Browse content similar to 08/12/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Welcome to Match Of The Day to extra. We are live on BBC One, BBC | :00:00. | :00:40. | |
Radio 5live and on the BBC sport website. Coming up, we will analyse | :00:41. | :00:46. | |
the weekend's football, including David Moyes and Man United after | :00:47. | :00:51. | |
their defeat yesterday. We will look back at great wins. Oak and Crystal | :00:52. | :00:56. | |
Palace, and Norwich, because they impact on the top and the bottom of | :00:57. | :01:01. | |
the table. And we will preview to -- this afternoon's premiership game, | :01:02. | :01:11. | |
and with me in the studio Danny Mills, Steve Bauer and Rory Smith. | :01:12. | :01:19. | |
We want you to get involved as well. Text us, or contact us via the BBC | :01:20. | :01:25. | |
Sport website. It is basically David Moyes and picture of Yohan Cabaye | :01:26. | :01:31. | |
all over the back pages. Just incredible. Just after the start of | :01:32. | :01:35. | |
the season, I thought they might finish outside the top four for the | :01:36. | :01:39. | |
first time since I can remember, and I think that is a serious problem. | :01:40. | :01:44. | |
We almost the issues in the summer were the lack of signing players. If | :01:45. | :01:48. | |
they don't finish in the Champions League places, who is going to want | :01:49. | :01:54. | |
to go to United? I know they are a massive club. I know I might be a | :01:55. | :02:01. | |
bit biased. They might be playing Leeds next year! Who is going to | :02:02. | :02:06. | |
want to go there? Rooney's contract situation, he is not going to be | :02:07. | :02:12. | |
able to make big signings, and they could be 15 points behind today. We | :02:13. | :02:17. | |
will look at Arsenal vs Everton later and talk more about United. It | :02:18. | :02:22. | |
is turning into quite a bad weekend for Sunderland at the moment, with | :02:23. | :02:27. | |
Palace and Norwich winning, and Stoke as well. You were at the | :02:28. | :02:32. | |
Stadium of Light yesterday. I was. They did OK in the first half, but | :02:33. | :02:35. | |
in the second half, they lacked a lot of spirit. I think the reality | :02:36. | :02:44. | |
had hit Gus Poyet yesterday. This is a club that has only won four of | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
their last 30 Premier League games. To try and turn that mentality ran | :02:50. | :02:54. | |
quickly is going to be difficult. They are five points adrift at the | :02:55. | :02:57. | |
moment. Three of the next four games are away from home. You could just | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
hear the frustration in Gus Poyet's voice at the end. Their home games | :03:03. | :03:08. | |
are going to be crucial. They have had a difficult week, Chelsea and | :03:09. | :03:11. | |
Tottenham, but I do worry for Sunderland. History tells us that | :03:12. | :03:17. | |
eventually the unpredictability will stop in the Premier League and the | :03:18. | :03:22. | |
natural order will come through, but the longer this season goes on, the | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
less likely that looks. Yes, it normally evens out, but it is | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
getting more unpredictable. With United and Chelsea losing at Stoke, | :03:33. | :03:41. | |
it is difficult. We are baffled by how unpredictable it is. I think it | :03:42. | :03:45. | |
could be a title that is one with 80 points or less, and I think that the | :03:46. | :03:50. | |
chances of relegation is one from nine at the moment. There are two | :03:51. | :04:00. | |
games today. Arsenal vs Everton later, and you will be able to see | :04:01. | :04:05. | |
both on much of the day to tonight. The first game of the day to is full | :04:06. | :04:13. | |
Aston Villa from Craven Cottage. John, do you think that full will go | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
through because of this performance? That is exactly what | :04:19. | :04:25. | |
Renny Meulensteen says in his match programme notes today. It was an | :04:26. | :04:30. | |
improved performance on Wednesday night against Tottenham, and there | :04:31. | :04:33. | |
was a lot of talk around here about how wonderful the supporters were | :04:34. | :04:37. | |
getting behind the team on Wednesday. The fact is, they lost | :04:38. | :04:41. | |
the game and they have lost their last seven matches now in all | :04:42. | :04:45. | |
competitions. I am looking a little ahead, and before Christmas, Fulham | :04:46. | :04:50. | |
have got games against Everton and Manchester US city. Clearly, tough | :04:51. | :04:58. | |
matches, so today's game is very important for full to get something | :04:59. | :05:01. | |
out of it, otherwise they could be bottom of the table by Christmas | :05:02. | :05:06. | |
Day. Aston Villa go into this game buoyed by the results, as well as | :05:07. | :05:13. | |
their performance at St Mary's. Yes, and the great thing for Aston Villa | :05:14. | :05:16. | |
is they are away from home, where they have been performing so well | :05:17. | :05:21. | |
lately. Only one defeat away from home all season, and that was at | :05:22. | :05:25. | |
Chelsea back in August, when they were unfortunate to lose that game. | :05:26. | :05:31. | |
Southampton had more of the match on Wednesday night, but Aston Villa won | :05:32. | :05:35. | |
the game. A big concern today will be whether Ron Vlaar is going to be | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
fit. We will find out for certain in the next few minutes. An important | :05:41. | :05:43. | |
player for them at the back, the captain, and he went off injured at | :05:44. | :05:49. | |
half-time on Wednesday. Not sure it is hopeful that he will be able to | :05:50. | :05:54. | |
play. Thank you. We will bring you that team news when we get it. John | :05:55. | :06:00. | |
talked about Villa away from home. Only Spurs have a better way | :06:01. | :06:05. | |
record. City are also brilliant at home by terrible away. It is strange | :06:06. | :06:11. | |
how you get such a stark contrast. With Villa, it may be Lambert's | :06:12. | :06:17. | |
style and they can counterattack better away from home. I think the | :06:18. | :06:23. | |
counterattacking works well for them. They are more set up to play | :06:24. | :06:29. | |
on the break, and away from home, you are happy to sit in and play | :06:30. | :06:33. | |
that counter style. When you have to force the issue at home, I'm not | :06:34. | :06:38. | |
sure they have the creative mid field player is to open the teams | :06:39. | :06:48. | |
up. This is a huge game for full, because Meulensteen is a very | :06:49. | :06:52. | |
respected manager in the game. He wanted to be manager, and he has his | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
chance, but seven straight defeats. They didn't win on Wednesday, and | :06:58. | :07:00. | |
this is the type of game they have to get three points from, otherwise | :07:01. | :07:05. | |
they could be cut adrift by the New Year period. At Brondby, where he | :07:06. | :07:19. | |
had six months, there were tales of weird things, like asking players to | :07:20. | :07:26. | |
name animals they would like to be like - except a snake! They were not | :07:27. | :07:33. | |
allowed to name a snake. There's plenty of good coaches who don't | :07:34. | :07:37. | |
make good managers. There's no guarantee that you cross over. He is | :07:38. | :07:45. | |
desperate for this opportunity. Going back to Brondby in 2006, 2007, | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
there was a lot of water gone under the bridge during that time. Seven | :07:51. | :07:55. | |
years, the chance to work with a variety of managers or coaches. | :07:56. | :08:00. | |
Maybe that will be a slightly different Meulensteen at full to the | :08:01. | :08:04. | |
one who was at Brondby. Yes, you have to assume that he has changed | :08:05. | :08:12. | |
over the years. He needs to win and he needs it quickly. If they | :08:13. | :08:18. | |
struggle the next few games, Norwich, Hull and West Ham, if they | :08:19. | :08:23. | |
don't win at least two of those, and bottom by New Year's Day, I think | :08:24. | :08:27. | |
they will be doomed. Iverson insight from a player's point of view. If | :08:28. | :08:32. | |
they are bottom or in the bottom three around Christmas, or even | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
going into the New Year, Meulensteen has talked about having some money | :08:38. | :08:41. | |
available and being able to bring in players. As a player, would you go | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
to one of the bottom three sides in the Premier League in the transfer | :08:46. | :08:51. | |
window in January? Only if you are mercenary. You have to pay more | :08:52. | :08:57. | |
wages to attract people. You might not get one of the best players. If | :08:58. | :09:03. | |
you have any ambitions as a player, it is very, very unlikely. They | :09:04. | :09:07. | |
might be losing Berbatov as well, who is very enigmatic. He can be | :09:08. | :09:12. | |
fantastic. He is one of the only players in that side at the moment | :09:13. | :09:15. | |
with the real ability to score goals. If they lose him, can they | :09:16. | :09:21. | |
replacing? They can replace him with a hard-working player, but maybe not | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
someone who can put a chance away. I think that club in transition is | :09:27. | :09:30. | |
going to be the buzz phrase over the next six weeks. Our Villa club in | :09:31. | :09:35. | |
transition? Or have they come through the transitional phrase -- | :09:36. | :09:43. | |
phase? They have been in transition since about 99! They have some | :09:44. | :09:48. | |
really good young players, and Lambert should begin them credit for | :09:49. | :09:52. | |
giving those young players a chance, but there are times when they look | :09:53. | :09:56. | |
like they will need more experienced and more quality. I think Villa | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
Wilson vibe relatively comfortably. But the question is, where does | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
Randy Lerner want to take them? What is the grand plan? He was given the | :10:07. | :10:13. | |
remit to give young players a chance. Sometimes, when players come | :10:14. | :10:19. | |
in, they haven't got the quality. But the likes of Westwood in | :10:20. | :10:23. | |
midfield, and the players up front, such as Benteke... He didn't even | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
start on Wednesday, and they still won the game. Also, I was at the | :10:29. | :10:37. | |
Villa - Spurs game, and Benteke was on the bench then. It felt like | :10:38. | :10:41. | |
everything was very flat until Benteke came on, and that gave the | :10:42. | :10:45. | |
fans a boost as well. He hasn't really hit the heights. He hasn't | :10:46. | :10:53. | |
scored in eight. Villa are a good side. They are a young side, and you | :10:54. | :10:58. | |
will get unpredictability. You will have great games and tough games. | :10:59. | :11:03. | |
They found it hard last season. All those young players went through | :11:04. | :11:07. | |
tough times, from the fans and the media and everybody. Now you see a | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
good performance, but they cannot always back that up. Do get in touch | :11:12. | :11:18. | |
with us today. We will talk about Arsenal vs Everton later on. We will | :11:19. | :11:23. | |
look back on yesterday's football shortly, but we will touch on the | :11:24. | :11:29. | |
story that is on the front page of the Sun on Sunday today. | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
Ex-premiership stars in match fix probe. Just the general theory | :11:35. | :11:42. | |
behind this. It isn't strictly match fixing. What it is is spot fixing, | :11:43. | :11:47. | |
being able to say, I will get a booking in that match. We have known | :11:48. | :11:52. | |
for a while that that is an issue in football. This one is about hooking. | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
The other issue was the first throw-in, which I can't understand | :11:57. | :12:01. | |
why anyone would want to... If you were betting on the first throw-in, | :12:02. | :12:06. | |
that looks suspicious anyway. That has been an issue ever since this | :12:07. | :12:10. | |
betting came in. It has been an issue for a while, and there has | :12:11. | :12:16. | |
been the idea that match fixing is something that happens to | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
foreigners. But you cannot take that attitude. You cannot shut the border | :12:22. | :12:25. | |
any more, and the FA has to be alert to it. You should ask Danny about | :12:26. | :12:34. | |
the bookings in his career! I am gutted. I could have made an | :12:35. | :12:40. | |
absolute fortune! My record was 14 yellows, two reds and an FA ban on | :12:41. | :12:45. | |
top of that. I went to the FA Cup after that as well! Did you ever | :12:46. | :12:51. | |
hear of anybody being approached? Not approached, but the throw-in | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
's... When the spread betting first started, you could bet on anything | :12:57. | :13:04. | |
in football. If you go back to the Premier Li, there was a time when | :13:05. | :13:07. | |
the ball would be rolled back from kick-off and it would be smashed in | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
the corner. Massively suspicious, let's be honest, and that got picked | :13:12. | :13:17. | |
up on after a few years. The sums of money and the odds were not huge, | :13:18. | :13:21. | |
but there was betting on that. Bookings, I have not heard anyone | :13:22. | :13:26. | |
being approached for that, but I took a booking in a game | :13:27. | :13:31. | |
deliberately to avoid suspension later on in the tournament. So it | :13:32. | :13:36. | |
has happened, where players have deliberately got themselves booked. | :13:37. | :13:40. | |
We have seen recent Champions League games, players getting themselves | :13:41. | :13:43. | |
booked to make sure that they are available for the next stage. You | :13:44. | :13:53. | |
say allegedly! But that happened. It did happen, because I did it. The | :13:54. | :14:00. | |
other thing in all of this, can we afford to be too sanctimonious about | :14:01. | :14:06. | |
it? There are so many football competitions, programmes, events, | :14:07. | :14:11. | |
sponsored by betting companies. This is the issue. There was definitely a | :14:12. | :14:17. | |
link. You only have to look... We will not mention specific companies | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
or actors, but I have not seen a football match for three years | :14:23. | :14:26. | |
without Ray Winston's face appear. There is this tight link between | :14:27. | :14:29. | |
gambling and football which seems to be growing. It is a sensitive issue, | :14:30. | :14:36. | |
and there is something there that maybe needs to be addressed. | :14:37. | :14:40. | |
Wherever there are grey areas in life, people will exploit it. It | :14:41. | :14:44. | |
isn't just Premier League games. People are betting on non-league | :14:45. | :14:50. | |
games, the Conference, and that isn't really covered. If someone is | :14:51. | :14:55. | |
booked in a Conference game, or get sent off, no one is bothered. That | :14:56. | :15:00. | |
is what foreign markets are looking at. Let's take a look at yesterday's | :15:01. | :15:06. | |
games. We will start with the game at Old Trafford. Manchester United | :15:07. | :15:12. | |
beaten by Newcastle. We didn't create enough. But we had one or two | :15:13. | :15:17. | |
moments to score and we didn't take the chances. Sometimes you need one | :15:18. | :15:22. | |
of the things to go for you. It is difficult today for David and the | :15:23. | :15:26. | |
club at the minute. They have had some tricky results. He is a great | :15:27. | :15:31. | |
manager. I think it is important that the fans of Manchester United | :15:32. | :15:34. | |
and the board stick with him. Because he knows, he has proven he | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
will be great for this club. But it is some sticky days and we all have | :15:39. | :15:43. | |
them. The process is the same, we try and win the next game. The | :15:44. | :15:47. | |
important thing is we move on and do the right things and we do that most | :15:48. | :15:51. | |
days and try and get them right. We will try and do it again. First, to | :15:52. | :15:57. | |
appease Anthony in Durham and Newcastle fans, he says, please, | :15:58. | :16:01. | |
please, praise Newcastle's performance instead of focussing on | :16:02. | :16:05. | |
Manchester United. I think Newcastle did well. They set their team up to | :16:06. | :16:11. | |
play a different game. He has done that a couple of times. You have to | :16:12. | :16:17. | |
remember six weeks ago, Alan Pardew was odds on favourite to be sacked | :16:18. | :16:22. | |
and he goes on a great run. If he gets his best eleven out, The Got | :16:23. | :16:28. | |
some good players. Look at the contrast in quality. Cabaye is a | :16:29. | :16:34. | |
great player. He has ability to go forward. Toe. The iot -' Ollie said | :16:35. | :16:51. | |
Newcastle, have they turned the corner. Yes I was there when they | :16:52. | :16:57. | |
beat West Brom. Yesterday, away from home, they have been setting up | :16:58. | :17:02. | |
differently and they have got consistency. They're picking more or | :17:03. | :17:06. | |
less nine or ten of the same players. You look at the bench and | :17:07. | :17:12. | |
Cisse coming on, Shola Ameobi and they have Steven Taylor who isn't | :17:13. | :17:17. | |
player. They have a settled team and confidence and they came back | :17:18. | :17:23. | |
against West Brom and Danny is right, I thought there was some | :17:24. | :17:27. | |
irony that Cabaye scores the goal and he is the type of player that | :17:28. | :17:32. | |
Manchester United are crying out for. Manchester United made seven | :17:33. | :17:37. | |
changes yesterday from the defeat to Everton. Does David Moyes have any | :17:38. | :17:43. | |
idea what his best 11 is? No, I think to an extent having a best | :17:44. | :17:50. | |
eleven is not right, because they have so many games. Moyes has come | :17:51. | :17:55. | |
in and said, I want to look at all the players I have got, even anner | :17:56. | :18:02. | |
the son -- Anderson and decide whether he can be a footballer, | :18:03. | :18:06. | |
despite all the evidence to the contrary. In your opinion! Yes, well | :18:07. | :18:12. | |
these are the champions and the problem is is it not obvious from | :18:13. | :18:16. | |
the outside that a lot of the players, you prejudge and you know | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
they aren't of the required standard. It is not rocket science | :18:21. | :18:25. | |
to work out there is weak areas. He doesn't seem to be closer to finding | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
out who he wants and he who doesn't want than at the start of season and | :18:31. | :18:35. | |
that would worry me. I think Wednesday and Monday, in terms of | :18:36. | :18:39. | |
quality, midfield has been a problem. Those two games showed how | :18:40. | :18:42. | |
much Wayne Rooney has been playing for Manchester United. But Michael | :18:43. | :18:47. | |
Carrick. He gets a lot of criticism from some people. He is popular in | :18:48. | :18:51. | |
that Manchester United dressing room. He hasn't played in the last | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
two games. They have failed to create and get the tempo and keep | :18:56. | :18:59. | |
the ball moving. All things that Carrick does. I know it is not down | :19:00. | :19:03. | |
to one player. But I think that shows, those two games as if it | :19:04. | :19:07. | |
needed to, and some people did need to, how important Carrick is. Is | :19:08. | :19:14. | |
that not in itself. I like Michael Carrick. He can't do it on his own. | :19:15. | :19:23. | |
But he is n Javi, he is Michael Carrick. And he is getting older and | :19:24. | :19:29. | |
it is an ageing side. There no fear factor, you take Wayne Rooney out | :19:30. | :19:36. | |
and van Persie wasn't 100% fit and David Moyes had to leave him on. | :19:37. | :19:40. | |
That is a touch worrying. He is struggling towards the end of the | :19:41. | :19:46. | |
game. But going through the midfield, Januzaj Cleverley and | :19:47. | :19:51. | |
Nani. If you're coming against that, you think, there is no one who | :19:52. | :19:56. | |
worries me. We are an average side and we can deal with that. Back in | :19:57. | :20:04. | |
the day, wow you'd think -- you would think that would be difficult. | :20:05. | :20:08. | |
But now teams are going to Old Trafford and saying, we can win | :20:09. | :20:12. | |
this. That is a belief you haven't had for ten years. In everyone | :20:13. | :20:16. | |
focuses on the midfield being the problem, the fact that Paul Scholes | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
had to come out of retirement a couple of years ago and that | :20:21. | :20:27. | |
actually if you take them as specific central midfielder, | :20:28. | :20:31. | |
Anderson was probably the last one they bought until Fellaini came in. | :20:32. | :20:38. | |
Who takes blame. It is the -- is it the scouting department, is the | :20:39. | :20:44. | |
board, it is Alex Ferguson? Apart from Fellaini, none of that midfield | :20:45. | :20:50. | |
is Moyes' fault. It is difficult to blame Moyes, but in the last three | :20:51. | :20:54. | |
years he maybe focussed more on the present than the future. That | :20:55. | :20:57. | |
husband wiz strength in knowing what was coming. You know as soon as the | :20:58. | :21:03. | |
idea of retirement entered his mind, whether he started building a team | :21:04. | :21:07. | |
for today. The central midfield is baffling, because it has been a | :21:08. | :21:10. | |
problem. Or whether players he brought in, whether Tom Cleverley | :21:11. | :21:16. | |
developed as much as Alex Ferguson thought he would and Anderson. He | :21:17. | :21:23. | |
has been there before with people like Veron. Midfielders that | :21:24. | :21:28. | |
promised and not delivered. And they had bids in on players and they | :21:29. | :21:36. | |
didn't want to come like Modric and Sneijder. They went, you know, what | :21:37. | :21:40. | |
no, we don't want to come. Even this summer. The same thing happened. | :21:41. | :21:45. | |
They had interesting players and they weren't interested in playing | :21:46. | :21:51. | |
for United. They have never done much business in January. But this | :21:52. | :21:55. | |
is the biggest January. They have never been ninth or tenth either. | :21:56. | :22:01. | |
Michael says, Alex Ferguson left Moyes the same team, a Premier | :22:02. | :22:06. | |
League winning team, full of create yicht and determination. Why aren't | :22:07. | :22:11. | |
they getting the same results. Philip, I wonder how long it will be | :22:12. | :22:18. | |
before United fans go to Old Trafford dressed as red seats? Now | :22:19. | :22:23. | |
the relegation battle and we will start with Crystal Palace, who beat | :22:24. | :22:29. | |
Cardiff yesterday. They're a good group of lads and have responded | :22:30. | :22:35. | |
well. We have done a lot of shape and... You know stuff that I think | :22:36. | :22:42. | |
is essential to give you a chance to win matches. Especially against the | :22:43. | :22:46. | |
teams that we have to fight against. Against the top teams. You catch | :22:47. | :22:51. | |
them on the the right day and they will beat you. But you have a chance | :22:52. | :22:56. | |
if you're set up properly. From that position, you can play some stuff | :22:57. | :23:01. | |
and we did. We created quite a few chances. You don't want to get | :23:02. | :23:06. | |
carried away, because it is West Ham and Cardiff they have beaten at | :23:07. | :23:09. | |
home. But the whole change in atmosphere there is remarkable. | :23:10. | :23:13. | |
Always happens when a new manager comes in, there is a new impetus. We | :23:14. | :23:19. | |
always talk about the honeymoon period. There very few clubs where | :23:20. | :23:27. | |
that doesn't happen. Is it sus stainable long-term? I have doubts. | :23:28. | :23:32. | |
He has fired them up and sent them out with a message, get stuck in, be | :23:33. | :23:36. | |
organised and do this and do that. And they have done it. Be organised | :23:37. | :23:43. | |
is the key. They look so organised. That is what his teams have been. He | :23:44. | :23:47. | |
has had criticism, but you can't say his teams haven't known their job | :23:48. | :23:51. | |
and what they're supposed to do. That was the thing, Crystal Palace | :23:52. | :23:55. | |
looked anything but organised before he arrived. And again we were | :23:56. | :23:59. | |
talking about Sunderland, at least he has given them something this | :24:00. | :24:02. | |
week, because otherwise they were in danger of being cut adrift. There | :24:03. | :24:06. | |
was a point at which you wondered whether they might be rivalling | :24:07. | :24:09. | |
Derby for the lowest ever points tally. You look at the quality in | :24:10. | :24:13. | |
the squad and it is not there. But there is a lot of team there is you | :24:14. | :24:18. | |
could say the same about. When you look at that Palace squad, you see a | :24:19. | :24:27. | |
lot of Tony Pulis type players. I don't mean it in a disparaging way, | :24:28. | :24:35. | |
but they have a big back four and he has wingers like Puncheon. There are | :24:36. | :24:39. | |
players that will fit into what he wants to do. I liked the logic when | :24:40. | :24:49. | |
he went and people said it will be difficult taking that defence. Well | :24:50. | :24:56. | |
the thing about Pulis's style is it is relatively easy to implement. He | :24:57. | :25:01. | |
gets the teams disciplined and organised and if you have a plan | :25:02. | :25:05. | |
down the bottom, then you stand a chance. Because there will be some | :25:06. | :25:09. | |
teams that don't have a plan. Set pieces will be key. Sam Allardyce | :25:10. | :25:15. | |
has always been organised and done well and hasn't played the greatest | :25:16. | :25:20. | |
football, but I look at Palace and you can be organised to a point. But | :25:21. | :25:27. | |
Ethel -- but they will go on another run. They have some tough game, | :25:28. | :25:30. | |
Chelsea, Villa and Manchester City. If they lose all three of them, | :25:31. | :25:34. | |
their confidence goes again and can he, does he have the ability to pick | :25:35. | :25:37. | |
the players up again after he has done it once and it has been | :25:38. | :25:46. | |
knocked. When you saw the results at the Stadium of Light one that stood | :25:47. | :25:51. | |
out was Norwich winning at West Brom. Yes, I was at West Brom and | :25:52. | :25:58. | |
Steve Clarke said what an important match that was. Manchester City blew | :25:59. | :26:03. | |
them away in the first half an hour and 3-2 was a false score line and I | :26:04. | :26:09. | |
saw West Brom lose at Newcastle and he said this was a massive game and | :26:10. | :26:14. | |
there was some eyebrows raised, given Norwich's form away from home. | :26:15. | :26:18. | |
They have been a soft touch conceding goals. You would have got | :26:19. | :26:25. | |
high odds on them getting a clean sheet, never mind a win. West Brom | :26:26. | :26:34. | |
are not safe. They are a team that everyone assumes, well organised, | :26:35. | :26:38. | |
decent players and they will be fine. But they're the same as | :26:39. | :26:42. | |
Cardiff, they're in trouble. There are some teams we have not | :26:43. | :26:48. | |
concentrated on for being in trouble. West Brom have more quality | :26:49. | :26:54. | |
in different areas than the Crystal Palaces in the long-term. You're | :26:55. | :26:59. | |
looking at how many goals are you going to score and who will score | :27:00. | :27:04. | |
them. Norwich have players, they haven't settled. Gary Hooper is | :27:05. | :27:08. | |
starting to settle. Yes, they spent money and they have players that can | :27:09. | :27:16. | |
get you a Annabel Goldie Hull -- can you gate goal. Hull I think will | :27:17. | :27:23. | |
struggle. But Cardiff and West Ham, you cannot see where West Ham are | :27:24. | :27:28. | |
going to score consistently from. They have played with a false nine | :27:29. | :27:34. | |
and now Nolan is suspended. No idea when Andy Carroll will come back and | :27:35. | :27:40. | |
will they have money to spend? The false number 9 was the buzz phase | :27:41. | :27:47. | |
and team of transition. We will bring you the team news for Fulham | :27:48. | :27:57. | |
against Villa soon. Let's focus on one of yesterday's other games, | :27:58. | :28:03. | |
Stoke peating Chelsea by -- beating Chelsea 3-2. The last part of the | :28:04. | :28:08. | |
game was stupid by us to play that way. Because in the last ten minutes | :28:09. | :28:13. | |
we gave them what they want. They want long balls, they want balls in | :28:14. | :28:19. | |
the air, they want a dirty game, first ball, second ball, kick the | :28:20. | :28:27. | |
ball away, go to the floor, asks for the coach. We gave them that. But we | :28:28. | :28:34. | |
played very good fat ball and -- good football and we had fantastic | :28:35. | :28:40. | |
movement. We don't capitalise on goals we pay. Another three goals | :28:41. | :28:45. | |
cone seeded. We are not used to seeing that from Chelsea? No, and... | :28:46. | :28:51. | |
What do you want me to say? To criticise individually my players' | :28:52. | :28:55. | |
mistakes? I can't do it. We have only had one defeat in six games. We | :28:56. | :29:00. | |
haven't won as many as we deserved. But everyone understands we are | :29:01. | :29:06. | |
early into what we are trying to do and we are trying to change the way | :29:07. | :29:14. | |
we play and people saw that today. Do you worry about Chelsea's | :29:15. | :29:19. | |
defence? I'm surprised. I thought the start of the season Jose | :29:20. | :29:23. | |
Mourinho came in and Chelsea have always been rigid and pragmatic and | :29:24. | :29:29. | |
that is how most of his teams play. They have conceded a ridiculous | :29:30. | :29:35. | |
amount of goals for them. Again also they're not a team where maybe like | :29:36. | :29:40. | |
he had at Madrid where we can forget about defence and attack and teams | :29:41. | :29:44. | |
will be scared, because they continue have -- don't have that out | :29:45. | :29:52. | |
and out centre forward. So they're having to go. Every week there are | :29:53. | :29:57. | |
ridiculous unpredictable results. You think on a Friday, your pools, | :29:58. | :30:04. | |
home win, home win and then you see, rip it up. It is so difficult to | :30:05. | :30:14. | |
predict this season. Bet on yellow cards instead! I wish I had known | :30:15. | :30:21. | |
that ten years ago. He does live in 1985. There was a lovely irony that | :30:22. | :30:27. | |
the person who scored the winner. Oak was on loan from Liverpool. -- | :30:28. | :30:36. | |
who scored the winner last week was on loan. I do think he trusts David | :30:37. | :30:50. | |
Luiz. The central midfielders, they are not what they were. Up front, | :30:51. | :30:54. | |
Torres comes in and works hard, and looks like he is trying. Demba Ba is | :30:55. | :31:01. | |
not the most subtle of strikers. Mourinho doesn't look like he has a | :31:02. | :31:05. | |
settled idea about what he is trying to get that seem to be. In fairness | :31:06. | :31:12. | |
to Chelsea, it could have been 2-0 up in the first 20 minutes, and | :31:13. | :31:17. | |
Mourinho says in the first -- in the papers this morning that they didn't | :31:18. | :31:23. | |
take their chances. Last year everyone says that Manchester United | :31:24. | :31:29. | |
were a great team, and they have Robin Van Persie. Can Chelsea win | :31:30. | :31:32. | |
the Premier League with the strikers they have? They have had chances and | :31:33. | :31:36. | |
have converted them in the past few weeks. Are there strikers good | :31:37. | :31:42. | |
enough, if no one else comes in in January, to go the whole 38 games in | :31:43. | :31:47. | |
the Premier League? They might try and shift Demba Ba, but then they | :31:48. | :31:55. | |
have a ?50 million footballer in Etu, so I think there is a real | :31:56. | :32:04. | |
structural problem at Chelsea. They have conceded 17 goals in the | :32:05. | :32:09. | |
Premier League. That is a good start. Alan says, after yesterday's | :32:10. | :32:17. | |
loss against Stoke, do you think Chelsea will win the league? I think | :32:18. | :32:24. | |
that Manchester City or Chelsea are my favourites. But Arsenal need to | :32:25. | :32:29. | |
strengthen. If they lose Deji row, -- if they lose Giroud, he is a big | :32:30. | :32:37. | |
support to the players around him. Man City have such strength and | :32:38. | :32:44. | |
power, such strength in depth, that you will have to believe that they | :32:45. | :32:49. | |
will sort out there a way form. Can Liverpool maintain a challenge? I'm | :32:50. | :32:54. | |
not sure. Arsenal are the meeting who could look as though they could | :32:55. | :33:04. | |
finish above City or Chelsea. City could having to use their lead at St | :33:05. | :33:08. | |
Mary's before Southampton came back. Is that a missed opportunity? | :33:09. | :33:15. | |
Massively. Arsene Wenger said many times that away from home and at | :33:16. | :33:21. | |
home shouldn't be that different. Manchester City is a complete Jekyll | :33:22. | :33:25. | |
Hyde. For some reason, they struggle away from home. The players | :33:26. | :33:29. | |
don't like the routine of travelling, maybe, but whatever it | :33:30. | :33:37. | |
is, they cannot seem to get that form. Vincent Kompany came back | :33:38. | :33:44. | |
yesterday. Osvaldo did fantastically. City are not the same | :33:45. | :33:50. | |
force. If you do not have that fear factor, it is massive | :33:51. | :33:54. | |
psychologically. I was at St Mary's yesterday, Southampton were superb. | :33:55. | :34:01. | |
They struggled for the first 20 minutes. Aguero should probably have | :34:02. | :34:07. | |
put City 2-0 up. You wondered if Southampton would wilt, but the way | :34:08. | :34:10. | |
they worked was incredible. It doesn't matter who the players are, | :34:11. | :34:16. | |
they play the same way. Whoever they play, they do what they do, and that | :34:17. | :34:22. | |
is really impressive. He has them working to a really specific plan. | :34:23. | :34:25. | |
And they were missing players yesterday. Schneiderlin is the key | :34:26. | :34:35. | |
one. I really like him. If I was a Premier League club, I would want | :34:36. | :34:42. | |
him. He is fantastic. They had 318-year-olds playing by the end. | :34:43. | :34:45. | |
They have a plan and they know it inside out. I watched City at West | :34:46. | :34:53. | |
Brom on Wednesday. The first half an hour was probably the best football | :34:54. | :34:59. | |
I have seen all season. There were missed opportunities. They could | :35:00. | :35:04. | |
have won yesterday as well. I still think, going forward, with the | :35:05. | :35:08. | |
options they've got, out of all the teams in the Premier League, they | :35:09. | :35:13. | |
have the most options. Arsenal vs Everton is the 4pm game. You can | :35:14. | :35:18. | |
hear that on 5 Live. Full against Aston Villa, full make one change in | :35:19. | :35:26. | |
the side that lost this week. -- full. Benteke starts. I will give | :35:27. | :35:41. | |
you the full Villa team. Guzan, Westwood, Delft, Agbonlahor, | :35:42. | :35:48. | |
Benteke... Just that one change for Fulham. Arsenal vs Everton, let's | :35:49. | :35:54. | |
hear from both -- from both managers. We are hungry. We want to | :35:55. | :36:03. | |
win. We have just put a few results together that should make us, and | :36:04. | :36:07. | |
will make us, more ambitious. As well, conscious that in every single | :36:08. | :36:14. | |
game, you have to put a top-level performance in. Since the beginning | :36:15. | :36:21. | |
of 2013, we have been quite consistent in our results, but now, | :36:22. | :36:27. | |
as we have just said, we have a big week in front of us, starting with | :36:28. | :36:31. | |
Everton. We have to show that we have the hunger and the quality to | :36:32. | :36:35. | |
do it. Arsenal deserves a lot of respect. In the first 14 games, you | :36:36. | :36:41. | |
are capable of winning 11, it is an outstanding team. That is why we | :36:42. | :36:49. | |
will have to be at our best. Looking at ourselves to try and use this as | :36:50. | :36:54. | |
a terrific test to see how quickly we can improve and challenge this | :36:55. | :37:03. | |
side. It is an exciting game. Roberto Martinez and Arsene Wenger | :37:04. | :37:07. | |
there. Kevin Kilbane is at this game for us this afternoon. From | :37:08. | :37:11. | |
Everton's wider view, how did they approach it? I'm sure they will | :37:12. | :37:16. | |
approach it the way they have approached every game this season | :37:17. | :37:19. | |
under Martin us. They are very attacking. They attacked Man City | :37:20. | :37:25. | |
this season from the outset. I can't see it will be any different today. | :37:26. | :37:31. | |
The way they approached it midweek against Manchester United, it is | :37:32. | :37:34. | |
thrilling. I would expect them to play the same way here. What | :37:35. | :37:39. | |
problems were that calls for Arsenal. Not many sides will go to | :37:40. | :37:43. | |
the emirates and try and take them on. That's right. We have seen them | :37:44. | :37:48. | |
a couple of times ourselves. The way they play they can go on. They have | :37:49. | :37:54. | |
that direct approach at times. They can play through midfield. They've | :37:55. | :38:00. | |
got options. They can go from back to front. They move through midfield | :38:01. | :38:06. | |
at the moment in a way that makes them a test for anybody. We have had | :38:07. | :38:13. | |
text and tweets asking how far your former club can go this season. Top | :38:14. | :38:19. | |
four? Title contenders? Martinez said himself this week that the win | :38:20. | :38:24. | |
against Man United was a benchmark for them and they can go on and | :38:25. | :38:29. | |
achieve things this season. It is a big ask for them to get in the top | :38:30. | :38:33. | |
four, but the way they are playing, who knows? Thank you, Kevin. If you | :38:34. | :38:38. | |
are listening to us on the radio, think yourself lucky as you can't | :38:39. | :38:43. | |
see what Kevin was wearing! Every week we have to talk about Kevin's | :38:44. | :38:50. | |
outfits. Everton went for it at Man United, because they recognised that | :38:51. | :38:54. | |
there wasn't much protection in front of the United back four with | :38:55. | :39:01. | |
Giggs and Delaney. They will not get that with slimming the at Arsenal | :39:02. | :39:05. | |
today. I think he is almost as important as Ozil. If Flynn | :39:06. | :39:12. | |
meanie's side wins, he gathers his team together and takes a photo of | :39:13. | :39:20. | |
the. It is to bond the team together. Flamini has that it of | :39:21. | :39:25. | |
devil in him that I think they have been missing. You talk to Arsenal | :39:26. | :39:35. | |
fans, and they highlight Flamini, ahead of Ozil. I think both are | :39:36. | :39:40. | |
appreciated by players. When as all walked in, it lifted the Arsenal | :39:41. | :39:44. | |
dressing room immediately. Quite a few players had been crying out for | :39:45. | :39:50. | |
someone like him. That one world-class player to walk in the | :39:51. | :39:53. | |
dressing room and start to train with them lifted Arsenal. In terms | :39:54. | :40:00. | |
of the presence of a player, maybe you have been in that situation... | :40:01. | :40:07. | |
Yes, but you have to give massive credit to Arsene Wenger, who got | :40:08. | :40:11. | |
huge criticism for not signing anybody in the summer. Then he | :40:12. | :40:18. | |
bought in Flamini. And then as all. -- Ozil. Wenger had a plan and knew | :40:19. | :40:27. | |
where he was going. That protection is given to Mertesacker and | :40:28. | :40:30. | |
Koscielny, who now look really good pairing. Apart from another centre | :40:31. | :40:36. | |
forward, and possibly a centre half, they have got a fantastic | :40:37. | :40:41. | |
squad. Players are coming back from injury. Podolski and Walcott are | :40:42. | :40:47. | |
still out. That midfield is exceptional. If they can add in the | :40:48. | :40:52. | |
transfer window... But that one special player, when they come in | :40:53. | :40:55. | |
and you are struggling a little bit, you are looking around for a bit of | :40:56. | :41:02. | |
inspiration. Oval can give you that. He can create something from | :41:03. | :41:11. | |
nothing. -- Ozil. If you have someone like Harry Kewell, you knew | :41:12. | :41:14. | |
that they could score you something out of nothing and give you | :41:15. | :41:19. | |
inspiration. With Ozil he might always create something. She room | :41:20. | :41:26. | |
always gets praise. You talk about a Mertesacker new contract. It just | :41:27. | :41:30. | |
shows that all of us who work in the media need to give people time when | :41:31. | :41:38. | |
they come to play. If you are looking at for Laney at Manchester | :41:39. | :41:42. | |
United, or Soldado at Spurs, who maybe haven't set the world alight | :41:43. | :41:47. | |
yet, maybe we should calm down a bit. They do need a season to | :41:48. | :41:59. | |
settle. For Laney was always going to need a bit of time. With | :42:00. | :42:04. | |
Mertesacker, I think a lot of the criticism was justified. The | :42:05. | :42:07. | |
criticism was that he was quite slow. He was getting Debaty was | :42:08. | :42:16. | |
turning slowly. Now people are subbing him at source, before he | :42:17. | :42:25. | |
gets there. Flamini certainly protected that back for a lot. I | :42:26. | :42:40. | |
think Mertesacker needs some credit as well. When he came in, they | :42:41. | :42:47. | |
started to look solid at the end of last season. Winning in Munich gave | :42:48. | :42:53. | |
him the confidence to help them finish fourth. Just on Everton, they | :42:54. | :43:03. | |
will go there thinking, given what they did during the week, that they | :43:04. | :43:04. | |
can get three points. Definitely. they did during the week, that they | :43:05. | :43:23. | |
Barry, McCarthy, that holding midfield player is vital. The key | :43:24. | :43:24. | |
area today is midfield. midfield player is vital. The key | :43:25. | :43:30. | |
get enough of the ball to create something? A text that has come in, | :43:31. | :43:40. | |
get enough of the ball to create blew, there were no English players | :43:41. | :43:41. | |
on the pitch for Manchester United. blew, there were no English players | :43:42. | :43:49. | |
Arsenal have a real chance of winning the title? Maybe not this | :43:50. | :43:54. | |
Arsenal have a real chance of afternoon, but maybe on Match Of The | :43:55. | :43:54. | |
Day to tonight. Thanks to afternoon, but maybe on Match Of The | :43:55. | :43:58. | |
guests. See you next week. Goodbye. | :43:59. | :44:03. |