans will be thinking, what an opportunity. But Preston, I've seen a fair bit of Preston this season in the championship. They had a balmy start to the season. Ryan Lowe was manager for one game. And then I think Mike Marsh was manager for the next game.
Paul Heckingbottom has gone in and actually done a pretty good job in terms of stabilising the club. This is really awkward for Villa, I think, this tie. And if you look at Preston's home record, I think the last time they lost was early November, I think.
Wow, I didn't know that. Bristol City. Good start. And they don't concede a lot of goals. They'll play with the back three. They are happy to give up possession and they will counter. They will try and stay in the game. That's what Preston will do. And he's been pretty successful. There was a period about a month ago where...
where they had the sort of possibility of getting into the playoffs in the championship. I think that that chance is gone. So they will be really focused on this game. And of course, Villa, maybe sort of their eyes are on different prizes this season. And it's about the players coming back after international break and finding that balance. But I think this is one of those times which is awkward.
and Villa will go up to Deepdale, and it won't be easy for them. It's one of those games you want a fast start if you're Villa. You want to get an early goal and then try and draw Preston onto you. But the longer Preston stay in the game, and if they do get ahead, this could be mightily awkward for Villa.
for Aston Villa. I think it's fascinating, this game. I think, psychology plays a part here as well, doesn't it? I remember, when Stoke were in the Premier League, for all those years, particularly under Tony Pulis, when they were, notoriously difficult to play against, and, and I used to watch teams, and in particular, Arsenal used to struggle, when they went to Stoke, with the physicality of Stoke, and Aston Wenger used to,
I used to, I've been to a couple of those games when Wenger would, would, would almost change his team and, and put bigger players into his team and, and put physicality into his team. And when often come unstuck was United, Manchester United used to go under Travis Ferguson and he'd just pick, and Fergie would just pick all his best players.
and just say to them, you're better than them. Just go and play your football around them. Forget about worrying about physicality. You're Premier League footballers, you know how to deal with this. Don't obsess with that. Just go and use the ball because you're better than them and United would win. Maybe there's an element of that about what Villa do on Sunday. Just trust their own ability to play the better football. Yeah.
Yeah, I think there is. I know every game you say, well, the first goal, the importance of it. But when you, you know, you think about, you know, Preston aren't a free scoring team. They aren't. You know, their success has come from their solidity and their organisation. And they've been, you know, Paul Heckingbottom's a good manager. You know, he is a good manager. Yeah.
And he will have them really set up, difficult to beat. So if they get that first goal, then Villa may be in for a frustrating afternoon. But what I would say is you look at Villa in that final, Villa's issue I've seen this season or the way I see it is scoring a goal hasn't been too much of a problem. They have that talent. And we spoke about the...
their recruitment in January, which has been pretty good. But they have players who can score goals, create opportunities.
But I think at the back has been their vulnerability. Mixed experiences for Villa players in the last week on international duty. You might know where I'm going with this. I actually felt a bit sorry for Marcus Rashford. It's not often we say that on this podcast. Felt a bit sorry for Marcus Rashford. I thought he had two okay games for England, actually. Bit of criticism. Sorry?
So did I actually. And, you know, I wasn't so sure whether he should have been picked in the first place and all that, but, but fair played him. I thought he showed up and especially after, uh, you know, the, the Tuchel, the, the sort of criticism about him and Foden, uh, not taking players on, uh,
and I thought he really tried to implement that. I think he did. And it's difficult when you're playing in two games against teams that just sit in their own half and defend with 10 men and your manager's asking you to play like a traditional wide player.
You know what it's like in that situation. There's no space and you do get past your fullback and you find another one of his mates waiting behind him to help him out. Very, very difficult, I think. So I think that was a bit tricky. Ezri Konza would have enjoyed himself a bit more. The Villa defender, part of two clean sheets. Of course, he's establishing himself as a first choice player
Under Tuchel, it would seem. But where I'm going with this, of course, is our old friend, Emi Martinez. Don't know if you saw it, Chris. Argentina beat Brazil 4-1 in a World Cup. I did see that. I don't know the Martinez stuff. Go on. He was doing keep-ups with the ball. He was doing keep-ups with the ball.
in his own penalty area. I mean, come on. I mean, that is the, let's try and work, that's the equivalent of, that's the equivalent of Alison Becker doing keep-ups in front of the Stretford end of Wanderer-Puller winning 3-0 at Manchester. But that's why, that's why, this is for Dom King, this, isn't it? That's why Martinez is better than Alison because he does stuff like that. Because he's better at shithousing. Yeah. Is that it? Yeah.
That's why he's better, Dom. You can do more keep-ups. Talking of keep-ups, if you remember, you will remember, when this podcast was in its formative phase 18 months or so ago, you and I got together in a studio in London to have the photographs taken for the imagery and for the promotion. And do you remember they wanted a photo of us doing keep-ups for the things, which was, let's just say, a lot easier for you than it turned out to be for me.
Yeah, but you were a goalkeeper, weren't you? I think I only managed about two. I only managed about two. You thought it was... I only managed four. Well, it was twice as many as I did. There you go. Right, we'll leave it there. FA Cup weekend ahead. I hope you enjoyed the show. Let us know about what you think of the topics we've discussed. How should Villa approach the game at Preston? As was Marcus Rashford criticised unfairly by Thomas Tuchel. We think so. Adoni Areola, could he cope at a big club? Would he have to change...
the way that he plays his football. What will Brighton's attitude be ahead of their game against Forest? Revenge or just another afternoon of football? And of course, Trent Alexander-Arnold. Judas or just a lad who's trying to make the most of
of his peak years in the game find us on x uh famous name and stupid name sutton and laderman all the male sports social channels you know where to go for those and remember whoever it is you listen to show hit that follow button leave us a rating and if it's five stars that'd be handy chris good to see you mate we'll be back on monday
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