02/04/2017 MOTD2 Extra


02/04/2017

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Good afternoon, welcome to Match of the Day 2 Extra on BBC Two,

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Radio 5 Live and the BBC Sport website.

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Joining me today, former Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann,

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ex-Celtic striker Chris Sutton and Jonathan Northcroft

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Chris Sutton also played for Chelsea on Blackburn hit man for Germany.

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Get in touch using the hashtag #bbcfootball on social media,

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After 13 successive home wins, the leaders Chelsea are beaten

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by Crystal Palace, who have now won four in a row.

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Has Chelsea's defeat opened the door to Spurs,

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with the gap now seven points following their comfortable

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You'll hear a remarkable interview from Jose Mourinho

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Phillipe Coutinho shines as Liverpool beat Everton

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And we'll look ahead to a big game at four o'clock, where Arsenal

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As far as the papers are concerned, the Mail on Sunday says it's not

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over, Mauricio Pochettino has warned that Chelsea -- one Chelsea but

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Spurs are coming to them. The Sunday Times leads with Coutinho and the

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headline Kop Star. The Telegraph has quotes from Jose Mourinho warning

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his wasteful strikers. We will come onto him and Man United later and

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the Merseyside derby, but we have to start with the Crystal Palace 2-1

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win at Stamford Bridge, four straight wins since Mamadou Sakho's

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debut, conceding just one goal. There is lots of interest in Zapata

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and Benteke, but how much difference has Sakho made? He has started four,

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they lost that game at Sunderland and everybody thought that was it

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for Crystal Palace but they came back strong. I don't think there has

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ever been a doubt that he is a great defender, he has his deficiencies,

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but Crystal Palace, the way Sam Allardyce wants to play, I think he

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fits in perfectly. From his defensive qualities, Liverpool could

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do with a player like him. No coincidence that results have

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improved since he came in. Lots of people might have expected

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that would Sam Allardyce, and Sammy Lee, who I understand deserves

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credit for what he is doing in training, and Kevin Keane? They have

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it working. I think we all expected a reaction quicker. Sakho has been

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outstanding. They had some luck yesterday. But you have to. Three

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clean sheets in the last four, conceded one yesterday, that is what

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Sam Allardyce is about. Then they have the threat going forward, a big

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goal yesterday from Zaha, also Benteke. They have tough fixtures

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coming up that yesterday bodes well for them. It is similar to what

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sounded at Sunderland, bringing in players in the transfer window. He

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has brought in Sakho and another player. He has the spine of the team

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but he lets attacking players play, he always did that at Bolton and now

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you can see people like Zaha expressing themselves. We know

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samples mac formula. Chris said we all expected him to get it right but

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a couple of months ago when Crystal Palace were not doing particularly

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well he said we will not pull away in February or March, you might have

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to wait until April, similar to what happened at Sunderland. But they

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still have Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, both Manchester clubs to

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come. Yes, but they gave themselves a fighting chance. Four or five

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weeks ago you would have said they were up against it, but it was three

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months of points yesterday, probably nobody expected. But he has been to

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so many places where you think, really, can he get them out, they

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worked their socks off in 90 minutes, I think that is half the

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battle. You need to be in defence, but if you want to win games you

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have to score goals. They missed -- they missed Zaha when he was in the

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African Cup of Nations. He is a game changer. You wonder if a 4-0 defeat

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plates and part. That shocked Crystal Palace and make them realise

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exactly where they are. When Sam took over he had the England thing

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hanging over him, it seemed to be a rallying point and snapped everybody

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out of it. The chairman, Steve Parish, the dressing room. Since

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then, they have been fantastic. When you describe somebody as a game

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changer, how many games do you expect them to change? Enough. I get

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you... In terms of creativity, it has always been the end product

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which has been missing. A big game yesterday at Chelsea. Nobody

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expected them to get anything from it. Jonathan is quite right, Sakho

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has come in, you need the threat going forward. Zaha can get you up

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the pitch, I thought he took his goal to rhythmically a quick shot,

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cellar Thibaut Courtois out. And Benteke's finish was really special.

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You had to be able to score goals. The teams at the bottom,

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Middlesbrough do not score enough, I think they are and Sunderland are

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down and it is one other. The reason I asked how many games

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you would expect him to change, it feels like a Palace to not win a

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game then more often than not the criticism will come the way of

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Wilfried Zaha, but it Chelsea do not win it does not always go to Eden

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Hazard art as the man who is criticised. The reason I like a man

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is that Allardyce said that he wants Zaha to emulate Hazard. There is a

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lot of pressure on Zaha. -- the reason I likened to them is that.

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Even on an average day, Zaha has to create three, four or five

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goal-scoring opportunities for his team-mates and draw the attention of

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other players. When Chris talks about an outlet, you want players

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who draw the attention of two or three players, it gives you 12-macro

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spy on the rest of the field. This is what Hazard does. Looking at the

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teams at the bottom, you need to be able to keep a clean sheet. Looking

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at some land, they have Defoe, I don't think Middlesbrough have a

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game changer. I think Palace have two, potentially three or four with

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Puncheon and some others. I think it bodes well for the rest of their

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games. Sometimes we have to give them all the way because sometimes

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we can be too critical when they don't assist or score on a regular

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basis. It looks like he has grown up in

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bed. Bolasie was Alan Pardew's go to guy, and Bolasie going, it was a big

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onus on him to do what he is doing. Zaha has just seized his moment to

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become the main outlet in that team. Just look at January, no Sakho, no

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Zaha, poor January. Here's changing games now.

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We will go back in two game changers when we talk about Ross Barkley and

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Manchester United's attack. We could have the same conversation three

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times during the course of the show. Rich says Sakho is immense for

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Palace, would Klopp still pay Clucas ahead of him on this form? Sam says

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that Sakho has been a godsend to Palace. Chelsea Warrior, who I

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assume is a Chelsea fan, says all credit must go to Allardyce for

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organising them. We can lump this in with Spurs winning at Burnley, you

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watched that game. Is the title race back on in this reactionary world?

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At midday yesterday it was over, all they said and it is back on? Is it?

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I still think Chelsea are strong favourites. Tottenham were terrible

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in the first top yesterday, but once they scored in the second half, in

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total control, make changes. Touch Tottenham were terrible in the first

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half yesterday. I think they only have Man United and Arsenal at home

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out of the top six, they will fancy it. I didn't ask you how Spurs were,

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I said is the title race back on? Yes. Pochettino talking about them

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losing focus last season, he believes they will be OK this

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season. Do you see a different Spurs this season to last? They would have

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learned a lot from the Chelsea game last year when they completely lost

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the plot, the manager being on the pitch and they were kicking people.

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Something you have not seen at Spurs, when you associate them with

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one thing, it is being organised, disciplined, doing what they do want

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probably better than everybody else. I do not think the race is over, I

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have expected a slip-up from Chelsea for a few weeks but they have been

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too strong, scoring lots of goals. The mindset will change with

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Chelsea, you can begins backwards and you say we need so many more

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points. Psychologically, it can make a difference. If Spurs win those

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games I can see it getting tighter. The nature of doing football shows

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at this time of year is that you read a lot of fiction lists for

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people to compere -- fixture lists. Spurs have Watford, Bournemouth,

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Leicester and Palace, Arsenal and Man United at home, West Ham on a

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Friday night, Hull on the final day of the season. Chelsea in the next

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couple of weeks have Man City at home, this Wednesday, then they had

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to go to Manchester United the weekend at the 15th and 16th. That

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as much as yesterday means there is still a chance. Those Spurs fixtures

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look quite easy but it is different trying to win them under pressure.

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In the West Brom game last year, they drew when they should have won,

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they were 1-0 but the pressure came on them, that was part of their

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problem, winning under pressure. They have less pressure than Chelsea

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because nobody expects them... Chelsea were really unfortunate

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yesterday not to win the game. Palace defended resolutely deep. If

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there is one worrying thing, Chelsea have started to concede goals.

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Sometimes a game like this can put doubt in your mind, to lose a game

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or a home game has not happened for a long time. Ten points, if you win

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the next tenure probably have ten or 11, 56 games to go, near enough

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there. Seven points, the fixtures, within a week you could be down to

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one or two. It might put a bit of doubt into the mind. If one team can

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do it the way they have performed without Kane, the job Pochettino is

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doing is second to none. Is it Man City next for Chelsea? Thanks for

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listening! I often don't listen. Particularly today! I don't mean

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that. They had to bounce back. It is nothing to how they played

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yesterday, it is just that for all the times of the element of doubt to

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come in is before having Man City at home and Man United away. If they

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lose to Man City it will be to four points.

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Depending on what City do this afternoon. So we are basically none

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the great stuff, everybody! You can use the hashtag #bbcfootball, or

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phone on that macro text on 85058. Given Burnley's home form, you

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thought some of the changes might have been risky. You probably could

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have played in goal for Spurs, probably couldn't, to be honest! But

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it was all about chances. They lost Wanyama through injury, Winks got a

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nasty injury, Yan Sun got the chance up top. They just need to get Harry

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Kane back. Dele Alli and Eriksen have been fantastic in the absence

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of Harry Kane. I think it is a myth that they cannot deal with that

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Harry Kane, how many other players have three or four players in double

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figures for goals? They have other game changers!

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Let's focus on the early game, you can listen to this on 5 live, full

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commentary from 1:30pm, Swansea versus Middlesbrough at the liberty.

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Juliette Ferrington is with a legend from the home side.

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As far as the results are concerned, for Swansea and Middlesbrough, a

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pretty grim afternoon yesterday. How much, Lee Trundle, writes on this

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afternoon? I think it is massive, when you talk about a must win game,

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it goes for both sides. The way Middlesbrough are in the table and

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where we are, we need that cushion so we will be going out for the win,

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definitely. Is there more pressure on Middlesbrough because of

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yesterday? I think both of us are feeling the same pressure. We are a

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few points ahead, but with a game like this, it's one series today, it

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drags us right into it. Not only the three points but the confidence, if

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you are losing to a team lower down in the division, where will your

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points come from? The lads are focused and hope they can get three

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points. Is there an element of calm going into this one? The past three

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home games, we have done really well, we have won. We have not been

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so good on the road. It will be nice to get back up to two hard games

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away, get the home fans behind us and bring the points home. In his

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programme notes, the manager said it is an opportunity to build on the

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recent good form? Performance wise, we have been good since the gaffer

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has come in. We seem to be more comfortable at home, a perfect day

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for a game and a perfect day for a win. I am a little bit nervous, we

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have looked at it this season and thought this is the biggest game of

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the season. That keeps happening again and again. Today is now the

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biggest game of the season. I am sure we will be involved in another

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one, the way football is. You can hear full commentary on 5 live

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sport, the kick-off is at 1:30pm. Ian Brown can give us the team news

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from the Liberty Stadium. Today's results gave few favours to these

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two clubs. That cranks up the pressure. Swansea today without

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Fernando Llorente, their leading goal scorer, who is out with an

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ankle injury. He misses today, so Jordan Ayew is upfront. Olsson makes

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a timely return, and Leroy Fer returns to midfield. Middlesbrough

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make one change from their defeat against Man United a couple of weeks

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ago. Traore starts ahead of Leadbetter. Negredo stays up front,

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and Gestede is on the bench. Traore starts the Middlesbrough. At least

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that gives them some kind of attacking pace. Often they blacked

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that this season. I think they are better suited to counter attack.

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They don't score enough goals. This is a must win for Middlesbrough

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today. Swansea strong at home. They will be looking over their shoulders

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now with the results yesterday. But Middlesbrough have started to leak

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goals, so they could be down. I think they would take a draw. If

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they lose, the gap is eight points, which might be a bit too much with

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eight or nine games to go. Traore, last week against Man United, he

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merely change the game. Had a huge impact. Middlesbrough can score

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goals. It is the biggest problem they have. Defensively they are OK,

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but they simply cannot score. Today Traore is getting a chance, which

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gives them more purpose going forward. In Negredo, they have

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someone who can score goals. Fingers crossed they get a result, because

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if they lose today, that could be it. If you take a more Cerebral

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Assassin perspective, given the chairman that they've got, given the

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way that the club has been won. -- has been run, could they do what

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Burnley did and build on that and come back a second time with more

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Premier League experience and a bit more stable? I know exactly what you

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are saying. You look at it in those terms, they came up, just, and they

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didn't spend that much money. It's probably not a surprise they are

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where they are. They haven't overcommitted themselves, so they

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could do exactly what you say. It could be important getting the next

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manager. Burnley had Sean Dyche, and it looks like Karanka may be led

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them down a bit of a blind alley. He was maybe a bit too negative and

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didn't filled a team that they wanted. Do you think they are taking

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their time, partly to see what Agnew does, but if they do go down, they

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have the right man to bring them back. I think Craig Shakespeare does

:19:04.:19:10.

well at Leicester, Middlesbrough tried the same thing, and it didn't

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work quite as well. You have done your first scowl in my direction.

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That is for people watching on -- people listening on the radio! They

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don't score enough goals. A great chairman. Will that put them in good

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stead if they go down to bounce straight back? I'm not sure. I don't

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think they have a strong enough squad. I don't think it has ever

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helped a team to go down. I don't think it's a positive. Getting out

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the Championship is a huge effort. There will be teams down their...

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Would you say it hasn't helped Newcastle? We will find out next

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year. Burnley could still go down. There is another example. If you

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look at the Championship, there's hardly a team that's been in the

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Premier League. They've brought Jonathan Woodgate in, which I think

:20:12.:20:16.

is a big thing. He's an icon in the north-east. He just has to get the

:20:17.:20:22.

fans behind him, or keep them. One result can change an awful lot. If

:20:23.:20:29.

you win at Swansea today, you are only a few points of safety.

:20:30.:20:33.

Personally, I cannot see it, but I think they will not get beat. I

:20:34.:20:37.

think they will get at least a draw today. How far up the table would

:20:38.:20:44.

you go for who is still in this relegation battle. Hole-macro are in

:20:45.:20:50.

the final relegation spot with 27 points from 30 games. I'm not saying

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this, Southampton fans, before you have a pop! If you go onto ten, you

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have Southampton, who will be 34 from 28. I think you do go up to

:21:04.:21:11.

Southampton. It is unlikely that Southampton and even Bournemouth

:21:12.:21:15.

will get dragged into it, but you've seen it before. Lose your last seven

:21:16.:21:21.

or eight games and you can sync. Realistically, it will start with

:21:22.:21:27.

West Ham. They are in 14th. We Mac I worry about Burnley, because they're

:21:28.:21:36.

away form is hopeless. Hahn's win yesterday has really opened things

:21:37.:21:40.

up at the bottom. It is impossible to predict that last spot. I would

:21:41.:21:50.

go further than Burnley. West Ham on 33 probably only need two more wins.

:21:51.:22:02.

West Ham have a tough few games. If they do need a result, they always

:22:03.:22:07.

dig a result out somewhere. I wouldn't go further than Burnley. If

:22:08.:22:15.

Middlesbrough lose, it is between Hahn, Swansea, Palace and Burnley.

:22:16.:22:26.

-- between Hull City, Swansea. It is so tight. How can we not say that

:22:27.:22:30.

Southampton and Bournemouth are in it? They have got a couple of games

:22:31.:22:39.

in hand. I think anyone from Bournemouth could go. It is unusual

:22:40.:22:45.

to have Palace on a winning run, Hull City on the winning run... You

:22:46.:22:50.

don't see teams in the bottom going on those kinds of winning runs too

:22:51.:22:56.

often. That shows you that nobody is entirely safe. Their manager hasn't

:22:57.:23:02.

lost a home game for three years. They have got some really good...

:23:03.:23:10.

Don't make me read out another fixture list! They have some very

:23:11.:23:17.

winnable home games. And this goes under the radar as far as the home

:23:18.:23:23.

team is concerned. Watford's three points against Sunderland yesterday,

:23:24.:23:27.

taking them to 34, was a vital three points. It does. Sunderland are

:23:28.:23:32.

tenth and they don't seem to have played well the entire season. They

:23:33.:23:37.

are out of it now. I think they are a strong team anyway. They are on 34

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with Southampton and Bournemouth. Let's turn to the Scottish

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Premiership title, which will be sealed today by Celtic if they win

:23:51.:23:54.

at Hearts. This was a 12:30pm kick off. We are under way here. The

:23:55.:24:01.

first time Celtic can seal that victory. It will give them a sixth

:24:02.:24:06.

successive Championship here in Scotland, and their first under

:24:07.:24:10.

Brendan Rodgers, who was connected with the Arsenal job this week. No

:24:11.:24:17.

Dembele, no Griffiths, because of a fractured vertebra sustained in last

:24:18.:24:23.

week's Scotland World Cup qualifier against Slovenia. At the moment,

:24:24.:24:27.

they have had the bulk of the play. At the moment, 0-0. Jonathan

:24:28.:24:34.

Northcroft, how do I interpret the look you gave me when he said that

:24:35.:24:40.

Brendan Rodgers had been connected with Arsenal? Scepticism. He is

:24:41.:24:46.

still in that rebuilding phase of his career. I am a fan of his, but

:24:47.:24:52.

this will be his first league title, he will have just won his first

:24:53.:24:56.

trophy in November, so he's quite a long way from being the man who to

:24:57.:25:02.

succeed Arsene Wenger. You talked about being in the rebuilding stage

:25:03.:25:08.

of his career. What is he rebuilding from? His morale. Liverpool

:25:09.:25:13.

shattered him. My concern if he went to Arsenal would be how he would be

:25:14.:25:25.

able to handle it. If he wants a big job, he will have to handle it.

:25:26.:25:31.

Nobody is getting the Arsenal job, are they? Whatever people say about

:25:32.:25:36.

Brendan at Liverpool, there was criticism at the end, he's gone into

:25:37.:25:41.

Celtic, and people cannot the Scottish league as much as they

:25:42.:25:46.

like, but everybody in Scotland to knows about football... Rangers

:25:47.:25:51.

thought they could beat Celtic, but Brendan has done nothing wrong. The

:25:52.:25:56.

last manager was really poor and they had no right to get into the

:25:57.:26:02.

Champions League. He has worked wonders this season, and should get

:26:03.:26:07.

credit for it. Chris is right. Aberdeen, my team, will get 80 odd

:26:08.:26:12.

points, and we will lose by 20 points to Celtic. So he has done a

:26:13.:26:18.

remarkable job. The other thing is, coming off the back of an

:26:19.:26:21.

international break, the England player that was praised most by the

:26:22.:26:28.

media and fans was Adam Lallana, and Stuart Armstrong was praised by

:26:29.:26:32.

Gordon Strachan is having the most impressive international debut he

:26:33.:26:36.

had seen for Scotland. Both players developed by Brendan Rodgers. You

:26:37.:26:44.

can make a case that Lallana's form has improved, and he's a lot more

:26:45.:26:48.

consistent now than he was. My question to Jonathan Wood be, if you

:26:49.:26:53.

say he is rebuilding his career, I think he's more prepared, or he has

:26:54.:26:59.

more chance or justification to get a big job now, than he did at the

:27:00.:27:05.

time he went to Liverpool. In the end what cost him his job at

:27:06.:27:09.

Liverpool was some of the things he came out in the press... Scheuer

:27:10.:27:17.

football stats, I don't think the current manager is better than he

:27:18.:27:21.

was. I don't think he did too much wrong. Celtic, when they are in

:27:22.:27:27.

town, it is always the game of the season. To go a whole season

:27:28.:27:35.

unbeaten, which he can still do, and of course the heavy defeat against

:27:36.:27:39.

Barcelona happened to others. I think Brendan Rodgers should be one

:27:40.:27:49.

of the key managers on the list. It is simple to look at Celtic this

:27:50.:27:55.

season. The transformation from last season. Totally performed the

:27:56.:27:59.

personnel, good signings, and the team has been a million times

:28:00.:28:04.

better. The signings I think were a problem in the end at Liverpool. The

:28:05.:28:10.

accusation at Liverpool was that he didn't make all of those signings.

:28:11.:28:16.

There is a point there, but I would just come back to the pressure

:28:17.:28:20.

thing. I don't think he's been under that much pressure at Celtic,

:28:21.:28:25.

because it has gone so well. I have to disagree. I saw him after one of

:28:26.:28:32.

the away games, and I have never seen Brendan looked rough. He was

:28:33.:28:39.

shaking. They were fortunate to get through in the away leg, and that

:28:40.:28:43.

was enormous. The pressure for Brendan Rodgers is going to come in

:28:44.:28:48.

the early part of the season, because Celtic fans expect. Last

:28:49.:28:53.

season they didn't, but now, expectation is high. When you go to

:28:54.:28:59.

Celtic, everybody expects you to win the league. Even the Champions

:29:00.:29:05.

League, people don't see that as an achievement. Let's move on to the

:29:06.:29:13.

Merseyside derby. Get in touch with us on #bbcfootball. Thomas sent us a

:29:14.:29:19.

text on 85058. Jonathan Northcroft, you are the media on this panel.

:29:20.:29:28.

Answer this one. Can you or one of your panel explain why the media

:29:29.:29:34.

focus so obsessively with highlighting Ross Barkley? Is that

:29:35.:29:37.

another player in the Premier League that is subjected to this kind of

:29:38.:29:44.

scrutiny? Loads of players, Alexis Sanchez at Arsenal, Costa at

:29:45.:29:48.

Chelsea... He is a focal player, and he wants to be. Who is he being

:29:49.:29:55.

built by as the next answer to Steven Gerrard? By Evertonians. Not

:29:56.:30:02.

all of them, because I think opinion is a bit divided. Some of it is not

:30:03.:30:07.

his fault. We have hyped him up as the media. But yesterday, you could

:30:08.:30:12.

not focus on Ross Barkley when you looked at Everton's performance. He

:30:13.:30:17.

had such responsibility, and he singularly failed to cope with it.

:30:18.:30:22.

It was a very bad game from him. Ryan Giggs in the Telegraph said the

:30:23.:30:27.

following, as a young player, you have to and the trust of managers

:30:28.:30:32.

and perform consistently. There were times in my early career when Steve

:30:33.:30:35.

Bruce would call me over and say, come on, we need a bit of magic to

:30:36.:30:43.

win this. I was no longer the kid of whom any meaningful contribution was

:30:44.:30:47.

to be applauded. There were expectations. My team-mates had seen

:30:48.:30:52.

me win games and wanted to see me do so again. Barkley is 23. Is he at

:30:53.:30:57.

that stage of his career? No longer a kid, and his team-mates asking for

:30:58.:31:00.

a bit of magic. Yes. Costa and Sanchez are seasoned

:31:01.:31:11.

internationals, he does not come into the same bracket so there is

:31:12.:31:15.

more scrutiny on him should be. I am huge fan of Ross Barkley, the way

:31:16.:31:19.

Everton set up at the moment it does not help him, you might compare him

:31:20.:31:24.

to Dele Alli, even though he is a few years younger, he has Wanyama,

:31:25.:31:30.

Dele Alli, who has thrived, Dembele. He has international committees and

:31:31.:31:33.

players next him. Looking at Everton, Jagielka is coming to the

:31:34.:31:42.

end of his career, others are passed 80. -- past 30. The same with

:31:43.:31:47.

Schneiderlin. I don't think he has the support that other players have.

:31:48.:31:52.

For him to progress I think the team has to bring two or three players

:31:53.:31:57.

in. For his personal development, I am not too sure if a change of clubs

:31:58.:32:01.

would be the best for him, because the fans get very nasty with him at

:32:02.:32:06.

times. Whenever things go wrong, Ross Barkley is the first one

:32:07.:32:10.

singled out by the fans, I think he does not deserve the treatment. He

:32:11.:32:20.

may not have performed to the level that he can but I don't think he

:32:21.:32:22.

deserves the criticism. Sometimes as a fan you are more harsh on your own

:32:23.:32:26.

because you want them to do so well, because they are one of you. Yes?

:32:27.:32:30.

Yes. He did not help himself in the Derby yesterday. He did the

:32:31.:32:34.

ridiculous tackle on Henderson in the first half. He lost the plot. He

:32:35.:32:39.

is of an age now, you're getting at this with Ryan Giggs, he is at a

:32:40.:32:44.

crossroads. Nobody doubts his potential but in the end he has to

:32:45.:32:49.

realise that potential. For England, should he or shouldn't he be? That

:32:50.:32:59.

is -- he is behind cellar Dele Alli, Dele Alli is streets ahead of him

:33:00.:33:03.

now. He needs to perform consistently well. Is it fair he was

:33:04.:33:09.

compared with Coutinho after yesterday? What are the differences?

:33:10.:33:17.

He is a different type of player for a start. That is why I asked if it

:33:18.:33:25.

was fair. I don't think it is. He is seen as a creator. My question would

:33:26.:33:31.

be is he in the comfort zone, has he been there for too long, does he

:33:32.:33:36.

need another manager to get the best out of him? He does not fulfil his

:33:37.:33:41.

potential, as it is now. We all agree he is better than what he

:33:42.:33:45.

shows at the moment. Everything has been built for him by a committee

:33:46.:33:49.

has played in the position he wants, earlier in his career he played

:33:50.:34:03.

wide. The manager has less to do what he wants, he does not have

:34:04.:34:05.

responsibilities, he plays number ten, he has been given the stage. He

:34:06.:34:08.

is 23, the comparison with Coutinho comes in, they are different players

:34:09.:34:10.

but similar ages. At some point, which is what Ryan Giggs is getting

:34:11.:34:14.

at, you will be judged as a senior player and Ross Barkley did not

:34:15.:34:19.

perform like one yesterday. It was a big game, big stage comic huge

:34:20.:34:23.

Derby, he should have been sent off twice.

:34:24.:34:27.

If people are watching, we have a picture of remember Lukaku behind

:34:28.:34:31.

you, he was criticised. People are saying he went missing yesterday,

:34:32.:34:35.

did not have a shot on target. Similar against Man United and

:34:36.:34:42.

Chelsea. It is very easy to go, well, Romelu Lukaku went missing, he

:34:43.:34:46.

did not do anything, but then you criticise some of the players behind

:34:47.:34:51.

him, so which is it? Maybe you excuse a striker who is not getting

:34:52.:34:57.

supply. When I was doing ratings I tried to bear in mind that he had

:34:58.:35:02.

hardly any supply, but he almost had as bad a game as Barkley. We have

:35:03.:35:07.

seen this from Lukaku before in big games, he has just not been the

:35:08.:35:11.

bully, as it were, that we have seen. Were Liverpool comfortable

:35:12.:35:16.

yesterday? Very comfortable, apart from the ten or 15 minutes when

:35:17.:35:21.

Everton equalised. Looking at the Everton team, looking at world-class

:35:22.:35:24.

players, even when they have average games or they are a bit off-colour,

:35:25.:35:30.

you want them to affect the game three, four or five times. Barkley

:35:31.:35:34.

did not do it yesterday, Lukaku did not do it. They looked a lot more

:35:35.:35:40.

solid defensively yesterday with Lovren coming back, it was a pretty

:35:41.:35:45.

comfortable afternoon the Liverpool. Pat Cronin said that Everton were

:35:46.:35:50.

shocking, did not want to compete, just wanted to kick Liverpool off

:35:51.:35:58.

the pitch. Mixmaster Du said that Berkeley... Barkley cannot be relied

:35:59.:36:06.

on. One person said if he is no good for Liverpool, how could he be going

:36:07.:36:12.

to Arsenal? He was out of his depth at Liverpool, sold out by going to

:36:13.:36:18.

Scotland with Celtic. Don't say anything, Chris! He has already

:36:19.:36:21.

failed at Liverpool, a similar underachieving club to Arsenal.

:36:22.:36:26.

Don't go that extra measure Mark let's go to the Emirates, Arsenal

:36:27.:36:31.

against man city, the 4pm game, highlights are on much of the day to

:36:32.:36:35.

later. Steve Wilson is at the Ritz, this could be an interesting

:36:36.:36:43.

atmosphere? -- Steve Wilson is at the Emirates. I heard what Bob

:36:44.:36:49.

Wilson said about this stasis which Arsenal find themselves because

:36:50.:36:54.

everybody is trying to answer will he or won't he stay. Arsene Wenger

:36:55.:37:03.

says he is not in a position to deal what that macro reveal what he is

:37:04.:37:08.

going to do. As Morrissey said all those years ago, How Soon Is Now? I

:37:09.:37:14.

agree with Bob Wilson that it is not helping anybody at this football

:37:15.:37:19.

club whilst this type of uncertainty and paralysis is going on, it will

:37:20.:37:24.

be difficult for Arsenal to achieve their goal, which can be no more

:37:25.:37:29.

than two finish in the top four of the Premier League. They could still

:37:30.:37:34.

win the FA Cup. For what it is worth, I would not state my

:37:35.:37:37.

reputation on it but I get a feeling that Wenger will be around next

:37:38.:37:41.

season. As far as Manchester City, we have

:37:42.:37:45.

already done the permutations of the title race, what happened yesterday

:37:46.:37:51.

will give them an extra spring in their step? Absolutely, looking at

:37:52.:38:00.

the title race through the kaleidoscope of how it looks on

:38:01.:38:03.

Saturday morning, it looks rather different now. Man City 12 points

:38:04.:38:05.

behind, a game in hand, they go to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday and the

:38:06.:38:09.

lead could potentially be cut to six points is Man City win both these

:38:10.:38:12.

games. There is a big difference between cutting the lead on Chelsea

:38:13.:38:18.

to six points and overhauling the 6-point gap, overhauling Tottenham

:38:19.:38:22.

Hotspur. You would say that it's City win today and can win at

:38:23.:38:27.

Stamford Bridge on Wednesday as Palace did yesterday, all bets are

:38:28.:38:33.

off. Unexpectedly, there has been life thrown back into Manchester

:38:34.:38:39.

City's Premier League season. Steve Wilson, This Charming Man at the

:38:40.:38:42.

Emirates, thank you. I am told the banner is being

:38:43.:38:47.

carried down the Holloway Road saying in Arsene we rust, which

:38:48.:38:54.

makes more sense than the Wexit banner held at the couple of weeks

:38:55.:38:58.

ago. Some Arsenal fans have mixed feelings? I think it has gone past

:38:59.:39:04.

blaming Arsene Wenger. The fact that he is in charge of his destiny is

:39:05.:39:08.

wrong, it is the owners. He is not an ambitious man, from what I see,

:39:09.:39:15.

with his American franchises. He has to take the decision away from

:39:16.:39:21.

Arsene Wenger, Arsene Wenger is stubborn, he does not want to go.

:39:22.:39:26.

That whole situation will only be cleared up when the owner is strong

:39:27.:39:30.

enough and takes the decision away from Wenger. Long-term, I think

:39:31.:39:35.

there is a big question as to whether Wenger should stay,

:39:36.:39:38.

short-term situation is really damaging Arsenal. That dressing

:39:39.:39:44.

room, Chris and Didier will know better than me, when teams are

:39:45.:39:52.

whingeing about a manager's future, it does not help them. Arsenal are

:39:53.:39:56.

waiting for their manager to reveal all. It looks like it has become

:39:57.:40:02.

centred around Wenger, his ego trip, they need to move forward as a club.

:40:03.:40:08.

Why can't he just say, I am staying or I am going. He has reportedly

:40:09.:40:16.

said, I will not stop, for old people, retirement is death. If he

:40:17.:40:20.

will not continue at Arsenal, that seems he will continue elsewhere.

:40:21.:40:25.

There has been a goal at Tynecastle. When Celtic were under the cosh they

:40:26.:40:29.

responded in the fashion that wins you championships. Scott Sinclair

:40:30.:40:32.

not picked up properly on the right-hand side of the Hearts

:40:33.:40:37.

defence, they got a bit of luck with a deflection with a final shot, it

:40:38.:40:42.

rose into the roof of the net and that is why you can hear the Celtic

:40:43.:40:46.

fans booming out of their anthems. Do you think your old club will go

:40:47.:40:53.

to Arsenal and win? I think they have every chance, they

:40:54.:40:57.

look more solid since the keeper has changed. It is a sorry state of

:40:58.:41:02.

affairs, what happens at Arsenal at the moment. Uncertainty does not

:41:03.:41:07.

help. You give players excuses. The spotlight has been on him when you

:41:08.:41:11.

get beat on aggregate ten goals against Bayern Munich, some of the

:41:12.:41:15.

player should have been called out but they were not because the talk

:41:16.:41:19.

is about the manager. If he stays, fair enough, I think it would

:41:20.:41:23.

probably be time for change, but if he wants to stay, fine. At least

:41:24.:41:28.

make it clear, at the moment I don't think the situation helps anyone.

:41:29.:41:33.

Didier Hemant, Chris Sutton and Jonathan Northcroft join me. Here is

:41:34.:41:38.

the Jose Mourinho interview from yesterday.

:41:39.:41:41.

We saw you smiling with Tony Pulis at the end, did you cancel each

:41:42.:41:47.

other out? I don't know what you mean. Two team is very evenly

:41:48.:41:53.

balanced? Do you think so? I am asking you. You think so, really?

:41:54.:41:59.

You think that is a question. You were smiling with him at the end,

:42:00.:42:03.

was that an acknowledgement? I was smiling because he is my friend, I

:42:04.:42:07.

was not speaking about the game. Do you think the game was like that? I

:42:08.:42:13.

can smile if I lose, win or draw, it has nothing to do. Do you think the

:42:14.:42:18.

game was like you were saying? I was asking what you thought, that is

:42:19.:42:23.

just what I am asking. I am sorry to say, that is a silly question. When

:42:24.:42:27.

a team crosses the midfield line once in 90 minutes and the other

:42:28.:42:32.

team for 90 minutes is with the ball in the opponents half, trying and

:42:33.:42:36.

trying and trying and trying, you tell me one team cancelled the

:42:37.:42:43.

other? Chris Sutton has been given how was a Macromedia training, it

:42:44.:42:47.

seems to have worked. What is wrong with back if you disagree with the

:42:48.:42:53.

question? I don't what he said. Touch what is wrong with firing

:42:54.:42:58.

back? I don't think it was a great question, it was one-sided in terms

:42:59.:43:02.

of territory, but Mourinho should concentrate more on his team in an

:43:03.:43:08.

attacking sense. They have not scored enough, West Brom cancelled

:43:09.:43:11.

out the attacking threat of Man Utd. They are the lowest scorers in the

:43:12.:43:17.

top six, West Ham have had a great season. Rather than focus on getting

:43:18.:43:21.

back at a reporter, concentrate on the job in hand and sorting out your

:43:22.:43:25.

team. We only have 20 seconds but it is

:43:26.:43:30.

the same old story, simple, simple, simple football put across and

:43:31.:43:34.

nobody gets on the end of it? It was like that and a Van Gaal, and with

:43:35.:43:38.

Van Gaal that was also more action in the press room than on the pitch.

:43:39.:43:43.

Celtic have just gone 2-0 up at Tynecastle, the title will be

:43:44.:43:50.

theirs. Thank you to Chris, Didi and Jonathan. Swansea against

:43:51.:43:55.

Middlesbrough then Arsenal against man city today, highlights later and

:43:56.:43:58.

both commentaries on 5 live this afternoon. Goodbye.

:43:59.:44:00.

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