Hey, it's Noah Chestnut from The Athletic. If you're into games and sports, pay attention. I'm going to give you four sports terms. You tell me the common thread. Ready? Game. Match. Point. Set. This one's kind of a gimme. The answer is how tennis is scored. Do you want more of a challenge? Check out Connections Sports Edition. It's a new daily game for sports fans. To play now, go to theathletic.com slash connections.
Soccer Show and our latest batch of listener questions. Today we're asking how Jack Grealish knows what time to board the team bus. We're combining the Champions and Europa Leagues and we're putting some of the biggest clubs in the world.
on the TSS Panicometer. My name's Ryan Bailey. Joining me today, your friend of mine. He's not on the Panicometer. He's Taylor Rocco. Hello, Taylor. I'm always a little bit on the Panicometer, to be fair, just in my general life. But today, less so because I'm here with you fine gentlemen. Oh, glad to hear it. And Graham. Oh. Oh.
How do you feel about that? Fair. Can't argue against it, to be honest. I am also on the panic-o-meter on a, like, hourly basis, not even on a daily basis. Okay. Joe, panicked? Joe Laranedis? I think I'm good. I also, I mean, Taylor, you're just kicking Graham while he's down, man. You know that he's going to agree with you. He's like, yeah.
I'm dirt. Let's move on. That's the Scottish disposition right there. It really is. That's my brand. Total Soccer Show, everybody. The USC's premier soccer podcast with you on the feed. Thank you for joining us.
If you'd like to support us, by the way, patreon.com slash totalsoccershow is where you can support us if you choose to do so. Bonus episodes, bonus video, access to our Discord server where you can leave listener questions if you choose to do so, by the way. patreon.com slash... total soccer show coming to the feed this week the bonus feed tss plus that is we've got bonus listener question hitting the feed very shortly we're going to be talking about the mls onside doc graham you onside
Quick preview. I'm as onside as people in Zaggy was throughout his career. I'm enjoying it. So I'm looking forward to talking about the drive to survive. There's been so much hype about this documentary series, or at least there has been in my... circles and also they've been pushing it a lot.
on the MLS broadcast. So I was excited to start it over the weekend and I am enjoying it. So let's talk about it. Oh, it's big in my circles. Look at this guy showing off that he's got circles. Wow. I mean, my circle is basically frontofficesports.com where they've been... reporting on it a lot. That's my circle. My circle's you three. Squared circle. There we are. That's nice. Lovely. Mine is a triangle without you, Ryan. Triangle of sadness. Get roasted.
All right, listener questions are here. Thank you very much, everybody who submitted one. Let's get straight into it, shall we, with, oh, look who submitted, Joe. Look who submitted on the Discord. Do it. It's Texas Hoosier. Thank you very much for getting in touch with us. It gets further and further away. I like saying it, but also Texas Hoosier, he submits good questions. They submit good questions. Thank you very much indeed.
this one. If the Europa Conference League combined to form one giant knockout in-season tournament, would that be better than the current format for both tournaments? I realise I conflated in my intro the Champions League and the Europa League. It's in fact the Europa League. League and the Europa Conference League that Texas Housier is proposing that we combine here. Joe, the answer is yes. Next question.
Yes, it is. For the neutral fan, it absolutely is. I also love how you've played with the hoose and added like sort of the extra bit on the S kind of Z sound, but also adding the much more French EA at the end instead, I think is really taking it to a... another level props to you for that i do think that this is better for the neutral fan because we don't see a lot of
full-on knockout competitions in soccer. We see them in domestic cup competitions. We don't see them anywhere else. There is no other like single elimination. knockout competition that is of the mold that Texas Hoosier is describing here. So I think this would be fun. I would enjoy, I guess I'm talking about myself as a neutral fan here. I would enjoy the Europa League and Europa Conference League more.
If they were to adopt this format, it would be more interesting to me. I would probably watch not a lot more of it, but definitely a little bit more of it because let's face it, I'm not watching a lot of it right now. Is this better for the teams involved, for the fans of the teams involved and for UEFA?
I don't think so, right? Because this is, ultimately, it's less soccer in a lot of ways. And that is not a great thing when you're trying to generate revenue, which is a huge function of these European competitions for the teams themselves. If you're a smaller... team excuse me if you're a larger team in a smaller league in Europe you can generate genuine revenue from these sorts of things and if you only get to show up and play one game in the Europa Conference League or the Europa League that
can be problematic. I don't think this would ever get there, but would I enjoy it more? Yeah, I probably would.
It's the combination factor. Joe, I like the idea of a straight knockout. If we're talking about having a straight knockout for the Europa League and the Conference League, then I'm fully on board with that. But combining the two is the thing that I don't like because this would basically be a death knell for the Conference League teams because I think they're... is, I think there's a bigger gap
with the exception of Chelsea, who are in the Conference League this season. I think there's a bigger gap in quality of teams between the Conference League and the Europa League. I'm just trying to think about this and if I actually believe this. Yeah, I think I do. I think there's a bigger gap between the Conference League and the Europa League than the Europa League. I've made it this far, Ryan. I'm going to make it this far.
make the point, then between the Europa League and the Champions League. So if you look at the Europa League last 16 this season, you've got Spurs, My United, Lyon, Fernabache, Ajax, Antwerp Frankfurt, Roma, Athletic Club, Lazio. These are big clubs. These are clubs that recently have been in the Champions League.
You go into the Conference League, and with the exception of Chelsea, certainly, maybe Real Betis, maybe Fiorentina, there's a big difference. It's clubs like Molde and Pathos and Lugano and Circle Brugge. And I'll be honest...
a few clubs in there that I haven't even heard of, like Borac Banja Luka, who are apparently Bosnian. So that's another slight by me against that country. So I like that. I like that thing about the Conference League. I learn more about... teams that I don't know anything about I think I'm sensitive to this from a Scottish point of view as well because it's clubs like Aberdeen and Hearts and Hibs who have been completely cut adrift by European football over the last decade
And they get into these competitions. They should be going further in this competition, in these competitions. But nonetheless, we had like Shamrock Rovers taking Molda all the way in the last 24 tie. So I get Joe's point, like how much are the neutrals? genuinely interested in those teams and those matches. But I am a sicko. I am interested in those matches. Long live the Conference League. I think that's all totally fair, Graham. And sorry, Taylor, I want to hear your thoughts on this.
My only potential rebuttal to all of that, because I think you make great points, frankly, there is a huge gulf in squad value when you look at the average squad value outside of Chelsea, maybe as we've already said, in the Conference League compared to that of the Europa League. There is that gulf. That is 100% real, and you're exactly right. I think if there is one tournament format that can compensate for that, it is a pure knockout.
tournament where the fewer games you play, the more variants you encourage. And soccer is already an incredibly high variant sport because there's so few goals scored and so few shots taken in the first place. If there is any structure that can accommodate that golf in quality, it is. a single elimination knockout gigantic tournament. So I would still enjoy it. Also, it's not going to happen. So I think Graham is probably right here. Taylor? I mean, I think Joe and Graham have covered...
a lot of it pretty well. I just think if you did do the knockout single elimination format, do you do all the games at once to start? Do you have 400 games on match day one? Do you have to spread them out? And if so...
It sort of becomes a really weird thing. Like, seen from a collective whole, it makes sense. Like, we've got knockout games every other week. That's awesome. But if you were a participant within the tournament, it's like we played our one game and now we're waiting a month and a half for our next game or three months or whatever it might be.
I feel like the format would be an issue. And then I also think, to Graham's point about some of the teams that are in the Europa Conference, like Batiste and Chelsea. I don't think they're as inclined to prioritize it at present. So I think you get reserve players or academy players getting opportunities. If it becomes a straight out. knockout competition with Europa League teams involved, I do think the haves would then put their have money into that competition, be able to, like...
put out better teams and go further. So I hear you, Joe, that it might lead to more variants and more teams making it through. I kind of feel like the opposite is true, though. You'd end up getting the same old clubs making it into the knockout round. That's not always the case, but it does feel like that's what would.
end up being more so the norm than the outlier all right thank you very much thursday nights will never be the same maybe maybe they will texas thank you very much for your question there ryan can i ask a philosophical question before we move on Always. Similar to if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it doesn't make a sound. If a club exists and Graham Ruffin hasn't heard of them, do they actually exist?
That's a very good philosophical question, but we have to bear in mind that Graham did cause an international incident in Bosnia. So we have to take that into account. And that's CSS law now. Of course. Yeah, I think by law, I'm not actually allowed to pay attention to Bosnian football now. You've already violated the terms of the contract. that they made you sign before they let you leave the country. There you go. Listen, if you want more detail now...
Come and join our Discord and Graham will tell you all about it. Clay W has been in touch. It's the Panicometer. Here we go, guys. Please rank these clubs based on how much they should be panicking right now. AC Milan, Manchester City.
Manchester United, Tottenham, Dortmund. If you're following along on YouTube, Graham is holding up his hands to represent his rankings right now. I believe he held up six fingers for the last one, though, so I'm a little concerned. I lost count of how many teams we were talking about. Why don't you kick off then, Graham?
I think Manchester United are the clear number one here, right? I think it's Manchester United, then a big gap. So I'll run through my numbers here. So Manchester United, big gap. AC Milan, Man City. Tottenham. By the way, not allowed to call them Tottenham anymore. Did anyone see that article in The Athletic this week? They have sent round a note to all the broadcasters not to call them Tottenham. It's either Spurs or Tottenham Hotspur. Ah, the old NYCFC situation. Tell us.
We need to tell you what you can call us. What a nice email from Tottenham to have sent. I guess we'll have to figure out new ways to talk about Tottenham from now on. Yeah, it's almost like they're from an area of London called Chex Notes.
Tottenham. Oh, that might be the reason for that. Yeah, so Tottenham are number four. We are a brand. You will respect our global brand. All right, calm it down. Calm it down. They're just down the street from that neighborhood Arsenal, famously, just down the street.
Dortmund are last on the list just because this is what Dortmund do, right? This is the cycle they go through every single season. Whereas Manchester United, I know we could argue they've been bad for a long time. I kind of think Manchester United are at a...
Tipping point here. Let me say my piece on Manchester United, why I think they are by far and away number one, right? Do you need to? I feel like we've covered it. No, no, no. I completely agree. No, no, no. I want to get out why I think this is an exceptional position for Manchester United to be in, right?
So they've been bad for a while. Joe, do you even remember Manchester United being good? Only vaguely, to be honest. Yeah, so they've been bad for a long time. That's nothing new. But they were rich previously, so they could spend a lot of money. And there was also this aura of Manchester United. so 2016 is a good example of this that summer Manchester United finished outside the top four I think they finished sixth or something that season but they went and got
Jose Mourinho, when he'd won the title two seasons before, they spent $160 million on Paul Pogba, who was feasibly one of the best midfielders in the world at that time. They got Zlatan, they got Mkhitaryan, who was the best player in the Bundesliga that season. And now I just feel like they wouldn't be able to do that.
The team is worse than ever before. The money is gone. Ratcliffe is cutting costs all over the place. PSR means they have to sell before they buy. But what are they selling? They don't have any sellable assets in that team. I also think that Aura... is gone. I don't think they would get Paul Pogba now in 2025, like if this was the same position they were in 2016. I don't think they'd get Angel Di Maria or Alexi Sanchez. I just don't think players of that level will go there. So how...
How do you turn things around if they don't have the product on the pitch, they're not rich and they don't have any aura? How do my net get out of this situation? That's why I think this is an exceptional situation for them. Here's how you get out of it. You loan out all your players and then they're way better elsewhere and then their value increases. You can sell them for a lot more money. It's going to totally work. It's a genius bit of foresight from Jim Ratcliffe.
I mean, no, it is definitely Manchester United should be the most panicked, the most concerned, because I think there's a new article about them every single day about like, oh, they fired an old granny. Oh, they fired a child. Like, it's just constant negative press about how that club.
was in free fall at pretty much every level. So, yes, I would say it's them most panicked. I had City least panicked. I think the conversation about the other teams, I think, is probably a bit more fascinating because, Graham, I went in a...
Pretty different direction than you. I think Dortmund should be pretty concerned. I guess Niko Kovac coming in probably steadies things a little bit. It does feel like they have yet another permanent manager, at least until midway through next season. So I guess that has stabilized, but it doesn't feel like there's a ton to be. optimistic about with Dortmund. I feel like we hear a lot of negative stuff about their results, about squad harmony or squad dissatisfaction, about
Players maybe not kind of reaching their full potential, at least this season. So I was inclined to say least panicked would be City. Then I had Milan, even with the way things are going. I just think they still have talent. I think they're going to stick with Conceição. I think they will end up being okay.
Maybe that's not what they would like to be, but I don't think that they are in a free fall situation the way maybe Manchester United, Dortmund, and maybe Spurs. I had Spurs third just because it does feel like they're getting players back. They're starting to perform a little bit better.
I do think Big Ange is going to stick around. So I think there's less to be panicked about if you're a Tottenham supporter. Yeah, I agree on Spurs, certainly. Joe, I'm interested where you have City. It feels like maybe that's where the biggest variance is. Yeah, I have City. Shoot, I also put Manchester United on top of my list and then a big gap so my numbers are all messed up. I have City fourth overall of the five. I gotta be honest, I really struggled to answer this question.
Nothing more needs to be said about Manchester United, although I do still imagine that they sort of have money that they can spend, but point taken, Graham, about the PSR stuff, making it more complicated than it would have been a decade ago. To be honest, outside of Man United, I'm not... That worried in the long term about the rest of these four?
The key here, though, is relative to expectations. And the reason why Manchester United are on the top of all of our lists and the reason why we've talked about them so much, and I'm not going to do it anymore here, is because relative to their stature, relative to how much they spend on wages.
They are having a horrible season. And Dortmund are sort of in a similar category, being in 10th this year. But in a way, even though I don't exactly agree with how Graham categorized Dortmund, I do kind of agree in that...
It's still Borussia Dortmund. They're still going to be one of the better teams in the Bundesliga and they're still not going to be the best come next season and the year after and the year after that. Maybe they've lost ground at the top of the table when you think about Bayer Leverkusen becoming what they've been. But then you think about Xabi Alonso leaving potentially over this upcoming summer, and maybe that reshuffles the deck in Dortmund's favor. Really, though...
Tottenham, Dortmund, and AC Milan, so three of the other four teams in Man City is the one that Graham asked about and the one I've talked about the least so far. Really, those three teams, Tottenham, Dortmund, and Milan, are just going to be who they are. AC Milan have the third best expected goal differential in Serie A right now. This is a good team.
They haven't missed out on the Champions League in about five years, and it does seem like they're on pace for that this season. So I'm not saying it's been a good year for any of these teams. Clearly they're not. Klay asked about them in a panic rankings question. So we know that that's not the case. But I think most of us would probably bet on...
AC Milan continuing to push for titles in Italy and continuing to push for Champions League spots in Italy, which is about where they are. I think most of us would probably bet that Dortmund are going to push for second to fourth in the Bundesliga on a regular basis with the occasional. title challenge, the Tottenham will finish, you know, seventh to.
fifth to seventh, I don't know, in the Premier League, something along those lines. And then Man City, who are probably going to be back in title contention next season, but maybe not. And that's why I think there is some panic here. But I think...
They're going to be in the Champions League again next year, even though they were bounced this season, which has been a failure, of course. But they're going to get Rodri back. Pep is still around. They still have talent in this team. And I think they've learned that some of the...
I think they've clarified what changes need to be made to the squad after this season. And I would imagine we're going to see this team bounce back, whether that'll be to the title or not in 2026, 27, 25, 26. I really don't know. Yeah, I would probably bet that you're right there, Joe. But...
The reason I've put City third a little bit higher than you is I think for the first time in Pep's time at Man City, there is this thing where he's having to prove that he's still Pep Guardiola, right? Where this team just hasn't looked like a Pep team this season. And it has crossed my mind. I've spoken about this before.
There's this theory, it's not my theory, I see it bounces around social media every so often, that managers have a 10-year cycle, right? Now, Pep has obviously exceeded that, but it does cross my mind that maybe with the exception of Sir Alex Ferguson...
I can't really think of a top-level manager, even the best, that hasn't at some point come down the other side of the mountain. Now, I thought Pep would be immune to that because he's so willing to change. But has he gone so far away from what he does best that now he's kind of lacking in it? an identity so I think there's a question about Pep Guardiola and what's folded into this as I look at that squad Man City for a cycle of this team they hit with
pretty much every big signing they made. They hit with Kevin De Bruyne, they hit with Kyle Walker, they hit with Ilkay Gundwin. And all three of those players, Kyle Walker's already out on loan to AC Milan, and Gundogan's going to leave, De Bruyne's going to leave at the end of the season. It seems like they have to replace those players.
And I just think that's so difficult. It's such a competitive market where, you know, Chelsea will be interested in any player that Man City are interested in or Real Madrid or Barcelona. Like, it's so difficult for them to replace those key pillars of that team that I don't think it's guaranteed that Man City are competitive for the time. or next season. I think the only thing in response to that, Graham, would be that there was a lot of like...
I think there's possibly a question about Pep. Like, it could be difficult. It might be hard for them to do this. Whereas I think with some of the other clubs on this list that I had as more panicked than City... there are more immediate, definite issues to be resolved that aren't, like, it could go wrong, or what are they going to do if Pep is past his cycle, or will they be able to replace Chiqui Bagerstain? Like, I think for Manchester United-Dortmund...
Spurs, maybe there are more like pressing immediate questions that are obvious issues. So I think that's where I think with City, we just know I have the full kind of. expectation that Pep will get a better result out of his team next season. I think there's always going to be a lull when you've had the successes they've had, and you have to kind of freshen things up, and I think he tends to do well with that.
We haven't talked about it much. There is the reporting that his divorce is impacting him on a personal level and making maybe this season less enjoyable for him. So maybe that's also something that he gets his head right in the summer and comes back and is ready to go. Whereas by that point, maybe some of these clubs have divorced themselves from their present managers or present front offices. So that might also have them a bit more panicked.
Maybe so. Maybe so. I'm wondering if Pep's going to do a press conference. You know, he talks about opponents of lesser teams where he says they're the greatest manager in the world. Best wife in the world. Divorcing her. Best wife. Oh, no. Oh, no, right. Maybe we're going to get that at some point. We will.
We will see. Is it TLDR here that everyone's a bit panicked, everyone's a bit nervous energy, but Man United are kind of much, much, much worse than everyone else? They're doomed. Yeah, I think... Truthfully, I think Joe made the strongest point, which is that relative to expectation of panic, because Dortmund sacking a manager midseason has sort of become...
A norm. Milan manager, always under pressure. Spurs, maybe less so. Maybe that's why I had them higher up the rankings. But with Manchester United, I guess there's an expectation they're sacking their manager every season. But at this point, if it is an Amarim, I don't...
have any idea who it is, and I don't think he's the problem, but I certainly don't think there's an obvious solution out there, so that's the other reason why I think they are. Get the sock boy in. Yeah, there we go. That should solve everything. What could go wrong? Everything? Everything could go wrong? Okay.
There we go. Well, there might be a managerial solution. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're talking about Bournemouth, wink, wink, and much, much more. Join us then. Total Soccer Show, welcome back to our listener questions. We go now to Royal Tea. What a wonderful handle on our Discord. Given Bournemouth's form this season and the growing interest around Andoni Iriola, if a major club were to part ways with their manager...
previous segment before the season is out or over the summer will he make the move if he does leave before next season is there any concern about the impact on tyler adams before the world cup taylor please don't go to man united areola please don't do that Is that a possibility? It's not a possibility, right? He wouldn't do that to himself, would he?
I don't think it's a possibility. I'm also not sure, even with the way Bournemouth have played and how successful they have been under Iriola, I don't think he would move the needle if they were to sack Emmerim the way they would probably have to to get people back on side.
That's not a shot at Arreola. That's more so a shot of what Manchester United have done to themselves. And this is part of the question for me. What would be the sort of upgrade for him at present? I don't think Chelsea's going to sack their manager. Liverpool certainly won't. Orwell City, United would be maybe one, but I don't think they're going to do anything along those lines either.
Maybe Newcastle with Eddie Howe, but I think that would also be a mistake. So I do think some of this is that I'm not sure there is an obvious place for him to move. But he probably could because he's done an excellent job with Bournemouth, and I think there would be clubs out there that would be very wise to –
make inquiries and see how available he might be. I don't think it would have a huge impact on Tyler Adams, sort of because I think Tyler Adams has shown himself to be, like, regardless of who the manager is, when there's a change at Leipzig, I think he kind of ends up...
pulling himself back into the starting 11. I think that's been the case with Bournemouth. Maybe less so with Leeds, but there's extenuating circumstances there. I just think Tyler Adams is who he is, and I think any manager who needs a... Like, you know, covering a lot of ground, making key plays defensively, midfielder, I think is going to value Tyler Adams. So that's what I'm inclined to say. But now I welcome Graham and Joe to open up the panic meter. Panic, Graham. I think that's true.
No, I'm not panicked at all with Tyler Adams. I think the main concern with Tyler Adams in the build-up to the World Cup is his fitness, right? Obviously, he's had a good prolonged run of games now, which is excellent. Personally, I think he's in the form of his life at the moment. I haven't seen him.
play better at any point in his career even at Leipzig than he is now for Bournemouth so that's great it's just if he can stay fit up until that tournament with Areola I mean he was linked with Real Madrid just last week there was reporting in Spain and also in England that apparently he's the list to replace Carlo Ancelotti it's an open secret that Real Madrid want to replace him at the end of the season no matter what happens even if they win the Champions League
But a certain Xabi Alonso is also on that list. And we were talking about a big gap between Manchester United and the other teams in the panic-ometer. I think there's a big gap between Xabi Alonso and anyone else in the desire-ometer of Real Madrid for him to be their next... manager. I think Areola's class. I think he's a quality manager. I think he is going to...
He's going to take his time to take the next step, and I do envisage at some point he will take the next step. I look at when he was at Rayo in La Liga. He had two or three offers to go to England, the strongest of which was from Leeds United. They sacked their man.
I can't remember. It was that season where they sacked three managers in quick succession. It might have been Jesse Marsh, actually. And they sacked Jesse Marsh in the anticipation that Areola was going to be their new manager. And he turned them down. He didn't go to the Premier League at that time. He didn't want to come into that situation. He didn't want to go into a relegation battle. So when the time comes...
I think Areola will be smart. He'll want to have a pre-season with a group of players. And to your point, Taylor, it's a little bit difficult to envisage where he could go at this point. So I sort of at this point fully expect that he will be at Bournemouth for the start of next season. I'll do the Tyler Adams bit first. And I think I agree with most everything that's been said. I guess a little more nuance on Adams.
I think as little change as is possible is best, certainly for him. When you're in a stable situation, there are things that Tyler Adams does very well, and those things happen to fit quite well with what Iriola likes to do, especially defensively, with a really aggressive and at times chaotic sort of...
of setup that the ball moves very quickly. There's a lot of energy on the field. That's Tyler Adams in a nutshell. Tyler Adams does not do some other things very well, which is mostly distributing and having clean touches in tight spots. When you change coaches, there's not necessarily a guarantee that the next manager is going to come in and play to your strengths in the way that Uriola has done. Maybe not completely.
because Tyler Adams is sort of a limited player, but he's excellent at the things that he is good at. I know, I'm trying to be careful with Taylor. I saw those eyebrows raise, Ryan. So I think the less change, the better for Tyler Adams. So I wouldn't be...
panicked, and fitness is by far the larger concern, as has already been said. But, I mean, if you can keep the status quo from a USMNT Adams perspective, that's absolutely what you want. Now on Iriola, I think the framing around him as this...
Like one of this next up and coming group of managers, right? He's in that category. We think about Xabi Alonso, you think about Uriola, who have both been mentioned in the segment. Uriola is clearly a very, very astute tactician. And I know I make jokes that...
Coaches don't matter. The real joke is that they don't matter as much as we think they do. And Areola said as much to The Athletic in a recent piece, which was great, and I love him for that. It's true. But coaches do matter. They do have an impact, and they do shape. the way that their teams play, and they do shape how the players on the field are able to execute.
I would enjoy seeing Areola move to a bigger club. It would mean likely that we would probably end up talking about them a little more. Although we have talked about Bortman a lot this year. I would probably end up watching a little more along the way. That said, I'm not 100% sure that Areola would be...
like the slam dunk hire for, say, Real Madrid. In fact, I think he'd be maybe a really risky hire for Real Madrid, especially Bournemouth tactically, when you think about how they play under Iriola.
They don't dominate the ball. They can play with it, and they've strung together some really nice sequences of possession. They have great players, but they don't tend to dominate possession. They attack really, really quickly. They lead the league in long pass attempts, according to FB ref. They're second in the league in crosses.
Those are not the traits of a big club. And I know that Bournemouth aren't a big club, right? They are a small club in the Premier League and they're having a great season. So I understand that. But Iriola has not made his money. Iriola has not made Bournemouth their money. by playing the same controlled style that is very much in vogue at the top clubs around the world.
They defend super aggressively this Bournemouth team. They're fifth in tackles in the final third this year. Their games are chaotic rather than super controlled. And there is some control to it. But I think Tyler Adams maybe used the phrase controlled chaos.
And it feels pretty fitting when you think about how Areola coaches this team. That is just not the real theme that we're seeing at a lot of big clubs. So I would be fascinated to see how his style would adapt, if it would adapt, how all of this would work. I just don't think it is such an obvious tactical fit for a big club.
But again, we just haven't seen it. We don't have the data of what Areola does when he has more resources because he's never been in that position. So I think this would be super, super interesting, not just because, oh, here's an up-and-coming manager taking the next step. But, oh, here's an up-and-coming manager who is doing something that's very, very different than what the club that's going to hire him most likely wants him to do. That adds some intrigue for me.
All right. Thank you very much, Royalty, for your Bournemouth and Tyler Adams-based question. We go now to Viray. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. Viray, very much a member of our Discord of Scandinavian disposition. If Ireland had won FA... just as they only have one Irish rugby football union, would that create a better situation for the sport on the island?
Both in how good the league and team it is and how good the national team is. What do we think about this one? Can I ask a clarifying question? Is this just about like a unified league or is it also about a unified national team as well? I think it's both, right? Yeah, I would say both. And for further context, the Irish National Rugby Union team is the...
men's national team for the island of Ireland, if that makes sense. So the whole island, which is Northern Ireland, Ireland together as one. They compete in the Six Nations Rugby together. That's happening on NBC, by the way. And there's a few different carve-outs across different sports.
Olympics, there is no Northern Irish Olympic team. You choose whether to represent the Irish Olympic team or Team GB. So maybe the best example of that was Rory McIlroy when they introduced golf into the Olympics. He had to choose between the two.
controversial for obvious reasons he's chosen to represent Ireland and so it's I mean it's maybe not quite as high fantasy as as various implies in his question says it's high fantasy and there's also like not to get into the politics of this but there is a renewed debate around uh united ireland following brexit which has put a trade border in the irish sea between
Northern Ireland in the UK. So I do kind of wonder if that might happen in my lifetime. I think the national team, to take it back to soccer, I think the national team part of the question is quite straightforward in that a unified team would be
slightly stronger than the Republic of Ireland team. You'd maybe have a couple of players who would come into that side and a lot stronger than the Northern Irish team is currently. But the league question is interesting because I've been paying so much more attention to the League of Ireland recently. Part of that is due to the newsletter. That's why their attendance or their viewing figures have gone up by 4,000%. That one gram, that's what does it.
I'm about to mention how their viewership figures have gone up over the last couple of years, but I've written about it a couple of times for the newsletter. But the League of Ireland is really going through a growth spurt at the moment. There were 33,000 fans at the Aviva for the last Dublin Derby, which I wrote about.
a couple weeks ago. Shamrock Rovers, who I've already mentioned on this episode, they pushed Molda in the Conference League all the way in the knockout rounds. They've just got a new TV deal. They've launched a streaming service as well. So...
There's a lot of growth happening in the League of Ireland. You contrast that to Northern Ireland, where there are real issues with funding and governance of the sport in that country. I know they announced a new national football centre this week, which was notable because...
there's been so little investment in Northern Irish football. You look at the farce over Casement Park being used at the next Euros, that's left a real bitter taste. Northern Ireland's going to be the only country of the four British countries, UK countries, not to host... Euros games. They were meant to, but it doesn't look like they're going to get that stadium built in time.
So there's real issues with governments, investment, infrastructure in Northern Ireland. But you do have large clubs in Linfield and Glentorin and Crusaders who I think would add something to the League of Ireland in terms of their stature. I do think a unified League of Ireland would be worth something. There's like a minefield to walk through before you get to that point, though.
Can I ask about that minefield for a moment? Because this is coming from a position of ignorance, obviously, having not lived in the UK or in Ireland. I should stress that. My assumption is that there wouldn't be as big of a divide. Like, if you combine the national team now as there would have been in the 70s or 80s, do you feel like there would still be...
divisions based on old divisions? Or do you feel like younger generation, there is less of a divide than there was previously? You mean like societal divisions, right? Yes. Like non-soccer divisions. Yeah. You know how we always heard that like the old Belgium teams would always like clash over Flemish speakers versus
versus like Dutch speakers, and there was always sort of divides within the locker room based on where you're from. Like, would that still be the case? Or do you feel like it would be a more blended team? In certain communities and certain aspects, yeah, there would still be huge division. It would be a massive talking point. And I still kind of wonder if we are at least a decade away from anything like that happening. We talk about the Olympics and, well, rugby, to be fair, I don't really know.
the history of rugby I'm not a rugby fan I don't know whether that's been the case for like a hundred years and it's just sort of an accepted thing I don't know whether there was a merging of like two unions there but with like the Olympics the fact of the matter is it happens every four years it's not in the public eye as much as football people kind of just get over it more quickly so yeah i don't know if it'll happen like imminently but
I mentioned Brexit. Brexit has made this debate much more pertinent, where there are people in Northern Ireland looking at the Republic of Ireland and thinking, well, maybe it would be more beneficial to be in the EU and part of a unified Ireland. Of course, there are certain communities. in Belfast in particular that would not accept that. So it would still be an issue. I do think you would get...
Just broadly more interest in the league if it were unified to see how it was going and to see if it was working and what issues there were, how those issues were being resolved. I think like I would want to cover that. So I think in that way, there would be more interest that would probably be a little bit. more money as a result, so maybe it would strengthen the league if it unified from that perspective. Yeah, I think that's all fair and is super...
helpful context that frankly I lack on all this. My sort of sneaking suspicion about the leagues combining, and Graham and Taylor, you guys have both gotten to some of this, is that it... It wouldn't help and would probably make things a little bit more interesting, as you're saying, Taylor. And I do think there's value that could be garnered here by combining these. I think the amount of value is very, very small. I don't think that this would be...
a transformative change that would help this new combined league skyrocket up the league rankings and garner a ton of sustained, maybe that's the key, international interest. Realistically, what we're talking about here is taking... the league of Ireland. We're taking the teams that are playing in Ireland right now and adding in a few clubs that are like in the 2000th to 4000th best clubs in the world into that league. And I just don't know.
that that is a great way to capture so much more interest. Maybe the narrative part helps more than I'm giving it credit for because I really do think this is coming from someone who thinks a lot about MLS's status in the league hierarchy and how to capture more attention and we'll have. some conversation about that on the feed next week. I think that telling stories is huge and is probably an underrated part of how fans come to your product and stay with your product.
But I don't know that this would have that sort of long-standing success. To that point, Joe, about the quality of the teams, obviously you can't argue against the current quality of Linfield and Glen Torrin. In the grand scheme of things, they're not great teams. But it's similar to the debate around...
adding the old firm teams to the Premier League are they of a stature that if you put them in a better situation they would dramatically and rapidly improve and I think that's kind of the point I'm making like I don't want to be ignorant here because I don't live in Ireland but
The way I look at it is you're kind of adding a second football city to the League of Ireland. At the moment, Dublin is the dominant football city. Maybe Cork would say it's a football city as well. But Dublin has like three or four teams. It's got a real ecosystem. Belfast has something similar. So all of a sudden you've got two kind of hubs of teams being added to the League of Ireland. And if you're to project forward, maybe that helps the league grow.
Yeah, there is the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats, right? So I suppose there's a principle there. But obviously, as we've established, this is a very complicated issue with Ireland and Northern Ireland. Maybe there's some parallels with sort of the Benelux countries and, you know, Luxembourg and Holland.
There's talk every so often. Every five years, they have a discussion about it. Exactly. Obviously, there's a bit more political and historical context with Ireland and Northern Ireland as well. But I mean, maybe, Graham, in the same case as rugby, soccer isn't the... dominant sport in Ireland so maybe it becomes an easier diplomatic situation when it's not the prominent sporting discourse arguably I don't know yeah potentially I think if you're looking at this from a pure soccer point of view
It kind of makes sense. I think there's more upside than downside, to be honest, but obviously you can't look at this through the prism of soccer alone. There are other things to consider. Yeah, absolutely. Vera, thank you very much for your question. Very interesting debate from that one. Let's take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to find out how Jack Grealish knows when to get on the bus. Join us then.
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A place to match odds 90 market or markets with the 90 icon. Sportsbook exclusive. Terms and conditions apply. 18plusbgamblerware.org. Total Soccer Show, welcome back to our listener questions. Strayers has been in touch. Hello, Strayers, via our Discord. Here's the question. How do clubs communicate internally about operations and such? Does Pep Guardiola email firstteamsquad at mancity.com with the subject line, this week's tactics? God, I hope he does. 4am.
Group email. Oh, my God. And then 4.15 and then 4.30. Is there an all-club Slack or a Teams chat where Jack Grealish annoys everyone by sharing too many memes? I'm thinking more of the things like what time training is and when to show up for the team.
Bus. I found out from a player with Premier League and Major League Soccer experience what their experience is of this kind of thing. Ashley Westwood. Ashley Westwood, captain of Charlotte FC. My guess is Brent Bronico until you said Premier League. Brant's busy. He's got a newborn. But I spoke to Ash, who said, so Charlotte FC, they have an actual app.
that they pay for and use, which all their communication goes through. So it's got their entire schedule on it. It's got their breakfast times and meeting times. Training time. Maybe it is, but apparently it's like a custom app. I don't think it's not like built for the club or anything, but it's like one. I didn't find out the name of it. It's a common app they pay for. But basically it tells them everything they need to know and gives them all the alerts, meeting times and everything.
And he said when they're at Burnley, it was a bit less organized than that. It was a WhatsApp group. So everyone was on the WhatsApp group that got told what they were doing. So that's my findings, Graham, from a professional. Did you find anything that differs from that?
Well, certainly they don't have an app at Hearts, which was the club that I spoke to someone who works for them. Not a player, I have to say, a member of staff there. But he was saying that basically there's a group chat for players. there is any group chat for coaching staff and players and many other members of staff as well, which maybe they would put in something like the bus leaves at this time. But what I found really interesting is, so in Shreyas' question, he talks about kind of tactics.
and how they would communicate tactics. Well, the person that I asked said that... If you're talking about like broad picture, full team tactics, that sort of stuff is communicated in team meetings or group analysis sessions. And then from that, players will be able to take notes and take those away from them. What they will do, though, is if they have like game...
tape or if the the analysis department have some game tape or notes they want to pass on to players individually they'll like email them or drop box them or something like that and then they'll whatsapp them some some notes from that so and apparently like every professional
that's ever played football has an iPad. That's the thing that I was told, that they all have iPads. Because I was like, do they have laptops? I couldn't envisage Jack Grealish having a MacBook. Apparently they all have iPads, so they can watch all those things on their iPads. I can't imagine not having...
having a laptop. Can you guys think about that for a second? Like, what would your life be like if you didn't have a laptop? That's a good job. There are certain laptop jobs. Like, how do you book flights? I think anything over the, over the price of like 50 pounds or $50, you have to buy enough.
That's on the laptop. Yeah, it's a laptop. That's a laptop job. No doubt. Yeah. The thing that I'll add, I think a lot has been said already that's spot on. There are team administrators that work for, I mean, every serious club or every professional club.
has a team administrator. They're in charge of scheduling a bunch of this stuff. I talked to my buddy, Kyle, who works in the PR department here in Phoenix for Phoenix Rising. And that was one of the points that he raised is they'll work to coordinate schedules and when to arrive at airports, buses.
hotels all that sort of stuff they'll book that stuff they'll help communicate logistics the form of that might vary from club to club ryan you're talking about charlotte using that app there's a lot of in-person communication there's a lot of whatsapp communication all that stuff happens the in-person side is the other thing that i wanted to drill down on, there is a real...
consistent cadence to how most teams tend to operate. Training is basically at the same time every single day. Usually you have the same off day unless you for some reason are playing on a Saturday instead of a Sunday, excuse me, instead of a Saturday.
Most of the cadence is going to be exactly the same from one week to the next week to the next week. Changes don't tend to happen a ton. And when those things happen, they'll get communicated through the various channels that we've talked about. The other tactical thing, both... internal coaching staff and analysis department stuff, and then also coaches to player kind of stuff.
A lot of that happens in person too, right? There are dedicated meetings and offices where coaches will get together and they'll have planning chats. And I thought the onside doc that we referenced earlier from MLS did a good job of showing some of those conversations in Philly and for the Galaxy. Coaches meet, they talk, they plan, they meet with players, as Graham said, in sort of team-wide analysis sessions. And there was also...
there are also times when they'll meet in person with players. They won't just send them film over to watch on their team issue iPad or whatever it is. They'll also just break it down in person. That stuff doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen. So a lot of this is in-person stuff too. Yeah.
Graham, you've reminded me there is a meme where I think when a task gets serious, you have to switch to the laptop from your phone. Maybe booking flights might be the threshold, actually. You've highlighted it there. Taylor, as much as one can...
have apps and have WhatsApp groups, there's always going to be someone in the group who's not very good at checking their phone and stuff. Hi. I didn't want to put your name on it, Taylor. I didn't want to do that. Actually, that was going to be my question for you three. on the people you talk to, how much personal responsibility is emphasized versus how much coddling and handholding is there? Because my assumption is that, I don't know, for like lower league...
Teams who don't have the budget, maybe there's going to be less and more so. You're expected to be there on time. I felt like with maybe like Premier League clubs, there's going to be more. You have a dedicated assistant from the club who's responsible for communicating times and checking in with you. And like, that's not meant to be a shot. I think these guys have a lot going on and they're youngsters. I know when I was younger.
I definitely would sleep through an alarm here and there. So I assume there was more, I guess, connection to the club or more involvement from the club. And it sounds like there is a bit more individual responsibility than I expected. I think it probably varies club to club and also person to person. But like, say Man City, they literally have a coddling and hand-holding department, don't they? Their attitude is...
we want the players only to focus on the soccer so like we'll pay their mortgage we'll do all their bills we'll do everything admin around their life they have like a giant office that does all of that for them so i'd imagine they are there's someone at jack greelish's door to sort of grab him by the collar and take him to training some days mate i suspect or if you're wayne rooney you just tweet rio fernand asking if he wants picked up in the morning
Good morning, pal. I ask largely because, for me at least, not as an excuse, just as sharing. I have pretty severe ADHD. And so if something isn't right in front of me, it's kind of gone. I think I could see how that would happen with a footballer. I'm like, oh, yeah, 9 a.m. tomorrow. Sure. And then just kind of like.
doesn't really focus on it again until the next day. And so, oh, Ryan was gone for a moment. Ryan's back. Okay. I lost track of Ryan. I didn't know where he had gone. So, like, I do then wonder if clubs have to kind of account for things like that, account for...
Like mental health issues and the like and make sure that there are people there who are sort of checking in in less of a, hey, dummy, you need to be on the bus and more so like helping the person learn better structure, better scheduling, better organization. So I suspect that.
is not a thing that clubs prioritize but i hope it is because i think it would be a useful life skill for uh like you know teenagers and early 20s to kind of learn those things along the way instead of just learning how to kick a ball into a net
There you go. That's important too. Shreyas, thank you very much indeed for your question there. I hope that was a helpful answer. One more question for this episode from Guy Edwab, who says, my nine-year-old child came home asking to listen to Waka Waka, the 2010... World Cup anthem. No idea how that happened, Sid Guy. My question... Stolen Banger, but Banger. It's an awesome song. That's how it happened. Yeah, basically. Stolen Banger?
Yeah, she pretty much ripped off that entire song from a Dominican band from the 70s. I know that sounds ridiculous. It's not. It's fully the exact same song with the same lyrics. Anyway, still a good song. Is Time for Africa was in a Dominican song? It's like the, it's like the, and then I think she added the, this time for Africa. If that wasn't in your head already, listener, now it is that Taylor has done the refrain. There we go. To continue with the question.
If your home country hosted the World Cup or is about to, for reals, who should do the official song? And what should it be called? Where should the next World Cup be held for musical reasons alone? All right, Taylor, I'm going to fantasize. that England gets a World Cup. Not had a very good track record in trying to win one of those anytime soon. Obviously, we need the greatest. Yeah, they only awarded the United Nations with footballing history. Late Qatar. And Saudi Arabia.
Does that hold up? Yeah. I'm going to have the greatest current musical act in British history. Oasis, obviously. Current is being generous there, for sure. They've already got the anthem. It's one I've mentioned earlier on the feed this week that is the song that is played at every single major tournament that England participate in on the BBC's closing montage. It is the song that was referenced by Manchester City fans on their Rodri banner.
Stop crying your heart out because eventually that song will be needed. It is a song that we all need, but we don't know it yet. But does that fulfill the remit, Ryan? Because... my uh my understanding of like official tournament anthems so the one at the euros was won by one republic or something and it is it is like ingrained on my mind because they play it before the game to get everyone up for the match i don't know if stop crying your heart It's going to...
It's going to do that, or is that just setting the tone straight from the off for England's inevitable last 16 exit? It's just better preparation, frankly. I know you're saying that. That's an opinion, obviously. I have a genuine question about that. My assumption with World Cup...
themes with World Cup performances is that they want, for lack of a better way of putting it, people who can be controlled. Not that Shakira is just going to do whatever people tell her, but I don't think she's going to get up there and be like... The World Cup's dumb, whereas I feel like the Gallagher brothers might.
Say something like that. So I did factor that into my answer because I do think there are certain acts that maybe FIFA would worry would be too risky even if they're not actually risky. And there is that like edginess that I think FIFA wouldn't want. Well. Taylor.
I don't know who's going to do the 2026 song. I do. But if it's not Pitbull, I'll be very surprised. Well, the thing is, right, on that, we're surely getting one because the last two tournaments, there hasn't been like a, well, there was an official one for Russian Qatar, but I looked, I Googled it because I couldn't remember. who they obey.
I've never heard of them. And this isn't a case of Graham being old and not having heard of the current pop stars. These were nobodies because nobody wanted to touch a World Cup in Qatar or Russia. The USA, Mexico and Canada were surely going to get like someone. that we've heard of doing a song for this World Cup, aren't we? So who's our money on? So I think if you look at USA dominant musical genres, you've got a lot of country, you've got a lot of pop, you've got a lot of hip-hop.
Who do we know can do all three without any sort of drama? It's Beyonce. Beyonce with the best country album, you know, and then can do pop, can do hip hop. So I have it as Beyonce. The song is going to be called The World's Cup, a.k.a. Holland with the good hair. Yeah, we're going to throw back to Lemonade on that one. But yeah, that's my guess. The World's Cup, a.k.a. Holland with the Good Hair.
We're probably going to get... Oh, sorry, Ryan. I guess on like a semi-serious note, we're probably going to get like a mashup, right? Wouldn't you think? Because... As much as this World Cup is hosted in the U.S., it's also not hosted in the U.S. I think the first game of the World Cup is in the Estadio Azteca in Mexico. I would imagine we're going to get like...
Mexico, US, Canada, mashup, three artists. I don't know exactly who those people should be. I think that's the most likely option. Maybe not. Maybe it would be something completely different and completely random. That would also be fine, too. There is precedent for that. My actual answer, though, and... I mean this with all sincerity. I think we should get a legend to do it. Not just a legend of the music industry, but a legend of the game. Oh, Joe. I think maybe we should call it Don't Dread.
And it should just be a remastered version of the 2007 smash hit Don't Tread by Clint Dempsey. That's the actual answer. All three of us thought you were going Alexi. And maybe Alexi needs a featured cameo on that. Who says no? most famous American soccer song ever. It was Clint Dempsey. It is not. You're not wrong. Don't tread. You're not wrong.
I'm not up on my Mexican pop stars, I'm afraid. That's why I didn't go that direction and actually try to assemble a tree, if you didn't notice. Yeah. I was too scared. For me personally, I do think if you're doing a World Cup based on music and musical influence, the U.S. is probably the legit answer just because there is so much of it. Yay, soft power. But for me personally, I would say Ireland would be very fun musically, but also just to woke up in Ireland would be terrific. But I do enjoy.
Some Irish folk, some Irish punk, some Irish hip hop. It's all good. And then Argentina or Colombia for cumbia music. And I would encourage people to go watch, put into YouTube and watch it because it's great. It was my introduction to them. The 2019 Copa Sudamerica. final where they had, I think, musical acts from the cities or areas where both teams were from performing. And it was Cologne, Colonna from Santa Fe in Argentina. So they had Los Palmeiras. And that halftime, you can see how...
much that performance means to the Cologne supporters. They are singing along. There are people weeping as the songs are being played. And I think Cumbia music would be a great score for a World Cup. So Argentina or Colombia for Cumbia, USA for all of the music, Ireland for...
all of the Irish music. For Ireland, Taylor, how about we have a unified Ireland, as we were just talking, and we invite Kneecap to do the... I'm sure that'll go fine. You were talking about people who won't rock the boat too much, I'm sure. Bono featuring Kneecap. Here we are. Oh, man. Why do I need that in my life? I feel like I need to see that at some point. DJ, DJ, is it DJ Provy? Would he have a bottle of lava with like the half Irish flag, half Northern Ireland flag? Probably not.
Yeah, let's make it happen. All right. Graham, any suggestions on your side here? I was trying to think of Scotland. I saw David Tennant do a rendition of 500 Miles. by the Proclaimers obviously at the BAFTAs last week and he was getting like James McAvoy and what's the guy in Slow Horses called Jack Loudon to like join in so maybe that would be the official song of a
of a Scottish World Cup. And if we're coming up with an original tune, it can just be called, I don't know, I'm Dart, Weird Dart, whatever Joe said. Wow. That's the rousing patriotic anthem you need for a World Cup. I'm still trying to think of what the US one would be. I'm just convinced that FIFA regards Pitbull as the most universally inoffensive. Can I tell you why I have slightly more love and respect for Pitbull?
Because he's Mr. International. Have you heard this story? Is it because he's been there, done that, Taylor? Would that have anything to do with it? Is that a song lyric? I don't know really any of his music. He's Mr. 305. It's an old story, but have you all ever read the article about when he did this partnership with Walmart? And it was like, whichever Walmart gets the most votes in the country, he would go and perform at that Walmart.
the parking lot and so i forget who it was i think it was a journalist started a campaign to like have it be the most isolated walmart in alaska and they won and he went and did it and was
somewhat good-natured about it. And right there, I was like, all right, Pitbull, I see you. I appreciate this. He definitely had some questions and comments for the person who would organize the campaign, but that did make me like him a little bit more. So let's have Pitbull do the theme from Alaska for the 2026 World Cup, and then I'm all in. When you call yourself Mr. Worldwide, you've got to live up to that billing. Indeed.
I said Mr. International. That's how a touch I am, Graham. Mr. Worldwide. That's the most British way to say Mr. Worldwide. Mr. International. Yes. Don't you know? Lord International. Some never sets on Mr. International. Yes. Okay. That's enough of that. Thank you very much, Guy, indeed, for your question. Thank you to everybody who has submitted. Once again, you can go to our Discord to submit questions, and you can access that at patreon.com slash totalsoccershow.
And thank you to everybody who does so. Also, TotalSoccerShow.com slash questions is where you can submit them if you are inclined that way too. But for now, Taylor Rockwell, thank you very much indeed for your question answering. Thank you very much, my friend. And dibs on Lord. International is my new stage name. Lord International. Wow. Verily. Yeah. Okay.
Okay, I'm with it. I'm on board. Graham, very much thank you. Thank you, Ryan Bailey. And Joe Larry, a pleasure as always, my good man. Pleasure is all mine, Ryan. Tell Ash we said hi. Ah, will do indeed. He's not listening. I'll say it otherwise, though. Listener, thank you very much for joining us on this one. Have a wonderful weekend. We'll be back on the feed very shortly. But for now, bye! I'm a slasher.