Slipped it in

... and played a through ball through someone's legs, and then Barcola went through and missed.

But you think, okay, like if that, if that's suddenly in their locker again, then that's, that's good.

There are still like vast periods of Liverpool games where you're not quite sure what they're, what they're trying to do or what their, their idea of how we're going to hurt these opponents are.

What I would say is watching that Atletico game, I actually thought after the first half hour, they kind of shut Atletico down completely and the-- because they'd, they'd conceded obviously a goal.

It's Marcos Llorente.

They should just let him score.

Last season has taken some toll, and it's almost like a cleansing.

Yeah.

Like, that is a bit, that is a, that is a lot to put on your players.

It's a lot to...

I guess maybe when the cameras are on, when they're rolling for that long, you maybe forget that they're there, because I'm not sure how Cristina, his ex-wife, who there might have been a re-reconciliation with at some point, I'm not sure.

Um, I don't know how she'd feel about that.

Um, but it's a lot to bring into the workplace, I feel.

The, um, funny enough, when that clip dropped last week, I was doing a piece on, um, on whether data has kind of made football, whether football's too clever to be good now, which is one of my kind of pet theories.

And I think-

Yeah.

Like, that is a bit, that is a, that is a lot to put on your players.

It's a lot to...

I guess maybe when the cameras are on, when they're rolling for that long, you maybe forget that they're there because I'm not sure how Cristina, his ex-wife, who there might have been a re- reconciliation with at some point, I'm not sure.

Um, dunno how she'd feel about that.

Um, but it's a lot to bring into the workplace, I feel.

The, um, funny enough, when that clip dropped last week, I was reading a piece on, um, on whether data has kind of made football, whether football's too clever to be good now, which is one of my kind of pet theories.

He-

So how much is disrupted with some of these changes within how the market operates itself?

Yes.

I mean, it's a disruption.

You move from one law firm to another law firm.

You've got to move your clients over with it.

I mean, the client himself, I'm sure, would rather you stay where you're at because it's just a lot simpler and they know business as it runs.

But that's where it comes down to the value of that move in itself.

Before we jump into the new content initiative that you guys have coming, I did want to ask, is there any one piece or what advice do you give to firms that are looking to secure the best talent before their competitors? I mean, is it that culture piece that you had referenced before is kind of the sweet spot? What do you tell folks that come to you?

Does anyone care?

I think they should.

Do you know what? I genuinely think they should care.

They should care.

It's, it's better to come third than fourth.

You should try.

You should definitely try.

What about your memories?

So just through that lens, talk to me about what you saw on the pitch last night.

Uh, I think you see two things.

One is an England team that were curiously cautious and maybe a little bit afraid that, in a way that I wasn't really expecting.

I, I, I genuinely, I don't regard myself as like a, like a tactical brain, but from where we were sitting high up in, in the Atlanta stadium, you could see England basically say, "Okay, we're going to play this game right on the edge of our own box," which, again, not a tactical brain, against the team containing the greatest player of all time really feels like a choice.

Um, but then even, even allowing for that, with about 15 minutes to go, I turned to George Sims, my colleague who was sitting next to me, and said, "I think Argentina are running out of ideas." And that is the point at which Argentina have you.

I've seen them, I worked out last night, seven times in the last two World Cups in the flesh, uh, because I'm a very lucky person and I'm very fortunate to have my job.

Uh, and th- they do things that don't make sense, and I think there's something really app... fundamentally appealing about the fact that Argentina don't make sense, that they are the reigning world champions who don't really-- You can't get...

So how could Tuchel, how should Tuchel have de- dealt with that?

Think it's probably gonna be 3-1 to England.

You're going 3-1 England.

I would go the same outcome, different scoreline.

I think it'll be quite tight.

I think Norway might start off a little bit nervous, but England will have too much quality despite their own fears of Erling Haaland.

So I'm gonna say 2-1 to England.

That's true.

Uh, so it should be 2-0 to Argentina.

What are your thoughts?

Well, Argentina got a bit of a scare against Cape Verde, didn't they? So they're...

They'll have a point to prove, that...

What they won't want a repeat of that, I think.

Egypt are limited, but they're very, very passionate.

They're very well organized, defensively quite secure.

It'll be a... take a lot for Argentina to break them down.

[laughs] It was then up to Seattle for game two as Australia came to town, and the pre-match atmosphere before in the city was like nothing I've ever seen before.

As always, there will be football, there will be pints, there will probably be conspiracy theories about FreddyLA7.

Breaking, FreddyLA7 has deleted his Twitter account.

What do we think is happening here, America?

Today, Rory stepped up to the plate.

So Spain, Austria, I think Spain, I think Spain have got enough to beat Austria, but I don't think it's gonna be easy.

Austria's, like, press is full on Rangnick ball.

It's intense.

It's quick.

Yeah.

You know, this is, this is a Congo team with, what, three Premier League players, a load of players who play in Ligue 1.

You know, they are...

I'm not, not, not pretending they're a giant of world football, but they're, they're, they're elite players by any real kind of broad definition of the word.

And I think once they had that lead, they, they were well organized enough, they were disciplined enough, and they were kind of intense enough just to, to really knock England out of their rhythm.

And I suppose the thing is that England did lack a bit of creativity and, and ingenuity.

They stuck at it.

Well, I suppose there were only two that they could have played, weren't there?

What are you saying?

I'm a bit worried, but the crucial thing for Scotland to remember is that they can get through even if they lose.

They just have to not lose by very many.

So as...

I think if they can keep it to less than two, a goal diff- you know, a goal difference less, of less than two, they stand a chance of, of getting through.

So I'm gonna say, I think Scotland will score.

I'm gonna say 3-1 Brazil, and then four very nervous days working out if they s- stay in the tournament.

Mm.

What are your thoughts?

Spain need a performance.

They, they need to win, obviously, but they, they need to kind of show a little bit more.

Does Cape Verde, as much as, like, Vazquez was an amazing story, it was incredible for them to get their first point at the World Cup, Spain were kind of the main character that day, and you don't wanna be the main character.

You want to kind of get through the group, ease through it, build up a head of steam.

So Spain need to impress.

They looked like they didn't really have any cutting edge.

You're going to that one.

And that incredible atmosphere continued inside the stadium, too, as Rory Smith explained on the Night Cup.

The national anthem was incredible.

Um, and then the noise once the game started, it did feel...

I was sat with some commentators from the BBC who are used to kind of big European atmospheres, and even they were kind of covering their ears as you're getting it from the stadium and through the feed.

It was genuinely deafening.

Maybe this take wasn't as far-fetched as we thought at first.

We're in the United States.

We're on American soil.

Let's start with Belgium against Egypt.

Egypt.Up and coming Belgium, 37-year-old Axel Witsel.

What more do you want? It's a tricky one, this, 'cause I think Belgium aren't what we think they are.

I think they, they might be due a bad World Cup.

They've called up too many of the older players.

A lot of them aren't fully fit, haven't been playing for a long time.

But Egypt is so predictable because all they want to do is get the ball to either Omar Marmoush or ideally Mohamed Salah.

[laughs]

I think Portugal have got a ton of balance once you get the fella up front out the way.

He's the, he's the issue, but even if he's just standing around, I think Portugal look like an amazing side.

Um, I think the one thing that in terms of like the 48 team expansion, the expansion pack for the FIFA World Cup, I think that e- that extra knockout round will be really good.

In the same way as, as a, as y- we've talked about this before, like as a, as a new format of the Champions League.

Um, not a fundamentalist, but like open-minded sort of semi convert.

In the sa- Is it Phil who's really big on people keep saying that like making the knockout round.

They equate making the, the punishment round of the new Champions League with making the last 16 last time, but they're not the same thing.

It's annoying.

Top 100 player or Korea a top 100 Korea export? [laughs]

Ko- Korea is a, is culturally a top 100 nation, 100%.

South Korea are always a threat at World Cups.

They, they, they are...

As you say, they're one of Asia's superpowers.

They expect to qualify.

They always have quality.

How else could you explain it?

And is that connected to what you said about what you wanted to happen?

Yeah, so the, I, I, I, I mean, I don't know how...

Miguel gets very cross with me for, he thinks that we're all being awful.

As a Liverpool fan and also as a, someone who loved Xabi Alonso as a player and likes him as a person, having met him a few times, I would have loved Xabi Alonso to be Liverpool manager.

There's, there's no point hiding that.

Um, I think there's...I was thinking about this on the way back from Scotland.

The, I think there's four mysteries around this in, in order of how easy they are, they are to solve.

This is, this is too much." What, what do you think about it, and what do you think is gonna happen? Do you think Slot will, will, uh, will, uh, will boot Salah out of the squad for the last day?

What a, what a, what a result.

I, I think I'm stealing someone else's point here.

It, it's actually quite sad, isn't it, that a club can be that badly run and have that many obvious red flags around it, and yet probably the most promising coach in Europe thinks, "I better take that job.

That's too good to turn down." That says a lot about where modern football is.

It's an amazing coup for Chelsea.

It really is.

To get...

Mm-hmm

Brentford's dark season of wonder is born on the fast break, Ro.

It is, and Brentford's record against City's not bad, certainly in terms of the games that they give them, if not necessarily the results.

They're maybe not quite a Bodie team for City, but they, they seem to have a way of playing that unsettles Guardiola's team.

This is not an ideal fixture for City given how fragile their situation is.

I don't know about their confidence.

Doku's last-minute goal was, was an interesting one against Everton because in the moment, Rog, I was the same as you.

I kind of thought it was meaningless that, that City dropped points.

Um, survival is feeling possible, even probable, but you lose, those ghosts are gonna come howling back.

And actually, when was the last time he said that we saw him smile like that on a football pitch?

Yeah, that's important because the, uh, the, the pressure- there have been various points this season where it look, does look like the pressure h- has been getting to Arsenal, that they have struggled to, to express themselves, to have any kind of joy in the way they play, and that can hold you back.

And especially, as we said before, you know, goal difference is t- is potentially gonna be really important here.

They needed to, to take that early goal that Jöcker has scored and expand on it because we saw the week before they, they went one-nil up against Newcastle in, what, nine minutes? As they scored in nine minutes.

And then y- they still had this really stressful afternoon where it felt like the Emirates was on edge, and everyone was really fraught and anxious.

But on, on Saturday, it, it didn't feel like that at all because they had the game tied up in the first half.

They could just trying to kinda see out the second half, really.

And I think if, if Tottenham can keep playing the way they did last night, for a team that are down at the bottom of the league to show that person and that confidence and that bravery to play the way they did at Villa, then, then they've, th- they're starting to build theirselves real good momentum at the back end of it.

How do you, how do you assess where Newcastle United are at the moment? A- and then we'll get onto why, why they haven't been able to do a City.

This is slightly off topic.

I have this theory that I've been arguing about with Rog on Men in Blazers for a little while, that Leeds aren't safe from relegation.

And obviously Leeds play Burnley on Friday night after we've recorded this, after you've listened, potentially after you've listened to this.

So it may be that they've won that game, they've got 43 points.

But I was looking at the table and I, I think relegation is fascinating in the Premier League this season, and I said that, that I'm not convinced that Palace are safe because I think 42, 43 points might not be enough to keep you up this year just in case West Ham and Spurs really hit form.

And someone, I can't remember who, pointed out to me that Newcastle are below Palace in the table and have lost five games in a row.

And so I think that, I think it will be ha- sure, it's almost like because of the situation they've got themselves into, the only way out or the easiest way out of it is by giving him more time and more power and more money.

Are Bayern's attacking ways this year and PSG the year before them, are they proof that football is in fact blossoming? Are they the exception to the rule? But they are becoming more balanced, ever more creative, ever more entertaining, everywhere outside of that dark isle of Britannia.

Look, there's lots of forces that go into it, whether it's their dominance of their domestic league, whether it's the fact that they're able to attract a different type of player, whether it's because they've kind of set out to recruit a different profile of footballers.

But I think one of the big things that does stand in such contrast to the Premier League, which is without question the strongest domestic league in Europe, Rog, that's not under any debate, is the fact that both Bayern and PSG have access to all the data points that the Premier League teams have to all the physical and the conditioning stuff that the Premier League teams put such an emphasis on and just interpret them in such a radically different way that they are prepared to be brave.

They are prepared to try and seek an edge in being more creative and inventive and adventurous rather than looking for edges that are a bit more kind of static or set PC.And I think from a, from a Champions League point of view, it's really important because it does maybe give the competition that is meant to be the most illustrious, the most attractive, the most glamorous in Europe, the most glamorous club competition in football.

It does give it a point of difference from the Premier League.

Does we need to think about that a little bit more maybe that the, the Premier League is not a rival of La Liga or Liga or the Bundesliga.

The Premier League's main rival is the Champions League.

Could we see more Bayern-esque clubs poach these players out of England as it becomes clearer and clearer and clearer that they can thrive in the tournament that counts, the Champions League?

To say it publicly, w-what was the, the need there? Was that them putting on a hair shirt and owning some of it for a fan base that are losing their minds?

My, my cynical view, Rog, is that it's them appearing to put on a hair shirt and owning some of it for a fan base.

I, I don't think they're embarking on a period of self-reflection.

I don't think they're gonna look at the, the kind of body of work they've, they've put together at Chelsea, which says, and I wrote this in the CorrespondentThe other day.

Like pretty clearly they are bad at this.

They are bad at owning a football club.

They are bad at running a football club.

Never.

Ro, which player should we have nightmares about? How good are they as a collective? Can we get a fair check out of ten, please?

Well, so there's sort of two answers there, Rog.

One is-- I mean, the answer to which player should you be worried about, you've named them both.

Kenan Yıldız and Arda Güler are potentially two of the kind of breakout stars of the tournament.

Um, Yıldız is the only good thing about Juventus at the moment, and Arda has been a real success at Real Madrid this year.

Carlo Ancelotti, probably his legacy as Real Madrid manager will be kind of breaking Arda Güler into the team.

But they have more.

Um, Roy, should we pass this off as just a friendly, or are England not as good as we hyped ourselves up to believe?

It's essentially a pub team, and when I found that out, I just wish every nation had to enter only their best pub league players, Ro.

Yeah, it is a remarkable story, and 1% might be relatively generous, particularly given if you look at the, the players that the DRC can call on in the final if they were to beat Jamaica.

Jamaica themselves got loads of kind of Premier League experience because they have again tapped into, into the diaspora, appealed to players who are of Jamaican descent.

For New Caledonia to make it is, is distinctly unlikely.

But for them to currently be in Mexico preparing for a World Cup qualifier, you know, two games, 180 minutes from the World Cup, that is an achievement in itself for, for a country, as you say, that, that doesn't have kind of a, a deep pool of professional footballers.

There are a couple of players, I think Angelo Fulgini, the, um, who's playing in Saudi now but has spent quite a long time in kind of the French top flight.

You know, he's a, he is an elite level footballer.

... uh, i-if that's, if that's not, you know, your name is on the World Cup, then, then what is?