Share
The Game Football Podcast
Tactics at the top, belief at the bottom and adios El Tel
Tony Cascarino, Alyson Rudd and Tom Allnutt join Gregor Robertson on the Monday edition of The Game. The team pay tribute to Terry Venables and reflect on his eclectic range of interests outside the game and his tactical ability as a coach.
Reflecting on the weekends fixtures they look at the tactical battle at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, Man Utd have won five in six and are two off the top four. At the bottom, Everton’s belief and frustration couldn’t get a result, whereas Luton showed they never give up.
What will be the difference in making the top four or avoiding relegation?
Timeline
Venables memories
2’ A remarkable man who did so many things outside of football. Busi9ness, singing, tailor, bought a club…sold Maradona and bought Archibald.
4’ edit neil and tony.
5’ shrewd, negotiator, charismatic, loved football. Tactically ahead of his time.
7’ Loved in Spain, tactically respected. A Penalty shootout away from winning the European cup with Barca.
9’ Embodied Tottenham.
Tottenham v Villa
10’ Spurs opened very well. Unlucky not to be further ahead. Fair result could have been a draw.
12’ the offside derby, two teams playing a high line.
14’ Villa applied the break more often, spurs remained gung ho and paid for it.
15’ intriguing game. No compromise by either team. Good decisions by Emry, taking cash off, getting Teilemons on. Demonstrates the level of management in the premier league.
19’ Villa right in shake up for top four. But spurs heavily hit by injuries and suspensions.
Everton v Man Utd
21’ Not in the script for Everton to be hit by a wonder goal.
23’ where did Garnacho’s goal rank? Great goal, how important was it?
27’ Bergkamp, Adam, Crouch, Bergkamp again…
29’ Utd, fifth win in six games. Only two off top four.
32’ Everton now have a BIG job to avoid relegation.
Luton v Palace
36’ Lift off at Luton. Performances starting to get results.
38’ Fit team, heads don’t drop. Not capitulated in any game. Great self belief.
39’ Place facing injury problems to key players. Could they get sucked in?
40’ Injuries came at key time in the game. Hodgson has defensive know how.
Newcastle v Chelsea
48’ Is Tiago Silva starting to show his age? At 39 are the years catching up?
50’ Backward step for Chelsea and Poch. First time he has called out his players.
52’ Anthony Gordon gave Reece James a torrid time.
City v Liverpool
55’ there for city to win, they missed the chance.
56’ Good result for Liverpool, a point at City, how can you grumble?
Arsenal
Top and under the radar.
Brentford not at their best.
More episodes
View all episodes
Arsenal and Man City Shocked
01:05:55|What’s going wrong at Arsenal? Was this a freak result for City?After both lose again is it down to better opposition, poor performance, lacklustre management or plain old exhaustion? No such problems for Nottingham Forest who are now third in the table or Liverpool who roared back to go top against Brighton.Gregor Robertson dissects the weekends results with Martin Hardy, Alyson Rudd and James Gheerbrant.Plus, hats off to Bournemouth, Newcastle and Spurs and a quick look at dapper Van Nistelrooy and woeful West Ham.Is Amorim the man for Manchester United?
01:07:06|Is Ruben Amorim the man to bring the good times back to Manchester United? As the current Portuguese coach is set to be named the new man in charge at Old Trafford what will he bring and more importantly what kind of squad will he inherit? Martin Samuel, Jonathan Northcroft and Gregor Robertson join Tom Clarke to assess his credentials to take over “…the biggest club in the land.”Can Ange-ball win a trophy at Spurs; Chelsea’s B team looked light against Newcastle and what makes a good leader?Oh, and a quick mention of rampant Aberdeen.EFL Extra: Is Sunderland's start sustainable?
39:03|On the latest whistle-stop tour of the EFL, Gregor Robertson and Tom Clarke discuss Sunderland's surprise surge (which is starting to look less surprising), Coventry's potentially season changing win against Luton, Ian Holloway's latest adventure in Swindon and much more.Ten Hag sacked - midway through the show!
01:03:26|The big talking point from the weekend was Arsenal's draw at home to Liverpool, until it wasn't. Midway through today's episode, news broke that Erik ten Hag had been sacked by Manchester United. Join Tom Clarke, Alyson Rudd, Hamzah Khalique-Loonat & Gregor Robertson as they react to the news in the moment. And much, much more...“Arsenal won’t beat Liverpool playing like that!”
01:02:52|Is Arsenal’s mounting injury list going to derail their title bid? Not according to Martin Samuel or Hamzah Khalique-Loonat who both think teams that win titles win regardless of injuries – think Alisson, Haaland, De Bruyne or Van Dijk.Liverpool may not be the swashbuckling side from the Klopp era but are they even more effective under the controlled Slot?Does Erling Haaland get the credit he deserves? Who cares about link up play when you’ve scored 44 goals in 42 champions league games! Gregor Robertson oversees proceedings.Are Liverpool and Chelsea serious contenders?
01:05:41|Liverpool passed their first serious test of the season and Chelsea looked good even in defeat.Tom Clarke is joined by Gregor Robertson, Tony Cascarino and Tom Allnutt as they ask; can Liverpool win the title and are Chelsea a top four team?Are Arsenal’s chances of the title being undermined by their poor disciplinary record? Do referees favour the top teams? And it wasn’t just a bad day for Julen Lopetegui at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it was a forgettable day for James Maddison too.Plus, Brighton, Man Utd, Southampton and VAR.Will Tuchel win England the World Cup?
58:24|England have appointed one of the world’s best coaches. What does he bring, how does he manage, and will it be enough to win the big one?Tom Clarke, Gregor Robertson, Tony Cascarino and James Gheerbrant are joined from German football journalist Constantin Eckner.What do we know about Tuchel’s number two, young English coach Anthony Barry? Gregor did his coaching badges with him; he can enlighten us.After the break a look ahead to the weekends premier league fixtures and the big clash at Anfield as Chelsea take on Liverpool.EFL Extra: Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
39:55|Tom Clarke is joined by Gregor Robertson as they assess the Championship, League One and League Two. Leeds, Norwich, Plymouth. Wycombe, Exeter, Port Vale and AFC Wimbledon all feature – as well as many in between. Plus a look at the many ex players taking to lower league management.Fantasy Football - better than the real thing?
57:04|Where now for England? A failed experiment; Carsley might not want it full time and is Pep waiting in the side-lines? Gregor Robertson thinks his selections were indulgent, Hamzah Khalique-Loonat thinks they should be applauded. Tom Clarke still misses Southgate.After the break a brilliant discussion about the affects of fantasy football on real football.Tom Allnutt says clubs are now banning players and staff from taking part. But why?And do fans now spend more time discussing fantasy football than ‘real’ football?