# £500m to spend in the Premier League(M4A_128K)

An episode of [Footbal Beyond the Pitch](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6821032841), 15 Oct 2026, 23 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75801331/utf_8_q_c2_a3500m_to_spend_in_the_premier_league_m4a_5f128k_m4a.mp3

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## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the inaugural Tifo Football Manager Premier
[0:19] Speaker 1: League Fantasy Draft, where we set our Tifo experts against
[0:23] Speaker 1: each other in brutal FM combat to find out who's
[0:27] Speaker 1: the best.
[0:28] Speaker 2: What's the fantasy draft?
[0:30] Speaker 3: Well, each player is given 500 million pounds, and with it,
[0:34] Speaker 3: they take it in turns to assemble a 16-man squad. Now,
[0:38] Speaker 3: for this tournament, they can only pick from this season's
[0:41] Speaker 3: Premier League players, and then it's a cup competition. Two-legged
[0:44] Speaker 3: semis and a final. So let's meet our contestants.
[0:47] Speaker 2: Who knows best?
[0:48] Speaker 3: Me.
[0:49] Speaker 2: Author of Football Manager Stole My Life. Alex Stewart, who
[0:53] Speaker 2: was literally the BBC's Transfer Deadline Day football manager expert.
[0:58] Speaker 2: JJ Bull, who has real-life coaching badges?
[1:01] Speaker 4: Or Joe Devine?
[1:03] Speaker 2: Let's find out.
[1:07] Speaker 4: My strategy is to win. It's also to definitely beat
[1:11] Speaker 4: Alex Stewart, the expert. Pretty sure I can do that.
[1:13] Speaker 4: I think I've worked out what the kind of meta
[1:15] Speaker 4: of Football Manager this version is. I'm going to try
[1:17] Speaker 4: and use those tactics, which are going to be sort
[1:21] Speaker 4: of 4-4-2, 4-2-4, quite direct.
[1:23] Speaker 5: It's tournament football, so I am going to be prosaic.
[1:28] Speaker 6: I learned my lesson from the last time that we
[1:33] Speaker 6: played a football manager game here at TIFO. So I'm
[1:36] Speaker 6: going to try hard this time. And as a result,
[1:39] Speaker 6: I've decided I'm going to play three at the back.
[1:40] Speaker 6: I feel like these chaps out there are going to
[1:42] Speaker 6: play attacking or fluid formations.
[1:44] Speaker 7: I'm going to try and choke things up.
[1:46] Speaker 2: I'm going to use the same tactic that I've used
[1:48] Speaker 2: with Sunderland and with Schalke on other athletic articles, which
[1:52] Speaker 2: is basically a 4-3-3 fluid counterattack.
[1:55] Speaker 4: Joe Devine tried to set an alliance with me earlier on.
[1:58] Speaker 4: I'm going to try and steal most of the players
[2:00] Speaker 4: he wants in his team.
[2:01] Speaker 7: I'm informed I do have a successful alliance with JJ.
[2:04] Speaker 7: So that's useful. Only a fool would enter a competition
[2:07] Speaker 7: like this. without an alliance.
[2:08] Speaker 5: People like James Ward-Prowse are really important.
[2:11] Speaker 4: I really, really want James Ward-Prowse. I really want him
[2:13] Speaker 4: in the middle, especially for corners and free kicks and that.
[2:16] Speaker 2: The secret sauce is James Ward-Prowse because he's so good
[2:19] Speaker 2: at set pieces and everything is built on set pieces.
[2:22] Speaker 2: I need every margin here. So probably going to make
[2:25] Speaker 2: a bid for him very, very early, as long as
[2:28] Speaker 2: Alex doesn't. James Ward-Prowse.
[2:33] Speaker 6: Oh, you f * * * ing.
[2:34] Speaker 8: B * * * * * *. F * *
[2:35] Speaker 8: * ing s * * *.
[2:37] Speaker 4: The only one I really wanted!
[2:39] Speaker 2: Absolutely livid. Harry Kane.
[2:43] Speaker 4: Toony.
[2:45] Speaker 7: Trent Alexander-Arnold, please. Kevin De Bruyne adjoining Joe Rovers. Wilfred Ndidi.
[2:51] Speaker 4: Robbie O'Neill was coming.
[2:52] Speaker 5: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, please.
[2:54] Speaker 8: I should have picked him on the last go.
[2:56] Speaker 5: I thought no one was.
[2:56] Speaker 8: Going to have him.
[2:58] Speaker 4: Ruben Diaz, please.
[2:59] Speaker 7: Ruben Diaz. Already gone.
[3:01] Speaker 1: Is he?
[3:01] Speaker 7: Yeah, I think he's gone. Oh, you mother. You took
[3:05] Speaker 7: him from me.
[3:06] Speaker 5: Rhys James. Gareth Bale.
[3:08] Speaker 4: He's not there.
[3:09] Speaker 5: Why not?
[3:09] Speaker 2: David De Gea for 11 million.
[3:11] Speaker 8: Don't take him, please.
[3:13] Speaker 2: David De Gea.
[3:14] Speaker 8: The draw is Alex versus JJ.
[3:32] Speaker 4: Oh, wait.
[3:38] Speaker 8: That's me and you.
[3:43] Speaker 2: So overall, I think that went pretty well. I'm using
[3:46] Speaker 2: pretty much the same formation I used with Schalke on
[3:49] Speaker 2: the FM Bundesliga challenge on the Athletic, which is a
[3:52] Speaker 2: little bit lopsided. You have your overlapping wing back out
[3:56] Speaker 2: here on the left while Wan-Bissaka keeps it tight and
[3:59] Speaker 2: he provides insurance because Zaha's going to move up there.
[4:01] Speaker 2: Everything pivots off Kane and then you've got this sort
[4:04] Speaker 2: of triangle of energy in the middle. We always want
[4:07] Speaker 2: to be positive and looking to make chances right from
[4:10] Speaker 2: the start. I've tried to keep it fairly simple. We're
[4:13] Speaker 2: big on set pieces, not as big as we'd be
[4:15] Speaker 2: if we had James Ward-Prowse, but I'm reasonably happy that
[4:18] Speaker 2: I've got what I need. Quite what Joe Devine is
[4:20] Speaker 2: going to come up with, though, is anyone's guess.
[4:23] Speaker 6: I'm chastened by the defeat in our last Football Manager episode,
[4:27] Speaker 6: so I'm taking this one a little bit more seriously.
[4:29] Speaker 6: And as a result of that, I found a tactic
[4:31] Speaker 6: online that I've downloaded to use with my team. Now,
[4:35] Speaker 6: I have to say, I was quite pleased with the
[4:36] Speaker 6: way that the draft went. I have most of my
[4:39] Speaker 6: first choices here. I tried to select players that I
[4:40] Speaker 6: thought the other chaps wouldn't select. And I went for
[4:43] Speaker 6: players like Alexander-Arnold and De Bruyne fairly early on so
[4:46] Speaker 6: as not to miss out on them. I've also gone
[4:48] Speaker 6: for three at the back because I figure that that
[4:50] Speaker 6: might catch some of them by surprise. And also, you know, taking,
[4:54] Speaker 6: I suppose, a little bit of advice from what happened
[4:55] Speaker 6: in the real Premier League season, the one just gone,
[4:58] Speaker 6: three at the back seem to serve. some teams rather well.
[5:01] Speaker 6: Although you'll see up here there's this rather unorthodox sort
[5:03] Speaker 6: of attacking square. I'm informed that this works relatively well
[5:06] Speaker 6: because we're a high-intensity team with a series of instructions
[5:10] Speaker 6: for in-possession, a series for in-transition, and a series for out-of-possession.
[5:18] Speaker 4: You join us here in the stadium where the yellow
[5:22] Speaker 4: team is playing against the black team. I believe the
[5:24] Speaker 4: yellow team belongs to Ian McIntosh.
[5:27] Speaker 2: Good luck, Jack.
[5:29] Speaker 7: Um, yes. To you also, old man.
[5:33] Speaker 4: Pace to speed, he's beyond the last man. Oh my,
[5:35] Speaker 4: this could be an awful chance. He's in, 1v1 with
[5:37] Speaker 4: the keeper and he's made a miss.
[5:38] Speaker 7: He missed it! No!
[5:42] Speaker 4: Alexander-Arnold with the not particularly great attempt at a tackle
[5:46] Speaker 4: and he's let Sterling go by and he's opened up
[5:47] Speaker 4: his foot, curled into the corner. My word, what a goal.
[5:50] Speaker 7: I mean, what happened to my defence?
[5:52] Speaker 2: I'm worried about your goalkeeper's positioning now.
[5:55] Speaker 7: He parted them like Moses in the Red Sea, Ian.
[5:58] Speaker 2: Raheem Sterling, man. He was only like pick 13 for me.
[6:02] Speaker 7: I actually tried, you know.
[6:04] Speaker 2: Could I use one of my timeouts, please? I just
[6:06] Speaker 2: need to go to set pieces and defensive set pieces. Corners. Okay,
[6:16] Speaker 2: can I move that defensive midfielder who's on go forward
[6:20] Speaker 2: on the penalty spot? Can I put him to stay back, please? No,
[6:25] Speaker 2: stay back all the time. And the same on left corners.
[6:28] Speaker 7: What is the point.
[6:29] Speaker 6: Of this game?
[6:30] Speaker 2: Because that's how you got me.
[6:31] Speaker 7: This game is so stupid.
[6:34] Speaker 2: That's my.
[6:35] Speaker 7: Boring.
[6:36] Speaker 8: Boring.
[6:37] Speaker 7: Play the game. When's the game playing? Oh, we're playing
[6:40] Speaker 7: the game.
[6:41] Speaker 5: Here we go.
[6:42] Speaker 4: It's on to Ruben Neves. That's a great ball to
[6:46] Speaker 4: progress the play. And now Mendy's in a bit of
[6:48] Speaker 4: space on the left. Fantastic work rate to get back
[6:51] Speaker 4: by whoever that is. Ruben Neves plays the ball back
[6:53] Speaker 4: into Mendy though. He's causing trouble.
[6:55] Speaker 7: Yes!
[6:57] Speaker 4: Yes! Yes! Yes!
[7:03] Speaker 6: You're old.
[7:04] Speaker 7: You're an old man. Oh, I'm a young man. Full
[7:08] Speaker 7: of vitality.
[7:10] Speaker 2: That's just mean.
[7:11] Speaker 4: Joe Devine's team. Wan-Bissaka's back on the ball. Now he's
[7:13] Speaker 4: got chances in the middle. And Sterling finishes with a hitter.
[7:17] Speaker 2: You get beaten by Sterling in the air.
[7:20] Speaker 7: In front of the goalkeeper.
[7:21] Speaker 1: Wow.
[7:22] Speaker 7: Do you know I'm this close to taking my goalkeeper off?
[7:25] Speaker 2: I would be this close to having him shot.
[7:27] Speaker 7: De Gea was supposed to be on my bench. You know?
[7:32] Speaker 7: And you got him in your team.
[7:33] Speaker 2: I believe he was only 10 million.
[7:35] Speaker 4: But yet to really challenge the goalie, as far as
[7:37] Speaker 4: I can remember.
[7:39] Speaker 7: Taking it in. And that would challenge the goalie.
[7:41] Speaker 2: No, I thought that was away.
[7:43] Speaker 7: Away.
[7:44] Speaker 2: Away!
[7:44] Speaker 4: F * * *.
[7:45] Speaker 2: Not away like that.
[7:47] Speaker 7: I'm playing it out from the back.
[7:48] Speaker 2: I see that.
[7:49] Speaker 7: It's very cultured.
[7:49] Speaker 4: It is.
[7:52] Speaker 7: Look at this. And then I'm knocking it long.
[7:54] Speaker 2: What's your runner?
[7:56] Speaker 4: Right.
[7:57] Speaker 7: So much space. There's so much space.
[7:59] Speaker 2: He's on his own for about 10 minutes.
[8:01] Speaker 7: Tell you what, Benjamin Mendy was a good pick. Thanks
[8:02] Speaker 7: for telling me about him.
[8:04] Speaker 6: Well, for my halftime team talk, I want to tell
[8:06] Speaker 6: people to dig in and give everything you've got left
[8:10] Speaker 6: tonight because we deserve to win this match. So let's
[8:13] Speaker 6: go and do it.
[8:16] Speaker 7: Can I make a substitution?
[8:17] Speaker 6: I'm going to hook that keeper. No, that seems like
[8:20] Speaker 6: a mistake. That seems like something the old Joe would do.
[8:22] Speaker 7: I'm not going to do that.
[8:23] Speaker 6: I'm going to sub Jamie Vardy and I'd like to
[8:25] Speaker 6: bring on Teemu Pukki, please. My secret weapon from Finland.
[8:29] Speaker 4: Sun manages to take it on. There's lots of passing.
[8:31] Speaker 4: No shooting. Mendy tries, but it's blocked. There's too many
[8:33] Speaker 4: bodies in the way. Mendy comes back. Hurls it in
[8:37] Speaker 4: with his right foot, but it's cleared by Virgil van Dijk.
[8:39] Speaker 4: Chance now for Kante to Robertson.
[8:41] Speaker 7: It's blocked. Oh, that is rubbish.
[8:44] Speaker 4: Now, come on, Gabriel.
[8:45] Speaker 7: We're still one down. We have to salvage this.
[8:48] Speaker 4: They move the ball around quickly. They found some space here.
[8:50] Speaker 4: Pukki may be in.
[8:51] Speaker 9: He's somehow in the middle. Two open chances. What do
[8:56] Speaker 9: I have to do? Can I just make a point
[8:58] Speaker 9: of saying that this is what they say in football,
[9:00] Speaker 9: isn't it? The chances you create, you can only create
[9:03] Speaker 9: them for the team. If they don't take them, it's
[9:05] Speaker 9: their fault. Why aren't they doing it?
[9:10] Speaker 7: For a novice. What have I done wrong? What's happening
[9:12] Speaker 7: that's wrong?
[9:15] Speaker 2: Conceding more goals. Okay, I would like to change my
[9:18] Speaker 2: mentality from positive to defensive, please.
[9:22] Speaker 7: I think that happened earlier, if we're being honest.
[9:24] Speaker 2: I'd like to swap out Ross Barkley for John McGinn.
[9:28] Speaker 7: I think you should have done that earlier. Did you
[9:29] Speaker 7: actually start Ross Barkley ahead of John McGinn? I did.
[9:32] Speaker 7: You're from 2013, aren't you?
[9:34] Speaker 2: And then sub off Zaha for Brian Gill.
[9:38] Speaker 7: Hmm. It seems like I have a hill to climb.
[9:43] Speaker 2: And then... In possession, could I go for time wasting frequently?
[9:51] Speaker 7: That shouldn't even be in the game.
[9:54] Speaker 2: Time wasting to max, please.
[9:55] Speaker 4: What?
[9:57] Speaker 7: This is some BS. Now listen, I need to make
[9:59] Speaker 7: some changes too. Alliance.
[10:01] Speaker 1: Alliance.
[10:03] Speaker 2: Alliance.
[10:04] Speaker 7: What do I do, Alliance?
[10:05] Speaker 2: I don't know.
[10:09] Speaker 7: Are you breaking the alliance?
[10:11] Speaker 4: No, I don't know what to do.
[10:12] Speaker 7: Very attacking, please.
[10:14] Speaker 4: Okay?
[10:16] Speaker 7: Thank you. Is that the wrong thing to do?
[10:19] Speaker 2: It has mixed records of success. Let's put it like that.
[10:22] Speaker 4: Alexander-Arnold on the overlap rescues that ball because it was awful.
[10:26] Speaker 4: It's a low ball to De Bruyne. And again, what
[10:29] Speaker 4: a save by De Gea.
[10:31] Speaker 7: This is, this is, this, this, the game's against me.
[10:36] Speaker 7: Now quick release, release, release.
[10:39] Speaker 4: Why? Why? Why?
[10:41] Speaker 7: There we go.
[10:41] Speaker 4: No. Canty and Kane link well Phillips now to McGinn
[10:47] Speaker 4: what a ball that is for Brian! Brian!
[10:53] Speaker 7: This is the hill I die on.
[10:54] Speaker 4: As we can see again move of the ball from
[11:00] Speaker 4: John McGinn really makes that goal.
[11:02] Speaker 2: Flat dash football Substitute to substitute Well guess what your
[11:07] Speaker 2: players did it on the day and mine are going
[11:11] Speaker 2: to the dungeon.
[11:12] Speaker 4: He's got space Sun's joining in A low ball to
[11:15] Speaker 4: the box. It's going to be the last chance.
[11:17] Speaker 7: Fernandes pumps it.
[11:18] Speaker 4: Oh, De Bruyne. He's missed.
[11:22] Speaker 2: Don't know how that hasn't gone in.
[11:23] Speaker 7: What am I supposed to do? This is ridiculous.
[11:27] Speaker 2: Play it backwards.
[11:28] Speaker 7: This is like blatant time wasting. Where's the ref? Have
[11:30] Speaker 7: you been booked yet? Did the ref see you tick
[11:33] Speaker 7: the box.
[11:33] Speaker 6: That said frequently time waste every opportunity?
[11:37] Speaker 4: Come on, Brian.
[11:38] Speaker 2: You know where to go.
[11:38] Speaker 7: This guy's been your man of the match, I'd say.
[11:41] Speaker 2: Been all right, hasn't he?
[11:42] Speaker 7: It's been fantastic.
[11:45] Speaker 2: Good luck for the rest of the season. That's a
[11:48] Speaker 2: lot of XG.
[11:49] Speaker 7: 2.51 XG and I lose the game with one go.
[11:51] Speaker 7: Come on, man. Come on.
[11:53] Speaker 2: That's a good win. Let's give more of the same
[11:55] Speaker 2: next time.
[11:56] Speaker 7: I'm far from pleased. Throw a water bottle, please. Yes.
[12:00] Speaker 7: And make sure it hits one of them in the head.
[12:03] Speaker 7: These virtual scumbags will.
[12:04] Speaker 4: Do my bidding. So, Joe, what did you make of
[12:06] Speaker 4: the game today?
[12:08] Speaker 7: What do you think I made of the game?
[12:10] Speaker 2: I don't think we played anywhere near. the level that
[12:12] Speaker 2: we could play. And we got a bit lucky, to
[12:15] Speaker 2: be honest.
[12:16] Speaker 7: Everything is death.
[12:16] Speaker 4: Are you confident in the head of the second leg?
[12:19] Speaker 2: Oh, very confident. We've got two goal advantage. We play
[12:22] Speaker 2: on the counter-attack. Joe's going to have to rip up
[12:25] Speaker 2: whatever tactics he was playing with today and just come
[12:27] Speaker 2: up with something completely new.
[12:29] Speaker 4: Were you pleased with the tactical setup that you chose
[12:32] Speaker 4: for today's match?
[12:32] Speaker 7: Now, there's a question. I was pleased with my tactical setup.
[12:35] Speaker 7: I thought it was inventive.
[12:36] Speaker 6: I have to say, I know a manager shouldn't throw
[12:38] Speaker 6: their own players under the bus, but it is the
[12:41] Speaker 6: player's fault. Because I did everything right. You saw the
[12:44] Speaker 6: XG tells a different story. And we all know XG
[12:46] Speaker 6: is the most important thing. I should have won that game. Ian,
[12:50] Speaker 6: he shouldn't even be here. I thought he retired. He
[12:53] Speaker 6: doesn't even have a Twitter account anymore.
[12:55] Speaker 4: Where did you get your inspiration for the match tactics
[12:57] Speaker 4: this afternoon?
[12:58] Speaker 9: Online.
[12:59] Speaker 4: Joe Devine mentioned that he got his tactics from online.
[13:03] Speaker 4: What do you make of this new take on football management?
[13:06] Speaker 2: I think it's best not to speculate too much where
[13:10] Speaker 2: Joe has been online.
[13:14] Speaker 4: This is what I think the sort of meta is
[13:16] Speaker 4: in Football Manager. It's like a 4-2-4, really attacking. It's not,
[13:23] Speaker 4: you see my passing the space, you see him playing
[13:25] Speaker 4: the counter a little bit. But basically what I want
[13:27] Speaker 4: to do is be relentless and just keep going and
[13:29] Speaker 4: going and going and going at Alex, who I have
[13:32] Speaker 4: a strong suspicion is going to destroy me. But I
[13:35] Speaker 4: wish I'd had James Ward-Prowse to put in this box-to-box thing.
[13:39] Speaker 4: I really wish I'd had Kante or something like a
[13:42] Speaker 4: ball winner in that bit there instead I've put Heuberg
[13:44] Speaker 4: there I don't really know what I'm doing I'm playing
[13:46] Speaker 4: a press which is quite high I don't want to
[13:49] Speaker 4: counter press I want them to sort of regroup so
[13:51] Speaker 4: I don't get played through too easily and then when
[13:53] Speaker 4: I do win the ball back then I can push
[13:55] Speaker 4: up really high playing a really high line with an
[13:57] Speaker 4: offside trap Laporte's going to be a ball winner Tierney
[14:00] Speaker 4: and Pereira are going to overlap on the right and
[14:02] Speaker 4: then Foden and Diogo Jota I'm hoping I haven't picked
[14:05] Speaker 4: a button to make this happen where they're going to
[14:07] Speaker 4: do lots of lovely rotations with the front players here.
[14:10] Speaker 4: And basically we're just going to go at them like
[14:12] Speaker 4: a swarm of bees. Will I beat Alex? We'll see
[14:15] Speaker 4: how this works. My zonos and man marking system is
[14:17] Speaker 4: a mix, but it's not been set up properly. Probably
[14:20] Speaker 4: going to get hammered.
[14:22] Speaker 5: So I have gone for kind of a boring system.
[14:27] Speaker 5: It's a 4-4-2. Emphasizing defense. The main ploy here is
[14:32] Speaker 5: that in Jack Grealish and Jadon Sancho, I've got very,
[14:35] Speaker 5: very quick, tricky wingers who are going to win fouls.
[14:39] Speaker 5: I then have James Ward-Prowse, who.
[14:41] Speaker 2: It appears everybody wanted.
[14:43] Speaker 5: And then a couple of big defenders and also Calvert-Lewin
[14:47] Speaker 5: to get in on the free kicks and corners that
[14:50] Speaker 5: I'm hopefully going to win. So we're playing for set pieces.
[14:55] Speaker 5: In transition we're going to counter and counter press. Try
[14:58] Speaker 5: and retain the ball with possession, shorter passing, slightly higher
[15:04] Speaker 5: tempo to aid that counter attacking system. This is kind
[15:07] Speaker 5: of like the fluid counter attack default with a couple
[15:13] Speaker 5: of tweaks.
[15:15] Speaker 7: And that's basically it.
[15:16] Speaker 5: You know, hopefully we'll keep it tight, keep it organized,
[15:20] Speaker 5: spring forward on rare occasions, catch them kind of going panicking,
[15:26] Speaker 5: bring down Grealish, bring down Sancho and then make use
[15:29] Speaker 5: of the set pieces. It's not going to be pretty,
[15:32] Speaker 5: but hopefully it will be effective because it's tournament football.
[15:37] Speaker 5: And the lesson that we've learned from the Euro is
[15:39] Speaker 5: this is the way to go.
[15:44] Speaker 3: And hello, good evening, and welcome to FC Alex against
[15:49] Speaker 3: Sporting Mallard. Hoiberg, oh, that's a stupendous block from Jadon Sancho,
[15:54] Speaker 3: and that could trigger quite the counter-attack because it's Bobby
[15:58] Speaker 3: Firmino now. Might have taken the wrong choice there, he's
[16:02] Speaker 3: found his way into a blind corner.
[16:05] Speaker 7: Low cross, Calvert-Lewin is ready.
[16:08] Speaker 5: Riveting. This is exactly what I thought it would be.
[16:13] Speaker 5: We're just a very boring team.
[16:15] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[16:16] Speaker 3: A fantastic tackle. And now it's Jadon Sancho on the counter.
[16:21] Speaker 3: What can he do here? There's a target. There's a target.
[16:24] Speaker 3: He's missed the target.
[16:27] Speaker 4: I don't mind that kind of attack happening because expect
[16:29] Speaker 4: that you've got to try and.
[16:30] Speaker 5: They will never score that way. No one ever does
[16:34] Speaker 5: the one-on-one things. A whole length of the field and then...
[16:39] Speaker 5: Absolutely nothing. Sancho blocked by Tierney. Oh, and then Foden
[16:43] Speaker 5: plays the ball straight back and Jadon Sancho has another chance. Well,
[16:46] Speaker 5: that's just careless indeedy.
[16:48] Speaker 7: Ward pros.
[16:49] Speaker 4: Don't shoot.
[16:51] Speaker 2: Don't shoot.
[16:52] Speaker 4: This is what I'm looking for.
[16:55] Speaker 3: Some tight marking in the box. Mane is just going
[16:57] Speaker 3: on his own. Alisson's only as far as Cavani. Cavani
[17:00] Speaker 3: scores and sporting Mallard slightly against the run of play
[17:05] Speaker 3: and taking the lead.
[17:07] Speaker 1: Wow.
[17:08] Speaker 3: Alisson could have put that ball anywhere. apart from right
[17:11] Speaker 3: at the feet of Cavani.
[17:13] Speaker 5: That should not have happened.
[17:16] Speaker 4: Yet it did. It's the kind of stuff we're looking for. Again,
[17:18] Speaker 4: that's something I talked about to them in the secret
[17:20] Speaker 4: team talk that you can do if you have the
[17:24] Speaker 4: secret version of this year's Football Manager. Winning the XG
[17:29] Speaker 4: as well, which is very important.
[17:30] Speaker 5: As suggested, I expect to see a much better showing.
[17:35] Speaker 4: With no gesture?
[17:36] Speaker 2: No, I don't gesture.
[17:37] Speaker 4: Okay.
[17:38] Speaker 5: He says gesturing.
[17:40] Speaker 4: We've got to guard against complacency now. Don't think job
[17:42] Speaker 4: is done.
[17:42] Speaker 2: He knows.
[17:43] Speaker 4: With no gesture.
[17:44] Speaker 5: He knows.
[17:45] Speaker 4: There's a lot more to come from you and I
[17:46] Speaker 4: believe you've got what it takes. There's a lot more
[17:48] Speaker 4: to come from you and I believe you've got what
[17:50] Speaker 4: it takes. A man motivator.
[17:52] Speaker 5: I'm not entirely convinced that this trying to win set
[17:54] Speaker 5: pieces thing is actually working. But you see.
[17:59] Speaker 2: Leaf leave a quick player back as well. That was
[18:01] Speaker 2: a horrendous challenge. And I'm quite surprised he wasn't booked.
[18:05] Speaker 7: Ball in. Zouma. Oh, what a save.
[18:10] Speaker 4: It's fine.
[18:12] Speaker 5: We definitely have the better of this half so far.
[18:15] Speaker 2: Way too wayward.
[18:17] Speaker 3: And Diogo counters for Mallard. Roaring down the touchline.
[18:21] Speaker 7: It's Heiberg at the back of the box. Charged down again.
[18:24] Speaker 2: This is desperate defending from FC Alex Tierney.
[18:27] Speaker 7: Still featuring.
[18:28] Speaker 5: Oh yeah it's all set yes no thank you.
[18:34] Speaker 4: You just injured him do you have do you have
[18:38] Speaker 4: hard tackles set on or something he would get stuck
[18:39] Speaker 4: in I don't know maybe tear you apart in the
[18:42] Speaker 4: press big.
[18:43] Speaker 7: Deep cross cover Lewin oh my word.
[18:46] Speaker 3: That's terrible absolutely free on the edge of the six
[18:50] Speaker 3: yard box brings in Ward-Prowse Ward-Prowse brilliant save from Edison oh.
[18:58] Speaker 4: Oh, pool groin's bad. I think we should replace him.
[19:01] Speaker 4: Can you just do it? Yeah.
[19:02] Speaker 2: It's fine.
[19:04] Speaker 5: Why don't you nurse him, JJ?
[19:05] Speaker 4: Is there a nursing option?
[19:07] Speaker 5: Yeah, you can nurse him through the game.
[19:09] Speaker 4: Nah, I need him to be hard. Go in strong.
[19:14] Speaker 2: Cavani.
[19:15] Speaker 3: Ricciardo Mane with a head of water stopped by Alisson.
[19:17] Speaker 7: Oh, come on!
[19:18] Speaker 1: A real tale of the walk.
[19:20] Speaker 7: Cavani over. That was good, though.
[19:21] Speaker 3: A real tale of two goalkeepers here.
[19:25] Speaker 4: I'm pleased with this.
[19:26] Speaker 2: This is good.
[19:28] Speaker 4: Sporting Mallard have controlled this game. It's been largely, I mean,
[19:32] Speaker 4: it's been completely easy, really, if you think about it.
[19:34] Speaker 4: You're at home, haven't really posed a threat. Nothing's come
[19:38] Speaker 4: good whatsoever.
[19:39] Speaker 3: Oh, it's another fine save by Edison. He has earned
[19:44] Speaker 3: his money today. Anything from this last corner, is there
[19:48] Speaker 3: even time for it.
[19:48] Speaker 2: To be taken?
[19:49] Speaker 5: Yeah, for luck. minute equaliser your hubris will be punished.
[19:54] Speaker 4: Well done that's the zonal system again working very well.
[19:58] Speaker 3: It's going to be advantage mallard here strong.
[20:01] Speaker 4: Win for the mallards what noise does the mallard.
[20:04] Speaker 7: Make I'm far from pleased that's a good win.
[20:09] Speaker 8: JJ, congratulations.
[20:10] Speaker 5: Good result.
[20:10] Speaker 8: Must be pleased with that.
[20:12] Speaker 4: Very pleased with that. The boys put in a really
[20:14] Speaker 4: good shift and I think at the end of the
[20:15] Speaker 4: day the most important thing is the three points and
[20:17] Speaker 4: we go again.
[20:18] Speaker 2: Alex, what went wrong?
[20:20] Speaker 5: Nothing.
[20:22] Speaker 2: You did lose the game.
[20:24] Speaker 7: More shots on target. More shots overall.
[20:27] Speaker 5: 13 corners to four and we were the better team.
[20:31] Speaker 8: They did score once and you didn't.
[20:33] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[20:34] Speaker 8: What went wrong?
[20:36] Speaker 5: We didn't finish our chances.
[20:37] Speaker 7: Who was to blame for that?
[20:39] Speaker 2: Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
[20:40] Speaker 5: You must be.
[20:40] Speaker 8: Confident ahead of the second.
[20:42] Speaker 4: Absolutely, we're confident. We're taking it one game at a
[20:44] Speaker 4: time and the three points would have been great were
[20:48] Speaker 4: it a league fixture. But because this is a cup game,
[20:50] Speaker 4: I'm really pleased with the win and the way it
[20:52] Speaker 4: feels like three points and we go again.
[20:54] Speaker 2: Would you say that this defeat has left you frazzled
[20:57] Speaker 2: and rethinking your future?
[20:59] Speaker 7: Yeah, I think I need to take some time.
[21:02] Speaker 2: There must have been three or four Big chances for
[21:06] Speaker 2: Alex's team there.
[21:08] Speaker 8: Do you think he was unlucky today?
[21:09] Speaker 4: Three or four were not enough to win the three points.
[21:11] Speaker 4: And at the end of the day, I think I'm
[21:13] Speaker 4: most pleased that the boys put in a good shift
[21:17] Speaker 4: and won the new covenant of three points.
[21:19] Speaker 8: Is this really the job for you?
[21:20] Speaker 4: No.
[21:22] Speaker 2: No.
[21:22] Speaker 7: Joe made me.
[21:26] Speaker 4: I just.
[21:28] Speaker 5: I'm just going to go.
[21:30] Speaker 4: I'm just going.
[21:30] Speaker 5: I'm going.
[21:32] Speaker 2: Well then. Our first legs are complete. Our managers are
[21:36] Speaker 2: going to go away, give their heads a wobble and
[21:39] Speaker 2: come back revitalized because it's still all up for grabs.
[21:43] Speaker 2: We'll be back next episode for the second legs and
[21:46] Speaker 2: the final. Now, if you like that kind of thing,
[21:49] Speaker 2: give my Twitter account a follow. It's Ian underscore games
[21:52] Speaker 2: on Twitter. That's Ian with two eyes, just to be
[21:54] Speaker 2: slightly complicated. We've got loads of gaming content on The
[21:58] Speaker 2: Athletic as well, so have a good look out for that.
[22:00] Speaker 2: Remember that you can find so many videos both on
[22:04] Speaker 2: Tifo and Tifo IRL. And of course, subscribe to The Athletic.
[22:14] Speaker 6: For the next few days, you can get 50% off
[22:17] Speaker 6: a subscription to The Athletic. See the link in the description.

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