22/01/2017 MOTD2 Extra

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

and the BBC sport website this lunchtime. In the company of Martin

Kiang, Wes Brown, and John Cross. If you want to get in touch, you can

across social media and drop us text. Over the next 45 minutes, this

is what we will discuss. Swansea stunning Liverpool and moving off

the bottom of the table with the win at Anfield. Manchester City less

than impressed with the officials. Wayne Rooney becoming Manchester

United's all-time leading scorer at Stoke. Later today Chelsea can

increase their lead at the top with a win over Hull, and updates from

Saint Mary 's, the only game where it is currently goalless between

Southampton and Leicester. As far as the newspapers are concerned this

morning, the Sunday Express saying Jurgen Klopp was critical of his

team's defending yesterday. The Sunday Mirror, one of several

papers to go with Wayne Rooney's record-breaking goal for Manchester

United. We will start at Anfield, Swansea beat Liverpool by 3-2,

Liverpool 's first home defeat in over a year, and here is the Swansea

manager. It is a fantastic result for us, it wasn't a game we were

expected to win. There are games this season which are must wins and

that goes down as a big bonus for us. What does that do now to

confidence in the dressing room, to believe collectively? Going back to

the start of the week, if you put the effort in and you focus on the

training ground, execute the plan to the best of your ability and always

work as a team, then anything is possible. Where is it -- is it over

exaggerating to say it is the kind of result that can change a season?

Anyone playing away at Liverpool, it is very difficult and that result,

considering they are in the bottom three, is massive. I watched the

game, want to get stuck 2-2 I'm thinking there is only one winner

here. He has come in, sorted it out, they have a plan and I think they

have gone into the game... You can see, the way they defended I thought

it was brilliant myself. They went 2-0 ahead, Liverpool are always

going to come back but they got the winning goal. I wondered about the

fact that they were 2-0 up, it came back to 2-2, then they went to 3-2,

and if the manner of the victory is as important as the points itself.

Definitely, it is all about belief and that will help to establish some

belief. You can win at Anfield, you can most win anywhere. You want

results to back up the messages you are giving the team so that will

potentially turn their season around. But with -- we have seen it

once before so we will have to see if they can build on this. He has

players who can turn the games around, Sigurdsson is an outstanding

player, and others and he has the tools to turn it around but he's a

young manager. He didn't have a great time at Derby, whether that

was to do with the owners or his results so I think they've got a

good one. With regards to the confidence, we were talking before

we came on air, I was at Swansea last week and for the last half-hour

you could argue they were the better side against Arsenal. When they

conceded the second goal, they conceded two own goals, and after

that you could see them deflating so confidence, as it would be at the

bottom of the table, has been a problem. It has been the issue, and

I would think they would look back on yesterday and think the biggest

thing about that result is having lost the two goal lead, to be pegged

back to 2-2, you worry about your team's mentality from then on but

then they go for it again and I think that is fantastic for their

confidence. It might be a season defining result for them because it

might give them the belief to really push on. I know he wasn't in charge

that game, but they won at Crystal Palace with Clement in the stands.

They got thrashed by Arsenal but it hasn't been too bad of an

introduction in terms of results for Clement. Psychologically you wake up

this morning, you are out of the bottom three and you can build on

it. Because it is... Wes has been there with Sunderland, it wears you

down, you cannot get out of the bottom three, it gives you a massive

boost. Is it easier away from home when you are in a relegation battle?

I'm not saying go to Anfield. It was easier to play against the bigger

teams because nobody was expecting anything. You go out there and you

play, you are more relaxed. We seemed to get results when we were

at Sunderland against the bigger teams for that reason. The teams

around us we struggled against. It was very weird. Was it a different

feeling from the fans as well? Did they expect less? Yes, probably. You

forgot about the whole situation and just went and played. We had good

players but the confidence between the team wasn't there and then when

you play the bigger teams it comes out in new. You can relax and get

results. On Liverpool, when they missed Adam Lallana earlier in the

season, they were talking about the problem with that, then missing

Mane, does the fact their squad isn't big enough at the moment? Yes,

I think they particularly miss Mane because he's made such a difference

with his direct running, his goal threat, the opportunities he

creates. He also, in the way he plays, allows Adam Lallana to be

deeper and he makes things happen the Liverpool so it's almost like

they are missing things on two fronts but you are right, it's

likely highlight the issue about the squad. The defending on the Ponzi

goals will give Jurgen Klopp nightmares and that is perhaps still

that frailty so the depth in the squad and perhaps dealing with

crosses and the area of threat will be his biggest concern if he's going

to try and maintain the title challenge. A massive shock, if you

are lovable you've got to win that game. Chelsea not even playing

yesterday. They are in the hotel, the sun lounges are out, it's

fantastic news. I wouldn't have had the sun lounges out in London

yesterday, it was very cold! It is, you can win the league not actually

playing. You've got to put them under pressure. Liverpool had a

massive opportunity yesterday and that -- let that slip. It is a big

result. Mane is one of the best players for me. He makes things

happen. As a Liverpool fan you might not say he's my best player, but I

think he's the difference this season when he has come in. They've

struggled over the last three or four games. As you all know, when

you are used to winning championships, those games you are

struggling in, you just need to get a win. Particularly if you can get

it back to 2-2. Yes, as I said, there's only one winner and it

didn't happen. You can play well for three or four weeks, get a draw,

when you play bad you want to win. We have got Southampton Leicester on

the screen just out of the camera shop. It is lovely and sunny there

so we might be able to get an update from the sun lounge! It is goalless,

it has been a bright start of the game. Southampton have a decent

chances, Nathan Redmon picked out from seven yards out, he went over

the bar. Treadmill on the right-hand side of the area, shot saved by

Schmeichel down to his left hand side. One moment the Leicester on

the counterattack, but the shot was saved. Southampton have lost their

last four Premier League games, Leicester have one one of their last

six and just five points off the bottom. -- won one. It is Manchester

City against Spurs. An equaliser came moments after Andre Mariner

didn't give a penalty for Kyle Walker pushing Raheem Sterling.

Let's hear from Pep Guardiola. We are just watching it again, the

push on Raheem Sterling, what are your feelings on that? The first

question is on the referee? This is the BBC, prestigious, to talk about

the football, not the referee? It's just because we saw that then, I

wondered what your reaction was. Let's go back to the performance of

your team then, what I thought overall of the performance? They

made outstanding performance so it is a pity. We cleared more chances,

we conceded few. The right decisions, the right moments, always

against, and of course you have to score goals. We created so many

chances but we were not able and after that with the top teams like

Tottenham, so again, that is impossible to make something and we

create eight or nine chances in Everton today, I don't know how many

book a lot. It is impossible. Pep Guardiola with Guy Mowbray, and we

will talk about the penalty after we had back to Saint Marys where there

has been the first goal of the afternoon. Yes, a really good finish

from James Ward, a curling shot for Southampton into the left-hand

corner and they are leading 1-0. Martin, you must have some sympathy

with Pep Guardiola after yesterday's performance and the lack of penalty

being given. Without a doubt, that is where you want the officials to

be, Raheem Sterling is working hard to stay on his feet. If he'd gone

down it would have got a penalty and the referee has got to read that

situation. We have all done it as defenders, you nudge the striker,

hope to get away with it. Slightly more than a nudge. Definitely, the

assistance should have picked up on it. Yes, he has sort of been

punished himself for staying on his feet so in that sense he was very

unlucky and that's why the referees have got to do a little bit more, I

think. City I think bossed the game, but Tottenham getting a draw, and

they can only go away feeling happy about the situation. We are in a

very old situation, aren't we, with footballers and referees at the

moment. Root hollered alluded to it on Match of the Day last night that

referees will respond to how players react rather than what they may see

as regards to the actual foul. Howard Webb on Twitter last night

said that the ridiculous claim by Ruud Hullit, but referees react on a

lot of incidents with regards to how the aggrieved party reacts. Yes, and

I felt a point last night was valid. Early in his career, Raheem Sterling

has taken criticism the going down too easily. He's trying to be

honest, trying to play. It was just knocked off balance at the crucial

moment as he hits the shops, so what incentive is there for him to be

honest to try to be as honest as he can, stay on his feet? If he goes

down and dives, he basically gets a penalty. For me, Andre Mariner has

not kept up with the plague. I think he will be disappointed when he sees

it again because it is a howler and it's basically a game defining

howler as well because it is just the rules of football dictate that

Tottenham were always going to go up the other end, you didn't expect

quite so quickly, and equalise and punish them. Visit one of those

situations where you needed to have played the game. I don't want to

wave the game at referees really, but if you have played the game you

know that this situation in which it is a foul. I think that is harsh on

professional referees. Should we be getting referees in younger though?

We are seeing a lot of penalties lately where the player gets his

foot there to be fouled and you know what they are doing because you

might have tried to do it yourself. It is difficult to pick that out,

practice helps are free to do it, but... We have seen that so often

over the last ten years of players leaving their foot there to be hit

by the defender that in this era of professional referees, surely they

should be knowing that's happening. Secondly, if you follow your logic,

why are you sitting next to me? Why are you not there,?

To be in the referee system, I would have had to have started halfway

through my football career. But if a scheme was in place to fast-track

you? If I had been a high-profile player, it might have been

difficult. I would have been interested. I went on a referee

course and had a look at it. It is harder than it looks. But I wanted

to get some idea of how difficult it really was. One thing that annoyed

me was that curly finger, come here, to book a player. The first thing I

did when I sent someone off was to do except what the referees had done

to me. Players' reactions, if you win a ball as a centre-half and the

striker you win the ball stays on his feet and 30 seconds later, in a

similar tackle, that striker then falls over, do you think you are

more likely to concede a free kick for the second one that the first

one? Yeah, 100%. It is difficult for the referee, but that is a very big

part of the game. If he goes down, he gets a penalty. They just need to

get that bit right. The fouls in the middle of the park, OK. But the big

decisions need to be sorted out. I understand why City are not happy

this morning. There is huge pressure on these referees. I don't know what

the referee does between now and the next match. Does he go and referee

and under 23 games? Get his sharpness back again, rebuild his

confidence? Or do they just drop him into the next match? The bigger

picture is, it is neither the referee's fault nor players' fault,

it is the game's fault that we are in a situation at the moment like

this. Well, so much of it is depicted by the player's reaction.

It is harsher on referees to say that they don't get it because they

have not played the game and they don't understand. Generally, when a

mistake is made, why don't we castigate the player who has dived?

But the general consensus is, let's get at the referee because he has

made the mess up. No. Get at the player who has dived. That is who

should be openly criticised. That is what annoys me. Also, the goal-line

technology has been such a success. It is black and white as a science.

You can tell if it has crossed the line. You can't obviously do that

with subjective penalty decisions like this, but giving video

technology to referees gives you a better chance. It is still not going

to be 100%, but I can understand Guardiola's frustration. I don't

like his interview technique! It was perfectly fair of Guy Mowbray to

ask. You generally throw them a general question about the game, but

it was the only question. The whole of this discussion negates the fact

that that was one of City's better performances. At half-time, they

could have been at least 3-0 up. They created chance after chance. It

doesn't negate what was City's strong response to a real thrashing

by Everton. They worked hard pressed hard. Tottenham will admit that it

was one of their poorest performances of the season. So it is

as much about their resilience to get something the game. Manchester

United dropped points at Stoke, finished 1-1. They need a late

equaliser from Rooney. He got his 250th goal for Manchester United,

which makes him the club's all-time record goal-scorer, going past Bobby

Charlton. This was what he said after the game. When you sign for a

club, you realise how important he is to the football club. Surpassing

him today is something I had never even thought of. So I am delighted

that I have the utmost respect for Sir Bobby. He came after the game

and congratulated me. So he is pleased and it is a great honour for

me. Sir Bobby Charlton said he was disappointed to lose the record, but

glad it had gone to Wayne Rooney. You know him well, Wes. What do you

think it means to him? It is brilliant. When you sign for a club

like Manchester United at a young age, he would never have thought

this achievement was possible. When this 31 now -- Wayne is 31 now. To

break that record, even in this time, is remarkable. It is

well-deserved. He is not even a regular at the moment. Do you think

he has adapted to that? He has done a perfect. He will not be happy

about it, but he has adapted to it. He is the captain of the football

club and in his head, he has sorted that out perfect. He obviously wants

to play every game, because I know the sort of character he is, but he

has adapted to it well and he came on yesterday and got a draw for the

boys. It is fantastic. As lots of people are pointing out, Martin, it

is not the fact that he broke the record, it is the fact that it was

the ball in the back of the net and he wanted to get the ball back

rather than celebrate. And what a goal. He was aiming for a small area

from that distance. There is a lot more to offer from Wayne Rooney, and

I don't believe he should settle for sitting on the bench. That fire is

still burning in his belly, you can see it. He has mature brilliantly

dealt with the situation. Can he do it at Manchester United? He's 31.

There are players at the team who are older and doing well. I don't

see why he can't do more at Manchester United. But he might not

want to start every week. And Royal Marine you give him that chance? I

couldn't agree more. He has this wonderful desire and energy and

talent. That goal, what a fitting way to break the record. Sometimes,

we do under appreciate him generally, maybe more so in the

media. I include myself in that. He is not England's record goal-scorer.

It may only be when he retires that we offer him the appreciation and

the honour that he deserves. For me, he has been an all-time great. When

you say we, who do you mean? Do you mean the media all football fans?

Football fans in general and the media as well. He may be a bit of a

target to be shot at. I am not blaming anyone else, because I am in

newspapers, and newspapers do this as well. But I have always been

appreciative of him. Does he feel he is a target? He gets a lot of stick

for no reason. His football speaks for itself. The stats show how good

he is. Maybe on the England seem, because we have not done well, he

gets more stick because of that is the captain. Do you think there is a

reticent sometimes from United fans because a couple of times, he has

tried to leave the club? That doesn't help. But that is football.

It makes you question some of the players other than. There are not

enough of them players about. Players just accept it nowadays. He

has won everything a player can win domestic live. OK, England has been

a problem for many generations, since 66. He has won everything in

the game and these individual accolades he is getting are just

like icing on the cake. Its immense human history for ever. We would

talk about Saido Berahino moving to Stoke in a moment, but there has

been another goal at St Mary's. It is not looking good for the

champions. No, it is looking bleak at the moment because Southampton

lead 2-0 against Leicester. It was poor defending from Leicester. A

free kick just wasn't cleared and it felt a Rodriguez four yards out, who

volleyed it into the back of the net. A couple of tweets on Rooney,

just to show how he divides opinion. Jack says phenomenal effort, hasn't

had the credit he deserves. He has always been scapegoated. Eddie says

he is underrated, one of the best the country has produced. Oliver

says, overrated, never scores in big games, bad attitude, overpaid,

hasn't done anything for England. Not a fan! #bbcfootball if you want

to get in touch. Are you surprised that Saido Berahino has ended up at

Stoke? It is a bit of a sideways move for him. He was try to get a

couple of years ago. We have been talking about him for a couple of

years. I suppose the club has won that situation and he has gone

somewhere a lot bigger than where he left. I think Mark use will turn him

around and he will be a decent striker for them, but he had a role

to play for Tony Pulis and he didn't seem to want it. What I meant to

that question was that he was linked with Spurs a lot, who were trying to

get in the Champions League. And yes, they have Schir Kierey and

Arnautovic, but the two clubs are similar stature, Stoke and West

Brom. I do think it is a sideways move. It is a fantastic deal for

West Brom. I know it is still competition, but they have to be

delighted with that. I think Tottenham were interested in a

player who has genuine ability, a top quality player, great potential.

But I'm afraid his conduct in trying to force the move would make any top

club say, is he a player worth that sort of gamble? It has to be seen as

a risk. Good luck to Mark use. -- Mark Hughes. He is not afraid to

take on big characters, whether it be Arnautovic chew or players in the

past. He believes in talent first. That is a good sign. I think West

Brom have done brilliant. There is always this thing nowadays where

players have the power. If they want to move, they eventually get that

chance. But with five months to go, it is perfect. I don't think it is a

bad deal for Stoke. It will help them out. West Brom have done

brilliantly with the transfer. Wilfried Bony has not worked out,

for whatever reason. But if they can get him working and fit through the

middle, then they have the firepower to deliver. Those of us with long

memories can remember the goals he was scoring a couple of years ago,

and this fella is special. He has good feet. He is quick. He has the

eye for a goal. He wasn't focused, and he probably feels he was bullied

a bit. Couldn't get what he wanted. Tony Pulis is a difficult manager in

that situation. But they will get a very good player. But there is

something wrong with him a little bit mentally. It could all happen

for him again at Stoke. Let's move on to Crystal Palace, who have

slipped into the bottom three after Seamus Coleman's late winner for

Everton at Selhurst Park yesterday. Here is Sam Allardyce. The learning

curve for me is finding out about this player, that player, who I can

rely on the most. When I made that decision with bringing new players

in by the end of January, I was focusing on that and making those

players better between now and the end of the season in all aspects of

the game. I guess it is tricky, because you are trying to give the

club in the Premier League, but you are also firefighting to an extent

as well. But I am used to that. I can't say I particularly like it,

but at the end of the day, I have been here before. So I will try and

manage the team with the backroom staff. And if the team believe as

much as I do, if the players believe as much as I do, we will get out of

it. So he says he has been there before and he has. He also said a

couple of weeks ago in a post-match interview that it might be late

March or April before they pull away from the bottom. If you look at when

he was at Sunderland, won three of his first six but then lost the next

five. He has admitted it could take a while to turn it around. He is

trying to go on the front foot by saying if the players believe as

much as he does. That is different from what he said at the start of

the week, when he was questioning whether there was the belief there

and whether he could keep Palace up. It was a strange statement from

Allardyce and I know he regretted it afterwards. He tried to address it

in his post-match interview there. I wonder about Allardyce. I thought

Palace would immediately go on the open up as soon as he got that job.

I wonder whether the England experience scarred him and is eating

up at him and perhaps taking away something of his ability as a

manager. I don't agree with that. Look at the

amount of games Palace have lost before he got there. It is

scandalous the amount of games they lost that the previous manager

stayed in the job as long as he did, so he inherited this. He's got to

turn things around. He's got to get wounded players who haven't won for

a long time back to winning. They have no confidence. Townsend is

sitting on the bench at the moment. Ben -- Benteke. He has some really

hard work to do in there, some really serious talking to those

players because they will go down if they don't turn it around very

quickly but they have the players to do it. What happens when he takes

over? What does he change really? The outside looking in at these

clubs you think an oncoming are all professional players, you know how

to defend, so what does he change? We were struggling. No confidence.

He comes in and keeps a very basic, very simple. He tells you what he

wants. It takes a few weeks but as soon as you started doing it, you

can see the lads coming together as a team and we started performing in

a reasonable way. We start getting results. It's as simple as that.

There is no, right, we will change this and that... We do it as a team.

He gets the confidence up. Does he walk you through shape, position,

drumming it in? Yes, we were letting in goals so he would get it all

tight and pretty much sorted out as simple as that. It's very simple.

There would be nothing very difficult going on with his

training. It would be simple, tight, compact. Wes, do you end up playing

for the man? Because of the X factor with the man himself. I've spoken to

some of the staff and they say he's a breath of fresh air. Yes, when you

are in the changing room, I know what it's like. Players are always

worried by other clubs. Players can come and destructive player and

there will be players at that club thinking oh, come summer I'm looking

to go. They just need to win games. They got some great players. Benteke

Has not been playing well and if he can sort that out, it's a great

help. You look at their midfield and Townsend is not even being used.

They have players who can turn this around. Puncheon. I look at them

defensively and I just don't think the quality is there. I just don't

think they are strong enough as a unit. But if he keeps them simple

and organised, there's not that much difference to the back four that

kept them up last season. I don't know, if you sense the manager

hasn't quite got that trust in you, I mean I guess it is an art of

management to hide that doubts but basically I think is clearly going

for two new full-backs, he will clearly go for that and a

centre-half. He is mixing it up, he played three yesterday. Font went to

West Ham, and that was a big mess because he is solid. We will come

back to the bottom of the table shortly. It is half-time at Saint

Mary 's. Simon Brotherton is up the Emirates for us. I know you were at

the Liberty Stadium last week watching the game against Swansea,

4-0 for Arsenal, were they as good as the scoreline suggests? Certainly

the first 20 minutes Swansea played very well, and Arsenal just look a

little bit laboured at times starting the game, but it's as if

they got in at half-time. Arsene Wenger regrouped with them and gave

them a kick up the backside, and their second-half formance was

scintillating at times. We saw Danny Welbeck come off the bench, Arsene

Wenger has been talking about him this week and the contribution he

can make in the second half of the season. Do you think in a way it is

almost like having a new signing and he could be a key contributor? Yes,

before his injury he was starting to get a few important goals for

Arsenal. He's done his preparation, there's no way Arsene Wenger would

allow him to come back into the Premier League in a game with such

pace and ferocity otherwise so he's obviously ready. He wants to get

Welbeck on the pitch and get him back to full fitness because you can

have bounce games and play in the reserves but it's not the same as

playing in a Premier League match with the meaning it accounts for.

Welbeck for me is a good player and just needs to get back to playing

games. I'm sure at some stage today you might see Welbeck coming on.

It's an opportunity for Arsenal to gain ground on some of their rivals,

with most of the top six dropping points yesterday. Can they be the

main challengers to Chelsea, do you think? I think there are still

several. I still look at the likes of Manchester City, and Spurs,

dropped a few points yesterday. They are all still chasing Chelsea, but

they cannot drop any points. In the past you seen Arsenal lose games

like today. Arsenal have got to be looking to win today.

You can hear John commentating on radio 5 Live this afternoon. Two

o'clock kick-off here at Emirates. Andy Dunn wrote a column in the

mirror questioning why Sean Dyche is not on the list to replace Arsene

Wenger when the time comes. Yes, it's an interesting read and I guess

at this moment in time basically is Sean Dyche judged because Burnley

went down, where is obviously Eddie Howe has kept on up. In answer to

that I think Sean Dyche has done a good job because relegation is such

a hammer blow, then to get them straight back up is almost more of

an achievement I think to keep that group of players together. This

season has been remarkable for Burnley and yet I don't think he

sometimes gets the appreciation as a young English manager that he

deserves. I know we are alluding to there, basically the home form is

out of this world, but away from home it is one point. But Sean Dyke

deserves much more credit than he sometimes gets. Sunderland beating

that West Brom yesterday, bottom of the Premier League. David Moyes

after the game spoke about inheriting a losing culture. Does

that ring true with you, Wes? Yes, a little bit. Out of the five seasons

I was there, four of them we were always in trouble. I don't know what

it is, it is hard to recognise what the problem is. It's not just the

players, it is a bit of the club as well. When you get into that, the

players have got to bring themselves out of it a little bit because luck

is not just going to help at the moment. The defeat is disappointing.

You talked about Sam Allardyce keeping things simple when he came

in and bringing the dressing room together. Does what David Moyes...

Seems frustrated in every interview. You can see that in his interviews.

He's got some good players and they are not performing. They need to be

doing better, they need the bigger players... Jermaine Defoe has been

brilliant. He's been doing what he's been asked. The other players need

to perform a little bit better because this has been going on for a

few seasons now and there's no... If you look at Sunderland you say yes,

Jermaine Defoe, there's not really anyone else you say. Do you think

they feel sorry for themselves, some of other players? Maybe, but I was

there and you have to get over that. Are they good enough now? Anichebe

Came off the bench and that someone they turn to. Has he got the money,

are his hands tied? The spark has got come from somewhere. He has his

hands tied behind his back. It will be an interesting acid test. He has

already been tested on Jermaine Defoe but how much ambition is there

to keep the better players? How much ambition is there to stay up and

maintain their Premier League status? I like David Moyes as a

manager but he's been eaten away by it all and it must be demoralising

but he is struggling to even stay positive. He has been linked with

Jagielka, Lescott and Robbie Keane which either implies they think it

is 2008 at Sunderland or there is no money. I don't think the money is

there, he has been open about his frustration with the lack of

funding. I Karanka described the atmosphere at the Riverside

yesterday as awful and suggested fans were calling for urgent long

balls and that was detrimental to the team, which goes back to the

point that sometimes it's easier to play away from home in a relegation

battle, but dangerous, as a manager, criticising your own fans? Honesty.

Visit the north-east thing or just a football thing. We had it at

Sunderland, especially with Gus Poyet it. It's difficult because if

you are keeping the ball at the back, maybe holding midfielder, they

just want to seek action. When you are not doing too well, when you are

trying to play like that, the fans just want to see some action. It is

the mentality maybe we are not trying to win. Effective football is

what you want, isn't it? You want to get behind your team. I think fans

is a big part of it. Even if you are losing, if the fans are behind you,

the lads love it. It lifts them and it makes them want to do more. When

it is done and it is doing and everyone is getting on your case, it

doesn't help. Even though you are not really focusing on it, it is

there in the background. The fans are like the 12th man for you,

aren't they? When it is not going well. That's when you need them the

most, just a bit of encouragement. We are nearly out of time, if

Chelsea were to win against Hull it would be a very successful weekend

for Chelsea. A remarkable weekend so far for Chelsea. They have gone

through a difficult couple of weeks where they have suffered a first

defeat, they have had the Costa fall out, and to go into this weekend

stronger than ever is credit to Antonio Conte. They still have

difficult games coming up. It is coming that through that, the next

few matches will be tough but they are looking like champions already.

But there's a long way to go and you cannot give up. Teams have been in

this situation before and lost points. I remember when Arsenal had

a ten point gap... All right, we are out of time, Martin! Who would have

thought that would happen. Southampton against Leicester is 2-0

and that's on 5 Live.