Salah - There’s not a single attacker on the planet this complete. Velvet first touch, back to goal play like a classical 9, whilst having S tier movement in behind and the playmaking of a 10. Best player in the world.
You'd think a player so good would have guided his team to more Premier League titles. I'm sure he's only won 1? And just the 1 champions league. Can't be that great unless he plays for a team full of weak players? Please explain
Such a good and fair-minded podcast - with lots of honest, non-partisan analysis and appraisal of players, coaches and teams. I appreciate that the MOTD format limits this sort of chat, but it’s refreshing to see how, with the extra time by comparison, we get a much more nuanced presentation.
Seeing Micha bursting into laughs and instantly getting massive pain in his throat every time is hilarious. I like people who can't stop laughing a lot even when it hurts, great characteristic
Liverpool fan here. Loved our intensity yesterday, many good performances. The goals conceded says we've still work to do without the ball. Must mention Spurs, would've been a much different game if they had all there players available. Ange, is a good manager going through a difficult spell. Top at Christmas doesn't mean much for me. April & May being top then matters. However loving the ride. YNWA❤
Fair comment.. we've not won anything yet but at this moment, we've a better chance than anyone. Good squad. Keep VVD, Grav and Salah fit and we'll be there or there abouts I think. 🙏
The fact that after Bournemouth's third goal, it was them who picked up the ball from inside the goal and placed on the midway line instead of a United player.. says a lot about the difference in mentality between the two teams 😅
Salah is the best player in the world and there can be no debate. 15 goals and 11 assists from 16 games is mind boggling especially when you consider he is actually a wide player. His goals yesterday were easy finishes but his ability to sniff out goals and be in the right positions is part of his skill set.
That was a turnover and he had to make a choice quickly so he didn't look up to see szobo. It happens when you get surprised like that. Against Southampton szobo had it happen to him and went straight for goal too so I don't think it's that big a deal
To be fair, it does require the manager of a very good side to be an absolute lunatic, so they're rare. Spurs is probably the only club Postecoglou can do this with - front players good enough to create danger, chairman/fans who don't mind having no prospect of winning anything. But it was glorious to watch, and you have to respect Ange's balls even if he's a half-mad bogan king
@@paulie-gi know right, im a liverpool fan but will definitely watch spurs after this one They play a super risky, probably naive style But man it is glorious to watch 😂 Its like either they score 3 or got scored 3 Which is bad as a fan of the team but super entertaining as spectator
@@ericaugusto758 Got some proper players as well, Kulusevski is a joy and I've long wanted Son at Liverpool (too late now he's lost a yard, but still love him as a player). I still can't get over *that* game, to be honest, so probably won't be watching them, but this match was brilliant. I wish our lads hadn't offered them the less embarrassing way out at 4-1 and just went full throttle to put 10 past them. Would probably get someone's legs broken in the league cup fixtures if we did, so probably unwise, but..
Mohammed Salah is by far and away the best player in world football today. NO ONE has been on his level since the start of the season. Honestly deserves a Ballon d'Or at this rate. The legend doesn't just deserve his flowers, he's demanding them!
I count myself very lucky that i was born in Liverpool and even more so, born a Red. It’s a very rare thing for a football fan to hear their team spoken about in such terms. I’ve never taken that for granted. I genuinely feel for the people who don’t follow our club. I don’t care what you say. There’s genuinely Nobody like us. Built to win trophies. Decade after decade after decade. Under manager after manager. Not your Manc, Fergie, 20 year flash in the pan. The Kings of English football. The Mighty Liverpool
Same here mate we're very fortunate to support the Reds, absolute fairtale of a club, The high and the low, feels like a Hollywood script sometimes, Although the fans get praised the reality is the club are incredible and if fans carnt get emotionally investeded in this club footballs not for you. There's bigger clubs, more successful clubs but in my biast opinion the Red are the greatest football club in the world.
Won numerous cups during that time, including a Champions league and a cup treble. When all these are added up its what makes us England most successful club.
When Salah is out of form the ball bounces off him but even then he still scores and assists and that's the difference between great and World class and Salah is World class.
Salah in bad form- the best player in the world Salah in good form- the best player in the world The numbers don't lie he's been the best since Messi and ronaldo, but his PR is awful and only Muslims are begging he gets a ballondor, and we all know what the west thinks of muslims
@@joebond545stupid take lol he's never been the clear best player in a season bar arguably this one. His post afcon performances were genuinely awful! If he keeps up his form till end of year and we win CL/PL then he'll deserve it.
@@paulie-g not clearly no, definitely deserved to be placed higher in many years but it's not like a lewa situation where he blatantly deserved it and didn't get it I'd actually argue VVD deserved it in the 97pt cl season more than Salah in any season
@@joejo4549 Agreed on VVD. My point is Salah's prime was best Salah, he was just unfortunate that Messi and CR7 were around with their numbers, but Salah was often more impactful in a team that didn't funnel everything towards him
He has magically discovered the power of video analysis just as he entered the last year of his contract and an offer from a club that won't tolerate his defensive shambles is reportedly on the table. It's a miracle!
Thank you and have yourselves a Merry Christmas! ❤ Gary, Alan and Micah your podcast is something I look forward to every week. Your banter & laughter makes it fun and enjoyable! Your knowledge of the game makes it special 🎉❤
Bloody love you guys. Hope you have an amazing Christmas. As a forest for 48 years I’d like to say how amazing you all are. We all have our team, as do you guys, but you are always subjective and unbiased. Match of the day will never be the same without you Gary.
as a liverpool fan I rarely predict anything better than 2-0 or 2-1... there's this feeling of nothing being certain and not wanting to jinx the thing... this one I prediced 4-0 and shocked everyone who knows me. It felt that certain.
What? How long have you been watching Liverpool? Have you only been watching Liverpool since 2016? I can imagine Liverpool without Virgil and Salah. The same way I imagined Liverpool without all the great players that played for Liverpool and left. Since the 1960s, Liverpool has always had great players, they come and they go. This is why Liverpool is the most successful English side.
VVD is going to be the hardest to replace. I love Mo, and he's still productive, but he's no longer in his prime when he was unplayable 1v1. It's not just that VVD is a great CB, those exist somewhere in theory, it's that he automagically upgrades all the players next to him in the defensive line at least one level. Konate and Gomez, both excellent CBs, don't look anywhere near as good if VVD isn't next to them. *That* is what makes VVD generational even post-injury when he is no longer flawless, imo, and what is going to make it so difficult to replace him.
@@Alden4 It's just an emotional response from the lad, cut him a break. There's also an argument to be made that, looking around, there is a dearth of good CBs, especially left-sided CBs, and unlike forwards, you can't just buy one and play him to develop without incurring a big cost. The last left-sided CB slated to become great was Pep's 100mil croatian lovechild Gvardiol and we're watching that trainwreck live. ManU haven't been able to find a top CB for the last 10 years for love nor money. It is not unreasonable to feel trepidation about the task of replacing VVD, eased somewhat by the fact Slot's playstyle doesn't seem to require leaving his CBs 1v1 *all the time* with an ocean of space in front of them to boot. It's all well and good if you've watched Liverpool since 1946 and have the proper perspective, but some people weren't born then or remember when we had Konchesky playing for us or Hodgson telling us West Brom was a difficult place to play football. What people often forget is that a bug chunk of our unending succession of great players came at a time when Liverpool was the final and only destination for British players, a bit like Bayern, but on sporting merit rather than sponsorship money out of proportion to the rest of the league. This is not the case anymore, we're competing for players with Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea domestically (and pay a bit less than them), and Real Madrid, Bayern and maybe Barca internationally. We're having to identify players early, wait for the right ones to become available, and then hope RM don't blow us out of the water with their image rights money or the player's wife doesn't insist on being in London (although that's probably a good filter a lot of the time). The Portuguese top 3 and the clever PL middle class take a lot of those deals because they're wealthy enough to maintain the recruitment dept necessary to identify such players, pay them enough to get them, and can afford to play them more right away. It is incredibly challenging to recruit for us because we don't have unlimited money and need players to be of a level to compete for the CL. So I understand the trepidation. Yes, Liverpool will always be Liverpool, as evidenced by our inexorable rise back to our rightful place at the top table after decades in the wilderness as soon as we got competent management in place, but being Liverpool doesn't get us as far as it used to when players are largely mercenary and anyone with access to a state budget can randomly pick a club and make it arbitrarily 'big'.
Every top team in the world will have contract offers on the table for them.. Their options will be Real Madrid, saudi, Bayern & Barcelona.. certainly will be interesting..
@@neildean7515 Barca can't even afford to register Olmo, so no. Bayern aren't going to replace Kim Min Jae whom they paid a large fee for and who has just started coming good, no room for Salah and certainly not on that money. Too early for Saudi for the lot of them. RM only for TAA, both ways, he's not going anywhere else if he's going. This is what's going to save us, imo, neither VVD nor Salah have good options to go to. I'm sure they'll wait for offers and use them as comparables when negotiating with the club, but aside from TAA I don't see where they go unless they want to take it easy somewhere because they think they can't hack another couple years in PL, in which case we shouldn't want to tie up massive wages in extensions for them.
Best football show online - Congratulations guys!! Great professionals. Real joy for football fans - no nonsense ...unlike the Champions League show on CBS which is full of nonsense ..
Mo got taken off on a hatrick, with Klopp that would have been drama, with Slot he was smiling. This for me say's massive amounts for Slot's player management.
Maybe Salah has also got a grip, finally. I love Mo, but his inability to tolerate being rested is why we could never sign anyone decent as backup in his position, leading to fatigue and underperformance at times, especially towards the end of a season in important PL and CL games
Inter had 0 in CL until last matchday, 1 now, tied with Liverpool, and they look incredibly solid. The worry is about the goals we've conceded in the last few games. I don't mind the 2 Spurs scored when we decided to rest in the game too much when 4 goals up, but we conceded a bad one when only 2-0 up, and 3 against Newcastle. It's not a problem in isolation, but a big part of my optimism about our chances in the CL is how little we've been conceding, so a multi-game trend when we've started letting 2+ in per game is worrying. We can outscore most teams in the PL with our firepower, especially now Jota is back (although dropping points against Fulham and Toon still hurts), but we won't get that sort of chance in the last rounds of CL.
With the players City still have fit and available, there's no other manager in the league, possibly the world, that would have got less wins over the last 12 games than Guardiola. He's so tunnel-visioned he makes Big Ange look like a tactical contortionist.
I mean, poundland pep Russell Martin at Soton managed to get the same results with a squad no one in the top division would buy for a packet of crisps. Pep has always ruined *some* players, but jesus wept, it takes some doing to turn a billion pounds into.. whatever this is. When our whole midfield at Liverpool aged out all at the same time and dropped through the floor one season and we were dreadful all over the place all of a sudden, we still weren't as hopeless as City are. I'm having serious safeguarding concerns about Gvardiol, he's self-harming in front of us on live television every matchday
Love this podcast, 2 guys talking proper football talk . As for Liverpool they should have been 3 up before they scored the 1st goal., if that game game finished 10 -3 it still wouldn’t have been enough . Spurs will be ok when they get their players back.
Of course I realise that it's only just the halfway (or nearly) point in the Premier League season. But it's getting increasingly difficult not to see Liverpool as being the Premier League champions elect for season 24/25. I think also that Michael Edwards and the Liverpool board need a lot of credit for selecting Arne Slot to become Jurgen Klopp's successor at Anfield.
The selection of Slot was genius, in hindsight, and absolutely not obvious at the time. Klopp was a no-brainer, the trick was in actually getting him. Slot, on paper, was not - very understated, reserved, his track record was good but at a significantly lower level. You would think he would be in danger of not appearing to match the size of personality required to be Liverpool manager (similar to Rodgers), especially after a seminal semi-messianic figure of Klopp, and his reserved manner wouldn't match the intensity the squad was built for and the supporters identified with. As it turns out, not being bigger-than-life is a benefit in that it quickly put paid to Klopp comparisons no one could win, the media treats him better because of his non-confrontational approach, and the squad appears to have welcomed his calm presence after nearly a decade of unrestrained emotion all the time. His much more controlled approach and tactical variability+adaptability appears to have fixed a lot of long-standing issues and Liverpool look to be much better equipped to win the CL. In a way bordering on the sacrilegious, it may turn out that this was an upgrade on late era Klopp.
Would love it if you guys did an in depth episode on how the game has changed on the pitch since the days of your respective careers. Tactically, technically the whole 9 yards. Maybe that sounds boring to others but that would be fascinating IMHO.
Well done lads. Just to say, been listening all year. You are the most balanced! No overt pecuniary agendas... Appreciated! Delighted ye will be back next year.. Back for more!
Pleasure to listen to You legends. It is also a great time to be a Red, we haven't even hit top gear and still carving out results. YNWA! Merry Christmas Gents!
I might be far off but it seems like City players are tired of a coach that would dispose them as soon as he thinks they won't help him stay on the top of the game.
Love Alan , Gary and big mick and I remember Alan winning the premiership league with Blackburn Rovers with sir king Kenny and I was made up because Alan the best I have seen at scoring goals wow we love u lads from Liverpool and big mick Manchester City look so old and pep not so good now ha !!!!!!!!!
United are paying not trusting Mourinho. He wanted to clean house, but they didn't allow him. Instead, they kept adding more rubbish players and now, they got a squad that is just... sad, really.
To be fair, Mourinho is now in Turkey trying to start an armed revolt against Erdogan. Just because someone's diagnosis is correct doesn't mean they're equipped to fix the problem. I would have tried with Rangnick (as DoF, not manager) if I were ManU, but I have to say as a Liverpool fan it's been brilliant all this
@@paulie-gTo be even more fair, Mo pushed at Roma, they dropped him, and they are in tenth place only because of a short run, otherwise Roma did what MUFC did. Fire the manager rather than clean up.
Salah is the best. He could rest on a bed on the side of the pitch for 85 minutes and score a hat trick in 5 and do 2 assists and hit the bar in injury time. Hes Messi level.
Man City - the top players and teams win quite a bit based solely on their reputation, but once that reputation cracks, the others pile in. It happened to Man U under Moyes.
Moyes was done dirty, Ferguson left a poor squad by Utd standards, they won the league but were clearly declining, needed a rebuild yet moyes got nothing, they replaced him then spent 100s of millions
Man City benefited massively from so many teams just giving up before they walked out and never having a go at them over so many seasons. These tactical flaws were always there, it's not as if Pep has just started playing a high line. Yes, Rodri, and Fernandinho before him, but they can't be on both sides of the pitch at the same time. Enough PL sides had fast wingers they could lob it over City to in the channels.
something that hard to achieve for any player is consistency that's a value salah have... let's be real there's alot of player that could dribble,alot of flare,fast pretty much a prodigy but keeping it for 7-8 year straight is hard salah is not just consistent he also rarely injurd afcon probably take his time in liv more than injury
@@paulie-g He was pushed to the absolute limit after the quad season where Liverpool played every game possible then Afcon on top the following season. He is the Egyptian King but also still human.
Regardless of how awesome Liverpool is talked about, Liverpool is still dragging it's administrative feet with contracts agreeable to the players in question!!!
Liverpool goes from extremely clever and intelligent team, to a more rock and roll (and bit dumb) one, everytime Macca it's not in the pitch. Perpas the most under the radar top flight midfielder in current game for almost everyone out tehre, included pundits.
The 1st liverpool goal was a real and deserved goal. The other two were giveaways. I like watching their game - is good football - less interested in how many goal but i like the manner they score.
Pep walked from the Barca job because of the mental toll and took a year off. It wouldn't surprise me if he walked from City in the summer for another sabbatical.
We’ve been top at Christmas a few times in recent years and not quite seen it through. No Liverpool fans worth their salt are looking further than the next game. We’ve been given too many reality checks in the past to make the mistake of saying we’ve already won the thing. Come on you Reds!
Merry Xmas Gaz, Al, and Big Meeks (get well soon) Plus all the behind the scenes crew. Liverpool, Liverpool, Liverpool. Mo Salah should win Player of the Year or are the powers that be going to snub him again? He is miles better than anyone else. Such a complete player and lets hope FSG get their cheque book out.
It shocks me nobody talks about trent’s weak foot, it’s actually better than 95% of footballers when it comes to passing. He’s not completely 2 footed because his right is easily top 2 alongside KDB but his left class is probably in the top 10 for passers and that’s his weak foot😭
Perfect Storm at City, legs going in a number of players, awareness of likely points deductions, losing the fear factor, a manager who doesn’t trust inexperienced players. Players also need to learn to play to win when it’s not going to win you a trophy. All opposing players suddenly believing they can win. Margins are so small at this level and a lot of it’s psychological.
Lifelong liverpool fan. Learned to never write Man City off until mathematically impossible - which has been the last game or the last whistle of the last game, a few times. Hopefully Slot is able to seal things up, as Liverpool threw it away a few seasons under Klopp.
It's December story time Manchester United is trying Chelsea is asking, Arsenal is coming, Tottenham is looking, Manchester City is saying we're going to walk around the other side but this time Liverpool has something to say never walk alone, I wonder who will challenge love Liverpool never walk alone, The rest is Football 1💕 Peace Up
Trents defensive work has been so good this season. If he keeps it up consistently, and keeps up his world class attacking play, he must (unless you just dislike him) be considered the best in the world at RB. In my opinion no other fullback has ever had Trents ability. Cafu, carlos, cole and many more could never do what Trent does. Tried not agreeing to this for years because he needed to do it way more consistently, but he now has done - he is the greatest full back to ever live, and there are still years left to enjoy his incredible talent. I cant think of an argument other than boring nostalgia propping the older fullbacks up higher
Man city's form has coincided with the charges being brought against them, is nobody thinking they might be doing it on purpose to coincide with getting a more lenient sentence against them? Maybe I'm just being sceptical
Gary, Alan - it's quite simple with Man City. The amount of games the players played last year in all comps and the year before has taken its toll, its happened with LFC, after every high there is a low. That on top of an aging squad, and awful recruitment, this is the result. Don't be surprised if they struggle for the next couple of years, he has a full squad overhaul to do and he has to get it right....
Liverpool when we had our horror season didn't make Soton and poundland pep Russell Martin look like Ancelotti's Real Madrid. There's no way that team should be underperforming the worst side that came up, period. Pep is playing 100mil CBs at fullback and making them look like a cross between Wout Faes and Emerson Royal
Can we please stop calling out Rashford not being in the squad as if he would have changed anything for us. He's been absolutely diabolical this season can't even do the basics. Let's call it how it is. He is DESERVEDLY out of the team. Kudos to Bournemouth they were brilliant although we had the chances to win the game.
Salah has 332 goals/assists in 7.5 seasons. Henry had 324 goals/assists in 8 seasons for arsenal (ignoring his 2nd spell loan season to make this comparison more fair) That really sums up how salah is in the conversation of new goat debate. Some henry fans here were commenting that salah can't be compared to henry because of "eye test". what on earth is this subjective eye test? Can we say neymar, hazard is better than henry? If everything goes right....by the end of this season salah will have 2 pl titles (same as henry), 3 pfa player of the year (same as henry), 3 fwa footballer of the year (same as henry), 4 golden boot (same as henry)! So by the end of 8 seasons salah and henry will have the same no. of pl titles and awards! The only thing differentiating them is goals/assists and salah have them more. So logically speaking, salah will be the new goat after this season if salah ends up with the same no. of titles and awards. Salah is also better in big matches as he has the 2nd most g/a against big 6 teams and he won a ucl too (and could've won another if he wasn't injured by ramos) whereas henry's ucl stats are horrible by his standard.
Salah - There’s not a single attacker on the planet this complete. Velvet first touch, back to goal play like a classical 9, whilst having S tier movement in behind and the playmaking of a 10. Best player in the world.
Only vini is somewhere near his level
You'd think a player so good would have guided his team to more Premier League titles. I'm sure he's only won 1? And just the 1 champions league. Can't be that great unless he plays for a team full of weak players? Please explain
@MMAandOats The tears just dripping off this post.
Stay salty.
@@El_Descarriado Im salty? Sorry but i dont support Salah or Liverpool. Id only be salty if my favourite player/team managed 1 Premier League title
@MMAandOats please explain the VAR/PGMOL corruption?
Such a good and fair-minded podcast - with lots of honest, non-partisan analysis and appraisal of players, coaches and teams. I appreciate that the MOTD format limits this sort of chat, but it’s refreshing to see how, with the extra time by comparison, we get a much more nuanced presentation.
Spot on! This is the best podcast in Football, and allows the three of them to really express themselves
I really like this podcast because it let's Alan's personality come through. He's a funny guy
That's true actually. I've never thought much of him as a MotD pundit but he's much better on this, seems to suit him more.
Funny as in, I amuse you 😂
@@davestinson2323 YOU REALLY ARE A FUNNY GUY 🤣🤣
@davestinson2323 funny how? How am I funny? 😂
@ubermod5564 yeah he always comes across as pretty dour on MOTD but he's a lot more relaxed and warmer on the pod
I love this Arne Slot penitentiary meme 😆
So good isn’t it ahahaha
It’s so good 😂
Seeing Micha bursting into laughs and instantly getting massive pain in his throat every time is hilarious. I like people who can't stop laughing a lot even when it hurts, great characteristic
He puts it all on🙄laugh laugh ffs !
@lolavanenburg1647 Just because your life is miserable doesn't mean everyone else is
Once you crack a rib it becomes a bit of a problem - stings like a bitch for a couple of weeks...
...otherwise A-OK characteristics.
Liverpool fan here. Loved our intensity yesterday, many good performances. The goals conceded says we've still work to do without the ball. Must mention Spurs, would've been a much different game if they had all there players available. Ange, is a good manager going through a difficult spell. Top at Christmas doesn't mean much for me. April & May being top then matters. However loving the ride. YNWA❤
Let's not forget, maddisson is suspended for our caraboa match
Why Maddison is suspended?
Fair comment.. we've not won anything yet but at this moment, we've a better chance than anyone. Good squad. Keep VVD, Grav and Salah fit and we'll be there or there abouts I think. 🙏
The fact that after Bournemouth's third goal, it was them who picked up the ball from inside the goal and placed on the midway line instead of a United player.. says a lot about the difference in mentality between the two teams 😅
Bournemouth wanted 5 at old trafford😂😂 god I love life since 2012
Really?
Painful for Man U fan to see that
Just an awful culture at that club.
They can change the manager all they want but the problem is bigger.
Salah is the best player in the world and there can be no debate. 15 goals and 11 assists from 16 games is mind boggling especially when you consider he is actually a wide player. His goals yesterday were easy finishes but his ability to sniff out goals and be in the right positions is part of his skill set.
Certain rival fans will tell you he’s a striker! 😂😭
Average
He's a great player for sure but I'm not sure on him being the best in the world. Maybe the best RW but other than that, I don't know
On form he is or at worst top 2. We'll see if he can continue this until end of season and if it brings Liverpool silverware.@@danmero6864
@@danmero6864 who’s better then?
In transition there is no better decision maker than Salah. Absolute ruthless that guy.
Aside from the first chance when he intercepted the Foster attempted chip. He should have laid it off to Szobo
@osdahi yet he still destroyed 2 players and smashed the crossbar, what a player
That was a turnover and he had to make a choice quickly so he didn't look up to see szobo. It happens when you get surprised like that. Against Southampton szobo had it happen to him and went straight for goal too so I don't think it's that big a deal
Guys, point of order please. Joe Gomez was outstanding yesterday. Definitely an unsung hero.
I couldn't agree more. His form since coming in for Konate has been outstanding. Similar to our last title winning season.
As well as Szobo. He's been under the microscope and WOW he was good
Agreed. Joe is fast becoming one of my favourite players. A complete defender.
@@TonyMarinou82 his attitude is second to none as well. Really hope he gets goal this season to clinch a trophy. Poetic.
I was begging the gods to give us a penalty and let Joe take it. He was solid as a rock.
This is how football was meant to be. Entertainment level 10, skill level 10, goals 9. Best game of the season so far.
To be fair, it does require the manager of a very good side to be an absolute lunatic, so they're rare. Spurs is probably the only club Postecoglou can do this with - front players good enough to create danger, chairman/fans who don't mind having no prospect of winning anything. But it was glorious to watch, and you have to respect Ange's balls even if he's a half-mad bogan king
@@paulie-gi know right, im a liverpool fan but will definitely watch spurs after this one
They play a super risky, probably naive style
But man it is glorious to watch 😂
Its like either they score 3 or got scored 3
Which is bad as a fan of the team but super entertaining as spectator
@@ericaugusto758 Got some proper players as well, Kulusevski is a joy and I've long wanted Son at Liverpool (too late now he's lost a yard, but still love him as a player). I still can't get over *that* game, to be honest, so probably won't be watching them, but this match was brilliant. I wish our lads hadn't offered them the less embarrassing way out at 4-1 and just went full throttle to put 10 past them. Would probably get someone's legs broken in the league cup fixtures if we did, so probably unwise, but..
It's beginning to look a Slot like Christmas....Merry Christma Gary Alan and Sick note 😃
Barely even works.
How Spurs scored 3 and Liverpool only scored 6 was a Xmas miracle! 🤣
Mohammed Salah is by far and away the best player in world football today. NO ONE has been on his level since the start of the season.
Honestly deserves a Ballon d'Or at this rate. The legend doesn't just deserve his flowers, he's demanding them!
That's great Richards has lost his voice 😂
When these two legendary strikers give you praise , you know you are special .
Oh my word, Alan being fed by Trent....now that
would have been something to behold :)
Gary too
Thanks for giving Trent some compliments, not many folks do. Specialy pundits
"A very silent Micah Richards" - it's a Christmas miracle.
😂😂😂
True😂
😂😂😂😂😂
Gary never having a sick off throughout his lengthy broadcasting career is an amazing fact. True professional 👏
Is it also true that he never got booked in his playing career?
@ yes
@@Muller-s5fI sent in a question asking how he managed that? Hopefully it will get read!
Why would u go sick, he gets paid a treat, turns up for a couple hours in the best places in England and talks about the greatest sport in the world
@ well, for the same reason Big Meeks is off sick today 😂
I count myself very lucky that i was born in Liverpool and even more so, born a Red. It’s a very rare thing for a football fan to hear their team spoken about in such terms. I’ve never taken that for granted. I genuinely feel for the people who don’t follow our club. I don’t care what you say. There’s genuinely Nobody like us. Built to win trophies. Decade after decade after decade. Under manager after manager. Not your Manc, Fergie, 20 year flash in the pan. The Kings of English football. The Mighty Liverpool
@@oliverhwd ManUre have only had 2 successful managers in their entire history, Sir Matt Busby and Mr Baconface. 👍🏿
Same here mate we're very fortunate to support the Reds, absolute fairtale of a club, The high and the low, feels like a Hollywood script sometimes, Although the fans get praised the reality is the club are incredible and if fans carnt get emotionally investeded in this club footballs not for you. There's bigger clubs, more successful clubs but in my biast opinion the Red are the greatest football club in the world.
didn’t you go 30 years without winning the league?
Won numerous cups during that time, including a Champions league and a cup treble. When all these are added up its what makes us England most successful club.
@ yea that’s very true haha
When Salah is out of form the ball bounces off him but even then he still scores and assists and that's the difference between great and World class and Salah is World class.
Salah in bad form- the best player in the world
Salah in good form- the best player in the world
The numbers don't lie he's been the best since Messi and ronaldo, but his PR is awful and only Muslims are begging he gets a ballondor, and we all know what the west thinks of muslims
@@joebond545stupid take lol he's never been the clear best player in a season bar arguably this one.
His post afcon performances were genuinely awful! If he keeps up his form till end of year and we win CL/PL then he'll deserve it.
@@joejo4549 Not even when he won the golden boot?
@@paulie-g not clearly no, definitely deserved to be placed higher in many years but it's not like a lewa situation where he blatantly deserved it and didn't get it
I'd actually argue VVD deserved it in the 97pt cl season more than Salah in any season
@@joejo4549 Agreed on VVD. My point is Salah's prime was best Salah, he was just unfortunate that Messi and CR7 were around with their numbers, but Salah was often more impactful in a team that didn't funnel everything towards him
Trent has massively improved defensively as well.
He has magically discovered the power of video analysis just as he entered the last year of his contract and an offer from a club that won't tolerate his defensive shambles is reportedly on the table. It's a miracle!
Alan mocking Micha was just Perfect!!!
Thank you and have yourselves a Merry Christmas! ❤
Gary, Alan and Micah your podcast is something I look forward to every week. Your banter & laughter makes it fun and enjoyable! Your knowledge of the game makes it special 🎉❤
OK ... we know Gary and Alan are absolute legends
But Micah is such a delightful and an enthusiastic commentator...
.... get well soon Micah ...
Not a word on Szoboszlai performance...shame..
Agreed he was immense.
MotM for me, and that’s saying something given the quality of the other performances
Trent was absolutely brilliant again today. Salah and Diaz rightly getting the attention but Trent is top quality.
And Dominik was incredible.
Bloody love you guys. Hope you have an amazing Christmas. As a forest for 48 years I’d like to say how amazing you all are. We all have our team, as do you guys, but you are always subjective and unbiased. Match of the day will never be the same without you Gary.
Merry Christmas to you, too. It had been wonderful to listen to you always. Watching from South Sudan 🇸🇸 ( Africa).
'Mystic Al' and his little chuckle at Man Utd's woes. Pure gold.
as a liverpool fan I rarely predict anything better than 2-0 or 2-1... there's this feeling of nothing being certain and not wanting to jinx the thing... this one I prediced 4-0 and shocked everyone who knows me. It felt that certain.
TAA is so unique and amazing but Virgil and Salah are so essential too. I can’t imagine LFC without any one of them…
What? How long have you been watching Liverpool? Have you only been watching Liverpool since 2016?
I can imagine Liverpool without Virgil and Salah. The same way I imagined Liverpool without all the great players that played for Liverpool and left. Since the 1960s, Liverpool has always had great players, they come and they go. This is why Liverpool is the most successful English side.
VVD is going to be the hardest to replace. I love Mo, and he's still productive, but he's no longer in his prime when he was unplayable 1v1. It's not just that VVD is a great CB, those exist somewhere in theory, it's that he automagically upgrades all the players next to him in the defensive line at least one level. Konate and Gomez, both excellent CBs, don't look anywhere near as good if VVD isn't next to them. *That* is what makes VVD generational even post-injury when he is no longer flawless, imo, and what is going to make it so difficult to replace him.
@@Alden4 It's just an emotional response from the lad, cut him a break. There's also an argument to be made that, looking around, there is a dearth of good CBs, especially left-sided CBs, and unlike forwards, you can't just buy one and play him to develop without incurring a big cost. The last left-sided CB slated to become great was Pep's 100mil croatian lovechild Gvardiol and we're watching that trainwreck live. ManU haven't been able to find a top CB for the last 10 years for love nor money. It is not unreasonable to feel trepidation about the task of replacing VVD, eased somewhat by the fact Slot's playstyle doesn't seem to require leaving his CBs 1v1 *all the time* with an ocean of space in front of them to boot. It's all well and good if you've watched Liverpool since 1946 and have the proper perspective, but some people weren't born then or remember when we had Konchesky playing for us or Hodgson telling us West Brom was a difficult place to play football. What people often forget is that a bug chunk of our unending succession of great players came at a time when Liverpool was the final and only destination for British players, a bit like Bayern, but on sporting merit rather than sponsorship money out of proportion to the rest of the league. This is not the case anymore, we're competing for players with Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea domestically (and pay a bit less than them), and Real Madrid, Bayern and maybe Barca internationally. We're having to identify players early, wait for the right ones to become available, and then hope RM don't blow us out of the water with their image rights money or the player's wife doesn't insist on being in London (although that's probably a good filter a lot of the time). The Portuguese top 3 and the clever PL middle class take a lot of those deals because they're wealthy enough to maintain the recruitment dept necessary to identify such players, pay them enough to get them, and can afford to play them more right away. It is incredibly challenging to recruit for us because we don't have unlimited money and need players to be of a level to compete for the CL. So I understand the trepidation. Yes, Liverpool will always be Liverpool, as evidenced by our inexorable rise back to our rightful place at the top table after decades in the wilderness as soon as we got competent management in place, but being Liverpool doesn't get us as far as it used to when players are largely mercenary and anyone with access to a state budget can randomly pick a club and make it arbitrarily 'big'.
Every top team in the world will have contract offers on the table for them.. Their options will be Real Madrid, saudi, Bayern & Barcelona.. certainly will be interesting..
@@neildean7515 Barca can't even afford to register Olmo, so no. Bayern aren't going to replace Kim Min Jae whom they paid a large fee for and who has just started coming good, no room for Salah and certainly not on that money. Too early for Saudi for the lot of them. RM only for TAA, both ways, he's not going anywhere else if he's going. This is what's going to save us, imo, neither VVD nor Salah have good options to go to. I'm sure they'll wait for offers and use them as comparables when negotiating with the club, but aside from TAA I don't see where they go unless they want to take it easy somewhere because they think they can't hack another couple years in PL, in which case we shouldn't want to tie up massive wages in extensions for them.
Thoroughly enjoy this podcast lads! Keep up the good work and the guests are a class above as well! True footballing podcast for the top leagues!
Merry Christmas Chaps Thank you for all the podcast this year tremendous and thank you for being kind to Forest 😂
Micah with the classic voice you use when you ring your boss to tell them you're sick and can't come in 😂
Arne Slot - "I think he's a great manager, I love the style of play". It's a warning from Slot to change otherwise we'll beat you. 😂
Fantastic podcast as usual guys, have a very Merry Christmas and keep up the good work in the New Year.👍👍👍
Mohamed Salah • He started 339 matches with Liverpool! • He contributed to 332 goals
Best football show online - Congratulations guys!! Great professionals. Real joy for football fans - no nonsense ...unlike the Champions League show on CBS which is full of nonsense ..
Mo got taken off on a hatrick, with Klopp that would have been drama, with Slot he was smiling. This for me say's massive amounts for Slot's player management.
Maybe Salah has also got a grip, finally. I love Mo, but his inability to tolerate being rested is why we could never sign anyone decent as backup in his position, leading to fatigue and underperformance at times, especially towards the end of a season in important PL and CL games
Be truthful. Salah was NOT happy to be replaced. He looked annoyed. He always is.
@@louisohalloran7802
Good. Never want to see a player being happy subbed.
Get well soon Micah.... Nothing worse thant being sick at Xmas
Yeah I would know, currently in bed with an awful flu... 🤒
@@georgehh2574 Get well very soon
@@georgehh2574 Get well soon 🤧🤒😷
Thank you gentlemen and a Merry Christmas to you both ! 😊
Salah is the best player on the planet right now! No doubt he’s breaking record every single season!!!!
"only worry is the number of goals conceded".
They have conceded the fewest goals in both the Premier League and Champions League this season
Tbf we've conceded 8 in our last 3 Prem games
Inter had 0 in CL until last matchday, 1 now, tied with Liverpool, and they look incredibly solid. The worry is about the goals we've conceded in the last few games. I don't mind the 2 Spurs scored when we decided to rest in the game too much when 4 goals up, but we conceded a bad one when only 2-0 up, and 3 against Newcastle. It's not a problem in isolation, but a big part of my optimism about our chances in the CL is how little we've been conceding, so a multi-game trend when we've started letting 2+ in per game is worrying. We can outscore most teams in the PL with our firepower, especially now Jota is back (although dropping points against Fulham and Toon still hurts), but we won't get that sort of chance in the last rounds of CL.
Nice podcast, go on guys, very funny nice to watch. Even with a silent Micah.
Thank you so much, Gary, Alan. And Micah get well soon!
Micah's took a deliberate 5th yellow of season just before boxing day.
With the players City still have fit and available, there's no other manager in the league, possibly the world, that would have got less wins over the last 12 games than Guardiola. He's so tunnel-visioned he makes Big Ange look like a tactical contortionist.
I mean, poundland pep Russell Martin at Soton managed to get the same results with a squad no one in the top division would buy for a packet of crisps. Pep has always ruined *some* players, but jesus wept, it takes some doing to turn a billion pounds into.. whatever this is. When our whole midfield at Liverpool aged out all at the same time and dropped through the floor one season and we were dreadful all over the place all of a sudden, we still weren't as hopeless as City are. I'm having serious safeguarding concerns about Gvardiol, he's self-harming in front of us on live television every matchday
Micah is such a lovely bloke. Get well soon big fella!
Love this podcast, 2 guys talking proper football talk . As for Liverpool they should have been 3 up before they scored the 1st goal., if that game game finished 10 -3 it still wouldn’t have been enough . Spurs will be ok when they get their players back.
God speed on your next chapter after MOTD, Mr Lineker.. a fantastic presenter and even better human being....🙏🏾
Merry Christmas to the best football podcast, and Micah Keita, we wish you a speedy recovery!
Of course I realise that it's only just the halfway (or nearly) point in the Premier League season.
But it's getting increasingly difficult not to see Liverpool as being the Premier League champions elect for season 24/25.
I think also that Michael Edwards and the Liverpool board need a lot of credit for selecting Arne Slot to become Jurgen Klopp's successor at Anfield.
The selection of Slot was genius, in hindsight, and absolutely not obvious at the time. Klopp was a no-brainer, the trick was in actually getting him. Slot, on paper, was not - very understated, reserved, his track record was good but at a significantly lower level. You would think he would be in danger of not appearing to match the size of personality required to be Liverpool manager (similar to Rodgers), especially after a seminal semi-messianic figure of Klopp, and his reserved manner wouldn't match the intensity the squad was built for and the supporters identified with. As it turns out, not being bigger-than-life is a benefit in that it quickly put paid to Klopp comparisons no one could win, the media treats him better because of his non-confrontational approach, and the squad appears to have welcomed his calm presence after nearly a decade of unrestrained emotion all the time. His much more controlled approach and tactical variability+adaptability appears to have fixed a lot of long-standing issues and Liverpool look to be much better equipped to win the CL. In a way bordering on the sacrilegious, it may turn out that this was an upgrade on late era Klopp.
Actually becoming very fond of Alan thanks to this podcast, sometimes the more formal settings dont allow him to be himself! Big up lads great podcast
Would love it if you guys did an in depth episode on how the game has changed on the pitch since the days of your respective careers. Tactically, technically the whole 9 yards. Maybe that sounds boring to others but that would be fascinating IMHO.
Well done lads.
Just to say, been listening all year.
You are the most balanced! No overt pecuniary agendas... Appreciated!
Delighted ye will be back next year.. Back for more!
Love you Garry
So brave for your stance on Palestine
Has he enlisted for the PPF (Palestinian Peoples Front)? Or the PFP (Peoples Front of Palestine)? Has George Galloway enlisted too?
Pleasure to listen to You legends. It is also a great time to be a Red, we haven't even hit top gear and still carving out results. YNWA! Merry Christmas Gents!
I might be far off but it seems like City players are tired of a coach that would dispose them as soon as he thinks they won't help him stay on the top of the game.
Mens cold are near death experience! Micha we are with you!
😂😂😂 true story!
@JFB-Haninge Man Flu!
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Quality content as always guys keep up the great work Gary and alan are both legends of the game micha is ok I guess 😂
Love the podcast hope you all have a great Christmas
Brilliant podcast, and all the better for an EPL season with so much intrigue, with the “ lessor” teams showing what they are made of!, Roll on 2025!!
Very good episode guys.
Love Alan , Gary and big mick and I remember Alan winning the premiership league with Blackburn Rovers with sir king Kenny and I was made up because Alan the best I have seen at scoring goals wow we love u lads from Liverpool and big mick Manchester City look so old and pep not so good now ha !!!!!!!!!
United are paying not trusting Mourinho. He wanted to clean house, but they didn't allow him. Instead, they kept adding more rubbish players and now, they got a squad that is just... sad, really.
To be fair, Mourinho is now in Turkey trying to start an armed revolt against Erdogan. Just because someone's diagnosis is correct doesn't mean they're equipped to fix the problem. I would have tried with Rangnick (as DoF, not manager) if I were ManU, but I have to say as a Liverpool fan it's been brilliant all this
@@paulie-gTo be even more fair, Mo pushed at Roma, they dropped him, and they are in tenth place only because of a short run, otherwise Roma did what MUFC did. Fire the manager rather than clean up.
Salah is the best. He could rest on a bed on the side of the pitch for 85 minutes and score a hat trick in 5 and do 2 assists and hit the bar in injury time. Hes Messi level.
@23:59 MysticAl was good, well done Gary. For that to have gone unnoticed must have felt...punishing... 🤓
Man City - the top players and teams win quite a bit based solely on their reputation, but once that reputation cracks, the others pile in. It happened to Man U under Moyes.
Moyes was done dirty, Ferguson left a poor squad by Utd standards, they won the league but were clearly declining, needed a rebuild yet moyes got nothing, they replaced him then spent 100s of millions
Man City benefited massively from so many teams just giving up before they walked out and never having a go at them over so many seasons. These tactical flaws were always there, it's not as if Pep has just started playing a high line. Yes, Rodri, and Fernandinho before him, but they can't be on both sides of the pitch at the same time. Enough PL sides had fast wingers they could lob it over City to in the channels.
The arne slot penitentiary is a thing of beauty
The Gravenberch Glide is a thing of true beauty.
something that hard to achieve for any player is consistency that's a value salah have... let's be real there's alot of player that could dribble,alot of flare,fast pretty much a prodigy but keeping it for 7-8 year straight is hard
salah is not just consistent he also rarely injurd afcon probably take his time in liv more than injury
His availability has been amazing as well, but to be fair he did have a massive drop in form after Afcon. He *is* human.
@@paulie-g
He was pushed to the absolute limit after the quad season where Liverpool played every game possible then Afcon on top the following season.
He is the Egyptian King but also still human.
Sending the love Micah, got the exact same thing.
Regardless of how awesome Liverpool is talked about, Liverpool is still dragging it's administrative feet with contracts agreeable to the players in question!!!
Liverpool goes from extremely clever and intelligent team, to a more rock and roll (and bit dumb) one, everytime Macca it's not in the pitch.
Perpas the most under the radar top flight midfielder in current game for almost everyone out tehre, included pundits.
The 1st liverpool goal was a real and deserved goal. The other two were giveaways.
I like watching their game - is good football - less interested in how many goal but i like the manner they score.
Pep walked from the Barca job because of the mental toll and took a year off. It wouldn't surprise me if he walked from City in the summer for another sabbatical.
Top notch craic boys, keep it up.
We’ve been top at Christmas a few times in recent years and not quite seen it through. No Liverpool fans worth their salt are looking further than the next game. We’ve been given too many reality checks in the past to make the mistake of saying we’ve already won the thing.
Come on you Reds!
Merry Xmas Gaz, Al, and Big Meeks (get well soon) Plus all the behind the scenes crew.
Liverpool, Liverpool, Liverpool. Mo Salah should win Player of the Year or are the powers that be going to snub him again? He is miles better than anyone else. Such a complete player and lets hope FSG get their cheque book out.
How do you submit questions for consideration on the podcast?
It shocks me nobody talks about trent’s weak foot, it’s actually better than 95% of footballers when it comes to passing. He’s not completely 2 footed because his right is easily top 2 alongside KDB but his left class is probably in the top 10 for passers and that’s his weak foot😭
Perfect Storm at City, legs going in a number of players, awareness of likely points deductions, losing the fear factor, a manager who doesn’t trust inexperienced players. Players also need to learn to play to win when it’s not going to win you a trophy. All opposing players suddenly believing they can win. Margins are so small at this level and a lot of it’s psychological.
Merry Christmas 🎄
All the best lads...
When Gaz said "class is permanent I suspect them to turn it around.... Weather it's this season or the next"
Made me laugh 😂
Lifelong liverpool fan. Learned to never write Man City off until mathematically impossible - which has been the last game or the last whistle of the last game, a few times. Hopefully Slot is able to seal things up, as Liverpool threw it away a few seasons under Klopp.
Richards is just goofy 24/7
Merry Christmas from Singapore!
I’d vote Salah for the premier league player of the year, double winner of EPL and ECL and the Ballon d’or.
enjoying the show guys
Glad I didn’t have to hear Micah defend Rashford anymore this week
Thanks to Mr. Shearer for pointing out how many players that Pep has at his disposal at 115 FC.
It's December story time Manchester United is trying Chelsea is asking, Arsenal is coming, Tottenham is looking, Manchester City is saying we're going to walk around the other side but this time Liverpool has something to say never walk alone, I wonder who will challenge love Liverpool never walk alone, The rest is Football 1💕 Peace Up
Trents defensive work has been so good this season. If he keeps it up consistently, and keeps up his world class attacking play, he must (unless you just dislike him) be considered the best in the world at RB. In my opinion no other fullback has ever had Trents ability. Cafu, carlos, cole and many more could never do what Trent does. Tried not agreeing to this for years because he needed to do it way more consistently, but he now has done - he is the greatest full back to ever live, and there are still years left to enjoy his incredible talent. I cant think of an argument other than boring nostalgia propping the older fullbacks up higher
Man city's form has coincided with the charges being brought against them, is nobody thinking they might be doing it on purpose to coincide with getting a more lenient sentence against them? Maybe I'm just being sceptical
Gary, Alan - it's quite simple with Man City. The amount of games the players played last year in all comps and the year before has taken its toll, its happened with LFC, after every high there is a low. That on top of an aging squad, and awful recruitment, this is the result. Don't be surprised if they struggle for the next couple of years, he has a full squad overhaul to do and he has to get it right....
And he might be doing it in Division 1.
Liverpool when we had our horror season didn't make Soton and poundland pep Russell Martin look like Ancelotti's Real Madrid. There's no way that team should be underperforming the worst side that came up, period. Pep is playing 100mil CBs at fullback and making them look like a cross between Wout Faes and Emerson Royal
Merry Christmas Lads to you and your families,Micah, Denzil would be proud of that 😂 speedy recovery Big Meeks 👏
Can we please stop calling out Rashford not being in the squad as if he would have changed anything for us. He's been absolutely diabolical this season can't even do the basics. Let's call it how it is. He is DESERVEDLY out of the team. Kudos to Bournemouth they were brilliant although we had the chances to win the game.
Salah has 332 goals/assists in 7.5 seasons.
Henry had 324 goals/assists in 8 seasons for arsenal (ignoring his 2nd spell loan season to make this comparison more fair)
That really sums up how salah is in the conversation of new goat debate. Some henry fans here were commenting that salah can't be compared to henry because of "eye test". what on earth is this subjective eye test? Can we say neymar, hazard is better than henry?
If everything goes right....by the end of this season salah will have 2 pl titles (same as henry), 3 pfa player of the year (same as henry), 3 fwa footballer of the year (same as henry), 4 golden boot (same as henry)! So by the end of 8 seasons salah and henry will have the same no. of pl titles and awards! The only thing differentiating them is goals/assists and salah have them more. So logically speaking, salah will be the new goat after this season if salah ends up with the same no. of titles and awards. Salah is also better in big matches as he has the 2nd most g/a against big 6 teams and he won a ucl too (and could've won another if he wasn't injured by ramos) whereas henry's ucl stats are horrible by his standard.