Hey, it's Jay Comfrey here from High Performance. Our show is currently in partnership with South by Southwest London. For the first time ever, the famous South by Southwest Festival comes to London and you will want to be there. A convergence of creativity, culture, technology. Topics will include AI, tech and business. It's the first time South by Southwest has been in Europe. So be the first at the first.
It's a multi-site event across more than 25 venues in Shoreditch, running from the 2nd to the 7th of June 2025. For 20% off your passes, search South by Southwest London and use the code HP20. for 20% off. Give the perfect gift that keeps on giving, an aura frame. It's one that friends and shorter love. And has been named them digital photo frame by the end or frames come HD display unlimited storage and the ability photos and videos. Right now you can get £25 off Aura's best-selling
Acast at checkout. Just visit AuraFrames.co.uk AuraFrames.co.uk Promo code ACAST Conditions apply. After 164 years without any fanfare, Crystal Palace have finally won some silverware. At Wembley, Man City failed to get out of the blocks on a great day for soccer and for handballs outside the box.
In the league, Goodison Park hosted a game for the final time and Jamie Vardy bowed out with a record that's sublime. Declan Rice helped Arsenal complete their second place story and Nottingham Forest are in the running. And in Italy it's all very tight for the Scudetto prize as both Inter and Napoli could only manage.
ties my name's ryan bailey joining me today your friend of mine taylor rockwell hello taylor hello ryan bailey a lovely introduction as always did it hurt you to say ties even though you needed it for the rhyme or are you okay with switching to american parlance when you need I have said soccer for the past 15 years of Sam Taylor. It's second nature. I'm okay now.
Touche. Yeah, there we go. No issues here. Graham Ruffin, how do you feel about saying ties? I don't mind it. It's Cleats. Cleats is the only one. I just can't bring myself to use that in any article or any context. Bleating about cleating, are you? I see. No, never did not. Never did not. But aren't like boots like heavy things that you wear with jeans? You wear to like work sites. other people whereabouts with and jeans, and yeah.
Yes. You don't wear those to record every single day, Graham? I thought you wore heavy steel-toed boots for every recording session. Yeah, they're kicked in muds. It's quite the mess on the carpet. Worth it for the protection. You never know what will come at your ankles. during the game or your toes. It's not specifically related to soccer, but the only sort of Americanism I can't get behind in sports is winningest. They were the winningest franchise. No.
It isn't grammar, but does it serve a purpose, that word? Because we, meaning Brits, don't have a word that conveys the same thing. So even that I've been ground down on. That's where I draw the line. Do you assume it's because you support Wimbledon and Charlotte that you're uncomfortable with the term winning? You don't support Wimbledon? Where's your uniform today? I apologize.
I'm not on coordinated color scheme kit watch today. Nice of you both to do that because we voted one. We're going to Wembley. Is Ryan going to Wembley? Well, Taylor, this is where I break news to the TSS HR department. I need to schedule some PTO for next Monday because I'm going to Wembley next week. Woo! Yeah. Deny. Okay. I tried. I tried to go as well, right? That's the only reason I wore today's jersey. Approved, weirdly? That was fine.
Yeah, your travel might be slightly less arduous and cheaper than mine, actually, Graham. So, yeah, see you there. I don't know, Ryan, have you ever tried to go from one end of the UK to the other? Actually, if it's a train, it'll be cost per three times as much as a pantalactic flight. In the UK. Anyway, perhaps we'll get to that in Weekend Review Extra. Wimbledon's triumph in the League 2 playoff semifinals leading to a game at Wimbledon.
I don't know, man. I think you have carte blanche here to talk about it as much as you want to because that's a huge deal, right? And that has to be a very exciting thing for you, an owner, a lifelong supporter.
a lifelong hater of mk don's or maybe that's a more recent development but i mean it has to be a really exciting moment it is a very exciting moment very special moment kind of for the family as well because i kind of consider this a family moment The glue that holds the Baileys together is AFC Wimbledon, so it's good for us to have a literal team of butlers.
Obviously, they don't count. They're not coming now. They're getting sent to buy the £30 tree of chicken wings at halftime. Ruben Abrams is actually paying for all my staff to come to the game. That's what's happening here. That's good of him. Sorry, generous of him. Yeah, yeah.
I wouldn't do it. But no, very special. I figured I'd make the trip because I don't know how often Wimbledon will get to Wembley and I'll be able to go there with all my family and friends. It's just the first time, Ryan, you've seen Wimbledon at... At Wimbers. It is. It is indeed. I'm playing Wolfsauce. It's W and W at W, Graham. It's actually the Wombles of Wimbers at Wembley. Correct. There's a few to say. It rolls off the tongue. My head.
Are you going to look around the field and be like, that's where Dean Henderson handled the ball. That's where Erling Holland couldn't score. That's also where Erling Holland couldn't score. That's where Donnarumma saved the penalty in the Euro 2020 final. I'm hoping my ticket isn't on the touchline where Chiellini did that. That's what I'm hoping.
There's a plaque. I don't want to be in that part of Wembley. Yeah. Anyway, yeah, very excited. It's actually only the second ever game I've seen at Wembley. I saw the 2013. And this will be my second. So I'm very, very excited about it. Thank you for asking. There we go. All right. Much more on that perhaps later. Which one are you genuinely more excited about? Like, I'm assuming it's one.
Excited about? What do you mean? Between those two, which one do you think you had more enthusiasm for or have more? If you're deciding again, if you have the option of seeing a Champions League final or AFC Wimbledon in a playoff, Arjun Robin or Miles Hippolyte. That's an easy choice. Hippolyte every day. Every day. I don't think there's any contests there, Taylor. I figured that. If I'm going to see any event at Wembley, it is our... You're quite right. That's what I said.
Seeing the sad Gallagher throughout the broadcast was just... It was one of my favorite moments of the weekend. He was very uncut, wasn't he? He was so mad. Oh, well, that's probably not going to be the focus of our FA Cup. It might be. It might be. It might be. Before we get there.
Patreon.com slash Total Soccer Show is where you can support this here endeavor. You'll get weekend review extra plenty coming tonight, including the Eredivisie title race, the Portuguese title race, and much more. Lots of incredible action from this weekend.
review extra. Patreon.com slash Total Soccer Show is how to support us. You'll get access to our Discord server. All the cool kids are there. Please join us there. And as a reminder, we're on YouTube. Like and subscribe. Smash those buttons. Graham and I are both wearing our Wimbledon cars proudly today. Taylor's wearing blue. We'll have to get your Wimbledon shirt and we'll hook you up. There we go. That I can be part of the call. Consider it done. Part of the Semi-Cool Kids Club.
Here we go. Patreon.com slash Total Soccer Show, please. And thank you. Let's get to the weekend's action, shall we? We should start off at the aforementioned. Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup final. Crystal Palace 1. Manchester City 0. Alabama's Chris Richards lifts the FA Cup. There we go. Palace win a trophy for the first time ever in their 164 years of existence.
They lost the finals in 1990 with Alan Pardew, of course, playing in that game. And in 2016 with, of course, Alan Pardew dancing at that game. They're now in the Europa League. Great, lovely impression of Pardew dancing if YouTubers... enjoying that very much. I will say, Graham, there was a lot of emotional moments from English Shocker this weekend, not limited to... you know, the last game at Everton, the last game at Goodison, men's game, I should say, Jamie Vardy's retirement, a lot of...
A lot of emotion at the end of this game as well. What I love is this, for me, epitomises this season in the message from English Shocker that underdogs can... And we're getting that maybe with Nottingham Forest getting potentially into the Champions League next week.
You'll see how things go. Newcastle, if we can call them an underdog, one of the richest teams in the world, but kind of an underdog winning the trophy as they did. Maybe Tottenham getting one too. Hey, hey, that's too far. All right, all right, sorry about that. But we can say, maybe we can look back on this Premier League season and say, it's not a classic, there wasn't much content. but these kind of storylines Graham are why we watch this game
Yeah, totally. This is the dream for so many clubs, not just in England, but around the world, that you might not be the dominant team in your league, but one day... you will have your moment. And Palace have had to wait 119 years for that moment. I don't know if I've ever seen a crowd where, I don't know if you guys caught this shot,
But as it became clear, obviously Man City put them under a lot of pressure in the last 10 minutes. There was 10 minutes of stoppage time at the end of this game. But when it ticks over to the final 30 seconds, and it is becoming clear that Palace are going to do it, they had this pan shot to the crowd. And I don't know whether Crystal Palace fans
None of them are glory hunters, maybe not many tourists in that crowd. So you have different generations of fans. It was very clear that you had older fans, you had younger fans. And I'm not entirely sure I've ever seen a shot of a crowd that looks so emotional. everyone looked like they were on the brink of tears. I personally was kind of on the brink of tears. It was absolutely amazing. Really, really pleased for Crystal Palace. And you're totally right, Ryan.
The Premier League season might not have been a classic, but I'll remember Newcastle winning the Cup back in March or whenever it was, and I'll remember this day.
very good Taylor did you enjoy the I actually I'm not supposed to like Crystal Palace because they are local rivals to my team when we shared a stadium for a long time but I can't get over the joy at full time there and you know as I say this is what it's all about And Manchester City, they've been to, in their success era, I put that in quotes, I think it's 30-something times. So I don't think we're shedding any tears for Mel Gallagher. Certainly not for an old guy.
Yeah, I think seeing it through that city lens for a moment, I apologize to city supporters, but outside of that, this is sort of the ideal result in an FA Cup final. If you have the two big teams who maybe both are prioritizing Champions League or the League or whatever it is, it kind of just feels like an afterthought. It doesn't feel like it has that much. or emotional sort of like resonance.
But when you have two smaller clubs, you also don't get maybe the hype and the enthusiasm for it that you might get otherwise. But when you have... one relatively smaller Premier League club versus Manchester City, and then that smaller club ends up winning. It is sort of the perfect storm of you get the hype, you get the build up. But then you get the result that kind of leads to the surprise win for Crystal Palace.
And it leads to really emotional scenes and really great sweeping crowd shots, even though my daughter at one point asked me, why are they all so mad? To which I had to explain that they're all very happy, they just look angry. That was very confusing for her four-year-old brain. But... It is, I think, sort of the perfect result if you are looking for that underdog story. And if you are Crystal Palace supporter, it is definitely the perfect result.
so Graham maybe we should talk about Man City and maybe this does epitomise their season a little bit it just seems like For me, as a Luddite for these kind of things, the passing accuracy just isn't what it used to be. Am I being like, oh, you know, things aren't the way they used to be, kind of?
narrative here, but everything seems a bit sideways, everything seems a bit inaccurate. Is it that they just don't have the quality of players they had a few years ago? What is it that's driving this lack of city efficiency? Sorry, Graham. I was just going to say, I like Ryan referring to himself as a Luddite before complaining about passing accuracy statistics. Like, I think that makes you the opposite of a Luddite, Ryan, but I take your point. The passing accuracy was what I said.
See, the thing is, Ryan, I think there were certainly a lot of sideways and lateral passing from Man City, but I think the terms of the game were decided by Crystal Palace, right? This is the game that they wanted.
to have it was clear what Crystal Palace's game plan was they wanted to sit deep they were quite happy for City to have the ball they wanted to stop them entering the box they were getting lots of bodies between the ball and the goal so I think it was quite difficult for Man City to create
opportunities, they still managed to do that. I think the The TLDR of this game is that Man City got very unlucky with, if we're being honest, one of the worst refereeing decisions I can remember in a big game, where Dean Henderson, I'm not entirely sure how that's not a red card, and we kind of overlook it because...
We all wanted Crystal Palace to win. I think the VAR maybe overlooked it for that fact as well. Can you set the stage for people who didn't see it? Yeah, so it's essentially a ball in behind. Erling Haaland is running in behind the Crystal Palace defence. It's the scenario of their nightmares.
And Dean Henderson comes off the line and kind of misjudges. I think he misjudges the bounce of the ball. And so the ball kind of like holds up a little bit more than he's expecting. And so he kind of like bats the ball away and his hand is outside the ball. Now, Erling Haaland was right there. He is about to take a touch. The goalkeeper's 20 yards out of his goal. The VAR decided that...
It wasn't a clear goal-scoring opportunity because basically Arlene Haaland was going to be force-wide. I'm really not sure about that. I think he was going to take a touch around. Dean Henderson and there was going to be an open net. So that's one thing to mention about Furman City. The other thing is Dean Henderson, as is football law, whenever you have a player who should perhaps be sent off, it is the law that they are then going to have the game of their life in Dean Henderson.
And he made a few crucial saves in this game. And if you look at the numbers, like Man City had lots of opportunities. They obviously have a penalty save by said Dean Henderson. So I think Palace rode their luck at times in this game for long periods of this match.
But things can be two things, Ryan, right? That is certainly the case, but it's also the case that Man City were very lateral, very safe in their passing. And when Palace had the opportunity to hit them on the counter, which is what they wanted to do,
They did it and they had a lot of early struggles with playing that long ball and it wasn't quite connecting for them and it was coming straight back at them and at that point I was worried for Crystal Palace that they were just going to buckle under the amount of pressure. that was coming at them. But for the goal, it's classic Crystal Palace under Glasner where they are one of the best at vertical play and they went from front to back. I think it's nine touches in 13 seconds.
for them to score that goal. All the components, all their best components are involved. So you've got Mateta's hold-up play, you've got the directness that you get from Munoz on the right side, and then it's a quality finish from Ebeze, who's got six goals in his last five games. Yeah, it was fitting that Crystal Palace scored a goal that way because that's what they were trying to do the whole match.
And the narrative in response to this result seems to be... to some extent that like pep got it wrong that pep overthought this was another kind of pep tinkering game and i'm i'm not buying into that really at all but this goal is i think exhibit a in the idea of that argument because it's nicole o'reilly starting at left wing back but i'm being asked to be
a fullback slash wingback slash central midfielder and do a number of different tasks. And you wonder if maybe somebody with more experience doing that does it just a little bit better or tracks Munoz's run a little bit more. I think O'Reilly doesn't recognize that that run is happening until basically... Munoz is about to get on the end of the pass, which is not really what you want from a defender. But aside from that, this felt to me like a smart, sort of proactive attacking lineup.
There was an awareness there that we, Manchester City, are going to have a ton of the ball. We're going to have the lion's share of the opportunities. We don't need a ton of defensive presence in the middle. We need creativity. We need people who can move the ball and kind of find little pockets of space to then pull Crystal Palace out. And I think that works largely. They just weren't able to find that end product they ended up relying on, I think.
on a lot of like near crosses not really crosses from the wing and then certainly not like quick passes through the middle but more so sort of crosses from the edge of the box in that sometimes find an attacker and then Henderson is there for the save and sometimes they don't. But I think this didn't feel like a Pep overthink game. It felt more so just kind of representative of the season that has been for Man City, which I think statistically is the worst in Pep's career.
winning no silverware uh come they'll still be in the champions league so that's saying something about his managerial acumen but it did feel like a team that just kind of weren't up to the level that they have established previously which is hard to do when you've won the league, what, four years in a row, maybe there's always going to be a little bit of a downturn.
Yeah, totally agree, Taylor. I think a lot of people have been quite desperate to draw comparisons to the 2021 Champions League final, where Pep does overthink it and drops Rodri from that game. obviously in this match I mean it was an interesting Man City line-up in that it was a midfield unit with De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva as a double pivot then it's Marmouche
and Haaland, so you've got like two forwards there, and then proper wingers in Doku and Savinho. So it was a lineup that suggested... There would be chaos. And look, Jonathan Wilson had a piece for the Guardian on how Guardiola's selection cost City. I noticed before we started recording, I haven't had a chance to fully read it, but I noticed for the athletic Michael Cox.
had a similar article with a similar premise. And those two guys know more about tactics than I ever will. Honestly, I thought City were so deep in the Palace half for so much of the match that... I didn't feel like the line-up was the thing that went wrong for them. What went wrong for them is what I said at the top of this segment, which was they had apparently saved.
And they had a goalkeeper who made a number of good saves and they came up against a defensive unit willing to put their body on the line. And also the early goal sets up Palace to play this kind of match. So, yeah, a little bit unfortunate for say. Because there's, I mean, the sixth minute you have the Kevin DeBerda cross. It's the Erling Holland flying volley. It's a great save by Dean Henderson who gets down and gets a hand to it. He has another really strong save. I think...
I forget what minute it is. Oh, it's the Doku save in the 43rd minute. It could have easily been 2-0, 3-0 to Manchester City if they take that penalty, especially if Henderson is sent off. And I share your... sentiments on that one Graham that was a questionable decision for sure so I think on another day it is a sort of comfortable somewhat comprehensive win for Manchester City and it goes the way we expected but instead it's not a red card Dean Henderson stands on his head and then
Stands on Pep Guardiola's dreams, which is why Pep Guardiola afterwards was quite annoyed with Dean Henderson, who grinned in his face to his credit. That was an interesting exchange, which I think ended with Henderson holding up. 10 fingers to say, you got your 10, because I think Guardiola was annoyed about the red card, annoyed about perceived time wasting.
But I found this to be an incredibly entertaining game. And for a 1-0 game with a penalty save but not a ton of drama to it, I think that is a pretty good result. It was indeed. But Graeme, you mentioned two wingers being wingers, two big guys up front. Why not just pump a bunch of balls into the box? Why didn't they start doing that in the last 10?
Are they good at crossing, Doku and Savinho? Because they didn't seem great at a lot of things in this game. Doku's certainly not good at crossing. I think Savinho's got that in his bag, but started quite hot, Savinho, and then has had a fairly inconsistent...
season since then. I think this summer is going to be a reckoning for some of Man City's wide players. I mean, it's telling that Jack Grealish doesn't get off the... He doesn't come off the bench in this game right at all. He certainly didn't get off the bench before.
Claudio Echeverri who comes on for his Manchester City debut now Echeverri is this really exciting Argentinian winger who was the player of the tournament at the U20 Copa America earlier this year I've written a little bit about him I kind of led the newsletter on him for a few weeks so he is a very talented player I expect he will play more of a role next year
But for him to, it was notable enough that he was in the squad for the first time. He was on the bench for Man City for the first time in this game. For him to come on ahead of Jack Grealish and at the same time as Phil Foden. is a real statement of where Pep Guardiola believes his wide options to be. So, Doku, I think, is facing a reckoning. Grealish as well. Foden as well. It wouldn't surprise me if that part of the squad looks rather different for Nick.
Very much work to do at Easterlands this summer indeed. But congratulations to Crystal Palace on that FA Cup win. Let's take a quick break. When we come back, we'll go around the Premier League and the continent. Join us then. Hey, it's Jay Comfrey here from High Performance. Our show is currently in partnership with South by Southwest London.
For the first time ever, the famous South by Southwest Festival comes to London and you will want to be there. A convergence of creativity, culture, technology. Topics will include AI, tech and business. It's the first time South by Southwest has been in Europe. So be the first at the first. It's a multi-site event across more than 25 venues in Shoreditch, running from the 2nd to the 7th of June 2025. For 20% off your passes, search South by Southwest London and use the code HP20.
For 20% off. Give the perfect gift that keeps on giving. An Aura Frame. It's one that friends and family are sure to love and has been named the best digital photo frame by The Independent. HD display unlimited storage and the the frame with photos Right now, you can get £25 off or as best-selling Right. Bye. Just visit AuraFrames.co.uk. A-U-R-A-Frames.co.uk. Promo code ACAST. Conditions apply. I'm Dane Brugler. I cover the NFL Draft.
for the athletic spending the whole year working on a draft guide i'm looking at thousands of players putting together hundreds of full scouting reports all the nitty-gritty details the testing data
the stats, but extensive background research as well. Every journey is a little bit different. I'm on the phone with a lot of these guys. Hey, when did you start playing football? What other sports did you play? Tell me about your family. You know, learning more about these guys as people. Our draft guy
I picked up the name The Beast because of the crazy amount of information that's included. I have no idea how to quantify the hours I've spent putting it together. I've been covering this year's draft since last year's draft. You can do that at theathletic.com slash subscribe.
Total Soccer Show, welcome back to the Weekend Review. Let's go to the Premier League, where we've had two of the five Champions League spots confirmed. Just one point, now separating third through seventh, with one game left to play. Well, two games for... City of course where should we start Graham why don't we start Mark Everton 2, Southampton 0. Do we even remember what the score is in this game? It was Everton marking the final Premier League game.
at Goodison Park with a win though of course a very emotional day after 133 years at this stadium of course we should know it was announced was it earlier last week that the women's team will be continuing so it's not going to be knocked down Goodison Park it will continue which is very good news be saved but Southampton pretty much bystanders in the celebrations here, I suppose. Lots of blue smoke.
some red smoke too. I don't know if you guys saw this bit. It looked like the Everton fans who tricked Liverpool with the blue smoke in their celebrations got their own back a little bit because there was pockets of red smoke. amongst the blue but uh graham i know you have a connection to goodison this was an emotional day as well
Yeah, a really emotional day at Goodison Park. I'll personally miss it a lot. It is difficult to imagine the Premier League without Goodison Park. I think it's hosted more top flight games than any other stadium in English football. And obviously it's It's just bricks and mortar. But I do think it is more than a stadium. It is a real reflection of Everton as a club, obviously named the People's Club, and as a community.
I think it is the last stadium of its kind. I think of stadiums like Highbury and Upton Park. They've long gone and Goodison. as the last of that breed. Things that I'll miss are stuff that you don't really see in modern football, like the way that there are terraced houses about 30 yards from the turnstiles on Goodison Road, and I mentioned this on the show a couple of weeks ago. There is a guy who lives at 9 Goodison Road.
And he has got basically like every Everton icon and Liam DeLapp, weirdly, to come into his house before the game to like sign the wall. And just stuff like that I love about Everton and Goodison Park. The scenes of fans gathering hours before kick-off was amazing. Then when they did the violin version of Zed Cars, they had this little ceremony, or it was more than a little ceremony, it was about an hour and a half long.
after the game and they kicked it off with this violin version of zed cards and again similar to the crystal palace pan shot it shows the crowd and there's people have got like their head in their hands and I was watching in the living room and Lucy was like are you feeling okay this weekend there was yeah I got a little bit emotional at that so I was chopping onions at that point but it is great that it is going to be saved and I think the idea is that it's going to be erm
a different stadium I think they're going to maybe bring the the crowd's capacity down and maybe do some of the redevelopment work but you couldn't build you couldn't build those Goodison Park you just you just There you go. It has been saved. In addition to that violin version of Z-Cast, Z-Cast? No, Z-Cast. We've got to stick with that. The video of the whole stadium singing There She Goes by the Lars was more.
because that's one of the best songs ever, which doesn't have any verses. It's just chorus.
it's a good football song I'm not aware of Everton fans I should clarify I'm not an Everton fan I just have a soft spot for Everton and for goodness in part I'm not aware of of fans singing that before so maybe that's going to be adopted as an everton anthem they also did this kind of with a live band this version of spirit of the blues which is this great sort of like status quo style rock football anthem i think it slept on as a football anthem so that was
That was great as well. And I think there was a real mood of celebration around Goodison Park. Because I think had this been last year, Everton might have been leaving Goodison under a cloud because there wasn't a lot of positivity back then. I mean, imagine if they'd been relegated and then had to. wave farewell to Goodison Park but now there's a lot to look forward to like Moyes has really steadied that team since coming in they've got new owners the new stadium looks incredible I'm going to
take a walk next week to have a little look around. I'm going to Liverpool, I should say. I'm not going to walk from Glasgow to Merseyside to have a look at the stadium. So yeah, there was an air of celebration that I think was really... New stadium tailor, of course. Hill Dickinson Stadium, which sounds like a law firm.
I mean, it is a law firm, isn't it? That's what they are. Hill Dickinson. Oh, well, there you go. That's why it sounds like a law firm. Would you prefer it a bit more if it was like... Hill Dickinson presents the new Goodison Park. That feels a bit much, right? The Hilly Dick. That's what I'm going to call it. By the way, let's move on. Hill Dickinson was the law firm that defended the owners of the Titanic. So, um... How did that go?
I read recently that they sent, White Star Lines sent families of deceased people from the Titanic, like, bills for burial, even though they didn't recover the bodies. Good stuff. So that's who they represented, just to be clear. All right, awesome. Nice. Oh, wow. Wow. Let's move on from that. Boycott white star lines. They're totally still around, right? That's a thing. It always worked out for them. I think it's called, just googling here, Royal Caribbean. That's what the brand is. Oh, wow.
Don't make me think negatively about Coco K. Not today, please. Not today. Okay, congratulations to Everton on closing out their time at Goodison with a win. Arsenal with a 1-0 win over Newcastle. Another Declan Rice beauty. First time hit from outside the box from him was very nice indeed. Securing Arsenal their place.
in the Champions League next season, securing them second place in the league as well for the second consecutive season. Plenty of threat from Newcastle, though, Graham, in this game, particularly in the first half. They are third.
Yeah, they were the better team in the first half. Arsenal had more of the ball, but Newcastle were clearly the more dangerous and quick transition, and David Raya made a couple of really good saves. There was one in particular from Harvey Barnes, which was heading for the bottom corner. And the way that Newcastle were set up was really effective. It was Sandro Tonali and Guimaraes marking Odegaard and Thomas Partey when Arsenal were trying to play out from the back.
And that was really limiting them, and that led to Raya being a bit loose with his passing. There was a couple of opportunities where he has to kind of make amends for his own mistake. And then once Arsenal did get past that first line of confrontation, Newcastle were quick to drop into their 5-4-1 shape and restrict the space in between the lines. So it did feel like Newcastle might have gone into the break with...
a lead but much like that game against Liverpool last week Arsenal were a lot better in the second half I think they got a bit of a rocket from Mikel Arteta they were able to get MLS the Pirate into midfield more often they pressed well on Newcastle they kind of flipped the dynamic where it was Newcastle who were then struggling to get out from the back and then Ricardo Calafiore
coming on made a difference as well because he wants to push up the pitch and be aggressive. I still think he's a quality player. It's very unfortunate for him that Lewis Skelly has emerged in the way that he has because I thought Califuri was brilliant to start the season and it was Califuri who won the ball high up which then led to the Declan Rice winner so it's not been a great finished the season for Arsenal, but they have secured Champions League football and finished on a high...
Graham, for Newcastle, they have the one game remaining home to Everton. I'm assuming they would like the win to be able to qualify for Champions League. Does this result make you doubt their abilities to get that done? No, I don't think so. I think Newcastle are in a really good place at the moment. I mean, they narrowly lost out here. As I said, first half they really could have been or should have been.
They're without Alexander Isak for this game as well, which is potentially a factor. Callum Wilson, who I think is going to leave. I've seen some rumours linking him with... Wrexham, as well as Tom Kearney, who's apparently going to be paid £50,000 a week by Wrexham in the Championship next year. That's interesting, but that's often a tangent. I still think Newcastle are a quality team, and I expect them to get the job done on final week.
Taylor, talk about not getting the job done. Chelsea won Man United nil on Friday. I don't know how much you want to talk about this game. What interested me was Man United with a pretty strong lineup in this one, considering they've got quite a big game coming.
Yeah, I found that disconcerting, that they went with a pretty strong lineup, as you said. I think the expectation was, with their run of form, with Europa League final looming, that there would be more players rested, and I think this was Ruben Umberham. trying to maybe make a statement and say no i can play my full team we can get a win and that can motivate us for the final and prove that we can beat anybody
And then they didn't, and they looked pretty bad. And Rasmus Hoyland, I'm pretty sure, has played soccer before. I'm pretty sure he has scored goals at some point. Increasingly, that joke and narrative that Manchester United just thought, like, well, Haaland's worked for a city, so we need one of those. I never bought into that because it felt discourteous.
kind of buying into it a little bit more these days. He did not have a good game. No one from Manchester United really had a good game because it's this season. And for Chelsea, I don't feel like they were super impressive either, but they found a way to get the win.
They ground to the win. It's a good header from Cucurella to make the difference. And if they don't get that result, if they had lost, Chelsea are more or less out of the Champions League spots. I think they still could mathematically get in. But at this point...
They seem very likely to do the job. I think they got Forrest on the final day, so they will need that win because Forrest could still leapfrog them, but it leaves Chelsea in a much stronger position and leaves me continuously flummoxed by men.
The game was won by the one moment of quality in the whole match, which is not necessarily the Cucurella header, although it is a great header back across goal. It's the cross from Rhys James after a little pirouette to lose as a garnacho that he loses at the end of the box and then the cross to the back post is.
is excellent so on that basis Chelsea deserved to win this match but yeah I share your Highland concern Taylor he's got a lot worse I think it's fair to say like I used to watch him and think the raw ingredients were there Now he's just a shell of a player. Like, he basically offers nothing. No movement, no hold-up play, nothing. And actually, my reading of this selection from Amarin was
from his point of view, he was hopeful that he would find something. Ahead of that big game, he would find something from Haaland, he'd find something from the rest of the team and he'd feel a lot better going into that match. I don't think he got that, and this is what Man Utd are going to have to deal with on Wednesday night for their biggest game of the season. I mean, it's a Manchester United team that, again, has scored 42 goals. in a 37-game thus far season. That is an insane number.
And it's a Hoyland who then you could think, okay, maybe he's not getting service. Maybe he doesn't have the players around him who are putting him into the ideal spots. It's a new manager who came in and maybe Amarim is asking kind of different things of him and he's still having to learn. And all of that might be true. There is still also with Hoyland a feeling that maybe he is regressing, to your point, Graham, because multiple times in this game I saw him...
Standing in the wrong position, like the objectively wrong spot, but screaming for the ball and then looking furious when it wasn't played to him, even though he is on the wrong side of a defender or not crashing goal or not kind of being in the area where he needed to be to be on the receiving end of a cross, but then still screaming for the cross to come. It just doesn't feel like it's syncing up. It doesn't feel like he's kind of finding.
Certainly any level of form or consistency, but also any level of comfort. And it doesn't seem like that development is there. So maybe he just needs a preseason. Maybe he needs a break and then a preseason. But he is a guy who I thought could be a long-term solution for Manchester United, and I'm not feeling that way right now. Watch him get sold and have the season of his life.
That's the pattern. That's the tradition. That's the tradition. There we go. The Dean Henderson, Scott McTominay, Anthony, the paradigm. It's the pathway. It's the pathway. Oh, man, you know I did the sack boys of teams? Wow. Let's think about this. Never mind.
I won't make you all talk about Manchester United more. I do have a question about is that Manchester United... struggling with talent is that them moving players to leagues where maybe there is less pressure like we talked about with Anthony last week is there less immediacy of pressure and intensity so that you can perform a little bit better I suspect the answer is somewhere in between but It's confusing why.
no culture, no philosophy, no leadership. These three things are very important at soccer clubs. Repeat and rinse and repeat. We'll see. Anyway, well, the Man United, of course, have got a big cup final coming up this week, as do Spurs, who seem to, Graham, take this game with a little less... Seriousness, arguably, than Man United did. They filled in a weaker team, should we say. Villa got a 2-0 win.
Yeah, Big Ange basically rested his whole team for this match. Novicario, Pedro Poro, Solanke, Bentancur, Johnson, Basuma, they all started on the bench. Some of them didn't even come off the bench in this game. There was a start. for Song Hyun Min, his first start for a month, so that could be a boost before the final. I actually thought he was pretty bright, but by and large
It felt like Spurs just wanted to get through this game. They invited Villa on top of them. They sat back. They asked Villa to break them down. And they did. Not that they cared much. It is all about Wednesday for Spurs. Not the most inspiring of performances by Villa. But as they have done in their last couple games, they ground it out. No Uri Tielemans again, which I think really limits their drive and creativity through the centre of the pitch. But I actually thought...
Kamara and Onana were pretty good in central midfield. Both of them are capable of driving it forward. And of course, Kamara scored the... the second goal. So not much riding on this for Spurs, but for Villa, this is another result that keeps them firmly in the race to finish in the top five. I promise this is not meant to be a shot at Tottenham's trophy game. After the match and the post-match interviews, Son said it would be the most important match of his career, the Europa League final.
can that be true like this is a guy who like won gold with korea so he didn't have to do military service he has played in world cup And the Champions League final. And yet this is the most important game. So maybe because they lost the Champions League final, it is not the most important game anymore. Is that about it? That's how it works, I think. It's the next important game. But fair enough. Really, anytime you can have the...
The worst team that isn't getting relegated playing the second team, second worst team that isn't getting relegated, that's got to be the most important game. It really is unprecedented, and it is part of the reason why I think we're going to do a review show on Thursday. I know we don't really talk much about the Europa League, but it just feels like we need to talk about this game, because it is wild, but it is.
It's happening in the way that it's going to be a high quality affair. I cannot wait for it. A few more Premier League games to run through from the weekend. Nottingham Forest with a very important 2-1 win. At West Ham Forest, as Taylor noted, are in seventh. They are one point outside the top five. They held on for the win here. And as Taylor noted, they face Chelsea next week, which is basically, it could be a straight playoff for Champions League soccer next season between those two.
Indeed. Jared Bowen's goal, by the way, if you guys saw this, it was rather special, teeing himself up for the volley, which I'm always amazed that any Premier League striker has or forward has enough time in the box to do that for themselves, but he did. It was awesome.
Yeah, he's kind of proof of this idea that the Premier League's middle class, or West Ham might not even be the Premier League's middle class at the moment, are just able to keep hold of their best players for longer. Because I have to imagine 10 years ago Liverpool have spent £60 million to sign Jarrett.
He's brilliant. West Ham at the moment, by the way, really not brilliant. I'm already concerned for Graham Potter. And I saw Julian LeRonge having a bit of a rant on BBC Five Live after this game about how he started nine defensive players. in his team for this game. Lo and behold, West Ham didn't look like scoring a goal until Jared Bowen came up with a bit of a worldie, so yeah, concern for Graham Potter.
Yeah, indeed. One more game to go from the Premier League. We'll talk about Leicester 2, Ipswich 0. Jamie Vardy signing off at Leicester City in his trademark style. He got his 200th goal for the club in his 500th appearance. I'm kind of glad he didn't get another. 201st golf because 205...
Lovely round numbers there. And all of this 13 years to the day since he was signed from non-league Fleetwood Town as well. He got a guard of honour going off the field here and got all the celebrations from the stadium. But weirdly, he's just decided not to play next week just so he can finish at Leicester. There's no other reason. He just didn't want to play next week. I think the reason is it's a way to Bournemouth. They say, I'm not going to weigh that now.
This is it for me. Graham already established travel in the UK is impossible, so better to stay home. Yeah, yeah, better stay home indeed. But I mean, I suppose an odd celebratory mood in the stadium for one relegated team beating another relegated team. Maybe that has... Maybe it's a day of work. I'm doing it next weekend for Weekend Review, so I've sympathized with him, frankly. So there you go. Maybe he's going to be at Wembley. Maybe he's a Wimbledon fan. That's the real reason.
Skittles and vodka all around. I look forward to it. Let's take a break. When we come back, we're going to look at the Serie A title race, which continues to heat up. Go around the rest of the concert and MLS join us there. Hey, it's Jay Comfrey here from High Performance. Our show is currently in partnership with South by Southwest London.
For the first time ever, the famous South by Southwest Festival comes to London and you will want to be there. A convergence of creativity, culture, technology. Topics will include AI, tech and business. It's the first time South by Southwest has been in Europe. So be the first at the first. It's a multi-site event across more than 25 venues in Shoreditch, running from the 2nd to the 7th of June 2025. For 20% off your passes, search South by Southwest London and use the code HP20.
20% off. Give the perfect gift that keeps on giving, an aura frame. It's one that friends and family are sure to love and has been named the best digital photo frame by The Independent. HD display unlimited storage and the ability to the frame with photos. Right now, you can get £25. Or as best-selling by using promo code Just visit AuraFrames.com. AuraFrames.co.uk Promo code ACAST Conditions apply.
Total Soccer Show, welcome back to the Weekend Review. We go to Serie A, where the title race continues to be a very tight affair. One point separating Napoli at the top with Inter in second. Both teams are drawing in this game. Inter to Lazio 2. A big blow, Graham, for Inter. hopes of retaining their title. Jan Bissek scoring the opener and then conceding the penalty in the 90th minute for the equaliser here. Pretty wild game at San Siro.
Yeah, and it was incredible drama following the two games, both at San Siro and Parma where Napoli were playing, which were both happening at the same time. Of course, they had the full round of Serie A games happen at the... At the same time, to avoid any, what was that, Yihong complications? Yeah, yeah, yeah, a biscotto, which is what they would call it in Italian. But they had one game on Saturday, just nine at the same time. Shut up.
Sure. Italy. Italy. Put it down to that. I read just before we started recording that they are going to have the Inter and the Napoli games on Friday night. separate from the final round of the Serie A season. The reason for that is so that if those two teams finish on the same points, in Serie A, and we've spoken about this on the show before, they do a play-off, as you'll know, Ryan, between those two teams. It doesn't come down to goal difference or winning record like other leagues.
And the reason I have it on Friday night is I believe if it were to happen, they would schedule it for the Monday or Tuesday, which is not ideal for Inter, who then have the Champions League final on the Saturday. It won't be happening. So that's fine. Oh, come on, Taylor. Why'd you have to bring me down like that? Because the only way that can happen, right, is if Napoli lose an inter-draw. So Inter have Como as their final game, so that could be a draw there.
But Napoli losing as well to Cagliari, who have been fine but unimpressive. I mean, it could happen. It's just it's not the like if they both win, then it will happen. It sort of requires both of them to be horrifically bad, which could happen, but I don't think. Yeah, so having watched Napoli against Parma, and I was prioritising the Parma game for obvious reasons, wearing my McFratomay shirt in the living room.
That was the wrong decision because there wasn't a whole lot of drama until the very end when there was the overturned penalty decision. But looking at how Napoli celebrated that point away to Parma, they clearly knew what was happening in the other game. And so it's just very difficult to imagine them at home to Calgary letting it slip at this point. But after the drama of Sunday night where...
The lead at the top of the table changed four times over the course of the night. I guess anything could happen. And the Inter-Lazio game was a wild match. I thought adrenaline almost carried Inter through because they looked tired. on the whole, which is understandable.
considered the number of high-stakes games they have played recently. They've played Champions League semi-finals, Coppa Italia semi-finals, of course, title race matches in the league. But I didn't feel like there was the same intensity about Inter. And Lazio were able to play through them in quick transition. And if you look at the numbers...
Lazio had more big chances, more shots, even if you take the penalty out of the XG, the Pedro penalty right at the end, it favours Lazio in between Diaz and Isakson and of course Tati Castellanos and Pedro when he came on. Lazio were able to get into the box really easily. So if Coma were able to do that next week, keep in mind Coma have been in great form, they've got quality, then Napoli might not even have to do anything.
I do like that we've talked about Simone Anzagi resting players, and even as the title race is hotting up, he is happy to give players... A little bit of a break to make sure they stay fresh for the Champions League.
And I'm just choosing to believe that in this one, he was like, okay, that hasn't gotten us out of the title race. I'm just getting myself sent off. And then I won't even have to be there next week. That should really do the work for me. All four managers got sent off between the two games. None of them survived. So they all are going with that tactic. And we're going to see how it plays out. I hope they all watch the final games together.
Mourinho has left some heritage in Serie A then. That's what I'll say. Wonderful stuff. Inter with 78 points. As noted, they're away to Como on the final day. Napoli with 79 points. At home to Cagliari. see how that one But of course, Napoli- and Antonio Conte in the catbird seat, as we like to say around here. Elsewhere in Serie A, Juve stayed in fourth. They had a 2-0 home win over Udinese. The other big game of the weekend was Roma and Milan. Roma with a 3-1 win over...
Milan that's Roma in fifth now one point behind Juve in four so very much a race for the Champions League next week as well Roma at Torino next week and Juve are at Venezia Venezia fighting for survival two points below Interesting. turnarounds there potentially but this was uh for Roma this was Claudio Ranieri's last uh last game in charge at the Stadio Olimpico uh you may have seen the images of him being honored with a lovely Tifo and so
getting emotional and clapping to it. He's moving upstairs at Roma next season unless they force him to do another season as they did this season. We shall see. But Milan... It's done. point uh one other game to note for me from celia the one that happened on saturday uh genoa to atalanta three uh there was some there was some hijinks from the crowd here genoa and sandoria share a stadium that beautiful stadium with the
clay-coloured pillars, which you wouldn't recognize. Yeah, very English-looking. Yeah. I picture it in the 90s with David Platt and, you know, Italian 90s. It's very Italian, ain't it? Very. They're not fans of each other, the Genoa and Sampdoria fans. The Genoa fans had a banner that said, Which, of course, we all know it said. There'll be forever eternal hate. Sampdoria, rot in hell.
I noticed on Instagram the general New York supporters were parading a Sampdoria-covered coffin around Manhattan this week. as well. But Graham, there's been a little twist in the tail, hasn't there? Because Sampdoria, they might actually be raising from the dead because of Brescia getting a points deduction in Cerebra.
That must have been a confusing scene for a lot of New Yorkers in Manhattan. What are you guys doing? Oh, we're just parading this coffin because of the relegation of a team in Genoa. They've gone down to Serie C, the third tier of Italian football. There's a points deduction for another Team Brescia, so maybe we've gone a bit early with this whole thing and we'll do it again next week.
Yeah, wonderful. Well, they get two parades. There you go. Congratulations. Anyway, yeah, so lots of hijinks there. No love lost between those two sides. But Sampdoria potentially going down to the third tier. what I'm doing. They are Beautiful shirts, great, I'm sure. fill his wardrobe I don't I don't have a Samp shirt. I did the newsletter about them getting relegated last week, which I might have gone too early on that as well.
And they're just a club that is synonymous with a certain era of Italian football, like the Football Italia era. Players like David Platt, right? No, David Platt didn't play from them. Viale and Mancini and those guys. And they have that weird... It's a beautiful shirt, but it's kind of weird with the little diamond and the band. And yeah, it's just an iconic shirt and an iconic club. Might need to add one of those to my collection.
As you should. Bundesliga time. Dortmund needed a three-goal win to guarantee Champions League soccer for next season. They only went and got it, didn't they? Dortmund 3, Holsten Kiel, already relegated. Holsten Kiel, nil. They've snatched that Champions League spot for next season. Nuka Kovic, Dortmund have won six of their last seven matches. Very good run. for them uh leverkusen finishing in second i'm tracked in third uh what else have we got from uh oh
missing the European spots completely tailored. They lost 3-2 at home to Stuttgart. Huge fail from them. Very much so. And a game they absolutely needed to win. Luisa Penda starts on the bench. Benjamin Chesko starts on the bench. Maybe a sign of how their form has gone and how their fate might be this summer. It is a very sizable loss for Leipzig, not just the loss to Schuttgart, but then the loss of European...
It's the first time since they were promoted to the Bundesliga that they will not be in Europe. But Mainz very much okay with their downturn in form Leipzig because Mainz now get into the Europa Conference. A thing that felt like it was going to happen at various points in their game against Leverkusen and then also felt like it wouldn't because they had not one, not two. But three goals disallowed in this one, and maybe even a fourth, a fourth goal disallowed, I now see checking my notes.
You have one for offside, a second for offside. Then there's one because they took the ball out of the goalkeeper's hands. That one felt very marginal. And then a fourth for a late handball in the buildup to the play. but Leipzig end up losing, so it doesn't end up mattering for Mainz, who do get the draw here and will be in Europe a big thing for them. Closer to the bottom of the table, you had Heidenheim, who could have avoided the relegation playoff if they had gotten a win and some help.
They did not get the win, so that doesn't matter. Werder Bremen looked very good, tearing Heidenheim apart 4-1. Bremen are in decent run of form to end the season. So I'm excited for them for the start of next campaign. Hoffenheim finish 15th. So they stay up as do San Pauly. who lost on the final day to Bochum, who are already relegated. But Zampali stay up because of their overall form. So credit to them.
somewhat credit to Hoffenheim, but Heidenheim going to the playoff against Elversberg, who finished third in this fight to Bundesliga. Uh, Elversberg, I checked their roster. I don't know a single one of their players, but they do have a guy named Fisnik Aslany, uh, who I believe is, uh, Kosovar, what's up?
Are they elves? They are, indeed. They're all very tiny, but very magical. Including Fista Coslani, who has 18 goals and 8 assists this season. He is their top scorer and their top assist getter. So Heidenheim will need to find a way to shut him down if they hope to stay in the book.
Leipzig's season is a shocker, right? Sorry to take us back to that, but I remember talking about Leipzig at the start of the year, and obviously Leipzig's the Red Bull model as they continue to sell players, but this season was one of the few times where, I know they lost Dani Almo to Barcelona, but they had Javi Simon-Simons to... to continue in that possession.
And so for them to have that level of continuity and that level of talent in a team and to have the season that they've had, I didn't really see it. coming and this morning I'm reading that because they've missed out on European football they're going to have to sell Javi Simons for less and Cesco seems to be on his way as well and look up as being
linked to Real Madrid. So they're back in the Red Bull washing machine of not being able to build anything. So this season was a huge missed opportunity. so by the way Bayern Munich a 4-0 win at Hoffenheim to close out their season Harry Kane scoring ending the season as top scorer with 26 goals not a bad count For him. Quick look over at La Liga. Where Barcelona done a loss. 3-2 at home to Villarreal. The 70th minute. 80th minute winner. From.
Look at that. Wow. Right in the middle of the goal. Very good. And some very good goals from Laminimo and Firmin Lopez. Yeah, I tipped Villarreal to get something from this match for a couple reasons. One reason is that Barcelona were celebrating all week and Igor Martinez was posting pictures of him drinking on Friday evening to his Instagram. And it's a similar way to how...
There is no way Liverpool are getting anything against Brighton tonight. They've been at, I don't know if you guys have seen this, They've been at Ocean Beach hanging out with Wayne Lineker all week, so...
Yeah, that was one reason I didn't think Barcelona were going to get anything out of this game. The other reason was that Villarreal are really good at going from back to front quickly. They're press resistant. They like to get in behind. They have real cutting edge in front of goal. We saw all of that.
Within four minutes, when Ayose Perez, who's had a great season, by the way, scored the first goal after a move which saw Villarreal draw Barcelona out and then ping it around them and in behind. And they kept doing that throughout the game. They did it for the Buchanan winner at the end with a cross to the back post. But even though Barcelona weren't at their best, we still got the customary Laminya Mal wonder goal. The classic Laminya Mal goal as it is now, cutting inside off the right side.
to bend it in the far corner. He's actually the new Argent Robin, not the new Messi. That is a goal that he very much owns now. And he's the only Barcelona player who wasn't old enough to have a drink during the week, so maybe that explains why he was the only one who looked sharp and up to it.
up to match, match sharpness. Inigo Martinez was, he needed oxygen at the end of this game. You say that's the Arjen Robben, the Luminium goal as well, Graham. I think there's another goal that Jamal's trying to perfect, which is the... From the impossible acute angle on the edge of the six-yard box, he did again where he hit the crossbar. Yeah, he did. Which he did in the Champions League fight as well. He's determined to score that goal too. Very impressive.
Yeah, he can go either side. He's ridiculous. Calling him the new Arjun Robin definitely does him a disservice, which is saying something because Arjun Robin was really good, but he is a joke of a... He is in DVRL, clinching a Champions League space with that win. Ramon Jim with a 2-0 win at Sevilla as well. Late goals from Mbappe and my boy Jude Bellingham helping Ramon.
overcome nine-man Sevilla, Ancelotti's final away game this was. This one happening just days after Sevilla. Their players spent a night at the training facility after violent attacks from supporters. Sevilla not doing so well this season. They have secured top-flight soccer. I mean, sure. The lowest of low bars for Sevilla at the moment. They're having a bit of a mare of a season. I'm not entirely sure what next season looks like for them because they've not got a lot to build around.
I don't envisage a huge improvement. But for Real Madrid, Mbappe scored an absolute banger in this game. He's had a great season. I think it's worth noting, not only are his numbers incredible, but he is influential in pretty much every match he plays for Real Madrid. stuff around them that needs sorted out. So, good luck, Javi.
Good luck. Indeed, he's going to need it. Let's have a quick look at MLS. Of course, on Tuesday on the feed, we'll have much more focus on Major League Soccer, but a quick look at some of the big results. Oh, well, Trafico we had this weekend. The Galaxy didn't lose a game. That's good for them. Yeah, yeah. I really don't know. Graham, do you have a thought on...
It's the Rob McElhinney line of some draws seem like wins and some draws seem like losses. I think for Wrexham on the day, that draw felt like a loss. I kind of feel like... You think it's a win for the Galaxy? I kind of feel like it was a loss. Okay.
I think when you come from behind, I mean, they dropped out of the game and they started really well, but they dropped out of the match. And then for them, I think also the fact that Marco Royce scored up, scored a couple, turned up and scored a couple in this game when he's been not very good for them. And I thought there was some threat in behind from Gabriel Perkins. So there were some encouraging signs. And I think they'll look at this as like a minor...
So that's the minor positive way to see it. I think for me it was the fact that they went down, then they get back into it, and they were really dominant and controlling the game for a good... 15 to 20 minutes of the second half and that's when they get the goal that is then called back for offside correctly so you get the
The equalizer, courtesy of Michael Royce, with a lovely free kick. And it felt like, okay, here we go. The Galaxy, even though they had the gold, it's allowed. Now they've got it. pull back to a draw, and now they're going to get this win, and they're going to make something happen, and you get Gabriel Peck in the box wide open on a really lovely Marco Reus cutback in the 91st minute.
he takes a touch, he has so much time, and I would argue maybe it's that he has so much time that he thinks about what could go wrong, and he skies a shot, and I just found myself thinking, like, if he puts that in, You come from behind, you get the win in El Trafico, you get some beautiful goals, you get a really strong performance from Marco Reus. Does it feel like the building blocks are really there and now you can kick on? And so maybe they are, maybe that's a good enough draw.
is sort of a stabilizing thing but i think i came away from this one thinking this might have been a what could have been game for the galaxy who did have david lynch on the sidelines for this one i was surprised to see at least they had a small skinny man in a pinstripe suit with a giant head of hair and a big head. That was either David Lynch or Ricky Pooge. I forget which one it was, but it was definitely one.
If it was David Lynch, he's done a Sampdoria there, because... Oh, yes, of course. Good point. Good point, good point, good point. Anyway, all right. I am honoring of David Lynch. That's clearly what... That hair is insane. That hair when you're not playing soccer, if you're just trying to exist in a suit, that whatever Ricky Busch is going with, it's not working. It's not working in a suit. We need him back in a kit, really.
David Lynch has the best hair of all time, or had the best hair of all time. We can all agree on that though, right? Philadelphia, they're topping the East after a 1-0 win at Atlanta. Vancouver still dominating in the West, but we're held 0-0 at Austin. Graham, how into Miami doing? They're doing good? Not by the usual measure of goods, no. They are in... In touch of goodness. They are in freefall.
They've won just one of their last seven games, conceded 10 goals in their last three games, and they lost 3-0 to Orlando on Sunday evening. It was just so easy for Orlando to get into dangerous positions in this match. The first Orlando goal... is a joke where Gaiese just punts it up the pitch for Luis Muriel to be cleaned through on goal. There's nothing more to it than that. That's all it is. And that sort of thing kept on happening where...
Miami were getting torn to shreds in quick transition. Ustari was at fault for the second goal. So it was a real bingo sheet of all the things that have been going wrong for Inter-Miami recently. And it is very easy to see that Lionel Messi is getting more and more frustrated with every single game that he's playing. He's arguing with referees. Honestly, he might be. I've never said this about Lionel Messi before in my life.
He might be trying a bit too much on his own at the moment. He spoke after the game, which isn't super common. That says to me that he recognises this is a crucial moment for this team, that they are in trouble. If this continues, Yavram Asherano, I think, might not survive. I think there's already questions being asked of him. So, yeah, they're not in a great place right now. Wow. What was Messi talking about? Was it Lays Chips or Michelob or whatever?
He is in a new Les Chips advert over here with Leah Williamson. and a couple other players that he is clearly not in the same location as. It's meant to be an English pub, and so they cut to Messi, and then they cut to the rest of them. Nah, I don't think you met. I don't think you were in the same location. He does love those lace chips, though. You've got to give him that. He does. Maybe a bit too much on the basis of Miami's performances this year.
Wow, that is the weekend review. What a weekend it was. And a big one, of course, coming next week. weekend as well. We've got Weekend Review Extra hitting the feed. PSV Eindhoven with their triumph in the editor of Izzy at the expense of Ajax's downfall. We'll be covering that and the Portuguese race.
which sporting of triumphant as well. Do join us on Weekend Review Extra, patreon.com slash totalsoccershow, if you'd like to hear a little more about the weekend. But for now, Taylor Rockwell, thank you very much indeed for your contributions here. Thank you very much indeed, my friend. Very much. Pleasure as always. Thank you, Ryan Bailey. Thank you very much, Nista. We'll be back on the feed very shortly. But for now...