:00:31. > :00:40.Hello, welcome to Match Of The Day 2 Extra, live on BBC One, BBC Radio 5
:00:41. > :00:46.Live and the BBC sport website as we discuss the weekend football,
:00:47. > :00:51.including Arsene Wenger's 1000 game in charge, one of his most eventful.
:00:52. > :00:55.I'm sure the performance of Andre Marriner will be up for discussion,
:00:56. > :01:02.as will be the performances of Liverpool and Manchester City, as
:01:03. > :01:05.the title race hots up. Both men and Match Of The Day 2 later are in the
:01:06. > :01:08.studio, Peter Schmeichel and Jason Roberts. We also have Jonathan
:01:09. > :01:16.Northcroft, football correspondent from the Sunday Times. Your thoughts
:01:17. > :01:19.as well, please. Or you can go on the Match Of The Day Facebook page.
:01:20. > :01:25.I'm sure you'll have your thoughts on Arsenal and Chelsea, Andre
:01:26. > :01:32.Marriner. And which goal was better, Rooney's or Alex Tettey's? I know
:01:33. > :01:35.you have a lot to say about Arsenal, Chelsea and Andre Marriner. We will
:01:36. > :01:42.do it in greater detail in a little while. Overall, was that the day for
:01:43. > :01:45.you that Arsenal dropped out of the title race? I think in the last
:01:46. > :01:51.couple of weeks it has look like they have run out of energy, fuel if
:01:52. > :01:56.you like. They have been very volatile to little things happening
:01:57. > :02:01.in games. So it looks like that. This time, it is whoever has
:02:02. > :02:05.momentum, it looks like Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool. They
:02:06. > :02:09.are the three teams that are going to battle for the title. You were at
:02:10. > :02:14.Stamford Bridge yesterday. In many ways, you are grateful Arsene Wenger
:02:15. > :02:18.didn't do the press conference afterwards because you had so much
:02:19. > :02:21.to fit into your report? An extraordinary game, three four
:02:22. > :02:28.front-page candidates. Chelsea reasserting themselves as title
:02:29. > :02:32.favourites, Arsenal's intrusion, I think that's it, and the remarkable
:02:33. > :02:37.inclusion of Andre Marriner, one of the most obvious refereeing mistakes
:02:38. > :02:42.I've seen. You were thinking, you wouldn't like to be in an identity
:02:43. > :02:46.parade with Andre Marriner choosing! A remarkable day as far as the title
:02:47. > :02:51.challengers were concerned. Liverpool hit six, Chelsea hit six,
:02:52. > :02:57.city its five. As Peter says, you need momentum at this stage of the
:02:58. > :03:01.season and they certainly have it. Arsenal's performance, lost two the
:03:02. > :03:05.last three, leads you to think they are dropping out of it. City, big
:03:06. > :03:10.games coming for them, Liverpool still have city and Chelsea to come
:03:11. > :03:15.at Anfield. Liverpool could be the kingmakers. Or, at Anfield, make
:03:16. > :03:19.themselves champions. A lot to discuss as regards yesterday's
:03:20. > :03:23.football. Let concentrate on one of today's games. The first one, Spurs
:03:24. > :03:27.against Southampton at White Hart Lane, later it is Aston Villa
:03:28. > :03:32.against Stoke. Let's talk to John Watson, during this game for Match
:03:33. > :03:40.Of The Day 2 later. Hello. I thought it was still sheep skin weather, but
:03:41. > :03:43.it's pouring with rain now. This could be a really attractive game on
:03:44. > :03:47.the field. Also, there will be a lot of eyes on the dugouts, given what
:03:48. > :03:52.has happened to Tim Sherwood over the last couple of weeks and also
:03:53. > :03:59.the fact that Pochettino was linked with the job is to not That
:04:00. > :04:02.speculation is still going on. Whether Tim Sherwood sits in the
:04:03. > :04:08.dugout or not, we'll wait and see. He sat in the standard Lisbon, to
:04:09. > :04:14.restrain himself a little bit. Spurs have fallen away a little bit.
:04:15. > :04:18.Defeat by Arsenal here last Sunday, a stubborn performance, an
:04:19. > :04:24.understrength team in Lisbon, out of the Europa League. Now, looking at
:04:25. > :04:28.the Premier League table, nine points seems an awful lot for
:04:29. > :04:32.Tottenham to make up in eight games. Tim Sherwood has a bit of a job on
:04:33. > :04:38.there if he is going to carry on in charge next season. Pochettino, I
:04:39. > :04:43.think Southampton ought to leave well alone and so does everybody
:04:44. > :04:45.else. I think he's been one of the surprise in success is amongst
:04:46. > :04:52.managers this season. Saints fans could not believe it when Nigel
:04:53. > :04:55.Adkins got the sack and this unknown South American came in. But they
:04:56. > :04:59.have been playing some rattling good football. What bigger incentive,
:05:00. > :05:04.when you have four players all on the fringe of the England World Cup
:05:05. > :05:08.squad? Exacta, you say they have been playing rattling good football.
:05:09. > :05:12.Tim Sherwood has admitted that Spurs haven't. Then he adds a caveat to
:05:13. > :05:19.that, he says these are not his players. Is that fair? Up to a
:05:20. > :05:22.point. The players that Tottenham signed, they would not have been his
:05:23. > :05:25.choices because he would not have been in the seat. The players they
:05:26. > :05:38.signed with the Gareth Bale money have not been a roaring success.
:05:39. > :05:42.Chadli has, he will possibly be playing behind Adebayor today. But
:05:43. > :05:45.the water of players that cavemen have not settled into what you would
:05:46. > :05:50.call a potentially Championship winning team. -- the players that
:05:51. > :05:53.came in. Somehow he asked to mix and match with the ones he knows and the
:05:54. > :05:59.ones he hasn't seen enough of. Several have been injured as well.
:06:00. > :06:05.Thank you very much. John matzoh and will be doing that much later.
:06:06. > :06:11.That we want to yesterday's big game at Stamford Bridge. Before we get
:06:12. > :06:16.the thoughts of Peter Schmeichel and Jason Roberts, Jonathan Northcroft,
:06:17. > :06:21.let's hear from both managers. Ten minutes, amazing. The way that we
:06:22. > :06:24.started, the way that we pressed them, the way that we recovered the
:06:25. > :06:28.ball and attacked spaces immediately. It was fantastic. In
:06:29. > :06:35.ten minutes, I think everybody in the stadium felt... Not the final
:06:36. > :06:40.score, but I think everybody felt that easily Chelsea would win this
:06:41. > :06:47.match. After that, the penalty, Redcar, men. -- red card, ten men.
:06:48. > :06:53.Obviously easy and comfortable. I think after ten minutes, everybody
:06:54. > :07:00.knows it. I believe I take full responsibility for the defeat today.
:07:01. > :07:03.There is not much purpose to talk too much about it because we have a
:07:04. > :07:08.big game on Tuesday night and we want to respond. We were not at the
:07:09. > :07:12.level today. After 20 minutes, it was game over and that becomes a
:07:13. > :07:18.nightmare then. You know, you have no chance to come back, basically.
:07:19. > :07:24.Down to ten men, 3-0 down. Every minute, no minute in the game of
:07:25. > :07:30.that stature that is not important. And we missed a few of them. Let's
:07:31. > :07:37.start with Chelsea. Chelsea's performance has kind have been
:07:38. > :07:41.forgotten. How impressive were they? Cull hugely impressive, no
:07:42. > :07:45.surprise in the way that Mourinho went about that game. Big, strong
:07:46. > :07:50.powerful players that do offensive things right. That is why they have
:07:51. > :07:55.the best defence in the league. There would not be a better setup,
:07:56. > :07:59.trying to win the ball high. Chelsea said, no problem, we will win it
:08:00. > :08:04.high and when we break we will break incisively. The amount of times that
:08:05. > :08:08.they won it in central midfield and got behind Arsenal, it was a
:08:09. > :08:13.surprise. We saw Liverpool do it to them. It's not just that, it's the
:08:14. > :08:16.fragility of the Arsenal team. You saw the confidence drain out of
:08:17. > :08:20.players. They didn't look out for the fight. They highlighted on Match
:08:21. > :08:23.Of The Day last night that Chelsea did to Arsenal exactly what
:08:24. > :08:29.Liverpool did at Anfield. Press them high, win the ball back. In football
:08:30. > :08:40.you need plan A, what you are trying to do. Then you need a plan B, plan
:08:41. > :08:49.C. It looks like Arsenal do not have that. If I was Arsene Wenger, I'd be
:08:50. > :08:53.disappointed at not playing Flamini. I'd be disappointed in my key
:08:54. > :08:59.player, my captain, basically just gave up. You can't have players
:09:00. > :09:03.giving up on games like that. For Arsenal, Jonathan, you have a
:09:04. > :09:06.headline here saying Arsene Wenger needs to rebuild his team. I'm not
:09:07. > :09:10.completely in agreement with that. I think he has the players that can
:09:11. > :09:18.make another challenge for the Championship. But you need players
:09:19. > :09:21.like Mesut Ozil back, fit, strong for the start of next season. I
:09:22. > :09:25.think if he can crack sees number two, I think there will be
:09:26. > :09:31.challenging again. He needs two or three players, one of them is
:09:32. > :09:39.definitely a centre back. He needs somebody that can control and change
:09:40. > :09:47.it into plan B and C. I'm talking about leadership. On their days,
:09:48. > :09:50.they are great players, Mertesacker and Koscielny. But everything went
:09:51. > :09:54.wrong from the beginning of the game. They are right in the position
:09:55. > :09:58.to change it, one of them is the captain, you should be able to
:09:59. > :10:02.change it straightaway. With Arsenal, it's difficult separating
:10:03. > :10:06.the factors. You are right about the leadership angle. The way they gave
:10:07. > :10:09.up was similar to how they gave up at Anfield wanted got bad. Some of
:10:10. > :10:13.the same players were doing it. The point I was making with the rebuild,
:10:14. > :10:18.in a funny way, what Arsenal have gained this year has also taken away
:10:19. > :10:20.from them. Arsenal has tried to put more experience into the team so
:10:21. > :10:25.they can deal with the other teams in the Premier League but what
:10:26. > :10:29.easily and they are more consistent. -- a bit more easily. It has become
:10:30. > :10:34.quite an old side, a lot of guys early 30s, coming up to 30, the
:10:35. > :10:38.Premier League this season has been all about pace and energy.
:10:39. > :10:42.Southampton, Liverpool, Chelsea, I just wonder if Arsene Wenger, that
:10:43. > :10:46.team is only going to get shown again and again in these types of
:10:47. > :10:51.games. He probably needs more Aaron Ramseys. I don't think they are that
:10:52. > :10:55.close to challenging, purely because of the philosophy, what they are
:10:56. > :11:01.trying to do. You look at Arsenal's team that they built in the past, he
:11:02. > :11:04.built a micro-invincible is, based on power, pace, technical ability,
:11:05. > :11:10.detail. They are trying to break teams down with small plays,
:11:11. > :11:13.technical football. When you come up against the better sides like
:11:14. > :11:17.Chelsea, they are big, strong, technically good and built on sound
:11:18. > :11:22.defence. I think that Chelsea and city are both far away from Arsenal.
:11:23. > :11:35.That goes back to it is fine if you have plan A, but you need B and C?
:11:36. > :11:39.When you have that The Invincibles you think, there is no way we can
:11:40. > :11:50.beat them. I like the way he thought, we can't beat them at
:11:51. > :11:56.first. The difference between the teams in the 90s, it was nothing. It
:11:57. > :12:00.was all about what happened on the day, how the big players responded
:12:01. > :12:05.to what was happening. The tactics very often went out the window. You
:12:06. > :12:11.are up against the best team, the best players, they match you man for
:12:12. > :12:14.man, position for position. You can't predict what is going to
:12:15. > :12:19.happen. When you look at it again yesterday, a lot of managers like
:12:20. > :12:23.the ball from the goalkeeper to be cast into the middle, then the
:12:24. > :12:28.full-back, it is a pattern that is so easily read. If you have players
:12:29. > :12:31.like Chelsea, strikers that are powerful, that have an engine to run
:12:32. > :12:37.all game and still do the job of strikers, they can put pressure on
:12:38. > :12:44.them all day and they will win the ball in their half. That makes it so
:12:45. > :12:49.it easier to play. I hadn't thought of it like that, but do you think
:12:50. > :12:52.the game, in essence, has become more patent and predictable? Three
:12:53. > :12:56.signs that are stretching out at the moment, maybe, have the ability to
:12:57. > :13:01.the ability to be unprintable? There is a new phase going on, the
:13:02. > :13:11.Barcelona Way was the way to play, and then Bayern Munich took that,
:13:12. > :13:18.Dortmund as well, they added the power and ability. The big
:13:19. > :13:21.difference between Barcelona and Ryan Munich, Barcelona play across
:13:22. > :13:29.the pitch, then they do something. Bayern Munich, at all times, they go
:13:30. > :13:38.forwards. It is much more effective and difficult to play against.
:13:39. > :13:42.Mourinho was the first manager to find a way to play against Barcelona
:13:43. > :13:46.and everybody else caught on. There are different ways of being
:13:47. > :13:50.predictable, you can be predictable by playing long balls, always trying
:13:51. > :13:54.to roll through midfield and press. Chelsea were more than happy for
:13:55. > :13:58.Arsenal to say, all right, you can dominate possession, we will win it
:13:59. > :14:03.and get behind you. Mourinho spoke to you guys in the press
:14:04. > :14:07.afterwards? It was typical Mourinho, he chose that moment to
:14:08. > :14:13.criticise a player, in a way, he once more from him. He said it was
:14:14. > :14:16.good from Andre Schurrle today, but I also see the bad in him. To me, he
:14:17. > :14:22.looked sensational today, driving with the ball, energy. But I picked
:14:23. > :14:25.Mourinho wants his consistency to improve and he talked about him
:14:26. > :14:29.being young. This is his first season, you'll be better next year.
:14:30. > :14:42.What was frightening for the rest was that was not Chelsea's best
:14:43. > :14:48.team. They missed Willian, Ramirez. Let me read some text messages
:14:49. > :14:57.before we get on do Andre Marriner. Happy 1000th Arsene Wenger. Time to
:14:58. > :15:03.go with grace. Gary - the magic has gone, he needs to move on. Then this
:15:04. > :15:09.which leads us on to Andre Marriner. Surely the referee did Arsenal a
:15:10. > :15:14.favour? They needed a goal-scorer and an attacker rather than a
:15:15. > :15:22.defender. At dirty macro down, it does not matter how much you lose
:15:23. > :15:25.by. Robbie Savage said he was disappointed Kieran Gibbs did not
:15:26. > :15:32.make more of a fuss at being the wrong player sent off. But you said
:15:33. > :15:36.there could be a reason for that is that if Arsenal were going to chase
:15:37. > :15:41.the game they needed Oxlade-Chamberlain and not Gibbs.
:15:42. > :15:46.Maybe Gibbs thought it was better he went off and not Oxlade-Chamberlain.
:15:47. > :15:51.The players might have made more of a thing of a left back going off
:15:52. > :15:58.here rather than a potential match winner. It was a bizarre mistake by
:15:59. > :16:05.the referee. We were shocked referee at that level can make a mistake
:16:06. > :16:08.like that. It was the whole refereeing team. It wasn't just
:16:09. > :16:14.Andre Marriner. He got the advice in his ear from the officials. The
:16:15. > :16:18.excuse is, the goalkeeper was in his way but the linesman had a great
:16:19. > :16:32.view of it. The linesman did not fly, did he? The referee was macro
:16:33. > :16:39.line was clear. He has a great view of it, no excuses. Even if he is
:16:40. > :16:45.right and he was impeded, refereeing is about getting your angles right,
:16:46. > :16:50.isn't it? I don't think he has any excuses. I think, there is a lot of
:16:51. > :16:56.money involved, and motion and feeling, every time we play a game
:16:57. > :17:00.of football. We spend a lot of time talking about it. I think we should
:17:01. > :17:04.take the referees and put them in front of cameras every game, to
:17:05. > :17:12.explain why they made the decisions they did. I would have loved, he has
:17:13. > :17:13.the time, when he goes back to the dressing room, he has the time to
:17:14. > :17:23.review everything he has done, have time to speak to his assistance and
:17:24. > :17:25.his partners in crime! He will have time to prepare himself like any
:17:26. > :17:31.other manager, like Arsene Wenger had to come out and face the music,
:17:32. > :17:38.faced the fans, he would have had time to prepare that. Arsene Wenger
:17:39. > :17:42.did not face all of the media. The second thing is, Andre Marriner did
:17:43. > :17:48.say sorry. He might not have done it in front of a camera but he did
:17:49. > :17:56.apologise to Arsenal. Have you read the apology? No, but he said he made
:17:57. > :18:00.a mistake. There is a paper that headline is the fact he said sorry,
:18:01. > :18:11.which is the Mail on Sunday. There headline begins" blunder referee" so
:18:12. > :18:14.they give with one hand and take away with the other. The
:18:15. > :18:20.broadcasters and TV will hammer the referee, he has said sorry, what
:18:21. > :18:25.more can he do? I think Peter's point might be the story is laced
:18:26. > :18:32.with the things that people said, it was a difficult decision to make and
:18:33. > :18:39.things. It wasn't. This was an apology through the referee's union,
:18:40. > :18:44.not even him. I think referees get criticised too much anyway. He has
:18:45. > :18:50.been honest. It is a very bad mistake, and it wasn't just by him.
:18:51. > :18:56.It did not change much in the way that Arsenal played. We have to be
:18:57. > :19:02.careful because he has made a mistake. Whether he says sorry not,
:19:03. > :19:08.it does not matter because he will still get a slapped wrist. He made a
:19:09. > :19:16.mistake. The amount of football we watch, the mistakes referees make. I
:19:17. > :19:21.was at again yesterday, I won't say where I was, but the referee
:19:22. > :19:26.yesterday, his interpretation of the rules was crazy. I cannot understand
:19:27. > :19:31.someone who has gone through the whole educational bit, got a licence
:19:32. > :19:35.to referee, gets into one of the highest leagues in Europe and comes
:19:36. > :19:41.out and consistently is such a bad referee. He has had an influence on
:19:42. > :19:47.how the game went. I don't think Andre Marriner is a bad referee. But
:19:48. > :19:53.he made a mistake on camera in one of the biggest games in England. You
:19:54. > :19:58.go in front of the cameras and you try to take the sting out of it.
:19:59. > :20:05.Everybody would still have criticised him. But he could have
:20:06. > :20:09.said, I really made a mistake, I am sorry about that. It takes the sting
:20:10. > :20:16.out of it or it gives us an explanation. No matter how important
:20:17. > :20:20.football has become to everybody, financially and emotionally, that is
:20:21. > :20:30.the element. We could do the whole show on this. Jose Mourinho raised
:20:31. > :20:35.an interesting point, monitors at the side of the pitch, maybe it is
:20:36. > :20:40.time to get them back? The referee is the one who has the least
:20:41. > :20:46.information out of all of the people watching the match. Who told him it
:20:47. > :20:50.was a penalty? We don't know. But a simple monitor for the fourth
:20:51. > :21:00.official could have allowed him to make the right decision. Manchester
:21:01. > :21:12.City, 51-macro when over Fulham. It was important for us to return to
:21:13. > :21:17.the Premier League, winning. We had three games in our hands, so it is
:21:18. > :21:32.important not to drop points especially at home. There is only
:21:33. > :21:41.one thing we once, and earlier I think it is going to be very tight.
:21:42. > :21:45.He has received so much praise, has Toure, and one of the other things
:21:46. > :21:49.he said was he talked about his third goal yesterday and how he was
:21:50. > :21:55.pleased he scored but because some people had been claiming in the
:21:56. > :22:00.Capital One Cup final, that goal had been a fluke. Obviously people did
:22:01. > :22:07.not understand how he strikes a ball. The goal yesterday started so
:22:08. > :22:12.far outside the post and it came in. He has been outstanding. The top
:22:13. > :22:18.scorer in the Premier League which for a midfielder is incredible. The
:22:19. > :22:26.Manchester City, winning 5-0 yesterday, Aguero being injured,
:22:27. > :22:30.Negredo has not been getting the goals he would like, they will need
:22:31. > :22:37.to replicate that in terms they can affect the opposition. With Aguero
:22:38. > :22:42.injury, it is not the type of injury you can come back and be 100%
:22:43. > :22:47.straightaway. If you'd eat Arsenal 6-0, you think you have done
:22:48. > :22:52.something for your goal difference the Manchester City take it away.
:22:53. > :23:00.Think back a few years when just one goal between them. Every goal
:23:01. > :23:04.counts. What I found unbelievable with Toure, and midfielder scoring
:23:05. > :23:12.19 Premier League goals. I cannot remember that happening. They may
:23:13. > :23:16.have done it but in a different way. It is unbelievable. Negredo does not
:23:17. > :23:21.get the goals, but look at the game yesterday, his interaction with
:23:22. > :23:26.other players, eventually resulted in a penalty being given. You do
:23:27. > :23:30.have dry spells, but the most important thing is you do something
:23:31. > :23:36.for your team. I think Negredo is doing that. Are they the favourites?
:23:37. > :23:42.Every side in the title race keep saying they are the favourites? I
:23:43. > :23:46.said yes they are. Having watched Chelsea and the way they play, this
:23:47. > :23:53.is before Arsenal went down to ten men, I think it is between Chelsea
:23:54. > :23:57.and Manchester City. I never thought Liverpool could sustain that kind of
:23:58. > :24:02.performance level they have. But what they did yesterday was
:24:03. > :24:09.fantastic. We have two say it is between those three now. It is going
:24:10. > :24:14.to go down to the wire. It will be how the big players are performing
:24:15. > :24:19.for their team. Can Sturridge and Suarez keep scoring goals? That will
:24:20. > :24:23.take Liverpool right to the end. They say the next game is the most
:24:24. > :24:30.important, Manchester City's next game is the Manchester derby. That
:24:31. > :24:37.is Manchester City out of it then! Let's hear from Pellegrini and David
:24:38. > :24:49.Moyes. It is a difficult game. Manchester derby and Manchester
:24:50. > :24:54.United. The way they qualified for the Champions' League, we need to
:24:55. > :24:59.play very well on Tuesday to add three more points. Tomorrow, we will
:25:00. > :25:04.start thinking about Manchester United. We are in good shape, we
:25:05. > :25:09.played well today and we are off the back of a good result. So hopefully
:25:10. > :25:13.we will go into the next game confident to try to get a result. Do
:25:14. > :25:19.you think United can get a good result in that game? Yes. What's
:25:20. > :25:25.different about United, for the first time in the season, they have
:25:26. > :25:30.got some momentum behind them. Don't get me wrong, city will still be my
:25:31. > :25:35.favourite. But a little bit change in style for United, bit quicker and
:25:36. > :25:38.more purpose about them. The senior players have grabbed hold of the
:25:39. > :25:45.situation now. And after Liverpool they said, no more of this. There is
:25:46. > :25:48.renewed determination and they go in with almost nothing to lose against
:25:49. > :25:56.Manchester City. But city from each other better squad and the better
:25:57. > :26:04.team. It will be Manchester City for me. The team selection will be
:26:05. > :26:11.interesting. Manchester United's best 11 does not include Mata. It
:26:12. > :26:16.will be interesting to see if Welbeck plays. He did not score in
:26:17. > :26:20.the last game, but the ability to run behind defences, the ability to
:26:21. > :26:26.do stretching -- stretching defences. Welbeck comes into the
:26:27. > :26:34.side and changes it purely by running in behind. Are you saying
:26:35. > :26:41.United's best side does not include Mata when Robin van Persie is fit?
:26:42. > :26:53.He has to play in that Number ten position. United are built on pace.
:26:54. > :26:57.Even if Manchester City got a draw at Old Trafford, Peter, they could
:26:58. > :27:02.still win their other two games in hand than go ahead of Chelsea. But
:27:03. > :27:05.when you are in a title race, you cannot think like that? It is a
:27:06. > :27:09.horrible situation they find themselves in. Liverpool and Chelsea
:27:10. > :27:14.have momentum, they know they have momentum as well. They are winning
:27:15. > :27:19.games. But they have The Games in hand that Liverpool and Chelsea have
:27:20. > :27:27.already won theirs. They need to win them. When you play around
:27:28. > :27:32.Christmas... Did you hate having games in hand? Depends how strong I
:27:33. > :27:38.thought the team was. We had games in hand every season I played for
:27:39. > :27:44.Manchester United, when it came to the end of the season we had games
:27:45. > :27:49.in hand. Most of the time it was OK because we were good enough. But my
:27:50. > :28:00.very first season, we had to play Monday, Thursday, Saturday and
:28:01. > :28:04.Monday. Against teams who had already been relegated and we lost
:28:05. > :28:10.the championship. It depends on where you are as a team. I am not
:28:11. > :28:14.saying Manchester City are not in a good place, because they are.
:28:15. > :28:19.Obviously from a Manchester United point of view, what happened at
:28:20. > :28:22.Olympiakos and what happened against Liverpool at Old Trafford was so
:28:23. > :28:28.bad, I don't think anyone in living memory can remember it being that
:28:29. > :28:33.bad. And what Jonathan said about the senior players, they have been
:28:34. > :28:38.taking action now. Saying they have to put much more into The Games.
:28:39. > :28:41.Several Manchester City to play Manchester United, the next home
:28:42. > :28:46.game after Liverpool in the Premier League, it will be a bit more
:28:47. > :28:50.difficult for them. We will talk about Liverpool max, but let's go
:28:51. > :28:53.back to White Hart Lane and get the team news.
:28:54. > :29:04.Five changes the Tottenham after their 2-2 draw against Benfica.
:29:05. > :29:13.Younes Kaboul returns. He is captain today. Hugo Lloris is in goal.
:29:14. > :29:18.Moussa Dembele is back from injury but there is no Emmanuel Adebayor,
:29:19. > :29:23.so Roberto Soldado start up front with just one goal in his last 12
:29:24. > :29:29.appearances. Two changes from Southampton. Morgan Schneiderlin is
:29:30. > :29:40.injured. So Jack Cork start in midfield. Tweeting - Brian Murphy
:29:41. > :29:51.says I think you are wrong about the referees. Ryan says, referees have
:29:52. > :30:01.more influence on a game than most people on the pitch. I agree with
:30:02. > :30:12.Peter, make them explain decisions. Let's move on to Liverpool. This is
:30:13. > :30:24.their match from yesterday. The momentum of this team, you have won
:30:25. > :30:27.them all in a row? Sunni yes, we have the motivation for this game,
:30:28. > :30:33.they keep calm because we played very well. In football, you never
:30:34. > :30:36.know what you're doing next week. Have you been in a strike
:30:37. > :30:42.partnership like theirs, like him and storage, where it is purely
:30:43. > :30:45.instinct? I have, I played with Nathan Edrington for a couple of
:30:46. > :30:51.seasons. The great thing is that the team understood the right thing to
:30:52. > :30:54.do for us. We built the team on the strike partnership. I think
:30:55. > :30:57.Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers have recognised that. You can play a lot
:30:58. > :31:01.of passes and squaring the midfield, but your best two players are up
:31:02. > :31:05.top, let's get it to them the way that they like it, in and around the
:31:06. > :31:08.box. If there is a high line, they are always looking to run behind and
:31:09. > :31:17.when they do that there is not many places to go. If you drop, you have
:31:18. > :31:20.the likes of Sterling, there are so many different options and ways to
:31:21. > :31:24.beat you and score goals. For an opposition defence, you are not sure
:31:25. > :31:29.how to go about stopping them. Is this the rebirth of the diamond? The
:31:30. > :31:34.thing with Brendan Rodgers is he has been changing at all of the time. As
:31:35. > :31:39.Jason said, he has stumbled upon this great partnership. Rather than
:31:40. > :31:42.keep with his 4-3-3, or whatever, he has adapted his team. That's really
:31:43. > :31:46.good management. I spoke to Daniel Sturridge and he said that he does
:31:47. > :31:51.not play them together in training, they are usually on different sides,
:31:52. > :31:55.maybe to make the sides fare! But he said it was instinct between them.
:31:56. > :32:04.You can really see that. Quite a few text messages and tweets coming in
:32:05. > :32:08.about Liverpool. Saying you know, praising soirees and Sturridge. But
:32:09. > :32:11.one says, what is the cause of the weakness at the back? Is it a centre
:32:12. > :32:15.back problem, a lack of concentration or is it just the way
:32:16. > :32:18.they are set up and play, that means they will allow chances against
:32:19. > :32:24.them? Just think about the way that they are set up. So much pace in
:32:25. > :32:27.that team. I having so much pace, some at eagerness to go forward and
:32:28. > :32:39.trying to create chances, that means that the centre back Best, very
:32:40. > :32:43.often, are isolated with pace. Skrtel and Daniel Agger are not the
:32:44. > :32:46.quickest in the world. What he has done well is change a team that for
:32:47. > :32:51.years and years were playing very tactical. He is now saying, we are
:32:52. > :32:58.going for it, we are going to score goals. If they score three, we will
:32:59. > :33:01.score six. That mentality has taken them to near the top of the table.
:33:02. > :33:06.If they do not win the Premier League, and they are showing a lot
:33:07. > :33:10.of promise for the future, he needs to work on that part as well. They
:33:11. > :33:15.need to have something really strong, and I think Gerard is doing
:33:16. > :33:19.that OK. He's sat in front of the back four, that he has no pace
:33:20. > :33:24.either, really. He needs to work on that, make sure he's got pace. I
:33:25. > :33:27.know I am saying this, I had Steve Bruce in front of me, probably not
:33:28. > :33:32.the quickest player, but then we had Gary Pallister, very quick. When you
:33:33. > :33:35.commit people forward, whatever happens the other way, at least you
:33:36. > :33:39.have one player that can keep up with whatever is happening also I
:33:40. > :33:44.that's important. I think Liverpool can be kingmaker is, if they are not
:33:45. > :33:49.going to win the league, it is those two games. City, Chelsea, unbeaten
:33:50. > :33:54.at home since September. You can see what they can do at home, against
:33:55. > :34:02.Everton and Arsenal. You have to be careful about the way that you go
:34:03. > :34:08.about the game, tactically. Five out of their last eight games are at
:34:09. > :34:13.home? Yes, look at their form at Anfield, can they win it? Yes. Can
:34:14. > :34:18.they create the conditions for people to win the league? Yes.
:34:19. > :34:24.Mourinho will be going in there with a plan. All of his games left apart
:34:25. > :34:27.from Liverpool are against relegation teams. If there's one
:34:28. > :34:32.thing he's brilliant at, it's identifying a key game and make a
:34:33. > :34:35.plan for it. I'm not saying that he can forget about the other games,
:34:36. > :34:40.but they can and should win them, he'll already be thinking about
:34:41. > :34:44.those games. Brendan Rodgers used to work for Mourinho, there is added
:34:45. > :34:51.spice. Jonathan Northcroft, Peter Roberts and Peter Schmeichel on
:34:52. > :34:54.Match Of The Day extra this afternoon. Massive result for
:34:55. > :35:00.Norwich, they beat Sunderland. Robert Snodgrass was in the thick of
:35:01. > :35:03.it. That afternoon. Good afternoon. When you got back in the dressing
:35:04. > :35:06.room with the three points and looked at the other results, did
:35:07. > :35:11.that make it an even more satisfying afternoon? Of course. It's one of
:35:12. > :35:17.those days where everything goes well for you. When you have Alex
:35:18. > :35:21.striking the ball as well as that as well, it is one of those games. You
:35:22. > :35:25.know, it gives us not much breathing space, but a bit of reading space.
:35:26. > :35:30.Sunderland need to win their games in hand and other teams are below
:35:31. > :35:36.us. A massive result for the full old club, especially for the
:35:37. > :35:41.backroom staff they were under a bit of pressure. A remarkable strike,
:35:42. > :35:47.wasn't it? Of course. I would love to sit here and tell you that he
:35:48. > :35:55.does it in training, but there is no chance. Terrific goal that topped
:35:56. > :35:59.off a terrific display for him and the team. When you are in a
:36:00. > :36:04.relegation dogfight, you need everybody putting in a performance
:36:05. > :36:07.and fighting for each ball. That is what it was yesterday. We were
:36:08. > :36:14.asking a lot of people if his goal was better than Wayne Rooney's.
:36:15. > :36:18.Which do you think? To be honest, Alex Tettey's is coming out of the
:36:19. > :36:23.sky. Also, I don't think he ever does it. So I would say his.
:36:24. > :36:32.Rooney's girl was unbelievable, it was on the volley as well. I'm going
:36:33. > :36:39.to be biased and say Alex Tettey. You are saying you had not seen that
:36:40. > :36:43.from him before, had you ever seen Chris Hughton celebrate like that
:36:44. > :36:48.when it went in? I haven't seen it, but the boys were talking about it.
:36:49. > :36:51.I think everybody was in shock. The fact he scored a screamer like that.
:36:52. > :37:01.There were lots of emotions on the game, if Sunderland won they would
:37:02. > :37:05.get a few points on us and would give them momentum. It was great,
:37:06. > :37:08.and not just not losing the game but to get three points, it was
:37:09. > :37:12.brilliant. A great day for the football club and everybody
:37:13. > :37:15.involved. When people talk about Norwich at the moment, a massive
:37:16. > :37:18.discussion about the fixture list, the final four games and how
:37:19. > :37:23.difficult they are. Is that something that you, as a group of
:37:24. > :37:28.players, discuss, or as the cliche goes IU only looking at the next
:37:29. > :37:32.game? To be honest, I've said before that you only focus on your next
:37:33. > :37:38.game as a footballer. You'd be lying to say if you don't have one eye on
:37:39. > :37:43.those four games realising it's tough, but every game in the Premier
:37:44. > :37:48.League is tough. A relegation fight yesterday, the match, it adds spice
:37:49. > :37:51.to it. Everybody is fighting. It is the business end of the season. We
:37:52. > :37:56.know straightaway that they are to have games. But so is the Swansea
:37:57. > :38:02.away, they are a great side. Cup finals, every team in the bottom ten
:38:03. > :38:07.will be fighting, like cup finals. They'll be looking to take maximum
:38:08. > :38:10.points from each game and we are no different. Appreciate you taking the
:38:11. > :38:14.time to talk to us this Sunday lunchtime. Talk to you soon.
:38:15. > :38:18.Robertson of grass on Match Of The Day 2 Extra. A lot of people on the
:38:19. > :38:24.debate between Alex Tettey and Rooney. Sam in Newcastle says that
:38:25. > :38:27.Alex Tettey's goal was better, I'm a Newcastle fan and I love seeing
:38:28. > :38:34.Sunderland suffer! Mandy says it was Alex Tettey by far, so exciting to
:38:35. > :38:38.watch. Another one, maybe Russell Brand from last night, the goal
:38:39. > :38:42.should have been disallowed for pushing the defender. Terry, West
:38:43. > :38:46.Ham fan, Rooney's goal, great vision, great strike. Chris in
:38:47. > :38:54.Manchester says that Rooney's must be better. He do? Rooney. Rooney.
:38:55. > :39:04.Why? The fact he doesn't even get an opportunity to look at it. To take
:39:05. > :39:17.it on and get it, the only way that takes away from it is that the
:39:18. > :39:19.keeper is not looking for it. Alex Tettey's was amazing. You don't see
:39:20. > :39:28.players score from the halfway line that much, though. David Beckham
:39:29. > :39:37.announces his entry into the world of football, everybody talked about
:39:38. > :39:42.that, it was equally as good. I like the honesty, people say that he does
:39:43. > :39:49.it all the time in training, so I'm impressed with that. Norwich's next
:39:50. > :39:56.few games, Swansea and West Brom, get points out of those you would
:39:57. > :40:01.say they would be OK? Well, what points are required to be safe this
:40:02. > :40:06.year? Some are saying it might not be 40 points, it might be 35.
:40:07. > :40:10.Norwich or 32, one win would be a big advance for them. You have been
:40:11. > :40:14.down there in the past, when you look at the bottom of the table, if
:40:15. > :40:17.we are talking about momentum at the top of the table, who do you see as
:40:18. > :40:23.having momentum towards the bottom? It's hard, none of them are playing
:40:24. > :40:26.well. None of them! That has been this thing about Crystal Palace,
:40:27. > :40:31.Tony Pulis has come in and done a great job, but no wins in five
:40:32. > :40:35.games. The home games, when you are down there, forget the away games,
:40:36. > :40:41.you've got to have a clean sheet, the home games you have to get those
:40:42. > :40:44.points. They have Chelsea, Liverpool, City and Aston Villa.
:40:45. > :40:48.Crystal Palace are going to be thinking, we have had a really goes
:40:49. > :40:53.at home to pick up the necessary points. Sunderland have the games in
:40:54. > :40:56.hand. Palace and Sunderland, we have given them quite a lot of praise
:40:57. > :40:59.over the last three or four months because of how they have tried to
:41:00. > :41:04.get out of play. Actually, they have just hit the buffers, both of them
:41:05. > :41:08.at the wrong time? When they get the job, they get the job because it
:41:09. > :41:11.hasn't worked before. No doubt. They come in and it's not their players.
:41:12. > :41:15.That is massively important to understand. As a manager, you have a
:41:16. > :41:19.philosophy, a way you want to play. You come in and the pieces that you
:41:20. > :41:25.have to put on the board, they are not the pieces that you picked. You
:41:26. > :41:28.have really had no opportunity to have an influence on how the game is
:41:29. > :41:31.going to go or how they are going to play, other than what they have. I
:41:32. > :41:36.think they have done all right. Sunderland, they have been in the
:41:37. > :41:40.same position as at the top, they have games in hand. It's got to be
:41:41. > :41:43.horrible for the other teams, every time they win, they might go clear a
:41:44. > :41:48.bit, but they know if Sunderland windows two games, without playing
:41:49. > :41:59.there might be sucked back in. And their games are horrible? Liverpool
:42:00. > :42:02.and City, isn't it? You never know, team struggle. This bit of the
:42:03. > :42:05.season, forget about the other countries, this is where the Premier
:42:06. > :42:09.League really becomes interesting. Everybody loves it for it. Because
:42:10. > :42:15.any game played from now until the end, any game, both teams can win
:42:16. > :42:19.and both teams probably need to win the game. That is why the game, the
:42:20. > :42:25.Premier League, is such a great, popular... At the bottom as well, I
:42:26. > :42:28.played at Blackburn, last game of the season against Wolves, to stay
:42:29. > :42:31.in the lead. I can't tell you the pressure. You're talking about
:42:32. > :42:36.people's jobs, what it means to the fans, the club, the players come and
:42:37. > :42:40.not only in terms of being prestige, Premier League players, also
:42:41. > :42:44.financially, with the Premier League contract. You go into the game with
:42:45. > :42:48.huge pressure on you. Did you talk about it as a group of players,
:42:49. > :42:51.those pressures? You don't talk about it, we all know it. Don't get
:42:52. > :42:54.me wrong, the financial thing is the last thing you think about, but
:42:55. > :42:58.there are loads of reasons why this is such a big game, but only for
:42:59. > :43:01.you, the people that might lose their jobs, the club, the prestige,
:43:02. > :43:07.we all want to play in the Premier League. You talk about the pressure
:43:08. > :43:13.for Sunderland, Palace, massive pressure, more than I have felt in
:43:14. > :43:19.my career. A United fan, I still think Alex Tettey's goal was better.
:43:20. > :43:25.Tettey, it was unstoppable. I'm sure we will discuss that later on. Thank
:43:26. > :43:30.you for your company. Aston Villa against Stoke is on BBC Radio 5 Live
:43:31. > :43:34.from four o'clock. When you join us on Match Of The Day 2 later, Peter
:43:35. > :43:37.will hammer Andre Marriner once again! See you next week. Goodbye.