# Liverpool 1-0 Real Madrid Postgame Breakdown

An episode of [The Real Deal: A Real Madrid Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1807821669), 4 Nov 2025, 50 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/103607aa8/podcast/play/110703148/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-10-4%2F410612271-44100-2-8c576dcd7648c.mp3

Loconte and Sid breakdown Real Madrid's defeat at Anfield.

## Transcript

[0:00] Well, that was a man that really sucked the life out of my
[0:06] Tuesday. That was a tough game.
[0:09] Like Conte, how are you doing after that game at Anfield?
[0:12] Good thing I went to bed. Yeah, yeah.
[0:17] No, you you do get to go to bed after this.
[0:19] Good for you. Good for you.
[0:21] Because I'm sleepy and it's still 415.
[0:24] I'm sleepy, man. It's still 4/15.
[0:27] I have other stuff to do and I'm just like, wow, they got me real
[0:32] sleepy. Yeah, going to hunt you for a
[0:35] couple more hours. I mean, we knew we'd get like
[0:44] probably like a decent Liverpool just going off their weekend
[0:47] game, they put something together.
[0:49] But unfortunately, we got the best Liverpool performance of
[0:53] the season and we're just here, you know, left picking up the
[0:58] pieces, explanations, the mistakes, the character, the
[1:02] learning. We got to come here and kind of
[1:05] make sense of it all. Like what?
[1:06] What did we learn from that game?
[1:08] But well, I guess for starters, you know what, what, what did
[1:12] you expect from Liverpool? Like, did you expect Liverpool
[1:14] to be ferocious to press us? What did you think?
[1:17] I thought of that, but I expected Little Lions to be far
[1:20] apart. Like they were very congested on
[1:22] this game, like an actual team. Not like we've looked so far.
[1:27] Like I expected them to leave a little bit more spaces.
[1:30] I think Alonzo might have too. But really shocking to Hubble
[1:36] put tactically they were on this game to be honest.
[1:39] Like all credits are on a slot for pulling such game off.
[1:46] Yeah, very credit to him for sure.
[1:50] What where do you, where do you start?
[1:52] Like I guess with our line up, we have the Classico 11 and we
[1:58] we want the defensive coverage all over the pitch, the
[2:01] one-on-one ability. But we we still struggled a lot
[2:06] defensively in the first half. Is that because Vinny's not
[2:09] tracking, tracking Connor Bradley?
[2:11] That's something you pointed out, a lot of people pointed
[2:13] out? Or is that because we can't
[2:16] handle a man to man high press? I mean, it's a combination of
[2:20] everything. Personally, what I saw in the
[2:22] first half, like the two glaring weaknesses that I saw from the
[2:26] team were definitely weeny no tracking Connor Bradley at all.
[2:30] Like just giving him all of that space, Which then in fact got
[2:34] due to the left side, which kind of rotated the between the the
[2:38] axis between the lines for Liverpool.
[2:40] And also our inability to really deal with the way how Florian
[2:45] Words was moving and penetrating our midfield.
[2:48] Like those were my 2 keynotes of the first solve.
[2:52] Yes, watching words kind of find space and time was really sad
[2:58] just because the whole team, the whole time there has been oh,
[3:02] words can't do anything. And then now he's in the spaces,
[3:05] he's he's dueling our big midfielders, he's winning balls,
[3:08] he's fighting for the ball. Yeah.
[3:11] So 1st 10 minutes of the game, they press really high, they try
[3:16] to unsettle us. We settled down for 5 minutes
[3:19] maybe, but then they just press for the rest of the half.
[3:23] There's two moments where like there's the moment where Jude
[3:26] gets the ball in front of their goal.
[3:29] There's a moment where a Guler is found by Camo Vinga randomly
[3:32] in front of their box. So there are moments when kind
[3:36] of like the Appletti game where it was 2 two in the first half
[3:39] where you're like, oh, they might be pressing us, but we
[3:41] also find chances at the other end.
[3:44] And what was the chess match you saw there in the first half?
[3:48] Was it? What were the big things you
[3:50] think we're going? I felt that from minute 10, kind
[3:54] of like when Liverpool started losing a bit of their fruit
[3:58] because they came, came very aggressively until around the
[4:02] 30th, like I would say until that VR check for the penalty on
[4:08] against Germany. I felt that we did well overall
[4:13] to contest them. At the very least.
[4:14] It felt more like a 5050 game and a game that can swing.
[4:18] We were finding Venetius a lot more.
[4:20] We were accessing those lines still lots of trouble.
[4:24] Felt that they they're not confident enough to push very
[4:27] high. So it was a bit disjointed, as
[4:30] you said, like it was a Hail Mary of Kama Vinga to find Arda,
[4:34] but then Arda is kind of like bamboozled.
[4:38] It's a bit of, it's a mix of everything, but it's a baggage
[4:42] that I just didn't expect from the team.
[4:44] Like even going back to the line up, I don't necessarily think
[4:47] that the line up was the worst. It's not that, oh, now this line
[4:51] up is not going to work in big games.
[4:52] Narrative that's going to be pushed, but some adjustments
[4:58] needed to be made, which I don't think were at one point in time.
[5:03] Yeah. What, what big adjustment do you
[5:05] think could have been made? It made during the first half or
[5:08] you think there was nothing we could have done and you have to
[5:10] kind of ride out the wave because I was of that belief.
[5:13] I was just like, ride it out 68 minutes, see what you can do.
[5:17] Is there something you think could have changed in the first
[5:19] half? I mean, Alonzo did change
[5:22] immediately going into the seven old because normally I would
[5:24] have just gone order a little bit wider and let Kama Vinga
[5:27] kinda deal with words. Maybe if he's not going to stop
[5:31] the space, maybe he just spider tackles him a few times, but
[5:36] that would maybe have been but the Latin log.
[5:39] Then Andrew Robertson overlapping like there are a lot
[5:43] of things that just could have gone wrong.
[5:45] Maybe we're fixing the worst issue, but then hey, we're
[5:49] opening another kind of worms by giving a Robertson more space.
[5:53] So generally with the first all felt it went well.
[5:58] Alonzo started to say it all as I said with Ardan right in 2
[6:01] minutes and he went like Nope not going to work so he roverted
[6:06] back to hard on the field. Yeah, yeah, I'm going through
[6:11] the expected goals. It's really interesting
[6:14] actually. At halftime it was only .5
[6:19] expected goals each, I believe, which is pretty crazy.
[6:23] Like it's, it's not even I'm shocked actually looking at that
[6:28] .5 expected goals each and yes, Liverpool had created more
[6:33] danger than us at that point, maybe double the danger.
[6:36] They were near our box more. But that's crazy to me that and
[6:40] I, I think I could feel that too.
[6:41] Just at halftime, Courtois had made that big save stepping up
[6:46] on Ekitiki. But and then after that Sobo's
[6:50] lie, I think got a couple shots off, but even a half I didn't
[6:54] feel like Liverpool had capitalized on their dominance.
[6:57] So, you know, even if we don't play well, you sometimes you
[7:00] can't change that. You don't have a great half
[7:04] against a great opponent away from home.
[7:07] But even with that happening, like they only have half an XG.
[7:11] And I guess that's where the next, you know, 20 minutes or so
[7:15] are just shocking. Like from minute 45 to minute
[7:18] 60, that was the worst stretch of the game, the shocking bit.
[7:21] So I mean, you said he changed something.
[7:24] What did you what do you think he changed?
[7:25] Because whatever he changed didn't work.
[7:26] Obviously, it was pretty. Bad.
[7:28] I mean, I think we should credit Arnash lot more because
[7:32] Liverpool started attacking our left hand side a lot more
[7:35] because, well, Vinnie was on tracking and that's why he was
[7:39] taking off against Barcelona to begin with.
[7:41] That's the reality of Vinnie's stories of our like yesterday
[7:44] I'm on a podcast speaking about how great Vinnie is and today
[7:47] I'm here criticizing. So now I'm a hater, but for the
[7:50] most part, yes, to your point of the shots like Liverpool had
[7:54] volume on the 1st hole, but not really dangerous shots on the
[7:57] 2nd hole. Besides that are nothing.
[7:59] You didn't feel that we changed anything.
[8:01] Then Vini started stepping up on Connor Bradley a little bit
[8:04] more, but still not enough. Liverpool kept access in those
[8:08] spaces and only one. We feel that as a Screener
[8:12] Germany, he just had too much in his plate and before we jumped
[8:17] on our show, I was checking the quotes after the game.
[8:19] Think this worth noting because this came on the strides that
[8:22] you spoke about. It's the unnecessary false that
[8:25] we kept giving away is the Chuomeni 1 is the Bellingham
[8:28] one, which ultimately turns into a goal conceded.
[8:32] Typical talk criticize that he went like sometimes we give up
[8:36] unnecessary false. What do you think of that?
[8:39] Do you do you think that that's been a trend or is is that this
[8:44] game only because they kind of felt lost so they needed to
[8:48] start doing something so they were fouling.
[8:52] You're talking about our players, right?
[8:55] Because. I'm talking about like us
[8:57] falling as a team, like giving away fouls, especially in the
[9:01] spots. 'Cause they, they did a good job
[9:03] fouling in smart areas too. See that that's interesting,
[9:07] 'cause I'm, I'm watching that, that one foul, I don't know what
[9:12] to make of it because yeah, like you said, Vinicius had just
[9:14] started tracking Bradley around that time and I, I think the way
[9:20] Liverpool are playing, I will say they were putting a lot of
[9:24] pressure and when, when you allow a certain amount of
[9:27] entries into dangerous areas, you are going to foul in those
[9:30] dangerous areas one way or the other.
[9:34] That foul, I, I don't know what to make of it in the sense that
[9:38] they, they, they just made a good read, a good run like
[9:41] football, such a low margin game, like 1 precisely timed
[9:45] action near the box can just induce A foul.
[9:49] And from there it's how you handle the situation.
[9:53] That's why set pieces are getting so big, because you
[9:56] know, you can just play a long ball into a dangerous situation
[9:58] and ask a question. So I don't, I don't know what to
[10:02] make of that. The main thing I'll say is like
[10:04] in the moment that foul is made, it feels like something should
[10:07] have changed for 10 minutes by then, Like it was just too late.
[10:10] You're just wondering, like, are we settling for a draw?
[10:14] The momentum of the game was going against us anyways at that
[10:18] moment. So I, I, I guess like, I'm
[10:21] surprised something didn't change before that.
[10:24] But to be honest, we deserve to concede if, if we're really
[10:27] going there, like we gave up those entries in the first half
[10:31] anyways. And the fact that something like
[10:33] that didn't happen in the first half, maybe we're slightly
[10:35] fortunate. It was really fortunate to be,
[10:39] especially with the start of the second-half as they're ramping
[10:42] up like they're getting shots on target.
[10:44] TV is having to constantly save shots.
[10:47] They're coming from dead ball situations as you said.
[10:49] How big is a piece or even along the sword yesterday about the
[10:52] importance of them and how we have to improve as a team with
[10:56] those. Generally we have to improve on
[10:59] both ends outside defending them and attacking them.
[11:03] So that's one area to improve for the team.
[11:06] But as you said, the momentum was just completely against us.
[11:09] Alonzo reacted a little bit late.
[11:11] Interestingly enough, it was only Brahim Diaz at one point
[11:15] warming up, which raised my concerns.
[11:17] As you saw on my Twitter, I went like why isn't Rodrigo consider
[11:20] that's a left winger, that's a right winger.
[11:23] Sorry on this line up with this current situation because
[11:26] normally I'm more of a talent over profile type of guy wants
[11:31] the momentum has to swing. So if you want to swing it at
[11:34] least use a talented disposal. Well Rodrigo proved me wrong
[11:39] because every touch felt wrong. It felt very out.
[11:43] He couldn't really go at Robertson, generate some space,
[11:47] bring his teammates in. One thing that I really want to
[11:52] note is Mbappe sometimes when he doesn't get enough touches for a
[12:00] certain period, he seems to forget just how freakishly
[12:04] athletic he is and the fact that he can hold players off.
[12:08] You could see that in some duels, even on the first half,
[12:11] even the start of the second-half, MAPE was very
[12:15] disjointed with what he was he wanted to do with the ball.
[12:19] Sometimes all what he needs is a drive or an ability to use your
[12:23] speed to accelerate away from the defender and open a bit of
[12:27] lane for other players to enter. He wasn't doing any of that,
[12:30] which he's been excellent at doing this whole season, but
[12:34] tonight that just felt absent from his game.
[12:38] Yeah, it was. He didn't get on the ball too
[12:41] much to be honest. Like I will say like as Vinny's
[12:44] grown into games and Guler and so on, Ababi has good games, but
[12:49] like, you know, a lot of the on ball stuff from him.
[12:51] I will say it, it does feel like a way to just keep him engaged
[12:55] too in that, you know, even those games where he does a lot
[12:59] of those actions, the the play making doesn't always, it
[13:02] doesn't always land up on someone's foot.
[13:05] And you could say the same even with Vinny.
[13:06] I will say he Vinny was like he looked dangerous when he got on
[13:10] the ball, but there's still situations where he could easily
[13:15] be crossing it earlier to Mbappe, getting him those
[13:18] cutbacks at the edge of the box and he's not urgent enough in
[13:20] finding him. Yeah, it's just like, I will say
[13:25] this though, it, it's very different to a bad game under
[13:29] Carlo because I, I, I, I just think like all these small
[13:34] things about the system. That's one whole convo about
[13:37] like what did Alonso do wrong? The other thing is this is just
[13:40] a group of players who, when they go down in a game, are
[13:43] still executing a system and not just going for the game.
[13:47] That feels weird to watch because under Carlo, fine, maybe
[13:51] the structure would break and we'd concede more and we'd go
[13:53] down. But on the flip side, yeah,
[13:58] exactly, exactly. Today, though, I think what
[14:01] really disappointed me was like, even before we conceded and
[14:05] immediately after we conceded, it's like they're playing better
[14:08] than us. Is there a way to change this?
[14:10] And I just felt like the players were still thinking.
[14:13] There was a moment where true and many picked up the ball.
[14:16] Carreras was wide open calling for it.
[14:18] And he just looks around, doesn't even see him and like,
[14:21] makes the wrong pass. I'm just like, guys like, at
[14:24] least play urgent fast. They don't like think, do you
[14:28] think that's, I mean I think that's obviously a growing pain
[14:31] from maybe the Alonzo system. What do you do you think that's
[14:35] what it is as well or what would you, what would you call all
[14:38] that? I fall in between.
[14:41] I think that sometimes they execute it well, like against
[14:43] Barcelona, for example, where they feel comfortable.
[14:46] It's once that adversity hits them that they seem to kind of
[14:49] lose that calmness and composure to stick to the plan, which is a
[14:52] new plan and a new thing for them.
[14:54] So expected, like even with the Kama Vinga turnovers, right, he
[14:59] felt that he's just not picking the right player to play that
[15:04] fast. It happened three times before
[15:06] he got subbed off where he made a mistake with the ball despite
[15:09] having the space because it's trying to rush the attack.
[15:13] And there were times that Valverde was just playing it
[15:15] back and very safe. It's just the way how the
[15:19] players are perceiving it. It felt that Valverde is more
[15:22] sticking to the plan. Let's rotate, let's play with
[15:25] the ball, let's try to see and trap them out.
[15:28] While Kamavi, you know, we went to that uncholi thing of like,
[15:32] hey, you got to push the ball forward.
[15:34] It's not really we don't have anything to do here.
[15:38] This team is already settled, so we have to swing something.
[15:41] And because not all of the players are now responsive to
[15:45] such things, it just created a disoriented team overall to be
[15:49] able to handle the adversity of going 1 nil down.
[15:54] Yes, yes, for sure, definitely. And I mean, another moment that
[16:00] stood out was when Rodrigo, you know, he had the ball in the
[16:04] second-half. There was a moment he's
[16:06] dribbling from right side to left, looking around and he to
[16:10] be honest, he should have just laid it off to Trent and then
[16:12] kept going. But he just drove it into
[16:14] traffic, tried playing a pass through three Liverpool players
[16:16] to Mbapi. And that's the moment when I was
[16:19] just like, you know, you, you have an idea.
[16:23] Maybe you have something Alonso's told you of like what
[16:26] you should be doing. But you are you just get you
[16:30] you're you're just not able to execute it in that moment.
[16:32] You're you let the pressure get to you of the moment of Anfield,
[16:35] like of being one nil down, of having this thirteen wins and 14
[16:40] or whatever record we have and having to preserve it.
[16:44] Yeah, I I'd say like we could have turned it around
[16:47] tactically, but kind of like the Athletico game.
[16:50] The only disappointing thing was just a feeling that, you know,
[16:53] we're not going to turn it around you.
[16:55] You just had a feeling, just the speed with which he was bringing
[16:57] on the Subs, not having someone like Enrik out there, you know.
[17:01] And yeah, I'm not sure I see why Rodrigo, like he hasn't played
[17:05] on the right all year, like he doesn't add anything on the
[17:07] right. I mean, I think yeah, normally I
[17:12] would not have played Brahim, but ultimately if I go back to
[17:16] that sub and if Alonzo was back to the top, I think he picks
[17:19] Brahim over Rodrigo. But as you said, it's very
[17:26] similar feeling to the athlete game where it feels that
[17:29] something is missing. The ideas were there.
[17:32] If you think of the Subs right, Rodrigo to spreads over where
[17:35] they can get into the midfield to break the axis between the
[17:38] lines and we we can keep a higher and more intense press,
[17:41] which I think that at times it did work to give us the ball.
[17:45] It forced them into some uncomfortable passes going
[17:48] forward. But then if you go to the Subs,
[17:53] right, Trent comes in for our regular because he does not want
[17:58] to lose that LastPass at any moment.
[18:00] Even though Arthur felt that he was already asleep and that he
[18:03] came and done, he just didn't contribute a lot.
[18:06] He still kept him in for that one moment, for that one through
[18:10] pass, for that. Oh, maybe we'll be able to
[18:12] recycle it a little bit. Alonzo just banked on the idea
[18:16] that maybe Liverpool were going to bite, which they did not at
[18:20] all. Yeah, they, they didn't.
[18:24] And man, just looking at this chart, though, it's still so
[18:27] disappointing to see like 90% of the damage happens between
[18:31] minute 45 and 60 when they score.
[18:34] And then they they do a good job managing the game.
[18:38] They are they do a good job passing it side to side and kind
[18:42] of just attracting our press, not letting the game get played,
[18:47] but at the same time not letting the game get played in their
[18:50] half. I should say in that Van Dyke
[18:52] did a good job with some tactical fouls on him.
[18:55] Boppe Yeah. And they were all very far from
[19:01] the box, like not even near the box.
[19:03] He he was trying to take care of him.
[19:04] Boppe before he even had a chance to arrive.
[19:07] That was some good defending. Got to give him credit.
[19:11] Just the right mix of, you know, like my handle is tactical
[19:13] fouling. You have to, we have to give
[19:15] credit to good tactical fouling on the show.
[19:17] Yeah, One thing that I'll give, I even tweeted it in the
[19:23] morning, I think you even agreed with it, was how we were going
[19:26] to deal with Hugo Kitika, because normally our center
[19:29] backs are very proactive. They want to get front.
[19:32] And that was the one center forward where you go like, OK,
[19:35] this guy can pin you and he was pinning Militao constantly.
[19:39] And that's how words was getting into those spaces.
[19:43] And not the best individual on the ball or really productive
[19:50] performance from a #9 but for as long as he's able to allow you
[19:53] to execute that plan the same the way how he did, really had
[19:58] soft time like those are not going to throw on the stats or
[20:01] anything. It just didn't let me let out be
[20:03] that aggressive self to intercept the ball and push us
[20:06] forward in the transitional period.
[20:08] It just stopped that completely. Yeah, yeah.
[20:12] And it's interesting because Salah didn't even have a good
[20:16] game. He he didn't really do much and
[20:20] yet it didn't matter because I could.
[20:22] TK is like the star of their offense now.
[20:25] He has the most gravity. Salah still has good gravity.
[20:28] But yeah, just no, Trent, he wasn't seeing the ball as much.
[20:31] But I agree with that. It's it on Trent's note comes on
[20:39] late Trent that Trent right hand side with Trenton Rodrigo coming
[20:41] on to try and save the day. I thought it was funny that
[20:46] Trent ended up being there in that situation because Arda
[20:48] played such a bad game. And we'll talk about Arda in a
[20:51] SEC. But you know, it's just funny
[20:53] that he ended up in a hostile environment as the like guy
[20:57] thrown on to try and turn him around.
[21:00] Though it again, it feels like even when he got on the ball,
[21:04] just more of the same, like just shy.
[21:06] He he wasn't going for the hero pass.
[21:07] He didn't come on and everyone's running towards the box.
[21:10] You know, they were just trying more of the same.
[21:12] Obviously he's been out months. I'm not expecting anything
[21:14] fancy, but it's just it is a little strange to just see Trent
[21:19] and Rodrigo get minutes chasing that game.
[21:21] Trent in a role in his role, but Rodrigo in a role he's not used
[21:25] to. Why not Enrique in that role in
[21:28] the Rodrigo role? Why?
[21:30] Because Hendrick's more athletic.
[21:31] Like I would. I just want an athlete there.
[21:33] I don't want Rodrigo there. I don't think given what we were
[21:37] trying to do versus Valencia, Hendrick felt fits that right
[21:40] hand profile a little bit more of the runs.
[21:44] I value athletism a lot and Hendrick I guess very young,
[21:49] nothing of training sergeants even under Alonzo for him to
[21:53] consider him under those circumstances.
[21:55] I get that point. But maybe this is a wake up call
[21:59] of you got to train him. You actually have to train him
[22:04] for such moments where he can bring a little bit of chaos,
[22:08] dribbling, running into the channel, all of that.
[22:11] A little bit of everything can just mean something for the
[22:16] team. Yeah, yeah, Articular another
[22:20] game struggling to be Cruz or Modridge.
[22:25] It's a little too much to expect that from him, and it's just
[22:29] obvious that he can't like control these games as much.
[22:32] He can. He can decide them, but he can't
[22:33] control them from top to bottom. Thoughts on Arda's performance?
[22:40] I mean, Arda was quite a bit off, I'm not gonna lie, at least
[22:45] not the game that Arda really decided to show up, started the
[22:49] game with that over dribbling again and lost the ball, which
[22:52] caused the first danger of the game really.
[22:55] And then he just try to do that bicycle kick clearance, I
[22:59] believe, or pass on our penalty box for some reason.
[23:04] Like that's one thing that stuck to me and just never getting
[23:09] there, never being available, always being a one step short of
[23:16] execution, didn't impose himself.
[23:20] Do I think if we're putting Cruise mother's expectations on
[23:24] him very early, I don't want to put the kid through those.
[23:30] But if we want to be honest about Arthur's Blair, I think he
[23:35] has potential to grow a lot more, but he needs to be more
[23:40] imposing. He needs to be more confident
[23:43] when he gets the ball in those areas.
[23:45] I think he has the quality. I don't think he has the
[23:48] confidence to trust himself to do some of the things that
[23:51] Alonzo and I and A lot of people believe that he can do.
[23:55] Wishes, needling the pass, getting out of press via O1
[24:00] twos, combining with these teammates, always giving them a
[24:02] pass in upfront, getting them out of trouble.
[24:05] Like all of these things or the hazardous locker.
[24:08] Just feel that he's a bit too shy or not confident enough in
[24:12] big games to actually execute them.
[24:15] Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense.
[24:18] So anything else on your mind here?
[24:22] I'll be honest, I, I, I'm just, I just feel like this is a game
[24:26] where Alonzo has to look at the game film from minute 45 to 60
[24:31] and just figure out how, how can I make sure like we get the
[24:34] momentum? It's just like Athletico, like
[24:36] you, you got to the halftime a little bit lucky to be even.
[24:40] Why aren't you? Why aren't you building on that?
[24:43] Why is it just getting worse at halftime?
[24:46] And also just yeah, I think in general, just changing momentum
[24:50] in the second-half is something as long as I'm struggled with
[24:53] because all the emphasis has been about like controlling the
[24:56] game from minute 1. And so we've definitely like all
[25:00] season, just had some trouble the back last 30 minutes of
[25:03] games, even the Classico like that Kunde chance that came out
[25:06] of nowhere. It's they they're sometimes
[25:09] struggling to maintain that concentration for the whole
[25:11] game. And I think that's for the
[25:15] coaching staff to figure out. But like, you know, you need to
[25:17] be more proactive earlier. And having Trent back is nice.
[25:21] Like having that option for another playmaker other than
[25:23] Arda and Trent could just change everything.
[25:26] But yeah, what do you any, anything major that we missed
[25:29] out on or what would you talk? Talk to the team.
[25:32] If you're given a team talk. I think that it's nice to have
[25:38] the Butler list not right back to begin with.
[25:41] He plays the right back position as a midfielder.
[25:44] I'll always stand on this unless he has that long space open to
[25:49] him where he can drive forward, back.
[25:53] Remember how's he done? And Angelotti used to use him
[25:56] like kind of like that right winger, central midfielder type
[25:59] of role, which was a hybrid. Unless he has those spaces to
[26:02] run into well over the right back, he's just not doing it for
[26:07] me, at least on the setup, feels that touches are heavy, switches
[26:11] are very slow. The player that is going to
[26:14] receive has already been closed because he's taking a bit too
[26:19] long to be able to do that. So yes, one of The thing is the
[26:22] fact that Trent is going to come back because even this 5 version
[26:27] of him, that's not all there that we have seen pretty much on
[26:31] every game. So the Majorca one that I keep
[26:34] referencing, even that version of Trent is just not going to
[26:38] allow that to happen. You saw that carry that he did
[26:40] today, for example. It didn't lead to anything
[26:43] because he tried to get it on the penalty box.
[26:45] But that's something that Valverde just wouldn't try to do
[26:49] because he's not really thinking about it as a right back.
[26:53] He's more like a midfielder, more of like OK, I've got to
[26:56] protect this ball, maybe play it a little bit softly.
[26:59] While with Trent you'll get a little bit more dimension with
[27:02] the ball, a bit more play making and those attackers can or
[27:06] midfielders can be found a bit quicker to accelerate the
[27:09] transitions which is a huge part of our game.
[27:12] Yeah, yeah, for sure. And Trent also makes it where
[27:18] even if one of your players is slow on the ball, you can kind
[27:21] of design the circuit where it ends with him.
[27:24] And I, I, I think we can afford some slowness on the ball.
[27:29] But like, like people forget how bad Castamero was on the ball.
[27:32] I still think like the way they talk about true and many, but
[27:35] you can't have too much of it for sure.
[27:38] Like there's only so many players that you can have that
[27:40] are weak links. And, and yeah, Trent has to be
[27:44] on the pitch to make up for all those weak links.
[27:46] It seems Arda makes up for a lot in the final third, but I I
[27:50] think we have our answer as to why Alonzo doesn't play him
[27:53] super deep all the time. Like he he's just not like a
[27:56] dominant deep controller necessarily.
[27:58] And but another thing is that we see a high pressing team, big
[28:05] team can subdue us. And like, you know, like some
[28:09] people didn't want to talk about how Barcelona were injured, but
[28:12] they were injured that game. That's why they couldn't come
[28:15] back in the second-half. We still have work to do to
[28:17] string out like dominance over both halves in a big game.
[28:20] I think we have some work to do there, and especially against a
[28:23] team that can press us, that'll match us physically, that still
[28:27] has some technical players like Sobosli, like they're no
[28:30] slouches. And then after that, it's a
[28:32] basketball game. And then it's like, even with
[28:34] all this talent, we don't get any big advantages in that game.
[28:38] Like, we don't end up dominating a big part of those games
[28:40] because, you know, the other team denies access to Mbappe a
[28:44] little bit. They get their guys on the ball.
[28:47] We still have some deficiencies that we saw today, essentially.
[28:50] Yes. I mean, we had already
[28:53] previously mentioned that this team is still figuring itself
[28:56] out with the ball. It feels that without the ball,
[28:59] they've gotten a lot better across the time and I think that
[29:03] Alonzo has gotten the team against the ball in respectable
[29:09] position, if not great. I would lean towards great more
[29:12] than respectable. But there are a few instances
[29:15] where we do show our deficiencies.
[29:17] But overall, a lot of improvements need to happen.
[29:21] For example, that Jude dribble in the middle where he beats
[29:25] McAllister, You can see the huge Jude there because he waits.
[29:31] He waits for Mboppet to get the perfect time.
[29:33] Yes, Mboppet does not put it away, but you need to generate
[29:38] chances like that on constant level.
[29:40] It shouldn't be a one off where your player needs to be two
[29:43] players. You need to understand that I
[29:47] have this player with X quality, let's just say Jude Bellingham
[29:50] here, who can rotate, can pass the ball, can switch, or can
[29:54] needle it through. Why am I not using that passage
[29:57] a little bit more? Well, right now it's the plate
[29:59] safe because Jude positions in between.
[30:02] So a Jude turnover likely Braves the shape.
[30:05] But you have to trust your players a bit more and I don't
[30:09] think Alonzo currently does with the ball.
[30:11] And that's why we're seeing this meet a lot of midfielder,
[30:16] midfielders line up. We're going back to that over
[30:19] alliance to get in the bolt of Vini on the wing because Vini
[30:22] can just get it to the penalty box.
[30:24] Like we're going there, maybe Hail Mary a long shot or Mbapa
[30:29] can just do Mbapa things to get us a goal.
[30:32] And then game opens up and that's when we feel a lot more
[30:35] comfortable, feel that the game state still haunts us a little
[30:39] bit. The nil nil, the being at
[30:42] disadvantage at times depends on the team, but that Lady was most
[30:47] certainly one where they just couldn't figure it out.
[30:50] Not enough trust on themselves, not enough trust given by the
[30:53] coach. And I think sometimes maybe just
[30:57] letting it off the rails and just push them forward with the
[31:01] ball, playing it in more dangerous areas like Dean Housen
[31:05] seems to be like the only player really attempted them.
[31:08] Sometimes it's not going correctly though.
[31:10] We got to mention that. Yeah, no, they, they don't know
[31:13] how to accelerate play all the time.
[31:15] That's just as simple as that. Yeah, because the there's no
[31:19] cruiser mod Rich who could effortlessly increase the volume
[31:22] of touches and dribbles and carries and still progress the
[31:26] ball and make it all look effortless and everyone knows
[31:29] what they're doing. It's a lot to ask, no, no doubt.
[31:33] And without that, when they try to speed up play, sometimes they
[31:36] look completely lost, like they need someone to give them a
[31:40] circuit or something. And yeah, I think, yeah, I still
[31:43] think Trent's the solution, but a long way to go.
[31:46] And yeah, it's just funny because.
[31:49] And. And that's why being five points
[31:51] ahead in the league at this stage is so important.
[31:52] Just you. You just need to buy time and
[31:55] space for experimentation, for help.
[31:58] And yeah, I guess where are we in the Champions League table
[32:01] now? Is there?
[32:03] Should be 4th, 3rd. Champions League, yeah.
[32:12] So we are fifth now and we're behind Inter.
[32:18] Inter are are right ahead of us, but Inter have to play one more.
[32:22] Yeah. Yeah, still some ways to go.
[32:25] We play Man City next month. Yeah, that one definitely hurts.
[32:28] But I think if there's one thing I like about this format and
[32:33] where it guarantees you play these games, it is good practice
[32:36] to play these games now and you learn a lot.
[32:39] Yeah, I think that was one thing.
[32:40] Watching the game, I was just rolling my eyes.
[32:42] I'm like, oh, yeah, we're going to lose.
[32:43] And like, I'm going to go on the show and rationalize it, and
[32:46] then we're going to win in April and none of this night literally
[32:50] won't matter. And you know, I'm not paid the
[32:53] six figures to figure out the exact nuance.
[32:55] That's where Alonzo, but you know, like it's just that's why
[32:58] he's paid the big bucks. He takes heat on a night like
[33:00] this. But it's just a learning
[33:01] session. I would call it a learning
[33:04] session, though it and even if we don't get there this year,
[33:07] like the you kind of have to play some games where things
[33:10] don't go well, see what went wrong?
[33:12] Like you need more proof Arda can't play in deep areas.
[33:15] You have that today, you know. More of like there was too much
[33:21] that they just from today enough lady losses for Alonzo feel that
[33:25] sometimes the team is going back to these like you mentioned of
[33:30] classical should have been a game put to bed very early, but
[33:33] it wasn't. Then we retreat and we go with a
[33:37] potential of Tutu. If Kunde just takes another
[33:40] decision then what he took. So it's not the most comfortable
[33:45] spot, but again, 2.5 points in La Liga that gives him a bit of
[33:50] edge. We play right by Ikano, who are
[33:54] Alex first versions of Liverpool and Barcelona, if you want to
[33:57] call them that with their high press intensity.
[34:00] It's an away game, so that's one to keep an eye out to see how
[34:06] Alonzo is going to take the film of this game.
[34:11] And I just said because he's he's not going to get a game
[34:15] where a team is going to sit on a low block on the weekend,
[34:19] that's for sure. Then he has another
[34:21] international break to figure things out.
[34:23] International breaks have tendencies for being important,
[34:26] especially on such cases. More time for film, more time to
[34:30] improve. I just, I really don't know,
[34:36] Sometimes we look better with form for midfielders.
[34:39] Sometimes it feels that you need that right winger.
[34:44] This team just really needs strength.
[34:47] And actually Trent, I know that for some people this might sound
[34:51] insane, you know, the lack of minutes that Trent has had due
[34:55] to the injury, but I'm taking Trent as a profile layer and
[34:59] this team needs it if it wants to function properly.
[35:03] It just needs. Yeah, no, we see that today.
[35:05] Big game, high pressing team, Guler struggles, then there's
[35:09] just not enough talent to get the ball to the attackers
[35:12] without him. Just brief rival watch as we
[35:16] wrap up. Like Byron, PSG, that was a
[35:19] crazy eventful game. From what I'm saying, Luis Diaz
[35:22] tried to murder Ashraf Hakimi or something.
[35:27] And some people were saying, that's not a red.
[35:29] I'm like what? Well, so Luis Diaz obviously had
[35:32] some personal vendetta against PSG and Hakimi, I don't know
[35:35] what he was sent off at half time.
[35:36] I think he scored a brace before that.
[35:39] And then yeah, PSG could not survive.
[35:43] But did you did you catch any of that game or anything you.
[35:47] No, not really. Like I didn't get I was just
[35:49] going by my timeline at whole time.
[35:51] PSG looked pretty toothless and that full time when we were
[35:54] preparing for the show, I was just reading the fact that
[35:56] Bayern was able to win down PSG even with that man pretty well.
[36:02] So yeah, I mean, can we quote Alonzo's press conference
[36:06] yesterday? He said teams that are bad now
[36:08] might be incredibly great a few months after.
[36:11] Same thing that was said about Liverpool for example was said
[36:15] about PSG last year where they looked pretty bad to start the
[36:19] season but as the evolution went on they just won the Champions
[36:23] League. At the end of it.
[36:25] Yes most of the teams are not going to have PS ES luxury with
[36:30] Legon and the talent on that team so it's not the best
[36:34] example to take. But also, I still think it's way
[36:37] too early for us to draw a conclusion which team is good
[36:40] and which team is bad for the Champions League.
[36:44] Yeah. I mean, I think all those, I
[36:46] think both those teams are great and it was just a heavyweight
[36:50] clash maybe. I think those two in Arsenal are
[36:53] the best teams and I think we're below them.
[36:55] I think we are in like a tier one.
[36:58] Yeah, I think, I think we're the tier just slightly below PSG,
[37:01] Byron and Arsenal right now. Just cohesion and everything
[37:04] like that. Those teams get what they want
[37:07] in games a little more. And so just always keeping an
[37:10] eye on them. I think there's very few worlds
[37:13] where PSG and Byron are not dangerous just because of how
[37:15] easy their leagues are. Like they're just going to be
[37:17] there like they're they're definitely going to be there.
[37:21] And just think the Bayern PSG rivalry going back to the Club
[37:26] World Cup, like just the way company plays, if it works, like
[37:30] they will cause PSG problems. Like he he's just in a more
[37:34] attacking mold than Enrique. And again, when you go head to
[37:38] head in a game like that, that could just lead to the wildest
[37:40] outcomes. And you could even get
[37:42] embarrassed like and in the Club World Cup, Bayern could have won
[37:47] that time head to head. So that's what I was going to
[37:50] say. I had Bayern as the better team
[37:52] on the Club World Cup, but the just the results swinged against
[37:56] them. At least that was my view of the
[37:58] of the of that performance. Yeah.
[38:01] Yeah. I don't really know.
[38:02] I would imagine that PSG should have dominated most of the
[38:05] metrics. From the looks of things they
[38:09] did. Bayern got away with the win.
[38:11] That's what it looks like. 20-5 shots, 10 on target for PSG,
[38:15] only 9 for Bayern, 4 on target, 65% possession.
[38:19] But I'm just happy yeah, Byron got the win.
[38:22] Just puts more stress on PSG in the Champions League standings.
[38:26] I think Byron are just scary too.
[38:29] Like I think company is a very good coach.
[38:32] He's he's just like Hansi Flick, Enrique, Guardiola, all these
[38:36] clubs that want to play dominant football are going to want him.
[38:39] Byron extended him already for a good reason, because they know
[38:42] that finding 1A coach like him like, like they didn't have a
[38:46] coach like him for what, like 8 years.
[38:49] But after Guardiola, like all the coaches that came through,
[38:53] maybe Hansi Flick was the only one who, who came close to
[38:56] Guardiola at the time. And so I, I, I'm just keeping
[39:00] tabs on them the whole season. And also just for you to know,
[39:04] like a lot of our viewers are interested in breakdown to these
[39:07] other teams, you know, just you keep your friends close, but you
[39:11] keep your enemies closer. Closer, yeah.
[39:13] Yeah, yeah. So that's why I'm.
[39:15] Probably going to play one of them pretty soon.
[39:18] Yeah, I mean, it's, it's just them and Arsenal, I always do
[39:22] this every fall where I'm just like they're 3-4 good teams and
[39:25] you know, you're you might see them.
[39:27] And every year we always end up seeing those teams.
[39:30] Like we always end up in the quarter final, semi final, like
[39:32] we're never going to be at the group stage exit.
[39:34] So, you know, we're going to see them and yeah.
[39:38] And you know, these, there are a few teams that don't lose to
[39:40] anyone but each other. And like, you just know who they
[39:43] are at some point. I think Bayern are there.
[39:46] Yeah. Bayern and PSG.
[39:48] To give Bayern that credit, sixteen wins in a row, that's
[39:52] incredible achievement. I'm going to have to be honest,
[39:55] I don't care if people want to throw Bundesliga, whatever you
[39:58] want. Sixteen wins in a row is
[40:01] absolutely incredible. And today was the first goal
[40:04] that they conceded on the Champions League and it came
[40:07] against PSG away with dead man. Yes and Leonard Karl also is
[40:13] looks really good. That young guy they got we got a
[40:16] super chat. Actually, I got to bring it up
[40:18] on stage. Javi is responsible.
[40:22] He uses a different system with different players every game.
[40:24] There are no automatisons. Today was a tactical loss it's
[40:27] on Javi. I mean, on some level I don't
[40:29] disagree that like he tells the players what to do, he gives
[40:33] them constraints. And it felt like they were
[40:36] playing with the hand brakes on like Athleti, like they, they
[40:38] had an idea and instead of trying to just do something
[40:41] different, they never went towards their instincts.
[40:43] They just kept repeating ideas that what they saw on the
[40:46] training ground. That I completely agree with.
[40:49] But the only thing I'd say is you do have to allow for some of
[40:53] these if you want to achieve what job he wants, which is like
[40:56] total control. And I think you do need some of
[41:00] these. How many of them is the main
[41:01] question? Like I guess that's something
[41:03] Lecante, like how many times does this happen until you get
[41:07] worried? I think for me, it's a time
[41:09] thing. I think you almost allow it.
[41:11] Like most of the first season, you're going to get a few of
[41:14] these here and there. We could get one in January.
[41:16] It's just the how teams struggle with the ball sometimes.
[41:19] But what do you think? Always said the end of the
[41:23] summer is when I'm going to go back to this and say yes.
[41:26] I do agree with the general point along with Stingers a lot
[41:30] with the system, a lot with the way how he wants the team to be
[41:33] shaped on the bench, because some of the instructions are
[41:37] really consistent if the players are not.
[41:41] So the players that he chooses for starting 11 are not.
[41:45] So that's one of the things. Not everybody has still got him
[41:49] full grasp of what Alonzo wants to do.
[41:52] And I think that it's going to go or evolve to a point where
[41:57] Alonso on the team, we're going to meet whole place.
[42:00] And I think that's when we see kind of like the peak of the
[42:04] team because there's a lot of talent here that, as you said,
[42:08] sometimes it just feels like they're being constrained that
[42:12] needs. So Alonzo needs to find a way
[42:15] of, okay, how this theme can function on a system, but the
[42:20] talent is going to be at disposal and they can swing the
[42:24] momentum, kind of like how Angelotti used to do.
[42:27] Because going back to Angelotti, the Carlo time is something that
[42:30] we can't forget. Lack of structure was very
[42:33] obvious, but the ability to swing the momentum, usually
[42:37] those individual players cannot really go away.
[42:39] And that's something for Alonzo to also learn and watch.
[42:43] It seems that he's watched a bit too much film of last season.
[42:47] I mean, on my eyes. What do you think about this?
[42:49] Because he feels that he's trying to correct every little
[42:51] thing that we have done wrong last season.
[42:54] Like that's my perception of it so far.
[42:56] That or I think we've had periods like even this game,
[43:01] there were moments when we just started like fixing them in
[43:03] their half again. And I think the, the players
[43:07] have a level of quality where it's deceptive, where you, you
[43:12] sometimes assume you can achieve more than you really can.
[43:16] And maybe a game like today, like, or, or maybe you, you
[43:21] assume you can dominate a game when your goal should be just to
[43:24] win it. Like look at the Classico.
[43:26] We dominate the expected goals, but we barely win because
[43:30] there's a phase of the game that they're able to kind of box us
[43:33] in again. So I, I just wonder if sometimes
[43:37] like, because he sets up for domination, he misses the forest
[43:41] for the trees. And I, I, I see it more as like
[43:44] a little bit of just overconfidence, like in, in
[43:48] terms of we can pin them in their half, keep the ball and
[43:53] let things play from there. And I think from the film he's
[43:57] seen, even this season, there have been a lot of moments where
[44:00] we're not playing the best in a game, but because the default
[44:03] mode setting has been very slow and low, we can kind of keep the
[44:08] tempo of a game at in our control.
[44:10] So I think he is obsessed with achieving that in every big
[44:15] game. Athletico, Barcelona and now
[44:17] this Barcelona are also kind of obsessed with being the
[44:21] protagonist of each game. So that worked in our favor.
[44:25] But yeah, I, I just think like, I think if your goal is to
[44:29] dominate like a game very effectively, minute zero to 90
[44:33] against these big teams, you might have moments where it goes
[44:37] horribly wrong and you have to be less ambitious.
[44:41] So, yeah, maybe he has seen all the film and he's seen all the
[44:44] players and he knows what he can do.
[44:46] And so he's trying it now because he knows he's going to
[44:48] get there. That's possible is the way I
[44:51] would say. Yeah, and also this league thing
[44:54] of the Champions League is less punishing to you for trying
[44:58] things out during this period than having it figured out for
[45:01] the knockout stages. So not the worst thing, but
[45:06] yeah, feels maybe for me, but it feels that right now we're
[45:11] really dependent on setting those traps up for the team to
[45:16] facilitate those transitions, those quick switches in place.
[45:21] The tempo setting just needs to be better and the way how they
[45:26] circulate the ball On the final third example, we didn't see
[45:30] much of Jude and Orla pin in their center bags.
[45:33] Why not? Like this would be one of the
[45:35] questions that I would ask alone.
[45:37] So like, why not? Why didn't Orla and Jude push to
[45:41] their center bags and allow and bop it to be kind of like that
[45:45] corner in the middle of that four with the pivots behind two
[45:50] players spinning and Mboppe like this?
[45:53] Why we didn't see more of that? Like why did you revert to
[45:57] keeping Mboppe the way how you did and then when it wasn't
[46:03] really working and Mboppe just shifts to the left where
[46:06] Venetius is? Like there are a few questions
[46:11] that really should be asked all along the whole, I think wishing
[46:16] he would need to address publicly if the journalist went
[46:20] in that direction because I really want to know why no more
[46:24] pinning from or than Jude. Like kind of like that was the
[46:27] brilliance of that setup and just diminished.
[46:33] I would trust Valer that to hold his own personally as a coach, I
[46:36] would say that I would trust Valer that to hold his own for
[46:39] certain periods of time as a right back against Laurian Wurtz
[46:42] and Andrew Robertson. And I would trust Militao to
[46:46] make the correct read the times of so many.
[46:51] So I really want to know why he opted not to use that at all.
[47:00] Like not at all. Especially from the 10th to the
[47:04] 5th minute. Those are the minutes that I'm
[47:05] going to say were our positive minutes.
[47:08] We didn't see any of that. And look, if you have a center
[47:14] back like Dean Howson, who wants to constantly break lines, like
[47:20] he needs to tone that down as well, but he wants to constantly
[47:23] break lines and get vertically, why doesn't that use more?
[47:29] Why do we need to be settled on a constant shape for 45 minutes?
[47:37] Because you don't trust your players enough or because you're
[47:40] overconfident on your plan that you're going to trap Liverpool
[47:45] at some point and Mbappe and Vinnie are going to be released
[47:48] and decisive enough, or that Liverpool are going to fall trap
[47:52] of that? I just don't know what the
[47:55] answer to that is. It does feel like the plan is
[47:58] sometimes like attritional, like, hey, we're just going to
[48:02] like we're going to not let them do anything.
[48:03] You don't let us do anything. And then, yeah, if we win the
[48:06] ball back, our attackers are going to do a better job with
[48:09] the taking care of the final third entry and just taking
[48:13] advantage of the situation better than yours.
[48:15] One last question that we'll use to tie it up here.
[48:18] Predictions for our game against City.
[48:20] We won't get into it really would just say, I'll just say
[48:23] like they're in an interesting spot, like they're they're like
[48:26] like us. I think less talented than us,
[48:29] but still talented. And they have a lot of good
[48:32] things going on in possession. And I think they're struggling
[48:36] to find the balance, especially in big games in and out of
[48:39] possession. So I think that's a it's a good
[48:42] litmus test for both teams. And I think we're both like
[48:46] flawed in different ways. I think we will be better this
[48:48] season, but we are flawed and you know, if Alonzo gets it
[48:51] wrong we could lose that game. So that does take on an
[48:54] interesting complexion after this.
[48:57] Profile wise, though, it should be much easier than this one if
[49:00] Alonzo is going to stick to those basics that we're saying
[49:04] because the defense and the athleticism of Manchester City
[49:07] is definitely not to the level of Liverpool.
[49:11] If we're going match up to match up, I would say City is going to
[49:15] be an easier game to navigate through it with our talent.
[49:19] So I think the talent is going to be what's going to swing that
[49:22] game for time being. But yes, a good litmus test for
[49:26] both teams to see where they are.
[49:28] Yeah, yeah. All right.
[49:29] Well, we're going to wrap it up here.
[49:31] You guys like the show, leave a like leave a comment, subscribe.
[49:36] If you're on Spotify or Apple, definitely leave a review and
[49:39] comment there. We're working on expanding a lot
[49:41] of things, but just stay tuned. It's a day by day process and we
[49:46] will see you guys on Friday. Yeah.
[49:49] Thanks guys. Bye.

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