# Barcelona vs Real Madrid Supercup Preview, Premier League Title Race

An episode of [The Real Deal: A Real Madrid Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1807821669), 9 Jan 2026, 24 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/103607aa8/podcast/play/113749897/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-0-9%2F415805617-44100-2-6d8f3006ffc25.mp3

Jarod Hector and Sid R. briefly preview the big game against Barcelona, why pressing high will be necessary, and why beating Joan Garcia will be so difficult (his advanced stats are through the roof). They also discuss the Premier League title race, how Arsenal are similar to the OKC Thunder stylistically, and the end of Pep's time at Manchester City.

## Transcript

[0:01] Hello, welcome to the Real Deal Real Madrid podcast with me,
[0:04] Jerrod Hector, joined by Sid Ramsundar.
[0:07] Sid, what's going on? Hey man, we got our chance to
[0:10] win a championship of our first title of the season on Sunday.
[0:13] Let's go. The Super Copa, which you know,
[0:19] on the list of important titles for Real Madrid, it's so it's
[0:23] probably below Copa del Rey, right?
[0:24] Like it's just, it's, it's just the obviously this club plays
[0:28] about Champions League, then the league, then Copa del Rey, then
[0:32] a in a competition like this. But because we do play almost
[0:37] always our two biggest rivals, it is important to, you know,
[0:42] win those matches, especially after getting thrashed by
[0:45] Athletic D52 in the in the in La Liga earlier this earlier last
[0:48] year. Yeah, I, I will say in the
[0:50] history of these competitions, Gerard, there has never been a
[0:53] competition so essential to bragging rights in football.
[0:56] It's it is the bragging rights trophy.
[0:58] And I will say it like you can question where it's played,
[1:01] whether they need the money, blah, blah, blah.
[1:03] It works like whoever wins this tournament usually ends up being
[1:07] the best team in Spain going back for a few years.
[1:09] And so I think that's what I like about the tournament
[1:12] because we're yet to see a year where the team that wins this
[1:15] falls off. This seems to be like the team
[1:17] that wins this just picks up from here goes for the rest of
[1:19] the season and the other thing is a lot of these competitions
[1:23] they end near the same time. This is just the ultimate
[1:26] January winter bragging rights we.
[1:28] No, it's perfect, you're right. And it to your point, it does
[1:31] buoy you heading into the business end of the season right
[1:34] as you get ready to finish out the domestic tournament for
[1:37] Scopa Del Rey and and and and head towards Champions League,
[1:40] which yes, still still to still to be determined.
[1:43] So let's start Sid with, you know, the final, which obviously
[1:47] will be against Barcelona. And it's so funny.
[1:49] Yesterday I didn't watch the Barcelona match, but I tweeted
[1:51] out because I just saw the score like 30 or 30 minutes in and I
[1:54] was like, it's already 3. I was like, Athletic Club is
[1:56] such an unserious football team. Like so unserious.
[2:00] Like, I mean, literally you should have just hand walked
[2:02] Barcelona into the final and just wrote them in, not even
[2:04] bother playing that game against Athletic Club because they
[2:06] literally did nothing. Would Barcelona win 4 nil, 5
[2:09] nil, something like that? Well, it it's a sad fall from
[2:12] Bilbao. They just didn't.
[2:13] They beat Chavez, Barcelona to that Copa del Rey at some point.
[2:17] They did. They did.
[2:18] Yeah, so it's a it is a sad fall from grace.
[2:20] We haven't seen Ernesto Valverde struggle to enforce an identity
[2:24] on a team this bad since Barcelona.
[2:31] And to be fair also they do have some issues as it relates to
[2:34] because they're owned by the City group, the same group that
[2:36] owns Manchester City. When they get players that are
[2:40] good, they get taken away and Bilbao are they is that they're
[2:43] not. No, that's Gerono.
[2:44] That's. Gerono.
[2:45] Oh, that's Gerono. My bad, my bad.
[2:46] Yeah, so. Bill Bilbao's the best team.
[2:48] I don't think they can have players if they're not from the
[2:49] Spanish. You're right, you're right,
[2:51] you're right that that's Gerono. Why don't I confuse them with
[2:53] Gerono? Anyway, doesn't matter.
[2:55] Point is Athletic Club, not good, especially when they play
[2:58] against Barcelona, at least lately.
[3:01] And so, yeah, that's what it is. Five nil.
[3:03] So they're they're in the final and you know they're going to
[3:05] want a modicum of revenge Sid against us from that 21 defeat
[3:09] at the Bernabeu this year. Yeah, my big fear is that this
[3:13] is our first game going up against the Barcelona with
[3:15] Joanne Garcia. And you know, we talk a big game
[3:18] about black magic and divine destiny and whatever all that
[3:21] stuff is. And they have a guy who kind of
[3:24] embodies that on in the goal, like he's so good.
[3:27] And Gerard, I don't know if you know, but there's a stat post
[3:30] shot expected goal difference. This is the stat for goalies
[3:33] that everyone needs to know. So it takes on the placement of
[3:37] the shot into account on top of where they're shooting from.
[3:40] So if the guy fluffs it, it's not going to say like give
[3:43] credit to the goalkeeper. But Joanne Garcia is number one
[3:47] in that stat in the Stats Bomb database for three years.
[3:49] Three years. Bro.
[3:52] Yeah, and even in the aggregate he's not higher, which should
[3:54] say something to people. I did not know about that
[3:58] particular stat, but I know what my eyeballs tell me and my
[4:00] eyeballs tell me. Holy shit this dude is like an
[4:04] elite keeper and when I watched Barcelona in a suicidal highline
[4:08] that teams tend to exploit, most teams tend to exploit.
[4:11] He is the person that bails them out often at the end, making
[4:14] these ridiculous saves. So he's going to be a challenge
[4:18] to get past on one end, on the other end, said when we played
[4:21] them in October, Rafina didn't play that match and Rafina's
[4:26] back and not only from AI worry about him because he's an
[4:30] excellent footballer in possession.
[4:32] He's pressing when he is leading that press.
[4:35] They are a much more cohesive pressing unit and he is
[4:39] relentless. And we know what this team, this
[4:41] team being Madrid, when we have any modicum of pressure, what
[4:45] tends to happen. Yeah, last time we got to play
[4:47] Rashford and Rashford is a good footballer and it's crazy.
[4:51] Like Rafinia's floor is like Rashford's ceiling.
[4:53] It's kind of ridiculous. It's it's ridiculous.
[4:57] His average game is like a Bangor Rashford game.
[4:59] And I'm terrified for sure. So Joanne Rafinia.
[5:03] So the big question is how should we set up tactically
[5:06] then? Because like we sat off Atletico
[5:08] on purpose, Gerard, because we, we, we just didn't want to end
[5:11] up trying to play 30 passes in their half while they keep
[5:14] crossing it. So we decided, fine, we'll just
[5:15] try to stop your crosses. If we can attack after that, we
[5:18] will. But we're going to start that
[5:20] way and but obviously that's not the way to play against
[5:23] Barcelona. Who right you want to unsettle
[5:25] them? And I thought Barcelona signing
[5:27] of Joao Cancelo was very interesting because Cancelo
[5:30] plays in the inverted half space area as a very comfortable ball
[5:34] carrier and passer. And I think if you man Mark
[5:37] Pedre and Deyong, they have a lot of problems.
[5:39] So I think with Barcelona, the whole like way you approach the
[5:43] game has to be thrown out. You got to look at it
[5:45] differently. Yeah.
[5:47] And So what do you think about that?
[5:49] Well, so can solo he they just like the medical hasn't happened
[5:52] yet. So we he will not play in this
[5:55] match. So we we won't we we won't see
[5:56] him tomorrow. Look, I I I think that's that
[5:59] it's dead on. It's spot on by you look, as
[6:03] much as Barcelona has been poor this year, and so have we.
[6:09] They seem like the side Sid that like one or two tweaks and
[6:14] possibly in the form of a player like Cancello can solve a lot of
[6:17] their issues and create problems for teams like us.
[6:20] Particularly now we don't have to worry about Cancello's on
[6:23] Sunday. So that's not a big deal.
[6:24] But going forward for the league, 'cause remember we do
[6:27] have one more match against them at the camp now in March or
[6:31] April or whatever. That is the the the last
[6:33] classical in the league so and possibly in the Copa del Rey as
[6:36] well. So, you know, this might be our
[6:41] chance to get get hopefully to get our two wins, maybe against
[6:45] them because I don't know, the the rest of the season may not
[6:47] look too pretty. Yeah, and I'm also worried
[6:51] Killian already like gets offside so many times, but like
[6:55] Killian against Garcia, I'm just if he plays, I don't know if
[6:57] he's playing. That's a big question too.
[7:00] It's a seems like a big if I will drink.
[7:02] Do you think he should play? I mean, look, I know he like his
[7:06] goals and today notwithstanding, because we did play differently,
[7:09] but we did like how the team looked in the Betty's game with
[7:13] Gonzalo and Rodrigo and Vinnie, right?
[7:15] They just the the the shape of the team just looked better and
[7:19] more In Sync because Gonzalo just does things differently
[7:23] than Mbappe does. So I think the things Gonzalo
[7:25] does are actually things Mbappe can exploit because like France
[7:29] with at the World Cup last time, they needed Giroud in the lineup
[7:33] and like to unlock Mbappe. Mbappe, it looked kind of
[7:35] pedestrian before that. And it's because, yeah, no, if
[7:38] he's on the pitch as a striker, nobody's doing the tough job of
[7:41] occupying multiple defenders at the same time.
[7:43] And I think I think the best combo for this attack is Gonzalo
[7:47] and Ibappe and. You're saying sip, Vinny?
[7:50] I mean, just off today, just going off today like.
[7:53] And you wouldn't be wrong, by the way.
[7:54] And that's not a outlandish take, I think.
[7:56] I think you're exactly right. And I think this is a hard
[7:59] conversation. Well, yes, hard conversation,
[8:01] but, and I don't know, given his position, Chabi Alonso's job
[8:05] situation, whether he feels that he can make this kind of hard
[8:07] choice, but I think he should. Well, I don't.
[8:10] I think the easy thing is that I actually doubt mbappe is fitting
[8:13] up to start. Yeah, well, that's the thing,
[8:14] He's not right. Right.
[8:15] So why give him a limp 45 or 60 minutes when you could just
[8:19] bring him off the bench? And but then it's like, OK, what
[8:22] if you start the game well and Vinny messes something up and
[8:24] you could have just scored? And I think, but I do think in
[8:27] Bape's health will solve the problem here and just force his
[8:31] hand come off the bench. Like if he looks like the guy
[8:33] who was like half hurt late of last like last month in the end
[8:36] of December, he's bench at no point.
[8:39] And my guess is I don't. They say he's going to stay back
[8:42] and work. Look, whatever work he's doing
[8:45] back at Valdevas and in Madrid right now, it isn't some magic
[8:50] election all of a sudden. He's going to be tip top and
[8:52] ready to roll come Sunday. If he does up here on the Ross
[8:56] for Sunday, it's because he likely pushed to be there.
[8:59] And if he's pushing to be there, again, this is this question we
[9:02] have. How much control does Chubby
[9:04] Alonso have about saying, you know, you're not really ready to
[9:07] play like right versus players saying, no, I want to play.
[9:10] This is this is the question. Yeah, there's and for me the
[9:13] last thing I'll say is I guess Ronaldo would sometimes exert
[9:16] that he wood forest himself to play and he wouldn't play well
[9:18] and it did hurt us. But hey, we did win with him in
[9:20] the end as we described and he would make the off ball runs.
[9:22] That's the second thing. Well, that and Bobby does not
[9:25] do. Yeah, and I think that's where
[9:27] it's like you don't make the off ball runs, you don't have a six
[9:30] pack and like but you come play against Talavera so.
[9:33] You don't have a six pack? Well.
[9:34] It's just a different message. You know, you're you're the
[9:36] message you're sending is like I want sixty goals, but I don't
[9:38] care enough about my appearance about body, about setting a
[9:40] standard for the team about and you care about being like
[9:44] Ronaldo in a way where you can market it, but not like actually
[9:47] be like him. That's the vibe I get sometimes.
[9:49] I mean, you feel you feel that way.
[9:51] I I hear you. So you're in in, in, in the
[9:53] marketing and in the record book standpoint, but not in the I'm
[9:56] going to commit to totally being in the best physical and mental
[10:00] shape I can be to be the best football player in the world,
[10:02] arguably, right? Like close.
[10:04] The whole time and IQ on the passes, it's like you don't do
[10:06] film study if you pass like that after dribbling.
[10:08] Ronaldo just gave up being a dribbler after a point.
[10:11] He played his role and I don't, I just don't see that from him.
[10:14] And so, yeah, I mean, those are two very valid critiques.
[10:16] With that, again, I want to emphasize we're not in about the
[10:18] haters here. But no, no, we're just, we're
[10:20] just being honest. And you know what's funny, Sid,
[10:21] I have a question for you around that.
[10:23] So you remember when all the stuff started leaking out about
[10:26] how the players didn't like film session and film study, right?
[10:30] And, and Jabby started cutting it short.
[10:32] It made me think of something when you guys know that I cover
[10:35] the NBA and when I talk to players and one of the things
[10:37] they always say is that the most honest time away from the floor,
[10:42] it's during film session when they're when the coach is in
[10:45] there with all the players and they're just going over stuff
[10:47] because you can't hide. And there's no there's no lying
[10:49] and saying, Oh, I didn't do X bro, it's right.
[10:52] We see it like you did not make do follow your assignment here,
[10:55] right? We were supposed to switch.
[10:57] You didn't. You went under instead of
[10:58] fighting over like it's and I wonder if the we don't like film
[11:02] study is not so much the tactical part, but the shit I'm
[11:06] being held accountable for not doing my job, and I don't want
[11:09] anybody to see that. So we're going to buck and say
[11:11] this film study's too long. That's what it feels like just
[11:15] going off how they play is going off today like just could not
[11:20] defend the flank so they had to bring 2 left backs to defend the
[11:22] same flank. And yeah, it was ridiculous.
[11:26] But yeah man, it is interesting. I will say this, the last thing
[11:29] I'll say is this. Like, I think we have some like
[11:32] when we play right and when it works, like we have the counters
[11:35] to these cleaners. We have these fucking tall
[11:37] monsters who can go and eat them up.
[11:39] But you know, it would pain me to not see them get platformed
[11:43] on Sunday, and it would pain me to.
[11:45] I just hope they deliver, man. I'll just say that I hope Gabby
[11:47] survives. That's the last thing.
[11:48] Tactically, Yeah. I hope we get lucky.
[11:50] I hope we get lucky. I'll say it.
[11:51] I'm glad we got lucky today. Against or against Letico.
[11:55] I'm glad we did. Let's be honest, dude, if we win
[11:59] the Super Copa, there's going to be a modicum of luck involved
[12:04] and just sheer individual will by certain players to will us to
[12:10] be good, right? It's going to be Bellingham
[12:12] being relentless in midfield, Shewomani being that destroyer
[12:15] DM Kamavanga breaking, like it's going to be that kind of thing,
[12:19] right? Like it's going to and then, you
[12:22] know, Vinnie or Gonzalo or whoever get on the end of
[12:24] something and you know, we can, we can get that, that, that goal
[12:28] to win. But I feel like the will of
[12:31] certain players is what it's going to like, do they care more
[12:34] and enough and have a will to win more than the Barcelona
[12:37] collective? That's what's going to going to
[12:39] be the difference maker for us. I don't know.
[12:40] We'll see. It'll be interesting.
[12:43] It's it's they have a lot of will.
[12:44] They have to cover the flanks better, that's all.
[12:46] You can't cover the flanks like you when you get beat.
[12:48] Eventually, when they beat your press, when that second-half of
[12:51] the Classico comes back like it did last time, can you survive?
[12:55] That's the big question. And we got, listen, we got
[12:57] merchant, they got merchants Rafina and and Lamine on the
[13:00] wings is a problem, right? And it's and then look, he's
[13:04] old. But fucking Levandowski, like he
[13:07] does the right thing in terms of here's how I occupy center
[13:10] backs. Here's the like he he knows what
[13:11] to do to get our defenders out of position, right.
[13:14] So, and if Rudiger's hurt and doesn't play that that match and
[13:19] Houston's got to play or something else, or we got to
[13:20] Moose Carreras there and trouble, trouble, trouble,
[13:23] trouble. I am curious to see how it works
[13:25] for Gonzalo because like, he's not as good with the ball at his
[13:28] feet. And we saw some, we saw a
[13:30] mistake from him outside the box against Athletico, too.
[13:33] But it's going to be interesting because Avapi has broken their
[13:35] line 100 times every time and there's always going to be a
[13:39] different type of presence. I'm curious to see how it goes.
[13:42] Fingers crossed, fingers crossed.
[13:44] We're rooting for, we're obviously rooting for success.
[13:46] We'll see how it plays out. Just looking at the end of this,
[13:50] you know, talking about luck, Liverpool have taken 4 points
[13:53] off Arsenal this season. Biggest bullshit like like they
[13:56] just bullshit at both those games.
[13:57] They didn't do anything first game they got away with it one
[13:59] nil and people thought they'd be good.
[14:01] Today though I will say only .57 expected goals for Arsenal .36.
[14:06] So they didn't do a Byron where you just get overwhelmed and I
[14:12] mean they went to the Emirates like nil, nil.
[14:14] So, yeah, I will say some decent stuff there.
[14:18] But you know, I just feel like that whole thing is an example
[14:21] of like this whole Arsenal city race draw.
[14:24] I just think is a great like advocate for some of the
[14:26] underlying numbers. Like City have not looked so
[14:29] great this season. And they, you know, in any
[14:32] reasonable world, they regress. They regress this fast.
[14:34] Liverpool started the season like they won four in a row just
[14:37] bullshitting and then they regressed.
[14:38] And Arsenal have been solid underlying.
[14:41] You don't see games where they concede a lot of expected goals
[14:44] or chances at all. And you know, I know it's nil,
[14:47] nil today, but I hope Arsenal win that Premier League, man,
[14:49] they deserve it. They, I mean, they're arguably
[14:53] the best defensive side in all of Europe, right?
[14:56] If not the best defensive team in the world.
[14:58] They're so good. The question only is how high
[15:00] they rank in history at this point.
[15:01] Gerard, let's be honest, just watching football like peak
[15:05] Simeoni Athleti, peak Mourinho, Inter, Chelsea and now you get
[15:09] peak Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool the way they closed,
[15:12] but this team is like the Liverpool with like a little
[15:14] more defensive solidity, a little less often and.
[15:17] They're how great they are, they're so elite.
[15:20] Depending. You're right, it is.
[15:21] It's all time. Where do they rank all time?
[15:23] Their question to me and their stealing of what?
[15:25] And I think the that'll be fine to win the Premier League.
[15:27] I do think they win the Premier League.
[15:29] What I wonder, though, is that in the Champions League, in
[15:32] those knockout rounds, not now though 'cause they'll qualify
[15:34] top, whatever and all that, but it's knockout time and you have
[15:38] to make that move. Like, yo, we got to step on the
[15:40] gas because we need a goal. Like, or do they play?
[15:43] We're just going to keep doing our thing and we'll play for
[15:45] penalties. I don't know.
[15:46] I think Kai Havert makes an impact if he's when he's fully
[15:49] healthy in the second-half of the season.
[15:51] It's been a lot of Victor Gilcrez upfront, who's I don't
[15:54] think he's in the knockouts. Don't doesn't look like it, but
[15:59] but but but and look, I'm not we're not Arteta fans in terms
[16:02] of like, you know, what his lineage is, but it would be in
[16:05] such a feather in his cap. And it shows you like how hard
[16:09] it is to win and how you learn and you keep adapting and
[16:12] changing and tweaking and right to get to get it right.
[16:15] So this would be a nice, you know, culmination for Arteta, if
[16:18] they're able to see it through. I, I like Arsenal a lot as a
[16:21] comp to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
[16:22] They're just so, so similar ball pressure driven organizations
[16:27] like entirely like pressure the ball, be an athlete, beat fit,
[16:30] lock in. Everything comes from there.
[16:32] And in a, in a sense, like Saka's, like their Shay Gilgus
[16:34] Alexander, the star attacker who needs more help, frankly, for
[16:38] sure. And I think Arsenal actually
[16:40] have the same issues as OK C in that when you play a certain
[16:43] caliber of defensive team or individual who can disrupt your
[16:46] offense, in OK CS case, someone like Ramban Yama, in Arsenal's
[16:50] case, you can see it like some of these games get close 'cause,
[16:54] you know, it goes back to I think defense has a ceiling in
[16:57] terms of how good it can make you be.
[16:58] And I think Arsenal embody that. And if they win, it's special.
[17:01] I'm happy for them. I think they have enough talent
[17:03] to win like as they all those other guys are good for sure.
[17:07] Arsenal's a very good team. I think they have enough to win,
[17:10] but I'm just saying like the it's kind of like OK C where
[17:13] they could have great years multiple, but they might
[17:16] actually have these random games and big moments where they can't
[17:19] create advantage because their whole way of creating advantage
[17:22] is destruction and defense, which doesn't always work.
[17:24] And and in particular, when you're talking about a team like
[17:27] OKC in the NBA, NBA is an 82 game regular season.
[17:31] So they're going to go through periods and stretches where they
[17:33] just they're not bringing it every night because you
[17:35] physically can't right, like right now, right like and and J
[17:38] dub something about this after the match.
[17:39] She's like, we've won so much and now we do stuff like normal
[17:43] teams do. Everybody's like, Oh my God, the
[17:44] world's ending, right? And it's like that's the reality
[17:46] of it, right? Like they're not going to go 82
[17:48] and O like that was never the goal.
[17:49] The goal is to be the best team at the end, right, to hold the
[17:52] big trophy up you go, you know, you have a little dulge where
[17:56] you lose, where you go six and four or seven.
[17:58] OK, it happens, right, Like, but overall, like, do you have what
[18:02] it takes to win? I think again, the pieces are
[18:04] right on in both those cases for them to do that.
[18:07] Yeah, I'm, I'm, I will say I'm hired on Arsenal just 'cause I
[18:10] don't see the field in football as strong as basketball right
[18:12] now. Like there, there aren't too
[18:14] many really good teams. Like Man City is a great example
[18:16] and let's get into them. Yeah, yeah, Like they're mid.
[18:20] They they were so mid when they came to the burnabout.
[18:22] I think I said like if this garbage team wins the Premier
[18:24] League, it's a joke of a. League we and we made them look
[18:26] so good. Yeah, no, but they also look
[18:29] trash. I remember Ali messaged me after
[18:31] the game. He's like 2 trash teams.
[18:33] I'm just like and I'm just like, hell yeah.
[18:36] Not wrong, not wrong. But yeah, they're mid table
[18:40] bullies and I think I think it's cool.
[18:43] It's just vindicating. Yeah, I think the I think the
[18:46] second and third teams, like there aren't as many gods.
[18:48] Like Holland is great, but this City team I think is wrong
[18:52] below. And also I think the writing's
[18:54] on the wall where they know they can't just go sign the guy that
[18:58] can take him to the next level because other guys want them,
[19:00] like Jude. And so I think that might be why
[19:03] Pep knows it's over. Like I just don't see Pep
[19:05] winning two or three in a row without crazy investment and
[19:08] Arsenal are here now and Liverpool are spending more than
[19:10] when he got here. It's a really competitive time.
[19:13] And also, Sid, just the reality of inertia.
[19:16] Pep's been there a long time and even though the team players
[19:19] have cycled through and all that, the message is getting
[19:22] stale. He's getting stale, right?
[19:24] Like is a reason. It's just over time.
[19:27] You're like, all right, man, like I, I need a break from this
[19:29] and rethink, do something different.
[19:31] Maybe he decides all right, the only thing he hasn't done right
[19:34] is a World Cup as a as a manager, right.
[19:36] So does he decide to pick some nation?
[19:37] I don't know which one. I mean, I doubt he goes.
[19:40] I mean, I doubt he does anything but Spain, right?
[19:42] Like, so he waits till Del Bosquez out of there and like,
[19:44] he takes over Spain and then, you know, guides them to their
[19:47] next two World Cups or euros in the World Cup, I don't know.
[19:51] Yeah, the World Cup is the big thing for him for sure.
[19:54] I just find it interesting because I feel like he kind of
[19:56] topped out and hit like what he is as a coach sometime this
[19:59] decade. Like this whole decade, he's
[20:00] been a certain type of coach. And from there, I feel like City
[20:04] just went more and more defensive with the personnel.
[20:06] They peaked with the treble, but they just haven't been able to
[20:09] get the Dobrinas. The David Silva's.
[20:11] David Silva was ridiculous. Turkey could be phenomenal and
[20:14] he may never get close to David Silva's Premier League legacy.
[20:17] Well, that's the thing, right? Is that you're talking about
[20:20] players that are all timers, right?
[20:21] And someone can be Uber talented but never be as good as Kevin
[20:25] Dubroyer. That's no knock on them.
[20:26] Kevin Dubroyer is an all time midfielder.
[20:28] Like that's all. It's like you're not an all
[20:29] timer. It's OK.
[20:31] Look, you can still be a elite pro when not an all timer.
[20:34] It's just how it is. If everybody was an all timer,
[20:37] then football would look different.
[20:38] It's just not right. Some players are just extra
[20:40] special. And yeah, Turkey could be really
[20:42] good and just never reached the Bruna levels, right?
[20:45] Doesn't mean he's bad. But Man City, when he came here,
[20:48] I will say Jerrod, they were the first project that could have
[20:50] really and like could really be like, we have a coach, we're
[20:53] going to back and you come in, you fit in we and we also pay
[20:56] you like ridiculous oil money. Now there's just so many teams
[20:59] like Arsenal, like they got Declan Rice.
[21:01] Declan Rice chose to go to a team that hadn't won over Man
[21:03] City on purpose because you don't want to be a bandwagon
[21:06] guy. And I think now I think like the
[21:09] next Declan Rice, they just don't feel confident they can
[21:11] get him anymore. It isn't I I think the Premier
[21:14] League is brutal too. So I will commend him.
[21:16] He's won what, 7 times in 10 years or something and won.
[21:18] Five in a row, Like he's ridiculous.
[21:20] I mean, that's look, we have our issues with Pep because of the
[21:23] Barcelona, obviously, but he is arguably the greatest football
[21:29] manager we've ever seen, right? And you know, Carlo would have
[21:31] something to say about that because all the Champions League
[21:33] titles, but like Carlo 8 never won five straight Premier League
[21:36] titles. Before it was 4.
[21:37] Right. Or 4, Four in a row, four
[21:39] Premier League titles, right. So I mean.
[21:42] The four or. Five.
[21:44] I forget he's six. OK, I I got.
[21:44] It wrong. He doesn't have seven, he has
[21:46] six. OK yeah, yeah.
[21:47] No, that's 'cause I I said 7 for.
[21:49] North Korea. So yeah, Pep's incredible.
[21:52] And also, you know, he his style and his pep ball, for lack of a
[21:57] better term, right? Like obviously from the Johan
[21:59] Cruyff school, right? And then evolved into into what
[22:01] Pep does that has influenced a whole generation of coaches,
[22:05] right? Like, whether we like it or not,
[22:07] that's the reality. It is, it is.
[22:09] And I will say, though, you said the message is getting tiring.
[22:13] Listen, it was tiring last year and then they spent 400 million
[22:16] to get back up to like third place.
[22:17] So but the reality is their 400 million didn't get them a first
[22:21] place team, which is why I think they're look that's probably
[22:24] looking inside. He's he's he's calling agents
[22:26] and they're like, my guys don't want to play for you.
[22:27] We know you're retiring soon. Which and you know what he could
[22:31] probably do with a break anyway, you know, like just take a take
[22:34] a year off and just like, you know, enjoy the beach and what
[22:37] not and then figure out, OK, am I going to be, you know, the
[22:40] next the next person after Douglas?
[22:42] I dare him to go somewhere else in club football.
[22:45] I dare him. I don't.
[22:46] I know he won't, but I triple dog dare you, pet.
[22:48] We want to see what you do with different money.
[22:50] I mean, he's he's won in Bundesliga, he's won in Laliya,
[22:54] he's won in premier. I mean, there's no.
[22:56] After Enrique, well. That's like a step down as a
[22:58] league though, right? There's no, there's no club
[23:01] Football League that is better than the leagues he's he's won
[23:04] in. So he's done everything at the
[23:05] club level. It's time to now at the at the
[23:07] national level. Can he win a World Cup?
[23:09] That's what I think. Agreed, I'm just weird in that I
[23:12] always find it like he's always evolved and I would I always
[23:14] find it interesting. Like could he maintain the same
[23:16] level the next 10 years? And just knowing him he's
[23:19] wondering that too. But.
[23:20] Yeah, he's a competitor for sure.
[23:22] Well, everyone, thank you for joining in.
[23:24] That was a fun little casual preview of Barcelona and just
[23:26] talking about a couple games from yesterday and we will be
[23:29] back talking about the big game. You.
[23:32] Will you be there, Jerrod on? I will.
[23:33] Sunday, yeah. Super Cup.
[23:35] Yeah. Yeah.
[23:35] Yeah, I hope we get to troll Barcelona fans and laugh.
[23:38] I hope. I just like, look, I don't think
[23:43] it will because I think our players have like got realize
[23:47] that we have to fight and can't get embarrassed.
[23:49] So I don't think it'll be four or five or five nil or like how
[23:52] it was 51 and those kind of crazy things like how it was
[23:55] last year in the Super Cup final, which was disgusting.
[23:58] I just hope we, you know, come with the requisite fight and we
[24:02] get some bounces to break our way.
[24:05] Yeah, well, with that, we will wrap this episode up.
[24:07] If you guys like this podcast, please like, subscribe, leave a
[24:10] comment on Spotify, Apple, leave us reviews, tell your friends
[24:14] any support you could use. We would love it.
[24:16] We're working on expanding the show to give you guys everything
[24:18] you want. Thank you all and talk to you
[24:19] later.

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