The Final Stretch

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Transcript

Will 0:01

Here we go.

Jerrell 0:02

We're back. Another pod with football. Fellas will, what's today's date?

Will 0:07

Today is February 26. 2026.

Jerrell 0:10

do it. Okay. So for today we have match day 27 review. We'll be talking about. The Champions League playoff phase league two. It went about as expected, but there were some surprises and we'll get into that and we'll talk about our previews for our, our double header or double stuffed as will called it earlier.

Will 0:29

Do

Jerrell 0:29

double stuffed week match day 28, 29. Will, how have you been?

Will 0:34

I have been doing well. It's been a better week than last week, is what I'll said.

Jerrell 0:38

Nice. First, first week at the new job, I go in early. I leave late, and I'm just like, welcome back. Corporate America. Where have you been?

Will 0:48

Yeah. When you sent the ETA for the drive home, I was

Jerrell 0:51

I'm getting used to it.

Will 0:53

Hey, all positivity, bro. I love. I love that. You, you found, found a new job. I hope it brings you blessings, joy, and, you don't get crushed by corporate

Jerrell 1:01

I just can't watch Champions League anymore when it's live.

Will 1:06

That is

Jerrell 1:06

Yeah. Yeah.

Will 1:07

That is, that is tough.

Jerrell 1:09

So I need to, I'll be watching replays and I'm really hard at, I, I, it's really difficult for me to, to watch replays because once the result is in, not how, I'll just look at the result.

Will 1:18

But sometimes it's about the journey and how we got

Jerrell 1:20

Yeah, I just can't find myself doing that.

Will 1:25

That's fair.

Jerrell 1:25

I need to watch highlights,

Will 1:26

oh, if I'm not, if I know I'm, there's no way I'm gonna be able to like, have it in the background at work. I'll usually mute mute results. But it's funny'cause the times I have done that. when we're the most active in the chat. So I'll be like, alright, cool, cool, cool. Two hours, sell'em home. And coach's just I can't believe we sold. I'm just like, oh, oh my

Jerrell 1:47

It happened again.

Will 1:49

another banger. But yeah, it's definitely a challenge outside of life and whatnot. But that's what we're here to

Jerrell 1:55

It's

Will 1:55

We're here to give the people what they

Jerrell 1:57

or what they don't want. Key

Will 1:59

Oh shit.

Jerrell 2:00

dates coming up. The UCL draw for the round of 16 will be tomorrow at the time of recording February 27th. FA Cup will continue on March 3rd and March 6th to the ninth. I guess there's a, there's a there. The third is the make,

Will 2:14

Extended

Jerrell 2:15

the third is the game that hasn't completed yet. The sixth of the ninth will be a continuation of the tournament. Caribelle final is 3 22. Who in the will?

Will 2:24

Carella Final Arsenal versus Manchester City because let's be stressed the fuck out. Let's see what happens First trophy

Jerrell 2:31

litmus test for Arsenal to see where they sit with, with man City heading into their matchup, which would be the following week, I think. They play them very close together.

Will 2:43

I forgot if it's a when in April It

Jerrell 2:45

Oh, okay. So very soon, very soon after.

Will 2:49

Arsenal very much with, I'm not leaving here with nothing energy.

Jerrell 2:52

Yeah. I, I don't think they should leave with nothing.

Will 2:56

I was listening back, I was like, oh, this is a very much our artist cast, because we were just

Jerrell 3:00

It was the only game that happened last week,

Will 3:02

I

Jerrell 3:02

Yeah. And w talk about wolves. We do have new locations. We did?

Will 3:07

Ooh,

Jerrell 3:07

Yeah.

Will 3:07

them to

Jerrell 3:08

Milan, Italy.

Will 3:09

Ooh

Jerrell 3:10

thank you for your listen, Paris, France.

Will 3:13

we

Jerrell 3:14

And Will, can you tell me where LE is? I had to look this one up. Yeah. So this France,

Will 3:23

I prayed

Jerrell 3:23

French Riviera, to be more specific. So the French RA

Will 3:27

Okay.

Jerrell 3:27

giving us a listen

Will 3:30

That's gonna be next

Jerrell 3:31

next. Yeah. I wanna go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That seems like true.

Will 3:34

it sounds

Jerrell 3:35

Yeah.

Will 3:36

It's cool.

Jerrell 3:38

Sounds if I, even if I'm saying it I don't even know if I'm saying it right.

Will 3:40

I'm probably saying it wrong. I don't

Jerrell 3:42

But all locations that I would like to visit at some point in my life. Thank you for, thank you for the, listen.

Will 3:48

thank you for the list and whether it's intentional, accidental, you do appreciate the

Jerrell 3:52

It's that post where the post roll pod, after they listen to their favorite sports podcast, and then we just.

Will 3:57

Ah, the Marino. Ah, who gave him a mic? Fuck it. You're stuck

Jerrell 4:03

All right. So match day 27, we're gonna do the format a little bit different. I know we kind of like do it twice normally.

Will 4:10

So nice. We do it twice. Yeah.

Jerrell 4:12

so now we're gonna go, we're just gonna go down the list. Try and keep up. So first match was acid villa and leads it was a draw one, one. Tammy Abraham saves a point for Villa Late and I'll charge falters.

Will 4:25

it's funny'cause that's right after we had the conversation about, Hey, is Villa really in this race? And I'm just, and we were just kind of like, oh, let's see if they can get a couple results leads. Tough point for them to drop late. But VI mean, hey, you get, you gotta point in, but it's. Just less than ideal. Just less than ideal. I think they're very much in like that. UCL. Let's try to hold, serve and finish top four area, top five

Jerrell 4:48

5, 5, 5. Did you put Ashton Villa on your Fab Five if you had a sidekick of

Will 4:54

I'm

Jerrell 4:54

League?

Will 4:55

Holy shit. What do you mean

Jerrell 4:58

Yeah. Yeah.

Will 4:59

phone? never had one. So you said Fab five. I was like, that sounds like something

Jerrell 5:03

Was topical this weekend. So who would be your I, I know we're gonna talk about the rest of it, but who is your Premier League Fab Five?

Will 5:11

like of the

Jerrell 5:12

Just in general, just clubs, if you like, their vibes or not. Who would you put.

Will 5:16

It's cool to see Villa kind of like come up, against the grain of like where they historically have been. Yeah, fuck it. I'll put'em in the Fab Five. Arsal has one spot too, so I have three more spots to give. So we hit them, I'll, I'll, I'll

Jerrell 5:29

Okay. Alright, that's fair. The next match we had, did you have anything else to add for the villains and leads?

Will 5:35

No, I think, big result for leads leads they've had a couple tough results against, like Arsal and whatnot, but out of all the teams that are up, I feel like they're, Sunland also obviously having a great season. But I feel like leads played the most open outta the teams, their ups. So I always give a shout just to how they're doing and just how. They have a certain amount of enterprise entering games and how that's been able to translate to them. Playing a little bit more free and getting results. So tough, tough way to drop points late with equalizer. But hey, you get a point on the road against Villa. You, you might take that if your lead's heading into the

Jerrell 6:07

Yeah, definitely. And we're at that point in the season now where every match is significant. Contrary to American sports, every match matters. A team is chasing a champions,

Will 6:17

self

Jerrell 6:17

league spot Europe spot, trying to get outta the relegation zone. With 11 games to go for most teams. It's, it's really gonna come down to who, who's staying, who's going who, and who's going to Europe. So leads did themselves a big favor with the draw here. Keeping themselves six points, six points clear of the relegation line. They, they need every point they can get. We're gonna have, we're gonna have teams that stay hopefully. I feel like Sutherland's definitely on its way to staying, but it's huge. It's a

Will 6:47

Sunderland

Jerrell 6:48

of fresh air.

Will 6:50

Yeah. Sunderland 11 point's clear. So things would have to go

Jerrell 6:53

Horribly wrong. Yeah.

Will 6:55

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they should be

Jerrell 6:56

Brentford kicked off its Battle of the Bees. Gauntlet apparently, because they played Brighton. And then they'll play Burnley and then they'll play Born Myth all in a row. Yeah right now they're not doing too great in the gauntlet. They did fall to Brighton oh two. James Milner makes his 654th EPL appearance Brighton scores twice, I believe. Danny Beck scored and they secured that one. So Brentford. In a spot that nobody was really expecting them to be at the start of the season. They're playing really well. They're, they're not five points behind Liverpool, but they're still in contention for a Europe spot that that seventh spot could be European birth if, and most likely the Premier League gets that fifth Champion League spot due the, due to the coefficient.

Will 7:48

Yeah. Yeah, tight, tight sledding for sure. Five points up. Then you're like, you, like you mentioned, you're looking at Liverpool, Chelsea, you're looking at UCL qualification five points the other way. You're looking 13th like Crystal Palace, Sunland Brighton area. Surprising loss considering Brighton's form as of late and being at the G Tech. We always say any week you can get got. Brian they were able to ride, just the momentum of a couple goals here and there and just get a result and just not, not, not a good day at the office for Brentford, they have a chance to bounce back. Next week you said Burnley next week,

Jerrell 8:19

Ley. Yes. Yeah. And with Brian, despite only having eight. Despite being 14th place, they did get their eighth win. They are positive in the goal differential too. They are the only team outside of the top seven that is positive in goal differential. Everybody else being negative. Yeah, two oh, get you positive gd.

Will 8:38

Yeah. Yeah. It's wild. Yeah. I feel like Brighton always remember the preseason, like early season clip when I forgot exactly what the comment was actually, but you're just like. Brian, I don't know, unfamiliar with their game a little bit. I feel like this was like a little

Jerrell 8:51

Yeah,

Will 8:51

for the game. Yeah,

Jerrell 8:52

there it.

Will 8:53

But yeah, I mean their results over the last month or so, not the best. They're a little bit lower on the table than they've been over the last few seasons. Shuffling of the deck a little bit. But, good result for them and key for them to get some safety.'cause they were sitting around where leads was only two points clear of spurs force and whatnot. Only four points back. So that's a huge win for them. Re for to stay out. Relegation, I feel like that last spot, if you can eclipse maybe like 35, 36, you should be okay. I don't think I see Westham taking that many points out of the remaining games. Westham sitting lowest, so

Jerrell 9:24

What can you tell me about the Chelsea Burnley game? Looked messy.

Will 9:28

Chelsea just keeps getting reds a lot of the season. Wesley f he gets a red Zian Fleming, he equalizes in the third minute of injury time, but this is the eighth game out of 27, the Premier League season that Chelsea has picked up a red card. This is, it's, it's, it's been an experience they score in the fourth minute behind a Joel Pedro goal. It looks like they're gonna fly FFA and picks up a silly red later in the second half. And Burnley just finds a way to eek out. Being at home. This is huge for what Chelsea is trying to accomplish in the momentum. They're trying to get over their huge lot, huge drop of points for Chelsea. Great, great point for Burnley, all things considered.

Jerrell 10:07

Chelsea sitting fifth. They are ahead. Ahead of Liverpool on a very healthy goal differential right now. But if you keep making mistakes like this, it doesn't matter what your goal differential is. If you keep dropping points, other teams will catch you.

Will 10:21

Yeah. Yeah. So tied there, three points behind Manchester United. Little bit of a gap, as we mentioned. Same gap with Brentford, but this is a team that, yeah, I feel like. Yeah, of almost in the Spurs vein where I'm just kind of like, oh, okay, where are we gonna see? And it's, I feel like this is a year for some positive momentum as like things have fallen more into place and it's just of topsy-turvy for sure. Especially over the last few

Jerrell 10:44

Yeah, definitely. Your Catfish Westham played the cherries and they got the draw on a much needed point for Westham who are trying to call out of the allegation zone and put some two points behind Nottingham forests. And as we get to it later, four points behind the Spurs.

Will 11:01

This one really feel, felt like West. I feel like it's a, like a lost opportunity for Westham. Westham had 20 shots. taken only three on target. They had some some difficulties with accuracy. Burn myth just looked pretty flat in this one, but especially considering the result for Spurs, this felt like a big opportunity for Westham to really turn the nail for this relegation battle. You still take the point, obviously you're moving forward, but it really feels like they left some money on the table, for lack of a better way to put it. They had a chance to end up jumping for us and could have been a point back of Spurs I'm sorry, two points back of Spurs. Sorry going into it. It felt like almost like a loss, but at this point in the season, you'll take points where you can get

Jerrell 11:44

Definitely on the other side board. This is sitting eighth on the table right now at 38 points. So very much in that European push. But also, you're, you're dropping points to a relegation side. I know we talked about last week, but Arsenal, these teams that you're expected to be, especially when you're sitting in the top half of the table. You gotta put it away. It's, it's important. It's important for the supporters. It's important for the, the players, everything. Cherry's not quite finding that moment yet to compete at the highest levels. They'll get there,

Will 12:16

Yeah. Or maybe

Jerrell 12:18

maybe they won't.

Will 12:19

I don't know. I can come at you fast in this league. So we'll see. We we'll see.

Jerrell 12:22

Man City, Newcastle, man city taking a two one victory. This was. For some people de a depressing result to see Nico O'Reilly gets a first half brace and it really just ices the game. Newcastle can find goals, but it wasn't to be this time they only found one score and that put new, that put City two points behind Arsenal heading into the North London Derby. I don't think they were top of the table before the match

Will 12:50

What was it? No, I think they cut it

Jerrell 12:52

too. Yeah.

Will 12:52

to two points. Am I drunk?

Jerrell 12:55

It should be two points. Yeah.

Will 12:57

Yeah, yeah, there were two points and then Arsenal was able to get the win. Spoiler. But yeah, I mean considering, their carrabelle cut matchups, I thought Newcastle was able to play decently well. But Nico O'Reilly, the kids are left back who can play 10 play CDM. He looks better than like Nico Gonzalez there. And Nico Gonzalez is like a really solid CDM as well. They man city might have found another baller. Just. Out of nowhere,

Jerrell 13:21

Of course.

Will 13:22

yeah, braced on either side of a Lewis Hall equalizer and Newcastle just, yeah, didn't have the firepower behind them to find another goal and try to get back into it. So Manchester City, continue, continue to

Jerrell 13:34

On the

Will 13:34

to fly, and

Jerrell 13:35

tails.

Will 13:35

on headed into Arsenal

Jerrell 13:37

Yep. Man City at 56 points, just for the record. And they had. I've had a dominant season, to be honest. 31 goal differential. You have 56 schools scored. You've only conceded 25 times. They're rolling. They're rolling. It's a transition year, we've been told, and it still is, but you can, you could transition and still be, still be good.

Will 13:58

It is not as easy as they're making

Jerrell 14:00

yeah.

Will 14:00

Like is what I'll say. of teams try to do it on the fly and it doesn't look as

Jerrell 14:05

Can't say

Will 14:06

this.

Jerrell 14:06

you see that all the time.

Will 14:08

I know we always joke about it. If Chris were here, you'd be like, boo. But yeah, enjoy pep while he is in that station because just because you have money doesn't mean that you're gonna be able to get results on a weekend week out. And they've been doing it for a decade

Jerrell 14:20

What is

Will 14:20

which

Jerrell 14:21

Future after Man City? I thought his extension was three years last year.

Will 14:26

he's a, he has an extension, but I mean it's, we have more rumors. But PEPs been talking about how he is just needs a break from coaching for a while. Apparently Enzo Meca, part of his falling out with Chelsea was that he's like in the, he's rumored to be, next in line there. I think Vincent and Company as well has been mentioned there, but he's doing a great job in Byron since he's been appointed there. We'll see. We'll see, he could be back next year as well, but it takes a lot to just stay on top for the period of time, especially in the Premier League. Premier League is probably like. The most contentious. You can say what you want about, if it's the best league, different views, whatever. But definitely the most tightly contested in my eyes on a week in, week out where there's no really easy games, I feel like. For them to maintain this level of damn near dominance, it's, it's something.

Jerrell 15:12

hearing that because of how good the how good the Premier League's finished in the Champions League. We only had, there's only one team of the five that still had to go through the, the playoff phase. There was an argument to be had, and I'll ask you too, if the wolves were in the Champions League, how far would they go? Because there's an argument That they would be a playoff bubble team.

Will 15:37

Maybe it, I guess it depends on your draw, right? Because it, it really just depends who, who you draw, because I can see them like maybe getting advantage against lower side team or no, a lower league team. But at the same time, do I expect them necessarily to qualify on form and like how they're playing the season? Probably not not impossible considering the resources, but I'm also just kind of like what I'm trying to pull up the table now actually, so I can see what the lowest qualifying they need. What, so they would've had to get nine points. So that's three wins. And and that's with help in global differential. I'm gonna say

Jerrell 16:07

Nope. We'll,

Will 16:08

I'm gonna say

Jerrell 16:08

we'll skip.

Will 16:09

I don't think wolves is as bad as their record is, but I also don't think I don't see them eeking out points against your, arsenal unit Byron. Liverpool Spurs. So it's really just kind of like, can you string together three wins against like a bru or a gala a Cobin haven or whatnot. And I'm not even sure I'm, it, it's really matchup dependent, but they could qualify, I'd say with be there like top level. But I don't think they'd win like a tie at all, at

Jerrell 16:36

Gotcha.

Will 16:37

in the round of

Jerrell 16:38

And

Will 16:38

In the playoff

Jerrell 16:39

true, true, true. And we'll get to Wol soon. But first, we have Nottingham Forest and Liverpool. Nottingham didn't do themselves any favors this week, but we also had, it was very common last season, but this year we had a rare last minute goal from Liverpool to win the game. One zero, literally 97th minute. The Ripple gets us three points. First dominated most of the game missed opportunity.

Will 17:04

Yeah, for sure. I think this is probably one of the worst games of Liverpool season. yeah, you're playing at Road Against Forest, but Forest is, a team that's obviously been struggling throughout the year. They just really couldn't put anything together throughout a lot of it. What, how much of that has to do with Flo inverts? He picked up a, a knock, I think during warmups, if I remember correctly. He didn't play, so there was like a last minute start giving up, giving to. I should have had that note written down. That's my fuck up. Was it Curtis Jones? I could be wrong. I think it was Curtis Jones. I could be wrong though. But last minute. Start there. Verts as we mentioned, he's, you've seen an uptick in his performances throughout the year, but nine him, forest, I'd say unlucky, not to get at least a point from this one is Liverpool were saved late with that McAllister goal, despite them looking so bad.

Jerrell 17:51

Yeah, a tough break for Nottingham forests two.'cause like at this point, when you're low on the table, any point is good points and to come away with nothing, especially when you played as close and as hard as you did. It's definitely a gut punch. Westham closes that gap.

Will 18:07

yeah, getting a chance to steal. Steal a point from a top five, top six team. Always carries a little bit extra weight'cause you expect, your contemporaries are people around you on the table to maybe not get the same luck depending on matchup. So yeah, them not being able to capitalize on it. Just a little bit of bad luck there. Definitely a gut

Jerrell 18:25

And that was at Anfield, right?

Will 18:28

No, no. I think

Jerrell 18:28

I

Will 18:29

home.

Jerrell 18:29

City Park. Palace and Wolves. So Palace, they won the game one Zero, but Dean Henderson had to bail them out with the penalty save in the first half. And we had some red, we had some second yellows out here and,

Will 18:43

Love.

Jerrell 18:44

and Palace get their second win in 16. Been struggling since a hot start to the season.

Will 18:52

Yeah. Yeah. The, the wheels have been just falling off over there, but. He definitely a huge result for PAL All Things Considered that moves him from 32 points to 35 points. That's gonna be my tentative line of just like you're probably staying up as like talks around Oliver Glasner and his job security and, just how the squad's looking a little bit depleted in areas. As we get deeper into the season. I think they also had a disappointing result midweek in UCL, if I remember correctly,

Jerrell 19:19

palace, I think they're Europa Conference.

Will 19:23

Yeah, U I'm sorry, I said U-C-L-U-E-C-L midweek where I think they drew. I, I don't remember the team name off the top of my head. So definitely as high as they were flying from like May to about November last year. Definitely you're seeing them kind of rubber banding the other way, so a big moment for them. Tough moment for wolves as wolves remain on Panda watch. 90th minute. Winner for Evan Guan. Yeah, second yellow for La Karachi. And wolves now sitting on 20 losses on the season. Yeah. Yeah,

Jerrell 19:52

Tough.

Will 19:53

shit. Didn't keep that energy last week though.

Jerrell 19:57

Sutherland versus Fullham. Sutherland loses at home. They, they fall three. One Mexican International Raul Jimenez gets a brace to help Fullham collect three points.

Will 20:10

Mexican Twitter conflicted. Yeah.

Jerrell 20:11

very Fullham snaps their three game losing streak. Fullham is, where is Fullham on the table? Fullham is about where they were last season.

Will 20:21

ninth. 10th. Yeah.

Jerrell 20:22

ninth, 10th wonky games, but getting a result against Sutherland, especially traveling is, is, is huge.

Will 20:32

Yeah, I think Fullham really just and create that expectation of just Hey, this is, we're main, we're staying in, we're staying up in the league. We're not in a relegation battle. We're clear. And then that gives you just like the latitude where it's okay, can we take a further step? Can we take advantage of team slipping Sunderland on the other end. They were riding a hot start. They've hit a little bit of patch of form, but still sitting 12 on the table tied with Newcastle. Point,

Jerrell 20:54

Nines across the board.

Will 20:57

Pretty much. Yeah. I think all things considered Raul Jimenez. He was decisive in this one. Sunderland losing another game at stadium, at the stadium of light. But where both teams are at this part of the season. I think you're okay as far as relegation battles and you just you look, you problem solve week, week by week.

Jerrell 21:15

Yeah.

Will 21:17

Yeah. Sunderland definitely needs a bounce back though after a couple of tough results over the last few weeks.

Jerrell 21:21

And I'm gonna skip the next game real quick. We'll come back to it because

Will 21:24

I was gonna say, we need to do that

Jerrell 21:25

yeah, it was kind of the, the game of the week. But Everton man, United Man, United take care of business. They get the one goal, that's all they need. Benjamin Sheko scores in the semi first minute, and Man United is fourth on the table. We gotta pull those power rankings. Where do we even have Man United before the season?

Will 21:45

Probably, probably like both

Jerrell 21:47

have a,

Will 21:47

higher than 10. Yeah. Okay. There we go. I'm next week's, the week we'll do a re I mean it this time, but we'll do a recap of you know how teams did,'cause it's. Six points on the line over the next seven days. I guess from where we're recording, like what, five days,

Jerrell 22:01

yeah.

Will 22:01

It's gonna you a lot of shift on the table. We'll probably see, but we'll also revisit our power rankings for real just because since it's double stuffed we'll stuff it, we'll stuff it a

Jerrell 22:09

See, yeah.

Will 22:10

and I'll stop saying stuff like that maybe. But

Jerrell 22:14

Is, is scoring now trying to earn that, that

Will 22:16

That's his name, but I thought you were fucking with me. Yeah. Sheshko Benjamin Sheshko.

Jerrell 22:22

What scored? Five one. What is he? Two winners and a.

Will 22:24

he's been scoring Michael Kerick needs to love this man. Yeah. So he scored two winners. He had a late equalizer earlier in the week. They won five of six since Michael Kerrick took over. He gets, he gets, he gets the result for them and maybe a game where it goes the other way without things have been trending for them. The last bit but Manchester United Top four, it's where we belong, I think. Or heard

Jerrell 22:47

That's what they're saying. Yeah.

Will 22:49

Yeah. Big moment for them. I don't think Everton was really outplayed as just, I think it was one of those fine margin games that we see every so often. But they also do continue to struggle in their new park. They're definitely not seeing the Mercy side

Jerrell 23:02

Atmosphere.

Will 23:03

this time as they continue. Yeah. Yeah. So it's, it's a little too corporate over there right now, but hopefully they can bounce it back, but it's a tough result tough

Jerrell 23:11

They were rolling at home earlier in the season. Just the magic kind of fades. Like Sutherland losing their, their game at home. They were, they were unbeaten. They were unbeaten at home in the first half. The villains were un unbeaten and all of 2025 and 2026 has been a weird year. All these records, they're falling apart.

Will 23:31

It's also, teams start feeling like the rest of, the season hitting them, the fixtures, hitting them. Your legs are a little bit heavier during the doldrums of January, February. It's a little bit colder. Jack Grish that injury can't, can't be overstated. Just like he had some good form for them, was a good option for them as well. And it's just like things are just a little bit harder

Jerrell 23:51

Did he get hurt or did he go back to Man City?

Will 23:54

he's out for the rest of the season. I think he picked up a knock, if I

Jerrell 23:57

Oh, okay.

Will 23:57

So they're not expecting him to be back for the rest of the season. I'll double check that if I'm wrong. You can go ahead and email us at the football fellows@gmail.com and tell me how much of an idiot I am. Molly Bushel said, you're a fucking cunt. But yeah, tough result, but good result for Manchester United. So now it becomes a game of just can they maintain this the rest of the season?

Jerrell 24:17

Yeah, then that's really what we're looking for. You, you went four in a row, then you hit the draw, then you go right back to winning. So I think Man United is in a good spot. I, yeah, Ruben Aerin was the problem. Question mark.

Will 24:27

Oh shit. It might be you, bro. Yeah.

Jerrell 24:32

I, we wanted to give him the season, but it's, it's crazy how much Mini United has turned around since then.

Will 24:38

I, yeah, I think the biggest indictment on Ammar M is just kinda there's players there and yes, you have your system, but sometimes until you really have the personnel to really execute your system, maybe you just gotta line up your guys the way that they best fit, especially in a league like the Premier League. I think Mari Michael Carrick's doing a good job. Good job of putting I put my square shapes and my square holes and my circle shapes and my circle holes. I'm not trying to put my squares in my circles and it's playing out pretty well. He is getting more belief and more freedom and more almost confidence. You can definitely say over since he's taken over so they feel less restricted. Good on them.'cause we've definitely given them a lot of shit over the last

Jerrell 25:13

Yeah, definitely. And the biggest match, the one that everybody was watching, not

Will 25:20

The one I

Jerrell 25:20

the one you called. Yeah. I was like,

Will 25:22

go on

Jerrell 25:22

call this score Tottenham. Played host to the gunners and they lost as they do at home for one. And that's not even shade or anything, that's just how they've been this season. The North London.

Will 25:35

the facts. Back it

Jerrell 25:36

Yeah, the North London Derby. It was a classic on one side and forgettable on the other Yoris finds himself a brace essay who I thought was gonna get another hat trick, which would've been fucking crazy. Also gets a brace. Spurs, they did score in the deadly 92nd post goal time span. And they almost had a second one, but that one got wiped out. Thoughts on this game?

Will 26:01

Touchy. I think it just shows like where my head is, honestly, with Spurs more than anything.'cause all things considered, it was a derby obviously, and Spurs really showed up to play. They responded to Arsenals first goal. You saw like their legs were in there. They were pre-game even I think the PA was like, announcing was just like, oh, they're nervous about that one, this one because city's on those heels. Let's let's get it. And I think. the real turning point was that goal by Cole Mulani. He had a chance for a brace. Tough one, honestly. Gabrielle obviously made a show of it but two hands pushed to the back. That's typically a foul. I think a lot of the backlash towards it that I saw was just Gabrielle making a show. But it's also just if you don't, and you're taking out the play, you don't get the call. Even seeing the ref cam, you can see like from the. they gave, he saw Gabriel Gabrielle on the floor. But I think it's one of those 50 fifties where if it's not called, if it is called, it's just not overturned either way by bar. But I

Jerrell 27:02

To Gabrielle earlier.

Will 27:04

yeah. Yeah. So I thought it was a foul. I obviously bias, I thought it was a foul. And but from there you can see just like the systemic issues we've seen with Spurs throughout the season. Spurs once again, we went at length about them last week, but dealing with lot of injuries. And when you look at like the, the squad that is injured and unavailable for them, it really feels five or six of them probably could be starting for them right now. Tough result. I felt like after that you almost saw like kind of the belief leave the players and that's where Arsenal was able to go back in. On the other side of that, as they was able to get his second goal real quick Yoko Des was able to get one late. There was a clip. Of was it tutor, their interim manager trying to tell Mickey Van Devan to oh, press higher. And telling players to play with a little bit more. And he was like, ignored. He had conversations at length in the post-game con post-conference that are just kind of like, what are we, what are we trying to be? But i, I can't stress enough. There's, there's talent on the squad. I just, the depth wasn't there. And when you're racked with injuries the way you are, it's gonna be hard to compete in these games like this. But Arsenal did a great job putting their foot, foot on the gas and really just killing the game. Something that we were begging we've been begging them to do, but especially after last week's pod just kind

Jerrell 28:18

Keep scoring.

Will 28:19

took it

Jerrell 28:19

scoring.

Will 28:20

and didn't, didn't leave it an option, really played on their front foot. So great result for Arsenal that keeps'em five points up. Pressure back on Man City who has a game in hand and Spurs. I think they're gonna stay up. But shit a co if a couple results went a different way. I don't think Spurs wants to be in a place where they're a point or two from re from relegation. I think they really need to keep that buffer because with how their injuries are taking over them, the, turnover from their coach. Shit. Shit can get scary really quick. Especially when you're used to like being above. I feel like if they are levels at some point it could turn into a real issue, but,

Jerrell 29:03

The jokes are.

Will 29:03

great game for Arsenal again.

Jerrell 29:05

Joke's already coming out that hot Spur Stadium will be the most expensive stadium in the championship.

Will 29:11

Yeah. I just

Jerrell 29:11

So yeah, it's just, there's tough but four points, only four points above the line. And you're, you're fortunate that Nottingham Forest didn't come away with a point

Will 29:20

they even had Joel Paulini playing Centerback. I totally forgot about that. Who's he's a midfielder in one of these games. He's a great midfielder. Obviously played at Fullham a few years back. Had a stint at Byron last week. And you, because you're so depleted, you haven't playing in a center back bearing with Mickey Van Devan. I'm just kind of like. It's really bizarre what's going on there. And you saw Yoko kind of bullying Archie Gray throughout the second half. He's looking more and more comfortable. It's just, yeah. Yeah. The jokes would be funny as a neutral, but it's wild to just see how depleted this team. I know we've always talked about like injuries hit everyone, but like they've just

Jerrell 29:55

Struggling.

Will 29:55

the last

Jerrell 29:56

Struggling. Before we move on to the Champions League, I do wanna acknowledge the Europa Conference and Europa League.'cause you didn't mention it earlier.

Will 30:05

drill. Hit us

Jerrell 30:05

Yeah, for sure. So we did have, in the Europa conference, crystal Palace did move on. They won on aggregate, aggregate three one. They finished their, their game today. So Crystal Palace will be moving on to their round of 16 in the Europa conference league and over in Europa League. Aston Villa did get the buy. They are seated, so they're waiting. This wrapped up today. Nottingham Forest did move on as well on a four two aggregate over fender block. So Premier League teams are moving on in Europe. It's looking great. Now let's jump into Champions League. I don't know if you wanna go through everything like one by one. I figured we just highlight the scores. No big surprises here. Galata, I maybe a surprise. I.

Will 30:51

Atlanta. At Atlanta is a huge surprise. Yeah.

Jerrell 30:54

Beating NTUs, a team that if you ask our friend, Dave has always been struggling for a while NTUs just gets there and then,

Will 31:01

NTUs was down three. Oh, in this one, was down. Darrell, they were be, they were down on aggregate. I'm sorry. They, they, no, they were down two. Oh. But they were down like, yeah. And they pick up a

Jerrell 31:17

oh, no.

Will 31:18

and it seems like they're dead. And then they go force extra time with Ted men, they're able to equalize, get two goals back and I thought Victor Osman was gonna shoot someone on the pitch playing for go out this way.'cause he was just like, what the fuck are we doing right now? Or whatnot. Just give me some service. And he gets service in like the second leg. I think Weston McKenney had a had a big goal off of a set piece situation, a ball, lacrosse goal. But UUs had definitely had a look, sorry, this is one of the games I got a good chance to catch, catch a good amount of at the start of extra time where there was like open net and there was a player who passed off late and I was screaming in Italian for Dave. But then Galata say, just iced it and then iced it again. So UUs had a chance to do the most unlikely of comebacks but just fell a little short, late, but very frustrating result for Juventus and what's been another frustrating season for

Jerrell 32:10

Tough, tough, tough. The defending Champs, PSG beat Monaco five four on aggregate. It was a draw on the second leg, so it, it was very close. PSG.

Will 32:23

Yeah. They, they didn't get their goals until, until the yellow, like the second yellow that came in, and it was a little, I'm not gonna get into it too much, but it looked a little funny in the light. I'm not gonna lie. PSG is through, but it really did feel like Monaco had a chance to do something special. And it I'm not gonna say Rob, because hey, you're playing the defending champs and you, you never know how it goes, but. PSG was stressed, is what I'll say. They get both of their goals within eight minutes of Madu, Kula, Bali picking up a, picking up a red card, but they were trailing in this one prior to that. PSG survived. They're gonna, they have a chance to play Barcelona, if I remember correctly. They're one of their potential Charles for tomorrow.

Jerrell 33:05

Okay. Rematch, right? Rematch from last year

Will 33:09

no p well, PSG played our Barcelona in the group

Jerrell 33:14

But they played two years ago,

Will 33:15

years ago, yeah, they played in the, they played like semis, if I remember correctly. That was when Arujo picked up a Reddi, and yeah, he's been aspiring a little bit ever since. But yeah, Barcelona will either got PSG or spoiler Newcastle.

Jerrell 33:26

In a very loud game. A lot of energy coming into this one. Benfica and Real Madrid. Real Madrid, take care of business at, at home. Two, one, they went three, one on aggregate. Yeah, that's that all.

Will 33:41

Yeah, rail madre, let Ben FICO score first to score two minutes later, and then Nessus put the tie away late. Yeah, that this is, this game's about fair on, on, form and what you expect from it, real Madrid through again, let's see what happens.

Jerrell 33:54

And this

Will 33:54

Two

Jerrell 33:55

was.

Will 33:55

years. Two in three years, I hear it already drill.

Jerrell 33:57

This is your big upset, Doman up two zero going into the second leg. Atlan finds all of their goals in this second leg. Four goals total. Doman finds one, Atlan moves on. Four, three on aggregate.

Will 34:12

The only Italian team left in the

Jerrell 34:15

That's it. Just one.

Will 34:16

That all, all of our Italian eggs are in this Italian basket. So

Jerrell 34:21

Kiba. It was already dead on arrival for this,

Will 34:25

yeah, they were

Jerrell 34:26

Newcastle just really handles it. Nine three on aggregate. That was it. Kerbeck from, from Turkey.

Will 34:34

Mm. Kazakhstan. could be wrong I feel like that was a very specific shout, but let me double check. You can go ahead and catch the next one if you want to. In the meantime, Azerbaijan.

Jerrell 34:46

Oh wow. Bo Oly continues. Can we call it a Cinderella run? Bo Oly takes down, enter two. One in this game wins five two on aggregate against the runners up of last year's Champions League. But Oly is a Norwegian team who last year played in the Europa League and, and bowed out to Tottenham who went on to win that tournament.

Will 35:09

We literally were talking about their

Jerrell 35:11

the toothbrush Army. Yes.

Will 35:13

Yeah. Yeah.

Jerrell 35:15

is moving on to round of 16. This is, this is a huge result.

Will 35:19

No.

Jerrell 35:19

Day for Italian football, huge for Norwegian football.

Will 35:24

Shout out at Atlanta being able to flip it. But yeah, if, yeah, I think they did coverage on CBS in their coverage where they were talking about the deficiencies in the Italian League and whatnot. But. Disappointing output, definitely for sure. You expect answer to get back into this at some point and they just never looked like they would. Great night for Bodo Glint.

Jerrell 35:44

Yeah, definitely. Who are their potential opponents, if

Will 35:47

i'll let you know. I'll get back to you. I'll get back to

Jerrell 35:49

Club Barge in Athletico after the highest scoring first leg. One team did not get the memo this week. Club Barge only finds one goal. Athletico gets four, they move on seven four on aggregate. It was a good run for Barge. I think they were one of the lower seeds in this playoff phase. But I thought we'll move on.

Will 36:11

Yeah, Baru they showed some good stuff. I think they drew with Barcelona, if I remember correctly, or they played them tight. They had some good results throughout, but just not enough. At Leco. Just turned on the burners and it was a little bit too much, but Baru was able to equalize early and then, yeah, it just fell apart. Alexander Soof with the Hat Trick. Meantime though I did was able to photo gli. Gets one of either Manchester City or sporting the Portugal. So pray it's sporting because then we'd get real Madrid Man City in a round of 16 Thai, which sounds tantalizing considering where they're at and what we need for Arsenal as well. So

Jerrell 36:48

Yeah, definitely. And the last, last Champion League match Olympias verse by lever Cuson, that one, it ended in a draw, but Lever Cuson

Will 36:57

You

Jerrell 36:57

already did the damage and moved

Will 36:59

pretty chill.

Jerrell 37:00

aggregate.

Will 37:01

Everyone just showed up, went home, did the

Jerrell 37:04

Yeah, nine to five just clock in and out and

Will 37:08

So since I have it here, I'll run through the po potential ties real quick and then we can go ahead and do that preview. Real quick. Drove, if you don't mind. Cool.

Jerrell 37:18

Okay. Yeah, for sure.

Will 37:19

hey. So for. Round of 16, we have Arsal and by Munich. They'll they're the seated teams. They'll play either at Atlanta or by or Leverkusen. As an Arsal fan, who would you prefer

Jerrell 37:33

Or what was the other one?

Will 37:35

at Atlanta who just,

Jerrell 37:37

See, if we're gonna talk about like the doldrums of Italian football, maybe I, Atlanta.

Will 37:43

I had prefer Atlan buyer. Love Houston. Still tie, but I feel like Atlan would have to play more open yet, but we'll, we'll dive deeper. I just wanted to ask. Two more seated teams. You might be familiar with Liverpool, Ty, him. They'll play either one of Atco, Madrid or Gala between the two of them. Outside of that we also have Barcel and Chelsea, who are two other seated teams. They'll get one of PSG or Newcastle. Either way you flip it, Chelsea against PSG or Newcastle. A team that they play in the Premier League Barcelona against PSG. As we mentioned, they bowed out of the semi-final two years ago. They had a tight one goal game earlier in the season, or Barcelona also played Newcastle as well. A rehash for either way for them. And then the last matchup, as we mentioned, sport include the Portugal and Manchester City are seated. They'll play rail Madrid or Bodo Glim on both ends of the European spectrum.

Jerrell 38:31

very nice. All right, and I'll quickly run through our match day previews for 28 and 29. Alright, so we have wolves verse the villains, cherries in Sutherland. Bern plays Brentford. Liverpool verse, Westham, Newcastle, and Everton Leads versus man city. Brian verse, not forest fullham verse Tottenham, Manchester, United verse Crystal Palace Arsenal verse Chelsea match. Day 29, which will happen on Wednesday, Thursday, I believe is Bourmouth verse Brentford Everton verse Burnley leads verse Sutherland wolves versus Liverpool. Villa verse Chelsea Brighton. Verse arsenal, fullham verse Westham. Man City takes on not even Forest Newcastle against Manchester United, and on March 5th, which is a Thursday tandem first Crystal Palace. A lot of teams need to do a lot of things over these next two games. And Tandem needs to win

Will 39:24

why we

Jerrell 39:24

so they don't get relegated.

Will 39:27

Todd them needs someone for space. Manchester City has games against leads in Nottingham, forests who are lower on the table. Arsenal gets Chelsea at the Emirates, but then they also get bride, which was their trap game last year. Yeah, can't wait for all of it. It will be a very stressful seven

Jerrell 39:43

And when it's all done, man said you'll still have the game in hand.

Will 39:48

Yes,

Jerrell 39:48

That was it. We did it. Another perfect pod. We have been football fellas. You can find us on all our socials. The Football fellows on Instagram, Twitter, blue sky. There's a website, the football fellas.com. We will be back again next week. We might be back at full strength. No guarantees. I don't wanna promise that. Most likely yes. But that was it. And we, next week we'll cover 28 29. We might go more into the UCL draw. We'll see once we know it's official, which all is tomorrow, and we'll look at our preseason power rankings if time prevails. We've been the football fellows. We'll, any last words,

Will 40:25

Thank you for listening and have

Jerrell 40:26

and we'll see you guys next week.