How Cherki Is Playing Like Messi Under Guardiola and Why Arsenal Need To Play Without Fear

I do not like Arteta.

He will win nothing.

Uzubbi Mdi has been disappointing from match day one, and I don't think he's gotten nearly enough scrutiny on his game for a new signing.

It's a wry and jerky show once again.

The Sharks are circling now.

La Minamalal, 2 assists.

There is no one like La Minamalo before the age of 20.

Welcome everybody, this is Sports Illustrated Football Club, your weekly show here on Sports Illustrated.

It's the first time you're watching us.

I'm Alessandro Amiti and I'm joined by absolutely stars at the table, the AI football, Lia Bozini.

Welcome, Lea.

I'll take it, man, whatever, you should take it.

And the man who asked Roberto Baggio to release his files, and then he went to talk to the man himself, Luca Vago ciao Luca.

Hello Alessandro, how are you?

Oh good, I'm good guys.

How are we a nickname for you now, man.

AI.

We're talking about the, the files as we're gonna call it.

OK, we'll give you, uh, since you look like Emil Farajo.

OK.

I'm still shaky about that one.

I'm still shaky about that.

He's not convinced.

He's not convinced, but it's the truth.

He's not convinced us at all.

How was the weekend, yes?

Yeah, it was good.

I'm still waiting for Man United to play.

I think, I think it's been like 3 or 4 weeks now we haven't played a game.

I'm just observing, man.

I'm just observing every single game, but a lot of action, a lot of drama.

The Premier League is looking interesting at the moment, that's what I'm gonna say.

Interesting Premier League.

How was your weekend looking?

Very good, we're back in the top 4, Juventus, so I can't complain.

I see, I see you are in the top 4.

Luciano Spalletti renewed his contract, so happy, happy days for Luca for the minute, yes.

And happy days for the.

Premier League, I would say before we start, historic historical weekend in the football world because in the top five leagues we have the first woman manager, Union Berlin, Marie Louise Eta.

What do we think of it?

That's crazy.

That's absolutely crazy.

I, I, I was doing some, some research on it, right, because obviously it's it's an incredible thing, it's, it's, it's history.

But she's already very well appreciated at Union Berlin, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, she's already had a, a minor stint as the head coach.

I think she came in for a few games, but she's been on the coaching staff.

I think by her own fan base she's known as like foosball Goth or something like that, which means like trans.

Related to football goddess, like, yeah, so already she's very well heralded in that at that club.

So I wish her all the best.

It's a big job, obviously she, she has the, the, the very unenviable task of being the first to almost trailblaze for the rest that come after her.

So I wish her the best of luck.

Yeah, it's history right there, she's setting the blueprint for the uh further .

That's not easy to do either, right, that's not easy, so it won't be, but she's very well established already, so I think she'll do very well.

Best of luck to her, and now it's time to jump in the Premier League, the only league probably with a, a title, a title race that's still alive because it's like Serie A, Inters +9, Barcelona plus 9.

So Premier League , what a.

With the Arsenal.

I mean this, this was supposed to be the league that was also wrapped up, right?

It was, it was plus 9 as well too, but now, then we saw a Manchester City fan with a bottle at the Stamford Bridge, so something, something is going on.

I want to start with you, Luca, because last, last week you, you had some beef for Arteta.

Uh, what about this week, what happened?

Look man, Arteta, I've never been a fan of him, even over the last few years, I've never liked him.

I couldn't tell from last week.

No, it's nothing personal.

I don't know the guy personally, but from a footballing point of view, I just think Arteta, he's not established as Arsenal fans make him out to be .

When I hear them talk about the best coaches in the world for some strange, bizarre reason, they put him in that sort of conversation as top 2, top 3, and I think, how can you rationalize like that?

Because I think when you're judging like managers and players, they're two very different things.

I don't think you can base a manager solely on form.

I think when you're at a top club like Arsenal, who are one of the biggest clubs in the world, to have a good resume, you need to win titles, you need to lift silverware, and he's not done that in the last 6 years.

His only trophy or relevant trophy came in 2020 when he won the FA Cup.

And I look at this game here, Arsenal were absolutely dreadful.

There was no creativity, there was no spark in it defensively, they were weak, which is something that we haven't really said a lot about Arsenal this season.

And I think a lot of question marks are now arising within the Arsenal fan base around Artata, and I just was the first to see it, to be honest.

Leah This is incredible, man.

I've seen people have beef with players, I've seen people have beef with clubs.

I've never seen someone beef a manager.

This is the first time I've ever seen that in my life.

I dislike him, man.

I'll just, I'll just put all the cards out on the table.

I do not like Arteta and he will win.

He doesn't, he, he doesn't stand back.

Uh, Lia, if you have to win a title, you have a, a game home against Bournemouth.

Do you think he was the, the right 11 to pick, because many times during the season we spoke about Arsenal depth of the squad, but I think probably was he thinking about sporting club already?

I don't really think so, bar Lewis Skelly, who you could say, OK, Calior could come in.

Who in that team wouldn't start based on who's available?

There's no Bukayo Osaka, so Marueke is in the team.

Martinelli and Trossard for me is a coin flip.

Based on the last few weeks, I would say Martinelli's actually been better than Trossard.

Haverts, I'll, I'll never rate him in that midfield number 10 position for me , if he's not playing out and out number 9, he wouldn't get into my team.

But realistically, Eze's coming back from injury, Odegaard's been out of the team.

Luisa is the only one really playing where you could genuinely make the argument that someone is ahead of him in the pecking order.

The rest of them, I think, are first team players.

So it's not really a, uh, a lineup situation, a personnel situation.

We've seen now 4 games in a row from Arsenal, varying results, different lineups, but the same, the same nonsense that we're seeing out on the pitch.

I think it goes deeper than the personnel.

I think it goes deeper than the, the lineup.

I just think Miguel Arteta has been figured out at the moment.

I think we've come to a part of the season where teams know how to set up against him and he has no idea right now how to counteract that.

Football's all about chess, right?

It's like.

As a manager, you have a game plan.

Someone else's job is now to thwart your game plan.

If he manages to do it, how do you react, right?

It's all about just reacting to other people.

Mikel Arteta needs to react now.

This is the crunch part of the season.

This is where for me, the top teams turn into legendary teams.

And the pretenders show exactly who they are.

Arsenal, it's still in their hands.

I think that's the most important thing that we still have to say here.

It doesn't feel like it's in their hands, it feels like panic at the station right now, but it's still in their hands at the moment.

They have to go to the Etihad now and win the game.

For me, there's no conversation about draw, there's no conversation about trying to get a result out of it.

You have to go there and show why you're the best team in the league.

Luke, how do you go to the 80 yard against this Masters, Manchester City and win the game?

You gotta go toe to toe.

You have to put the pressure on them, you've gotta go there to win.

I think if Arsenal go there to play for a.

Draw, they lose, and I think there's no chance that they get anything from it playing like that and having that mentality .

Arsenal have to go there to win, and not, not only just the three points would be huge and it would solidify the league, but it'd be that mental block that the Arsenal team and the manager has, in my opinion.

They'd be getting over that, they'd be surpassing it, finally beating, uh, City at the Emirate at the Etihad, sorry.

When was the last time they even won there?

Like 2016, I wanna say, 2015, 16 season.

I think it was the 2015-216 season, a decade ago.

When Leicester won the Premier League, now they're getting relegated.

Like that's how far , uh, it's, it was.

And I look at this Arsenal team and I think, do, can they win?

I don't think so, to be honest.

With the way City are playing and with the way Arsenal have been playing in the last few weeks, I don't really see a cha, a world in which they win.

And it's not just about creativity.

Creativity is the big buzzword that we, we've been hearing.

I mean they registered 0.19 expected goals from open play.

That shows you, yes, there is a creativity issue, 100%.

That for me has been there all season long from Arsenal, from open play.

But I'm looking at them even defensively.

I'm looking at their press.

I'm looking at how they build out from the back because Arsenal have not been bad all season.

Let's not rewrite history, right?

There's a point where they clearly looked like the best team in the league, whether you thought they had creative issues or not.

And a big part of that for me is how they managed to press and probe teams almost into their own box and win the ball high up and keep teams penned in.

I thought they were really, really good at that.

Right now they're very easy to play through.

Their midfield looks non.

Existent at times.

The biggest pretender in the league right now is number 36 on Arsenal, Zubbi Mendy.

I think he's the one getting away with massive, I, I think on the side, Zubbi Mdi on, but, but for me, Zubbi Mdi, at least Miguel Arteta, you can say over the last few years what he's built Arsenal into a title force.

Zubbi Mdi came into the league with zero credentials whatsoever, and guys were trying to paint him into like the next great regista because he's Spanish.

Zubbi Mdi has been disappointing from match day one at Old Trafford against.

Man United, and I don't think he's gotten nearly enough scrutiny on his game for a new signing.

Players have come into the league and performed better than him and, and, and basically got more criticism than he has, and I have no idea why.

We're talking about midfield right now for Arsenal, the engine room.

Declan Rice is carrying that midfield by on his own right now.

He's got no help from his number 10, and he's certainly got no help next to him.

So if I'm looking at personnel, he's the one I'm kind of looking at and thinking, I'm surprised Norgaard hasn't been given more of an opportunity to at least play or.

For God's sake, drop Zubbi Mendy, put Declan Rice a little deeper as a number 6, cause that's what you bought him for initially , and go play as a, an, an auto guard maybe.

Go, go, go try something a little different.

I think that's what Arteta needs to do right now because clearly, this game plan that he's going with.

It's, it's done, it's not gonna work anymore.

That's what I wanted to ask you, Luca.

At this point it's like, OK, Arsenal really relied on set pieces during the season, but at this point you need to show something, you need to go and grab the games.

Do you need players with, and, and they have it, players with more creativity on the pitch.

So sorry, excuse me.

I, I hate to interrupt.

You need players who take risk.

It's not even just about creativity.

You need players who are, are, are confident in, in receiving the ball and turning and playing forward.

Right now, I look at Arsenal and they're trying to build up from the back.

First and foremost, teams have learned now to completely sit off the goalkeeper, press the defenders, and let the goalkeeper have the ball.

I'm seeing David Raya hold onto the ball for 40 seconds because he has no options in front of him.

But this is where you need players with, with cojones, excuse my language, you need, you need players who, who have, who have, who have bravery, who have courage, who have personality.

Give me the the ball 100%.

It might be in a dangerous situation, but that's how you beat a press.

That's how you beat a mid-block.

Right now with Arsenal, I feel like guys are almost frozen when they have the ball.

They don't wanna get on the ball because they know if they make a mistake, oh my goodness, the entire stadium's gonna sigh.

That's another thing with Arsenal.

60 minutes, you can tell whether they're gonna wanna lose a game at the Emirates because around 60 minutes, if that crowd is flat, forget about it.

They have lost.

Deep faith in this team.

Yeah, I agree.

I think Arsenal's game this season has relied a lot on pace, power, physicality, athleticism, not the technical side of the game.

And I think from this point onwards, like Lee has said, they've sort of figured out this Arsenal team.

So you need the players that they've spent big money on and players with experience like the older guards, like the Ezes, Madaweka, who's spent 50 million on.

These players here are supposed to be proven to be able to deal with the pressure and be able to overcome this sort of situation .

And that's what they've lacked, the technical side of things.

And I think when it comes to like the courage, wanting the ball at your feet, I don't think it's really easy because I look at this Arsenal team, I already see them mentally broken.

I see them as a team that play with fear, a team that's scared to actually be able to go to an Etihad or get over the line from this February onwards when they were in all competitions.

They've just been cowards, they've shied away from the challenges, and I, I look at it and I think.

If you wanna play with no fear, if you want the ball at your feet, you have to be confident, and I just, I don't really see it.

I don't see it in the squad.

Would you say that it's like Arsenal, uh, need to identify a main man and give him the responsibility?

And if I ask you to identify one main man, who would, who would it be?

I mean Eze was the one who was brought in for big money, he's the.

Kind of player I'm looking at when you're talking about a maverick, some or when you, it's supposed to be a maverick, someone who's happy to get on the ball and make things happen.

I look at EA as the guy who can do that for Arsenal.

He hasn't done it nearly enough for me this season, but this is the period of the season where he needs to stand up and hold himself accountable.

I thought, I think he did really well last year for Crystal Palace around the same part of the season to elevate them to a team that could win trophies.

He's got to do it for Arsenal now.

Yeah, I think their main men are actually players that don't raise the level and win you games, like Rice, for example.

I think he's brilliant at what he does.

I, I see him as a main man, but he's not gonna win you a game, he's not gonna win you a Premier League single-handedly.

I look at Gabriel Saliba, these guys are top players.

And I look at them and I think they're the main men.

But they're not difference makers, they're not like a La Minamm for Barcelona or, I don't know, a, a Vinny or someone like that who can win you a game from nothing.

So I think, like er Lea said, Eze's a good option, but even.

I don't see him with the personality to be able to bail Arsenal out of trouble when they need it.

But even the word personality for me, these are words that stem from the manager because as they had the the mental he had the personality last year for Crystal Palace.

I would never have said as a last year at Crystal Palace doesn't have the personality to grab games and make things happen.

I think everything we're talking about Arsenal, whether it comes from identity to, to personality to bravery, it all comes from the manager.

You are a reflection of your coach.

So these guys, if I'm looking at Max Delman.

onto the pitch, he shows that he's got a little bit about him, yeah, it's because he's been at the, the club under Miguel Arteta for 22 months now, bro.

Yeah, but he plays with no fear as well, down there.

But give him a few more seasons under Miguel Arteta.

Let's, let's see.

I, I think a lot of it is, is due to the fact that he's playing with the handbrake on most times.

He's playing rather, I'd rather get 1 point instead of getting 0 rather than thinking I'm gonna get 3, even if it means I get, he's not a winner.

Arteta's not a winner.

He doesn't have that ingrained in him.

And the thing is though, you , you only win on you're.

A winner until you win, right?

That's the thing, but they've had chances to win.

They, they need to get it done this year.

That's the thing they need to get it done, and that's why the Carabao Cup, we were saying it's so important because it's lifting silverware mid-season it's like you build the mentality.

If I watch Arsenal right now, it's like, uh, they are not mentally prepared to face the, the, the, the, there's a lot of PTSD though, there's a lot of PTSD with them, I think.

I honestly think the minute they face a little bit of adversity, that reminder of what's happened.

Happened the last 3 seasons creeps in the back of their mind.

I genuinely think that.

Regarding as, as you said, uh, doing it in in Sela Park when you have, when you don't have to win the league is a different story when you have to play at the Emirates with a stadium expecting you to win this league because now they are expecting them to win the league.

But that, that, that challenge should be a privilege for them, honestly, I, I, I think of the best teams to do it in England or to do it in Europe.

And that potential of winning should be seen almost as like a positive.

They should be hungry to to achieve that, but I think with Arsenal, I get the feeling it's, it's, it's more fear than it is like hunger, to be honest with you.

Yeah, but I'm gonna give you a comparison, for example, Milan winning the title in 2021, 2022, that purely said the mental switch happened during the COVID, because a lot of players were scared to play in a full sun zero.

And they, they learned how to play in the stadium, so when the crowd was allowed back, they were mentally ready to play in that stadium.

Before, for some of them, including for example Calabria, who was the captain, who was extremely difficult to play in a stadium who are expecting you to win.

Like, it's a good point, Ale, but I, I, I also look at that situation.

I think it's even harder at a club like AC Milan because that's heritage right there, that's football heritage where you're almost expected to win.

Arsenal are sort of, they're in a, they're in a quite a peculiar spot in my opinion, because you look at the top level clubs in the world, I wouldn't say Arsenal are a top 10 team in the world in terms of like club heritage, right?

But when you're at a big club like Arsenal, they're a top 4 club in England, the expectation should be lifting silverware.

Year upon year, and then when you combine it with the top level players that they have in certain areas of the football pitch, plus the money that they've spent, plus the amount of time uh amount of time that Otte has spent at Arsenal, I don't understand how you can't expect to win, and I don't understand how that shift hasn't happened.

But I, I think the fans expect to win.

Yeah, I genuinely think the fans expect, yeah, of course, no, but to be fair, the last 4 seasons, I think after the first year.

There was an expectation that OK, we're, we're here now, we're ready to challenge.

I think it should have happened even a year or so ago.

And plus I've seen a lot of Arsenal fans say that even if they don't win the Premier League, and obviously if they don't win the Champions League as well, they'd still keep Arteta.

That's a loser mentality.

At Chelsea he would have been gone.

At United, he would have been gone.

At top level clubs, this guy would not have been here for this long.

Now, now, this is my question to both of you.

If Arteta doesn't win this league.

He needs to be replaced, of course, for me, I, I agree.

I, I've been in the boat for the last few seasons that the work he had done and where the, the team was at.

I would even last season, which for me was really disappointing, the fact that Pep City fell off and Arnold Slot came into Liverpool, that should have been the opportunity Arsenal needed to take over the league, and I was really disappointed that they didn't do it.

But I still maintained, especially with the Champions League run, that OK, the trajectory is still up for the most part.

If they felt.

To win this league, right?

Where most of the competition is depleted.

Manchester City have been as inconsistent as they've been in years, and you have been given a billion pounds to build this squad in your image after 4 successive title challenges.

If you failed to do it this year, I'm sorry, Arsenal have to, have to move on, right?

I, I'm hearing people say be careful what you wish for.

They could go backwards.

But you don't owe Arteta anything.

Yes, Arteta has done brilliantly to get you to this point, but Arsenal are not like forever and Arteta's like that, exactly right.

They gotta stop thinking like that.

Yes, he's gotten you this far, but now the objective for a new manager to come in wouldn't just be, OK, rebuild the club like Arteta did.

Now it's just to take over and win.

And if Arteta shows for 4 years straight he can't do it, I'm sorry , someone else deserves a crack at it.

But now I'm bringing you to something better, to someone you like.

Stamford Bridge, the outside of the foot, it's a wry and jerky show once again, one more time.

And as we say it on our social pages, the sharks are circling now.

Yeah, it, it feels that way.

It definitely feels like Manchester City are on the ascendancy, and that's for me the biggest worry for Arsenal.

The fact that Arsenal are in their worst period of the season and Manchester City are arguably at their best in the most important part of the campaign.

I think Arsenal are, are thanking everything that City only really hit this.

Recently, because I genuinely think if there were 10 games left in the Premier League rather than 6 or 7, City would win this league in my opinion.

Yeah, but the point is for me it's, it's everything's prepared.

We are facing two completely different reality, Luca, with Arsenal arriving in April and starting to, to shake and Guardiola and his guys telling guys, if we are in the title race in Naples in April, we know how to do it, and you can see it because Stamford Bridge, the first half, it wasn't that.

That, that good, but then in the second half they came out and they say, now we're gonna go for the 3 points, now we're gonna uh we're gonna go for the titles.

But that's what a title winning team does, they can make that switch like that, they, I think the team thought that Pep would have given them must have been very strong, must have hit their hearts well.

But I think with the opportunity that they had with Arsenal losing to Bournemouth, knowing that they're playing Arsenal next week, they've still got a game in hand, this was a must-win for.

Pep City, and that's what they're able to do, they're able to make that switch, and like you said, it was a game of two halves, really, Jekyll and Hyde.

In the first half, City were really poor.

I think Chelsea had the better chances there, the goal disallowed, they were much more in control of the game.

But in the second half, Chelsea did not get a single sniff in the game whatsoever.

It was a, a City team of old almost, a City team that I remember watching from like 2018 to 2023, where they just demolished them, they destroyed them.

But I think.

This is what the City team can do with the quality they have in attack as well.

You look at that attack.

Turkey, Doku, Ha, and Semenyo, these are match winners right there.

They can switch the game on like that.

Doku was excellent throughout the whole game.

And when you have a player who's so technically gifted like Curky, who, I mean, you've got 2 assists, but that second assist specialist cir circumnavigating the, the whole box of Chelsea, and then outside of the boot and then in the.

Post-match interviews say no, no, I didn't do anything.

It was the control of Mark.

Yeah, it was Messi-esque, genuinely that assist for me was Messi-esque, and that's not a word that we want to use very often because that's a high bar, but that assist right there was something that you get used to seeing Lionel Messi do.

Lionel a mix between Lionel Messi, Iniesta, Guti, something, something really special.

But I think, I think Sery.

Encapsulates the difference between City and Arsenal right now because we're talking about Arsenal playing with fear, not having the bravery to do things, being afraid to take risks.

Sharkey is like, he, he doesn't play the care in the world.

You wouldn't think that he's, he's in his first season under Pep Guardiola in the middle of a title race.

And I echo that sentiment to Nicole O'Reilly.

I echo that sentiment to Jeremy Doku.

I echo that sentiment to Matteus Nunez.

These guys are not like, you know, uh, winners that have won 6 Premier Leagues in a row.

Yeah, a few of them have a few Premier League titles, but they're largely in this situation for the first time.

And it, it feels like they're just enjoying it.

Manchester City right now feel like they're just enjoying their that's the secret.

It looks like, OK, they're having fun, but I would say also they, they were absorbed by the winning mentality, the winning environment in at Manchester City.

100%.

And I also think those young fearless players like the Shirky, like Semenya, O'Reilly's, they're complimented well with their experience in the dressing room.

The likes of Stones, the likes of Diaz, the likes of Rhodri , Ga, Harland.

Like these guys, these guys are winners, and they can guide them in the right way, and I think that complement between technically gifted players who are fearless, brave, courageous, etc.

etc.

with the, the, the, the people that are more experienced, the people that have the know-how on how to get over the line and win titles, I think it blends so well, and Arsenal really lack that.

Sharkey, man, uh, he's, he's just a joke.

He's just a joke.

I, I think he's a personality that the Premier League has been missing for a long time now.

I, I think you probably have to cast your mind, and I'm talking personality.

I'm not talking about talent or, or player.

He's like a personality that's been missing since Eden Hazard for me in terms of a guy that just comes in and his main goal is just to wow crowds.

But now he's adding that beautiful side of the game.

He always talks about, oh, I want people to fall in love with the way I play football.

I want people to enjoy watching me play.

That's been his whole thing all season.

Pep hasn't liked it the whole time, right, because Pep is about efficiency.

But right now he's blending both the beautiful side of the game, the, the, the touches, the flicks, the, the, the showmanship with the efficiency now that Pep has been asking for, doing it in the final third, pulling off assists.

He's combining it and right now he looks like the scariest player in his position right now.

Sirky in this form, it is scary for teams right now, man, scary.

I mean, and, and it looks like that Pep is giving him the license to do what he wants now because, because if you want to win a title, you need that.

Struck with the fantasy of creativity and he, you need X Factor, you need someone who can just change the game on the flip of a head, and he's one of those.

Guys, if we look at the screen, these are the remaining fixtures.

What do we think?

What do we think?

Winner takes it all.

Yeah, the title will be decided on Sunday.

You reckon if City win, you reckon, yeah, bro, if City win, City will win the league.

If Arsenal get a point or if Arsenal, if Arsenal win.

Well, even if Arsenal get a point, I think they win the league.

The point with Arsenal, the point with Arsenal is, uh, this one was the, uh, the one at Manchester is gonna be the last travel away from London, but apparently they have an issue with the Emirates, as we said, so yeah.

No, seriously, sometimes the Emirates, it feels like more of a pressure cooker environment for them than going away.

It, it feels like that at times.

There's a lot of unrest right now.

It's an anxious fan base, 100%.

I'm telling you, 60 minutes, you can tell with Arsenal what the result's gonna be, um, but yeah, I, I agree.

I think if Manchester City win this, the mental impact that.

Have on the rest of the league both for them and for Arsenal.

I can see that only going one way.

But Arsenal have a massive opportunity to, to rewrite all their demons.

They have the opportunity to make a lot of people look stupid, and they have the opportunity to completely rewrite the script.

They do.

Will they do it though?

If you wanna be the best, if you want to claim that you're the best in the league, go show it on Sunday at the ETL especially.

Guys, let's take the plane and go to Spain because another outside of the foot, another brilliant performance from La Minam Mao.

But before going to La Mina Mao, one goal in 497 minutes for Kylian Mbappe.

What do we think of it?

Because with this draw against Girona, I would say the the title is, is gone.

And as Jose Mourinho used to say, Zaru Italy for, for Real Madrid this season.

Mbappe, the biggest game of his career because he's got a World Cup.

Let's not forget about that.

But the biggest game maybe of his club career, I can't believe I'm saying that, could be this week against Bayern.

They have to do something because if Real Madrid go the first two seasons of the Kylian Mbappe era trophyless.

When we're talking about major titles, that is a disaster.

That is a big, big disaster.

And although he's scored a lot of goals, he has.

Kylian Mbappe is not entirely faultless.

I read a stat this week that in La Liga, he's only scored one more non-penalty goal than Ferran Torres, and he's played about 1000 minutes more than him.

Like this is what we're talking about here.

Yeah, it's real, man.

Kylian Mbappe in La Liga this season for me has flattered to deceive quite a few times, and I especially look at this recent.

Run of games where he's come back into a team that were winning before he got reintroduced in the side, and I'm looking at the chances he's missing.

Kylian Mbappe was brought in to put the ball in the back of the net, and he's done that very, very well since he's come to the club.

But in big moments over the last two seasons in clutch time of both campaigns, I think Mbappe has left a lot to be desired.

I truly do.

Uh, Luca, 3 games without a win for Real Madrid combining La Liga and Champions League, if you were Xabi Alonso, now, what were you thinking?

Well, I, I don't know, I, I, do you, do you, are you suggesting that you think it would have been different with Xabi Alonso maybe?

No, no, no, no, but what I'm, what I'm suggesting if you, if you go down the road, I mean, if you get Xabi Alonso, who has been at the club, you give him at least a season.

So you think, yeah, I get what you're saying in the sense that they got rid of him quite quickly and, but look, at the end of the day, I think at Madrid there's pressure to win.

I think Xabi Alonso wasn't getting results.

I understood why at the time he was kind of gotten rid of, but I look at Avalo as well, I don't really think he's a massive step up.

He's not a man with a lot of experience.

He also has the know-how of being in the club at being at Real Madrid, just like Xabi Alonso did.

But I look at this Madrid team and I think it's more than just the coach.

I think it comes down to the individuals, like Leo said, Mbappe , he's not pulling, he's not pulling his weight at the minute, and without Mbappe in the team, Obolo was getting results for Real Madrid.

I think maybe Xabi Alonso could be potentially laughing, but at the same time, I don't think it would have been much different with him.

I disagree on one thing you said.

Well, not disagree because you're right, but the, the reason you got from it for me is flawed.

You said at Real Madrid there's pressure to win, and that's why Alonso got fired.

Alonso didn't get fired for results.

Alonso's results are better than Arbaloa's.

So if that's the case, Arbaloa should be fired tomorrow.

He didn't get fired because of results.

He got fired because Vinicius Junior didn't like him, right ?

He got fired because he couldn't manage Real Madrid's players.

But Real Madrid's players, in my opinion, over the last two years, don't have enough credit in the bank to now dictate which manager goes for them because you're seeing another coach come in.

We're talking.

Ancelottino, we're talking about Alonso, we're talking about Arbiloa, and we'll see who God knows they bring in next season.

These guys cannot play together.

At some point, you have to look at the Real Madrid players and start asking responsibility from them.

I think it was too easy of a thing to say Alonso can't coach Vinicius Junior.

But what has Vinicius Junior done over the last 18 months to now all of a sudden give him all this grace?

What has Kylian Mbappe done relatively at Real Madrid to all of a sudden dictate he can decide who the manager is?

I, I, I don't see it with.

The man, this group of players for me are highly overrated Real Madrid.

They're big names, they've done big things in the game at other places, some of them for Real Madrid, but over the last 18 months at Real Madrid, they have failed.

Let's, let's, let's be completely brutally honest here.

They've failed relative to Real Madrid's standards.

Especially if we, if we say nobody is bigger than Real Madrid.

It doesn't seem this way at this moment.

Now the question for both of you, who will be brave enough to accept this job?

After A trophyless season.

It, it beats me because the thing is it's not even about being brave.

You have to be the right profile of manager to to manage Real Madrid, right?

Like there could be the most brilliant tactician.

He comes into the club.

It's, it's just not what they need.

There, there's some guys who are just right for certain clubs, and I think Real Madrid more than anything need a specific kind of coach.

But one thing I will say, whoever comes into Real Madrid should come in with one demand, and it is that one of Vinicius or Mbappe leaves the club.

I wanna see this two broken up after the season.

I think they've.

Shown enough times now that they can't work going forward and as a coach to come in and have to still another year manage to find that cohesion, that balance between the two of them when they've shown enough times, it just doesn't exist.

It's difficult, damn near impossible for any coach.

If I come into a Real Madrid tomorrow, I'm saying, OK, I'm taking the job with the, the certainty that one of these guys leaves the club.

Look, how many times we said as Real Madrid, it's more about managing the dressing room than managing.

Uh, than managing it on the, on the pitch, uh, we have a name, a name you know very well.

I think I know who you're alluding to.

Massimiliano, Massimiliano, Massimiliano Allegri.

It might be the case that Massimiliano accept the job and try to deliver what he has done and probab probably reach the Champions League that meet with Juventus facing Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Yeah, I think Allegri would be a good um sort of fit for Real Madrid.

I look at the sort of manager market, I don't think it's written, written with talent, to be honest.

I think it's quite low level, but I think you need the personnel to be able to dictate a dressing room, to be able to just get them playing, well, not even playing, but.

Put them in, platformed them to be able to showcase their brilliance, and I think Zidane was able to do that, and a lot of ex-R Real Madrid players talk about how he wasn't very hands-on when it came to the tactics.

He just let them play.

And he did so because they showed him respect, they knew what he'd achieved in his career as a, as a player, of course.

And er, even a coach like Ancelotti, he was able to get the best out of the players while also being a brilliant man manager.

And I think Allegri is that, he's not the best tactician in the world.

His tactics are actually quite backward in my opinion.

Let's just say it as it is, right, it's quite old fashioned, but I think he would be able to unite the dressing room and really give them a sense of belonging, almost.

And I think Allegri knows what it means to be able to coach brilliant footballers at top level clubs.

But I can't deny the fact that I agree with Liz in the sense that Vinny and Mbappe, even if you put Allegri there, you put Zidane there, you put whoever you want there, they're just not gonna work well together, they just clash heads, and it's not gonna be a cohesive dressing room and a cohesive team that Real Madrid need, and there's no.

There's a reason why, um, uh, sorry, since Mbappe joined, Madrid are gonna go trophyless in two seasons.

There's a reason why when he left PSG, PSG have now seen success.

A good point.

It's, it's a reason.

Let's not, let's stop pretending like this is some coincidence, like, oh, PSG just happened to win the, the, the Sextuple Real Madrid, the most winning team over the last decade, stopped winning when he came in.

At some point we need to acknowledge that despite how many goals he scores, there is clearly something that isn't working with Mbappe on the pitch for football team.

Even without Mbappe, they're gonna score goals, Madrid.

Of course, they're not reliant on Killian.

They were, they, they were scoring goals before.

They got, for me, Gonzalo Garcia as well, I think he deserves more of a run around.

You look at him in the Club World Cup, I thought he had an excellent run.

I think he deserves more game time too.

He's not roppable , he's not untouchable.

No one is droppable at Real Madrid, firstly and secondly, nobody should be droppable in a football team anyway.

That's the problem with Real Madrid, and that at the, at this club, people are undroppable.

That's the reality, we saw, that's the reason why Alonso's not at the job.

No, you, you make a good point because when.

Players have too much power and that's why I question like who can, yeah, and that's why I question who can coach this team.

That's why I, I said it when Alonso left.

It's easier said than done, OK, Alonso didn't do a good enough job.

Who are you gonna bring in?

There's about 3 managers in the world that can probably coach this Real Madrid team and demand the respect of this entire group.

Go, go find them.

Yeah, no, no, I would say, or, or you bring back Jose Mourinho or you or you find something, even Jose's come on, yeah, no, I mean, I mean just yeah yeah yeah, based on what if this was Jose 10 years ago, 100%, but yeah, but yeah, it's, it's, it's a difficult job, and different story on the on top of the on all La Liga because it's a funny job managing Barcelona despite what happened last week in the Champions League.

La Minamal, another assist, 2 assists by the way.

Uh, with the outside of the foot, and now I'm gonna give you some stats.

100 games, 29 goals, and 34 assists.

Is he the best teenager in football history?

That's great that I've seen, yes, if you want to go before, I mean, Pele won a World Cup, so he didn't do too bad himself.

Ronaldo Nazario, I think he won the Ballon d'Or at that age.

I didn't see those guys.

Life, so I can't comment on them, but from what I have seen since I started watching football, there is no one like Lami Nemal before the age of 20.

Yeah, I think in my lifetime, I think who could rather him, Nay, maybe in Santos, I don't think he's at that level yet, to be honest.

Yamal's not at his level.

No, Neymar, oh sorry, I meant Neymar's not at that level that Lamine's been operating at in Europe and Kylian Mbappe, who won the World Cup as a team.

Teenager, he was ridiculous early seasons at Monaco.

I think he was 19 when he won the World Cup, so I think those are the three big teenagers that I remember.

Rooney as well was top.

Yeah, Rooney , yeah, Rooney was amazing, yeah.

It was funny is that Messi and Ronaldo don't come into this conversation really, even though they're the two greatest players in their conversationed a bit later.

Even though Messi at 19, it was fake, man.

Messi at 19 when he scored the hat trick at the uh against Real Madrid.

He had, he had big games, but I just think what Yamal is doing.

Week in, week out at the elite level, he's carrying a club on his back right now as a teenager.

I think that's the difference between him and Mbappe, for example, or him and Messi at that age, or he's carrying Barcelona on his back at 18 years old, and he's doing a damn good job of it as well too.

Plus he burst onto the scene when he was, I think he made his debut at 15, but at 16 that's when he made a name for himself.

I remember in the, it was the 23, 24 campaign, that Euros, he was primarily 16 in it.

So from 16 to 18 he's been at the top level of football, plus he's gonna have another year as a teenager when he, when he, well, for the next year.

You look at it and you think, oh yeah, he is.

Now I have a question for you, it's a prediction, we, we, we can say, but will he manage to last the same years, the same season as Messi as Cristiano?

That's a different conversation, man, that's, that's that's, there's a bit of luck, there's a bit of how you take care of yourself outside of the pit.

Injuries, how his game ages, will he be able to adapt as he, as he loses his legs?

What those guys did for me is, is, is freakish.

So to put that kind of expectation on anyone is just a little unfair.

But what I will say is that in his peak years, so I, I say peak years, he's not even in his peak years, but what he's doing right now is, is unheard of.

That, that's another thing too when you compare him to those teenagers.

None of them were the best player in the world as a teenager.

He is, he is the best player in the world, bar none.

Now, now, since it was uh an atypical, atypical weekend, uh, in La Liga, they, they, they went all nostalgia with uh, with kids and stuff.

I want to do a little game with you is basically, uh, building La Liga heritage in 5 kits, 5 jerseys.

Who wanna start?

Are you, I don't mind starting.

Go ahead.

OK.

First one that comes to mind is that I don't know, I don't remember the season, but that Atletico Madrid shirt with the Spider-Man sponsor.

0405.

0405, yeah, that one's beautiful, classic red and white stripes with the Spider-Man.

Was it Spider-Man one or SpiderMan?

That's what that I think it might have been two.

That's when they were doing like basically they were just having different movies on their on their kits every once in a while.

Yeah, so good.

I could even go with another athletic, you remember when they had that, was it a Marbella sponsor?

Yeah, that, that, that, that blue I'll do that as well.

I think I'd love to go I've had so many amazing kits.

They've had some brilliant kits.

Then I'm gonna do.

Well, I've got 3 more.

I'm gonna do a Bettis shirt.

I don't know the season the real Bettis.

Did you see the one they wore this week, this weekend, they had a really nice throwback one.

I think that might be their best kit.

The collar, the, yeah, I'm thinking of the one that Bellerin wore.

It's probably that one, yeah, it might be I think it's that one with the collar, yeah, classy, timeless, and I'm gonna do 1 Barca, 1 Madrid.

Barca just for nostalgia purposes when I started watching football was the UNICEF when they beat Man U in the final.

0809, that's no, no, uh, 10-11.

0, 10-11 with the yellow, yeah, yeah, that one's nice.

That one's beautiful.

And then Real Madrid, this is a bit of like um a strange one .

I don't think it's like an all-timer kit, but I had it when, when I was younger with Ronaldo on the back, and I just loved it.

You remember the 1415, I think it was the third kit with the dragon, the black one with the dragon.

I just loved that shirt so much, so.

I'm going that one.

Interesting, interesting picks.

Yeah, I had a few overlays like Atletico Madrid for me, the spider one is, is incredible, but I think Alico, there's so many different ones you can pick from.

For a club that's red and white.

You don't think there's much they can do with it, but they actually, they, they come up with some really, really good kits.

Away as well too.

Um, I think Valencia had this one kit with Pablo Aymar.

It was orange.

It was such a nice kit, man.

They had one with a black and orange one as well, two of David Silva.

I've, I, I used to love Valencia kits, man.

Um, I think Barcelona 0809, that's the one I go for.

That's the first Guardiola year, the half and half.

That one for me is iconic.

I don't think it's my favorite Barca kit ever, but for me it's one of the most iconic kits that they've had.

It's a unique design.

Uh, I go Real Madrid 0203, you know, the one I'm talking about, R9's first year with the collar, the Siemens on the front.

That one for me is, is, is a really a classic heritage, man, yeah.

And then finally I'd probably go Betis as well too.

I think Sevilla, maybe if you wanna include Sevilla in this conversation because if you're talking La Liga Heritage, they had the 2010s, they were winning in Europe every single season, so, but we prefer Betis, you know.

Yeah, is it?

Who's we?

I was gonna say maybe, maybe you.

So those are my 5.

And yours?

Mine, oh, any, any ones maybe we missed that you think come straight to Atletico Madrid, the Marbella one definitely.

I, I can link it probably either 97, 98 to Vieri or, or uh earlier with Simeone.

Then I would say Real Madrid for me, the probably the first Adidas won 1998, 1999 with Teca, yeah, and, and they did a a reissue the blue and gold and yeah, they did a gold.

Probably we are gonna put uh Gucci on the back.

Oh, we're doing the name stats as well, we're the you're too advanced.

I'm gonna give you a Real Betis Vlompier 0405 with Joaquin, Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez, I would say.

And then what's left Valencia.

I have to go Valencia probably 2000, 2001.

Interesting.

That's the year they won the league.

Yes, I, I think so, and I'm gonna give you, uh, Vicente and Barcelona.

I'm gonna say 1990.

8 1999 celebrated half and half, yeah Rivaldo Rivaldo, yeah, gold Rivaldo on the bed.

Guys, let us know your picks on the comments.

Thanks for watching us and see you next time.

Thanks Luca, thanks Lia, see you next time, ciao.