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Wear your passion your way and be your own boss at boss. com or at your nearest boss store Marketers, no matter what pitch you play on, a big win feels the same Electric. It's that moment when you read the play before the trend even starts. Beat the clock on a campaign with a little help from AI And connect with customers in real time, like you've trained for it your whole career That's contentful. Wld class digital experiences built fast, built beautifully Create and launch personalized content in an instant accross every channel your customers are watching No chaos, no limits, just open theme Take your shot at contentful. com Hello and welcome to the DFo Football podcast. I'm a professional man named Joe Devine and I'm delighted to be joined today by another professional man. Yeah Oh, hey It's Joh Mackenzie. He. You've cheered yourself. Oh ye. I didn't open a bottle of water that time, which I did in the original intro, which you ruined not me. Right, The original one that no one would have known about if you had I thought it was worth reminding people for posterity's sake. Also here is Kaya Kainan. No bottles here, baby for the first time in a while for an arsenal fan. Well, that's true. The Champions League final is finished. I don't know what' talking about. No need to discuss it. And we're also we're absolutely delighted today to be joined by stand upp comedian Tadia Melonga. Hi. Hey Tada, how's going? It's going great. I just watched a great game. We all watched a great game, didn't we? Now Tad's referring to the fact that we've just finished watching the France Senegal game. to be clear, for people who are listening to this podcast tomorrow, we don't yet know the result of the Norway Iraq game, nor do we know the results of any of the games that happen after that game. Just to be one hundred percent clear, okay? But we enjoyed Tad's company during our watch along today. And if you would like to enjoy it retrospectively, you can on the AthleticFC's YouTube channel or indeed join us tomorrow the England game or any number of one of the other days throughout the rest of the World Cup, I will say that the later you join us throughout the tournament I think the more tired and upset we will be. I was trying to find a way of saying that in a happy way. What would be a nice way of saying that Well worn. Well worn. Yeah. Like a good pair of shoes. Experienced. Experienced. Yeah, that's a nice way of thinking about. I feel much more relaxed today than I did on the first stream That because you watched the game outside. John spent his day in a tactics cupboard. So we're we expect to hear some terrific analysis about F the France Senegal game, whichich is where we start by the way. What are we going to talk about on today's podcast? Well, France Senegal Was it the best game so far? I think it might have been We play a Rndo, donon't worry, Tad, I'll explain what that is shortly and you're going to love it. Tina Lreamento veryfortunately has beenjured out of the tournament and has been replaced by Trevor Challibber, so we talk a little bit about that as well and what to expect from England tomorrow. And then oddly on what's you know, a podcast mostly focused on the World Cup, we're going to talk about Spurs who've done an enormous amount of transfer work already this summer, so we'll get to that shortly. And then before we finish, we forced Tad to read some excellent football jokes and we check in on points of bad as well. You really enjoyed the ones I gave you earlier Honestly, I might quit comedy because they were so. That's the nicest compliment I've had yet. Now after this lovely bit of music We shall begin. Yeah there we go. Okay, let's begin the podcast. Now, whereere else to begin other than of course, France three One Senegal. what a fantastic game, wasn't it? John,k it took France a little while to get started, though, didn't it? Yeah, we talked the in the preview period, I don't know what we call that. The introduction the preview period. Yeah. Yeah we talked a little bit about U The fact that this World Cup is the World Cup of mid bllocks. Lots of teams not really wanting to put themselves under pressure by being aggressive in the press, opening out space that can be attacked And I think that was very much the story of the first half. I think Senegal did come out a little bit at the beginning, but I think they had a few scares. they realiz if they leave space They can be exploited then this front's team is going to exploit them And what we saw, I think in the majority of the game after that was was they were very comfortable just sitting in there. in their block and France were struggling to find ways into that block. They tried dropping players out of the block. Obviously when you do that, it's much harder to find inroads into the block because there's no one there. And then you have this cast of characters that the French have in the front line, four players who can rotate and are all very exciting. But when they're not receiving the ball, they want the ball and so they end up drifting out of the block or in a Ba's case like sometimes moving out into the wide channel to try and get hold of the ball. And yeah, I think it was one of those games where in the second half then they had to come out and find a way of causing problems to that block. And yeah, they did that. We saw it from the first goal, just a really nice combinations between Kunde and Eise moving the Senegal block around and then a really nice bit of pinning from Usmandembell, which opened up almost seemingly invisible passing lane to Killian A Bapo who made really nice movement into that and did a really nice reverse kind of blind shot into the bottom corner across his body, was which was nice. And then once that had gone in It opened the game out a little bit more. Senegal were forced to to come out and as we were saying through the game because they were you know, having to try and generate a goal from somewhere, they were their forward lines were higher at the pitch. They didn't want to commit their back line as high because they've got Gulab Bali in there who's not going to be able to make huge runs backwards and as a result, France suddenly started finding the space between the lines and then having these more direct attacking moments that either transitions or artificial transitions where they could sort of prompt them themselves. And from that point onwards, it very much looked like there was only going to be one winner. , I thought for my mind, it was the best game of the tournament so far, or the one I enjoyed the most. Yes, the only one you've watched so far've been here every day. That does make it the best game if it's the only I've seen It argue with that. It's still true. What do you think? I think it's certainly up there. I'm tryuggling to think of contenders. I thought the second half of Germany was Netherland, Japan was great. Germany was fun Spain, Cape Verde was different, but still entertaining but in a different way. Yeah. This, I think is the most complete game in the sense of sheer attacking quality on display, the level of the two teams playing at such a high standard and also like The way the momentum shifted throughout the game, the way Senegal were on top in the early stages, you sort of thought France maybe looked like they were on the verge of something disappointing and then the way they came out second half and the way Elyise and Ma end Du and DLA jerky and sparkler and the ridiculous number of players they've got the way they all linked up front was just breathtaking. Beautiful. I can't think of a better game that I've seen this tournent and yeah, it's been really, really fun. Okay. Tad, I'm going to ask you a question about Mbapee now related to his Wld Cup legacy. He's now France's all time top goal scorer. So he just surpassed Olivier Jeru. He's also now scored fourteen worldld Cup goals, which puts him fourth overall in all time history. and it's the highest up the list for a player that's currently still active. You made a comment while we were watching the game. your take was that puts him ahead of message. It quite literally does put him ahead of message.. but also in your book His World Cup legacy is now more impressive than Messy's. I'd say so because What he was seven No old was he seventeen or nineteen? I think nineteen and and that first one. Yeah. He didn't do the carriry job, but he did score in the final. He did he did force the penalty out of Argentina That's whatg momentum of the game in that match And since then he's put France on his back, obviously the The final of football from the twenty twenty two World Cup. Yeah, whereas him versus Messi was just, you know. It was crazy Um, but I would say, um in terms of being a Tismanic figure Messy, the whole team will collapse like the way the team plays changes when he's on versus when he's off. Yeah. The whole team just it's almost like American football or rugby where they have players just blocking off so Messy can have enough time on the ball Yeah to make they kill a pass in that but andba like the last second of that match. can do one thing pook. game changed. Yeah. I think in terms of impmact in World Cups alone leeaving out club football stuff. Yeah. I think Aba has cleared every active player now he's chasing ghosts. It's kind of nice in a way as well though isn't it? Because I felt sorry from the past couple of years with PSU winning the Champions League both years since since he left to go to Real Madrid.. Things obviously haven'ted out for Real Madrid yet either. But no, I mean, this is just lovely for him, isn't it? Yeah, I think it's his fault that we all know it's his fault in this room. Do you think so? He didn't press He didn't press I mean like the the first clip. unlike I grew up with MSN, you know. I see NS once. I se N MSN Meting messengers Po, all that stuff I grew up with MSN.. N neverever heard Enrique speak once my entire life.. Do you know what his voice sounds like? I didn't never know what his voice sound like. The first time I heard his voice was him yelling and bing This guy's been in my life for ten years. I've never been to sak except for ye I get a aboutin Yeah, so it's his fault. But with France, the whole infrastructure of the team is built differently. It's built like Argentina where it's built around him to excel and to extract the same And hopefully we can do the same with Harry Kaine this Yeah this tournament because hope they built it around Arth Alisman. I'm kind of lost in thoughts of Bibo now. Yeah One of the great social media platforms. Jordan Henderson you had the famous Bibo. was it I remember Bibo being so cool as a teenager because it was the first one where it was really obvious you could be someone's other half, right? You could be like two halves where it was. And I just never had another half. Bibo died before I had another half. I kind of want it to come back so that I can tell people I have a wife. You know it's a sadder social media moment. Did you ever have like family on Facebook? Yeah ye your inmates are all your family There's nothing sadder than when you reach adulthood And you start like removing people fromont. that I actually have relatives that I love, I well. Kaya, there was a lovely girl from Bety Buckcler as well. You kind of touched on it a little bit before, France's strength in depth is just Lunacy, like every you know, ninety minutes they're still bringing on, you know, incredible players. is that like It's sort of impossible to predict who's going to win the World Cup for a whole number of reasons, but it really feels like that's the kind of thing that's going to make the difference for the team that does. It's unbelievable. and interestingly, it feels like in lots of tournaments gone by. And I think Euro twenty twenty four was unusual in the sense the best attacking team. One Yeah. It's felt like in various previous tournaments the team with the best defensive structure has gone on to win And in twenty eighteen that was France. they obviously had the amazing attacking talent of Bapers as Tad was talking about there and Jery was great and Grizman was great They were built on a solid defensive foundation and they have been throughout most of their success under Didier deses Champ reccently they've kind of transitioned a bit because they've got so much attacking talent. It's K kind of ridiculous and they have to play to that strength now. and I think even in the period when Senegal were on top in the first half and probably could have gone one and up and you wouldn't have said they didn't deserve to be oneed up if they had gone oneed up You couldn't have ruled France out because of the fact that they've got such individual brilliantance up front. Obviously that last goal for Mba was, you know, the quality that we know he has, but the way they're able to make those runs in behind, they were able to move the Senegalese backline out of position so easily and then Aise playing through the ball so quickly and so decisively to make advantage of that They are I think the best I don't think it's controversial. they're the best attacking team at this tournament. The question is whether they can kind of knit it together and work cohesively. If today's second half anything to go by, they definitely can. And I think that's, you know, in the first half, maybe some people were questioning like is this France team going to step up and be as good as Everyone' saying and justify their favorites tags. I think in the second half, we saw exactly why there're so many people's favorites for this World Cup Yeah. I think it's going be interesting in the second half the tournament as well because right now in the group stages, you get a lot of mixtures of games where there'll be teams who know they they're the underdogs and they're just going to play underdog football. And you know, we saw that a little bit with with Senegal in the first half and then the realization that they were going to have to go for it to get the most out of their players in the second that then just opened things out a little bit. I'm kind of interested to see what happens in the knockout stages of the tournament, whether or not we are going to end up with more fixtures that are like the PSG Byon semifinal where both teams are just like we're going to go for this. We've got good players. Let's see what happens or whether or not we are going to see maybe more tetchy games where where teams are going to be willing to sit in mid blocks because that could be the difference between Frontance doing well and France getting knocked out earlier on. if there are going to be teams who are willing to be pragmatic and sit in, those are going to be the games that France are going to struggle with. And I think with a higher quality of or a team Be I obviously Senegal have a high quality play, but their squad is built for a very different type of football. I think you know France coming up against in England, for example, would be a very different recipe. So yeah, I'll be interested to see what happens. What tasty are there hair that might be very exing. I was asking you about Senegal briefly just because you thoughtel they were a little bit unlucky not to go ahead. I thought they were really good in the game. Yeah, I think in the first half they were great because they they they managed to keep France quiet, but they also generated chances of their own and that's the sort of game that suits them really, I think in the sense that you know, they they have the players who can make those direct attacks And they generated a number that you had Nicholas Jackson very unlucky not to sort of bundle the ball in off the post off the back of Mike Mion. You had a great game. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And and then yeah, there was the Emilaar chance at at the end very end of the first half where They worked it really nicely, turn over the ball, direct attack down the channel, ball back cut across and it fell for him and he put it over. So I think they'll consider themselves a little bit unlucky not to have gone in a goal up. and those are going to be the scenarios that are going to be tough for France because when that happens, then there's no incentive for Senegal to leave their block and really force France to actually have to break them down. And as we've said, Fronts have incredible players, but they don't necessarily get a huge amount of structural upside from their approach A lot of it is just have the players solve the problems. And we've seen that they they could do that. They did that in the second half and no doubt there was some input from the coaching staff as well. So I don't want to just have it as a stark bit versus that. but those are going to be the scenarios that are going to be tough for them where yes, they've got this wealth of players, but actually it's often about the dynamics between the players. you getting the most out of individual pairs but also the collective as well Yeah. Okay, we're going to take a quick break, but when we come back, we're going to play Ondo We all belong outside We're drawn to nature Whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to, or the succulents that adorn our homes Nature makes all of our lives, well, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it. But the outdoors is closer than we realize. With All Trails, you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently. With offline maps and on trail navigation. download the free app today and make the most of your summer with All Trails Best thing that's ever happened to you financially. Go. Easy Sold my car on Carvana. Amazing offer. Really? I hit two hundred on the scratcher. Did the scratcher come to your house and hand you a check? No. How many scratchers did you hit to get that? I hit a button on carvana d. com Once. Okay, that's fair. It's like the lottery, except you always win Not like the lottery at all, actually. Exactly inexplicably good Offers worth bragging about. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pickup these may apply In One second, you're enjoying your day off. The next, your phone buzzes, A window's been broken at home, you're miles away. In one second, everything can change. That's why ADT's professionally installed security systems monitor your home at twenty four seven. They're backed by the most company operated monitoring centers in the industry, so you're always supported during an emergency When every second counts, count on ADT. Visit ADt. com to learn more Welcome back from the break. What was a fantastic break. We all enjoyed that here. We've got more topics to get getting ono today, but before we do that, we're going to play a very exciting Rndo. Now Tad, let me explain to you what the Rndo is. It's a little game that we play here. And what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you a question, all of you that this question actually has thirty two correct answers I'm going to go round in a circle, and you will give me correct answers. If you give me an incorrect answer, you will immediately be ejected from the Rndo. although you actually get a second try because you have the debutant's grace.. But these guys don't. If you dither or dillly dally or take too long, I'll eject you myself. And the final person standing will be named Rondo Dl Ray Oh, fair enough. Fair enough, exactly. very exciting. The topic of today's Rndo is as follows. We are looking for non UEFA teams that are currently in this World Cup. So teams that are not part of Europe, not in UEFA There's thirty two correct answers. Tat. I will start with you. I'm just looking for one team, please Cameroon Cameroon I don't think Cameroon are in the tournament I? Do you know what's terrible? I was trying to say Senegal and I puned. Okay Senegogal wouldnt make more sense because we just watched. you've got your Dbutant's Grace. Sag So Seneagogal. Yes. You're in I'll be back to you in a moment. John? Qatar. Qatar, of course, are there. Kaya? Canada. Canada. That's a good get now. That's a helpful clue, isn't it Canada? What do you think about that Tad? you like that?. Yeah. Okay, you go.meric the USA. Ecuador. Ecuador for John G Mexico. Mexico for Kaya? Brazil. Yes, Brazila there, abbsolutely. Now this one could take a while. Panama. But it's going to get really exciting very soon Panama yes, Kaya? Argentina. Argentina, of course. Ted. Colombia, Colombia are there. Paraguay. Paraguay Uruguay. Uruguay, yes, alluguis South Africa South Africa are there? Yeah. Morocco Morocco, yes Algeria Algeria are there Egypt. Egypt are there, off course they are. backack to you, John. Kabaed. Yep, Kabaed are there. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia were there. I it with a very impressive draw against Uruguay last night Australia. Australia are there? yes Curo Curao yeah New Zealand Yeah. I wonder if we're going to need a tiebreaker.ll see we'll come up with a different one if we do U Back to Uuted. South Korea. South Korea are there. Japan. Japan, yes Iran. Iran yes? Iraq. Iraq yes. Oh He's dithering. We said Chinizia y Well I don't know. T years To years No, we han't said you can have it yet. Yes, Cor? Sixteenams left? Sixteteens left One, two, three, four, five, six teams left. Oh my gosh. Wow, he's really dithering and dallying again. fiveive. Darry Ghana, of course, off course Gara were there Right, Tad to you The audience's hopes are all on you. Oh God you're late No, he's out! What a shame. The ur ofadal is over. Now John, things are getting really serious now. Tad the stand upp comedian is out of the game. The way is clear for you. S' that. And there are five teams remaining. Five teams. Yeah Do you get any clues U no. because I'm worried that you will get them all, correct There's definitely African teams that we've not named so I'm just, oh, South Africa We've already said South A. So you're out. and Kaya, you will be named Ronald Dilray if you can correctly get one of the five remaining teams. I'm struggling. Dongo? Yeah, DR Cong collap They're here. They're here Also here. Haiti? Iivory coast, of course, we could have had.an? an Not in this one It wasbekistan and Jordan Yeah Jordan never. Jordan. There you go. There you go. Okay, well congratulations to Kai well done. Thank you. H name Rndo Del Ray. There you go. How about that? Did you enjoy that Tad? I love that. More pressure than I've had in four weeks stand up comedy. People don't notice how much pressure you're under in Arndo. I've been just I watched a Rndo and I just screamed at my sc everyone's looking at you as well. Yeah yeah hard. And my mind always, whenever it's like you now to focus, my brain just goes no. I'm not gonna focus. Yeah exactly. Mine does the same. The thing is Tad, no one will expect you to get them correct because you're a stand up comedianogke because you know a lot about football. but're not a foot fful expert like these guys when they get them wrong, it's sort of embarrassing And the audience they treat them poorly. But it's good because the audience is like, I could do their job better than that I love that. You've gott to give that to the audience, haven't you? To allow them to keep. The hate watch is strong, right? What do you watch and think that you could do better than the person does? Oh, nothing. I'm just like know, Ily. I don't know. Yeah, no't at me and think you could do my job. Absolutely no. No. What about JJ U M I don't know. I just I didn't even think'd do my job well, That's a problem. I'veed the wrong person this quest. What about you? What you did onol of the World' Cup mate? That's true. So you can't I mean You can't do it better than that. do that now. Is there a profession that you think you could do better than other people Anything ind a desk. Yeah. I'm like Camel. Desks are around How much work is that? How much work could there behind a desk? You know what I mean? I beh I kind of feel like most jobs can figure it out. Yeah. Yeah ye. Nothing's that hard really. Does not make any sense.ad I'm not looking at the live chat. I'm sure there some people with hard jobs Behind a desk. behind a desk like a firefighter. No. What about the fleet Sorion. Prime minister sits behind desk. that's pretty tough. Yeah, but grow up G over yourself. The floor and the plan. Yeah. Now someomeone who might be sitting behind a desk and watching the football who otherwise would have been playing in the football were he not to be injured I leag, wasn't it? Tin Livermment very a superb transition. I enjoy would be sitting behind a desk. Well might be. He might behind a desk in his home watching the football. He's probably going to make it' linked with the transfer this summer, He'd be signing a contract behind a desk as well.. I would suggest that Tina Livermmentter will behind a desk at least once. St to think I could do a job better than you Now of course it's sad story for Tam Livermento. I'm reading from the athletic now. England defender Team Liverento will miss the World Cup with a calf injury and be replaced by Chelsea's Trevor Challiba in the squad just a day before Thomas Tuchles side played their opening game of the tournament Liverento, capable of playing on both sides of the defence, would have been in contention to make his major tournament debut against Croatia on Wednesday, Rese James, Jed Spence and Nico O'Reilly are the other fullbacks included in Tule's squad. I mean it's kind of interesting, isn't it, John? Because Ch Challiber Primarily a central defender has filllded it right back on occasion U what do you make of this selection? I mean 't And I don't ask you, is it the right one or the wrong one? Be because it's too cool selection.'re not good you know, we're not going to be critical of it and we don't have all of the information, but it's an interesting one Yeah, I think whenever you're asking a question of squad selection, you always have to contextualize it within what does the coach want for sure. And I think, you know, there's a lot of people asking about Why wouldn't this just be a shoe in for Trent Alexander Arnold? Right. But I think Thomas Tuckle is primarily wants to defenders who defend, right? I think that's's pretty it's pretty clear that that's the case. and Yeah, we're going to we're going to inevitably have the interminable conversation now about full backs because every England tournament seems to end up with that conversation. But I guess it depends what Tkle is going to want to do with with his full backs. and I would suspect that he is going to play in a situational three, which means that one of the fullbacks is going to just be an outside center back for the most part. So I'm guessing that Trevor Chalibur is going to be that But that for him. I suppose it does raise a question of why why I take Liv Remento and Reese James who both, you know, have qualities that mean they can play outside of that backline. Reese James can play as a central midfielder. Live Remento is more of your sort of classic get down the line. can play inside as well but in the pockets rather than in the midfield. So I guess that's the question of like why then replace one profile with a very different profile? But then on the other side, you've got who have you got on the other side Spon Spenson O'eilly, right? Which Yeah again, like neither of those two really strikes me as being a particularly outside centre backy option in that sense, right? So it could just be the case that it's one adaptable player for another. Yeah, yeah I guess so. I think that would be what the logic would be, and maybe Maybe player who would have played the outside options are like your Dan Burns and your Ezri Cers who are in the squad also. they've clearly made a decision. we want to have an extra player who has that capacity to do that So yeah, I guess I sponsor as well as as a player like that who has played as a a sort of elbow back as they call and where they can play fallb back or center back, depend on what's required. Tad, what do you make of England's chances? very excited. Yeah. I think you positive? I'm very positive. and I don't I don't understand I don't understand how What's the benefit in not being over the top excited about your national team at the World Cup? That's true. I'm gonna be realistic. Well you gonna you're gonna not tell some lady you love or you know like Yes You're speaking to the wrong room. That pessimism is so it's fear of pain. Far L is pain. It ends. Yeah Take the takeake the ride, enjoy the fun. If the World Cup is's once every four years. Yeah. You know, you should enjoy. also on like on a raw analytical level, I think England has very good chances because u For once, we're not just picking the best players. We are building a system. It's all around Kane. We got the attack is about all right, let's recreate what Kanain did with Som. you know what I mean? of like these guys dotting on the outside. Our midfield is maybe slightly worse than Portugal's? Yeah That's crazy. ye Like slightly worse than Portugal's So all that could let us down is a defense but if he's which is why I think he's picking all right, let's just pick guys that will defense stay back and like you said, transition into that three and then O'Rilly can dart up and down and have its fun. Yeah, I think that that's a really exciting and dynamic team. Do you think do you apply the same logic though of enjoying yourself a World Cup to the England national team approach, do you think? Be I always kind of feel this with England that it it feels as though it's taken so seriously that it won becomes very on fun very quickly Yeah N just not just from the national mood, but also from the point of view of look at the players that they have available, like go out there and use those players and sort of give them the capacity to go for it. because it it always feels like this there's something holding them back a little bit, right Yeah, I also feel like I I think a big part of it is our media landscape and how, you know, We all know it's built on negativity and making people upset is what sells papers and that's what sells clicks and engagement a lot more than making people happy. And making people happy is harder than making people sad. That's why comedy's harder than drama Oh, you know. And so it's like yeah, I think they're taking it too seriously side of it. I think that's an individual thing. I think There's no good reason to not root for the boys and get carried away and then get real sad and have a drink and sing a song and then walk home drunk, shoulder shoulder with a friend. A we all we had fun. and you go to work the next day and it's over. But like it's like you it's theorld Cup It's going to be fun. Yeah say I've described the Wor Cup as it's like a festival, right? football. And you enjoy the things that you want and you go to the things that you enjoy and like you say got you've got to throw yourself into it and all send. Having heard all this though, I'm going to say a negative thing about Engish fo. And I don't Love. So Tod made a really good point earlily about the squad being built to get the best out of canane. in the fourward positions you can really see that Yeah. Full back positions I feel it's not as much clarity as what Toule's trying to do So Jed Spence could have switched over to right back, you could have calledght up a left back and that I think would have madeade a lot of people quite happy. Lewis Halls had a decent season Newcastle. Milkey had a really strong end to the season at Newcastle and has played foring them before So there were options there My fear is R James has had injury problems in the past has come back from a quuite a lengthy injury absence with Chelsea. the idea that if he gets injured that Chalibur is next man up doesn't fill me with confidence.. Jed Spence like I said, can play there. Ery Kon has played there in big games Faston Villa. Gerald Konza can play there too. So that there are options beyond Chalibur, but I just don't think when there are other options you could have had to maybe fill in in those spots I don't know that picking Chalibber there was the right choice would you pick? Who would you go? Yeah? I think I would have gone for a left backack and then you've got spent to can come in and cover on the right hand side, which I suppose still can happen, right? Yeah. But I just think I would have probably gone for There's no way of me saying this doesn't sound like h my bias. I would have gone for Miles Lewiskeelly But I think Lewis Hall would have been a great selection as well. I think he's a really good player too. Micolotetta didn't even go for Miles Lewiskey. He did in the Champions League. Not a fullback though. No, true. Tue. Well there we are Okay, let's have an actual break to break up the tension. Jur and Timber, I think they should take Jury and Timbero Califury. Yeah, he's free. Yeah. Tommy Asu. Yeah. yeah. yeah. All of them. I've got a great joke about Jury and Timber, but that's never going to make the cut. his colleague Robin Roofs, you know,' what are you going to do? Is any the joke? No it was a version of the joke. Now you would know if it was the joke to. Timber. Yeah W. Yeah W Robin Roof. course H. Chris I know and also there's a player on New Zealand's team as well who similarly has is there the player called Roof on New Zealand's team? Oh really? I feel like You've got some good names. Yeah, R stillving to move on. Okay canan we not do what favite names favourite names of the World Cup? veryery quickly. You can no, no I'm done. Oh, okay. No fun here. Can't enjoy theorld Cup Let's have an advertisement break. It's smart to always have a few financial goals, and a really smart one you can set, earning cash back on what you buy every day. And with Discover, you can. get this. Discover automatically matches all the cash backack you've earned at the end of your first year. Seriously, all of it, and we trust you to make smart decisions. After all, you listen to this show See terms at discover d. com slash credit cards. Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun An army hung on her every word. My champions, I have sold my chariot on Carvana. 'twas a lovely SUV, an inexplicably queenly offer. They're even coming to the castle to collect it. Tonight, we feast An offer you can feast on. seell your car today on Carmana. Pick up fees, manly. Ready to experience something new All trails helps you find your next hike. Whether you're looking for something nearby or planning a trip, read reviews from real people like you to choose your trail and know what to expect. You can also download the map in case service gets spotty Plan and experience your next hike with all trails. The app for exploring the outdoors. Download it today and find your outside. Okay, we're back. What a great break that was. We we all loveved that break. It was fantastic. Now sppurs, let's talk about sppurs because the World Cup is not happening. Now, David Enstein reports on the athletic, Tom and Hotspur have agreed a fifty two million pound deal for Brighton and Hove Albion with Brighton and Hove Albion, sorry, to sign defender Jean Paul von Hecker Jan Jazz Yan, actually. Yeah I'm JP. just call him J. I'm calling him Jean Paul because I've got Jean Paularch in my head, you know? Nice ye. I'm not say a joke about th Never mind. you want to hear that one? Yeah, the Jean Paulantre joke. Jean Paul Santre famously said hell is other people. But Julon Heckca said Hecka is other people. So that's just a. That's just a fact. Heck a heck comes from hell, is that right What the heck? I think that's why S spurs have bought him. I think they really wanted some extra steel inent. Anyway, listen, theyve payid fif two million pounds for him to Bryrighten and Hope Albion. Spurs have already of course been active in the transfer window previously, completing a move for Andy Robertson from Liverpool and Marcus Seneti from Bournemouth, so seemingly rebuilding their entire defense, as it is And additionally, Orney has reported also that Tottenham were in positive Sandro Tanali talks with the Newcastle midfielders at camp So writing in his piece on the Athletic, David says There's been no contact so far with Newcastle, but if an agreement looks possible with the player, club to club contact can be expected to follow. The transfer fee is considered a bigger challenge for Spurs than a deal with Tonali though. So who knows whether this would happen? But he's got three years left in his contract, right? because they've got an extension. so he'll be presumably very he fee wise. Yeah, although I suppose it all depends on how motivated he is to want to leave. Sose also they're prepared to push hard for a statement signing, which is being driven by head coach Roberto DZerby and is backed by the ownership. So I guess a couple of questions and I'll start with you, John. The first would be does Tanali fit DZerbi's system? The second I suppose would be is it safe to let You know, to let Derby make so many decisions because you know, we have this perennial conversation about the balance between directors of football, the club signings and then managers and obviously spurds are in a very vulnerable position. having performed very poorly last season, I can understand why they would want their new exciting manager to make these sorts of deals, but there's also a bit of you know, something to be afraid of in there too. Yeah, let's start with that because I think that's a good starting point. We've talked about it before about how when you're in elite side, you go through a process where you want to start off with a coach who comes in and doesn't really have much control over what's going on because you want to make sure that you're doing your best to build a squad that is workable and then you bring someone in who can use that squad and etceta. But then inevitably what ends up happening is if they have success That coach gets more and more control and because you want You want to keep them around, you want to make sure that the club is functional for a while. So Micel Lette is a great example of that, right? comomes in as a head coach, eventually his made manager, now gets to a point where you know that he's very involved in the transfer business that the club are doing Um, and that's that's great. The problem Spurs have, I think, is that they've becausecause they were in a very much non negotiating position when Roberta Deserbi arrived is they've had to give him a huge amount of concessions to get him to come in at the end of the season when there's a possibility of relegation. And one of those concessions seems to be that he's going to have a lot of control over what's going on. So I think there's an element of risk there Again, like just because it coaches can Once you've built the squad for them and they've had success with that squad make good squad decisions. I think at the point that where sppurs are at where their squad is actually lompy. They've got a lot of the wrong kind of players in that squad. They've got a million players in central midfield. who don't really all seem to be roughly the same profile and don't all don't seem to have some of the attributes that you might want a Premier League midfield to have I think it's way more risky that you then give him the control because I think what you probably want there is is a recruitment department, a sporting director, a scouting department to oversee the refreshing of that squad And so although that hasn't really worked for Surs over the last five years, right? Like ye, actually transfer activity has been quite tricky at troubling at times and a lot of it's happened under the stewardship of people who aren't the manager. aggreed. And I think part of that is because they've had so many kind of actors and agents playing like so many power players in that scenario, right? when they had Daniel Levy. But then you know, you've got, you know, you've got to have some kind of coherence between all of the separate parts because if you don't, then you end up with one sporting director, like Johann Langer is bringing in this player Th then Daniel Levy's bringing this player because they're a market opportunity. and then the scouting department are like, Ohh, you want this guy around the side from the data department and you end up then making concessions left right center, right? where it's like, and you know, this happened early on at Liverpool when you know, Ian Grahams Booky talks about how when Brendon Roggers was there, they were doing very much a kind of one transfer for you, one transfer for us. And I think again, you end up that's when you end up signing your Andy Carrolls and and your Stuart Downings to kind of appease a coach. So yeah, I think thats that's what's happened and I'm not saying that you know, because that process hasn't worked for them in the past, doesn't mean to say that isn't the way that it should be being done. I think it should be being done a little bit more coherently. But ye yeah, this there's some of those transfers where I look at it and I kind of think It's hard to know how all of these pieces fit together. And you look at them and you think, well, who was behind this? Like the Andrew Robertson signing was something that was being talked about before being attempted in J. Yeah before Derbi was even a twinkle in whoever's eye it was that picked him. Yeah. And then've got then you've got a player like Marco Sesi, who I've got a feeling he was being talked about as well before that happened. Yeah. You've got Jan Paul van Hecker, who's very clearly someone who Deserbi's worked with before, right? So it makes sense that he's been like, this is my guy, this is who I want. Yeah. And then it sounds as though Tanali is a Derbie guy as well And again you're starting to think, well, what's going like are we just doing the same thing here? Is it just we've got some market opportunity guys. You've got Andrew Robertson who they're like, o, he's going to be goodfluence in the dressing room and be's going to be a mature head, etcetera. And they don't have that. they have a lot of younger players. So yeah, I look at it and I just and then you start looking at the profiles and you're like, okay so JP van Hecker is a sort of right sided centerback, very good progressive passer, a little bit slow on the turn and defending backwards. Marco Senesse is a left footed center back who is very good at progressive passing and carrying, a little bit slow on the turn and bad at defending back. So it sounds like they've signed the two same profiles for the two slots that they have.. It raises questions about like what's Marco Sesi going to be doing if Mickey Van D Venn is still around, Is he just going to be a back upp player at that point? O does this mean that Van Der Ven is head heading off? And again, like that's not to say that these things can't work, of course. And you know, maybe, you know, we saw Deserb be using Louis Duncan and JP Van Hecker as a central pairing for Brighton and both of those two players are good progressive passers, slow on the turn, not necessarily the best of backwards defending. So you know, maybe maybe I'm just not seeing the picture, but it does it does sort of feel as though there's some curious players being brought in. The tonali one as well, right? We've spent the whole season being like, does Jaolinia fit into this midfield? They don't have any passers. They have all of these Th physical guys you can't really do any of the progressive passing. if you're bringing someone like Tenali, and yes, he's going to be better than what they've got now in terms of the progressive passing, but so much of what he's done for Newcastle when it comes to like the build up stuff is dropping out and doing passing from deeper. Whereas in the past, a lot of what Deserbi has done has been to have V very sort of techy center center midfielders playing his pivot off each other trying to find bait passes forward, bounce the ball through the lines. That's not really Sandio Tonali's game It's also worth saying that at Marseille, I think because the tactical landscape is shifting, we're also seeing like a slightly different version of what Deserb' doing as well.ure. So you know, that make from that point of view, bringing someone like Tenali where the games are going to be a little bit more open, a little bit more physical, that makes sense. But there's just so many layers here where I'm just kind of like it seems like it's hard for me to see Where everyone's coming from, how all fits together? and yeah, I just kind of think there's a lot of risk involved. You can just say you haven't thought about it, man, That's fine.. It's fine., I did ramble a bit there, I'm sorry. Incidentally, the Norway Iraq game has begun. It's two minutes in. so if people are watching us live and they didn't know that, Go and watch it now and don't blame me if you miss any goals, okay? I felt like I didn't realise the game had started and you kept looking over then I was like like Ryan is behind you being like, get him to finish. He's been talking for hours. He's just like No, he wasn't doing that actually. there you go. I mean, K of, but just before we finish on spurs. Yeah, I think we can tell what John thinks of the Sandro Yeah. What do you think of Standard N possible move? I feel stupid saying now but it kind of felt like a smart ish move to me. but you're an arsenal fan though. So you have if not from a sabotage kind of point of view. I think the interesting thing about Spurs is there's a lot of players who need to leave the club, right? And none of that's happened yet and none there's not been really any sort of rumour suggesting who's going to be going well who might be leaving and I I feel a little bit in the sense that I feel for the hierarchy it's very weird to say you feel any sympath at all for this first hierarchy, but They kind of have to give Derbi the keys to the kingdom now because He's got all the fans on side. He's got the entire dressing room on side. He's come under very strict circumstances. They've given him a five year contract so they kind of can't afford to sack him And set they can, but they can't afford to kn back him now. sure. So They oe him owe him a lot for keeping them in the league. So this is kind of what you get for appointing that guy to do a very specific job over a very short period of time. So I understand it. and to me, a lot of the signings do tick a lot of the boxes in terms what they need. Robertson, as you said will feel a void of leadership that has been desperately lacking at Spurs and was desperately lacking last season. Sinesi seems like a good player and they haven't had much defensive depth. Draguson is not work's assigning for them and Kevin Danzo hasn't been able to maintain the level of Vandamand and Romero who have injury problems a lot of the time So there's ye, there's a lot that still needs to be done with Spurs and there's still you know, that progressive passer in midfield that John was talking about, the technical level of the midfield is still super low even if Tali comes in. Yeah But I feel like those moves are moves in the right direction. and I certainly don't think those's are transfers that will have spurs anywhere near where they've been this season, which I think is progress for them. Yeah, and they've just had two seventeenth place finishes, right? So they're in a scenario where they're not going to be able to fix everything this time round. They're going to have to take time. So yeah, baby steps. But I just think that theres there are bigger issues to fix and it feels like they've fixed the problems that are maybe lower down the list than the really pressing ones for me, What are other pressing ones to you Well progressive patter in the center. someone who can really like do the tempo stuff and help them move the ball down the field because yeah, they've just not got that at the moment. And Yeah. I suppose with the tonali thing as well, the Jire Polinia thing as well, you've got those two those they seem like the same player to me. So if they're not going to buy Polinia, which is a possibility, then fine. But if they're going to end up with both of them, it's kind of like again, you've ended up with another profile that you already have. So again, it sort of feels to me that I don't know. I just I assume that someone like Derbi comes in and is like immediately, get me my techy midfielders who are going to, you know going to be tight space players, back to goal players, bounce pass players and have the ability once they open out through that press to then ping passes. doesn't seem to be what he's interested in Hey Tad, you want to read some excellent football jokes? I'd absolutely love to. I have nothing more in my life. Okay, will you read that one for me please? Don't show the crowd. Don't show the crow My handwite? Can you read my handwriting? look very it's very legible. also Well timed because he's playing right now? right now. That's why I've play it yeah. Hey. All right That right Erlin Harand plans to start an amusement park with the express intention of making people laugh the whole time. Really? I know. He hasn't got a name for it yet But I'm sure it will be nice. I'm sure it'll be nice as well. Oh gosh. I'm sure it'll be nice. Just one more for you, and then we'll get the other guys to read one. I don't get that one. You don't get it, Well, it's gonna be called Harlandand, isn't it? Oh my go.ounds.'s shower on site. You're dirty after that This one's one of my favorites Sticks and stones may break my bones, but thankfully, Terry Sticks wasn't selected Terry Stes wasnt selected for the England team alongside Jon Stones, so my bones will be fine. That's good news about your bones, they'll be fine Oh, thank God for that. I would worry. I would worry if your bones weren't fine. K, will you read this one, keep? This is going be a long tournament. Now Kaa, remember yesterday you said can't instead of can just a little scanner compromise the quality of the jour. Yeah it was my fault. Okay, there you go. All right, I'm a slow reader, so let's go. The people of Canada are hoping that manager Jesse Marsh can lead their team to victory this summer. Yeah Hopefully they won't get bogged down in the group stage. Hopefully they won't bogged in in the group stage Jesse Marsh, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. What about this you pass that one over to John I think you' lo g. Are you writing these? I don't know. What's that one J? What's that one? Soee this is another one where I feel as though you've lost faith in the joke halfway through and you've oververe explained it. So I' do it in two pgs. Don't analyze no. I'll do it in two pus. Good Lord Life would be so simple if Oscar Bob was your dad's brother. Now for you, that's more than enough. Yeah' good You good j j. we got it. but for some of the YouTube audience, now the YouTube audience. Some of the YouTube Now read it again from the beginning, and look at the camera when you say the punchline, okay Life would be so simple if Oscar Bob was your dad's brother. Suddenly, everything falls into place Oscar Bob's your uncle. There you go Oscar Bob's your uncle. That's. Oscar Bob no This is a good one as well. you want to hear this one His one his one I love this new England midfielder, Rogers You know, Rogers?. I love this N England midfielder Roggers. But what is Gan? And why does he keep asking for more of it? again No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. What is Gan? And why does he keep asking for more of it? See the way this this j No. Tad he wants more gam this joke this joke you lost faith with and overve exxplained it when it was very yetable That one you just left it. you're like Delf worked that one out. These are not joes. these dooku puzzles. I feel so confused. Okay, well, while you're confused. Let's play points are band. Very exciting just before we finish the show Points are bad. Now I'll explain very briefly to you how Pos of bad works. In fact, a listener pointed out to me the other day that I explain the Rndo every single time we play it, but I haven't explained pointos of bad for about a year. So it's probably worth explaining now. what we do as a group is we predict the score lines of every game that's coming up, right? And unlike a normal score predictor where you might think you say, o One team should win and if you get a win, even if the score is a little off, that's good It's completely irrelevant in this game. All we're looking for is really two predictions in one. score the number of goals that team A scores and the number of goals that team B scores. So in this case, I thought that France Senegal would be Nil Nil. I was pretty happy until about what sixty minutes into the game. Ends up being three one So I've added four points. Does that make sense to you? Ohes. I added three on France and I added one on Senegal and I added four points overall and points are bad, you don't want points. How did I do in the France Senegal game, Joe? You know very well how you did, John. You did incredibly well. I manifested well. Incredibly well you did. Now, there are a bunch of games for tomorrow to predict. I can tell you the scores so far as it stands after the France Senegal game are as follows. Kya, you and I are in last place. Do doesnn't surprise me. O a shared forty points. Did you get like eight points yterday? I had a bad day. You had quite a lot. I was working on a Tifo script and I wasn't aware that the Spain Cape Verda game had kicked off and Joe called me about thirty five minutes in to ask my prediction and not knowing what the score was, I went five nills to say. Just to be clear though, it's good that you didn't know what the sc was made your prediction. othertherwise we'd be having a very different conversation about standards and lineing int integrity of the game. The integrity of points are bad, Eactly. Now I've got JJ he's on thirty nine points, so he's only one ahead of us Joh