Are We Live?
Sports podcast hosted by Karan Sengupta, mainly discussing the NBA, NFL, and English Premier League
Are We Live?
Are We Live? Episode 46
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Are we lied?
SPEAKER_00No, no, no, yes. Yes, yes, yes. We lied. Yes. Okay, so I ain't gonna curse. But these punk Yo, we back with the pod. It's been a minute, but we had to schedule some shit to get this right. I got my boy Griggs here. He had me on for the Super Bowl when the Pats made it. So it's only right. I got him on with the Knicks in the finals. And not just in the finals, in the finals, sitting pretty as hell. So what's up? What's up, my boy Griggs? You if you follow me on Twitter, you probably know him. But um, yeah, welcome on, and we're gonna talk about a bunch of stuff. Finals, uh, chimney final, a little bit late, but still, chamzy final, the lotto change stuff, the some United talks and transfer stuff, a lot of stuff to talk about. Let's just start. We gotta start with the finals, the Knicks up 2-0, and talk to me, Greg. Because I know the Knicks fans were bullish on this matchup with the Spurs, you know. They were like they were hoping for the Spurs over OKC. Um, but being up 2-0 and how it's gone, are you surprised with the first two games? You know, like holistically.
SPEAKER_02Um, yeah, first of all, thank you for having me on, of course. Uh shout out my boy. And uh second of all, honestly, it's been even still like 48 hours after game two, because it's been a whirlwind of emotions. Obviously, you've been in NBA Finals before. This is my uh kind of you know debutante in uh in the NBA Finals, you know. I've been dreaming of this as a kid. Uh never thought it would happen. And you know, people changed my life, but I didn't want the Spurs matchup, I'm not gonna lie. I think either one would have been fine because I think OKC was hurt towards the end of that series, so they would have kind of been a little bit uh crippled up. But we matched up well against the Spurs. Obviously, they've been tougher so far in the first two games, which I expect that it's the finals, it's not the NBA Cup final as good as prestigious as Adam Silver trying to make that. It's not a regular season game at the Garden, even though those are important. It is the NBA finals, and we were away from home. But I think it's been quite clear the difference, I think, in experience. I think that's been the biggest uh thing I've seen so far. I think the Knicks, just the lock, the level of locked in that they are, it's something I've seen in very few teams, and those teams obviously have gone on to win championships and we're obviously knocking on wood two wins away from that. Yeah, and it's been a great matchup. I think the Spurs have honestly played us the toughest out of any team, which I expected. This is a 62-win team. I think Knicks fans kind of downplayed that a little bit too. Like, this isn't I know they're young and stuff like that, but let's not add like this is some you know young team that's just like kind of happy to be there. This is a 62-win team. This is one of the best regular season teams we've seen.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02So I think yeah, it's been a special team. But so far, I'll obviously talk more about it, but it's been it's been a it's been a good matchup. I've nothing really I'm too surprised by other than maybe some decisions by Miss Johnson, which we'll talk about in terms of benching certain players for a little bit too a little bit too much, considering how hot they've been. But it's been pretty much up to standard, what I've expected.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, like, when I was looking into this series, I'm like, alright, I've been on the Spurs to win the whole thing for a few months, right? Um, and I I really had the Knicks in the finals. You remember I was more pushed on the Knicks than you. I had the Knicks in the finals, and before this series, I'm like, man, this I picked the Spurs to win all year, but this matchup, like, so many things favor the Knicks on the court, you know, and that's not even getting into the experience stuff, which has definitely mattered, like, especially in like the fourth quarter and whatnot. But yeah, I mean the biggest thing matchup-wise, we gotta talk about is I mean, Carl Anthony Towns, he's giving Wemby absolute hell on both ends of the court. I mean, offensively, we kind of expected that with like his shooting and like the way he can post and drive and all that stuff. But I mean the fact that he's he's clamped up, Wemby, whenever they asked to guard him, really. Um and one thing, I mean, the the thing I want to talk about with Kat is like he's just been on like the craziest career path. Like uh if you remember like in college, they had that ridiculous Kentucky team where he's um starting at the four with next to Willie Coldie Stein. He's averaging 10 points a game. Like, think about how crazy this is that Kat, who we all now like well not all, but most of us think of as the best shooting center ever. In college, he took eight threes the whole season. Like, think about how crazy that is. Like, Calapari, he's a funny guy sometimes, but uh that's a different subject. But like, yeah, I mean the tr I mean so he goes from that from a college season where he's not really producing that much, but he still goes first overall based off like the flashes and the you know all the tools and whatnot. Then after his rookie year, I mean you've seen this, everyone has seen this now, but the GM survey thing where there's a thing about which player you want to build around for the next however many years, and I'm putting he was first, right? He he won that poll or whatever. He won the poll. Not only did he win the poll, he won the poll in 2016. Like, this is the peak of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Steph Curry. Like, Steph Curry is just off a unanimous MVP, and the GMs are like, yeah, Kat is the best building block in the NBA currently. Um, and then he's in Minnesota for a long time. Of course, he's a he's all-star, all that, but by the end, like he's kind of like almost like a joke of a thing. Like he became like a meme almost, you know? Like him being soft and him being zesty and all this stuff like that. But like, I mean, now with Mike Brown playing the center, which I think is a huge thing, he's fulfilled all his potential. Um, and I know as a Knicks fans, like the the cat stuff has been a roller coaster anyway, like even within this season. Um, so yeah, talk to me about like how you felt about Kat. Like when you got him and where he's at right now, where I mean, at least through two games, he's been like the best player in the series.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think with Kat, it's interesting because obviously with Kat, his reputation has never really been the greatest, especially after Minnesota started making the playoffs where Ant got there, and then he kind of got the the what's it called, the term of playoff dropper.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, and you know, technically we traded a playoff dropper and Julius Randle for Kat. And when that trade happened, funnily enough, I think it was the day before my birthday. Um I loved Dante DiVincenzo, so I didn't even give I didn't really give a shit about uh Julius Randle, right? Like I knew it was time for him to go and stuff like that. But I love Dante, like he just had that that aura, the swag about him, the threes and everything like that. Just the type of guy you need in the modern NBA. And then we got Kat. And then obviously I had to get talked to him too about, you know what? It's an upgrade on Julius Randle, cat. But my my biggest concern was would he be able to adjust to toughness that is ex the toughness of New York basketball and what's gonna be expected of him by Knicks fans, right? Because this guy's gonna be making 60 million a year, it's not Julius Randle making 30, 40 million a year, 60 million, super max. Will he will he uh be able to partner with Jalen Brunson? Because I think Randall, for all his downfalls, played pretty well with Brunson, yeah. Especially before he got that injury against Miami in that 23-24 season. Um, thank you, Jamie Joequest Jr. so much, man. Um so I didn't know I was always iffy about Kat, and then even that first season, forgetting about this regular season, even last regular season, it took him a while. He was putting up numbers, but it just didn't fit well. But then the playoffs, that Detroit series, he was so clutch. Like honestly, Brunson wasn't that good that series, and Kat was the one that took the burden and was hitting the clutch shots, except for game six, obviously, the dagger on the Pistons, and then the Boston series, he was pretty, he was really good. Um, and then the Indiana series, game one, he cooked, but after that, it just went quiet in a matchup that I think you probably expected him to dominate. I expected him to dominate against Pascal and Miles Turner. Like, though, that's that should be baby food for someone because you are right, Cat is the greatest shooting center of all time, he's one of the most skilled big men ever. And we're gonna talk about why people like in this series, bro, he's not Shet Home Grant, like no disrespect to Shet, but like, bro, there's levels to this, yeah. And Kat last year was, and then I'm like, this year, I'm like, this should basically this is do it die because you were right, you you were more confident than the Knicks, but everyone expected Knicks to make the finals this year, and Cap had to be able had to be a big part of that. And Mike Brown, and we've heard rumblings all season, he hasn't really bought in. Mike Brown kind of isn't using him the right way, and then all of a sudden, a game three in Atlanta, Cat after the game went into the office and like, yo, run the offense through me. And ever since then, I love Jalen Brunson's obviously the captain and everything like that, but there honestly has not been a better playoff performer than Carl Anthony Towns since that game three against Atlanta, triple doubles. Yo, his his shots have gone down, his points have gone down, but his impact has never been more felt. This is like dominant, and then no one has ever shut me up more than Carl Anthony Towns about his defense. He has become a man, and maybe it's because he is hitting his peak, right? And maybe I should have, I should have, I shouldn't have doubted that a boyhood New York Knicks fan would not be able to handle the pressure because honestly, I always think that boyhood Knicks fans always kind of handle the pressure better because they know what it takes. And Kat has stepped into bodega here, all that stuff, and he's been dominant. And what he is doing to Wemby. Wemby, we'll talk about him, but bro, it's just Kat is like he's hit that perfect age, he's matured, and everything like that. Obviously, we all know obviously the stuff that happened with his mom and stuff like that. He's definitely playing with that chip on his shoulder, but he's just matured now to where he doesn't have to be the number one, he's fine being the Robin to Brunson's Batman. He don't got a problem with that, right? He was even even in Minnesota, he was happy being the Robin to Ant's Batman. Yeah, he never had a problem with that. Uh Cat's humble like that, but he's also playing with that little bit of a mean streak in him this year. You're seeing the way he talked to Wemby, you can't guard me. Yeah, yeah. Then Adam Silver called two phantom fouls to get him off the court because he was dog walked in his face with uh the face of the NBA. But it's just been because obviously we're talking about finals MVP potentially, but yeah, right now if I put my vote, it would be Cat. But what he's doing, no one has shut me up more, and I'm so happy about that. Someone has shut me up like this because bro, everyone loves Cat. I even bought his jersey. I went into the Nike store, I needed a Knicks jersey. Brunson wasn't available in the medium. I bought the cat. That was the sign from God. Yeah, get the cat jersey. Yeah, knock on wood. Well, the Knicks haven't lost since.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, he's just like, I mean, it's it's almost cliche, but it's like he's like the perfect antidote to go at someone like Wemby, you know, offensively, because you have to guard him from the logo, like tightly. It's not like you know, this is a fake shooting bait. No, you gotta, he's the best shooter on the floor, and like, I mean, it's like him or Brunson, but like he's like one of the best shooters on the court at all times. You have to guard him tightly from basically any range, but if you do, he can drive you. Like as Wemby, he's not Wemby's like athletic for like someone that large, but I mean anyone that large is not gonna be able to change direction, like you know, like against a center, right? So you can drive Wemby from the three-point line, and if they put a wing on him to take away the drive, he's posting them. Um, and even if he's not scoring, like if you put a wing on him, and the Spurs don't really have like a big wing, like you would like like uh the Pistons had like Tobias Harris, who's like a legit 6'8, 6'9. The Spurs don't have that, like their biggest wing is Harrison Barnes, and yeah, he's not gonna play much this series. Um even if he's not scoring, he can dominate on the glass. Defensively, he's been great, he's been great defensively all playoffs, which is like imagine saying that last year. Like, me a subdues fan, like what the subs have done to Kat over the years defensively. I mean, Jason Tatum has put up like 40s and 50s on this guy in his sleep, and now he's guarding like not all defense, but like at a really high level, and it's crazy. I mean, it's crazy, and it's like the skill, and then because I I've always I mean, it's not like a hot take, but it's always been like to me, like, this guy has a crazy skill set. If he just like put it together, he'd be one of the best bigs of all time, like no exaggeration, and you're like seeing that now. Like, think about how many times in the past we saw him post up a guard, he'd throw an elbow, offensive foul, you know, he go back on defense, dumb reach, foul, he's in foul trouble, and he's just like out the game mentally from that on. Now he's just like it's just like strictly business. He gets the ball, you double, quick pass, assist. Defense, he's you don't gotta reach something, just use his body, move the feet. It's honestly even though I'm like a Nick hater, like very much so, I have to respect how I mean hope the Knicks have played in general, but like Kat especially has just been great to watch. Um and yeah, in general, like like we said, the cat has been the biggest mismatch in this series, but in general, the the Knicks as a team pose a lot of threats to the Spurs that like okay see didn't Minnesota didn't I mean Portland obviously didn't, but like I mean you have the cat and then you have Brunson, even though he's not played well at all, he's a threat to shoot from you know any spot on the floor basically. Mikhail can't miss. OG, I mean he's he missed a little bit, but he's still like a sniper. Uh Shamet legitimately cannot miss. Um, and just like everyone on the team is just making their jumpers, so like, you know, normally teams have an issue against Wemby because like there's no layups, right? You play against Wemby, you don't get any layups, and most teams can't survive off like just shooting jumpers, right? The Knicks can survive off shooting jumpers, especially in this you know flow state that they're in, where the whole team like that stretch in the fourth quarter of game two where they had um it was all bench in Mikhail Bridges, like no cat, no OG, no Brunson on the court. I'm like the even the broadcast was like, how are the Knicks gonna get offense with this lineup? And it's just like Deuce McBride made he cash, Mikhail Bridges made he cash. I'm just like, no, what the like it's just their like on top of being a great team and playing great basketball, it just feels like you know a team of Destiny type shit. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, I mean uh I mean first of all, shout out everyone on the score. First of all, Jason, I'll talk about Brunson real quick because honestly, with Brunson, these playoffs have been interesting, right? Because it's kind of been the antithesis of all his previous playoffs. Yeah, the most impressed I've been with Brunson has been his passing. Maybe not this series so far, but against the Cavs. I remember the game I went to, uh, he had 14 assists and he was just diming up double teams like it was not like it was nobody's business. And for this series, he struggled until about the second and third quarter of game two when because Darren Fox said before game two, oh, we're gonna make sure that Brunson's not allowed to shoot, which meant all right, we don't all know what's coming. Double teams. Yep, and at some point he figured it out. And you cannot double Brunson because we are we play good enough basketball to find always find the open man. And like you said, the open man for the Knicks right now is not missing. They're just not missing, like the Spurs have now had to play Brunson one-on-one, and you can only guard Brunson one-on-one for so long until he eventually will catch fire. And hey, guess what? In San Antonio, he didn't catch fire, but now you're coming back to the Mecca, yeah, and there's gonna be mayhem because we're gonna talk about the atmosphere of game theory, what's to be expected. But it's bro, Brunson, and I think eventually he'll figure it out. But he's been pretty solid defensively, uh, except when you're gonna Dylan Harper, but we'll talk about Dylan Harper and how talented that kid is. Yeah, but against Darren Fox, it hasn't really been an issue against uh Stefan Castle hasn't really been an issue. He's just been doing his thing. Mikhail Bridges, game two, finally, and we needed that aggressive Bridges. We didn't have that in game one. That was huge. OG, I think offensively, you just take what you get for him, but his defense is just always gonna be all world. Yep. Um, he's giving you that Landry Sham God, Tom Thibodeau, bro. If you wonder why that guy lost his job, it's because he had Landry Sham at shitting bench all year last year. Um, what Jose Alvarado has been a plus in the final. That's one thing I didn't expect. Yeah, he's been giving us positive minutes in the finals. Jordan Clarkson is basically not even gonna play anymore because I think Alvarado has taken all the minutes from that spot now. Yeah, he's been huge. Um, whether it's strong the foul against Stefan Castle to get him into foul trouble, or even box out Wemby until Wemby threw him away like a rag doll. Um just he's he's we needed his we needed that energy because San Antonio, one thing I'll give them, they play tough. They they guard they guard off. They were basically full court pressing for the first 45 minutes of that game. I'll give him the credit. But we have that one to counterpunch with Alvarado. I think he's been great. I think Mitch got kind of a little better in game two. Who else am I missing? Um, I think that's it pretty much from the rotation. But yeah, man, I think the Knicks just play good brand of basketball, and I gotta give credit. Mike Brown, you know, after game like game three, like against Atlanta, right? I want to hit center to slaughter because the guy was putting out non-bruns and cat lineups for like five minutes apiece. And I'm like, bro, what are you doing? Now he remembered his game plans in San Antonio, and bro, 13 wins in a row, like obviously the only team that's done that is the 17 Golden State Warriors, which is the greatest basketball team ever assembled because it had two of the three five greatest offensive players of all time. Yeah, it had one of the greatest help defenders of all time, and top five shooter of all time in Klay Thompson. This is just a group assembled by Leon, which is not cheap by any means necessary. Like OG has a supermax, Brunson obviously helped by sacrificing McCall's on a big contract, Kat's on a supermax. Like, it's not a cheap team, but the names aren't there, but it's just so well assembled. Yeah, and these guys, like again, the locked in, bro. Every time I think it's the Villanova effect, not gonna lie. Shout out Jay Wright, we talked about Cal Park, but shout out Jay Wright for developing champions. Um that zero zero mindset is what has me has made me so believed because last year that Pacers game I think traumatized them so much. Like, I mean traumatized me certainly, but I think it traumatized them. I think after seeing that and seeing what's happening this year, I think in basketball, sometimes I think I've realized sometimes it's not not it's just not your year. Yeah, and sometimes it is your year, and this next team, it just is their year, yeah. And it's just paying off. And obviously, if obviously it's not over yet, but after we'll have discussions about where this team is. Yeah, uh, I'm sure there's gonna be haters, you know, because people down play the Eastern Conference because you know they don't know basketball. Um West, West, West, West, West. Give it up, man. Um, but yeah, man, it's just a special team. But it's why I just want to talk about a little bit about the Spurs and Wen Banyamo because that guy's been ugly for him, and I thought Barkley at halftime was kind of spot on.
SPEAKER_00Like he was talking about how the fact that Kat was beat like woving him so bad just had him shell-shocked, right? Like in the end of the second quarter, there were like just some turnovers where he's just like throwing the ball out of bounds under no pressure, you know what I mean? He just wasn't, he's had like four shots at halftime. I was just like, bro, what is getting on game one was ugly too? It's just like and to be fair, I thought in the second half of game two, he kind of woke up a bit. Um, of course, he had the terrible stuff in the fourth quarter at the end of the game with the the bad shot. Well, one of them was a bad shot to me, and then the turnover, some people put that on castle. I mean, I'm kind of mixed on that, but um, yeah, he kind of I mean, I wouldn't say he figured it out in the second half at all, but he kind of like, you know, started to make some sort of impact. But still, like to me, the biggest issue with Wemby, or the only issue with Wemby really, is when he tries to get into his KD bag, it just looks awful, you know? And it sometimes it works because he's that talented. Um but the best way to use Wemby to me is always you know roll into the rim, um, you know, offensive rebounds, uh even pick and pop's like I'm fine with if he's open from three, I'm fine with him shooting those completely. But those ISOs where he gets the ball like from mid-range, especially when it's far away, like it's a long, long two like that shot he took, but like when they called timeout for the two for one, and they had him on the wing with the ISO versus Mitchell Robinson, and he took like a step back, like long, long two. I'm like, that's that stuff he cannot do. Like he just can't, like, especially in a moment like that. First of all, that play call from Mitch Johnson is horrible. I don't I don't like I just just horrible. Like, if you're the Knicks, first of all, you you get he calls timeouts so that Mitch Robinson can sub in for Kat. Um and really, even if Kat was in, it would be horrible anyway. But um Yeah, I I think I think Wemby is at his best when he's a play finisher. And the weirdest thing is even when he's a play finisher, uh huh, he's creating shots for his teammates, which uh like is completely counterintuitive to like the whole Definition of a play finisher, but him rolling to the rim creates lanes for his drivers, it creates open corner threes for like Champagny and Vassell and all these guys. Um, and of course, it dunks for him too. Um, offensive rebounds for him, all that stuff. Um, and I think the issue for the Spurs is just that their guards haven't been able to get downhill, except for Dylan Harper. Um like Castle's been in hell. De'Aaron Fox, he made some jumpers in uh in game two, he like he had a better game than game one, but I'm still not feeling like the impact, like getting to the rim, forcing help, you know, creating a shot for the teammates. I'm still not feeling that, which is what I'm expecting from a max player all-star guard, to be honest with you. Like, you had an efficient 20, that's cool, but like I'm still not feeling his impact in this series like at all. Um, and one thing I want to mention, and still on the Knicks side, is um one thing that surprised me is the fact that Josh Hart has been insanely impactful in this in these two games. Like, coming into this series, I'm like, Alright, the Knicks have to realize that Josh Hart can't play because they're gonna put Wemby on him and he's gonna sag off and he's gonna block everything at the rim. And defensively, um, I don't think he's quick enough to guard like a castle or or a fox or a harper, but that's been completely the opposite. I mean, on defense, he's been incredible. I mean, he's been his usual self on the glass, um, getting cleared deflections. Um, offensively, they've not really had the ability to sag off him because whenever they put Wemby on him, that leaves like a champagne or a Vasselle or a Castle on Kat, and that's just easy work. So um, yeah, that's been huge for Knicks that Josh Hart has been like able to play and made a huge impact. Um, and going back to the Spurs, I mean, to me, one of the biggest you know, realizations that hit me while watching this series and the last series is they don't have the depth. Now, you know, it's hilarious because they have apparently the six man of the year is on their roster. Um and to be fair, if you told me they had it on their roster, I would actually be like, yeah, Dylan Harper, right? Like, you know, but somehow it's Kelvin Johnson. Um, but if you're talking about their depth again, like they have their five stars, who I can think you can rely upon, you know, generally at least. Then you have Dylan Harper, then Cornet, I mean, he's not been effective really in the playoffs, especially in the Carmos finals. And I think he's been okay in these first two games, but of course, I mean, the drop-off from him to Wemby is astronomical. Um, so really you have like six and a half guys that you like rely upon, like they're wasting a lot of roster spots, like Biombo, Olinick, uh, Plumley, um, Harrison Barnes, Dora McLaughlin. Like, these are not real realistically speaking, these are not NBA guys. Um, and the Knicks, I mean, they have their trusting ten guys basically. And or is it 10 or is it nine? Nine, ten, same thing. But like Mitch Deuce. Mitch Deuce, Shamit, Alvarado, Alvarado. So nine, nine, nine. I mean, like I said earlier, like that bench lineup where you would think, okay, this is the Spurs. Not only was it the bench lineup, it's their bench versus the Spurs starting five, basically. You know, like Wemby's out there and they extended the lead. I'm like, damn. Like, like, yeah. So, I mean, yeah, that's been a huge issue for the Spurs, just the lack of um guys they can rely upon to play. And it doesn't help when you don't play. I mean, you could probably say that Dylan Harper's been the best Spur through the first two games, and he's just not playing enough. He's not getting the ball enough either, really, if we're being honest. Like, I'm sure every Knicks fan when he gets the ball in some space, they're like, oh, he's gonna score. Like, it feels like if he gets a step on his man, it's a bucket in the paint every time.
SPEAKER_02That boy, nice, man. That boy, nice. Um, yeah, Dylan Harper, I've I've never seen many players uh being able to push off on OJ and OV. Not gonna lie. Uh pretty hard thing to do. Uh he's matched and done it. Even Mikhail Bridges, who's been sensational for the Premier this year, he's been cooking him. Uh, yeah, for Josh Hart, real quick, um, I think it helps that Stefan Castle can only play at one speed. Yeah. And Hart's just using his uh physical advantage on that. He's been able to kind of just push him back when Castle tries to go downhill because he has no uh like tempo to his game.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh which Dylan Harper does, which is why Dylan Harper is the superior player.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, yeah. I mean, I'm probably Dylan shoots threes, I can live with that. Anytime his first player shoots a jumper, I'm calm with it. Except unless it's Champagne. The rest of them, I'm living with it.
SPEAKER_00And you know, one thing I've noticed is like Bassel has been passing up a lot of threes. Like, it's weird. Anyway. Oh, yeah, you gotta crash his hair. Anyway, keep going.
SPEAKER_02Bro, and bad enough to do with that with Alessandro Martinez, the prem. Now it's following me to the sport of basketball kind of. Anyway, yeah, thank you, Tony Brothers. I'm not even gonna talk about the wrestling game. That was bad. I'll be honest. That was bad. That's below me. That's below me to be honest.
SPEAKER_00Real quick, in the first half, I'll do it for you so it doesn't come up with sour grace. But like in the first half, I thought they were terrible both ways. Um that technical foul on Mitch Robinson was ridiculous, like one of the worst techs you'll ever see. Um, there were two backcourt calls. One of them, they I think Brunson went behind the backcourt, they didn't call it, and then they called one, I think, on Deuce. Was it Deuce?
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. Yeah, it was Deuce.
SPEAKER_00I don't think he went behind the backcourt. Um there was a play where Castle got whooped on by somebody and they didn't call a foul. Um the first half I thought was both ways horrible. But in the second half, I mean, those fouls on Kat were like it's one of them things where you're like, bro, are these are these sports rigged, bro? Like, especially that second foul. That was a phantom foul, if I ever seen it. Um yeah, and you know what's funny, it didn't even really work. Like I said, we've said that a couple times. Like the bench held it down for the Knicks anyway.
SPEAKER_02Um, I mean, thank you, obviously. But yo, it was so bad that Richard Jefferson was some defending the Knicks, and that's a very, very sight. Richard Jefferson hates the Knicks, obviously being a longtime Nets player. That guy was defending us. That's how bad it got. But anyway, but yeah, on Wemby, obviously, I was always I've always been like fearful of Wemby. Like, I think he's top two players in the world. Obviously, he beat SGA, but the more and more I thought about it, and I listened to uh, I'm sure you know the the Chill Town guy, right from that player's choice podcast, yeah, made a good point. That 40 bomb that Wemby had in game one, yeah, 17 of his 25 uh what's it called shots were at the rim. Layups are dunks.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_02This series, the Knicks, I think what they've done so well, and partly it's because the Knicks are a much better defensive rebounding team than the Thunder. Like I Isaiah Hartenstein is a piece on the offensive glass, but he's not the greatest on the defensive glass, and obviously we know Shed's limitations.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_02Um the Knicks are so much better defensive rebounding, and also the Knicks are just comfortable having Wemby top of the key. They're not scared of him, no matter what. And we talk about how good Kat's been defending him, whether also if Mitch is doing it, and honestly, the Knicks haven't even used OG on Wemby as much. So that's the thing. I thought that was gonna be a thing that was gonna be utilized, and it's good that we still have it in our back pocket because Kat's been so tremendous on Wemben Yama, which is great. It also kind of keeps OG a little bit, uh Sage's energy, because to defend Wemby as OG, you're gonna need a lot of energy to utilize, and he's been able to keep that to obviously utilize it on the offensive end, or being having to guard a Harper or Castle or a Fox, which is also a tough task in its own right. So, bro, Wemby's gonna be great. Wemby's gonna dominate the league, he's gonna win championships, but I'm glad also that it wasn't perfectly easy for him. He needed to face some kind of setback, and it is this series, and it is gonna be a veteran team like the Knicks, who have the the thing. Also, because he hates the Thunder so much, it was always gonna dominate them. The guy that looks at Shet like with the bullseye dart every single time. It's just a different level, and uh we're just so comfortable. And yeah, I agree with you. His easy shots should be at the rim and stuff like that, even though Stefan Castle has thrown him some horrible lobs um that somehow gave reward into fouls. Yeah, yeah. Um, but I'm just comfortable with him, and I'm comfortable with Darren Fox. Yeah, he hit shots last game, but that's not gonna last. Let's be real. We all know what Darren Fox is. He also missed Stefan Castle, yeah, bro, he'll miss eventually. Stefan Castle, he only like I said, he only plays at one pace, but Dylan Harper is a problem. Yes, he could get to the rim at ease. And I remember the cup game, the final, right? Yeah, for the first three quarters, the reason why the Spurs were dominating us because bro, they were getting paint, they were getting to the paint every single time.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_02Whether it was Castle, whether it was Fox, whether it was Harper, and that was Harper before he even kind of started going on the rise. You know, he's the number 12 all pick, but he was still obviously relatively inexperienced. But we're limiting their paint touches and we're just forcing them to shoot, and they can't outshoot us.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Like they just can't. We they don't have it. Like Champaign hit five threes in the first half in game one. Yep. His his the water's been turned off for him ever since then. It's not it's not been open. Um, Kelton Johnson is just out there to run cardio. There's nothing else he can out there. Um, so yeah, I think we're just comfortably playing defense. And uh the Knicks, obviously, there's been a lot of talk about our offense throughout the playoffs, but it hasn't been better than our defense. This team has held teams under 100, like pretty much all playoffs. Yeah, and in this version of the NBA, that's near impossible. And I'm not saying we're going up against the best offenses ever, right? I don't think like we're going up against even like a 2024 Boston and stuff like that. I get it. Um, but you play who's in front of you, and we're just shutting up, we're just shutting off everyone because team defensively, because yeah, we have two cones basically in defense, or at least not one with Brunson because Cat's been stepping up. Yeah, but it's all about effort, it's all about movement, it's all about communication. I think that's the best, most important one. Under Tibbs, and why I thought Tibbs had to go was Tibbs' roster was that 23-24, the one that Randall got hurt. Yeah, that was a roster built for him. It was a bunch of like hard-hitting players, gets of the paint, drive to the rim, not as many threes except for Dante. Kind of a Tibbs style team. Yeah, but once you get cat, you have to evolve. And Mike Brown has evolved them offensively, but also defensively, he just has them locked in. And Wing Stop is finally actually stopping. Like, you know, they finally they finally get into stops. Um, and issue just been shutting off the Spurs, man. And I think the Spurs are great, but until Miss Johnson plays Dylan Harper more, which I don't know, he might, you know, we all know about basketball politics. I think that's been a top all playoffs. Um the guy that's getting paid 50 mil has to get minutes until they trade him.
SPEAKER_00Rookie of the year gotta play.
SPEAKER_02That's for the off that's for the offseason, though. That's not for now. So he's gonna keep playing, yeah. And he's gonna keep getting into Brunson's face, and he's gonna get hit with a dagger eventually. Yeah. Um, because you want to talk, you want to talk smack. Also, Rick Bunts has gotta sit on the bench, gotta give it up, bro. Let your son do the talk.
SPEAKER_00It's not AAU, bro. Sit down.
SPEAKER_02Like, yeah, bro. You're just you're his coach.
SPEAKER_00One thing I'm glad you mentioned was that yeah, I think everyone expected OG to be the matchup for Wemby coming into the series. Um and yeah, one of the biggest surprises for me in game one was that off the tip off, Wemby and Kat were guarding each other on both ends. Like, I did not expect that at all. Um, and I guess when you think about it, you know, OG is like built to like guard someone like Wemby. But I think the issue would be if you put OG on Wemby, where do you put Kat, right? Like you put him on Champagny or Vassel, then you're leaving a shooter kind of like viable to get hot. If he's on Fox or Castle, then he's gonna be in a lot of pick and rolls, guarding, getting over screens, that's gonna be kind of stuff. So I guess when you really think about it, it makes sense to put Kat as the primary guy on um on Wemby, but yeah. Um anything else? Oh, one thing I wanted to mention, you talked about um the differences between uh OKC and the Knicks. The biggest difference for me on defense, despite OKC being a better team defensively than the Knicks, I think everyone would agree with that. Like outside the bigs, Chet and IHart, they're a very small team. Like Ludor, Caruso, Shay, um McCain, Isa uh, who else was playing? Um what'd you say?
SPEAKER_02Uh Kassan Wallace.
SPEAKER_00Uh Case and Wallace, yeah. All these guys are like 6'3-ish. I mean, like, SGA is a bit taller, but he doesn't really play big. Like, all these guys are like 6'3, 6'4. Um, they fight like hell, don't get me wrong. But I mean, OG, legit 6'8. Like, Mikel, legit 6'6, 6'7, uh, Mitch, 7 feet, Kat, 6'11, whatever. You know, Josh Hart, he's like 6'6 and like thick. Um, like, they're just a much bigger team on the perimeter in contrast to um OKC. And that lets you do a lot more switching, it helps you on rebounding. Um, and yeah, that game one against um OKC where Wemby had like 40 and something like that. That was like all dunks, basically. All dunks and layups. Like, I think he only made one three, and it was that like half-court, not half-core, but logo three to tie it up. But yeah, that was all dunks. That's when they put a caruso on him. Um so he was getting lobs and dunks and layups. Um, and after that, they started putting iHeart on him. Um, he's not found, he still had some success to score in that series, but to me, it's been a big difference. Since that game one, he's gotten way less dunks and layups, and to be expected, I guess, right? Like, okay, C's gonna adjust and not let him just, you know, dunk like he's in the backcourt, like he's in the backyard. But um, yeah, um, what else do we talk about in this game? I mean, going forward, I'm not gonna ask you to predict the series because that would be cruel. I don't want you to jinx your own team, but personally, I'm expecting like a sweep. I'm not gonna be honest, I'm not gonna lie to you. Like, I feel like we're due the Brunson game. Um, and I just feel like the matchup favors the Knicks too much. They're gonna be at home, and like you said earlier, this Knicks team is locked in, like, really locked in.
SPEAKER_02Um and like in game two, I'll talk about yeah, because I'll talk about the atmosphere real quick, because obviously I live in the city. Yeah, I don't think people understand what tomorrow night or tonight when this comes out. Yeah, what and what New York City, obviously, we're not gonna talk about who's coming the time and stuff like that, but what the atmosphere in New York has been like, people don't understand what this city is on right now. Like, bro, I'm seeing people being nice to each other in the morning. Yeah, that's a rare sight in New York, bro. Because in the morning, I want to talk to no one. I really don't. But if you see someone with the Knicks jersey, it's that buck is Knicks and Ford. That's the combo that you have it. And Monday night, tomorrow night is the most anticipated sporting event, honestly, the most anticipated event in this city's history. Because for the first time in 27 years, the finals is played at the garden and it is mayhem. And no disrespect to Wembayama, who's played in France and stuff like that. No disrespect to Darren Fox, who played in Sacramento, bro. They don't know what's hitting for them tomorrow night because yeah, it's gonna be the Wall Street boys at the garden, everything like that, but it don't matter because you're gonna have 20,000 New Yorkers yelling at you, the loudest you'll ever hear in your life. There is nothing to prepare you for this. It's like preparing a footballer to play at the bombonetta, and it you can't do it. You can't, and no matter what, even if people are not allowed to be outside the garden, you're gonna hear them because guess what? I saw a video, bro. You heard New Yorkers from Jersey across the river. They were it was that loud. They shut down Times Square on Friday night. It's never happened before. What we're witnessing, and I'm not gonna say about British here, I'm not gonna say anything, but all I'm saying to the Spurs players tomorrow is what Galatas Right fans say. Welcome to hell. Because this ain't Texas. Because yo, I because I saw you tweet about it, bro. I was hearing them deuce shouts after you did that. That was crazy. This team travels well. This team is like I remember people talking about how United away fans and stuff like that. Bro, Knicks fans travel because guess what? We get paid a New York salary to go travel to cheaper cities. Yeah, but now there ain't gonna be no San Antonio fans at the garden because no disrespect, but you just can't afford it because it's $20,000.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So you're just gonna have a bunch of Long Island guys yelling at you, and guess what? Those more those guys are loud. Yeah, they're penchers, they're rowdy. Yeah, and they're just gonna be yelling at you. Yo, Wemby gonna be hearing uh, what's it called? Chance that he's never heard before in his life.
SPEAKER_00Oh man, that just reminded me when he was like, What's that? When he got when he got thrown out versus the Wolves, he was like, What's that? I'm like, come on, bro.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the same Minnesota little like little bro. This is oh, this is New York City, and bro, I've never seen the city in my 20 years living here, I've never seen it like this. I've seen the Yankees be successful, I've seen the Giants in the Super Bowl, even when the Mets got hot for a little bit, bro. Nothing in nice New York like the Knicks, bro. This city, this team might have me step foot in Staten Island in a week's time. I've never stepped foot in Staten Island in my life. I have nothing to do with that city, bro. That borough, but I'm about to step foot. So it's crazy. And just for the Spurs, I hear that I I'm not gonna talk about what they're be saying in presses and stuff like that. We didn't touch on that, but I'm not gonna lie, they're talking like a like a team that's never been here before, and keep downplaying it because you're stepping into the worst place possible tomorrow night and Wednesday night into literally Hell's Den. And I just wish them the best of luck, but yeah, we'll see how it plays out over the next two games.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um, last thing I wanted to mention. Um we ever I mean, we talked about Mike Brown a little bit, but it's been crazy to watch, like, you know, his career unfold because he comes from the Spurs and goes to the Cavs, right? And they're a defensive team, and he has a reputation as being a defensive coach. Then he goes to the Lakers and he gets fired quickly. It's almost like a joke, what happened there. Then he goes to the Warriors and sits under with Steve Kerr for a long time. Then he goes to the Kings and he makes them an offensive team, you know. That that team that for that one year, the Kings, that was cinema, like all the shooting and pace and ball handling they had, like, that team was really fun. And then he gets fired after I don't know what happened last year, we're gonna get fired in Sacramento, and he's kind of like combining the two identities that we saw in his career in New York, like we're seeing that Cavs like defensive like grittiness, and you're still seeing like the Kings, like like he's using Cat like Sabonis, you know what I mean? But you know, except Sabonis can shoot from the parking lot, but uh yeah, so it's been crazy. I mean, I was bullish on them replacing Tibbs. I remember I was telling you, like, I think that was the right call to fire him and try and go for someone else. And I'm not even I wasn't even like a Mike Brown guy like that, but he's been everything they could have hoped for, he's done really as a coach.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean honestly, we should have known he was a chosen one when he took the kinks to the playoffs. Like that's that's that should be a sign enough, bro. That franchise has been cursed. So if he could take the kings to the playoffs, man, no, no wonder, bro. Yeah, that's that franchise is gonna stay cursed, but yeah, man. Shout out Mike Brown. Um, bro, if he's gonna if obviously the get the job gets done, he bro. You don't even have to coach again, bro. You're a legend for life. Like the statue's getting built. Like I already got the Athenians getting ready to build Brunson statue. I asked my dad to find a way to make Jalen Greek. I'm still trying to figure out a way. Um for my future son, but I could do Carl though. We could do Carl. I figured out a way to go. Carl's easy, yeah. But yeah, we gotta figure out a way for Jalen. Because you know, it was gonna be Eli at first, but yeah, he lost his file.
SPEAKER_00Enough hoops for now. Let's move on. It's a little bit late, but it's only been a week, or it's only been like what two weeks since Chambly final. Of course, we had uh PSG winning on penalties against Arsenal. Um and I gotta ask to start off with, did the match, like how it went, did it surprise you in any way?
SPEAKER_02Expect Arsenal to score within five minutes of the game, to be fair. So um that probably definitely put a part into it. I didn't expect PG to have more of the ball because I think Arsenal just are gonna rely on the defensive structure. But I didn't expect them to be that that passive. Um, and well, it at the end of the day, if you're gonna be that passive, it there's only all it takes is one mistake and you get punished for it. As a perfect guy's defensive that they were, and they were perfect defensively for 99% of that game. But Muscaro bit once and it bit them, and then the penalties is a whole different that's just lottery luck at that point. But they had a good game plan. Like I'm not gonna sit here and say our teta had a poor game plan, but if you're gonna play like that, you're gonna you know what the risk is. Yeah. Um and that's all it took. But gotta give credit to them. Um they had a game plan, they tried to execute it. Um, but I think we'll talk about what they missed. But bro, that team needs forwards like crazy. Um, because how that's honestly it's a bad it's a bad look on the Premier League that we let a team with that level of attack winner league. Um
SPEAKER_00Honestly, we should be more m Pep should like that's kind of a stain on Pep, I'm not gonna lie to you. Um But yeah, I mean just going back on the like coming into the game I thought the game would go two ways, right? Either PSG would just blow down the water, right? Like, you know, a 3-0 type game, or Arsenal would score early and then hold on for like a 1-0, which was what is looked like what was gonna happen, right, for most of the game. Um so for that to happen and then PSG still win, I feel like that kind of like shows the difference in the two teams that the game went how Arsenal would want, and they still lost. Like, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, a lot, you know, at that point in the penalty is a lottery, but for the game to go how you would need to go and still lose, I think that kind of shows the teams are just not on the same level, if I'm being honest with you. And talking about like Artella's like tactics and whatnot, like to go that defensive after you score, and really even before you score, even though I mean there wasn't much time before they scored, but from the kickoff, they were not trying to play football. Like, one thing that stood out to me was they won a free kick at the halfway line when halfway line, right? And they're setting everyone in the box. I'm like, whoa, what the hell is going on? Like, I've never I don't remember seeing this this early in a game where you get a free kick at halfway line and you try to pump in the box for some, you know, just some clusterfuck goal or whatever, right? So that to me was crazy. Um, and the thing with me is whenever you play tr go into a game like this, with this kind of approach, strategy, whatever you want to call it, I can only praise it if it actually works, you know, because you're sacrificing all your coaching ability, all your football philosophies, all that to get a win, right? Like I remember Liverpool to some extent kind of did the same thing as Tottenham. They got an early goal from the pen, and then they were just like compact defensively for the rest of the game. Now they won, so nobody says anything, right? If you're Arsenal, you gotta win. Or I'm just like, I'm not really moved by that performance, you know what I mean? Um, and the possession stat where it's I think 24%, 24.7% possession, which was they said the lowest number since 2004. I mean, that number is crazy, and the fact it's the lowest number in like almost over 20 years is crazy because I mean think of some of the finals we've had. We've had Arsenal in 2006 against Barcelona playing with 10 men for like huh? Yeah, that was the second lowest. But that the thing is that being low makes sense because there were 10 men against a great Barcelona team, right? United against Barca in 2011, when that that Barst team is probably the best club side anyone's ever seen, where it's a complete mismatch. You're still lower than that. Chelsea in 2012 against Bayern, who I mean it's like a completely makeshift Chelsea team, with like Ryan Bertrand at left wing, and I mean I don't even remember John Terry suspended, they don't even have like they don't even have their proper team. So just doing what and then they're playing in Bayern, Byron Munich is playing in Bayern in the final, and that team had more possession than Arsenal in this final, the Premier League champions Arsenal, a fully fit, I mean, yeah, fully fit Arsenal. I mean, that was their preferred 11, right? Um Yeah, pretty much. I mean, to basically have zero attacking threat for the vast majority. I mean, when Martinelli and Yucarez came on, they had like really brief like stints of pressure, but it was very little. Um, yeah, so I mean going forward, you kind of like hit on it with the the attacker stuff. I mean, if if I'm in charge, Yakares and Martinelli can't come back after that cameo in that final. Like, the fact you're coming on with fresh legs, um, in a game where, by the way, like half of PSG's first 11 was subbed off, you know, for one way reason or another, the fact that you got space a couple times and did that, you can't come back if I'm if I'm in charge, to be honest with you. Um, yeah, and and that's kind of been a theme all year that like you know, Arsenal fans talk about how nobody like gives them space to attack and whatnot, which is you know partially true. Very I mean, very true a lot of the time, but even when they get those chances, they're a really poor team in transition, like one of the worst top sides you'll see in transition. Um, so yeah, I mean, I think we're both in agreement that they gotta add attackers. Um, it seems like Morgan Rogers is their guy that they want to go after, and there have been some reports that he's interested in stuff. I mean, I've given my thoughts on him, Morgan Rogers, quite a bit over the last several months. Is Morgan Rogers one you know part of the answer, I'm gonna say he's not gonna be the savior, but is he part of the answer to you to do what they're missing in the team right now?
SPEAKER_02I I think actually I do. I'm not the biggest fan of him. I think sometimes has a lot of tunnel vision, but his ball carrying is really good. Um, and I do think they missed that. Uh they do lack that. Like I think Ezie's okay. I don't think Ezie's ball carry like Morgan Rogers is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Kayasaka, I don't know what he is anymore, to be honest. No disrespect to him.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, but obviously the injuries have clearly hampered him.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And they don't have a striker. Um the fact that Kai Havertz is more serviceable than Yokersh at times is a disgrace to Yokers or how bad he is. Yeah. Um, so I don't think Morgan Rogers helps. But honestly, they're just I think they're I think they're just a gritty team, and they're just they're always gonna be tough to beat, which is always gonna have them up and around the title stuff like that. But like we saw against the Liverpool having that one attacker that could just win you three points every single week. I think sometimes I think if teams have that, they can just usurp Arsenal because they're just gonna have a lot of stretches where they just can't they'll get draws instead of wins. They're very they're very they're rarely gonna lose.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But the draws do eat up at you if another team just keeps winning.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, even if they lose a couple more games than you. Because so I think that's the biggest difference for them. Um, I think Martin Rogers helps that. I do think they need more midfield. I think Dakan Rice is good, but Zuba Mendi's ass. Um either. Um I think Max Dowman will give more of a look next year. I think Louis Skelly midfield has helped them a lot. Um, Marteta finally realized what he had. Yeah. Um, I guess better late than never. But defensively, they're always gonna be good. But midfield and attack, I think Arsenal lack a lot in, and they do need some reinforcing that. We'll see. I think Morgan Rogers is a good start. I think they should. I'm surprised they're not really in the bidding for one of those midfielders. Like um, obviously Elliot Anderson's city bound because they're just gonna pay abnormal wages for him and stuff like that. But I'm surprised there's not more talk for them for Tonali. I'm surprised maybe they're not going for Bruno Bumarish because it's not like United and Chelsea and all these new clubs that have this all 25 and under policy, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Um, Arsenal, I think, shouldn't be afraid to spend big on a little bit more mature older players because again, guess what, bro? This is your window to not dominate the prime, but you know, but to be able to get a couple titles. Peb's gone. Every other team is rebuilding. You're the best team in the league. Now is your time to capitalize, and I think they should be trying to spend on the players, the level of Tanali, the players' level of Bruno Bomarish. I think Morgan Rogers, you just need that kind of. I guess they want the England kind of player stuff like that. Gibbs White, I think I'm surprised maybe they should be looking at more than Morgan Rogers. That makes sense, actually. Yeah, I think because I think he's just a better playmaker than Morgan Rogers. Maybe he doesn't have the exact ball carrying specialty of Morgan Rogers, but I think his goal for that is way bigger. So I think they should be looking at those level players, but hopefully they don't. Um I wish nothing but the worst upon that club, to be honest. Um, so yeah, but they shouldn't be giving them too many suggestions.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um, like you said, their floor as a team is so high because I mean it's just hard to score on them. Like, um, first of all, they're extremely compact, you know, from a structural standpoint. Arteta has, you know, as much as I like detest some of the way he approaches the game, in terms of setting up a team, he's top-notch. The center backs are Titans at the back. Declan Rice defensively and winning the ball is one of the best we've seen in that archetype of player. Um David Raya, top-notch. Um, and they've got depth in the in the back too, because they've been buying like center backs for years. Um yeah, uh, you know, uh Morgan Rogers, I'm not really a fan of, to be honest with you. Um it's just not my cup of tea when it comes to players personally.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_00But as I think about it, like if we look at uh you know proven is like a in quote, I'm saying in quotes because realistically, doing it at some club and doing Arsenal is completely different, right? But if we're looking at proven, you know, going for Rogers makes some sense because he's gonna give you, you know, I would say 10 plus goals. I would say, you know, and 10 plus goals out of nothing, right? Like he's someone that can just he gets the ball out of the box, whacks it top ends, you know. He gets the ball in transition, he he runs through a couple guys, and then it's a goal, you know what I mean? So I in some ways I get it because um he has that dynamism. I would just think like when you have his faults, like you mentioned tunnel vision. I think his weight of pass in general is pretty awful, to be honest with you. Um when you're that kind of player, I'm leaning more than 10 goals, to be honest with you. You know what I mean? Like, I think he was at 10 goals this year and eight goals last year in the league. I mean, like just league goals. Um, I'm needing a little more than that. Now, I think the argument would be for some people is that coming to Arsenal, he's gonna like take him to the next level. And I don't know if I buy that because like when it comes to attackers, you're not Emory knows what he's doing, right? He knows how to profile attackers, and it's not like Villa is some relegation team where Morgan Rogers are starving for service and all that. Villa are top four team, you know. So, like, I we'll see. I mean, I'm I'm not very bullish on that type of move. If they get like a Barcola, then okay, I'm like, I'm listening, I'm listening to that. You know what I mean? If they get uh a groupie, a Kruppie, is it groupie? How do you pronounce it? I'm gonna know. If they get that, okay, I'm listening, right? Um I think I agree with you. They need more creativity in midfield, like Declan Rice. I mean, he's a box-to-box machine. Lewis Skelly is you know more of a first phase midfielder, I would say, you know, dribbling our pressure and whatnot. The the fall-off of order guard, I mean, first of all, it really needs to be what happened to that guy, and second of all, they need that number 10, you know what I mean? Like, I mean, they lacked not getting someone like Turkey, to be honest. Um, and yeah, like you mentioned having that guy, that's like the you know, Little Salah. If they had that guy, they'd be a dynasty, bro. They'd be a Premier League dynasty, bro. Like, it would be scary to be able to even you saying that, I was like, oh my god, imagine they had a Harry Kane, uh Erling Holland, a Mo Salah. Even you know, he didn't score like a ton, but like an Eden Hazard type. If they had that like you know, iconic attacker that most great teams, most Premier League champions had that player, right? Like if you go through the list of teams that won a title, like they have that player, they won a title without that player, and uh so yeah, I mean for the rest of the league, I guess they're a bit fortunate that that player isn't like just available, like maybe like a Vinicius could be available, who knows? Something like that, but I don't know if that's something Arsenal would do. Um I think if I were them, I'd be looking at Rafael Leal, but again, I don't think there's any chance in hell Orteza goes for someone like Rafael Leal. Um but um yeah, I mean ultimately it's obviously a massive success of a season, but yeah, I mean uh and um anything else I want to talk about with the Arsenal, the final. Um let's talk about PSG a little bit. Back-to-back Champions League titles, um they beat they beat all the Prem teams, um except for City, but they beat all the Prem teams that were in the Champions League in these last two years. They beat Byron, who many thought that was the real final. Um they beat they beat Liverpool twice. Um they went to Anfield and won twice. Like, like that doesn't happen. Like even Liverpool, I mean last year Liverpool were champions, but like winning at Anfield twice doesn't happen. Like um I mean they're approaching like, alright, is this the best club side we've seen? Now I think the vast majority of us would say that Pep's Barça is the best club side we've ever seen. I think you agree with that, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I don't think and part of that also is just like when you have a prime Del Messi, it's hard to think of a team better than that, you know what I mean? And let's not even get into the midfield and JRPK and David V and all that, you know, and Pep as a coach. But um one thing I would say that like the legacy their legacy to me is gonna be like the way they play football and the way their team is, like, every fan wants their team to play football like this. You know what I mean? Like, fast players, technicians, um, attackers, like fluidity in the attack, uh, midfielders that run for days, that are calm on the ball, that defend, that win the ball, um, defenders that are like you know, tenacious and not scared of nothing, you know, like William Pacho's a titan at the back. Um, they got rapid fullbacks. Um, they play youthful players, they play academy players. I mean, like, you know, Zaire Emery and whatnot. Like, to me, when I think of this PHC team, I'm just like, man, this is what every fan wants their team to look like. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, honestly, with PSG, it's very tough. I do think I think they're better than the Bush team. I don't think they're better than the Real Madrid 3P team either. Um, just one team had the Pig Lan Messi, the other team had a peak Christiano Ronaldo.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, and I just I think they're really good. I just don't think they have they have the dominance of those teams, do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um I'm trying I'm trying to think if it's like a fair comparison, but like I'm trying to think of like that early Milan team in the early 2000s, not the 90s teams and their 80s teams, which I think were probably more better because they had like the Pete Maldini, uh Van Baston holder type of teams. Yeah, I think maybe it's kind of similar to those teams. I think they were just just so dominant, dominant in Europe at some point. But I think this team, this PSG team is really good in the margins. I mean that that Liverpool tie, you know, the penalty shootout. Even Villa, I think, gave him a tough tie. Like if Una Emory never sums off Marcus Ratchford, the PSG even advanced has had tie.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, so I think they've been really good in that, but I just I think they're really good. I I can't knock them, they won back-to-back champions leagues, but I also think that this is the weakest part. I think this is the weakest Europe has ever been in terms of the top teams. 100%. Um, so like it's I'm not trying to put like an asterisk or anything, but they've been they've taken advantage, and that's what you have to do at times. Like where Arsenal took advantage of the Prem, PSG have taken advantage in Europe. I'm not even gonna talk about the league gun wrestling thing. I think that's just bullshit.
SPEAKER_01I agree with that.
SPEAKER_02Um so yeah, I think they're they're good. They're a great club side. I don't think they're anywhere near the best. Like, for example, if you tell me, I is this PSG team better than the the United team that made three UCL finals in four years? I don't think so. Like, I don't think they're better than 0708 United, in my opinion. Um I also don't think they might have even beaten that Chelsea team that was losing out every single year in that Champions League era. Yeah. Um that was the lucky that got robbed by Marsa. So I think your era matters. Uh they're just dominant in this era because they do have the best team in this era. So you have to you have to take advantage of that. Some teams don't take advantage of that. Yeah. Um, so like for as good as Pence Barsa was, there were two years where they lost to Jose's team and then they lost to that Chelsea team.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um sometimes you let your guard down, and PSG has not let their guard down in the past two years when they could have. We'll see next year. Obviously, you know, there's one prem team that they haven't beaten yet. Um, that's coming back in the Champions League next year. Um, so we'll see what that holds for us.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But um because we're talking, we're gonna talk about them soon. But yeah, man, I'll give credit to PSG. Uzman Dumbele. Um, obviously, I don't think he was as good this year as he was last year. I think this team was more Victor's team, I think more of Vitinga's team, John Neves.
SPEAKER_00Pacho, I'll say too, for sure.
SPEAKER_02Pacho, as I think Pacho, you could easily make the case as the best center back in the world.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, and we'll see how he does for Ecuador this um this summer at the World Cup because he actually does have big games. They're in a really tough group. Ivory Coast, Germany, um, those big games. If he could, let's say, take uh Ecuador to a round of 16, that's really good for the reputation. So I'll definitely give him credit. And Ulluis Enrique, you know, for a coach that once got labeled as an MSN merchant because you know you have the greatest front three side of all time. Um he's done it with a very talented front three, but obviously not at the level of that front three. Um and honestly a better defense, and I give him credit because that Spain team that made the Euro semifinals was really good. Yeah, uh, I think they played better football than that Italy team. Yeah, um, they lost in tens. But I think Luis Enrique is a top top coach. I think he's definitely beat his narratives. I think he beat them last year, but to you know what? Three UCLs is you're in very special, special um company. Yeah, but you're with Guardiola, you're and you're with Carlo Ancelotti and you're with your Zinadine Zidane. So it's nothing to scoff at. So I'll give Luis Enrique the most credit because guess what? Mbappe left.
SPEAKER_00The dynasty dead ass starter after him, bro. That's crazy.
SPEAKER_02And it's not easy losing Mbappe, right? Like, yeah, I was sure that like it's you lost a superstar, and you basically, as a coach, said we don't need a superstar. I'll build basically 11 superstars, and this guy has helped manufacture it Uzman Dumbelli from three years ago, crying after a World Cup final where he had the worst performance ever to now Ballon d'Or winner and probably gonna be top five in the Ballon d'Or again. So that's huge credit to Lucy Enrique, man.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean this whole Falstein thing is like, you know, I don't want to say like reinvigorated his career, but just like I mean, I don't want to say unlocked his career because he's always been a super talent, but like it's just been perfect for him, you know. Um, and yeah, one thing you mentioned that I liked it was the the competition, like you know, when I talk about Real Madrid and the Zidane, I mean yeah, the Zidane, like the Zidane era with Ronaldo and Benzema and Ramos and Varan, like in terms of just a football inside, they weren't the most dominant in terms of you know possession, whatnot. Even though they had Tony Cruz and Luka Madrich, like there are a lot of games where Madrid were playing on the back foot and just holding on, right? But some of the teams they beat like onto the path of the Champions Leagues, like Atletico Madrid at their peak, uh Bayern Munich at their peak, you know. Um even this PSG with Neymar and Mbappe, uh somehow they got through them. Like if you remember that season, Ronda was stinking up, and I think was it 17-18 or something like that? Ronaldo was stinking up first half of the year, they draw PSG, and I remember thinking like PSG is gonna destroy them, and they just pulled out the tie, and um, I think it ended up being pretty comfortable on the scoreboard at least. But um yeah, that's that's a good point. Like they are the best team currently in this era. I think things that have gone in their favor is that Madrid are just clown show these last couple years. Um, even Man City under Pep. I mean, this is these last two years is like the worst of his entire managerial career, right? Um United, I mean United have been ass for a while to be fair, but uh Juventus, you have Juventus are in the dirt. Um who else? Even Barca, like you know, Yamal's emergence has made them one of the better teams in the in the Europe again, but you know, because of the financial issues, they're not like a complete team, you know. Um and to go along with that, I mean to be fair, they did beat uh Barca in the group stage this season. But if Barca gets through Inter Milan, what does the PSC Barca final look like, right? Like we don't even know, to be honest. That should have been a movie, man. Yeah, that's honestly honestly that is one of the bigger robberies that inter Milan won that tie.
SPEAKER_02Great.
SPEAKER_00The worst thing for the worst thing is that they scored I think the the the last second goal was from a Serbie. It wasn't even a set piece, he was just in the box. Um yeah, that was painful, honestly. Yeah, neutral. That was painful. Um yeah, anything else on PSG? Not really, so yeah, that's all on the final PSU legacy arsenal. Going for to be honest, I mean, we were pretty negative on Arsenal. And I think for that game it was fair, but I mean, like I said earlier, I mean the end of the title drought, um defensively, this team will be remembered for a long time because they're tough to score on. Um but yeah, let's move on. Last topic. You know, we're both in our defense. It's been I was gonna say it's been a rare, like, happy end to the season. But to be honest, we've had a couple of these, like, you know, I'll say in quotes encouraging seasons. Like we had the lockdown season with Ollie, we came up, we've ended up finishing third. We had Ten Hall's first season, we finished third. Um, you might even consider Louis Vanal's first season when we finished fourth. Uh we've had a couple of these seasons where we finished third-fourth, we made Champions League, you show flashes of being a great team, and now we're coming to the summer, and it's like, alright, we need to get the summer right, you know, to make that next step. And every time we failed massively. Um But uh let's start with this topic though, and I want to start with this one. There's a Bruno Fernandez assist record thing with and his feud is kind of dramatic, but like the feud with Roy Keane. Now, you know, Roy Keane has kind of become this, you know, caricature on TV of this, you know, grumpy old man. And it's you know the TV kind of the TV people like they kind of play into it because they know it was viral and stuff like that, right? And normally, I don't really care what he says about United, right? Like I get that he's playing character. To me, like, you know, and this is not just for Roy Keen, Roy Keen, even like Skulls, uh you know, any ex any ex-United legend, I'm just gonna turn a blind eye to some of their stuff because you know you win four or five, whatever titles, I'm just you know, I'm just gonna ignore it, you know what I mean? But to me, this was different. Like, first of all, if you're not if you didn't know, um, after one of the games, Bruno Fernandez said that there were a couple of times where he should have passed, but I shot the ball, you know? Um and Roy Keane completely misquoted him and said the opposite that he said that there were times I should have shot and I passed for the assist, right? So he completely misquoted him. Um it's clear for everyone to see that he misquoted him. Bruno came out and said, like, look, you can say whatever about me, you know, talking about the game. Don't lie on me, basically, right? And of course, and you know, Roy Keen. And to be honest, when he said when he did that, when Bruno came out and said, like, look, don't lie on me. I thought Roarkin would respect that, to be honest with you. I thought he would come out and say, My bad, I got it wrong. But he did the worst thing he could have done. He went to IG and did some dumbass, like, I don't even like some uh I don't even know what the exact meme was, like some elephant.
SPEAKER_02Right, boomerash shows for real, bro.
SPEAKER_00It was the the last thing I would expect Roar King to do was to go on Google and look up some uh some like wise man like quote shit. I was like, are you serious? And the fact that anybody could champion what he was doing to me is like crazy. Like this is beyond to me football. Like this is just like talking as a man, as an adult, like bro, you lie on someone's name in the public, you take it back, you know, as simple as that to me. Um and the footballing side of it, I mean, there's been a lot of chatter about how oh, why are you not milking this assist record? They aren't they used to winning titles and all this. I mean, there are a couple things I need to ramble with this, but like, first of all, nobody, I mean, nobody that was saying give Ruben Amory time can ever talk the word standards again. Like, nobody can ever go there again when talking about football. Like, I know I I know for a fact Ray Keane at one point said they need to give Ruben Amory time. You can't say nothing about standards, like nothing. Nobody can say anything about standards that was saying Amory needs time. And the second thing is, like, yeah, I remember when United, it was title or bust, right? The standard is win the league and then win another trophy, either Champions League, FA Cup, whatever it is, right? I remember those times. It was great, and I would like United to be at that level, but realistically, the players that we have now, they were sabotaged by the club this season. Like point blank, they were sabotaged by the club by keeping this manager in charge after the Europa League final. And the biggest like evidence I guess I can say of that is as soon as he gets sacked for the remainder of the season, I think their form table, they were first in the form table, right? So, like, like what as as a player, like, yeah, you deserve, like, they should be popping their chests, like, yeah, look, you gave us the manager that did the common sense things. Like, we I think both of us are fans of Carrick, but like, this isn't Pep Goriol, this isn't Jürgen Klopp in their peak, right? It's not like you sacked Ruben, you brought in like the best manager in the world, you brought in Michael Carrick, which respectively, as of now, is a championship manager, and we were the best team in the league in that period. So, like, yeah, the players can feel themselves a bit. Like, they had no they were completely compromised for half the season. Um, so yeah, that was that was my you know rant about this whole thing. I just what I was seeing online, I'm I'm used to people saying dumb shit online, but I can't believe people were actually like not more mad at Roy Keen than they were. Like that was totally ridiculous to me. But um, yeah, any any thoughts? I mean, I just went for a long ass time. Any thoughts on that whole subject?
SPEAKER_02I mean, first of all, Roy Keane. I I said it for time now. I said if if you if the mics were cut off from United Legends, the world would be a better place. It just really would. Uh, especially that that class of United players, right? The 90s class.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um and Roy Keane honestly has had a 20-year beef with Sir Alex Ferguson that he has just combined Sir Alex with United, and he just takes out the beef on everything to do with United. Um, and somehow Bruno has now caught the brunt of it. And I agree with Bruno. I mean, honestly, just as men, let's just be real, bro. Yeah, someone lying on your name is someone lying taking words out of like your mouth and like spitting them and saying that you're lying and stuff like that, I think is one of the most disrespectful things you could do to a person. And bro, Bruno, obviously, you you've slandered Bruno's playing style for years. I slandered as Bruno. But one thing, one thing you can never take away from Bruno is his personality, his humility as a person.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, he's a great person, he's never had anything wrong to say, he doesn't have an ego. Um and Roy Keane, imagine saying 20 years ago, Roy Keane would go to social media to troll. Bro, that's why I couldn't believe this. Used to be one of the toughest men around, by the way. This guy used to go to war with Patrick Ferro in the tunnel, but now we're just going to social media. Like, honestly, just gotta give it up at some point as a human. Um, and that's what Roy Keen used to do. And as for United fans, there's a lot, there's a group of United fans that just honestly, no disrespect, just don't deserve to support the club. Um just keeping a bug. I'm not even trying to gatekeeper some shit like that. There's some people that don't just don't deserve it. Um, same way the same people that say, Oh, you've never been to Old Trafford, you can't support. If we're ever Ruben Amarim in after like, let's say May 2025, you don't deserve to uh let's say Grimsby at least.
SPEAKER_00Grimsby at the very least.
SPEAKER_02Well, let's say Grimsby. You know what? Let's be a little bit more nice. Let's say after Greensby, by the way. This guy lost to Greensby and was hiding facing the penalty shootout. Like, let's just be real. Like, we just have to be serious. But as for Michael Carrick, shout out Michael Carrick, man, my gaffer. Um, I was in the trenches in 2023 saying I want Michael Carrick eventually. I said Vision 2027. You know what? I was a year too late, actually. That happened a year earlier. Um, he's been great. Um, he's obviously I was I remember getting trolled on uh hey on Twitter because I was more actually critical of Michael Carrick than most because I wanted him to get the permanent job. I viewed him as more than the interim. Yeah, because I I knew he was good enough for the for the permanent, but he had to show me stuff. Yeah, and he did show me stuff. Uh obviously there were some red flags, but he's a young coach, and United also had the greatest of teams. But recruitment, recruitment, recruitment. It's been a focal point that United have actually ignored for the past 12 years because they've they've been trying to go get managers in big names instead of trying to build a squad. And it's never been more important than now because there's not many big names out there. You also don't have the cachet to recruit those big names because your stock as a club has fallen. So it's about recruiting smart and adding to what you already have. And we're gonna talk about this now. I'll just bring it up now. This word of marquee, marquee midfielder, marquee this, marquee that. You already have a marquee midfielder because guess what? The player of the season plays for your football club. He just broke an assist record. Second of all, your second best midfielder is one of the best midfield talents, not only in England, in the world, in Kobe Boatgmenu, who, by the way, is great and Ruben Amram should be stripped of all coaching badges permanently immediately. Then after that, your midfield gets dark because Ugarty is the worst thing to ever touch this football club. But you signed Edison, obviously pending July transfer, whatever. Just got caught up to the Brazilian squad, by the way. Shout out to him. Um, see what happens when you get Lincoln United one day, automatically you're back into the Brazil squad. Uh Cassi Moro said welcome. Cassio Moro's gone. But you need to recruit, you need to recruit midfielders, you need to recruit defenders, you just need to go recruit. And I do have more faith in this recruitment team than in the past, especially that Murtaugh madness stuff that was going on in Ten Hog's uh season and Ed Woodward and stuff like that. Yeah, Ed Woodward got us some big names. Yeah, sure. Edward got Paul Pug, but I don't think he had much to do with that. But he did. Joseph Brothers Lata and stuff like that. But now you have a guy that obviously Michael Carrick's name does hold some weight, but it's not like a superstar manager. Just go recruit players that want to play for the club. I think that's the most important thing. Because obviously, I've slandered Kumya before. I've slandered him Buen Mo. But at the end of the day, they do want to play for this football club, and that does mean a lot. Um, I think that actually goes a long way. If for example, Elliot Anderson, right? What I love, Elliot Anderson, absolutely. I think he's the best midfield talent available on the market that actually is gonna leave their football club. But he clearly wants to go city, and obviously the price is gonna be hitting 150 million. And I do have a model that says do not spend 100 million on midfielders, especially Elliott Anderson types, um, because Paulo Bill Pogba is not available anymore and it's not in his prime. You need to just go get guys that want to play, and that includes Mateas Fernandez, because I think that's the one that we're that you're harping on. That's the one I'm harping on. 60 fucking mil, pay the money, 65, whatever it takes, and just get him into the door, show some cojones and go get the guy idolizes Bruno, like freaking uh what's his name? Cash Nasty Gaming worships LeBron James. Like he worships the round that Bruno works on, bro. The guy from sport he wears the 18, that's like Bruno did. Oh wow. The guy's last name is like, bro, let's just get Matish Fernandez and go. That guy wants to play for United. LA Anderson, I'm sure, would love to play for United, but he doesn't want to die for Manchester United. Matish Fernandez wants to die for this batch, and you need this level player because as Arsenal have shown, you don't need the most quality to win the league, but you need that passion, you need the desire, you need that hunger, and you need to bring players. Mainu has that hunger, Bruno has that hunger. Cunha, for all his drawbacks, has that hunger. Yep, for sure. In defense, Diogo Dalo sometimes has zero IQ, but boy, the Zach have the hunger to play for Manchester United. You see the way after he slide tackles, the way he chest bumps and everything like that. You need that. That's in hog first year, bro. I remember after every slide tackle, those guys were chest bumped after every single tackle, and that brought some level of stability. I know football, I know people want to say, oh, that's just gimmicky and stuff like that, but people don't understand this sports board. Sometimes the smallest things matter. It's like if sports is marginal and that little thing matters. It does. Sometimes you don't have the best players, and United don't have the best players. But guess what? If you have 11 men out there that want to die for that badge and are gonna give it to all, most of the time, because they do have a level of quality, they're gonna do good. And United show that this year. Liverpool probably have some bigger names than us. Like, for example, Ryan Gravenbridge is a big name in football now, all of a sudden. On my left, that guy does not touch Kobe Menu. No way.
SPEAKER_00I mean, speaking of Liverpool, I mean McAllister is another name you could mention like that too.
SPEAKER_02McAllister. I've seen Mason Mal give better performances than I got in the past 12 months, by the way. Uh but yeah, man, Mateush Bernanes, I think, needs to come in through the door. I think that's one. And then you get obviously Edison in, so you're looking at the third midfielder, right? Because I think we're both in agreement that we need the three midfielders. I was gonna bring that up, actually.
SPEAKER_00So anything else I want to talk about? No, you cover a lot. But like okay, I was gonna ask you. So we're gonna sign Edison since that's one midfielder. It seems like Matthias Fernandez is gonna be the next target for midfielder. Do we need a third center mid? Because you know, uh of course we're gonna be playing, you know, in Champions League this year in Europe, we're gonna have more games and all that. But I was thinking because I mean if if we if we expect character to maintain, you know, this level system, more or less, where it's like a 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1 type setup, um, Bruno Fernandez is gonna play every game, every second, basically, right? So the two behind him, Mainu, you buy, let's just say you buy Mateus Fernandez to be his partner, and Edison being that, you know, the backup, that guy comes on the second half to close up a game, type stuff. Do you need a fourth guy to rotate, or do you trust, you know, maybe a canaby guy? Maybe, you know, I'm guessing Mason Mount's not gonna leave. Could he fill in there? You know, like worst case scenario, like Bruno Friends can play in a pivot, right? In you know, in an emergency situation type stuff. Would you be would it not make it am I crazy to think that signing two midfielders is enough? Or are you thinking three has to be three?
SPEAKER_02Uh, I think the fact that this club has ignored midfield for so long, I just want to get the third. I don't I think just having the strength in numbers is important. Because also, like, I don't want to have Kobe Mandel play 38 games. I think I'm calm with Kobe Mandel playing 34.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh Bruno, I think also you want to keep him as fresh. I think Carrick has the balls to bench Bruno for a game. I saw him do it when he took over in that villain a few years ago. Remember, he benched him against uh Villa Real in the Champions League. So if you do bench Bruno, who's gonna step in? Yeah, sure you can play Cunha in the 10. Sure, Almaty can maybe play in the 10. Uh, but you could have Mateus Fernandez, who I think could play a little bit higher, and then you play in Edison, and then you maybe have another pivot partner. Um, I don't I just don't know who that third midfielder would be. I think I don't think you'd have just been crazy on it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um like I think like for example, if you tell me Geneda are gonna go spend 90 months and now I'm like, oh whoa, whoa, let's relax me, buddy.
SPEAKER_00So I think maybe you know you kind of swayed me with you kind of swayed me that with the idea of you know Bruno being arrested and then Matthias moving up, and then you would have let's just say, for example, they bought a Baleva, you would have uh uh Kobe Mainu, Baleba, Matthias Fernandez type midfield.
SPEAKER_02Um, I think it's a goal to play. I think I got I think I but I also say like if you're gonna tell me like if I assign a midfielder or like a Rafael Leao, yeah, that's what I was saying, right?
SPEAKER_00Like, if there's a limit on how much money we can spend, which you know there is roughly, would he make like you know, and Rafa, I think Winger, you know, Leon, there's been some whispers of us being interested, so maybe we're gonna sign Winger anyway.
SPEAKER_02Yo, that cameo yesterday, I saw I saw the clips.
SPEAKER_00Cinema. I mean he he was hooping and then he I saw a lot of different goals. He was hooping and then he knocked somebody out. Like, that's the perfect cameo to me.
SPEAKER_02Um honestly, bro. Sometimes you just gotta knock someone out, bro.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you know what? I actually like that Roberto Martinez defended him, like, yeah, he's you know backing up his team and type stuff. Um, what I was saying is like I think we're gonna sign at least two center mids. You know, we've already signed our basically. I think we're gonna look for a left back. I think we're gonna look for a winger. And to me, I think the question is whether or not they go for a center back. Um I think we do because you know, all four, you know, the four options we have. I'm not even counting the late at this point, but like McGuire, Lysandro, Heaven, and Euro. I'm not mad at any of those four players playing a game or you know, playing in it's like when those guys are starting, I'm like, yeah, you know, I feel fine with when I'm starting, but I want that stability of that one guy who's gonna play like 35 games, you know what I mean? I'm not even saying it has to be a Van Dyke type figure, but just somebody I can put there to reliably play like 37 games, you know?
SPEAKER_02And I was just it looks like Ineos, I saw someone say this too. Ineos kind of look like it's in their recruitment in bunches. So like last year was the attack.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh this year it looks like it's gonna be the midfield. I think they have the eyes for the defense next summer. Um, that's gonna be the last part. But I do agree, I do think we need a center back. Now, obviously, hopefully heaven and euro take another step in their development. That would be crucial. Um, because I think McGuire's obviously getting up there. Lessandro Martinez just can't be uh trusted to play a lot of games as talented as he is, and the lake is basically crooked, so could for him. Um obviously, I mean it's not even his fault, just the back injury is a back injury. You just don't know, you're not the same person after a back injury. Yeah, um, so but yeah, I think the winger needs to happen. But honestly, any of us just need to open up the fucking checkbook. Like, stop being scared, man. You're Manchester United, you have the money, you're in Champions League, Pep is gone, show some cojones and go spend Brent and go recruit for this team. I'm not saying go spend Brent recklessly, yeah. We gotta be smart about it, but there's a lot of players out there that you can recruit. Like, for example, Rafael Leout is a great market opportunity. Now, I understand the the the the what's it called the lack of tracking back, and man Cunians and the pint drinkers get upset that he doesn't track back because they hate football, and all they want is run, run, run, run, run, but quality is needed, bro. Like, for example, Cunha got the Premier League. Exactly. Cool, Rafael Leao Champions League nights is where he was gonna shine. I've seen that guy go to the burnabout with Mbappé and Vinci just on the pitch and he dog walked them. That's the type of level of talent you need. And I think Rafael Leao is perfect for that. A lot of people keep saying that the Bele arc, I think that's a little bit disrespectful to Dembele because Dembele left Barcelona as a league champion in his last year. Yeah. Uh Leao is coming off a couple bad years at Milan, but that's not his fault. Milan's a toxic institution. So bring him to O Trafford. Also, his captain is gonna be Bruno Fernandez, who's obviously his national teammate. Yeah, Bruno holds people accountable, and I think that's what Leao needs, and I think that'd be great for him uh to have. I think he'll kind of fit in well at United. I think the locker room will love him, the vibes will be great. You still have an armad, you have a cunha. Hopefully Empuemo, you know, is less scared to shoot uh these days. I think Champions League is gonna be good for our attackers, actually. Because uh space. I think because it's hard to get rhythm when you have one game a week because it's easier to go into droughts. But now let's say you're not scoring in the Premier League, right? But you have Karabak.
SPEAKER_00That's a good point.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's your opportunity, right? Get a couple goals, get that rhythm kicking back in. I think it's gonna be great for guys like Embuemo. That's gonna be good for guys like Sesco. I think Cunha is Cunha, bro. I think Cunha is just like he's gonna do his own thing, to be honest. Um, he's a Maverick in that aspect, so it's fine. Um, I think Leao would be great for that attack, and that's it. Obviously, the backup striker talk, but Embuemo could play striker. Leao could play striker as well. And you have Sesco. So you have options. So midfield, left back, no disrespect to Patrick Dorabu. I just don't know what he is these days. Uh and Luke Shaw, I promise you, is not playing 38 games next year because he's gonna go back to being injured. That is a guarantee.
SPEAKER_00Oh man, the World Cup's gone.
SPEAKER_02Him playing 38 games is like I'm trying to think of an NBA player playing all 82 that's like never happening.
SPEAKER_00Anthony Davis.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Luke Shaw played 38 games, like Anthony Davis pulling up to play 82 games. I'm gonna I promise you it's not happening again.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because guess what? He didn't get the World Cup call-up. He's going back to he's going back to regular status now. So Dorbu left back, I don't know if you agree. I don't think I would spend 70 on Lewis Hall. Uh I'm gonna be real.
SPEAKER_00Like, man, I'm just happy. Because yes, typically I would not spend that money on a left back unless they're like a freak of nature, like you know, like a Marcella or something. But then I saw someone say, like, you can either spend 70 on Lewis Hall now and be cooked, like be good at left back for the next however many years, or you can spend 20, 30 on like three or four guys that you know aren't that good. Like, if we think about it, like there's some truth in that. Like, we bought what Alex Teles for what like it wasn't much, it was like what 15 or so million. Oh, so um we bought Malassia for like a little for around the same thing.
SPEAKER_02Like Loki might be cooking. Yeah, fair. Maybe cheap is expensive.
SPEAKER_00We bought Dorgu, who was supposed to be like a wingback left back for like 30 something. Like, in a way, it ends up being the same price, you know, and you get a you know much worse output on the pitch. Um, but the counter to that would be you know, like Liverpool finding Andrew Robertson for like 10 million or whatever it was, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Harriet Moss is clicking low key. I'm not gonna lie, man.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm I mean I'm not keeping track with him, but I'm conflicted on that. Like, I don't know. When a player sometimes when a player is so good to me, I'm just like What screw it, man?
SPEAKER_02You know, I mean you mentioned have taken that risk before, right? They they broke the record on Luke Shaw 10 years ago. Yeah. Um yeah. And obviously, if that injury never happens, thank you, Hector Moreno. Uh I think honestly, I've said this, but I think Luke Shaw's the second most talented left back this cut that country's ever seen, after Ashley Cole. Um, but just was never able to fully uh showcase that ability because of the injury. But maybe, yeah, maybe look.
SPEAKER_00But they need money. They need money.
SPEAKER_02I think 60 is the most I would go with. I think 60. I'll go 60. Yeah. I would definitely go 60. I think 70 might be a player to send them.
SPEAKER_00I wish we had a player to send them. Um that's tough. I don't know. I can see both sides to that argument, to be honest with you. Um, what else do I want to talk about? Um yeah, I'm a big believer in Cesco. I think the one thing you mentioned about the Champions League, like especially in the group stage, like there's a lot of there's a lot of stat pad games in there. And like, yeah, that can be a way to build confidence for your attackers. Um you mentioned about, you know, there was a point in the season where you're critical of Carrot, right? With the red flags and whatnot. One thing I want to mention is I think it's really impressive that you know he came, he got the job, he starts off red hot, right? We have the Arsenal game, the city game, we beat Fulham, we beat Tottenham. Um there was probably another game that I'm forgetting, but we had those games. Then we hit a blip, right? There's the Newcastle game where we lose to 10 men. Uh there's the um which game am I forgetting? The West Ham game, where we couldn't break them down until that Miracle Cesco goal. There's the uh Leeds game at home where we get cooked in the first half. Uh there's another game that I'm forgetting. Oh Brent was uh a Brentford, was it Brentford? There was a game at home we won, but it wasn't that pretty. I think it was Brentford. Um And there were a lot of people were souring on Kerrick in that time, right? Um And then he gets the full-time job. And I think what impressed me a lot is that we ended the season like really strong, especially in the last game. That Brighton game was that Brighton game was a movie. That I mean that was I mean, that's to me that's really impressive for a couple of reasons. One, you're playing for nothing, and you just slap up a Brighton team that's that was playing for everything, you know? Um and secondly, if you remember when Oli got was interim, he was hooping, we were hooping under Oli as interim, right? He gets the job permanently, and we got cooked by Everton, I think it was. It was like 4-0 or something. You remember that? Um we lost to like Huddersfield on the final day, right? In a similar situation. The fact that this team was like locked into like, nah, we're gonna end the season on a high note, despite Champions League being locked up, despite nothing to play for, we're gonna beat Liverpool, we're gonna beat Forrest, and we're gonna beat Brighton, you know, in a convincing enough fashion. And I think that was, you know, really um a great sign for the you know the next season, I would say. Um yeah, and I'm I agree with most of what he said. I want Rafael.
SPEAKER_02Um good players, I think just I think recruitment. I think now you can focus on play recruitment and they'll be I if you just get good players, you'll get a good football assassin.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean that that's the biggest thing. I've been I mean, uh we've both been shouting this for so long, but like it to me it would the most like the best part of this whole character stint was that common sense football was rewarded in you know on the pitch in terms of results and also like in entertainment value. Like we played a lot of good stuff, like you know, like you watch some of these like end of the season comps of like some of the like the passage of play the triangles on. I'm like, damn, you play some good football, you know. Um to be honest, you could argue we played the best football in the league in that period. Um at least from an entertainment standpoint. Um so yeah, uh anything else about Kerrick, about anything about United? Um talked about players, like, yeah, to me the layout thing, I mean, to me, it's like one of the biggest no-brainers of in my lifetime. Like, I mean, think about the money that guys like Mida Waker went for, for uh, you know, Carrington graduate, Anthony Lenga went for, um, who else? I mean, even Mbumo to to you know, he went for 60 plus, like Rafael Leao's resume like is way deeper than these guys, you know what I mean? Um, and his capabilities is way higher than these guys. Um, and like I think we talked about it last time, but like to me, the worst case scenario is that he's a a good bench option. I just don't see any world where signing him for like 50-ish million ends up poorly. I just don't see it. Um and you know, they talk about his work ethic. I remember that being a talking point with Cunya, and he came and he's been working hard, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02Um Yeah, I think I mean I think working hard, honestly, it's just a mentality thing. So it's not it's not like a God-given talent to work hard. It's not.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like I think like if you if you believe in your coach, you have to sign, you have to take this opportunity because the idea that you like you don't think your coach can get him to work hard, then why are you paying your coach? You know what I mean? Like, that's your job. Your job is to get the team to buy in to you know whatever you want. So, yeah, a lot of these coaches are scared to coach, you know, to actually coach, like to you know, not just my way the highway, to actually like get in the like get nitty gritty and get the best case scenario for your team. Um, so yeah, I'm I think that's a no-brainer, honestly. Um yeah, I mean, I think that we've been over everything. Damn, we've been for an hour and a half. Um, yeah, that's all I got. You got anything else? No, it's pretty much it. Man, it's been great. It's been great talking to you about all these all the stuff. Thanks for coming on. And I'll be back podding sometime next week. We'll see. We'll get into it. I guess when the finals are over, I'll be back podding. Um, but until then, see y'all later.