Why The Premier League Is Under-Achieving & How Pep’s Tactics Have Defined Another Season | SI FC

Eze has kind of emerged as one of Arsenal's most important players, and now if he's not in the lineup, I'm looking at it thinking, oh, Arsenal are in trouble.

I think there's been question marks around Eze this season, honestly, cause they spent a lot of money on him.

I think he's had top level performances, the two against Spurs that really scream the, the big money.

Their season can go from, it can either go from incredible, they could achieve everything they want to, they could be in a Champions League final this time next week, or they could be looking at their season thinking, wow, it has really gone up in smoke quick.

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

I'm Alessandro Remiti, and as every week I'm joined by the man, the unpredictability of Lies Bozzitti.

When you expect something about the Premier League, he posts about the NBA.

How are you?

My bag is deep, man.

What can I say?

What can I say?

I got my fingers in different pies, but yeah, right now I'm, I'm in NBA mode.

Premier League, I get it from the side.

Man United play places once every 30 games, so I gotta find myself some interest outside of it.

Versatility, and now, oh, the smile on his face, is a, huh, he's less.

Convinced after the draw against Milan, Luca Daloo, how are we, Luca?

I'm good Ale, but I'm still convinced we'll get top 4, so it's OK.

Me too.

He was telling me about 2nd the other day, now he's talking about I'm still convinced we can get top 4.

Hey man, had we won, we could have gotten 2nd, but unfortunately we didn't, so 4th and 2nd, what's the difference?

Nothing, fair enough.

What, what do you think of this Serie A liaise with um nil-nil on Saturday evening between Verona and Lecce, and then the big match between Juventus and Mila nil-nil once again.

Fiorentina a swallow, lunchtime, guess the result, nil-nil.

wow, this is the product, this is the product we're trying to advertise.

Serie A needs to do better, man, seriously, even Inter, big chance to win the league.

Giving up a, what is it, 2 goal lead that they give up?

Yeah, probably they want to celebrate home, probably, that's what the fans are saying.

But now, now Lu Elias is gonna have fun of us because as you know, it was a bit of a tricky week for, for Italian footballers, we are not gonna touch everything.

Another tricky weeks I think at this point it's a tricky season, but, but from the US they say, you know what, now we're gonna replace Iran with Italy.

What do we think, Les?

They don't ask me, ask him, are you taking it?

Come on man, I'm not that shameless, man.

I don't believe him.

I in my life, I don't believe him , man.

You get Gianni Infantino puts the, the, the, the, the, the ticket on his door tomorrow .

Luca's booking his flight to New York, man.

I guarantee it.

I guarantee it, man.

I think it's shameless though.

I, I can't lie.

I see Italy, if I see Italy at this World Cup.

Yeah, come on, what are they gonna call, call Gatuzo again.

Come back, save us.

Forget about it, man.

Give that to someone else, bro.

Give that to someone else.

No.

Iran should be able to play, huh?

They deserve to be there.

They qualify.

No, of course, but that's a different conversation.

We're talking about if they do get replaced, then we should replace them.

Probably a playoff or something.

Yeah, a playoff between other teams.

Don't let them leave.

We'll be in the playoffs, but don't worry about that.

You're gonna lose another playoff.

You're gonna be the first team to lose twice in the playoffs.

To, to be fair with you , Lias, every, everyone in Italy was, uh, was saying we should be ashamed if we get this wild card and go and play this world.

Well, what do they give you wills?

Are you gonna, you can't celebrate this time that you draw them.

Anyways, anyways, anyways, let's talk about the Premier League because Arsenal had to deliver and they delivered, so clinical, Evrecccise one-nil, yeah, great finish, great finish, and you know what guys, when you enter the Arsenal training ground, there are a lot of messages on the wall, and one of them.

Is say win games on set pieces, is there?

Yes, is there 22 goals from set pieces, 17 from corner, he's making the job.

Yeah, I mean it's different the way they did it this time, they, they try to set the short set piece routines, they did it 3 times in a row, 3 times in 9 minutes.

The third one did the trick and it was an incredible finish from Eze.

The thing with the with the set pieces though, it kills me every time it pans over to Nicholas Jover as if he's the one who just bent it in the top corner.

It kills me every single time, right?

Like give him credit.

Clearly if a team scores as many set pieces as they did this year, he obviously has a huge part to play.

But at some point you have to give credit to the player.

EA is the one who puts that in top bins, right?

If he misses it, we're not gonna look at Nicholas Jover and say, why did you miss it?

It's, it's an EA's goal.

Uh, I feel like these days Arsenal, it can start raining in the.

Stadium and they're gonna look over at Nicholas Jover.

Thank you so much.

It's, it's, it's, it's insane to me, man, it's insane to me.

Magical on his right foot.

beautiful finish.

It's a great, I think, is he the only player on, on Arsenal at the moment who could probably finish that?

Yeah, probably.

But do you know what it is about Ezzi as well, he's a great scorer of goals.

Like if you look at his goal catalog this season, they've all been screamers.

Like he's got a brilliant striking technique, and he's, yeah, it was a brilliant finish from him, and it worked 3rd time, uh, 3rd time a charm.

Yeah.

We often highlighted the importance of Ryan Churkey, and he's magical for Manchester City.

Is Abreci is that man for, for Arsenal in this title race?

Well, I don't think he's the same level as Churky as a footballer, of course, but if you had to pinpoint someone as equivalent to the Arsenal team, it'd probably be Eze, but.

He came off injured.

Hopefully that's not too drastic for them because I think that would be a big miss.

I think he had a really good performance last night, and I think there's been questions.

Marks around Eze this season, honestly, cause they spent a lot of money on him.

I think he's had top level performances, the two against Spurs that really scream the, the big money worth, but in general, I don't think Eze's been as consistent as his price tag would probably suggest he should be.

But I think in terms of like moments of magic, he's probably the most capable, um, apart from really Saka, now that he's back in my opinion of making a difference for Arsenal.

Yeah, he, he, to be fair to Eze, I agree with, with what Lucas said, right, throughout the season.

You have kind of been waiting for EA to arrive.

There's been moments, there's been flashes, but there hasn't been a real substance.

I actually think over the last 1 month or so, 2 months, EA has kind of emerged as one of Arsenal's most important players, and now, if he's not in the lineup, I'm looking at it thinking, oh, Arsenal are in trouble.

Whereas earlier in the season, there was a period where he wasn't even coming off the bench.

I think 3 or 4 games in a row, Arteta left him completely on the bench.

He didn't bring him on whatsoever.

And I don't think he has the same technical quality that Cherokee does, but he has the same, or he has a similar rather mindset in terms of he wants to get on the ball and try things.

He wants to risk things, he wants to create, he wants to make moments of magic, and I think that's a mentality that Arsenal don't really have throughout their squad.

A lot of the football that they play is safe, it's risk averse.

So to introduce a kind of character like that into the team, I think can only do them well.

And I think they need to start looking to sign those kinds of players much more often in the January, in, in the summer.

Transfer windows, these kinds of players are what kind of wins you in my opinion, the big games, especially in knockout football, you need these kinds of players, so I think Eze is set for a really, really big end to the season for Arsenal.

And we saw it also last week when, when he hit the post, you know, something always happen when he has them, and that's him, by the way, right, that's not the system creating, that's Eze getting on the ball and just creating a moment of individual magic.

That's what he does.

So if we look at the table now, Arsenal + 3, and then they have the chance to go again +6 before Manchester City.

Are gonna play on on next, next Monday, if they restore the six point gaps, guys, do you think it's gonna put the, the, the pressure they need on Manchester City?

100%.

I think this is massive for Arsenal having a game before City.

I think City play on the Monday, don't they, the, the first kickoff , so that's massive, putting the pressure on City and.

Look, I still think in terms of the driving seat, it's very much equal in the sense that City still, if they win those, both of them games, and they surpass them in goal difference, they're still gonna be first, right?

But just the mental sort of bonus that that would give to the Arsenal teams knowing that they're 6 points clear.

Putting the pressure on that City team that then have to deliver, um, I think it's big, I think it's big, but I, I'm not gonna say that's gonna be the decider, let's say for the Premier League title, especially cos this Fulham game first and foremost is tough.

If I remember correctly, Fulham over the last few seasons have been a tough team for Arsenal to play against.

And it's sandwiched in between two games against Atletico Madrid which we know are gonna be absolute dogfights.

So yeah, it's a really, really big next two weeks.

It's it's a big end to the season for Arsenal.

This is every game they play now is a final in some ways or or or shape.

But yeah, this, this week in particular , Atleti, Fulham, Atleti, their season can go from, it can either go from incredible.

They could achieve everything they want to.

They could be in a Champions League final this time next week, or rather maybe in 2 weeks.

Or they could be looking at their season thinking, wow , it has really gone up in smoke quick.

And also with Havertz getting injured, he's most probably not gonna play them two games, it looks like quite a bad injury with uh I think it was another muscular problem.

You have to rely on Grez.

They need him back and I think Havertz is a huge mess.

Like, I'm not the biggest fan of Havertz, right?

But I think he helps Arsenal more than Jocarez does in terms of his style of play.

I think Havertz, the thing he lacks the most is that ruthlessness and finishing, but I can't say Jorez has that either.

But what Havertz does for the team in terms of dragging them up, holding up play, the runs in behind, it's more effective than Jorez in my opinion, so that's a huge mess.

If um we look at the table, end of the season, they are tied on top.

Are you happy with deciding the Premier League, the best product in world football with goal difference, or, or in this case, for example, we should introduce final game in Wembley.

As, as, hey, as someone who's lost the Premier League title on goal difference, I look, I hated it, right?

It was one of the, it's probably the worst day of my footballing life, losing the domestic City, and I'm saying it like I was a player, I was a fan, right?

I was watching on my couch, I can't even imagine people on the ground, the players, the coaches.

Um, but if I look at it objectively, if I kind of take away my Man United lenses here, it was arguably the greatest title race in the history of the Premier League, to be decided on the final day by that thin of a margin, and then on top of that, the way Aguero sealed it at the death.

You can't ask for a better Premier League finale.

So if the Premier League is to be decided on goal difference, so be it.

The one thing for me right now, I'm watching both these teams.

I watched City against Burnley.

It was a miracle that game didn't end 6-0, for example.

I wonder, could that potentially hurt City if this does go to goal difference, because they're gonna win it based on the amount of goals they score if.

win on goal difference.

It'll be through their defensive strength, right, because I look at this game.

It was very different to the City game.

I think at times they were really hanging on for, for dear life.

Wissa at the end, missing an absolute sitter from the Voltamarapa.

So it's really poised nicely at the moment, man.

It's anyone's guess who, who kind of takes this.

But you look at Arsenal's fixtures and the fact that they kind of play ahead of City.

You have to, to say if you're looking for small advantages here, that has to be an advantage.

No, I agree.

I think, look, it's part of the game.

One of the greatest ever title races, full stop, not just in Premier League history, but in football history, came down to goal difference, and this will be very tight.

I mean, from a like a selfish point of view, I would love to see a final, of course, because the pressure on that would be absolutely insane.

But then if it's a final between these two teams, we know.

Yeah, but then, but then we're gonna pick out hairs where it's like, what happens if two teams that are tied on 4th with goal difference.

Who gets Champions League then?

Are we gonna do a final there to decide the finals for the relegation if I remember correctly, if everything is even, right.

Goals scored goals against, well, obviously with Arsenal City wouldn't happen because a head to head to head, right?

But like there are situations where I think a few years ago between City and Liverpool there was a like a 1% chance that if it all ended up even on the final day, I think it was 21-22, the two teams would play a Premier League final because they had drew, I think they drew both games in that season.

Is there a chance?

There's no chance in this, yeah, there's no chance.

Yeah.

Also, I, I wanted to bring a talk on that whistler miss , right, because yeah, I, I wanna talk about the spending in the Premier League, right?

Cause Newcastle, how much did they spend, 230 million in the summer, something ridiculous, right, on the, on the personnel that they brought in.

But I think it's a bigger problem in the Premier League.

I actually think with the amount of spending power and the amount of capital that the Premier League has, they're massively underachieving.

Because of their resources, like with the resources they have at their disposal, in the sense that in Europe, they should be succeeding more.

The player selection, the recruitment from the Premier League teams is embarrassing, I have to say.

When we look at like when the Serie A was at the top of Italian football with the highest spending power, the majority of the best players in the world played in that league.

They played in the Serie A.

The Premier League, the majority of the best players in the world play abroad.

The talent level in the, in the Premier League, no this is true, the talent level in the Premier League is actually really low relative to the capital that they have at their disposal to spend.

You look at some of these players like Madaueke, 50, 60 million, Jore, 60, 70 million, Alanga, 50, 60 million.

Like I'm not even joking, I think, I, I'm pretty sure we can VAR check this.

Alanga, Newcastle spent more on Alanga than PSG spent on Karakeli or something very similar.

And I mean, I think it's similar .

The only difference will be the wages and stuff like that, but you pay good wages for good players.

Like I, I, I, I completely agree with you this is what I'm saying.

I think the Premier League should be operating at a much higher level with the amount of capital they have on disposal.

I think the recruitment in the Premier League is really, really poor.

If one, if a player has one.

Decent season in the league, they're valued at a ridiculous rate.

Even Elliott Anderson I think he's a phenomenal player, but I'm reading rumors 120 million.

I, I like, come on, that's but here's the thing, right, but here's the thing, that his club are , are valuing him at 120 million, and they're well within their rights to do that, right?

They haven't had him for that long.

He's in great form.

He's sorry at England.

They value him at that.

No one is putting a gun up to anyone else's head to buy him for 120 million.

And look, if Manchester City sign Elliott Anderson, I'm sure he's gonna be a great success for them.

I think, I agree with you.

I think he's a great player, but for other clubs .

I don't know why they keep getting like caught in this like headlock of almost feeling like they're forced to go spend huge on players who, like you said, had one decent season in the prem.

Wissa has been in the prem for a minute now, and he's always been a decent player.

Last year he had a great season.

All of a sudden now, he's worth 60 million.

Pounds.

The guy's about to turn 30 years old, right?

I think Man United, I can't believe I'm using Man United as the example here because we have been the biggest clowns when it comes to recruitment, but they show that you can find value in the market in Sena Lamans, for example, a goalkeeper that cost what, 20 million from the Belgian league.

He's coming now and I'm looking at a goalkeeper that could be our goalkeeper for the foreseeable future.

Other clubs will go and spend 60 million on a goalkeeper who had one season in the Prem.

Get creative guys.

There's good players all around Europe.

They don't just exist in in England.

And, and I also think that the, the prices are inflated when we have a transfer inside the Premier League, of course, because all these teams have money.

It's like I said.

Nottingham Forest can afford to, to, to quote clubs 120 million.

Elliott Anderson teams like if, if any team wants Matteo Fernandez for forget about them.

Wolves are going down.

Andrew, uh, if you wanna go sign what's his name now, Joel Gomez, he's gonna cost minimum $40 million.

He's a championship player right now, right?

Like that's crazy to me.

I agree.

And as he said.

This is what Syria were trying to do in the 90s, early 2000s, and then you see how it developed.

As soon as the money goes down, if you don't recruit properly, then you're in trouble because you're not really building, you know, it's like, and you sign players for.

Without giving them the chance to develop and putting on them a pressure that they probably Uh, cannot comply with because it's not the level sometimes, yeah, yeah, and a lot of those top level Serie A players at the time, they came from abroad, like you said, the scouting system was deeper than just the Italian talent like Zidane came from Bordeaux, Trezeguet came from Monaco, a lot of players came from the the great Ajax also, and we were also the first market to, to bring Brazilian and great Argentinian into over, and I think the Premier League should take a page out of the old Serie A but because there's so much talent out there in Europe that.

Do get slept on, like you said, Lamon's a bit of an unknown quantity, but he's proven himself to be a very good keeper and potentially the keeper for the foreseeable future.

So I don't know, I just think the spending power is, is such a gift that the Premier League have, and they've wasted it for me personally, like, I, I just think they spend badly and the level of achievement in the, in the, in Europe especially is so poor for the amount of capital and resources on Twitter, he said the other day, he said, I actually think the Premier League would be better off if they gave them a transfer benefit.

years to allow for like the, the transfer market to heal a little bit, they'll they'll actually come out of it better because the amount of money that they have to spend that they're just throwing at the wall.

One thing that really annoys me with football today to kind of go off your point is how little you seemingly have to do now in football to get yourself a big move.

I feel like back in the day when I started watching football to secure yourself a move to a big team, you either had to be a like a prodigious talent, like a talent that at youth level you haven't seen much of, but you're looking at them and you're thinking, wow.

They really have what it takes, right?

Or you have to be someone that put together at least 2 to 3 seasons of a good form, top form, to then get yourself a move.

I'm gonna use Maduke as the example here.

Noni Maduueke spent 3 seasons at Chelsea, and, and in my opinion, if you look at his whole stint, he was average.

He had good moments.

He had very frustrating moments.

No one ever looked at Noni Maruueke as a great winger, as the best winger in the, in the Premier League, or one of, or as someone who, oh, he could be on the verge of superstardom.

How has he then managed off three normal seasons to secure himself a 50 million pound move to a team that are looking to compete for everything, that would never happen back in the day, yeah, because, uh, back then was focused, I would say, on the game and what you were delivering on the game.

Now Maduke.

Uh, is worth X amount of money on the financial, so when you move me, when, when you move him, it's like on the financial of the other club.

Exactly, you need to generate, uh, I think it's well two teams now they scout and it's like, oh, he isn't necessarily pulling up trees right now, but man, in our system, he might, and I hear that right, sometimes that can work out.

So programming they do a lot of these clubs where they like um they look at the stats rather than actually watching them.

Yeah, I remember there was a stat with Garnacho for again how has Garnacho earned himself a move to Chelsea after one season, but I'm seeing people say in the summer Garnacho, he has the most entries into the box of any player in Europe under 21.

Who who cares clubs look at that and think wow, that's a good yeah, now it's the, the algorithm, that's the, the conflict.

Between for example, the old uh old fashioned sporting directors and the new ones.

But at the end of the day, what you, your, your body of work on the football pitch will always be more valuable than the hypothetical scenario of what you could be in 3 years.

It's crazy to me where football has gone, and you're spending, it's not even like you're spending 10 million pounds on a prospect like Brighton do.

You're spending 50 million pounds on this.

I, I totally agree with you, but according to what you're saying, it's like.

1015 years ago there was no chance that for example Real Madrid would have signed Frank Franco Mastantuono after they, but you know what, at least Mastantuono was seen in Argentina as like a big a big talent.

I'm looking at it more so like.

I, I know you, that's your boy, right, but Dean Hoissen, for example, had 1 year at Bournemouth.

All of a sudden Real Madrid are buying him to be their starting center back after one season.

I feel like back then Dean Hoysen would have probably had to have 2 to 3 years like cementing himself at that level to then get that kind of, but, but for example, in, in, in that case I would say.

Was different because when I, I remember Mourinho talking about him when he was on, on loan at Roma, I was like ah.

This guy is gonna be a Real Madrid player.

I think Dean and Madaweka aren't the same.

I'm not trying to say that, but I still think like you to go from Bournemouth one year to then playing for Real Madrid the next season, you've seen it's been very difficult for Huysen this year.

He's had moments, but again it's inconsistent, he's still learning his, his trade.

I get what you're saying.

I think in general with an example, by the way, I don't, I don't mean no, no, no, I get what you're saying, but I think in general with young players, I think they're too quick to jump the gun and make that move.

I think a lot of the time, like even Paz for example, spending as long as he did at Coma has massively.

Helped him sort of refine his game, and now he's ready to go back to Madrid or a top level club to perform at the highest levels.

I think young players sometimes they wanna move out and they make mistakes and they , they cause an uproar.

I think Garnatra's a perfect example.

He, he was even apologizing the other day in an interview saying, you know, I was young, well, he's still, he is still young.

I don't know what he said I was I was young, I was young last year.

No, these were his words.

It happened 5 minutes ago.

I, I, I don't know why he's, I'm thinking about it, I don't know why he said I was young, he still is young, but it's like, I think they're too quick to make that jump, Ale.

And also like.

Yeah, I just think now we're so numb to these big money moves.

I remember when Torres moved to Chelsea, it was the biggest thing in the world, 50 million he was like a world class striker at that point.

That's the thing, he had physical problems at that point, but he had a resume on him where he was one of the best strikers in Europe.

Now it's just like, like Leah said, one good season, good season, 5, 60 million, 70 million, slap it there.

And even like, let's say Elliott Anderson, for example, if he, Forest value him at 120 million, there's no problem with that.

That's their asset, right?

They can value him at what they want.

And if a team like City does.

I look at the situation and I think, well, personally I don't think he's worth that.

But then how much more would it cost to pry away someone like Joao Neves from PSG?

Not saying he would ever leave , but he would cost more than that.

But you know you're getting an established world class level footballer compared to Anderson, who's had one good season, granted his ceiling is high and he could potentially become world class in, in the given years.

But I think there's so much more talent that you could pay a little bit extra for, but you know they're gonna make so much of a difference outside of the Premier League.

I think Premier League tax is a big, big thing.

Exactly.

I mean, we, we tell you Anderson, with all the.

Respect you're paying for a potential, for a startup, for an idea.

I like Anderson a lot, by the way I'm not, I know, he's a, he's a great player, but Vitinha, Joan Eves, they already played a certain level, they already play a Champions League final.

They already achieved.

For me, the biggest example is Baleba last season at, at, at with Brighton.

Man United were ready to go in for 80 million pounds for Baleba after basically again one breakout season.

Brighton caught us for 100 million pounds.

You look this year, now we could probably get him for 50 million pounds.

That's not to say he's massively changed as a footballer.

But again, I just think you can be more creative in the market because good players exist everywhere, and I'm sorry, this, this idea that you're spending 80 million pounds on some world beater, Baleba very well could prove to be that, but he could also prove to just be an an ordinary number 8 who has a, a good game every once in a while.

Get creative, guys.

There's good players all around Europe, and I'm sure they don't cost 80 million all the time.

That's for sure.

Guys, how much is Jeremy Doku worth?

Oh my goodness.

Doku's a very good player.

I like Doku a lot.

We had this conversation the other day about Doku versus Canan Yildiz, and you already know what Canons.

Yeah, yeah, and I like a lot, and I, I, I think Kennon is probably the, you could argue he's the better footballer, but I, I told you last week, I, if I were City, I wouldn't replace Doku with Kenan Yildiz, yeah, because of the system.

He, he is so vital to the way City play, and he's so vital to Holland.

He's so valued to what Pep wants to do, the ability this guy has to just get his team up the pitch , gain them yards, take on his men, create, creates, uh, space, feed players through.

Wayne Rooney said at at, at the end of the game, right?

What do you say?

If, if this guy starts like shooting more.

He's gonna be damn near unstoppable.

He is such a threat.

I, I think honestly, if you talk about most underrated players in the Premier League, I think he's high up there, because people will look at his numbers, goals and assists, what is he doing on the stat sheet.

But you have to watch this guy play to recognize his value for Man City.

I think he's invaluable to that team.

Not a player for algorithms, Luca.

Nah, nah, Doku, you have to watch, and do you know what else I always bring up with Doku, Chiellini, for so, I don't know why he does, like, he constantly mentions and references to Doku, if he was to play in today's game, how much he would struggle as a fullback.

Cos remember Chiellini started as a, as a, as a left back.

And he said that, I think he said it in the you know the show with Shearer, right?

I think, is it the overlap, the one where they go on tour and they interview players, right?

They did one with Chiellini and Torino like a year or so ago.

And he brought up Doku saying how he would get killed by someone like Doku.

He is like the perfect modern winger.

And I like to compare Doku to, he reminds me a lot of Vinny before the 21, 22 season.

In the sense that he's super flay, he's extremely effective dribbler.

He probably does more off the ball if I'm being honest.

But if he just works on his output, if he refines his, his shooting and his final pass, he will be unstoppable.

But already he's a brilliant player and I have a lot of time for him.

I also, I even think even if he doesn't score that many more goals, I, I think he's absolutely fine the way he is.

Like I think Salah and Ronaldo and these guys, they completely skewed people's perception of what a winger has to be.

Yes, if you have a winger that can score 30 goals a season, he's more valuable, I get that.

But just because you don't score 30 goals a season doesn't mean you can't be a great winger.

Wingers are the job of a winger, if you look at the original job.

Get to the byline, beat your men.

Create dangers in that situation.

Jeremy Doku does that every single time he gets to the ball.

If he was to add 15 goals, he adds 15 goals, then all of a sudden he becomes even more valuable.

I get that.

But already right now, I think people are waiting.

Oh, if he gets that, he all of a sudden he'll be unstoppable.

He's already damn near unstoppable as is.

You're, you're Chiellini's completely right.

I don't think there's a fullback alive that looks at Doku and doesn't feel fear before a game because, you know, he's going to attack you.

That's the thing with him as well too.

He's so relentless .

He attacks you every single minute he gets the ball.

There's no question of him going back.

Backwards to his full to his fullback or to his midfielder, he wants to kill you every time he gets it as a defender and as a team that's looking to game plan against that.

That is incredibly difficult to game plan against.

Yeah, and if you, we look back at the Euro 2020, that's why Chiellini said you destroyed Belgium, you destroyed.

Doku, I think, was the, the man who, who destroyed Italy.

Yes, he was a big problem.

That was the first time he got on my.

It was the biggest problem for Italy in the tournament, except we, we had to survive against against Spain in the, in the extra time, but.

As an individual, as an individual, yeah, and I remember watching Doku in the Club World Cup when we played City, we got absolutely battered in that game, but he was just a constant problem.

Like you said, he's a relentless winger.

Once he points you one on one, you need to double up on him.

There's no, you can't defend him one on one.

It's so I think he's really good too at creating, uh, almost no, he creates space, right, but he also attracts so much attention.

That inevitably his teammates become free, and I think he's really underrated at finding those slotted passes into free teammates, right?

It's not like he gets triple team and he loses the ball .

He's very good at cutting in, dragging a defender in, and then O'Reilly's on the overlap and he finds him perfectly, which then now finds O'Reilly open in space to find Holland.

Like these are the things again that don't show on the stat line, right?

Doesn't register as an assist or a goal for Doku, but that goal doesn't happen without his initial dribble.

And when you're playing as many low blocks, by the way, as City do, what's the most effective way of breaking down a low block?

Having a guy that can almost dribble through it.

4th final in a row, 43 wins in 51 games in the FA Cup, 12 finals reached with Manchester City, Pep Guardiola.

We started with Italy.

Should he be the next manager of Italy?

Should.

Oh, I'd love him.

If he, if, if Peppa's on the table, Alec, we have to bring back Italy.

I'm I'm, I'm afraid, bankrupt the whole country if you have to go get Pep Guardiola.

Bankrupt the country, what with his wage?

Hey man, I'll chip him with tax.

I don't even live in the US.

I'll chip.

I don't even live in Italy.

I'll chip in .

No, of course, if we had Pep it would be massive, and I think not only from like a footballing point of view with the national team, but I think he would change the football culture in Italy.

I think he'd have a massive knock-on effect with the Serie A.

Change the way it's played, change the way football is perceived, and he is, for me, the most revolutionary manager.

In the modern era at least, like I was thinking, I was gonna say Evan, but Cruyfer's up there as well, but in the modern era, definitely Peppa's number one, and wherever he goes, football almost has to adjust to the way he plays, and that would, that is exactly what Italy and Italian football is crying out for at the minute.

So if Peppa's on the table, I know Bonnucci got Bonnucci here, he was saying the other day, I would love to work under to work and learn, you know, and learn with Pep, and no, of course he would be the number one option, and I.

I think it's, people are saying it's delusional, it might never happen, but I do think Pep will leave City at the end of the season, and I think he'll want a job in the international stage, and look, I think, I think we're, we could potentially pry him away, but I don't know, maybe I'm being a bit delusional there.

Is he gonna leave after a domestic treble, yes?

I think he should.

I, if he wins the treble this year, I think he should, he should leave.

Do you think that would be his most impressive, now, when I say impressive, I don't mean like.

Impressive in terms of uh the trophy he's won because of course he's won the treble, he's won the the formidables, but in terms of context with the current squad, do you think that's his, yeah, where would you rank it?

That's a bad question.

Where would you rank it in?

I had this conversation the other day.

I think it's up there in terms of impressiveness in its own unique way, right, because this guy has done everything, 100 points, never had done before, 4 in a row, never done before.

He won the treble for Man City, for second English team ever to do it.

So, yeah, formidables.

He, he's , did you see oh yeah, like the 2nd team to ever do it.

Right, he's not wrong, but, but anyway, my point is he's done everything.

He's come into English football and dominated English football.

English football is too easy for Guardiola.

That's what we've seen throughout his tenure.

But to do it this year when people have, have questioned him, people have asked, is he outdated?

People have asked, Has Miguel Arteta got his number?

People have asked, Is the City team good enough to do it?

At one point they had 1 win in 7.

In its own way, this is its most impressive because for the first time in Pep's time in City, I think he isn't the favorite.

That's, that's crazy, right?

And look, I'm not trying to say this, this seems an underdog team.

Like they've obviously spent vast amounts of money on the side.

They're ridiculously rich in talent.

But to do it this year when everyone ruled them out numerous times this year in its own way is extremely impressive, and I think he should bow out on top.

At that point.

If he wins it this year with this team, what more does he have to prove?

What more can he do if he, if he qualifies Italy to a World Cup?

Hey, that's up there.

No, in terms of what he can do outside, but I'm saying in English football, if he wins it this year, what more, what more does he have to prove?

The game's too easy for him.

The, the, the, the chips have been stacked up against him.

You, we've built up this challenger at Arsenal.

He's knocked them out.

What it would have been the 2nd time now.

He's done Liverpool already.

Bow out on top, man.

There's nothing more for you to accomplish.

And I'm also saying it, please bow out on.

I'm sick and tired of this guy.

Seriously, he's monopolized by the league, man.

Uh, the Premier League is now almost a formality every single season, no matter how tight it might be at certain points , it ends up with Pep Guardio lifting silverware.

Probably the next challenge is gonna be.

Leading Italy to the World Cup again, that will be his biggest challenge, man, seriously, honestly, he's up against it there, man.

Wow, 2030 World Cup, wow, man.

Pep Guardiola against Italy to a World Cup, man, they need to knight.

What, what's the highest honor you can get in, in Italy?

I know it's a knighthood in, in the UK.

I actually don't know what is the highest honor in Italy.

Uh, I, I don't know how to say it, uh, knight of, of Italian Republic, Knight.

How do you say.

Yeah, what's the, what's the title though, Sir, because in in the UK it's Sir.

No, it's Cavalier.

Cavaliero Cavalier has a nice ring.

Seriously, give him the prime minister job for God's sake.

Already sounds great.

Shupe become the next Cavalier in Italy.

Let us know in the comment.

Thanks, Lia.

Thanks, Luca.

See you next time.