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Libero

Libero

174 episodes

A podcast about football, the least important of the most important things, featuring John Brewin, Miguel Delaney, James Horncastle, Tariq Panja, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Rory Smith and Jonathan Wilson.

Episodes page 2 of 4

  1. 123 | Can Unai Emery Break Through The Europa League Glass Ceiling?

    · 50 min · Episode 123

    Join SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs, now: liberopodcast.com. — Unai Emery is once again in the Europa League final with a team featuring the letters V-I-L-L-A somewhere in their…

  2. 122 | The FA Cup Final Should Mean More Than This

    · 58 min · Episode 122

    ICMP has kindly released an extra few tickets for our live show on 22nd May, so we can squeeze a few more of you in. Plans are coming together and it should be a fun night there will also be copies of the various books…

  3. 121 | Is Michael Carrick Manchester United's Best Option?

    · 59 min · Episode 121

    We have a handful of tickets remaining for our live show on 22nd May, there will also be copies of the various books of the Liberi on sale and they may even sign them for you. Doors 7pm at The Venue on the ICMP Queens…

  4. 120 | Arsenal v PSG... A Meeting Of Europe's Best?

    · 56 min · Episode 120

    We are doing our first live show. It's on 22nd May, doors 7pm at The Venue on the ICMP Queens Park Campus in west London (home of the Long Play Sessions). There will also be copies of the various books of the Liberi on…

  5. 119 | The Cult Of The Manager

    · 1 h 00 min · Episode 119

    Join SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs, now: liberopodcast.com. — From Matt Busby to Liam Rosenior, even harking back from the Wilsonian era of the late 19th century, how has the…

  6. 118 | Saudi Arabia: Football's House Of Cards

    · 1 h 00 min · Episode 118

    Join SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs: liberopodcast.com. — Amid a shifting landscape of Saudi Arabian sports investments, where does football sit in the PIF's list of priorities?…

  7. 117 | Diego Simeone And Atletico Madrid, The Club Moulded In His Image

    · 1 h 00 min · Episode 117

    Join SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs: liberopodcast.com. — Ahead of Atletico Madrid's Champions League semi-final against Arsenal, we take a look at one of European football's…

  8. 116 | Liam Rosenior, Chelsea And A Crisis Of Their Own Making

    · 57 min · Episode 116

    Join SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs, now: liberopodcast.com. --- Liam Rosenior is no longer the Chelsea manager, to nobody’s surprise and to many people’s relief, perhaps…

  9. 115 | Was Manchester City's Win Against Arsenal Really A Title-Decider?

    · 59 min · Episode 115

    Join SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs, now: liberopodcast.com. — Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday was a rare thing: a Premier League game that lived up to its…

  10. Libero 114 | Arne Slot, Liverpool Manager: The Case For And Against

    · 57 min · Episode 114

    Join SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs, now: liberopodcast.com. — Liverpool’s exit from the Champions League means they will finish the season trophyless, and the only thing they…

  11. Libero 113 | Why Does No One Want Arsenal To Win It?

    · 1 h 01 min · Episode 113

    So it all comes down to this. Maybe. After Arsenal lost at home to Bournemouth and Manchester City swatted aside Chelsea, the Premier League has a genuine title decider: Mikel Arteta’s stumbling set-piece merchants…

  12. Libero 112 | Cracking The Code Of Premier League Survival

    · 59 min · Episode 112

    SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs, is now live! Join via liberopodcast.com. --- This time of year isn’t just about trophies and titles, it’s about trying to stay in the Premier…

  13. Libero 111 | Football Has A Ticket Price Problem

    · 1 h 02 min · Episode 111

    SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs, is now live! Sign up at liberopodcast.com. --- What’s happened with the tickets for this summer is an absolute scandal but soaring prices is a…

  14. Libero 110 | Will Infantino And Trump Break The World Cup?

    · 53 min · Episode 110

    SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs, is now live! Get on the bandwagon early, before broadsheet journalists start describing us as doing 'interesting things' at liberopodcast.com. ---…

  15. Libero 109 | Can England Win The World Cup?

    · 59 min · Episode 109

    We are still in the soft launch phase of SC Libero, but getting on the bandwagon early will give you the chance to lock-in a pay-what-you-want price for an annual subscription until we figure out exactly what perks we…

  16. Libero 108 | Do National Teams All Play The Same Way Now?

    · 1 h 01 min · Episode 108

    Join SC Libero! Our members’ only offering is now live, in a soft way. We're starting you off with ad-free episodes, but a host of other benefits are in what we call 'the pipeline'. Sign up now at liberopodcast.com and…

  17. Libero 107 | Chelsea, The Oligarch And One Of Football's Biggest Scandals

    · 1 h 01 min · Episode 107

    SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs, is now live! Get on the bandwagon early, before broadsheet journalists start describing us as doing 'interesting things' at liberopodcast.com. ---…

  18. Libero 106 | Are Arsenal's Lost Years Over? Why The Carabao Cup Final Matters

    · 1 h 02 min · Episode 106

    SC Libero, the most important of the least important membership clubs, is now live! Get on the bandwagon early, before broadsheet journalists start describing us as doing 'interesting things' at liberopodcast.com. ---…

  19. Libero 105 | The Paradox Of The Premier League's European Struggles

    · 58 min · Episode 105

    For all of the Premier League's clubs financial advantages over their European rivals, they are facing a wipeout in the Champions League. Is it fatigue? Is it tactics? Is it a massive waste of resources? Or are Miguel…

  20. Libero 104 | Where’s Your Famous Atmosphere? The Premier League’s Sanitised Matchday

    · 55 min · Episode 104

    Atmosphere is one of the Premier League’s biggest selling points to broadcasters, but ask anyone who regularly goes to games and they will tell you that atmospheres in English grounds are in stark decline. If we do…

  21. Libero 103 | What Era Was Peak Champions League?

    · 58 min · Episode 103

    Libero might like knocking the Champions League, but even we know there's nothing like European knock-out football for compelling drama. But with six English clubs in the last 16 and Manchester City playing Real…

  22. Libero 102 | Trying To Make Sense Of The Business Of Football

    · 49 min · Episode 102

    Every year football's rich and powerful gather at a West London hotel to do deals, shake hands and talk about the game in a way would be quite unfamiliar to anyone not in the posh seats at 3pm on a Saturday. Several…

  23. Libero 101 | Spurs In Peril... No Longer Too Big To Fail?

    · 57 min

    In recent years it has felt as if the Premier League was permanently stratified, with the poor teams unable to win and the rich teams unable to lose. But Tottenham Hotspur have the ninth biggest revenue in Europe and…

  24. Libero 100 | Anxious Arsenal And The Definition Of A Bottle Job

    · 1 h 01 min · Episode 100

    It is – it turns out – quite difficult to pin down an accurate definition of what 'bottling it' means and, therefore, which teams can be fairly described as having committed this failure of will in the past. Miguel…

  25. Libero 099 | Has Jose Mourinho Burned His Bridges At Real Madrid?

    · 1 h 01 min · Episode 99

    Jose Mourinho will take his Benfica team back to Real Madrid on Wednesday night, trying to get through to the last-16 of the Champions League. It is now almost 13 years since Mourinho left Real Madrid but his three…

  26. Libero 098 | Juventus, Benfica And The Plight of Europe's Forgotten Clubs

    · 1 h 03 min · Episode 98

    It’s Champions League punishment round week, which means clubs who were among the biggest and best in Europe 10 years ago are slogging it out to make it through to the last-16. The question on today’s show is what…

  27. Libero 097| The Death Of Individualism

    · 52 min · Episode 98

    In a world where Jack Grealish becomes 'The Rest Station' and Jürgen Klopp insists that no playmaker can be as effective as counter-pressing, it is fair to say that the game's creative geniuses are being marginalised…

  28. Libero 096 | Lads, It’s Tottenham: The Fall Of Thomas Frank

    · 57 min · Episode 96

    Another week, another manager departed from the big chair at a traditional English heavyweight. It turns out Dr Tottenham does not have a cure for the club's own malaise and so Thomas Frank must go. Are Spurs trapped…

  29. Libero 095 | Slot And Guardiola: End Game?

    · 1 h 00 min · Episode 95

    Resisting the temptation to get distracted by VAR, John Brewin, Jack Pitt-Brooke and Rory Smith discuss the more immediate consequences of Manchester City’s win at Anfield. It was a result that leaves Arne Slot with no…

  30. Libero 094 | Can VAR Be Fixed?

    · 1 h 01 min · Episode 94

    There has been no bigger change to football in the 21st century than VAR. On today’s Libero, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Jonathan Wilson and Tariq Panja want to do more than just complain about it, and the harm that it has done…

  31. Libero 093 | When The Premier League Is The Man I Need

    · 59 min · Episode 93

    In Libero’s lifetime, the panelists have regularly lamented the spectacle served up by the Premier League, but after a bumper weekend, Rory Smith, James Horncastle and John Brewin dwell on whether we’re actually a bit…

  32. Libero 092 | The Modern Premier League: Less Bump, More Grind?

    · 58 min · Episode 92

    "In the middle area of the pitch, those 24 metres, we feel the game has become stuck, particularly in the Premier League. Everybody has so much information now.” These were the words of Anthony Barry, Thomas Tuchel's…

  33. Libero 091 | Bad In The Premier League, Winning In Europe

    · 57 min · Episode 91

    Wednesday sees the climax of the Champions League's 144-game 'league phase', a TV bonanza featuring 18 fixtures, after which we will know who made the top eight, who faces the punishment round and who goes home. It's…

  34. Libero 090 | The Unbearable Weight Of Being Tottenham

    · 1 h 00 min · Episode 90

    Thomas Frank may have delayed his departure with that surprisingly comfortable win over Borussia Dortmund, but that is only the tip of Tottenham’s problems. What is the club’s strategy? What do they want to be? Do they…

  35. Libero 089 | How Afcon Descended Into Chaos

    · 51 min · Episode 89

    It was supposed to be the smoothest running Africa Cup of Nations in tournament history, all the edges levelled off. Then came Sunday’s final and unbelievable scenes in Rabat: dodgy penalties, an even dodgier Panenka,…

  36. Libero 088 | Real Madrid: Too Big To Manage

    · 52 min · Episode 88

    He might have been a playing legend but that ended up counting for nothing as Xabi Alonso became the latest Real Madrid manager to be crushed between the weight of galacticos and the biggest Madrileno of them all,…

  37. Libero 087 | Chelsea, BlueCo And The Case Against Multi-Club Ownership

    · 52 min · Episode 87

    Rory Smith enjoyed going viral for his rant against Chelsea's egregious exploitation of Ligue 1 'sister club' Strasbourg so much that he wanted to make a whole podcast about it. Luckily, James Horncastle was keen to…

  38. Libero 086 | Amorim, Maresca And The Battle For Power

    · 1 h 05 min · Episode 86

    That’s been quite a week, hasn’t it? On today’s Libero, Miguel Delaney, Rory Smith and James Horncastle explore how the sackings of Enzo Maresca and Ruben Amorim shed light on where power lies at Manchester United,…

  39. Libero 085 | The Downfall Of Ruben Amorim

    · 1 h 01 min · Episode 85

    Libero is not a coach. It is a manager. It has always wanted to be Ruben Amorim. Even on the day he was sacked by Manchester United. Rory Smith, James Horncastle and Tariq Panja unite to discuss the downfall of the…

  40. Libero 084 | The Things That Will Definitely Happen In Football This Year

    · 1 h 01 min · Episode 84

    It's the first Libero of 2026 and here to pick up the pieces of the festive period are Tariq Panja, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Rory Smith and Jonathan Wilson. In a World Cup year the panel make some bold, and some less bold,…

  41. Libero 083 | The Stories That Defined Football In 2025

    · 59 min · Episode 83

    As the year nears its end, Miguel Delaney, Tariq Panja, Jack Pitt-Brooke and Jonathan Wilson take the opportunity to look back at 2025 to pick out football's major narratives. P1: (10:04) P2: (33:30) Produced by:…

  42. Libero 082 | Rabona Bans, Transfer Speak And 'United'... Christmas Dinner Debates

    · 53 min · Episode 82

    John Brewin, Miguel Delaney, Rory Smith, Tariq Panja and Jonathan Wilson have all had a bit too much on Christmas Day and are ready to get into it with some of their pet hates in football. Pull up a chair, pour another…

  43. Libero 081 | The First Annual Libero Personality Of The Year Award

    · 58 min · Episode 81

    Black tie, ballgowns and montages... it's the Libero Personality of the Year award. Rory Smith is your host for this glittering event, where he is joined by the judging panel of John Brewin, Tariq Panja, Jack…

  44. Libero 080 | World Cup Tickets, Did It Need To Be Like This?

    · 1 h 00 min · Episode 80

    It's basic supply and demand, right? Fifa has stunned most of the world by making the 2026 World Cup the most expensive tournament ever for the match-going fan, with dynamic ticket prices that could see its flagship…

  45. Libero 079 | What's Stopping Newcastle Becoming 'The New Manchester City'?

    · 56 min · Episode 79

    Manchester City racked up another Premier League win this weekend, beating Crystal Palace 3-0 with another display of their new direct, powerful individualistic style. Their change of direction this season has shown us…

  46. Libero 078 | The Big Beautiful World Cup: Six Months To Go

    · 58 min · Episode 78

    With six months to go until the newly-expanded greatest show on Earth, today’s Libero considers what a World Cup designed by FIFA, Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump will look like. Jack Pitt-Brooke, Rory Smith and…

  47. Libero 077 | Mo Salah, Player Power And Undignified Exits

    · 56 min · Episode 77

    "I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season. Now I’m sitting on the bench and I don’t know why. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus." These were the words of Mo Salah…

  48. Libero 076 | The Long Barclays... Is Football Trapped In The 90s?

    · 1 h 00 min · Episode 76

    Rory Smith is joined by John Brewin and James Horncastle, who – like the anxious middle-aged men they are – are seeking refuge in the past. But a past that informs our present in a way that is actually quite odd,…

  49. Libero 075 | Are Chelsea Actually Good?

    · 59 min

    Chelsea held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw on Sunday even though they were reduced to 10 men in the first half. They looked like a proper Chelsea team, playing in a proper Chelsea atmosphere. And even though they missed the…

  50. Libero 074 | How You Watch Football Is About To Change All Over Again

    · 1 h 02 min

    Football is ultimately a TV show, however much we might want to see it differently. The story of the rise of football over the last 40 or so years inseparable from the changes in technology, not least satellite TV in…

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