# Real Madrid 2-0 Sevilla Postgame Reaction

An episode of [The Real Deal: A Real Madrid Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1807821669), 20 Dec 2025, 1 h 09 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/103607aa8/podcast/play/112924797/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-11-20%2F414758191-44100-2-f22e4d63b642c.mp3

Jarod and Sid react to Real Madrid's last game of the calendar year. We discuss the "blame scale" between Xabi Alonso, Kylian Mbappe and Florentino Perez for how Real Madrid's season has unfolded, and discuss expectations for the team going forward.

## Transcript

[0:02] That is the sound we hear for the Last Post match episode of
[0:07] the 2025 calendar year. Welcome to the Real Deal, a Real
[0:11] Madrid podcast with me, Jerrod Hector, joined by Sid.
[0:14] What's up my guy? I can't hear you either on mute.
[0:19] Something, something went crazy. You went away.
[0:23] Can you hear me? You can hear me.
[0:26] Yeah, it's weird. I I couldn't hear you at all.
[0:28] And I heard the intro music, so I don't know what's going on.
[0:31] But what I'll just say is Real Madrid A2 nil win over Sevilla.
[0:37] You know, this match was frustrating on a variety of
[0:41] levels. We'll get into that.
[0:43] We'll get into the players who did well, who didn't.
[0:47] Javi Alonzo, the organization, blame game, all that.
[0:51] But to recap, you know, this was a match that Real Madrid, you
[0:57] know, struggled in honestly, and it's kind of indicative of how
[1:01] they've been playing the last, I don't know, month and 1/2, right
[1:04] last 6 to 6 to 8 weeks. I think I hear you now, Sid.
[1:07] I heard some clicking. Nope.
[1:09] That that was your mic clicking, not you.
[1:14] No, I don't know what's going on.
[1:16] Anybody anybody out there here Sid Anyway, so the last 6 to 8
[1:22] weeks or so, this is how this team has been playing just
[1:26] struggling to beat teams that they should beat right Like
[1:31] Sevilla is a bottom of the table team right bottom 3rd.
[1:34] And we were having such difficulties dealing with them.
[1:38] And this was this is another game in which we see what
[1:46] happens when Shabby Alonso gives in to the players and allows
[1:51] them a little bit more control and allows them to do a little
[1:53] bit more of what they want to do.
[1:55] You see how we still struggle, especially defensively, right?
[2:00] Like one of the things that you can say about those first
[2:03] fourteen games of the season, athletic game notwithstanding,
[2:06] is that there was a clear idea about how we're going to play,
[2:10] what we're going to do out of possession and we're going to do
[2:12] in possession, right? And we basically limited our
[2:16] opponents ability to to have shots and generate chances.
[2:19] And we had most of the possession generated a tons of
[2:22] shots and a ton of XG. Now we were not clinical and did
[2:26] not finish well in those first fourteen games, but the
[2:29] underlying process was there and it was very obvious to see, you
[2:33] know, I and then obviously we had what happened and Vinny and
[2:40] this and that and then the the Givens of the players start and
[2:42] then you slowly start seeing things progressing right.
[2:45] And in today's match especially, you saw it and love, some of it
[2:50] is due to injury, right? You've got players who are not
[2:53] used to playing together, right? All, all of that testing.
[2:57] There you go. Here you come, Sid.
[2:59] Awesome, guys. So sorry about that.
[3:01] And Gerard, awesome work freestyling, you know, it's it.
[3:04] Gerard's amazing at this, guys. That was ridiculous.
[3:06] Well, listen, this is what I do, but I I want to get into Sid
[3:09] like, well, let's go with the lineup 1st and and and and who
[3:12] started. So look, we had limitations
[3:14] because red cards, injuries, all that right?
[3:16] So we had to play a way to play. However, I was like, look, do we
[3:20] have to see Frank Garcia at left back?
[3:22] I I think we know what that sits like.
[3:24] We know what that is like. We've seen that before.
[3:26] We we know what this movie is. Why not start Jimenez there?
[3:30] Yeah, so the line up is a great question and honestly Jimenez is
[3:35] a great question. I went back through the film
[3:38] because Valdopenas is the one people want to start at left
[3:41] wing back. I don't think Valdopenas, who is
[3:43] literally a center back playing left back, is going to make the
[3:46] same timed runs as Fran Garcia. If you want to wing back, who's
[3:50] running behind Sevilla, you want Fran Garcia.
[3:52] And one thing we obviously noticed was that as Jude was
[3:56] waving it around like we were trying to play to Fran with
[3:58] Vinnie tucking in or Fran under lapping with Vinnie going wide.
[4:01] But we saw Sevilla's left flank was a weak spot.
[4:04] And I just don't think Val the Panas could have played that
[4:07] role. But I agree that on the right
[4:10] side, we definitely could have had some more Jimenez.
[4:13] I don't know if like Alonzo looked at that goal, we conceded
[4:16] the first one, it technically comes from Jimenez's area at the
[4:19] near post against Oh You. Mean you mean last game last.
[4:22] Game, all right, going back there.
[4:23] So I'm just like, OK, like just as a head coach, have you might
[4:27] have seen things? That's just like maybe he's
[4:28] going to give a goal up. I don't know.
[4:30] But yes, Jimenez is a better attacking player, no question.
[4:33] But you know, we, we talked about that said it was like, is
[4:35] it ruder's fault? Was it was it about the penis's
[4:37] fault? Like I think a lot of that comes
[4:40] from the two of them having no synergy because they don't play
[4:42] together like that. That match was the first time
[4:45] they ever played. Practice doesn't count.
[4:47] Like meaningful minutes in a pressure situation.
[4:50] Those two, that match was the first time they did it.
[4:53] Yes, 100%. And I guess that kind of brings
[4:56] us into the big complaint people have had about Alonzo because
[4:58] we've we've done a lot of defending of Alonzo and
[5:01] criticizing the club, but he definitely has not played the
[5:04] Cassia guys as much as needed. Now we defend him because when
[5:09] we were winning, he wasn't playing them and we were fine.
[5:12] But I will say this, if we're going to agree that we can't go
[5:15] back to the team that was winning those games, especially
[5:17] with Arte Guler, who we'll get to today, like just not able to
[5:20] control these games. If we're not going back, then
[5:24] some of these auxiliary defensive positions you might as
[5:26] well fill with Castilla players. Like that era of the club is
[5:29] over is the idea. And I agree with Giga here
[5:32] because Giga, like a lot of people who are commenting
[5:34] against Jabi, they're not like they're they're just calling him
[5:37] names. I don't know how to say it.
[5:38] They're not like like they're mad and they're using
[5:41] invectives. And I'm like, OK, but like, I
[5:43] don't really see how you would do a better job if you were
[5:45] there. But this I love it from Giga.
[5:47] He says, in my opinion, the mistake both Carlo and Jabi made
[5:50] is try try to appease everyone politically.
[5:52] When Zidane was under similar pressure, he still played
[5:54] whoever he thought would get him results and then got up and left
[5:57] after the season while criticizing Perez in his
[5:59] farewell letter. Chabi definitely has a little
[6:02] bit of the air of someone who wants to have a perfect coaching
[6:04] career, who's already reached the mountaintop and wants to
[6:08] perfect it at Real Madrid. He wants to be our Ferguson,
[6:10] Whatever. I agree with that.
[6:12] Like Zadan was playing Hugo Ruro and Blanco over Odegard and
[6:15] Jovic and those guys, I'm sure Perez wanted their market value
[6:18] to go up. What are your thoughts on this?
[6:20] Obviously he's low on the blame scale as we've talked about, but
[6:23] just to jump into it. I mean, look, I think this being
[6:26] his second major job, right, Leverkusen and now this, right?
[6:29] I'm not going to count. So see that because that was in
[6:31] a second tier division, right? But to have Real Madrid be your
[6:35] second job, that's a big deal, especially given all the
[6:40] politicking and imaginations that go on inside this club.
[6:43] Sid did an excellent job on Friday or earlier this week
[6:48] talking about the disaster that is the internal part of this
[6:51] club. Just on the medical side alone.
[6:53] Forget about everywhere else, just the medical team alone, the
[6:56] shit housery going on inside this club.
[6:58] So to to have this be your next major job, your your, your
[7:03] second job is a lot. And to your point, Sid, you
[7:06] know, it's not that I don't think Chabi's competitive or has
[7:09] SPY or anything like that. I think to your point, you are
[7:11] very astute in pointing that out.
[7:12] I do think he is trying to be too much of A statesman and too
[7:16] much of A, OK, I have to play this politically, right?
[7:18] Because ultimately I think he loves coaching and wants to
[7:22] coach and win. And if that is what you want to
[7:25] do, man, fuck all that politicking and backstabbing,
[7:28] right? Like now I get it.
[7:29] You got to do a little bit of that because that's how this
[7:31] club goes. But ultimately you got you have
[7:35] to find a way. And I think he will learn that
[7:36] over time because he's young as a coach.
[7:38] What is the the right balance between me saying, all right,
[7:42] fuck what you guys got going on, and also me doing the all right,
[7:45] let me be politically correct and doing what I have to do
[7:48] behind the scenes, right? It's a balance.
[7:50] And I think he's finding what that balance is.
[7:52] There is a balance and there's an argument he might have
[7:54] already missed a train to find it by some people just because
[7:57] the energy of the team has been so dead.
[8:00] But and besides this, just touching on this, well, we'll
[8:03] probably come back to it, but I think the Endrix situation is
[8:06] the biggest mistake he's made. Set this on.
[8:08] Yeah, that's the big mistake. And then if you go secondary, he
[8:12] is a little, a lot like Carlo. And we were very critical of
[8:15] Carlo last year and we haven't been as critical of Alonzo this
[8:18] year, no question in terms of just purely matching the results
[8:20] in squad. But it's just a belief that, you
[8:23] know, Alonzo's kind of come with the opposite approach.
[8:25] So if he's not able to do that at this environment, then we
[8:29] definitely need someone who can. But with that being said, it
[8:31] doesn't sound like Florentino brings these guys in thinking,
[8:34] hey, you're gonna shake up the environment.
[8:36] It sounds it's like he has an idea in his head.
[8:38] And as we saw in the report from last time, you know, people tell
[8:41] him one thing, he hears something from different people
[8:43] at the club and it's not clear who's making the choices of
[8:46] what's working. So when results aren't there,
[8:49] there's no the method to underlie evaluate the process,
[8:53] not. Existent, right?
[8:54] Unless you're investing in players because we have to make
[8:56] sure we get that right. So the the player investment
[8:58] process is perfect, but the internal evaluation process
[9:01] outside that seems to be non existent.
[9:03] We can measure a player, that's it.
[9:05] Measure a player we're going to sign.
[9:06] I, I, I will say, I'll push back a little bit and say it's not
[9:09] perfect only in that, yes, we can identify all the elite
[9:12] talent, but it's not perfect because no matter what their fit
[9:15] is internally, we bring them in regardless, right?
[9:17] That part is not perfect. It's like.
[9:20] Yes, it's like I get it commercial.
[9:22] I you want to do all that cool, but then you realize that you
[9:25] have a big problem where this team does not does not fit.
[9:28] Let's get back a little bit on the pitch, Sid.
[9:33] I thought in that first half, so when Judith so they put the four
[9:39] attacking type players on right in and Bobby Vinnie Rodrigo and
[9:44] Jude Bellingham and of course Ardor Gulair right as sort of
[9:46] that fifth player. But Jude played deep to help in
[9:48] our build up right because we realized that.
[9:52] And look, Sid, I think, you know, I feel this way.
[9:54] I think most fans will feel this way.
[9:56] I think Ardor's a very talented kid, but I think we have enough
[10:00] sample size Sid to see. We talked about it on the the
[10:02] last show. He is not one for this midfield
[10:06] when it comes to not just physicality, but just making
[10:11] decisions and ability to pass and read the game proper.
[10:14] Like he just can't do it well, like he needs a ton of space in
[10:17] front of him to be able to make all his proper reasons.
[10:20] And guess what? Like the book is out.
[10:22] As you said, they're like, OK, just take away his space and
[10:24] he'll fucking fuck up and turn the ball over.
[10:26] And that it happens every time, Sid, like every time.
[10:30] And so to me, I think it's best if he no longer starts and if
[10:36] you're going to go for the midfield, Kema Binga takes that
[10:38] slot. Now that he's seemingly and he's
[10:40] back, you have Kema, Binga and Jude the midfield as opposed to
[10:42] Arta and Jude the midfield. Yeah, yeah.
[10:46] Well, I think the in general Arda did not do much to take
[10:49] advantage of the space for sure. And it's it's a three or five at
[10:52] the back that's creating space. Just to be clear, it's the same
[10:54] thing we use against Celta. So Chuomeni dropping in between
[10:57] the center backs, you're seeing the wing backs advance and in
[11:00] that back three, there's enough like pressure on the front line
[11:04] of the other team that someone gets open in midfield.
[11:06] And against Celta, that was a Jude a lot.
[11:08] Jude was basically trying to do the same today, but honestly
[11:12] that's a like. Having him do all that and crash
[11:14] the boxes are ridiculous. Like, well, he had so much work
[11:17] to do today. He did.
[11:18] He basically had to do the entire midfield by himself
[11:20] because nobody else is doing that.
[11:22] And to your point, crashed the box, right, which he did on that
[11:24] beautiful header and gold, which I'm sure we'll get to.
[11:27] Yes. And so I, I love all the Conte's
[11:31] framing, putting it up on the screen.
[11:32] But like basically today we got the lack of ball dominance of
[11:37] like our midfielders combined with the selfish tendencies of
[11:42] our attackers. Well.
[11:43] Let's get into that, man. Well, so, so the combo ruined us
[11:46] because we're basically like, it's not even OK team that's not
[11:50] like dominating us necessarily, but large sequences of the game
[11:54] are basically us chasing shadows because our attackers don't
[11:57] start the press that effectively Ashraf was pointing out earlier
[12:01] in the season. Maybe at some games we would
[12:03] start the press better, especially Marseille.
[12:05] But even like our better defensive games, like the front
[12:08] line is really not enthusiastic. And I think teams are even
[12:10] seeing that they're like those guys like they might they might
[12:13] show body language to start like make them run in a few circles.
[12:15] Let's see what they do. Yeah.
[12:17] And they they don't they don't initiate with the same
[12:20] enthusiasm. And then honestly, Mbappe was
[12:23] going for the record today, Vinnie first touch he got like
[12:27] the first counter we had, Mbappe is like asking for the ball.
[12:29] Vinnie gets it and just refuses to let go.
[12:32] And I'm just like, this is everything.
[12:33] And I thought this would change under Alonzo.
[12:34] Right back to square one. Right back to square 1.
[12:36] It is. We talked about this couple
[12:38] weeks ago. Ambition's good, but when it
[12:41] bleeds into agenda, it's problematic for the team and
[12:44] that's where we're at now. Like you saw it in this match,
[12:47] Sid and Boppe cared about the record and nothing else.
[12:50] That's what he was going for. OK, cool.
[12:53] But you know, if you're not going to not, as Sid said, have
[12:58] the proper intensity with your press, continue to take shit
[13:02] angles, right? Like how easy was it for severe
[13:05] to bypass those two in the front And and just there's only two
[13:08] passes, All right, ball wide open.
[13:10] Here they go. Like, and, and Ostroff said
[13:12] this, we have two passengers when we're out of possession.
[13:16] Like you can't have two guys up front who don't want to do that.
[13:19] Like, because that means we're playing eight right Everywhere
[13:23] else. Like we're we're outnumbered
[13:25] because those two don't want to do what they have to do.
[13:28] And it puts it taxes everybody else.
[13:31] Not everyone has to make a ground because of that.
[13:34] Now, it's all well and good when they're scoring and doing all
[13:36] that, but they're not even taking advantage of the chances
[13:38] and blowing it because and Bop is like, I want to beat this
[13:41] Cristiano record with bro. Like who?
[13:43] Like, that's such a meaningless record.
[13:45] Who gives a shit? And Vinny's probably like, I
[13:47] haven't scored a goal in like a millennia.
[13:48] Fuck, I got to score, you know, And it's just like it it, you
[13:53] know, I wasn't one of these people who was like, I don't
[13:57] know, Vinny and Boppe, this thing doesn't work.
[14:00] I mean, how much more evidence do we need to see said that,
[14:04] especially if they are going to play with their own agendas
[14:07] versus for the collective? I was just tweeting at one dude
[14:11] on Twitter, Abdul, and I was saying, you know, they're
[14:13] they're looking back. Yes, there are a lot of worlds
[14:15] where it doesn't work. But it's just sad because like
[14:19] we, we talk about outcomes where if you do something 100 times a
[14:21] lot like, well, this is this is one of the worst outcomes of
[14:24] these two. Together, one of the worst,
[14:25] without question. In spite of the fit bullshit and
[14:27] all that, we had the best locker room in our history.
[14:30] That's what he walked into, but we little did we know how much
[14:33] was changing. Which is Cruise leaving And
[14:35] who's that? Madrish?
[14:38] Yeah. And what strikes me is like, how
[14:40] much France and Qatar delaying his decision screwed Killian's
[14:43] career. Like he just screwed 'cause that
[14:45] time he had just had four years at PSG.
[14:47] It's like his habits haven't been ruined yet.
[14:49] He's not gonna play with Mbappe, with Messi and Neymar and build
[14:52] an even bigger ego. He's gonna come play with
[14:55] Benzema, who's literally a better player than almost anyone
[14:57] he's seen with his eyes at that point, who also is maybe the
[15:01] best compliment to him if he wants to be a striker who can
[15:03] also teach him to play that role because what what?
[15:06] Let's be honest, Killian's ideal role would be the sixty goal
[15:09] Benzema with the play making of Benzema too if he could like do
[15:13] the Benz stuff. Because he can't he can't do
[15:15] that stuff. He just he cannot he he is so
[15:18] bad with his back to goal Sid like I'm just like, oh, like
[15:21] that his touch when he's not good at that.
[15:23] That's not what he's good at. Like and I'm not doesn't mean
[15:26] he's a bad player. It's like, yo, OK, you could put
[15:30] him on the left then right, 'cause he's better than Vinny at
[15:32] that. Let him go out and be there,
[15:34] right? And then Vinny comes off right.
[15:35] But he is just, he can't do the bensim of things.
[15:38] That's just not in his repertoire.
[15:40] Yeah, and it's not. And I think a lot of people are
[15:43] now going contrarian and I agree with the idea that Mappe is not
[15:46] the highest on the blame scale. I think we want to.
[15:48] I think we agree here, but he's not blameless because he's being
[15:51] compared to the Goats of the past here and he is not as good
[15:55] a player as Cristiano. He's not playing a role like
[15:58] Benzema and he's not a role-playing superstar like 2022
[16:01] Benzema who can be the role player stuff and the star stuff.
[16:04] We haven't seen that from him. And in general, like I love what
[16:08] Lecante points out, it's he's very ball focused.
[16:11] Like that's what I hate about him.
[16:12] Like Ronaldo and Benzeman were not ball focused.
[16:14] Like Benzeman was ball focused to stitch the move, not to like
[16:17] come near the ball and like feel involved.
[16:19] Like he wasn't about that look. Look how deep in Baba is
[16:21] dropping and just I'm like, bro, like what are you doing down
[16:24] here? Like it just it's it's baffling.
[16:29] It's it's so baffling. Then I look, we'll get to the
[16:33] blame scale and all that stuff later.
[16:35] But again, this goes into this club is almost all the way there
[16:39] in terms of identifying talent and who's very good and who to
[16:43] bring on. But knowing whom to move out in
[16:47] to, to service that and get the pieces to fit.
[16:50] They are horrible at that. And I want to point this out to
[16:52] it. Not only was it Cruz and Madrich
[16:55] Nacho Kozelu carve all injured so he's not in the locker room.
[17:00] Now why do I say these guys? It's not because they're the
[17:02] best in the world. Although Cruz and Mantras at
[17:04] their time was and carve all his peak was, there is a certain
[17:09] belief that those guys have and a feeling of about the badge and
[17:14] the club, right? That they just they care about
[17:17] that more than anything else. The whole idea about ambition
[17:19] versus agenda. They have ambition, but their
[17:22] ambition is for the team and the club to succeed, right?
[17:25] That those guys care so deep. Nacho, Nacho will play whatever
[17:29] fucking position you tell them to play, right, Because that's
[17:31] just who he was. How many guys right now in this
[17:34] club, in this squad will do that?
[17:36] Yeah, yeah, no, it's the whole situation.
[17:40] It's just, it's just shocking though, to go from 2024 to this
[17:43] so fast. Like, like we were.
[17:45] It's 18 months ago. I was in Mumbai with the Penas
[17:48] just watching that game. Like I had that sinking feeling
[17:51] watching crews walk off. But hey, it was still overall
[17:53] happy. And now there's no happiness
[17:55] insight anytime soon. And that contrast is just
[17:59] incredible. And it just speaks to how much
[18:02] age. It just speaks to how much power
[18:04] dynamics matters and everything. Like, honestly, because it's not
[18:06] age or veterans or any of that, It's power dynamics.
[18:09] Cruz, Modrich and Benzema are older and know the club better
[18:12] and know how to convey messages to younger players.
[18:15] These guys at the same age look at each other and there's no
[18:18] method of like enforcing that. Like if who's Vinny going to go
[18:22] talk to at the club to like at this point, it feels like their
[18:24] own camps are fighting at the club.
[18:25] There's no there's no older player who makes more money than
[18:29] all the agents and everyone combined who can just be like,
[18:31] shut up or you're playing against the team.
[18:33] Like there's nobody who can who's going out there and
[18:36] telling Vinny he's playing against the team right now.
[18:38] He is doing what Ben said in that clip like so many times.
[18:41] And it's a shame. But I think that speaks to one
[18:45] thing we have to do, like people say, sign Alex Garcia.
[18:48] Let me confirm his age here. I think age and experience is
[18:51] huge. And I know know The funny thing
[18:54] is like almost nobody has in Europe is gonna come into this
[18:58] locker room and be like, I've won, listen to me.
[19:00] That's the hard part. There, there is no, there is no
[19:02] Cruz or Madrich like that have 5 or 6 champions like there's no
[19:05] one. You know, it's funny to do that.
[19:07] You know, it's funny, though. I'm not saying we'd get it, but
[19:08] like if we were to ever get Rodri on a free transfer, he
[19:11] could probably tell him to do that.
[19:12] Like he's won the EUR he's won. I know he didn't deserve the
[19:15] Bondor in our eyes, but he won the Bondor.
[19:17] He's won a treble and he he had one of the best high volume
[19:20] passing seasons plus twenty goals.
[19:22] Like we haven't seen that and I think.
[19:25] Yes, peak peak version of him, but I think he's cooked now.
[19:27] I think he's cooked. I think he's cooked.
[19:29] If he wasn't cooked, I think honestly, I think he would come
[19:32] to us. Like I honestly think he's that
[19:34] competitive where he's like, holy shit, I could replace Cruz
[19:37] at that goddamn team. Like I'll do it, but but we need
[19:40] bets. Like a lot of people are saying
[19:42] this. We can't really bring on afford
[19:44] to bring on someone that young anymore.
[19:46] And everyone team, every team goes through this.
[19:48] The best example is Chelsea. They're stupid.
[19:50] They buy signed a bunch of young players, they grow a couple of
[19:53] years and then they swap the guys who grew for the the guys
[19:55] who were like 2 years back on the developmental curve.
[19:58] That's why I went Chelsea beat Barcelona.
[19:59] I was just like, there's no way. Like they're actually good.
[20:02] I'm like, this goes against everything I learned about this
[20:04] summer and look what happened. They haven't won since.
[20:06] Like they they've been crap since Sid.
[20:09] What are your thoughts? I want to talk about
[20:11] Bellingham's games again. I thought he was outstanding
[20:14] today. Between him and Courtois.
[20:15] Those are my Co man of the match.
[20:17] I don't know who actually won it, but that's who I'm giving it
[20:19] to. To me, Sid, he has the right
[20:22] personality type to be the leader of this squad.
[20:28] The problem is is how this club works from a hierarchy
[20:31] standpoint, right? You have to be here a certain
[20:34] amount of years in age before you get put on the captaincy,
[20:38] you know, line up line, right, Which is why I mean, Carville
[20:41] Hall is the captain now, but he's out.
[20:43] So then it goes fete, right? Like, and I'm like, and I love
[20:48] fete, but if you're asking me who's the leader between Jude
[20:51] and Fede, it's Bellingham with a bullet every single time.
[20:54] It's not even close, right? And so how do you, is there a
[20:58] way in which you can overcome club policy and club dynamics
[21:02] and just be like, this is the guy to me?
[21:05] Well, that's where I don't know because it all goes back to Jude
[21:08] not even getting mentioned for the Balandor, which was very
[21:11] strange. So stupid, so dumb.
[21:13] Yeah, that was just we talked about that being a strange
[21:16] moment and a sign that like somebody or something is not
[21:19] entirely straight at the club, like it's just a smart club
[21:22] campaigns for both of them. I don't know what else to say.
[21:24] Like equally like you just increase your odds.
[21:27] I think I really don't think that was lost entirely because
[21:30] like, there's a first, second and third place vote on that
[21:31] thing. So you campaign hard.
[21:33] You get your first and second on Jude and Vinnie.
[21:35] That's what you want to do. They're both first and second.
[21:37] You don't care who. Instead, Rodri snuck in in
[21:40] between all that because there was no clear campaign.
[21:41] I do partly blame that because I don't think the messaging was
[21:45] clear from the club. Like with Modrich, I feel like
[21:47] it was clear. We sold Cristiano.
[21:48] We wanted Modrich to win. Like, Yeah, like, but agree that
[21:55] Jude needs to be the leader. I think Jude just had too much
[21:58] to do. Like Lacante said, just pulling
[22:00] up his little image here. Jude was basically dropping
[22:05] telling players where or when to move and chasing on defense for
[22:08] Vinny, Anne and Boppe way too much.
[22:10] And like, it's just way too much.
[22:12] And we, yeah. And the other thing is like, if
[22:15] he's doing too much of the dropping, no one's doing the
[22:17] central receiving. Cause Killian's weird with that
[22:20] stuff. As we've established, he's not
[22:21] great unless he's doing the give and go.
[22:23] But then we have guys on our team of attitude who don't like
[22:25] doing give and go sometimes like Vinny.
[22:27] And then it's, it's a lot of it's way too much.
[22:31] So I agree, we need someone else.
[22:33] We do need a veteran. We need someone like Alex
[22:35] Garcia. And I know, Gerard, we were
[22:37] gonna talk about the game, but just skimming over it, let's be
[22:39] honest, the story of the game was that a game in previous
[22:43] years where you would have time on the ball and be like, OK,
[22:45] we're doing something. Those periods are gone.
[22:48] We score in random situations, set peace for Rodrigo to Jude,
[22:51] and then we get a penalty in the second-half.
[22:54] A lot of the times we have chances.
[22:56] These guys were not passing to each other.
[22:58] It was the worst attacking efficiency display.
[23:00] And I get it, last game of the year and Batpe wants his record.
[23:04] But no, it was bad. No like that, no fuck your
[23:07] record man. Like who cares about that shit?
[23:10] The goal is, again, I use it and and be analogous all the time
[23:16] and some of you get mad and you got to get over that shit in and
[23:20] in every industry. People borrow from other
[23:23] industries and take from the best of the best and understand
[23:26] that that's what you do when you're at the elite of any
[23:28] profession. Like you borrow from other
[23:31] coaches. You you look out the
[23:32] professional Sports, College sports, whatever, you'll have
[23:36] the winningest like volleyball coach, go talk to the head
[23:39] football coach about whatever. Like, because it's about it's at
[23:42] the end of the day, it's a people business, OK, It's about
[23:45] how to get optimum performance out of people.
[23:48] End of story. No matter what the sport is,
[23:50] that is your goal. And So what can I steal from you
[23:52] that you have that you've worked out so well that I can use?
[23:55] And his idea about him bop his record, fuck his record when
[24:00] Kawhi was with the Spurs and they were asking pop, when did
[24:04] the light switch on for Kawhi and he become like the destroyer
[24:06] that we know on both, on both ends of the floor.
[24:09] When I would draw plays in the huddle and Kawhi finally
[24:12] realized, oh, it's not about me scoring, It's about us scoring,
[24:17] right? Like, yes, light bulb Ding, it's
[24:20] about we, not me. Sometimes it means me.
[24:25] But ultimately, what is the best thing for us, right?
[24:28] Like, and if you're coming into a game with agenda, I have to
[24:31] beat Cristiano Ronaldo, I'm sorry.
[24:33] Said that doesn't say that's not you.
[24:34] That says nothing about us. That's about you.
[24:36] Well, and that's where the interesting comparisons between
[24:39] them come in. It's like, I agree that I, I, I
[24:42] with Mbappe, I don't want to throw the baby out with the
[24:44] bathwater. But it's, there are things we
[24:45] want to throw out, no doubt. Like there are things we don't
[24:47] need to keep that we can optimize around.
[24:50] Cristiano, when he was hunting records, was already a Bollam
[24:54] Door winner. He had already won.
[24:56] He was already already one of the greatest players in the
[24:59] history of the Premier League, maybe the greatest three season
[25:02] run, just winning 3 three in a row.
[25:04] And then he dethroned Maurinius Chelsea and then he reached
[25:08] back-to-back finals Champions League, LED them to another one,
[25:11] lost and then also LED us to 100 point league title the year
[25:16] before. So the resume does not stack up.
[25:19] And even if you love Mbappe, I love look, Mbappe is not the
[25:22] highest on the blame scale. But no matter what these things
[25:25] coming into a winning environment when you're like
[25:28] when you haven't won on the same scale.
[25:30] And then on top of that, when you don't offer box presents and
[25:33] like gravity off the ball when you are two ball centric like
[25:37] understand we don't give and go with him, but he should
[25:39] sometimes just get out of the way if we're not gonna give and
[25:41] go with him. Just go stand up front.
[25:43] Like what are you doing down there?
[25:44] Why are you not making the And like that's 'cause you know,
[25:47] it's his tendency and Cristiano would actually have the same
[25:50] body language when someone else wouldn't pass to him as Amapi
[25:53] did today, as Amapi. Amapi got mad when they didn't
[25:55] pass. I'm not even upset at that.
[25:57] It's more about the box presence, the ball centric
[26:00] nature. Cristiano really did not do
[26:02] that. Like especially the last four
[26:05] years, it was just ball movement with him.
[26:07] It was like he would get off the ball as fast as he needed.
[26:09] That was the goal. He knew it wasn't his job to be
[26:11] on the ball. Gillian doesn't fully understand
[26:13] that. And that's definitely an issue.
[26:15] Not the highest on the blame scale, but it's an.
[26:18] Issue. It's one of several and I guess
[26:21] the highest on the blame scale, though, from a squad perspective
[26:23] is definitely the the turning out of pressure like we saw with
[26:26] Guler in the you know, we saw and we we talk about selfish
[26:30] attacking play, but what about limited attacking play where
[26:33] like Gore had that past Equilian.
[26:34] Everyone complaints and says like, why aren't you playing to
[26:36] Rodrigo? Mazdid made a good point who
[26:39] we're trying to bring you on as an advisor and he watches the
[26:41] game tackle. He was saying Gore can't make
[26:43] that read because he just doesn't have the angle.
[26:45] He's one of the least. See, I'm watching that, that
[26:49] that pass to him, but it's it's like it's almost like he had a
[26:52] blocker on the left, like about able to move his eyes to see the
[26:56] scan the rest of the pitch. He's just locked in on Boppe the
[26:59] whole time. And I'm like, bro, forget about
[27:02] your head. Just shift your eyes slightly
[27:04] and you're like, oh, shit, I got Rodrigo.
[27:05] I got like it's here like and again, that ability to read the
[27:11] game and look, he's 20. He's not a finished product yet.
[27:14] But this is something I said at the beginning of the season,
[27:15] said if you remember, if Real Madrid goal is to win every
[27:20] championship and every, you know, every trophy available,
[27:23] that means as a organization, as a club, we don't have space and
[27:28] time on the pitch for player development, right?
[27:31] That's what that means right now, if you're saying that,
[27:35] well, you know, we don't necessarily have to do all that
[27:37] we can. OK, well, then let the growing
[27:39] pains happen, like and and let it and let it play out.
[27:42] But I don't think that's what people want.
[27:43] I they want, and I think the club wants to win right.
[27:46] We have enough sample size to see and look.
[27:49] This is the thing when you sign a bunch of young players, which
[27:51] again, I applaud them for right. I love it.
[27:53] House in Carreras. I mean Arda was already here,
[27:56] Arda Andrick, all these super young talents, Sid.
[28:00] I think all of them have a chance to be by functioning 2 if
[28:03] not elite players on Champions League winning squads.
[28:07] But you don't have elite IQ the minute you step on the pitch.
[28:11] If you do when you're 19, you're the fucking greatest player of
[28:13] all time, right? And this is most people.
[28:15] You have to go through shit to get points of reference.
[28:19] That's how you get better like and it's normal.
[28:22] And the way you get better is by fucking up, making mistakes.
[28:25] And that that's the only way. And I'm saying all that to say,
[28:29] Arta was it was an issue. Dean Howson was also an issue.
[28:33] A lot of sloppy mistakes. Here's the thing about Dean, he
[28:36] is an excellent ball playing center back, but he did not play
[28:40] it well on the ball today. Now I'll talk about some of that
[28:43] to rustiness coming back of injury, all that.
[28:45] Here's one thing again about IQ and awareness as a player.
[28:48] Dean has to know, Sid, I am not the fastest center back in the
[28:52] world, right? Not by far.
[28:53] Like that's just something you have to know and realize, OK,
[28:57] cool, I'm not the fastest. So if that is in fact the case,
[29:00] I have to have enough awareness about me that the minute the
[29:04] ball is not at my feet, I have to be on hyper vigilant alert,
[29:09] right? To be like, let me take a step
[29:11] back to get myself ready so that when those runs come, I am not
[29:16] in a dead even foot race. Because I know in a dead even
[29:18] foot race with most people, I am losing that that battle, right?
[29:22] Well, that's the. That's the.
[29:24] Big thing. And you have to just come on,
[29:26] like, what are we doing? Well, we compared Dean to Sergio
[29:29] and he's better on the ball, but he's definitely not as fast.
[29:31] Guys, I'm sorry, not. It's not even close.
[29:34] No, Sergio is one of the fastest center backs ever.
[29:36] It's not close. Well, I I think that Dean thing
[29:40] kind of exposes the Dean thing, the Mbappe thing, the Arta
[29:42] thing, it all and Vinnie like the defending it all ties into
[29:46] this just isn't a team that can afford to defend without the
[29:49] ball that much that is being forced to defend.
[29:53] We're being forced to defend with them.
[29:54] And you see it in the stats 2.9 X to 1.6, but only 53%
[29:58] possession against Sevia. So terrible.
[30:00] We're barely keeping the ball more field tilt 52.3 to 47.
[30:03] So the ball. How many minutes of an extra man
[30:06] said? A lot, a lot, a lot of minutes
[30:08] exactly. And it it's a lot of minutes
[30:11] with just an extra man and I don't know why the mark our stat
[30:15] thing. I think it's a mistake.
[30:16] It has 2 red cards on it if you see, but there was only one.
[30:19] That's what I thought. OK, yeah, it's and and the worst
[30:22] part was how we played against ten men.
[30:24] The the reality is like we don't have enough to defend.
[30:28] Like we need the 2030 pass sequences to defend your odd.
[30:31] That's the problem right now because that's what people miss
[30:33] those years. Like, OK, the coaching wasn't
[30:36] sophisticated. We didn't figure it out.
[30:37] We'd have bad periods, fine, but like crews would play 10 passes
[30:40] where the team's just chasing and that would take time and
[30:42] energy away from them. It would drain clock.
[30:44] Like passing side to side to drain clock is the feature of
[30:48] the best teams in history. Gerard.
[30:50] I just do not think there are that many teams that could
[30:52] survive that long in a historical all time great
[30:54] knockout tournament if they just can't control their destiny with
[30:57] the ball. I understand the culture of not
[30:59] defending at this club. I can accept it having followed
[31:02] it for so long, but then the lack of quality in passing has
[31:06] to be the spotlight. And that's what I feel like.
[31:08] There's been a lot of deflection from the board.
[31:11] Like there it's pretty clear. We just need more passing.
[31:13] Like it's so obvious and that's what I've been saying for a
[31:16] month since we did this mini restart while rebranding.
[31:18] The season's over. We said it a few weeks ago like
[31:21] this is what I saw coming. Gerard.
[31:23] I just I was a team that's addicted to surviving and
[31:26] defending with the ball, suddenly gonna learn to play
[31:29] defense and not be able to do anything with the ball.
[31:31] It's not happening. You're so right.
[31:33] I mean, that's one of the things, one of the things that
[31:36] people was criticized Cruz about so that he's a sideways passing
[31:39] merchant and I'd always push back on that.
[31:40] And I'm like, and he was in certain instances because to
[31:44] your point said, that helped drain the clock that made them
[31:46] tired getting peep. And also it then forces your the
[31:49] opponent out of their shape and out of their positions, right.
[31:52] And now we can turn do what we have to do, right?
[31:54] Like that's the way that you defend, right?
[31:56] And he was so good at that. And that's the thing that you
[32:00] learn. Again, Cruz wasn't like that the
[32:02] minute he fucking stepped on a pitch of the pro.
[32:04] You get better with that over time.
[32:06] We have nobody on the pitch who can do that right now, right?
[32:11] Look, we talked about press resistancy and how that's such a
[32:13] problem for us. My God, like is Jude the only
[32:17] press resistant person on this fucking team?
[32:19] Camera bingo of. Course.
[32:21] It's funny though cuz camera bingo comes on with 10 men and
[32:24] he starts by like literally being a breath of fresh air but
[32:28] we really soon just revert to like the same old back and forth
[32:31] stuff and it goes away fast. He has like 2-3 great sequences.
[32:34] You're like, like we create a chance.
[32:37] He wins a second ball and then he has a moment where he's going
[32:40] side to side manipulating the block and to him and he looks so
[32:42] much more comfortable because someone who can kind of drive
[32:44] the balls there next to him now and then it just disappears so
[32:48] quick. But someone said, well, but he's
[32:50] key. But that's why Alex Garcia I
[32:52] think is a great shot from the Conte and everyone in the
[32:55] comments saying but we need 2 Alex Garcias or three is my
[32:59] point. We don't need just. 1.
[33:01] Right, like we need a few points of failure.
[33:03] And that's why that Bilbao game was so sad.
[33:06] It's like all the players in coach talked and it worked.
[33:08] No trends out. Like all of you who think you're
[33:11] said you're gonna do whatever. Like let's find out what you're
[33:13] actually willing to do, what actually works.
[33:15] Yeah. And it's all math at the end of
[33:17] the day. I don't wanna the the defensive
[33:19] side of things like no attacker who scores 58 or no.
[33:23] We were like Vinnie needs to be judged on defense first.
[33:26] But like the math of this team is just you either do 20 to 30
[33:30] pass sequences or you defend like that's football.
[33:32] You're you can't play football without either.
[33:35] I think there's this like maybe Mourinho's Real Madrid could
[33:38] have done it. Jerrod 13 years ago.
[33:40] I don't think that team can do that team wouldn't exist now.
[33:42] You can't no ball pressure and transition all the time.
[33:44] You can't do. That and I think, you know, you
[33:47] hit the nail on the head right there going back, because I was
[33:49] thinking about it and you know, the three P team and first of
[33:53] all, as you know, Sid, I don't like that was three different
[33:56] iterations of a team. Yes, the main pieces were there,
[34:00] but every season is different and presents this new challenge.
[34:02] So I don't call it like, oh, it was the same team that won three
[34:05] straight, like Real Madrid that won three straight, but not the
[34:08] exact same dynamics. That being said, I was looking
[34:11] back through just that period, right?
[34:13] That 10 year stretch starting in the 2013, 2014 season where we
[34:17] win 6 out of 10 Champions Leagues, right?
[34:20] As all Real Madrid fans know, we were only able to win 4 league
[34:24] titles during that stretch, four in a league where, let's be
[34:29] honest, outside of Athleti and Barsa.
[34:34] And in that period, there were some down years quickly for
[34:37] Athleti, right? Like how is it we only have 4,
[34:41] right? And to me that as we head
[34:44] towards the blame pie, that goes to a cultural thing, one of the
[34:48] things that this club loves to say is that, Oh well, you know,
[34:51] we always say we prioritize the Champions League more than the
[34:54] league, and that works for our little cute narrative and all
[34:57] that. But the reality is, Sid, it's
[35:02] easier. It's not easy, but easier to
[35:06] circle from the round of 16 or quarterfinals on three matches
[35:12] to get up for emotionally, tactically, physically, all the
[35:16] things right than it is to say no, we're going to dominate
[35:22] every or try to because you're going to win every game you
[35:25] play. We're going to try to dominate
[35:26] every opponent we play from the beginning of the season to the
[35:29] end. There's a reason why we haven't
[35:30] wanted trouble, right? Because for because whatever
[35:32] reason, this club's DNA, they take their foot off the gas.
[35:37] They all this flip switching shit that I don't believe in.
[35:40] I don't believe in switches. That's not a thing.
[35:42] Because by the way, we saw it, what happened to the flip switch
[35:44] against Liverpool? What happened to it against Man
[35:46] City, right? Like we lost, right?
[35:49] So there is no flip switch. Well, if we don't win it for 30
[35:52] years, did we just forget to flip the switch?
[35:53] People don't realize that. Right, like it's not how this
[35:57] works you one of the things I I remember Sid, that Bulls team,
[36:02] which to me is still the best team record wise that can win a
[36:04] title up because the Warriors did not win the title that year.
[36:07] They went 72 and 10. And that team when they when you
[36:10] talk to them and they talk about what was the difference and why
[36:12] you were able to they didn't win every game, right?
[36:14] They lost 10, they said on those Tuesday nights in Charlotte or
[36:18] those Thursday nights in Toronto where we're like, oh man, I
[36:21] don't fucking want to be here. Like, right.
[36:23] It's they're not. It's natural.
[36:24] You don't want to do shit. Michael Jordan's competitiveness
[36:28] and his level raised it for all of us.
[36:31] He'd be like, we are not fucking losing this game tonight.
[36:34] Get your ass back on that screen, right?
[36:36] And that's, and that raised everybody.
[36:39] And so as a club, he didn't have to do so much of that because it
[36:42] was woven into who they were. We're going to compete every
[36:45] night. We might lose, but it ain't
[36:46] going to be because we didn't give a shit and try.
[36:49] Whereas this club, how many times do you watch?
[36:51] They just don't give a shit like and to me that is not something.
[36:55] If that is inside your club with your players, that is fucking
[36:59] terrible. Yeah, no, the club has a lot of
[37:01] words about like, values and like try until the last second.
[37:05] That's what Florentino brought up at the Christmas time.
[37:07] They say shit, but do they? Yeah, yeah, and and try until
[37:10] the last second. Is a good value, but it's it
[37:12] really glosses over like like that that we tried to the last
[37:16] second to gloss over our process and we succeeded for a few years
[37:19] and I'm so thankful yes, that there's a body that I can't
[37:23] believe it, but I don't see how this works going forward under a
[37:27] club with with when you combine it with the report we heard over
[37:30] the midweek. I think that's where like we
[37:32] talked about the blame game and we've talked about this game.
[37:34] What is there to talk about? There's I guess the last thing
[37:36] with this game, I'll say. I'll take a touch on I thought
[37:39] Rodrigo played well. Yes, exactly.
[37:40] Very well. Rodigo played very well.
[37:42] I just want to, the last thing I want to say is we're so bad at
[37:44] turning out a ball pressure that Rodrigo is a midfielder now.
[37:49] Rodrigo was coming over to do shit because Galore can't turn.
[37:52] So Rodrigo's playing in the zone, Galore can't turn for him
[37:55] and he's defending hard and he's making runs and he's releasing
[37:58] the ball when it's right. Not he's he's the only one of
[38:01] those. He's the he's the one of the
[38:03] guys not playing for stats. Not the only one, but he's one
[38:05] of the guys not playing for stats.
[38:06] And yeah, and I still think Enrich needs to be used more
[38:09] like game like today. Why are you trying to fix them?
[38:13] Why can't you just put Rodrigo in the Guler role and stick
[38:15] Endrick up there and just like, just make Rodrigo A midfielder?
[38:18] That would be my big criticism of Alonzo today.
[38:21] So what? Endrick couldn't because of the
[38:23] suspension. But oh, right, right.
[38:25] OK, so the I hope we see more Endrick and the loan is
[38:28] cancelled. But yeah, we can criticize Javi
[38:30] for not being bold for playing politics and having a like like
[38:34] Zedan. I think the difference is Zedan
[38:36] realizes he has leverage over Real Madrid and Carlo and Alonzo
[38:41] don't because people keep saying like Alonzo doesn't have V way
[38:43] like Carlos Adan. I'm like, they're all different.
[38:46] And I'd say Carlo and Alonzo are more similar in that they're
[38:50] kind of chill people, but they're also chill when you talk
[38:53] to them. Zadan is like chill on the
[38:55] outside and when you talk to him, but inside he's a psycho.
[38:58] Yeah, yeah. And I'm not saying these guys
[39:01] are not competitive psychos. Alonzo's a competitive cycle
[39:03] clearly, but it's to a fault where?
[39:06] Well, I don't, I don't want to save your fault.
[39:08] It's just in these high pressure, honestly insanely high
[39:11] testosterone and highly toxic. Like, hey, the byproduct of
[39:15] testosterone is estrogen, which is toxic.
[39:17] So highly toxic hormonal places. Like it's not always positive
[39:20] when they work together. When these Uber personalities
[39:23] thump their chest and work together, it's harmonious.
[39:25] When they don't, it's actually a really scary place.
[39:28] It's it's hard. It's scary too.
[39:29] I would say it's like you just feel like you're walking on egg
[39:32] shells all the time. I mean, imagine what that
[39:35] dressing room is like right when Javi's walking in there and
[39:39] like, you know, players are like little factions are in corners
[39:43] whispering. It's just listen, when we keep
[39:47] telling you guys all the pieces matter, it's so many of you want
[39:50] to be like, oh, just fire this coach and bring on this player
[39:53] as if that's going to suck. It's not.
[39:55] It may solve an immediate problem and it may win you in
[39:59] those perfect years where the alchemy is right.
[40:01] You may win the big trophy. But what Sid and I are talking
[40:04] about is how do we build sustainable success?
[40:08] Because Real Madrid's history has been, at the extent of, you
[40:11] would agree, in spite of itself, right?
[40:13] It's happened in spite of itself, right?
[40:15] Of what we know about how this club operates and runs.
[40:18] It's happened because we've gotten the alchemy right.
[40:21] We've had. Carlo able to say, all right,
[40:24] guys, block out all that shit that we know that goes on out
[40:27] here with chefs putting out pastries and doughnuts and
[40:30] cookies before, before big matches and for 90 minutes.
[40:34] I want you to focus on this. Well you'll be like 3 for Cruz
[40:36] and montage guys and dance. I'll be happy.
[40:39] Don't do it like right in those random moments where you can do
[40:42] that. But that is not a path to long
[40:45] term sustainable success. It's just not right.
[40:48] So we're always talking about all these various things.
[40:50] Yes, we go back to that blame pie, Chubby's on it, the players
[40:53] are on it. But I'm sorry, this board and
[40:56] leadership starts at the top and Florentino to me said they are
[40:59] at the top of the blame chart and get the majority of the
[41:02] blame for where the where the club finds itself right now.
[41:05] Yeah, and as discussed again, go check the last episode.
[41:08] But like if it's hard to blame the coach for when when the
[41:13] president doesn't know how to empower people and even give
[41:15] them an organizational hierarchy, like that's what it
[41:17] sounds like. So when the coach like if the
[41:20] cook, if he can't tell the cook to stay out of the way of the
[41:22] nutritionist, how is the coach going to do anything?
[41:25] Like it's probably a screwed up place.
[41:27] And I would say what the? Nutritionist said I'm want you
[41:30] to make the specific meal plan for player X.
[41:33] The cook said fuck you and put Donuts out.
[41:36] I'm paraphrasing but what is that?
[41:39] What are we doing? I'm saying I've worked with
[41:42] those types of people because they just, they just see your
[41:45] whole paradigm as funny. So like to them like like a
[41:48] random piece of bread for you to think that that it matters.
[41:52] They want to make fun of you. So they want to put random shit
[41:54] almost as vengeance. That's what I read it as because
[41:56] I know how people with those ideologies go about things.
[41:58] And what's scary is this. He doesn't address it at all.
[42:02] He pretty much like, I know how PR works.
[42:03] You pretty much act like the report didn't exist.
[42:05] You clearly told all your journalists to not ask anything
[42:08] about it because all the nobody said a word, bro, nobody said a
[42:13] word. All these journalists who fly to
[42:15] the burnabout, you probably threaten to revoke their fucking
[42:17] media pass. We know how you work.
[42:19] We know. Of course, listen, anyone who
[42:21] asked the question they weren't supposed to ask will no longer
[42:23] have access to games. And this is the problem with the
[42:26] current media landscape. Forget about sports of the
[42:28] world, people don't ask tough questions because access will be
[42:32] revoked. Exactly.
[42:34] Exactly. So then what?
[42:35] Are we doing so? Then what are we actually doing
[42:36] then? Right.
[42:38] And that's the point, because he controls the media.
[42:42] That's why the fact that nobody addressed it almost makes her
[42:45] seem more sane. It's like, okay, like the same
[42:48] things people told you, they're now telling the other
[42:49] journalists like shut up or we're gonna get to you.
[42:51] And that's why it's awesome that we are out here.
[42:55] We do not have a presence in Spain at the moment.
[42:57] It's funny though, I was just thinking, Jerrod, we do want to
[42:59] have a presence at the stadium. How's that going to work now
[43:01] that we, well like, we want to pick a fight with the president
[43:04] too. So how's that going to work?
[43:06] After we light the club on fire, I don't know but it's but it's
[43:09] but it's not born out of maliciousness.
[43:10] Did it is born out of we want them to be the best.
[43:14] Yes, I know that historically, by all the measures, Champions
[43:17] League, this that in the third, this is the greatest club and
[43:19] world football, all that. Yeah.
[43:21] Yeah, I get all that. But to do what this club, if you
[43:27] want to continue to be going into the rest of the 21st
[43:30] century and forward, I'm sorry, this club is woefully behind in
[43:33] that regard. Woefully behind.
[43:35] Like look at what now I know said you'd probably agree.
[43:39] Well, you know, Spain fans probably disagree, but you would
[43:41] say the last five years before the whatever the last five
[43:45] years, the Premier League is a harder league to win in La Liga,
[43:48] right? Yes.
[43:50] OK, firmly look. Look at firmly I I love Real
[43:52] Madrid firmly, just letting all I know.
[43:54] There's so many. Spanish stands firmly Yes, it's
[43:56] a harder league. Look at what Pep did with City
[44:00] during that run. Like won that shit, except for
[44:03] last year because Liverpool. Right Now you could argue oil
[44:06] money, all that. Yeah, yeah, but it's not like
[44:08] Madrid's a fucking CC level team that spends $10 million a year
[44:11] on payroll, right? They spend a ton of money too.
[44:14] How is it in an easier league, you can't dominate and put on a
[44:18] stretch like that because that culture of consistency, right?
[44:22] Whatever goes on inside Man City, Vermont, whatever Pep is
[44:26] able to get that locker room and that dressing room, whatever's
[44:28] going on, this is what my vision is.
[44:30] And I'm not saying we have to go all, you know, wiggle dead
[44:33] possession and all that bullshit.
[44:34] It's not about that. It's about, hey, man, this is
[44:37] what I want. This is what I want to see
[44:40] happen. And this is how we're going to
[44:42] make it, was how we're going to make it work.
[44:44] And if you have people within the organization actively
[44:48] sabotaging you from doing that, how's it going to happen?
[44:53] How is it going to happen? That's what you have, your
[44:55] people literally inside the club sabotaging one another.
[44:59] Yeah, and if if that group is in any way connected to Florentino,
[45:03] where their livelihood is connected to their family,
[45:05] because a lot of that shit goes on at football clubs, all
[45:09] sports. It's it's literally nepotistic
[45:11] garbage to get people near the owner hired.
[45:14] And then smart owners hire good people and put these other
[45:17] people in roles where they don't hurt the team, where they
[45:19] actually learn. So like, you bring your Nepho
[45:21] babies over, they learn, they keep they help the environment,
[45:24] they maintain it. They're not put in positions
[45:26] that they can't handle. You bring in smart people for
[45:27] those. Sounds like we try to do that,
[45:30] but it's kind of seeped in where it doesn't always happen in
[45:32] every single way. And you know, go into one
[45:36] comment like the Miriam says I grew at La content even Chaca
[45:40] would elevators. Yeah, Granite Chaca who was on
[45:42] Jaby's would help us. Yes go watch Robert Kusen go
[45:47] find one player on this team who can do what Chaco does.
[45:49] There isn't one. There literally isn't one.
[45:51] We used to. You know why this comes full
[45:54] circle? I was just so sick of seeing
[45:56] some of the pedry slander. I hate to say it cuz I'm just
[45:59] like listen, he's not that as bad.
[46:01] He's been injured and I get they overhype him sometimes, but why
[46:03] are we trashing pedry? And another one we when Chaca
[46:07] and Cruz were compared before, it was always like poor man's
[46:10] Cruz. But it's like, OK, but he's
[46:11] still closer to Cruz than most players.
[46:12] He does things right. Players don't like why do we
[46:15] have to make fun of him? So it just it kind of strikes a
[46:18] vein going back for a few years, how many times we've like when
[46:22] we got all our guys at one, there was the sheer result
[46:24] results biased to like kind of ride your own Kool-aid fans.
[46:28] Fans tell themselves the craziest stories, man.
[46:30] Like y'all just want to be in the some crazy reality that
[46:32] don't exist? And I get it.
[46:34] Listen, those Redmond Tada comebacks were stuff of legend.
[46:38] I get it. Like and it made us feel so
[46:40] good. The endorphins were on
[46:42] OverDrive. We were all drunk feeling so
[46:45] good. But as we know, when you, the
[46:47] job of a club is not to be drunk off endorphins and all that
[46:50] shit, right? The job of a club is to after
[46:53] that happens is to go back and do sober analysis and see what
[46:58] is what. And if sober analysis conducted,
[47:01] they realize, hey man, we got incredibly lucky to win those
[47:05] last two Champions Leagues. We have some clear holes and
[47:07] clear areas that we need to fix. Yeah, we've kind of talked.
[47:12] We know we've talked about the solution and the culture and
[47:15] everything, and there's so much that needs to change.
[47:17] But I wonder what I think, what I hate about this rotten culture
[47:20] is I see this playing out there. They know things aren't getting
[47:23] better. They kind of interfered in his
[47:25] team selections and now they know it's not going great, but I
[47:30] feel like they're just waiting till it's convenient to sack
[47:32] Alonso and that's we. We know when it's going to be.
[47:35] We know exactly when. It's going to happen.
[47:37] Correct. That semi final match against
[47:39] Atlanta, you we know what's going to happen.
[47:41] We already know what about this current team tells you they're
[47:47] going to beat Athletic in the semi finals.
[47:50] No, nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing.
[47:53] I I would say the only thing is like we have some time off and
[47:56] like when great players sometimes bullshit around and
[47:59] get crazy, things happen with great players where like today
[48:02] we didn't play well, no, 20 to 30 pass sequences, attackers
[48:05] basically playing for themselves at points still.
[48:09] Yeah, and and we still won that. You know, you can talk yourself
[48:12] into it. But I agree that that's so sad
[48:15] that like they're waiting till that moment.
[48:17] That's what is disgusting culturally because it's like
[48:20] you're self you're preserving yourself so you can make it
[48:22] through the election and get your legislation passed.
[48:25] Sack him if you really don't believe in him.
[48:27] Like what are you waiting for Florentino?
[48:29] You're not backing him. You already screwed up the
[48:30] locker room so he can't implement what he wants.
[48:32] Just sack him bro. And this this this hiding behind
[48:36] the club and the media reports. That's some pussy shit.
[48:39] I'm just saying that's that's weak ass shit.
[48:42] It's so factual. Look, you know, I always get on
[48:44] the portal for being in the media and talking so much,
[48:47] right? But at least he's out there,
[48:48] right? Like, nice, there's a lot of
[48:49] bullshit, but he's out there. Florentino talks to the media.
[48:53] Never, literally never, right? He's like, bro, we got
[48:56] questions, my guy. We have forget about changing
[48:59] the ownership, modeling structure and all that.
[49:01] Yeah, great about this report where you wanted this
[49:04] nutritionist and you then did not empower her to be
[49:08] successful. You let doctors literally say to
[49:10] her it doesn't. Food has no impact on
[49:14] performance. Sid, I texted this to you.
[49:16] If I said to you in a sane moment, Sid gas and Motorola
[49:19] have no impact on car performance, what would you say
[49:21] to me? No, that's crazy.
[49:23] It's it's ridiculous. What goes in doesn't affect what
[49:25] comes out, is what they're saying in terms of performance.
[49:27] It's ridiculous. What the fuck?
[49:28] What like Sid that is medical malpractice like what do you
[49:32] mean it has no like? No, it's ridiculous.
[49:34] And that's why it's gone too far.
[49:36] Because like, I get it, like on some level a doctor isn't taught
[49:38] about diet, nutrition and power. But.
[49:40] Which is why you would power nutrition is this they do.
[49:43] So the overstepping thing is just strikes me as weird and it
[49:46] definitely comes across as elements of like narcissism,
[49:49] psychopathy, sociopathy, like some strange and and that's why
[49:52] I would question nepotism. It's like you only do that if
[49:55] you're fucking money's on the line.
[49:56] Like why else? It is, yes.
[49:58] It is what you mentioned before, Sid, which is protection and
[50:00] this is what I try to tell fans all the time in all sports.
[50:04] You think that anybody who works for the team is like you in that
[50:07] all they care about is the club winning, and I promise you that
[50:10] is. Not at all.
[50:11] What they care about is keeping their job.
[50:14] If you are a head, one of the head doctors at Real Madrid, do
[50:18] you know what your life is like? First of all, you get paid
[50:20] really well. One, which means probably a nice
[50:23] house, might have a second home, your kids in private school.
[50:26] Is that in the third whatever, right?
[50:27] You go to whatever restaurant you want in Madrid, that's hard
[50:30] for the average person to get into.
[50:31] You can get a renovation anytime you want.
[50:34] You want extra fringe benefits on all that.
[50:38] You don't want to give that up. So when someone comes in and
[50:41] says, again, because you don't have the knowledge base, because
[50:44] that's not what you're taught in medical school, you're not
[50:46] taught about nutrition, but this person is, you see that person
[50:49] as a threat to you, but they're not a threat.
[50:52] If you were smart enough, you'd realize, Oh my God, if we work
[50:55] together in conjunction. Yeah.
[50:58] Everybody wins, but no, it's shit.
[51:00] They're going to overtake me and I want to get kicked out and we
[51:02] can't because I'm going to lose my house.
[51:03] No, no, can't have that. Someone to sabotage them
[51:06] instead, right? They don't give a shit about the
[51:08] team winning. It's about me keeping what I
[51:10] have. That's what matters most.
[51:12] Yeah, 100%. And you know, kind of, I guess
[51:17] we're close to wrapping up here, Jerrod, but on a close to ending
[51:21] note it, I'm just so fascinated to see our journey on the show
[51:24] as far as like talking about these things and getting closer
[51:27] to the club because I'm just seeing like I'm I was just
[51:30] realizing I've never felt so different to anyone else on the
[51:33] Internet than when I talked about that report.
[51:36] I'm like, everyone else is anonymous or something, like
[51:38] nobody's really talking about it.
[51:41] And I'm so excited to see like the next era, the next
[51:44] president. Honestly, I, I'm so that's the
[51:46] thing. What, what is our incentive now?
[51:48] We want a better presidency that will give us access.
[51:50] So that is our, that is our logic now.
[51:53] And look, I want to give Florentino credit from the
[51:55] commercial side getting the Bernabeu renovated and all the
[51:58] and if you don't all that like he is brought in and built this
[52:02] brand to such a level and I give him so much credit for that.
[52:06] But hey, man, and all of that. I think you lost sight of the
[52:10] sporting project a bit, right? And also you lost sight of what
[52:14] is the culture and ethos of this team.
[52:16] You talk about fighting until the last and this that and the
[52:18] third, but there's no critical self analysis.
[52:20] There's no we know it because you're going to it's it's
[52:22] obvious. It's painfully.
[52:23] Obvious they don't know the value of the film room.
[52:25] Correct. I mean, say, can we really
[52:28] quick? How long do you think Choppy was
[52:30] really making them watch film for?
[52:32] These people act like it was 5 hour film sessions.
[52:34] You know, it wasn't that long. No, we're Max.
[52:37] Probably 90 minutes Chubby played.
[52:39] I'm like, he he played. He's not gonna bore them like
[52:42] beyond unless their standards are low.
[52:44] And that's the the other thing that pisses me off is last year
[52:47] under Carlo, we're getting reports like, and that's why the
[52:49] presidency's pissing me off. It's the same shit as Zidane.
[52:52] Zidane 2021 reports, they don't back him.
[52:54] Last year under Carlo, we were talking a lot about how he
[52:57] wasn't sophisticated. They were feeding us that info
[53:00] to just build into it. They heard it.
[53:01] They're like, you know what? That's what take the heat off of
[53:03] us. Go for it.
[53:04] And they, I just want to apologize because I'm like, you
[53:07] know, we're learning more about PR as we go too.
[53:09] And like, again, we are also a victim of being as part of
[53:12] following the winning environment.
[53:13] So even we can get a little complacent sometimes.
[53:15] That's how complacency works. So it's even harder within the
[53:18] organization if if fans get complacent, imagine within
[53:21] because you really want to drink your own kool-aid.
[53:23] It's hard to keep like, doing the sort of innovative hard work
[53:25] that lets you, like, be an industry leader year after year.
[53:28] But that's how you, that's how you maintain industry and how
[53:31] you win is by doing that hard work.
[53:33] And last thing I'll say, and a lot of fans come at him for
[53:35] whatever his football fandom is. I don't care.
[53:38] I think he's a good reporter. He and Ballagher had this piece
[53:41] that came out a couple weeks ago where Carlo talked to Jabi about
[53:45] the job specifically. And he said, look, we detail
[53:48] things during the week about what they were supposed to do on
[53:51] the weekend and they would ignore it largely and do their
[53:54] own thing, right? He said.
[53:57] You have some people with competing agendas on this squad
[54:00] specifically he mentioned. And Bape cares about his
[54:03] records, Vinnie cares about his waning influence in the locker
[54:07] room, and Fede only wants to play midfield and doesn't have
[54:11] the maturity to be a team captain.
[54:14] He laid it out so again, Chubby didn't walk into this knowing
[54:17] like it was. So to your point, we do owe
[54:20] Carlos. I'm sorry.
[54:21] It's like, yo, you probably had ideas about what you wanted to
[54:23] do and you realize this club is neutering me from the inside.
[54:27] I can only do so much. The only difference is that
[54:30] Carlo was such a statesman and politician that he just, he's
[54:33] like a Teflon, right? Teflon not.
[54:35] It rolls off his back. Everything's great.
[54:37] He still will always say the club is great.
[54:38] Florentino's great, right? He puts that out there.
[54:41] So we're like, oh, then it must be you.
[54:42] Then if everything's great, it's you.
[54:44] Yeah, no, Carlo is very, yeah, he, he's really good at like he,
[54:48] he played his role perfectly so well.
[54:51] He, he was basically the scapegoat they wanted him to be
[54:53] as well. And like, we're not saying the
[54:55] sophisticated things shouldn't have been implemented, but it's
[54:57] clear that if he was, that's the thing.
[54:59] If you're being sabotaged from within, I will be, I will
[55:02] totally like change how I evaluate those games.
[55:05] Like I I have no problem in not putting that on the coach.
[55:08] And that's what I'm saying with Alonzo now too.
[55:09] I'm just like, I have no problem putting a lot of this on the
[55:12] president, even though he's made mistakes because fundamentally
[55:15] your president and your squad sets your floor and ceiling.
[55:18] That's why it didn't matter to some of the things Carlo did if
[55:20] he kept things harmonious. But hey, sometimes harmony comes
[55:23] at the expense of like holding people accountable and you can't
[55:26] afford that. Absolutely.
[55:28] And that's what happens in successful situations.
[55:30] But main thing we want is keep the good room, the bad, the
[55:32] board, the players. Like don't throw the baby out
[55:35] with the bathwater. People keep saying sell Mbappe
[55:37] and how long? Listen, Mbappe's like in his
[55:39] second year of his deal. Just be realistic.
[55:40] We're still. Not happening.
[55:42] And that's why I go back to you want to keep most of
[55:44] Florentino's commercial good too you.
[55:46] There's very few things you change.
[55:48] All I'm saying is like the guy's acting like he.
[55:51] You know how easy it is to hire someone to audit the fucking
[55:53] medical thing? Not.
[55:54] Hard at all. It's cheaper than like signing
[55:56] it's easier than signing Trent. Like way easier.
[55:59] Easier than sending Liverpool 10 million for Trent for the World
[56:02] Cup, way easier. So that's where it's like I
[56:05] think nepotism is. I just can't believe nepotism is
[56:07] not involved. That's why there's no reporting,
[56:09] and that's why this could be the beginning of like the end for
[56:12] Florentino, honestly, if it hasn't already.
[56:16] If it hasn't already and Sid these little power vacuums and
[56:19] power struggles in the club, this is what can rot a club from
[56:22] the inside out. And I think you and I both
[56:24] agree, modern football is too good now.
[56:27] There's too much talent all over the place for this pub to just
[56:29] be like, oh, no problem, we'll fix it.
[56:31] We'll just buy the next superstar next summer and
[56:33] that'll patch up our problems and we'll be good enough and
[56:35] we'll win. I just think those are the top
[56:37] level clubs. They're too good right now.
[56:39] They're they're way too good. And the coaching's too good for
[56:42] us, able to get by with just, oh, we'll just sign this guy and
[56:44] this guy, we'll be fine. Yeah, and Manurium says it well,
[56:48] it's like Man United vibes right now.
[56:49] A little bit. Yeah, it is a little.
[56:51] Bit yeah, it is. 'Cause Agra part was straight
[56:53] out of Man United. I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,
[56:58] yeah, a shitty club does stuff like this, yeah.
[57:00] You know, it's, it's just so painful because I, I just like I
[57:04] have that Vinnie Atlanta game from 2024 series and I'm like,
[57:07] dude, you were normal like 5 weeks after the Bollandor coming
[57:10] off an injury. Like you weren't showing all
[57:12] this ego stuff. It started after and you know,
[57:14] just to defend the players now it's if you can't get your first
[57:18] step back, you will literally go schizophrenic trying to find it
[57:21] in your prime. Like like these guys expect
[57:23] their powers to be available to them if you just if they're
[57:26] randomly cut off by doctor sabotaging them.
[57:28] Dude, it's the saddest thing I've ever heard.
[57:30] Like cuz Ben Vinnie's emotions are from his bad performance.
[57:34] He's like, oh, I can't dribble past him.
[57:35] All right, like that's fine, but why can't you trust me?
[57:37] Like give me time. And it's like he wouldn't need
[57:39] time if he had his first step. These these fucking doctors took
[57:42] his first step away. Why?
[57:43] And like cuz it's beyond the decision making.
[57:46] The 1st step has gotten worse and I couldn't explain it and I
[57:49] just thought maybe he's getting too predictable always just
[57:51] playing like kick and go. But no, the first step is down
[57:54] because of the doctors. Yeah, he can't.
[57:56] He can't get by people with that first step anymore.
[57:57] Sometimes when you can tell when it's like how much rest is we
[58:00] have we had before a match or whatever.
[58:02] Like you can kind of see it in certain instances.
[58:04] But yeah, it's not consistent. Like it was in that in that
[58:06] Balandor finishing second year right where it was like, oh,
[58:10] he's gonna cook that dude. And that's why I can't blame
[58:12] Carlo, Lassie or Javi for the injuries.
[58:14] I don't blame them for Fetty and Rudiger's minutes.
[58:16] Listen, we know how these things work.
[58:18] A coach's job is to only say no if they have to.
[58:21] But at the end of the day, if a player can play and they can
[58:23] help the team win, you're not supposed to hold them back and
[58:26] worry about injury. That's someone else's job.
[58:28] That's someone else who tells you if you can even think about
[58:31] playing him. Someone else gives you the green
[58:32] light out here. They're given they're probably
[58:35] giving them the most bullshit green lights like, oh, he's
[58:37] fine. Go play him.
[58:38] Like I I really don't blame it on chubby.
[58:40] People are blaming like military's injury on the
[58:42] highline. Listen, we can't play 20 to 30
[58:44] passes. Do you want to sit deep and just
[58:46] watch us lose? Like, what do you want to do?
[58:50] So you want to just sit in our half and like, let them dominate
[58:53] possession because we're not going to win it back if we sit
[58:55] off them like we certainly. Aren't.
[58:57] And and so I don't blame Carlo or Javi for the injuries.
[59:00] And yeah, I mean, I don't know if you want to close there, but
[59:03] none of these injuries are on them now.
[59:04] Like this is all on the club. Yes, this is This is a club
[59:08] issue, a board issue, a Florentino issue.
[59:11] We got little factions within the medical staff and then parts
[59:13] of the board we we got areas we got to fix.
[59:15] I do think that this last comment by Perlo Perloma family
[59:20] 628 is interesting. Sincere question, are we really
[59:23] going to experience years of drought in early Chamberlain
[59:24] exit like after the Galactica era?
[59:26] I'm a little scared my man, We are listen, I think we're
[59:31] teetering on being there. We are so close to being in that
[59:35] wasteland. I look, you heard what Sid and I
[59:39] said, and Miriam's like, yes, unless something drastic
[59:43] happens, I think we are. I think we're headed there, man.
[59:46] Let's say we don't sign anyone in January and we have, then we
[59:49] are on track to likely unless Trent is healthy the last six
[59:52] months of the season consecutively.
[59:53] That is what it will take and. Plays out of his mind to his
[59:56] standards, yes. To be honest, if he's healthy, I
[59:59] think he can. I think we saw enough just from
[1:00:03] Bilbao. But at the end of the day,
[1:00:05] expecting one player to stay healthy for six months is just
[1:00:08] what an idiot does in modern. Realistic.
[1:00:10] No one smart would do one point of failure.
[1:00:12] So then the main thing I'm highlighting though is the same
[1:00:16] way success breeds complacency, failure needs to change.
[1:00:19] I hate to admit it, but on some level you need the president
[1:00:23] like you need the people responsible to come under the
[1:00:25] heat. That's why I feel like what we
[1:00:27] did a couple days ago was so important because nobody else is
[1:00:30] doing it. You if they get public opinion
[1:00:32] turns against them and it slowly is like we're, we're never going
[1:00:34] to stop fighting that battle. We're not going to lie and just
[1:00:37] not speak our mind because the mob thinks we're stupid
[1:00:38] tacticos. No, we're just going to say what
[1:00:40] we think. And at the end of the day, more
[1:00:43] people need to do that and more people need to be like, if more
[1:00:46] fans could really focus on that system analysis, seeing all the
[1:00:49] moving parts, not don't talk about the players and coach,
[1:00:52] focus on the organization. I, I think we're actually like
[1:00:55] close to like we're on trajectory to fail pretty bad.
[1:00:58] Why wouldn't that lead to change?
[1:00:59] I'm kind of like, like the fans are not happy.
[1:01:02] And I think the whole AMAPI thing, the divided fan base,
[1:01:05] it's, I think Florentino is going to get questioned and
[1:01:08] maybe not the case even six weeks ago, but this report
[1:01:11] changed everything. I think this report was the
[1:01:13] domino that needed to fall. I think so.
[1:01:14] The question now becomes who can potentially be a legitimate
[1:01:20] presidential opponent for him and will that person have enough
[1:01:25] support? Because I know there was some
[1:01:27] stuff about Florentino basically coalescing and having so much
[1:01:31] power that he almost made it a closed election system, right?
[1:01:34] Where like, there's really nobody in here.
[1:01:36] To he changed it I think he changed the amount of money you
[1:01:38] need to deposit and all that stuff so he made it for
[1:01:40] billionaires. OK, fine Flo on some level I'm
[1:01:44] not upset like I don't know some people are anti billionaire and
[1:01:47] so on. I'm not upset with only super
[1:01:49] wealthy people who have handled large scale organizations being
[1:01:52] able to lead the ometer because that's what we are effectively
[1:01:54] now you need someone and the wealth isn't is essentially a
[1:01:58] way to as a proxy for you have been around that level of
[1:02:01] wealth. You know how it moves.
[1:02:03] On some level you understand what it doesn't.
[1:02:04] Mean doesn't mean you always know what you're doing.
[1:02:06] There are plenty of idiot billionaires that fuck shit up
[1:02:08] all the time. It doesn't mean that, yeah, it
[1:02:09] doesn't mean you're doing, but on some level it's like you're
[1:02:12] not going to be like a portal. You're not going to take levers
[1:02:14] and bullshit. You have money, you're stuck.
[1:02:15] That's literally what it is. You're not La Porta, like can't
[1:02:18] come and do all that shit here. You need like the deposit itself
[1:02:21] is like half the levers, like a Batman will be like what levers,
[1:02:26] bro? Like fucking give it up front
[1:02:28] from your company. They'll ask the president.
[1:02:29] They're like, we're not borrowing.
[1:02:31] We're different out here. We make our own money.
[1:02:33] We spend our own money here. But but in the future, there's
[1:02:39] no question that Rafael Nadal is.
[1:02:44] There's no question Rafael Nadal is going to be someone who can
[1:02:47] threaten. He doesn't have the money as a
[1:02:49] former player, right? However, I think also he needs
[1:02:53] to be a member for 20 years, so that's not happening for a few
[1:02:55] more years. I just think it's a very Real
[1:02:57] Madrid thing to be honest. Why wouldn't a GOAT of a sport
[1:03:00] has to be our president? What else?
[1:03:01] Who else? Like why would it make sense for
[1:03:03] someone who's not a GOAT? Listen, I love it.
[1:03:05] And especially if he's someone who he's not, I don't think
[1:03:10] going to given the complacency, right?
[1:03:12] Given his mindset as an athlete and how he approached his sport,
[1:03:16] I could see him being very much like, OK, this is what they need
[1:03:19] to succeed. Ultimately, here's our process
[1:03:21] of how we review what's going on and what's working and what is
[1:03:24] not working, what we need to fix, right?
[1:03:27] Which again, Florentino not doing, you know, he's so focused
[1:03:33] on the commercial side and all that, which again, important and
[1:03:36] great, but the sporting side suffering.
[1:03:38] And look, honestly, Sid, and this is the last thing we'll do
[1:03:40] here and we'll close. In many ways, this is what the
[1:03:44] Knicks were like for so many years before their recent turn
[1:03:46] of making the playoffs and being a good team in the NBA again.
[1:03:49] James Dolan didn't give a shit about the team being terrible.
[1:03:52] You know why? They were the wealthiest
[1:03:53] franchise in the NBA, biggest contracts, biggest brand, making
[1:03:57] all this money. The team turned over tons of
[1:03:59] profit. He's like, I don't care.
[1:04:00] I'm good. So in many ways, right, If
[1:04:02] Florentino's like, like the club's turning over like good
[1:04:05] profit. But James Dolan found his Luis
[1:04:08] Ocampos in in the guy, right, who runs in the Knicks.
[1:04:11] He brought in the sporting director who has contacts.
[1:04:13] And we didn't get Luis Ocampos. He went to PSG who had been
[1:04:17] like, who got Petinia, who got Fabian Ruiz?
[1:04:19] Guys who we would love to have on our team.
[1:04:21] Imagine if we had Petinia and Fabian Ruiz.
[1:04:22] Oh my God, we'd be the best. We'd be cooking.
[1:04:25] We'd be like. Life would be so much different
[1:04:26] right now. So do Alan Evans want someone
[1:04:29] like that? Oh my.
[1:04:29] God so pleased. And for sure, and I mean, hey,
[1:04:34] it's kind of like the Lakers too, like they kind of stopped
[1:04:36] caring. They they kind of bullshitted.
[1:04:39] LeBron didn't put the best team they could around him.
[1:04:41] Sign a superstar. OK, we're fine.
[1:04:43] Yeah, and and until the ownership changed, it was never
[1:04:46] guaranteed they would put a good team around the stars.
[1:04:49] Now there's new ownership, there's optimism, and we just
[1:04:52] don't want someone to reiterate that comment.
[1:04:54] Like Ramon Calderon. I got to look back into him.
[1:04:57] I'm going to be honest. I'm the first Prince of this
[1:04:58] guy. We did him into league titles.
[1:05:00] I don't know what happened fully under his term.
[1:05:01] I got to look back into it just after everything I've learned
[1:05:04] recent time. I do not the the period of Real
[1:05:07] Madrid before I started following day-to-day.
[1:05:09] It sounds like a lot was happening that's not really
[1:05:11] disclosed all the time and I'm still learning going back.
[1:05:14] It's it's a lot. I'm trying to talk to Xavier the
[1:05:16] guy to to go read the Spanish and give it first hand too.
[1:05:19] There's a lot, man. His club was like a Sith Lord in
[1:05:22] so many ways, right? All this like so much secrecy
[1:05:25] and mystery surrounding. I'm like, what's actually
[1:05:27] happening here? It's literally like he wants to
[1:05:30] play out The Godfather or Goodfellas in the real world.
[1:05:33] I know it's like, bro, come on, we don't got time for these.
[1:05:36] But it's funny because it's one of the few environments where
[1:05:38] everything is so alien, foreign. There's no school that really
[1:05:41] teaches you how things work here.
[1:05:42] It's only first hand experience. And so it's one of those places,
[1:05:45] as we've talked about sports teams, where these weird old
[1:05:48] rich people get away with weird old things that nobody else
[1:05:51] would anywhere else that are frankly illegal, weird HR, HR.
[1:05:55] Weird. Oh my God, violations up the
[1:05:57] wazoo. And the main thing is it again,
[1:05:59] it will close now. So much of it is shrouded in
[1:06:01] secrecy and mystery. Like, because they, they don't
[1:06:04] talk, you know what I mean? So we don't know, Like it takes
[1:06:08] someone like Izzy Gonzalez right to come out and say otherwise.
[1:06:12] How do you it still doesn't get out.
[1:06:14] And again, because journalists will get revoked access, their
[1:06:18] access revoked if they press and force these people to answer
[1:06:21] questions. Well, to close Jerrod, make sure
[1:06:23] you call Pablo Torre and get him on the case by the end of the
[1:06:26] year. You guys are in New York, you
[1:06:28] probably can hit him up. I'll.
[1:06:28] Get up, Pablo, like, oh, I do know Pablo.
[1:06:31] Pablo's a good dude. Yeah, yeah.
[1:06:32] That should, I should be like Pablo.
[1:06:35] We got some questions. Yeah, yeah, Like, do a little
[1:06:37] cross group episode. But listen, we got to get people
[1:06:40] across the Atlantic mobilized. They got a mafia out there.
[1:06:42] They're coming after people. I got to make sure Lakante is
[1:06:44] good in Kosovo. We're going to make sure our
[1:06:46] guys are good. We want to get investigated.
[1:06:48] But honestly, I almost feel thrilled by like, that words
[1:06:50] like, OK, like, we're in the United States, let's see what
[1:06:53] you do. You're going to send a hit squad
[1:06:54] over to the US When we talk about it, what are you going to
[1:06:55] do? Like, you can't stop us talking
[1:06:59] about it in English. You can't stop talking about it
[1:07:01] in English. Can't do it, can't do it.
[1:07:04] Well, thank you all for tuning in.
[1:07:05] This has been a lot of fun drive you discussed one format for the
[1:07:09] show. It went another way, but hey,
[1:07:10] flowed well. Was a fun, fun evening in
[1:07:13] Chicago and New York for both of us.
[1:07:15] It was beautiful man. Listen, this is our Last Post
[1:07:17] match show at 2025. We might have another one come
[1:07:19] out before the end of the year. We definitely do definitely have
[1:07:23] one. Maybe we're gonna, maybe we'll
[1:07:24] hit up and record another potentially.
[1:07:26] Possibly a second one, we definitely have one.
[1:07:28] But look, those of you celebrate during the holidays, enjoy your
[1:07:32] holiday, enjoy family, friends or whatever's you do to enjoy
[1:07:35] yourself. Just get away from this stuff
[1:07:37] for a while because it will literally make you crazy.
[1:07:39] Yeah, no, I'm, you know, I don't condone vices or anything but.
[1:07:42] Go drink, go smoke, get away from this shit.
[1:07:44] Like, go, go, go out with family, go on vacation.
[1:07:47] Yeah, like, get your head out of this.
[1:07:48] I can't wait to go relax. I mean, I can't wait.
[1:07:51] Listen, these next couple weeks with no Real Madrid football are
[1:07:53] going to be wonderful. 100% and you know if you if you want.
[1:07:58] Things to change when you go to bed.
[1:08:00] Just imagine that we wake up in a different timeline.
[1:08:02] That'll affect the past. I don't know what crazy magic
[1:08:05] voodoo shit you do. Do some voodoo.
[1:08:07] You're from that part of the world.
[1:08:08] College. Do some voodoo shit.
[1:08:09] I don't know. I love it.
[1:08:11] Mandela affect the past. It's so great.
[1:08:13] Yeah. Just, you know.
[1:08:14] Manifestation. That's what we're about here.
[1:08:16] I always tell the story when we the comebacks were happening, I
[1:08:19] had homie walk in like midway before you could tell it was
[1:08:21] going to come back, maybe like, let's do it.
[1:08:23] And we'd watch. And it happened and we didn't
[1:08:25] influence it, but it was surreal.
[1:08:26] And, you know, just have some positive energy going into this.
[1:08:29] Like don't let the club dictate your boot.
[1:08:31] It's just, yeah, that's not what a healthy fan does.
[1:08:33] If you find it's not healthy, yes, it's not healthy.
[1:08:35] It's not healthy at all. Totally.
[1:08:37] Well, the NBA Cup's over and the.
[1:08:40] Season and and rheometer is over.
[1:08:42] I'm gonna go hibernate. I'm I'm only here for two things
[1:08:45] rheometer and the NBA cup. Just letting you all know.
[1:08:47] All right, guys, close enough. And lastly, Shay Hillius.
[1:08:52] Alexander got blocked by. Anthony Edwards and still in
[1:08:55] last night. So go watch that if you wanna,
[1:08:56] if you're if you're into all that sit going nuts out here
[1:09:00] pushing this anti SGA agenda. Well, adios everyone, enjoy the
[1:09:04] rest of your year later.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.