Ollie Watkins or Ivan Toney?! Who should England take to the Euros?

We’re in the midst of the summer perineum, which means two things, England are gearing up for an international tournament and Alan Pardew is being linked with a return to management.

Today, Marcus, Luke, Andy and Jim are here to check in on England’s Euro 2024 preparations, which results in Andy comparing Connor Gallagher to David Beckham. Elsewhere, silly season has truly started as Steve Bruce and Frank Lampard are also all being linked with new jobs. Plus, Man City are suing the Premier League. Obviously…

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now then everybody as we turn our full attention to England I get a full erection um England feat Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 on Monday night of course now Luke you and I recorded ramble reacts after fulltime you can listen to the episode below this one in your podcast app but the England chat doesn’t stop there that’s how ready you are for the Euros isn’t it you’re going to do this one again yeah we do all over rewind to be fair they play Bosnia and herzo so we do a second one to cover it all off as to you earlier Jim paraphrasing your own um astute observation from many years ago we’re in the perineum between the end of the Comm commercial commercial domestic season and the uh and the International Tournament so when it comes to making podcast for those people listening right now believe me when I tell you we take what we can we do what we can do until what would it be next Friday and then we’re up honestly Marcus I thought you’d already be on to celebrating uh Germany not beating Ukraine the same night you got it yeah I did I did note that Andy I did note that um but with regards to England Gareth Southgate has said that um he’s spinning a lot of plates in order to get the squad right for the tournament as the squad as the well sorry should I say as the tournament is approaching Jim uh we’re excited about England they are the favorites um for for The Bookies and a number of people but do you look at this squad and do you start seeing yeah I Luke Shaw might not Mak you beginning to sort of worry about some of the creeks and cracks appearing or you still full of excitement no I would say the opposite actually especially having you know watched the game and the players that that featured cuz I think the primary focus is obviously that third person in Midfield isn’t it and actually looking at it’s like I think I’d be happy with any of them unless hendo sneaks in between like now and the start of the tournament I honestly think every possible combination looks like it’s like it’s functional and like it’s going to work and we’ve got a new hendo now we talked about on Monday Marcus and I officially decided that Conor G new Henderson so we don’t need hendo back y Marcus you it’s fine what what Marcus needs is he needs someone to replace the love cuz you you’re you’re you you love deeply you love seriously and you love loyally erotically as well and can be erotically as well but when someone only from the 14th onwards when the real stuff start that’s where it starts going when when the um when that’s when he starts [ __ ] everywhere oh come on but Henderson was difficult for you to leave you’ve loved and lost there but now you’ve got a nice new fell come through that can be the object of your affections and it’s all fine isn’t it oh this is like in the Granton scar star where he gets replaced by the more handsome guy with the ponytail isn’t it what’s this in it’s an vvan Welsh adaptation what what did you call it the Granton star he gets he gets binned from his Sunday League team for a more handsome man with a blonde ponytail oh life imitating art kind of works with Connor gallager I mean until I I suppose if if if I saw Connor Gallagher chase down and erid Devy goalkeeper from his own half then that would really yeah get you going with it oh that’s the good stuff that I do not know what I would do with myself um it’s amazing isn’t it thinking that C’s up there going this was what I was always building to I’m proud of you son um how am I doing boss you’re running a lot you are running an awful lot it’s not really what I was known for all right this is going into disrespectful territory now what with heno or the dead Joan C either who at the time of recording is still dead indeed European Champions Yan Cy famously said if you need to run that fast you should have left earlier not not a um a kind of Mantra at Jordan Henderson’s career been based around no I’m just saying this a different the jeopardies in the difference in the characters isn’t it if there’s anyone who’s going to figure out how to cheat death it will be c as well he will argue his way back to life I thought you going to say henders just run away from it like on FIFA 95 when you couldn’t get booked if you kept running apparently he um he didn’t essentially didn’t adhere to the rules of the road in Amsterdam CU he thought the traffic light system had put in wrong so he just sort of did what he wanted yeah not Henderson say it’s confusing there’s a lot of red lights everywhere um but but but England and if we can we can come back there um you know there are um uh issues if you like to be solved or or or areas of the pitch where Southgate needs to kind of nail down now again I think sometimes I don’t know what it’s like in other countries but sometimes we are obsessed with what’s the starting 11 because it has to be the starting 11 against Slovenia against France against NE who else well it’s the second friendly that that’s for isn’t it sure really what’s the second friendly for do you reckon for to to pick your your sort of dress rehearsal right because and well and there’s been Chad about Harry to wear uniforms for the dress rehearsal yes they’re not going to play in skins no um confirmed I can confirm that exclusively here England uh with bibs England away the orange bibs um but there has been chat about um that Harry Kane will start uh in this game because he didn’t finish the German season uh because these were his first minutes since Champions League semi yes exactly which Harry Kane said actually he feels that that will probably help him cuz gets a little bit of a rest and he said he wanted that penalty bad he did well he apparently I think this was joking around but well you guys joked about it didn’t you on Southgate said it yeah well this was when obviously Cole Palmer scores the penalty Cole palur is excellent at holding on to the ball when it’s a penalty so you’ve got your defined roles because of course when the penalty was being argued over trippier was but lots of people around me cuz I was I I was at oh the game lots of people around me thought that trippier was going to take the penalty and they were obviously being Newcastle fans getting quite excited about it but it’s no he’s protecting the penalty spot that’s his role he did that for Alex eak didn’t he at Forest earlier in the season and you need a protector of the penalty spot you do nowadays no you absolutely do um so yeah apparently Harry Kane did want to force the substitution quickly to take the penalty but as Southgate said that was that was never going to happen but Kane is going to start against Iceland so people are thinking is Ivan Tony going to be cut from the squad then South has alluded to the fact that probably only take two number NES yeah I mean I it’s not beyond the Realms of possibility that Tony gets the second half or at least a decent chunk of the second half is it but they I mean the squad deadline is midnight isn’t it so they really have to sort of pull an allnighter ESS you Reon there might be a lot of injury time [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] Tony scored six goals an injury time I can’t tell he’s he’s still playing I can’t I can’t I can’t tell him that but what you I mean look and I talked about the the if you like Watkins V Tony um who would be the the backup to I mean it’s it’s difficult to say because it was such a weird game the Bosnia game because it’s so far from what England’s team will be when the Euro start and it was total training Grand stuff BOS offer nothing going for it felt you could only take like minor conclusions from it really and and that was it um I think Conor Gallagher has won as as you said because I don’t know it’s funny not just because of the blondness but being on level seven at St James’s park where you get this sort of bird’s eye view you can see over the city as as well you get to see the whole team moving together and I had a very similar feeling to the first time I saw David beckam play Live For Real Madrid in that he’s doing seven times the running of anyone else and at that point there’s lots of things that don’t excite me about Conor Gallagher but everything he puts in I I I think Jim’s right he’s a very very convincing option even even for the 11 and he’s also coming into form at the right time it seem to make I totally agree that’s the opposite of Tony of course isn’t it because I would say if we can take only minor conclusions Watkins I think definitely showed enough in that first half to think yeah if you want to Mar didn’t think that no I see I thought the same as you Marcus I thought it he doesn’t quite look like he fits the system actually which is not his fault but it doesn’t he doesn’t quite look comfortable in an England shirt is perhaps that he’s so desperate to do something that you may see it in his body language every time he approaches something possibly I mean we all always say but Watkins has had a brilliant season yeah yeah totally and form is one part of it but again if you’re the England manager and you think well this guy’s done really well for Aston Villa great can he do well for me and that’s the question and as I say like Watkins has done really well in that system in that in for for a particular team under a particular manager he’s played out well elsewhere in his career hence he’s got the move to Villa and I understand Villa are a bigger club and finish way higher than brenford but Tony to me is the type of guy that you could put him in any side and he’d be able to kind of do his thing now I know he’s not had a great back end of the season but in that Belgium game I just thought he looked apart although the caveat is he was playing with a an England team which is much more like the England team perhaps very small chall is totally different Marcus and I talked about sample sizes on Monday you haven’t got any choice but to talk about real small sample sizes because the nature of it and it’s such a different um environment because Watkins has been able to do what he’s been able to do this season in part because he plays all the time and they play in a certain way and they know each other well and you know with England whenever he comes in I mean I mean basically they’re all laboring under the issue of the existence of Harry Kane because he’s never Harry Kane never seems to be unavailable for England he’s he’s an elite level player and he has been for such a long time and you’re only ever playing second fiddle there’s no chance and everyone knows that exactly they know it’s almost like a settled debate totally and the only way if South sorry to J if Southgate said Watkins you’re playing in the quarterfinal Watkins would probably look over and go what I think you should actually be I mean it’s like that isn’t it really but the only thing that could change that and obviously I don’t want this to happen and I don’t think anyone does is for Kane to get like a a year-long injury or really badly you know hurt himself to the point where he’s unavailable for such a long time and they’ve got no choice but to adjust and then we’ll be to make a full assessment of Tony and Watkins and I think if Tony and I i’ I’m come down the side of Watkins as I did on Monday the only I would come down the side of Tony because as I’ve repeatedly said he’s a much more similar player to Kane than Watkins is if Tony had a not made a ridiculous decision which essentially torpedoed his own career and B even then if he had come back and would hit hit the ground running and never stopped scoring and showed the scoring record that Watkins showed in the second half of the Season then you justify it other than that I just I just don’t think you can justify it because the way that Tony played for England against Belgium is completely reflective of how in could approach that game not just with the Personnel but the way they went after teams they did that in that little International break against Brazil and Belgium and they showed everyone what it means to be not defensively robust and to throw caution to the win and go for it and Tony benett benefited from that I do think because the sample size is so small South Pake might look at this and think actually I have to refer to Club form I have to refer back to that and Watkins may get the nod because of that and I actually despite you know not the message it sends not thinking he had a great game I think that might actually be the right thing as well part of the reason I think Watkins probably should get the nod is is if you’re in a situation where you have to throw absolutely everything at it because you you know you’re in a knockout game there’s not long left you need a goal I think Kane and Watkins would work well together it’d be unlikely that they’d get onto the pitch but Watkins is brilliant at at running onto balls basically he’s absolutely superb at that Kane is brilliant at dropping deep and putting those balls in it’s a conversation we’ve had on the show before I think that would work really really well for England and I don’t think that’s an OP Kane and Tony isn’t really an option is it they’re going to be occupying those same spaces so I think that weirdly might actually give Watkins more of a chance because he’s like you say he’s only going to be there for for for you know Emer so you’re suggesting that we might hear G Southgate go Lads 442 and they’re too up I don’t think they’ll be on the pitch at the same time can I also add that um Watkins is a is a is a is a great Premier League player and a lot of time in the Premier League teams even if they’re not that fancied they do try and score goals like the amount of goals we’ve SE in the Premier League season was crazy Watkins I don’t know if he’s amazing against teams that set up the way BOS set five and the four and kept a shape and there’s no room for him really so you got to factor that into it as well you do um Andy I was surprised to hear that you were set up high yeah Sur you just behind the bench aren’t you just bring in the a but there was um there was an England fan scene wiping their ass on a suland flag which was down the front so did you pop down there was it the second half it wasn’t the kingstonian flag so it was definitely wasn’t Andy but on a serious note or did you want to respond to that I was going to say it it was interesting to see in the first 10 minutes Jordan Pickford being booed every time he got the ball well I mean and this is why we play at Wembley all the time part that might be the fact that he was 30 yards from his goal when England had the ball in their own half yeah he loves it he the English um what did you make of Kieran trippier playing left back I know he’s played left back a number of times um for England he played left back against Italy in in the home qualifier of course um but you’ve watched Newcastle much more than than of us he’s been out of form at times he’s been injured he’s had his Worst season for them right and and he’s played very little football in the back end of this campaign indeed but he has been a starwalk for Southgate he’s played very well for England what do you make of him being essentially picked for that starting spot you would have thought it feels a little it feels as if um there needed to be a backup plan and there needed to be a backup plan that was thought about a couple of months ago um I suppose you can say like it’s just miss Fortune with with injuries but trippier being the one play for it doesn’t feel great to me because Gomez is is is is being used as a fullback and conza was playing everywhere along the backline yeah that’s right versatility of those two is is really useful and interesting though so kza felt like he was getting himself a place yes in in the 26 in this game ideally I think if we’re looking at form I would prefer Joe Gomez but how does that affect England in an attacking sense I suppos MH so yeah left back that seem to be a bit of a weakness unless trippier can become the the the England trippier that we’ve all known in love I mean I think defensively there are a whole host of issues um like stones hasn’t been in in brilliant Nick for the the last couple of months um Maguire might not be fit for the game on Friday and might not be fit for the the first game against Serbia so there are a load of question marks well okay so but if we if Luke’s talking about England playing a little bit more front foot I this is the time to to do it is it he might have no choice yeah it’s got such a top heavy side anyway I said to Marcus on Monday the the the the big question mark over England is you the Personnel things are the Personnel things you know they probably every country will have some kind of issue on that given the amount of football that players play now but the big question mark over England still after all these years under Southgate is can they go toet to Toe with a good team and come out on top and and the only time you could possibly say that’s happened was maybe against Germany and the Euros but Germany didn’t weren’t up to much really were they no they weren’t I I mean of course you have to ask the question of whether that matters I mean just find a way to win the game yeah well I mean often in Midfield England come unstuck in those in those bigger games because they lose because they seed control yeah indeed yeah whereas they look despite our um worries as Jim mentioned there I think we look a little bit stronger in Midfield but the defense is a concern um but I mean since we um did the lines watch where we we picked our seven that would we thought would get cut uh we put Jared brano in there since then I’ve had quite a lot of messages from people saying brwi should be starting for England he is we know he’s highly rated and we and and he’s a brilliant player don’t get me wrong we thought maybe come too soon now he came on was B sort of straight away you know little bit over eager yeah a little bit over eager I mean he looks magnificent Andy talking about beautiful B stallion is he’s a stallion he is a stallion he looks like a like a lean rugby league player rollsroyce with a stallion driving it my goodness what a thought I think is there some way we can get his hooves are on the on the pedals and his front hoes gim are on the steering wheel but he’s somehow still driving he’s very talented horse what a yeah it’s a Ferrari presumably he’s driv that’s that’s the horsey one isn’t it it is but what about but um with branway a lot of people saying for cry start do you think that this is the time no or you don’t think I just I think we’re we’re getting into the realm of the speculative quite a lot and that that is definitely not g Southgate by the way we we can say he wants to be a little bit more front foot and there are a couple of situations in which his hand will be forced but the more more uncertainty you can eliminate the better okay there’s quite a high potential reward for bran coming in and look I’m sure he’ll be a very good player for England for for years to come but why are we talking about taking a massive risk we were thinking about this window the reason why we’re going to respond is because of what you just said you just said that Maguire’s probably not going to play the first G his injury doubts there stones will will play when he when if and when he’s fit um people aren’t so sure maybe about Lewis dunk who did okay I think Mark gay is a plus but again not played that much you starts talking them through you think well hang on should he maybe have a go with branth I think that’s who bran weight is competing with isn’t it probably Mark gah for that first first game in particular and actually that’s not it’s not entirely unreasonable to to suggest that those two might be able to Juke it out and marus is a big romantic though isn’t he as soon as as soon as a young English player does quite well you want it you want it so bad you want bran we were going to cut him you may you want May in the Midfield yeah I talked you around to the seventh of being cut though I had to tell well as I keep saying to hell with UA we’re taking the taking the ball romantic let’s let UFA make a decision put it this way put it this way back in the 90s if Marcus was picking the squad and he happened to see that Scott Parker McDonald’s advert Parker would have been in there up Sunny Pike could have been in there yeah yeah there’s room for everybody if we’re talking about these sort of 80 man squads what you don’t want to create Marcus is a situation where tiar HRI says all right then I’ll bring the Olympics Squad I’ll bring the French Olympic Squad we don’t worry about Olympics we’re not Olympic slugs here are we um no it’s not that swind and lot stuff the Olympics the amount of message I’ve had about people saying honestly branth white is the man um if I get the amount of messages I’ve had yeah but your messages tell me people telling me they wish I was dead it doesn’t matter I’m going to kill myself they are they are burner accounts there’s a lot of stuff that comes through on social media thanks to our our Overlord the musketeer look we we employ people to send those messages okay um but but anyway look okay so if if you’re not convinced and and and brand white look like I said at the time if Southgate took a gamble of them on him I would think well bl’s obviously seen something if he doesn’t play and if he doesn’t even go I I get it’s when Legend that’s how the legend is forged right I told you before didn’t know with with Maguire going into the 2018 World Cup not quite the same situation but a similar one you know this guy looks good he’s having a you know you know eventually has a big move to Manchester United he didn’t have a huge amount of experience at the back for England but he showed himself to be a reliable operator and South trust him and before you know he’s got x amount of caps the exact same situation could happen with branway needs must he has to go in he plays he plays well and he’s there and that’s that and and he’ll probably get a big move to man united as well that’s that’s really the well trodden path of a lot of young English players so it wouldn’t be a massive surprise yeah are there any surprises or you know shouts from Left Field that you would like to see um England choose for the game against Iceland perhaps I mean I’ve just said on team Gareth I don’t want any left field he’s Andy wants to just keep it nice and tight well that’s fair no I’ve got me England waste coat on now yeah it’s buttoned up to the top someone said to Andy you can do anything you want this Friday night and he’s gone I’m going to stand with a takeaway any nonsense yeah fair enough fair enough Jim yeah I’d like to see Manny get some minutes damn right yeah justn right because this like I said this Midfield is so interesting and and all of those options look pretty good I imagine it’s probably a bit too soon for Adam Warton as you guys mentioned on Monday night but he was excellent he didn’t put a foot wrong I thought he was really really good May well be talking about him on tomorrow’s lines we will be actually little spoiler we are going to talk about him Definitely Maybe yeah that’s why I’ll we doing Thursday night are you really I am yeah nice of course you are I’m not coming in on Friday you have too many FS go to The Afters with Liam big time yeah big not not even the zero sugar mon what The Afters like loads of fter and slagging people off on Twitter it’s brilliant sorry X you know now um Scotland got their uh Euro preparations underway on Monday night uh with a win against jalta kind of did you watch did you watch the highlights of it um it didn’t even look like a proper game of football the locals in the AL did not come out for Scotland that was basically Stevie Clark was thinking H weather’s not up to much at the moment where do you fancy going yeah algar yeah all right [ __ ] you brought for it yeah who who can we get then is it shows you how these like pre-tournament friendlies are to even get like they book this through Expedia we’ll Chuck in De brala yeah I re I re a local Club side would have been better if Scotland organized this warmup as like those those like Sunday League clubs organized like football tours to the AL The Bash some some kind Facebook yeah well they look a wins a wins a win they did struggle to score though it was fairly late on in the game and and and but I mean look England beat a Hong Kong 11 side one nil ahead of the Euro 96 you know but yeah it’s a very different era a very different time and you’ve got simar score L you’ve got more you’ve got more space you want to do a bit of team building back then that was important you know I’ve just been watch team building is that what they called the dentist chair well it was wasn’t it I it’s a very 90s idea of it but it is they were those men were certainly bonded you can’t deny that and they and they said didn’t they like you know all the Ferrar around it did actually bring them closer together so I’m not sure what they had in mind but we don’t want to get off track back then you had a lot more space and a lot more room in the caner to do things I I mean Andy might put me right here but I don’t know what you’re getting out of that I mean ostensibly I feel like I mean playing jial as as a Scotland team I know they qualified well for the Euros I know they’ve had found it difficult they had last before Monday had won in seven games they were in a terrible run going into a tournament so maybe they wanted a bit of a confidence boost or whatever but it can back fire I mean go go an hour not scoring against jalta and you’re going to be labeled a pratt I mean but but but realistically the benefit of it I guess is what I’m saying but you look at all of these teams and the opposition that they’re playing playing I mean of course there was the the the reasoning that England were playing Bosnia because you know they’ve got Serbia coming up and you know exactly regionally similar same same ballpark you know they’re next to each other yeah exactly but but but realistically Bosnia have been awful for years and looked it and they’ve got a new coach and they’re they’re starting he looks amazing the coach though oh Sergey barbarez looks yeah he’s an absolute Legend of Bosnian football it looks the hardest bloke you could ever imagine Rooney in a boxing match I’d love that yeah I’d absolutely love it yeah it would be amazing I mean Sor with Wayne presumably yeah yeah give it to that Friday night he’ll be offering him out uh carry on but but yeah you think of like England playing Iceland on on Friday who are like nowhere near the side they were sort of the same position England arguably the best team in Europe they’re not in the same position as Scotland no in in fact they’re in a position where they need to win some games aren’t they because funnily enough since moving Heaven and Earth to qualify for tournament they’ve been criticized for losing some friendlies which to me seems ridiculous can I just say it was it was good that CH Adams scored he hadn’t scored about two in Scotland it was a very satisfying volum he thumped it in like a man like playing a game on holiday didn’t he which I think might actually be part of the like it was a penny floater because the it’s about getting those sort of pre-tournament like Vibes in early right creating that atmosphere because it’s a it’s a huge huge undertaking where you got your whole country like the whole country’s eyes on you every moment is scrutinized massively they need to be in the right head space and actually if they go out and they they get an enjoyable win in the sunshine at a good time that’s not the worst thing to take into the tournament and also there’s only so many sort of teams to go around right I genuinely think it’s quite difficult to book these friendlies in in terms of their sort of um scheduling up and relaxing the team is probably quite important I mean Steve Clark said that he felt his team were a little bit nervous before the tournament he said don’t be surprised if there’s some nerves in these friendlies because he’s 28 they’re going to Whitt that down 26 part of those nerves are probably because kns got injured in that training session as well because whenever you see someone hit the deck in one of these games your heart’s in your mouth isn’t that as well with regards to to to Friendly matches as well totally people you know I mean Liam Cooper came off injured and Clark admitted that when he saw that he said I [ __ ] myself of course I was worried Liam doesn’t stay down very often you know so so there’s all that kind of going on in in players mind and it’s important for Liam Cooper by the way because he wants to put himself in the shot window cuz he’s keep refusing to sign a contract at leads and he wants to play in the Euros so you know presumably Bayern come into him but they think he’ll be okay but but as I think he might be the man to stop um Javi Alonzo’s invincibles at B next season on the Vincent company and that is not a contextual sentence I thought I’d say this speaking of context listeners yeah before the start I got this P that European mck today here you talking about for B Munich listen we’ve had two beautiful brave men doing a proper political debate last night about the future of this country the last thing we need Markus back me up on this is this European nonsense coming in from over there um he is talking about farage and Ty by the way everybody who El what else was on what else was on but um uh that’s what people are calling that you know I did oh they um I think I said after the England friendly I said this this this friendly don’t worry about the result or the performance too much obviously that that does be give a bit of encouragement and you have to say that about Scotland this won’t have any bearing on how they face up against Germany because the opposition it’s just they’re Worlds Apart these these two games and also they won in Germany didn’t exactly the Dandy that’s how you got to spin it but it is a great shame that Lyndon Dykes is going to miss the tournament uh through injury and it’s it’s always gutting and and it always happens I mean I we’re all fingers crossed for for everybody who’s in the England squad but it wouldn’t be a shock I mean it happened to Trent Alexander Arnold before the was it the Euros last time I’m pretty sure it was the Euros you know it it just a really innocuous one and it can happen it’s so it’s so sad but I think from an actual Scotland getting out there in playing perspective um I know he’s not the most glamorous player but he’s really really important to them you can’t really replace him I don’t think yeah I they are like for like they can’t replace him yeah well that’s what Steve Clark said can we replac said no you know would it have been a better for performance with with lynon Dykes in in the team probably no they dealt very well with the high balls into the box so I mean Clark again he’s got to keep his available strikker sweet you can’t say yeah we’re rubbish without him and then turn around and go well boys can’t you be more like lyen Dykes you know um but that’s the situation uh and uh Scotland yeah they’ve got a friendly of course against Finland uh coming up as well Finland were beaten 4-2 by Portugal Andy brassel in in this little round of friendly fixtures um a lot of people are aware of Portugal but when it comes to talking about favorites people tend to be talking about England even though I I I hate seeing that and France of course um for me are the favorites in the team to be but Portugal with the names that they have in their squad um and if qualifications anything to go by they look pretty impressive how do you rate them I think I’ve asked you at this a few times over over the month I’m just surprised that maybe they’re not being mentioned a little bit more yeah the talent’s unbelievable Roberto Martinez probably has some influence on that because people don’t massively rate him but I think he’s a really good coach for this team I think he’s a very good coach at International level anyway and they’ve got an interesting couple coming through as well Francisco conesa um the the the son of Sergio he he played against Finland he’s brilliant man of the match absolutely fantastic and Bruno fernan just came on and had a little second half they they put out a sort of England against Bosnia esque sort of team really you say little second half I mean he did help himself didn’t he yeah that that’s what I mean a little second half it came on gently bullied everyone and uh yeah that was nice a couple of goals Teo puki you know he’s got 42 International goals yeah that’s incredible that’s decent isn’t it it’s it’s very all for Finland how does that go to the big man of Portugal yeah nowhere near is it are we going to are we going to see are we going to see CR7 the big man at the Euros yeah is going to happen and pepe as well right yeah Pepe is 41 he’s going to play the euros and you know he’s going to be good as well Cristiano Ronaldo is Cristiano Ronaldo and he is two years younger than Pepe I me it’s wild astonishing I me I think if england do draw up against I’m presumably Pepe will play games as well as if england get Portugal whatever stage they get them if they do um you’ve got to be fancy and I know he’s good luk stop it I know he’s had an amazing career right but I just think if you’re if you’re a young buck and you’re at the top of your game and you are what you doing you are well I’m just saying you match yourself up against like a 41y old man we talk about sample we talk about sample sizes how much more of a sample size do you know need to know about Pepe it doesn’t matter how old he is this is what everybody thought when Porto came to the Emirates no one got any change out of him Gabriel Martinelli nothing nothing unbelievable got a thing yeah but I I think I think the thing is that Cristiano Ronaldo won’t start all the games I think that’s very unlikely that he starts all the games but he will he’ll probably start the tournament I would think should we call the whole thing off it just he’s in favor of that definitely he just sub himself on won’t he he’s like he’s like what you mean lonstein haven’t qualified Point me [ __ ] being here then dear well as Euro fever ramps up make sure you’re listening to on the continent for all your European football needs this summer in the buildup to the tournament OTC are releasing a series of preview episodes where do nandy and Co are speaking to a range of European football experts to give insight into some of the teams you should be following this summer so search for on the continent on your podcast app And subscribe so you never miss an episode available episodes we’ve already got a Ukraine preview with Andy Todd it’s fantastic it’s a fantastic episode yes really good and uh and a Romania preview with uh Emanuel rosu Portugal Germany and Belgium coming out next week I mean if you do like to learn actually learn something when you’re listen to a football podcast um that is definitely the the episode the podcast for you little bit put out that none of us in this in this um Studio have been from Andy bit disrespectful last time I suggested an idea to Andy for OTC he um he asked me to email as a listener which’s a bit confusing given it Marcus and I actually created that show there you go I’ve actually got no response to that that’s literally what happened is it but you famously said though I think we’ve heard enough from experts didn’t you we have I think my own research Markus exactly yeah yeah and the truth is always relative everybody um coming up in the second half we’ve got Ken mbappe uh we’ve got some Kevin De bruy trans for news and we’ve got Alan paru see you at a moment he back in [Music] there right F oh jezy bips man welcome back to the Football Ramble everybody always always good to have a word from AR bro never get lovely AR bro Smokey than there oh now you’re talking now you’re talking um right let’s start with paru where do we go from here um Alan pju has had to deny reports that he has been linked with the Burnley job when asked who the next Burnley manager will be he said well it obviously isn’t me well if if he’s been linked with the Burnley job even if it’s completely untrue he can’t deny those reports can he yeah well and he let me finish the other quotes so he said he’s denied it it’s obviously not going to be me it’s nice to be linked with him for myself it’s a great challenge that I would like to do because I I’d like to take them back into the Premier League um so what I mean say I’d like to take a team back much much like he said have they approached you he said well I wouldn’t tell you um even if they had so we’re none the watch what what what much like what I expect is probably the experience of going on say a third date with Alan paru I’m getting mixed messages here is he up to three dates now is he could be do you think this speculation has been provoked by the way that venicius Jor celebrated his goal at the Champions League final I mean we know he likes to dance after scoring a goal but it was a very pesque one probably because he was at Wembley true enough true enough and that skill that he did when Tri when he when he took on those Dortmund players I mean that was like paru in his Heyday as a player wasn’t it oh yeah or on the dance floor or on the was a good player I don’t know why you’re digging him out for that I’m not digging him out he wasn’t that kind of player but he was a perfectly good player I think what’s happened Jim is is that he’s he’s seen what’s v companies done a got anything’s possible maybe my Goose isn’t quite or he’s gone this team look fairly well equipped to go straight back up based on what they did the season before I could parachute in there quite nicely but I think I the reason I want this deliver him a 10th Place finish yeah well it is a culturally terrible fit and for that reason I really want to see it it but alanu is a culturally terrible alanu is a culturally terrible fit to anyone outside of presumably string fellows or push the grouo club yeah I’ve seen the man move he’s like he’s like a he’s not like a he’s not like a solid he’s like a liquid I’ve seen him move I’ve seen alanu he’s like a liquid work work a room and he’s like a liquid the T1000 he’s like a liquid in the suit he certainly produces a lot of liquid but said to be considering Frank lamp Frank Lampard for the role oh fry and pan what meat fire it has been reported that Frank Lampard has been interviewed for the Birmingham city job as well they’ve learned their lesson they I’m just saying we haven’t used all the golden generation yet we only used one of them they must be a reason they’re called the gold generation I I I I I think Lampard could turn out to be an all right coach but the jury is out seriously though I I think there’s not I I wouldn’t go that far that Marcus has gone there I’m not going all the way down there with him but I will go half the way down that road and say that he’s not been as bad as some of the others of that he’s not been as bad as Gerard and he’s he’s done fairly well at that level isn’t he to be he did okay at that was that was a really long time ago Everton and Chelsea come on you know someone yeah I I I would agree a lot of what’s gone wrong in his last couple of jobs have not been his fault but you know it’s the the Frank de bur equation isn’t it the fact is that huge part of a coaching career is picking the right jobs frankely Frank rard it’s all the Frank it’s a really good point and I’m well surprised that Mourinho didn’t mention Frank dor in his announcement to about J by the way just just get it in there but you’re absolutely right just to make a serious point on that here’s the thing that we don’t talk about enough you’ve got young budding coaches here and Wayne Rooney said it you know Wayne Rooney is probably bit more humble than Frank Lampard but similar kind of generation and you know similar achievements in their career and Rooney said I’m no one in management and I will go and manage at Plymouth and I will go manage wherever because I’ll judge it I’ll judge the opportunity on it merits and I feel like I’ve got my my way right the issue we never talk about is just how many badly run clubs there are in this welled so what is the landing spot where you’ve got a chance to actually do something there’s very very few and far between you’re absolutely right to say that because with Rooney I admire him saying you know I’ll go Here There and Everywhere mind he’s got a young family as well you know and and you know you move around the place you know that that doesn’t that doesn’t he’s got four kids Wayne Rooney yeah I mean I’ve got one kid and I wouldn’t mind moving to Plymouth just for a bit yeah well but you get the you get the point and but you but you I hope he just wouldn’t take any old job and I’m sure he probably would have a think about it but you know Plymouth it’s not that long ago that you know they had their trials and tribulations every single club though yeah well this is it so if you just go right I’ve got to stries like he said I agree with him but to a point you know don’t just you know do value yourself way but I think the thing is like managing like 98% of clubs in the football league is nothing like managing a Premier League club because really a Premier League club you’re going to do the coaching and that’s going to be it whereas you’re expected to muck in in a much more Global sense and there won’t be such a um a strong football structure at a lot of a lot of these clubs so really once you’ve typ cast yourself as an efl manager how are you going to get out that because it’s the difference between the word manager and Coach isn’t it really like moresa did at Chelsea happy to be a coach’s always chipping off about stuff which is one of one of a number of reasons I stress a number of reasons why you often don’t get the English managers or the British managers going from the championship or the football league into the Premier League it’s not like in Italy where you how many italian coaches you know make that leap now you would say their education is much better with coaching and a much more richer history of course so there’s as I say it was just one of a number of reasons but I think English managers or British managers tend to to to struggle with that a little bit not being that sort of I agree I think a fair point essentially marus not being The Gather indeed I think there’s still some teething with that talk to us about Brucey come on then Steve br has linked himself with the vacant manager job at leester they’re all at it it’s great Jamie vardy will make his life hell he doesn’t want that it is phant hunting season and we’re here for it they’re all out there with their double barrels yeah that’s it yeah oh dear turns out to the first day of training with a boot full of cabbages yeah throwing grenades of vinegar and piss all over the football league he said a points deduction wouldn’t put me off that’s not his accent but that is his tone um Leicester you know where I am I mean what a wonderful opportunity that is all of a sudden yes it is for somebody Steve do Lester know where he is I don’t know where Steve Bruce lives Lester does I was a decision maker at Leicester I’d call Steve Bruce I’d let him see the number come up on the phone and when he answered excited I’d say who the [ __ ] do you think you are we’re a proud Club see what we achieve this have you managed one of our Rivals well you can’t have the job then yeah oh dear poor old Brucey well from Steve Bruce to killing mbappe it’s the only natural way um mbappe’s move to Real Madrid was confirmed on Monday isn’t it refreshing that sometimes this transfer just happens out of nowhere I know just so rare no Saga nothing they’ got it done well of course yes this has been going on for a couple of years uh they thought he was going to sign in 2022 he signed that extension at PSG and now he has moved he said on Instagram nobody can understand how excited I am right now a dream come true so happy and proud to join the club of my dreams I mean he has taken a massive pay cut to go to Real Madrid that’s because Andy of the astonishing money that he was given at PS yeah and of course he’s getting a big signing on fee there’s part of it being a Penance salary as well because he turned them down the first time there’s been quite a demand in Madrid that he should beg to come here now which is ridiculous obviously but there is there is quite a public pressure for that but the the other thing that really interested me when he talked about it um in yesterday’s like Tuesday’s press conference for France he says look I just want to say a few words on signing for Real Madrid and then get back to France he said that he’s going to talk about his side of it a bit more coming up and this is brilliant because the thing is he’s gone to Real Madrid but it’s not really finished with PSG because they still owe him a loyalty bonus they didn’t pay him in February they forgot to pay him for April and they haven’t paid him for May yet as well so they owe him they owe him what sort of 80 mil something like that I mean that that is a s that would go on I mean it was interesting some of his comments said that he that he said we knew he was unhappy with them but he said there were some people at this club that I just I completely falling out with and he said that it was lisis Enrique and um and one of the others he said L Campos the sportting L Campos yeah he basically said he they they saved me here which is funny because talked him to get him back on the pitch to think that Luis Enrique was one of the nicest people to him when he left him out the team most weeks since February I mean it’s remarkable I can’t wait the fact that mbappe has has taken the high road so far and he’s just letting it build up and build up and build up and he’s just going to unload like publicly unload it’s going to be interesting obviously you watch La Liga much more closely than we do does does this put hu’s place under threat they’re signing him permanently really good they’re signing him permanently and good for him seriously though will mbappe play through the middle do you think he will him and Vinnie will be be everyone forgets about Rodrigo say you think Rodrigo got man already you wait because of course andri is is turning up as well bloody yeah isn’t it they are ridiculous football Tel Nolla with a massive budget but although like saying that you know Rodrigo will play where he does I mean obviously mbappe likes to come in off the left and that’s what Venus Junior’s been doing but he’s been playing Center forward almost continuously in bappe since November yeah but then but so bellingham’s current role is Bellingham going to take a bit of a deeper role then he is he is the the role that he was sort of intended for in the first place really and because they didn’t have that Superstar Striker because they they weren’t expecting Bena to go he ends up playing in a a slightly more advanced role but the leaga player of the for it exactly amazing but I think what what Jim was saying about how much talent they’ve got on the books now and how much attacking Talent they’ve got on the books now they’re going to have to do Real Madrid are going to have to do the England thing they’re going to be dragged into playing a more attacking way when generally they like to play fairly cautiously um so I think to say they’re going to dominate for the next 10 years well you look at the squad and you say all right fair enough but there’s going to have to be a little bit of a change of approach and maybe there’ll be a few bumps in the road for that yeah interesting it’s amazing what Bingham has been able to achieve with the amount of nayay he’s had all through his life it is true um kilan eppe was left out of France’s Olympic Squad because that is happening of course this Summer Olympic Games and it’s in France of course as well it is in France um tiar onri is the coach he said uh with regards to to um to to his uh selections and trying to call players I he said the last time I had this many rejections I was in high school yeah um not sure T rry got rejected from an awful lot even at high school maybe Michael Lis was selected for France’s Olympic Squad however though yep so the Crystal Palace man is in does it does it count as a competitive game good for him I don’t I don’t think it does there you go then have you have your fun come and see the real the real deal later in the year it’s not FIFA football is it no exactly that’s what I was thinking so if he can come over and uh we’ll still have him back yeah we’ll still have him we need what England need to do is just pump their squad full of the am just endless amounts of wide forwards that’s all we need and Crystal Palace players yeah I tell you what do they’ had a few call UPS we’ll open nego yeah as well we’ll open negotiation Michael Elis um by saying are you interested in retraining as a fullback I can guarantee you a squad place for theable future absolutely yeah and you you are left footed so that fits the bill right everybody um have you heard that Kevin De bruyne is now open to a move to Saudi Arabia I don’t think there’s any now about it is there yeah he he said at my age you have to be open to everything he’s 32 if I play there for 2 years I will be able to earn an incredible amount of money before that I had to play football for 15 years I may not even reach that amount yet I think that offer might still be on the table in a year yeah yeah um it’s a shame isn’t it I I mean I suppose with de bruyne I mean he is obviously talking about the finances of it so you you can’t blame him per se but he’s still only in his early 30s yeah I mean the way he’s playing it doesn’t really look like he’s leaving his peak in the immediate sense does it well well you say you say that he’s missed a lot of football this season I think if there’s a point mil the yeah I think if there’s a point at which you’re going to say I can’t be doing with being kicked in the Premier League when I could be like be the best player in the league somewhere else spend a lot more time with my family and get paid like four times as much well maybe not that much if coming from see yeah what I mean Andy though is that he he doesn’t look like someone who’s only got a year left in the tank yeah surely he he’ll he can see his contract out of the city and then go and do that anyway but I don’t know what’s what’s the point in that you if you’re not bothered about where the money comes from and you’re fine with the ideological idea of playing in Saudi Arabia what more is he going to achieve at city in the next year he’s not even going to play every week I suppose he’s won everything he can win just about how competitive he’s feeling right yeah they’ve done the transition season already haven’t they I mean I suppose from from his point of view if you if yeah for all those reasons you think okay I’m going to leave Manchester City where then do you go well I mean if he probably could walk into any side in the world but but in that terms of that Elite level terms of every week massive pressure you got to be absolutely on it he probably thinks I wouldn’t mind to take a little bit of a step down now to then go and join a mid Table La Liga side or Ser side is probably unlikely wage wise and and so on yeah but I do think to myself like to to to to take such a step down in in in in in his his professional life as a fan you look at it and you think it’s a bit sad well it’s sad but also like surely he just couldn’t be happy like think about the players he’s been playing with for the last how however many years surely that would frustrate you I mean he he is a frustrat character yeah as well that’s the point I understand you’re in a rock in a hard place but but I you know I I just to me also you you have I know You’ got to be careful not um not kind of attributing our experiences onto a completely different situation because De Bron is in the position he’s in and you know he’s made he’s made that quite he said that what he said and fine but he’s also there’s an element to this where you you’ve made your D you have made your D already this is not like um you are worried that you might not make as much money as you thought you could because of whatever reason he has made an astonishing amount of money already well reportedly 300 Grand a week yeah exactly understand there’s tax and all that no but even so even if you Andy’s right to point out the ideological element to this even if you put that to one side it’s frustrating that because of the money Saudi Arabia have got they completely moved the dial like I would love maybe this is a romantic overly romantic thing to say but how good would it be to do the old go to Ser for a couple of years you know it’s a slower pace much more tactically as stute League you still earn good money you’re not going to you be on the poverty line go go to go to a club in in a league where you can still challenge when ra went to shalka yeah there you go it’s a classic example great example yeah yeah uh indeed indeed well who knows um where Kevin debr maybe just wants to get out there before City set the whole legal world on fire uh in in this country well they’re going to sue the Saudi pro league as well that that might be one area they won’t they they that might be the one area they Fear To Tread yeah that would be interesting that would be interesting well start with him maybe once gets to Saudi he’ll be so rich he can lend them some money for the extra legal expens yeah for the legal Envoy of course Man City are suing the Premier League yeah incredible um because of tyranny yes yeah I I just basically basically an explainer for for those listening who uh aren’t quite clear on this okay man city want to do whatever they want whenever they want and if you don’t really rich people to do that if you don’t let them this is what’s going to happen the good news is we’ve got a super robust set of infrastructure in Premier League in the fa to probably deal with this and I think my my honest hot take assessment is that it’ll probably just blow over yeah be fine um C Alma barck who is the city chairman um is has reported to have said to Johnny Infantino in the past that he would rather spend 30 million on the 50 best lawyers in the world to sue UFA for the next 10 years then accept sanctions it feels like that books come back it Manchester City right who have who have won four Premier Leagues in a row and won everything you can win have completely revolutionized For Better or Worse probably worse the entire landscape of football in this country in their unprecedented success fueled by an astonishing amount of money that was hither to unseen even before when Chelsea was taken over by Roman Abramovic have submitted 165 page legal document in which they argue they are quote the victims of discrimination and that’s what you need to say mhm oh dear well you know it’s it’s never nice to be a victim so we wish manest City all the best with that yeah we shouldn’t victim shame in the scenario no Gentlemen let’s move on to um an organization that uh have all their ducks in a row uh FIFA um their president Giani Infantino um has confirmed that they are developing their own video game or computer game for those who still call them that I do uh we will develop a new eame when they play football simulation games they play FIFA it cannot be named something else obviously as everything we do it will be the best it’s going to be like pong isn’t it they’ve been promising this for years yeah I’m surprised they haven’t not actually that easy to make a sort of you know huge huge mainstream game in any in any way whatsoever I think he really thought they would just be able to get like someone’s cousin who’s good with computers to knock one together yeah why is he why is he called it an eame uh people think it’s going to be a board game or something cuz he’s CU he’s on Trend I think that they could do worse than employing Pete Donaldson to help them out with this yeah could they for what reason uh Pete doesn’t have criminal conviction but but here’s the thing yeah the best thing you can do in this scenario of your FIFA is I mean this is obviously never going to happen because it involves sh some kind of humility is lend your brand to people who know what they’re doing and either that’s what they’re going to do here because they’ve obviously DEC organiz the world cup with because of that exactly they’ve decoupled from EA Sports haven’t know famously and that’s why the new games called e AFC and everything they’re the people are doing the game bit though it’s an unsuccessful partnership and FIFA the best thing you can do is just let people know what they’re do and do it yeah um I mean there there are two things here firstly are developing rather than have developed suggest that yeah it’s done the other thing that suggests it’s done is people out there of all ages playing EC and they’re having a great time and it’s amazing how they’ve negotiated losing the name incredibly easily is is if people don’t didn’t really give a toss about the name I was I was actually surprised that that didn’t come from the other way that people weren’t going this this Brand’s toxic we don’t we don’t want to develop a game in Co you know in in Co you know Coalition with such a toxic brand um and so you know that to me that’s life isn’t it someone will do it yeah I know but Sports W they I don’t think Gamers care about that well what whatever they come up with Jim as as Giani said himself um as everything they do it will be the best yeah like FIFA FIFA the best Awards yeah or the people they invite on the pitch after the World Cup final to see the trophy Salt Bay yeah exactly Salt Bay the best nothing but the best there is going to be a Salt Bay celebrity 11 in in this new FIFA game is Salt Bay can’t still be knocking about he can’t he can’t still be knocking about now it keeps finding a way in though that’s what I’m saying he won’t he won’t he won’t turn up at the Euro if if england if England win the euro is a great celebration and Salway turns up and like Bellingham a phone and all got their arms it yeah I think I’d rather we didn’t wouldn’t W what would be really good I’d like to Salt him to death is if he is a slug exactly put the Sal on him exactly can you imagine England won the Euros Salt Bay came on the pitch started taking pictures grabbing the trophy and Harry McGuire just put him in a black plastic bag and took off yeah that would be great he’d be a national treasure for him if indeed he did that Che for watching in another fantastic clip from the Football Ramble podcast make sure you click like on this video And subscribe to the channel which means you will not miss a single upload [Music]