19/01/2014 MOTD2 Extra


19/01/2014

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Hello and welcome to Match Of The Day to extra, we are on BBC One, BBC

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Radio 5 live and on the sport websites to analyse the football

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this weekend, and we will be looking at the big game between Chelsea and

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Manchester United, will it be a classic or another tactical

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stalemate? Swansea versus Spurs is the early kick-off with the home

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team in increasing need of a win. And we will look back at yesterday

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is action, including another controversial moment involving Luis

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Suarez. With me is Pat Nevin, Match Of The Day, data Steve Bould, and

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Jason Burt. -- commentator. We want your thoughts, get in touch via the

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BBC Sport website, and we will crack straight on with Chelsea against

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Manchester United, the back page of the son, lose today and it is all

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over for United, and if you Delph into the article, he is talking

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about the season, if they do not win. We are still the biggest club

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in the world, that is the back of the Express. They could obviously

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not fit the words on to make that work! Ian Poulter says, I cannot see

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past United getting an absolute drubbing, Chelsea to score four or

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five. That is pushing it a little bit, but no argument, Chelsea are

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the big favourites. For no more reason than the fact that they have

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not got Rooney, Robin van Persie starting, so they are already at a

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disadvantage. Chelsea are in good form, not losing many games at the

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moment, and the team seems to be working in the Mourinho style, they

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seem to understand what he wants. Big outsiders, but the biggest

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problem for Manchester United is they need to some extent attack

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Chelsea, and that is the last thing they want to be doing against this

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Chelsea team at the moment. Do you see it being as... I was going to

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say Del! Do you see it being a similar tactical battle to the first

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game? Yeah, but we are at a different stage of the season, David

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Moyes knows more about the deficiencies of his squad now. I

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would love to see Man United go head-to-head with Chelsea, with

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Rooney and Van Persie firing, that would make it a different game,

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because when you speak to people within the game, when they are

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firing, I heard Asmir Begovic saying, never mind Sturridge and

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Suarez, Rooney and Van Persie cause the most problems for any defence of

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goalkeeper. Manchester United are weakened because of that, but David

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Moyes knows a bit more about his players. He went into that Chelsea

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game a little bit in the dark, still finding out quite early in the

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season. We are at a different stage, Chelsea have tightened up at the

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back, Jose Mourinho have realised where their strengths are, and it is

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a fascinating tactical battle. When we talk tactical battles, Jason

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Burt, Mourinho is seen as the master, and David Moyes is sometimes

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criticised over his tactics. Yes, it is interesting, talking to Carlo

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Ancelotti when he was Chelsea manager, he was very praiseworthy of

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David Moyes and is tactical acumen, and he talks about him being the

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Premier League manager who caused in the most problems. But the problem

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with his tactics is that he's good at stopping other managers doing

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things, he is good at reacting and blocking other teams and then trying

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to get a result out of that. The problem Manchester United need to

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play on the front foot, and that is where he is struggling. He is

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lacking big weapons. Twice Mourinho was asking us, is Rooney fit, is Van

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Persie fit? Are you sure?! So there is a worry there for him that one of

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them might turn up on the pitch today. I don't think they will, but

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that would make a big difference. As Moyes got the weapons to win this?

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He has got pace in Welbeck and Januzaj, that is the best chance he

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has got to draw Chelsea in and try to hit them. That is maybe the

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biggest chance for me. One of the questions I asked, is Ashley Young

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available, and your eyes rise dubbed as if, why?! I did find it a

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slightly odd question! The reason is, for me, he is the most direct,

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pace player that they have got, and if there is a weakness, it is with

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pace in certain areas. Everyone knows John Terry is not the

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quickest, but his match intelligence get him out of its time and again.

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Ashley Cole has been pushed a bit in the last few weeks, I watched him

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against Hull, they were trying to go over the top of him, are you as

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quick as you used to be? He has just come back from injury, and the

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sharpness may not be back, but people are beginning to think about

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that a wee bit, and that would be a big difference for United. There is

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a temptation to put Welbeck there, the right-hand side, and then put

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him in and say, go on, one of that line and find out. But I will tell

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you what, that is a brave decision, to take him out of the front line

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when he is your top goal-scorer. Are we saying with Welbeck and Hernandez

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and Januzaj, that displays that David Moyes is being slightly more

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proactive? I think Januzaj is that special.

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When you see him live, his movement, going back to Jose Mourinho on

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Friday, he was very clever, he is the Special One, he will have a

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great career, so he is already building him up today, and that

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shows he feels... He was pushed on that quite a lot! Even without Van

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Persie and Rooney... The other question was, how would you compare

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him to Cristiano Ronaldo at the same age? He said, I cannot remember ten

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years ago! Clearly he is a special talent. The problem is, Manchester

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United are overreliant on him. They are giving him the ball all the

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time. If you stop him, you stop Manchester United with the setup at

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the moment. Harry Redknapp has compared him and Eden Hazard, and he

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begins is column with this paragraph, Eden Hazard and I once

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spent half a day in a Paris hotel room with my wife's Sandra's full

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blessing! It makes the eyebrows raise. He says he would go for

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Januzaj over Eden Hazard, but if we move it on to Chelsea, he has been

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their best performer over the last two or three months. At the start of

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the season, he had a technical problem, he was going by the first

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player and stopping and taking a hit. Everyone was saying, he is the

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most fouled player in the league, forget about that, get away from the

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player, drive forward. Well, he is doing that now, and he's just about

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unstoppable. From the left-hand side, you know what he's going to

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do, but you cannot stop it. He is the one player, I am looking at my

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Oscars, he is the player that can get to that level where Franck

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Ribery is just now, that is high praise. There is always one player

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that Mourinho get into and develops and creates into a superstar, Eden

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Hazard has got that, and the problem with them at the start of his career

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was he did not train particularly well, he was not disciplined, he was

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a bit scatty at times. All those things have been addressed by

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Mourinho, and you see a much tougher player as well, he has that

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burnished Mourinho approach now, tougher physically, tougher

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mentally, and he is benefiting from that. I did an interview with them

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earlier in the season and is scared, I am scared of Mourinho, no bad

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thing for a world superstar to be scared of the manager. Ferguson had

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that at Manchester United. I think Mourinho has brought that back to

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Chelsea. Speaking of discipline and tough players, we can hear from Jose

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Mourinho, who gave an insight into a tactical approach when he spoke

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about Juan Mata to Football Focus. Juan was playing at Chelsea in a

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model completely adapted to his qualities. Chelsea was playing with

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two lots of four, two lines of four, very compact. We could say very

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defensive. We'd one Number Ten specific role to make the team play

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from that position. He needs a little bit more to go in the

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direction that this team wants to go, and this team presses high, the

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wingers, they do not defend in a block, they attack the opposite team

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immediately in the first phase of their building up. Our number 10 is

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the number 10 that needs to come back much more with the two midfield

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players, because our two wingers are not defensive players. They are

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playing Hazard and Will.i.am, they are attacking players. So this is a

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puzzle, I have to try to provide the best conditions for him to succeed

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and he is trying to do the best he can. He also obviously used that

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insight into his tactical approach to have a dig at Rafael Benitez and

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how Chelsea played under him. The point being, I don't want to do well

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over the old Juan Mata, but he needs the number 10 to work because his

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wingers will not. He is honest about that, I was at Stamford Bridge when

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they played for them, and the team was very fresh in Mourinho's second

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spell, and the big headline news was Juan Mata on the bench, and all the

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shots in the game were of him on the bench, and the Chelsea fans will not

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happy and all the rest of it, the big news. Before that game, when

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they played Fulham, the headlines were that Oscar was his chosen one.

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Now, four or five months on, hardly anyone is mentioning it, are they?

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He is honest about Mata, but he has turned that situation around. I was

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watching earlier in the season, really early in the season, that

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style of Jose Mourinho's play was not going to suit Mata, because he

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can play at 10, he can play wide but not world-class there. The big

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mistake everyone made, Mata does not chase back. It has got nothing to do

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with chasing back, it is chasing that way and closing down that way,

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going forward. The best I have seen, the best tackler in the league

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this season is Oscar, and that surprises quite a lot of people. Not

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as a rising as the Ashley Young question! It is still quite

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surprising! But why do you say Oscar is the best tackler in the Premier

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League? Where he tackles is really high up the page, usually about 20

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or 25 yards away from the opposition goal, and he gets a lot of

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transition play. When you win the ball there, you create goals and

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chances immediately. You do not win it back in your own half with a long

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way to go. He is quick, like a cobbler, his reactions are

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lightning. If anyone can remember the game against West Ham, it was

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bordering on funny, how good his tackling was. And this is... Give it

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to the players who can play, they will close them down. He is a slight

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looking player, but a very aggressive football player, that is

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ideal for Mourinho, and Mata is not particularly quick. The writing was

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on the wall for Mata when they brought Willian in, you could see he

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was always going to go for Willian, Hazard and Oscar as first choice.

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You have to credit Mourinho for his willingness to explain this to us.

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As a journalist, I find it very unusual, a manager who will actually

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publicly explain it, not necessarily for the benefit of the player, but I

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understand what the issue is. Totally a football issue. Is that

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the media's Fault? Often the managers say, I am not going to

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explain that. It could be a disciplinary issue. One thing that

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is really... I am surprised that has to be explained, I thought it looked

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quite obvious. Just because of the system he was playing. But the

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supporters were in uproar, he has left the Player of the Year out, and

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he has turned that completely around. Do not forget that Mata is a

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fantastic player, and do you know what? Jose Mourinho will not ignore

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that. If he is still here after the January transfer window, which he

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probably will be, he will be used when he's useful, and he will be

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well useful in some important games. But what about the player's state of

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mind in that situation? Is attitude has been fantastic, really positive,

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and he will be ready when he gets the opportunity. You have been

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there. Twice in my career, when it does not matter how good you are

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playing, your style does not suit the new manager. It is

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heartbreaking. His biggest problem right now is not that he's not a

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great player, he still is a great player, it is Brazil. He wants to be

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in Brazil, and if he's not playing there, he will not get there. And

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there is a lot of competition for him! A couple of anonymous texts, if

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United do not win today, there is no coming back this season. Another

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one, United and even the biggest team in Manchester, Chelsea to win

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3-1. Ray says Terry is so slow, I expect United to play on the break.

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Tim in Kingston, stop moaning about Van Persie not being fit, I think

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you were just pointing it out! Arsene Wenger coped without him for

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seasons, we always finished fourth, can David Moyes? Let's look back at

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one of yesterday 's games at Anfield between Liverpool and Aston Villa.

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Lewis Suarez 's penalty is all over the back pages. Here are the

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thoughts of Paul Lambert. I thought Brad had pulled his arms away. If

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you look at it, he pulled his arms away and I do not think it was a

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penalty. Had it been the other way around, do you think it would have

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been a penalty? The magnitude of the game, you have to be 100% sure that

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was a penalty. We were just talking about managers not being honest.

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There was a vote last night on much of the day and 69% of people said

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that he dived. What do you think? I thought, Brad Guzan, when you go out

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like that and put your arm out in that situation, there was contact.

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Some people say there was no contact but there clearly was. Luis Suarez

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went down and what do you expect him to do? We go back to the reputation

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of Luis Suarez. The game against Manchester City, where Joleon

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Lescott went right through him and nearly broke his back in half and he

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did not get a free kick. There is the other side of the coin. Because

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of his reputation, a lot of the time, he is not getting penalties

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and he is not getting free kicks. Yesterday he was caught and it was a

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penalty kick. Why was it an issue? Get off his back, he has done

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nothing wrong. There are certain players who just make headlines.

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That is just the case. Had it been another player, I am not sure it

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would have been the front page of the Sunday Times. In the Sunday

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Telegraph, we said, fall guy. Does he always gets the blame? I think

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that is slightly sitting on the fence. We discussed it a lot last

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night. It was definitely a penalty. I do not think it was a dive. There

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was the area of confusion around it because it was Luis Suarez. I

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thought the smile from Paul Lambert said it all. It was a penalty. This

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is what I found fascinating. Andy in Stoke, press and TV pundits seem to

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think that forwards have a right to go down if they are likely rush but

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every fan hates it. I am 100% on his side. The phraseology is coming he

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went down easily. He has gone past the keeper. There is contact. If he

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were to stay up, he could stay up but there is no attempt to stay up.

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That is exactly what the fan is saying. It is not the good thing, it

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is not something I like. I spent my entire career trying to stay on my

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feet. Nowadays you try to take a fall. It is not an issue with the

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pace he is going at. If you get hit like that, do not just go down

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anywhere? Did he try to stay up? No, he did not. Are you sure of that? He

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was not actually going towards goal. I would have given a penalty. What

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would you have done if you are Luis Suarez? If it was that night a

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touch, I would have tried to stay up. Things have changed. If you do

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not do it and you go down if you take a little bit of a hit, managers

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were annoyed with me for not going down easily. I understand that but I

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understand the point of view for the fans. There is nothing more

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infuriating than when you get a whisper of a touch and you go down

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and start rolling about. That is the big thing. We are talking from the

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point of view of a forward. We also have to talk about the goalkeeper. A

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modern-day goalkeeper has to be so careful. They know what is given and

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what is not given. The goalkeeper comes up with an arm like that...

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You have to be so careful. I think Michael Owen said, if you feel the

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contacts, you have the right to go down. I think that is really good.

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That, to me, is ultra-cynical. That is the modern way. That is what I do

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not like. I would always give Luis Suarez the benefit of the doubt.

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That incident was not a dive. In slow motion there is very clear

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contact between Brad Guzan and Luis Suarez. Luis Suarez got to the ball

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first and Brad Guzan make contact. A penalty every day of the week. Luis

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Suarez did fall to the floor purposely said another but it was

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still a penalty. John in Leeds, most ex-players are affected by the

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sickness that says players are entitled to go down when there is

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contact. Often this contact is engineered. Penalties for files are

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not contact. You are in many ways the exception to the rule! Peter

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Schmeichel is on Match Of The Day to tonight along with yourself. We will

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put why Brad Guzan came out and we talked to him later on. All of this

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debate has detracted from talking about Aston Villa and what was a

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very good performance by then. They could have had more than two. They

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are setup to play well against big teams away from home. They have a

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lot of pace going forward. Finally, Kristin Benteke is finding some

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form. Once they get three together, that masks a multitude of sins for

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Aston Villa. Can they transfer that to their home form bastion Mark I am

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not sure. They get 20%, 30% of the ball. -- to their home form? I'm not

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sure they will get to the top half of the table consistently. We need

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to stop blaming foreigners for diving, there are just as many Brits

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that go down as easily. Sean in Canterbury says, I cannot

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believe there are people who think that Luis Suarez did not die. Of

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course he did. Opinion to the contrary can only be regarded as

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moronic. At least he is open to debate. Let's move on to talk about

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the game that Steve was at yesterday, Sunderland against

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Southampton. It finished 2-2. Afterwards, Steve spoke to the

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manager and his interpreter. It was a heavy blow to what happened this

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week. A week of a lack of sleep. I was quite tired. I am still

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suggesting it and oversee sad by what has happened at the club. Can

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you assure us have come to an fancy will be here till the end of the

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season? There are no guarantees in football. You depend on the results

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that the team is getting. It depends on the performance of the team. At

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the end of the day, the people in the board, or whoever is making the

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decisions, they decide whether I am here. Are you planning any more

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meetings with the owner? It is not me that needs to make the decision

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to meet or make the appointment. It should be the chairwoman to decide.

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I think we will leave it there. Thank you very much. He was very

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happy at the end. That was a friendly handshake. That suggests a

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little subplot to the situation. He was more than happy to be frank and

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open. All the suggestion, leading up to the game, that it was going to

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affect the players. The performance in the first half an hour,

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Sunderland were absolutely awful. That was put to bed. Adam Lallana

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said there was a concern on the day that there was an announcement that

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players would be sold. He thanked the owner for coming out and putting

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that to bed. You heard me there, I asked him if he could guarantee the

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fans he would be there at the end of the season and he could not. There

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is a not more to come on that. They put out a statement on Friday saying

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that no players would be sold. She will appoint a chief executive. She

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does not want to run the club. She has no experience at that. Why would

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she want to do it? To be fair to her, some of the headlines were

0:25:070:25:11

victory late, as if she is a dream wrecker and ruining football. I

0:25:120:25:21

think they wanted more transparency and accountability. He has done an

0:25:220:25:26

amazing job. It is an unusual situation. There -- at Southampton,

0:25:270:25:47

amazing job. It is an unusual it is a very strange situation in

0:25:480:25:49

terms of the way the club is run. It was unusual. Not a properly

0:25:500:25:55

constituted board and so on. He has now gone but I think he might come

0:25:560:26:00

back. I think there is a possibility he might come back. They have to

0:26:010:26:06

calm the situation down. Mauricio Pochettino has 17 months left on his

0:26:070:26:12

contract. They need to try to tie him down to a new deal or he will go

0:26:130:26:17

somewhere. At someone who was a chief executive of a football club

0:26:180:26:21

in your normal life, there are tweets and comments from players

0:26:220:26:25

about the chief executive. A few past players have said, no one place

0:26:260:26:29

for a chief executive, they played for a manager. Did you experience

0:26:300:26:38

that? I tweeted myself and said I was great! When you were a chief

0:26:390:26:44

executive, did you have a close... ? There are lots of different things

0:26:450:26:48

you can do. It is a relationship between the manager and chairman/.

0:26:490:26:57

That is the important thing. It usually comes true when the

0:26:580:27:00

executive or the board, if that breaks down, it does not matter what

0:27:010:27:05

anyone says, it is a nightmare for a football club. All sorts of things

0:27:060:27:10

go wrong and you cannot control them. Whatever happens, she must

0:27:110:27:21

make sure that that rift is right. She needs to close it down and say

0:27:220:27:26

no one is going. The strange line is, none of the players are for sale

0:27:270:27:34

but the club is for sale. That is a really unusual situation. I would

0:27:350:27:38

hope for the situation of Southampton going forward, just make

0:27:390:27:40

sure nothing happens between now and the end of January. There is a final

0:27:410:27:48

thing on theirs. There is an outpouring of grief among people

0:27:490:27:53

over a chief executive going. Even when David Dean left Arsenal, David

0:27:540:28:01

Gill left Manchester United, it was not at this level. He was an unusual

0:28:020:28:08

character. He was more than just the chairman, he was in control of the

0:28:090:28:12

way the club was operating in terms of football and business. You called

0:28:130:28:18

it the Southampton way. He had very clear way he wanted everything down

0:28:190:28:22

from top to bottom with control over everything. He was intense

0:28:230:28:28

character. A lot of people bought into that. A lot of people did not.

0:28:290:28:33

He has been ruthless in himself. It is quite strange. I hope that

0:28:340:28:42

football does not suffer. They have made great strides. The two

0:28:430:28:52

full-backs were 18. There have been players coming through that football

0:28:530:28:59

club over many years. The big thing is the league position. Had they

0:29:000:29:03

been back in that group, you would be really worried for them just

0:29:040:29:08

now. They have probably got enough of a buffer. Let's talk about one of

0:29:090:29:14

the side in that group. Swansea are struggling at the moment and are

0:29:150:29:18

playing at the moment. They are in 14th position. They are taking on

0:29:190:29:24

Spurs, who have improved under Tim Sherwood. I am realistic. There are

0:29:250:29:29

tougher tests to come. We have had some tough games and done well,

0:29:300:29:35

particularly in the Premier league. We have a belief in the squad that

0:29:360:29:38

we will win every time we take to the field. Even if we have not good

0:29:390:29:43

performance in the first half, we have the mentality to turn it around

0:29:440:29:47

and the quality to be able to do that. I am under no illusions. I

0:29:480:29:52

know it is a tough job, no matter where you manage, at whatever

0:29:530:29:56

level. This is a big club and I am fully aware of that. I was fully

0:29:570:30:02

aware that when I took over. I am delighted to say we can talk to the

0:30:030:30:06

first-team coach at Swansea. Thank you for talking to us. Is this a

0:30:070:30:09

difficult period for the Yes, in terms of results, but we all

0:30:100:30:20

know we have to get points on the board. Can you put it down to

0:30:210:30:26

anything in particular? Well, I mean, everybody is talking about the

0:30:270:30:30

Europa cup and our involvement in that, but I think we have been

0:30:310:30:35

stretched. We have as many as seven or eight players out at the moment,

0:30:360:30:39

and with clubs like ourselves, if you lose seven or eight players,

0:30:400:30:44

inevitably the team and the squad will suffer. Does that mean you are

0:30:450:30:47

spending a lot of time in this transfer window scouring for

0:30:480:30:51

players? Is it a good time to bring them in? Yeah, I think so. Most

0:30:520:30:57

certainly, we have not acted in the market yet, but that is not to say

0:30:580:31:01

there are not lots of things going on behind the scenes. Hopefully, you

0:31:020:31:05

know, we need to get through this period. Within the next week or two,

0:31:060:31:10

we should get people like Jonathan de Guzman back, Nathan Dyer, Pablo

0:31:110:31:17

Hernandez, Michel Vorm. Michu is probably another couple of weeks

0:31:180:31:21

away, but the situation, I am sure will resolve itself in the next

0:31:220:31:25

couple of weeks, but we have to manage the squad, and there are

0:31:260:31:30

games to play in the meantime. Michael Laudrup has highlighted some

0:31:310:31:34

of them, West Ham, Cardiff, he has highlighted what an important period

0:31:350:31:40

this is. Yes, and again, again, one of the reasons, if you are looking

0:31:410:31:43

for why we have not picked up results, it is because we played the

0:31:440:31:49

likes of United, City, Chelsea, Everton, so we have played the

0:31:500:31:53

majority of the top teams in the last couple of weeks and months. It

0:31:540:31:57

has been a difficult time anyway, just the fact of the nature of the

0:31:580:32:02

opposition, but allied that to the Europa Cup and the injuries, these

0:32:030:32:06

are not excuses, but trying to find reasons why we have not picked up

0:32:070:32:11

the points. As I say, we have been in the majority of the games,

0:32:120:32:14

probably a bit unlucky not to have picked up the odd point here and

0:32:150:32:20

there. But the performances, I think if you get the performances right,

0:32:210:32:24

the results will follow. Thank you for talking to us, Alan, much

0:32:250:32:32

appreciated. Slightly unprofessional of me to

0:32:330:32:36

have my phone on during that interview, at least it did not play

0:32:370:32:44

Fat Bottomed Girls! So many players missing for Swansea, particularly in

0:32:450:32:51

central midfield, they forced into a change. Chico Flores comes into the

0:32:520:33:00

defence alongside Ashley Williams, just the one change for Swansea from

0:33:010:33:06

that team last week. As for Spurs, significant news, because Roberto

0:33:070:33:09

Soldado has been dropped, so this probably mean a switch in formation

0:33:100:33:14

for the first time under Tim Sherwood, Chadli makes only his

0:33:150:33:26

eighth league start today. Expect Dembele to be holding the midfield,

0:33:270:33:30

Lennon, Ericsson and Chadli just aired. Like Swansea, just the one

0:33:310:33:35

change from the Spurs side from their victory over Palace last

0:33:360:33:40

weekend. Dan hedge has texted us, Tim Sherwood has played 4-3-2 -1, I

0:33:410:33:47

hope Ericsson gets to play that role, he looked brilliant for Ajax.

0:33:480:33:53

I use a pricey has gone to that as opposed to 4-4-2. Not too surprising

0:33:540:33:59

against a team that love to play the ball. -- are you surprised. Your

0:34:000:34:08

text is absolutely spot-on, you have got five guys in midfield. I agree

0:34:090:34:18

with him about him taking so long to establish that position, because

0:34:190:34:22

watching them from the start of the season, I have been to see Spurs

0:34:230:34:27

quite a lot, and they have needed a number 10. They just did not have a

0:34:280:34:33

number 10. I did not know if Eriksson would be good enough, maybe

0:34:340:34:39

one from that group, so good to see him starting. Chadli, we would like

0:34:400:34:45

to see something from him, because physique wise, he has got absolutely

0:34:460:34:55

everything. Interesting that Tim Sherwood has changed it, because he

0:34:560:34:59

thought that formation was missing under AVB, but he has probably

0:35:000:35:02

listened and learned that they have been very open at times,

0:35:030:35:06

particularly in away games. Even though they won at Old Trafford,

0:35:070:35:12

where they played well... Under Sherwood, Jonathan Lord RoSPA did in

0:35:130:35:15

the Sunday Times, they have gone from a worst shot to goal ratio to

0:35:160:35:22

the best under Tim Sherwood. Didn't they also have the best shots on

0:35:230:35:27

target before that anyway? The chances have gone in, basically.

0:35:280:35:31

They have done very, very well. I am stunned, actually, he has done this,

0:35:320:35:36

because he made it clear that his predecessor had to Blake two

0:35:370:35:39

strikers, he always would, the Tottenham way, and low and behold

0:35:400:35:44

they are playing one. He has been right, pragmatic, I agree with

0:35:450:35:49

everything that has said, but if you make a big play of your manager

0:35:500:35:53

having two strikers, and this is what he will do, and you don't... He

0:35:540:35:59

is playing one off the striker, it is kind of one and a half strikers.

0:36:000:36:06

I am with you completely! I find it fascinating, because once you are in

0:36:070:36:10

the job, things change. He is right to play one striker, because you

0:36:110:36:14

cannot let Swansea have the ball the whole time, but you make a big play

0:36:150:36:18

of the fact that you have two and you do not do it... What else is

0:36:190:36:22

interesting is that he has turned Adebayor around in a short spell, in

0:36:230:36:26

the short-term, which a lot of managers do, with a partner, with

0:36:270:36:31

two laptop. Now Adebayor has to lead the line on his own. Adebayo said

0:36:320:36:40

one of the reasons behind as performance was Tim Sherwood saying,

0:36:410:36:45

go out and play football. Piazon a strike partner in every game. They

0:36:460:36:50

needed to bring this player back into the game. -- he has had a

0:36:510:36:59

strike partner in every game. I want to nip to Stamford Bridge, Steve

0:37:000:37:02

Wilson is there for Match Of The Day to a little later, Steve, we have

0:37:030:37:08

talked about the tactics, all sorts of things, how are you viewing the

0:37:090:37:12

dynamic between Jose Mourinho and David Moyes at the moment? Well,

0:37:130:37:16

Mourinho played a bit of a blinder in his press conferences at the end

0:37:170:37:21

of the week. There is no one better at getting the press to roll over so

0:37:220:37:25

he can tickle their tummies, and he did it splendidly this week. And

0:37:260:37:31

with this backhanded manner that he has, he heaped more pressure on

0:37:320:37:35

David Moyes by saying, he is the right man for the job, I am sure Man

0:37:360:37:40

United will finish top four, no problem, total ability. You expect

0:37:410:37:46

that from Mourinho. What I think David Moyes days, very cleverly, --

0:37:470:37:54

did, very cleverly, he looked at it and said, I am up against a tricky

0:37:550:37:58

customer bowling googlies, what am I going to do? I am not going to take

0:37:590:38:03

the English cricket stands, I will play a straight bat and not engage.

0:38:040:38:08

And that is what he did, he said, well, you know, he can talk about my

0:38:090:38:14

team if he likes, I disagree with him about Rooney. But he did not

0:38:150:38:18

engage, and I think that was pretty smart of David Moyes, because he

0:38:190:38:22

knows, if it comes down to a sort of battle of wills and wits between him

0:38:230:38:26

and Mourinho, in all likelihood David Moyes will end up losing. I

0:38:270:38:29

think they both deserve a bit of credit for the way they have

0:38:300:38:34

approached this game. No more cricket references, it is too

0:38:350:38:37

painful at the moment! We lost again, I assume? Take it as given!

0:38:380:38:46

In terms on the pitch, where will the battle be and lost? It is in

0:38:470:38:52

midfield, isn't it? The two outstanding midfield in the Premier

0:38:530:38:54

League at the moment belonged to Manchester City and Chelsea, and

0:38:550:38:59

when you look at creativity in that area, and you think of the

0:39:000:39:03

embarrassment of riches that Chelsea have, compare it to what Manchester

0:39:040:39:07

United have at the moment, with a few injuries, no Rooney, obviously,

0:39:080:39:13

Ashley Young out. But even at their best, you would say that Manchester

0:39:140:39:19

United, creatively, don't have what Chelsea have, Januzaj, exceptional

0:39:200:39:22

though he is, is still very young. It is too early to expect him to be

0:39:230:39:26

at that level week in, week out. Given that Chelsea's three behind

0:39:270:39:31

the striker are so creative and have added workrate to their game under

0:39:320:39:36

Mourinho, whoever plays in those defensive midfield positions for

0:39:370:39:39

Manchester United today are going to be very important. Darren Fletcher

0:39:400:39:42

is only just back into the reckoning, really, but has already

0:39:430:39:47

become a really key player for David Moyes in that position. He has tried

0:39:480:39:52

combinations, Cleverley, Carrick, gigs, he will be delighted to have

0:39:530:39:56

Fletcher back. I think that is where Chelsea will have the advantage over

0:39:570:40:00

Manchester United today. Thank you very much, Steve Wilson at the game,

0:40:010:40:07

that is on Match Of The Day 2, that is live on Radio 5 live from four

0:40:080:40:12

o'clock. You have written both teams down on a little bit of paper.

0:40:130:40:18

Inside Information! And the midfield two for Chelsea, three for

0:40:190:40:23

Manchester United, is where there are questions. If David Moyes puts

0:40:240:40:37

Kurgan were in... If you have got Cleverley, Carrick and Fletcher, he

0:40:380:40:41

will sit back and try to soak it up a little bit. If it is only two of

0:40:420:40:48

those three, then Moyes is going for it. He will have sat up thinking

0:40:490:40:57

about it all night last night. He is very adaptable, maybe not as

0:40:580:41:00

adaptable as Mourinho, but if that is not working, he will change it

0:41:010:41:04

quite quickly. He does not want to be beaten by the time he makes the

0:41:050:41:09

change. Steve was talking about the strength of the Chelsea midfield,

0:41:100:41:12

but clearly Mourinho thinks there is a problem about that, because he has

0:41:130:41:16

brought in Matt itch. He clearly sees an issue there. The once

0:41:170:41:26

specialist defenders. -- he wants. He feels that it is a bold rural

0:41:270:41:30

area he wants to strengthen. I do not think it is vulnerable, but

0:41:310:41:38

sometimes in European Games he had three or four sitting midfielders,

0:41:390:41:46

and obviously Ramirez can play in there. You have got that set,

0:41:470:41:53

someone who can give you an await European draw when you need it, more

0:41:540:41:58

than anything else. On the Chelsea signing of Matic, does that

0:41:590:42:02

highlight, as we look at all the Sunday papers today, people saying

0:42:030:42:06

United linked with this player that, Chelsea have gone, Aaron, this is

0:42:070:42:13

who we need, 20 million to Benfica. Well, they knew the player, they had

0:42:140:42:18

him previously, and they obviously had first option on him. It was an

0:42:190:42:22

easy and obvious transfer for Chelsea to do that, and for him to

0:42:230:42:27

come back and play for Mourinho, he has gone away and proved himself,

0:42:280:42:30

become a better player, and now Mourinho is saying, we will see him

0:42:310:42:35

next season. It is great to get him into the squad for January, but next

0:42:360:42:39

season he will be a big player. In that sense, they had to steal the

0:42:400:42:43

march. Jason may disagree, I don't see a great deal of that kind of

0:42:440:42:47

business being done in January. I think that might be the biggest deal

0:42:480:42:53

of the window in terms of cash. Does it highlight they are decisive and

0:42:540:42:57

Manchester United are indecisive? I think that is harsh. Chelsea have

0:42:580:43:01

been fairly indecisive themselves in the past! One of the great things

0:43:020:43:06

about Chelsea is how they could buy anyone, but you can't, certain

0:43:070:43:09

places will not sell to you, and they found that out with Rooney.

0:43:100:43:14

See, talking about the things that make a difference, Raphael is not

0:43:150:43:21

available, they will have to play Smalling against Hazard, the type of

0:43:220:43:24

player that Hazard would love to play against, so that would concern

0:43:250:43:30

me, Valencia being dragged back. So many texts about Luis Suarez and

0:43:310:43:34

penalties! I know! I will end with a couple. The tackle used to be seen

0:43:350:43:41

as an artform, now players go down time and again. Fans are like

0:43:420:43:45

managers, they only use in relation from their own standpoint, there

0:43:460:43:49

will be no change until fans are critical of their own players. From

0:43:500:43:54

Belfast, Pat Nevin is a dead ringer for my sister-in-law who lives in

0:43:550:44:02

Montreal! Thank you to Pat, Steve and Jason. Chelsea against

0:44:030:44:05

Manchester United on 5 live, and that is on Match Of The Day 2

0:44:060:44:09

tonight. We will see you in a couple of weeks. Bye-bye.

0:44:100:44:12

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