Previewing YOUR Clubs Second Half Of The Season (Premier League!) | #SundayVibes

Welcome back to Sunday Vibes, one and all, we are back in the pub because the Premier League is back and so is this man here. More importantly, Jelub is back. Thank you, thank you very much. Good to be back, I missed you boys. Thanks man. I did. First I've been away from you guys for six years. I remember when Zach first joined Football Daily and he hadn't been north of Watford and now look at him. Still barely have. In the Middle East. How was it? Yeah, it was interesting. The World Cup was incredible. To experience that, to go to like 20 plus games is outrageous. And then to see Lionel Messi go and lift it and do some of the things he did. In the greatest final in football history probably. Yeah, yeah. He was a very, very fortunate and lucky boy. But yeah, happy to be back. Meanwhile, Ben Criss has been massively ill. Yeah. You didn't see Patrick van Straaten fall off the sofa though, which was my highlight of the World Cup. I didn't see that either. Yeah, I was there. It was iconic. He made a noise like Winnie the Pooh. He went, ooh. Oh, I'm gutted on this one. The most vulnerable I've ever seen. I'm on his back at Sky Studios. Oh, bless man. We had a great time of it, didn't we? Yeah. 40-odd shows on Football Daily. I was watching you guys. Eurofootball Daily. We pumped out loads of YouTube shorts as well for the first time, which people seemed to be enjoying. The views ticked up with every episode. The further we got into the competition, which was nice to see. People getting invested in that sort of reactive content. So long may it continue. Probably see a lot more of that in the second half of the Premier League season from us. Anyway, whether that be Champions League, whether that be big Premier League matches, something we're definitely looking to continue to do. Yeah, if you want to see us do more reactive pieces to Premier League games, big games, let us know in the comments below. Maybe we're doing Sunday vibes live after games or stuff like that. Let us know in the comments below if you want to see that. He's got a tingle in that comment below. Anyway, today we are talking about the Premier League's return. Of course we are. We're going to be going through each Premier League club and answering a big question about them, basically. We're going to look ahead across the second half of the season. It's not really a half, is it? It's like 60%, 70% of the season remaining, of course. Let's go in table order, I think. We should start with Arsenal. And obviously the big talking point here is Gabby J's Zeus. Is that going to kill their season? Yeah, worth recapping very quickly, isn't it? Five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table. They've only dropped points in two fixtures this season. But Gabriel Jesus will be a massive miss, despite his output drying up. Still essential to the way that Arsenal played, which was a lot of pressing, a lot of quick passing sequences in the opposition's third. Brought Martinelli, brought Saka into play really well, didn't he? Had that ability to drop deep and hold the ball up to an elite degree. So he is going to be a massive miss, but Arsenal do have fairly decent backup options, don't they? Nnedi and Ketya. There are also big rumours that they're going to go shopping in January. They're going to go on a bit of a spree, but we don't want to cover that too extensively on this episode because we are going to shoot another Sunday Vibes after this, all about the biggest January transfers. So I don't want to cover Modric, Xha-Felix too much. But it is looking like they might go in for the Ukrainian to the tune of like 60 to 70 mil. And I'm thinking if they do bring in someone out wide, who's a bit of a wild card, might be a bit raw around the edges, not quite ready to start. But if they do bring him in and play him out wide, then Arteta might experiment with Martinelli down the centre as well. That's something we've often speculated about. So an opportunity for Ketya, maybe an opportunity for Martinelli to reinvent himself slightly. But it is going to be detrimental to their title charge because there is a title charge on now. Let's have it right. 100%. They are categorically battling with Manchester City for the Premier League title right now. And I actually think they should back Eddie and Ketya. I think he's a really good player. I would be playing him through the middle. I would try my best to avoid playing Martinelli through the middle and I absolutely had to. I do think he does his best work when he's hugging the touchline in 1v1 situations, when he can beat them out on the outside, beat them out on the inside. I think Eddie and Ketya has earned the right to play as the backup to Gabriel Jesus. He's got the contract to back him up. He's on the money enough to back him up. He proved last season when they had problems in that striking department that he could do it in that role for Mikel Arteta's side. And I think Mikel Arteta is a good enough coach to get the best out of Eddie and Ketya, even if that means slightly adapting their game because he doesn't have the hold-up ability of Gabriel Jesus, which is just monstrous for a player of his size. He isn't going to be able to bring players like Saka and Martinelli into the game. But he does have the pressing. Exactly. He's a great presser and he's a great finisher inside the box. So I'm convinced Mikel Arteta is going to be able to get something out of him. I do think they will all spend big in January, and let's not go into that too much like we said, but I think now is the time for the Cronkies to back Arteta because they're not going to get a better opportunity effectively to take something like this to the wire. So I think that I'd just give it to Eddie and Ketya and I think they'll be fine. I still think they'll finish second. I still think it'll be Manchester City that win the league with or without Gabriel Jesus. So I'm looking forward to seeing Eddie and Ketya get a shot through the middle for 10 games. Yeah, I think they're in a really good position. I mean, all their players that kind of went to the World Cup had very decent campaigns. I mean, look at Bakaya Saka and he's arguably England's best player at the competition. Is he the best right winger in world football this season? I mean, Messi's not too bad. I'm not counting Messi because he's just everywhere, isn't he? Sure, he's worth a shout, especially with his age and the experience he's already got. He's an incredible man. He really made a name for himself. He hadn't already at this World Cup. I think people were coming out of it thinking this Bakaya Saka is outrageous. And Arsenal need to get him on that new contract. Need to get him signed down ASAP and put him on whatever money he wants because he's quite frankly outrageous. I was going to say, like you said, they had good World Cup Arsenal players but they didn't go mega deep apart from Saliba who got zero minutes. So they're in a good position coming back. Those players have already had a week, week and a half off. Yeah, and even like Ben White coming back and going straight into the Arsenal training camp in Abu Dhabi, I think Mikel Arteta would have looked at that World Cup campaign and considering what could have happened, only looking at Gabriel Jesus for an injury that I think is supposedly three months isn't great, but it could have been a lot worse. It could have been a lot worse. He's already served some of that time while the World Cup's been going on. He's had his surgery, he's already been rehabbed, begun. And also one of the positives that you can take from Gabriel Jesus' injury is that whereas other players, you don't know how they return from an injury, Gabriel Jesus has been in this position several times and always come back and come back to flying colours. Whereas there are a lot of other players who get injured like this and don't come back the same. He's durable. Yeah, he's durable. You know that you're still going to get the same output from him. So look, I think Arsenal fans will be raring for this season to go. Manchester City then, I suppose the question for them is can anyone stop them in any competition? It's difficult. Mind you, they might be out of a competition by the time this is live because they are of course playing Liverpool tonight. We're shooting this on Thursday. We don't know what that result was. But it just feels like Erling Haaland with a five-week break in his legs fresh at home chilling. That's pretty ominous, isn't it? Considering. It's like Jaws, isn't it? Do you know what I mean? The music's just building. Because even before that, top of goals, expected goals, shots, creating chances, all the passing metrics, leading as you'd expect. So their underlying numbers were still pretty sublime after, what, 14 match weeks. Maybe they didn't get the rub of the green in some fixtures or the results that they deserved. But like you said, I just think they're going to hit full stride. So Arsenal have to be near perfect to keep that little cushion. Which they're going to need towards the tail end of the season because Manchester City's squad is deeper. We've seen that, haven't we? Liverpool had to be perfect to even come close to winning it over the last few seasons. And then the other thing that Pep Guardiola's got in his hands now is that not many of his players went that far in the World Cup. And like, Jurgen Dewanji, Kevin De Bruyne, who were fantastic, obviously at Holland never went. So he's going to be in fit and firing form. But they didn't go too far and got back to City's training camp and came back to Manchester within a few weeks. And so he's been using them and training with them quite a lot. And so the only player that really went really, really far was Julian Alvarez, and he's not necessarily starting. A back-up striker. Yeah, he only cost them £21 million. Like, I don't know how he let that just happen. He looks outrageous. He slapped 30 on his price tag, hasn't he, after, what was it, four goals at the World Cup? Yeah, and just also his work rate, man. Obviously, when you watch Messi, he doesn't run, and Alvarez does. And to be fair, a lot of the others as well do all of the running for him. But yeah, like, OK, when Holland needs a break, come, say, March, there's Julian Alvarez. I think the thing about City is they're on the same amount of points as they were after 14 games last season. They just have the ability to go 12 games, win every single one, and suddenly there's an eight-point gap, and you're like, well... There's that period at, like, March where they just, like, tear. They just absolutely tear, where other teams kind of, like, drop off a little bit. And that happens because Pep and Co manage the squad very well, don't they? It's not a coincidence that, you know, every season they are able to squeeze more out of various players. I mean, you think about, like, a greelish Mahrez this season. Like, a lot more to come from them. And off the pitch, they've resolved a few issues as well, haven't they, with Pep signing that two-year contract extension. Huge, huge. So, yeah, no noise in that regard, which is going to galvanise them, and help them concentrate on the short term. No injuries as well. So, yeah, it's looking pretty ominous in there. Should we go to Newcastle then? Yeah, third place Newcastle. Again, a little bit like Manchester City, I think the question here is can they continue it? Because they are absolutely sensational coming into the break. And then they're almost a team that didn't want the break the most. They were just flying so much. They only lost one game this season. Almiron had seven and eight going into the break, didn't they? And then the break hits, and it is a little bit of a reset point. And they did have players go, you know, Bruno went, Kieran went, Nick Pope went. But I still think they're very legitimate contenders for the top four. Well, the players you mentioned there actually didn't feature that often. Pope obviously didn't start a single game. Kieran Trippier started one, and Kyle Walker came back into it. And so he barely played. Javier Sur probably played the most minutes. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And he didn't go too far in the competition. Bruno, I think, to a lot of the Toon's fans, were fuming that he wasn't playing in that Brazil squad. But, yeah, he barely played. So a lot of them are going to still be quite fresh and fit and ready for it. I think, yeah, you mentioned this team, Newcastle, will be the ones that I think might suffer the most because they were going through the form and kind of going from game to game where they were just getting better and better. And Almiron in particular, Almiron in particular, I think is going to be interesting. But they did play Al-Hilal about a week ago, beat them 5-0 and Almiron and Joel Ensign both got a brace each. So that form has continued in their mini preseason. He was running very hot. I think his xG was about 3, wasn't it? Massively. That's why I didn't include him in my half-way team of the season. You boys did. Which is fine. And I'm still back here. I still think he had an amazing first half of the season, or first, like, 40% of the season. But I think the couple of interesting narratives are really interesting. How they fit Alain Samax back into their team and do they? And does he work in the best Newcastle team anymore now that he is very much a Maverick? And obviously Alexander Isaac, who has missed nine games. He'll be like a new signing, man. He'll be like a new signing. When's he back? So he started training with the squad. He's about to start training with the squad again. And then Eddie Howe was asked about it, wasn't he? And he was a little bit like, oh, it's going to take some time. And he's missed nine games. So, yeah, two, two and a half months. So he's not going to be ready to go straight away. Especially over a hectic Christmas period. But having Callum Wilson, like, he looked phenomenal. Like, when he did play, he looked fantastic for England. And the hold-up play he was doing. I mean, I think he's... The only issue, I guess, with Callum Wilson is you can't necessarily rely on his fitness. Because his track history isn't the best in the world. If he was to pick up a knock, then, yeah, things could start to look a little bit shaky. I wonder if they'll dip into the window in January, though. Because, again, they must be ahead of schedule. They've spent a lot of money. They must be ahead of schedule, though, in terms of where the Saudi Arabian owners thought they would be. I was going to say, financial fair play must be looming. But clearly, with going back to... There was a lot of controversy when they went to do a warm weather training camp in Jeddah in January in Saudi Arabia. You know, that kicked up a lot of the issues around... the morality around Saudi Arabian ownership again. They went to Riyadh over the World Cup. Again, Eddie Howe having to field questions about the same old issues. So some bad press has resurfaced. So I don't think they'll probably want to go out, spend a lot, put themselves in the limelight once more. But they spend to get in the Champions League. And then when you're in the Champions League, you get the riches of the Champions League. And you also get the ability to attract Champions League-level players. Do you go out now and go, let's do it in this window now, get some really top-level Champions League players to make top four, and then you're ahead of your curve? I suppose if the right players made themselves available, then yes. Where do we think they need to strengthen? What, at a centre-forward? Not with Isaac. I think they probably need another midfielder to replace either the Jonjo Schilling... They were after James Madison, weren't they, in the transfer window? Yeah, do you go out and get James Madison now and spend £60 million in the hope that you can get into the Champions League and that money's earned back by the Champions League revenue and you can convince Champions League-level players to come in the summer? Well, that's the thing, isn't it? Like, James Madison, Leicester aren't going to let him go mid-season, particularly when Tlements is probably going to sign a pre-contract with another club imminently. It's a very tough time to go out. I know they did well in January last season, but they were buying players in order to stay up, weren't they? Buying players to solidify top four is a totally different kettle of fish. And I think they'll probably want to be a little bit more methodical about it rather than a smash and grab. Because the trajectory they're on, Champions League football, OK, it might not be this season, but it could be next season. And I think FFP, I think FFP at the moment is looming and they might just want to be a bit careful and look if they can finish in the top six. Getting European football in general would be a fantastic result. It's a long-term plan with them. And I think it's similar to West Ham last season when we were saying, listen, now Champions League football is in sight, why don't you go and buy Jonathan David? Why don't you go for Broke on a number nine that's just been missed by the elite clubs? I think he's actually right. I think they'll probably be a bit more patient than that. Let's go to the fourth place then. Tottenham, who are in fourth place. I think there's a couple of clubs that can catch them with games in hand, potentially. Or maybe not, because of the goal difference. Either way, they had 11 players at the World Cup and some of them, I think, could experience quite a hangover. I mean, Romero, literally. He's probably still drinking. Harry Kane, the penalty miss. Emotionally, I think a lot of them. Charlieson's injured. I think there's a few of them that will have quite a World Cup hangover. I mean, all of last season, I kept saying I didn't feel like Spurs were actually that good. Especially in the first half. They were very often the worst team and they managed to come back from a lot of results in the second half. And so the results in the end. I think this has been Spurs' best start in a long, long time. However, I don't actually think they're playing great football. I think they've had a lot of things kind of go their way in terms of results. And so, I'm kind of worried for how the second part of their season is going to go. Because I think they're going to have to go out in January and spend a decent amount of money. And don't get me wrong, that worked last season. Kusetsu came in. Benteker came in. They've been fantastic. I think they might have to go down that same model. Because, yeah, I think there's a few players there that could kind of struggle with the second half of the season. At least Kusetsu's back. He is. You think you mentioned Richarlison just then? Yeah, he's injured. With his injury. Yeah, I think, in a weird way, just to revisit the whole Modric thing, thinking about it now, I feel he's perfectly suited to a side like Spurs and could be a great long-term replacement for Son. So maybe Tottenham will want to have their say before Arsenal and wrap up that sort of transfer. But yeah, nothing significant to add really. I think it bodes well for them that Benteker had a great World Cup. I thought he was carrying that Uruguay side by and large. Fede Valverde. Romero was amazing. Overshadowing him is no mean feat, is it? Yes. And they're not returning with... There might be a bit of mental anguish there. Or mental fatigue. But apart from Richarlison, everyone's returning in good health, right? Yeah. I think Kielisiewski's a massive return for them. I think it's good that Bissouma's had four or five weeks working with Conte in this gap as well. I do think that they'll... Yeah, because he said he was struggling on the tactical side. There was a lot of chat as well, wasn't there, in the first half of the campaign that was like Conte has come up with a physical plan that is effectively planning for the second half of the campaign after the World Cup that will allow them to exert a lot more pressure in the first half of games. Now, whether this is going to be true or not, effectively they were trying to reserve all this fitness levels for the second half of the season. We'll see. But I think that's quite an intriguing aspect of Spurs' season now, if their fitness levels do suddenly improve in the second half of the campaign. That's interesting because pre-season we saw footage of Son and Harry Kane collapsing on the pitch side and being sick, which doesn't indicate to me that they were trying to start the season. It's going to be interesting to see. Also, the other part of it is the Conte situation in general. They're going to have to sort out this contract about whether they commit to it. Because come January in transfers, we know what Conte's like. He wants players. He wants new players all the time. But then Spurs aren't going to go, well, we're not going to buy you these guys if you're not committing to the future of the club. Because Conte doesn't want youngsters. He wants 29-year-olds. He wants 30-year-olds. I think that's just Conte at any club, though, isn't it? That's what I mean. Even if things were going really well and they were playing great football and there was a bit more buzz about the place and the fans were connecting with the brand they were putting out on the pitch a little bit more, he's likely to leave it at any given moment. You take that with a pinch of salt. Five months after this contract, though. That's what I mean. I think that's why you've got to sort it. I just don't think they're going to continue this thing where they're playing Bournemouth and losing and coming back last minute, playing Marseille in the Champions League, coming back last minute, playing Leeds, coming back last minute. That just can't continue. That could be repositioned as an elite mentality, which is often the case for people like Ferguson. Maybe. Shall we go on to the next team? Manchester United? Your boys. You must be over the moon. Why? Surely, before, the Ronaldo situation was getting absolutely boring. People constantly bringing up that to Eric ten Haag. Still bringing it up. Yeah, I know, but it's done now, isn't it? The line's been drawn. There's no more Cristiano Ronaldo. You move on and he can focus on just getting the best out and Marcos Rashford has come back looking electric. Definitely needs a striker in January. Definitely, or at least a forward in January that can reposition Rashford as a nine if he needs to. I think he definitely needs a forward in January and he needs Garnaccio to be really good in the second half of the season, I think. Which feels fair on a 17-year-old. Yeah, he was very good in the first half. Does Harry Maguire start? No, definitely not. What, over Lissandra Martinez? Not over Lissandra Martinez. In some way, shape or form. Over Rapha Ryan, no. I mean, the starting pair is with Lissandra Martinez and Rapha Ryan. It will be across the second half. I think United's first team, we could all read it out now barring maybe one alteration in the front line. It's very obvious. I think United are going to have to rely on players staying fit. If Martinez gets injured for an extended period of time or Ericsson gets injured for an extended period of time or if Gallo, then United are in massive trouble. They need those three players in particular to stay fit because there's not an awful lot of cover behind them and they need Rashford to continue to perform. Unbelievable. The goalie is burning when he's direct. It's just impossible to stop. I think United are going to be okay. I think United are going to be dangerous across the second half of the season, particularly if they get a strike in the run back in January. And I would say that United had, not the hardest, but one of the hardest opening 13 games of any of the sides having played, I think, all of the top half in that first 13 games. So now they do have a slightly easier on-paper run over the second half now before you then hit the reverse, which is good. So I don't know. I'm quite excited about the second half of the season from a United perspective, but I think the January window is massive for the club and in the midst of a sale, it's not staying there. And you've not really been linked with anyone to any concrete degree, right? I think the impending sale is looming quite large. But I've also read the Glazers want upwards of £5 billion for the club. Which is probably going to be... But they've got a balance there as well, the Glazers. The club is a much more investable, buyable opportunity if it's a Champions League level club. And by investing £50 million in January, you can potentially take it to a Champions League level club. Yes, it protects their investment in the long term. It's definitely an interesting balance there. I'm not massively confident about the January window, I'll be honest. Okay, fair enough. And there is some narratives off the pitch that aren't particularly positive. The Jadon Sancho thing, although... It was Eric Ten Haag who sent him to the Netherlands effectively, didn't he? I think that's a really interesting narrative. To undergo an individual training regime. He's clearly a good player. It's not like he's training separately from the club because of his attitude problem. I don't know if Eric Ten Haag has tried to take him out of the limelight, if he's trying to reprogram him, in a sense, with people that he knows and trusts. Three goals and assists in 10 Premier League starts wasn't exactly setting the world on fire at the start of the season, after a pretty lacklustre first season. I think he started the season well. When he scored the goal against Liverpool, really good finish, then the goal against Leicester, and then it just fell off the cliff. But I think he's still a really good player in there. Eric Ten Haag can be quite cutting in the pressure, right? And he said he wasn't physically or mentally ready to return to the first team, which does suggest that he's told him coming back won't be easy. But sending him on this kind of thing isn't anything. If I was in Sancho's shoes, it shows that the manager has trust in you, he believes in you, he wants you to do well. There are so many other managers who would just put him on the bench, I'm not playing him, he's not going in there. He believes in him, he wants him to do well, and obviously United spent a lot of money on him, they kind of need him to progress a little bit. Second half of the season, United need Sancho, with the lack of forward options they've got. But they need this to elicit the right response, because if Sancho feels alienated, ostracised, it could quite easily go the other way, and a month, two months down the line, people are saying, he had him training by himself, of course he doesn't want to be here. So it is a high-risk strategy. It goes either way, it's 50-50, right? And every game he's missing, Garnaccio's starting. And he sees Garnaccio impress, scoring goals, winning United games, that is hard for a young pro to channel, to deal with. So I'm not saying it's quite last chance saloon, but it's a bit more precarious than like, oh, Eriksen-Huygens sent him off because he believes in him. Yeah, it's going to be a very, very interesting narrative to watch over the second half of the season, that's for sure. Talking of interest now is Liverpool, who, obviously, without Luis Diaz, the question here is, can they re-find the old Liverpool? They are, well, they're kind of going in a similar situation to you guys, Manchester United. They're looking to be sold now as well, so coming into this January transfer window, they're not necessarily, it's kind of not too sure on whether they'll be wanting to spend money to invest in the club as well. And so, and then there's the kind of future of Jurgen Klopp and what's going to happen there if they're sold to a different one. Julian Ward's gone. Leaving. Having only been there for not a long time. Mike Gordon's gone. Yeah, there's a lot of like, behind-the-scenes issues, I think, as well. And then, yeah, you add the Luis Diaz issue on top of that, I think Jurgen Klopp, a lot of these managers came back more stressful than he was beforehand. And so, yeah, it's going to be interesting. I think this is where you're going to see maybe Carvalho come back properly, come back into the side. You're going to see Elliot also featuring. I think he's going to have to rely a lot on the youngsters. Henderson had a good World Cup, though. Henderson did have a fantastic World Cup. He was really, really good. But I do think it was slightly different in terms of that the World Cup is a knockout football. And you can, like, certain games, it's just about get to extra time. If it's 0-0, a draw, he's absolutely fine. Whereas, Liverpool need to be winning games week in, week out of the Premier League to just stay in contention of the top four. The title race is beyond them at this point. And so, I think that's going to be an interesting way on how Jurgen Klopp can deal with that side of things. The biggest... Yeah, I mean, they probably counted them more rigorously. Yeah. Mo Salah was looking ominously better, though, wasn't he, towards the back end of the first half? Mo Salah isn't the issue. He's in double figures for goals already. The issue is Darwin Nunes. They spent so much money on him in the summer, they need him to come good. His goals weren't terrible. 10 goals and assists in 17 appearances. But I just think a few of those appearances, he was kind of a bit lacklustre, he went a little bit unnoticed. He looked better for Liverpool before the break than he did for Uruguay, that's for sure. Yeah, yeah. But I think that's again... When he was playing for Uruguay in that more central role and he was asked to play back to goal and bring players like Suarez into the game, I think he's almost better as a free spirit when he's being a bit chaotic, a bit mad and coming in off the left at times. Definitely off the left. I don't know if that works, though, at Liverpool where everything is so structured. Firmino will be coming back as well? I think Salah, Firmino and then Darwin off the left, I don't think that's too bad. I think they're a little less structured than they have been in previous years. There's been a little less, I don't know... We've seen 4-4-2 at times, haven't we? Forward by... Yeah, defined roles by forwards. And they've still got Firmino. So, yeah, I think they'll be fine up top. Off the pitch stuff, I think you're right to flag that because FSG have been looking... Well, they were looking for a minority investor for about a year, weren't they? But now they've said, I think it was early November that we're willing to listen to offers for the club and that does throw things like the January transfer into the unknown, let's say. But I think they're also looking for offers of like £4 billion. But maybe Manchester United coming on the market as well has muddied up things for them because people that might have been interested in buying Liverpool are now contemplating buying United. Very few people that can afford to buy these clubs. It's crazy to think that they bought them in 2010 for £300 million. And that investment... Obviously, FSG have invested in the club in the right way. They've just spent £50 million on this training complex, haven't they? There's been a little bit of disdain from the fans that they've not doubled down in moments where they've wanted to so they can maintain pace with City. But that's not been their business plan, has it? I'm looking forward to seeing, as well as some of the names you mentioned, like Carvalho and Elliott, Ben Doakes, who came on for like 20 minutes against Derby and completed three dribbles in the FL Cup. He's looked unbelievable in Premier League Two, the Champions League Youth Tournament, whatever that's called. So I think it'll be exciting if we don't see some big names arrive in January or another midfield up, which it doesn't look like we will, then at least some of these youngsters are going to be getting a good amount of minutes. Or some minutes. Let's go to Brighton next, then, who are in seventh. I think we're going to have to pick up the pace to get through some of these teams, boys. But obviously went out to Charlton midweek in the Cowboy Cup, which actually is a bad result for Brighton because the competition is fairly winnable this year, given that big teams have crashed out. I'm sure Brighton fans are hoping to go slightly deeper than the, was it yesterday, quarterfinals? Round of 16 against Charlton. But, Deserby did have them pop in towards the back end. They were scoring goals, which is a rarity for Brighton's side, although Danny Welbeck is still sat on zero goals from 1,000 minutes of football playing as the striker, so that's probably needed to be addressed in January. And they have McAllister as a World Cup winner in the ranks. That's one of my favourite stories, that McAllister's coming back to Brighton with a World Cup winner's medal. I think that's amazing. Imagine Deserby trying to turn to do something. And also, this is a Brighton side. This is a Brighton side that lost Graham Potter, who essentially was the entire backroom staff recruitment team. And so, Deserby managed to get them playing well as well. It will be interesting to see maybe this second half of the season, whether that can continue, because I kind of feel like maybe it was the momentum of what was happening with Graham Potter that Deserby kind of continued with. Harsh on Deserby, but I thought he was great when he took over. He was, but he wasn't necessarily changing the complete formation. He was coming into a well-organised outfit, who all their underlying numbers were like, they're a top-six side. It was an ideal scenario to take over. But yeah, now they've scored 23 and conceded 19, it's like the opposite to what was happening under Graham Potter. Actually, at the start of this season, they were out-overperforming when it came to offensive goals. So again, that was already happening. But I think Trossard's top score is seven, then McAllister's four, and then we're talking like Lewis Dunk. I think they need a forward. Historically, Neil Maipai was their top goal scorer, whether that was like eight, ten. Brighton have never had a goal scorer. That's been outrageously good, have they? They were signing David Thatcher and Fano, weren't they? And you've robbed them. Supposedly. Chelsea have taken Brighton's recruitment team and they've taken David Thatcher's. Supposedly. Maybe we'll send them on loan. Yeah, you can. Yeah, look, it's going to be interesting. I mean, they had some fantastic results, beating Chelsea 4-1, but then they lost to Aston Villa on the game before the World Cup started. And so I think it's a little bit harder with them to predict how the rest of their season is going to go. I think they need to spend a January. Decent return pictures though. Southampton and Everton in the next three are tidy for Brighton. I think those two teams are very, very beatable for them. Let's go to Chelsea then. Your boys who haven't had a domestic win since the 16th of October and were quite frankly shambolic before the World Cup finished. I think Chelsea... I'm worried a little bit with Chelsea, if I'm being really honest. Like I think looking at the players that have kind of returned, like great that Reece James is coming back, but he's not fit yet. And so we're still going to have to deal with that. Chilwell has just, I think, just started training the same as Reece James. Fafana finally comes back, does his knee again. I know Chelsea have downplayed it and said it's not as bad, but like whatever scenario where a player has just come back from a knee injury, plays two games in a friendly and then does his knee again is not an amazing scenario. So that's slightly worrying. Brogia plays a friendly out for the season. That's heartbreaking. I don't know if you've watched the video. Yeah, it's awful. It's unbearable. The audio is awful. Like you just hear the pain. So yeah, if I'm being brutally honest, I'm quite worried. The one thing I will say is I think Chelsea have now had a month where Graeme Potter has been able to kind of work with a lot of these players. However, some of the main players are either coming back from injury or were at the World Cup, so they've not had that time to kind of learn. I think Chelsea, it really wouldn't surprise me to think Chelsea just go, let's play youngsters. You can't do that Chelsea. I really do. Was Raheem Sterling in Kona? No, Raheem Sterling will play. Raheem Sterling will play. I think Kai Havertz, I think we played, was it Burnley or someone? We played a Premier League team in a friendly recently. I think Kai Havertz scored a hat-trick and we won 5-1, which was pretty promising. So I think Kai sounds like he's going to be playing through the middle again. But Omari Hutchinson, I think Graeme Potter has now brought him essentially to the first team. Charlie Webster is another guy that's kind of come over to the first team. So I wouldn't be surprised if you start seeing Chelsea play a lot of these youngsters. Chukwumenka, I think you'll see him get a lot more minutes. I would be really surprised. Honestly, I would be so surprised. I really think that's how it's going to go. Because even like, I just think also, we're going to have to, I think Chelsea are in a position where their injuries just keep on continuing. It wouldn't surprise me if we play a few more games and you see more players get injured. That's just the way it's going at the moment. I think the big one is Rhys James. Once Rhys James is back, I think nerves will settle a little bit more. And it would be helpful if Raheem Sterling started scoring some goals, wouldn't it? I mean, he's our top goalscorer. On what? Five? Five or four. Do you know what I mean? We were all expecting quite big things from Raheem Sterling, I think, and I feel like he hasn't found a role under Potter. He's also been playing left wing back. Yeah, but this guy can't continue. I mean, yeah, I personally don't think he should continue either, but I think he's just waiting for a lot of these guys to come back into, from fitness. I think it's going to be really interesting to see Koulibaly. I'm not too sure whether he's the biggest fan of him, and whether he wants to start him week in, week out. It will be, I think this January, because Chelsea will go out in the window and buy. We've apparently been confirmed that we've bought this Brazilian youngster. It looks like Nkunku's now done in the summer, but I think Chelsea are still going to go and probably make a few more signings this January. Yeah, that's the model now. That's the model now is these youngsters that we're spending 20 million on who haven't featured maybe too often for their club or are just about emerging, but have been huge in the academy. Yeah, it's going to be interesting, and I honestly find it very hard to call. I don't know if I can say that Chelsea will get top four football, I'm really not too sure. Potts has a good, historically has been good at coping with injuries, has been good at getting sort of the same level from his players, given his like very structured system, which he's clearly been drilled into the whole squad very well, so I think your potential obviously is severely reduced with your lack of star players, but your base level of playing will remain very competent. I don't see it getting much worse than where you are at current. So, I mean, I will say that just to round off the point you're making. Nice. Let's go to Fulham then, who were so unlucky in their final two games of the campaign, weren't they? I mean, two, was it Garnaccio 94th minute and Man City was like 93rd, wasn't it, when they lost 2-1 in both those games? And, like, Silva's got something going there. It did feel like, anyway, pre the break that Silva had something going there. I think Mitrovic was on absolute smoke, was in 9-12, had a really good World Cup actually as well for Serbia, scored a couple times there. His record for club and country over the last year is like nearly a goal a game. Frightening, frightening statistics, and I think they're safe, which is what minimum, like, which was minimum I thought would happen this season. I thought they would go straight back down. And Midfielder Npelinja, who has become desired, or desirable by big clubs, so if he finishes the season as he started, it looks like he could go for 50-odd million in the summer. So they've got, yeah, they're adding value to players, which bodes well for the next campaign. Thinking about the next campaign after four, yeah, 14 games is a little bit naive, but yeah, I agree. Solid. They're going to be absolutely fine. Defensively, they've sorted their defence out. Leno, I think, has ridden really, really good. They'll probably try and buy another two players in January. Yeah, I think they're going to go for Ducouret from Everton, who obviously hasn't played really since they've had the move called over Hull-Venona, and Cedric Suarez in the right-back role, where they've been playing Bobby Decker and Michael Dovery as kind of an auxiliary right-back. So there's some interesting moves going to happen I think this winter for Fulham, and I'm quite excited for their second half of the season. A team that I'm nervous for, though, Brentford. Goodness gracious. And one main reason here, isn't it, is that Ivan Tony faces 262, I think now, charges by the FA in breach of vetting regulations, which obviously each case is done on a very specific basis, but we have in the last, I think, seven cases we saw Joey Barton banned for 18 months, so it's going to be done on a case-by-case basis, because we don't know what's happened there really, so it's hard to speculate, and we shouldn't speculate really, but at the moment he is still in the squad, and he will still be involved until the extent of next year. But you're right, without him, the goals dry up, don't they? I think he's got 11 of their 26 Premier League goals, sorry, not Premier League goals, goals in all competitions this season, Brian Mbwemo and Yoan Visser, I think, are next on three apiece, so that's obviously a massive downgrade, that's sort of relegation form without Ivan Toney in the side, right? So yeah, ominous for them. Ominous if really, but only if he actually gets banned, like, he's such a good player, if they stay, if he remains in the team, then I think Brentford are in for a potential top 10 finish. But it's a risk to rely upon that, like, if Brentford are smart, and I think we all believe as a club, they'll run smartly behind the scenes, like, they'll be in January looking to get in a back-up striker, they should probably be looking to get in a back-up striker anyway, in case Toney was to get injured or whatever case, like, if these charges weren't a thing, wouldn't they be saying that, okay, in the summer, he might be being looked at by bigger clubs to come join them, and so, yeah, I think a back-up striker is a huge priority in the summer. If they can do that and have someone, look, replacing Toney's not going to be easy, he is everything for them, and so, doing that won't be an easy task. But just getting somebody through the door, I think, is key. His reaction to not getting included in the England squad away at Manchester City was, like, one of my favourite moments of the first half of the season, so, I hope that Brentford do well in the second half of the season. Should we do Crystal Palace as well? Yeah, we're going to have to fly for the rest of these, aren't we? We're only 10 teams in, and we're 40 minutes deep in the episode. Yeah, I mean, they're taking more points this season at this stage than they did the season before, but they have looked a bit, I don't know. I think away games is where the real issues come from sometimes. I think they've still got the issue, as well, that, like, Walford Zaha's contract is up at the end of this season, and he seems like he might be willing to move away. Pre-contract available from... Yeah, he can start talking to clubs outside of England, as well. I mean, yeah, it's the away form that I think is the biggest issue at the moment, and so I think Vieira will be wanting to focus on that. I also think we haven't seen Eze and the French winger Elise go on to that next stage. They have games where they look amazing, look fantastic, but it's not consistent yet, and I think that's the real one. If you can get consistency from them too, then you have a front line of those two, and Zaha, that's electric, along with Edoard maybe through the middle. I think Jake Di Courier will have a good second half of the season, and I think they will sign a right back in January, probably Aaron Wormizak if they can, and I think they're going to be fine. It's just dependent on the progress level we're actually seeing in terms of on-the-pitch performance. Aston Villa then, the question around them has to be about Unai Emery and how high can he take this side, given he is one of the best coaches in the league? I've seen rumours that link to jowl feelings, which is a bit outrageous. It's not going to happen, although they do have a lot of money spent, right? Yeah, three wins from four after he came in. They're now five points above the drop after it looking pretty scary under Steven Gerrard. A little bit like Crystal Palace, away games clearly the issue here. Only five points from eight matches on the road, but you imagine Unai Emery has a battle plan for that, particularly now he's had a mini pre-season with the team historically, you know, whether that be Villarreal, Sevilla, Arsenal, they've always been tight at the back and then sort of fleshed out and attacking mantra from there. And they've found a way to score and that looked impossible under Steven Gerrard. They only scored seven times under Gerrard in 11 matches, already scored nine under Unai Emery and they've played some big teams didn't they? Doubleheader against Manchester United across all competitions. So yeah, I have every confidence that they will build and yield the results that that squad is capable of delivering. It's a good squad, man. Absolutely. 100%. Let's go to Leicester then because they were, I think, the worst defensive side in the league at one point weren't they? Yeah. And they have recovered, like Danny Ward has become a clean sheet machine somehow. I think the defence has got a lot better as well. What's the against Manchester Yeah, they've only conceded one goal in the past seven games and that was from Kevin De Bruyne against Manchester City. They've looked much better in that second half of that first period, the first 14 games and part of that is James Madison. James Madison was electric and obviously Harvey Barnes as well, they kind of formed a fantastic partnership but James Madison in particular was amazing. How are you Harvey Barnes prop versus Emile Smith Rowe? It's looking much better. We'll be interested to see what maybe it's been like though, the momentum for Madison. He was going into games such a high on such confidence, obviously set for England team amazing but didn't actually play due to the injury that he picked up so we'll be interested to see how he comes back from that tournament. Still confident but like if you've not played 90 minutes in front of a crowd like I think that does have an effect mentally and how it feels when you come back out. I'm not saying it's going to be bad, I think it will come back to have a fantastic rest of the season but I will be interested to see what happens in January because they still have the money issues at the moment but they still don't have a lot of money to spend in January and they probably do need to get at least one or two more players. Bournemouth 14th but only three points above the drop zone and the take home has been confirmed and Gary O'Neill got given the manager role and they've been guaranteed four or five January. They were in talks with Bielsa for a while and that fell through and it ended up going to Gary O'Neill who I think probably earned the right to get that job given how well he did in his spell. Some of those wins were really impressive and some of the draws and even losses you think to the top number result where they were the better team for large portions of that game. I think he fully earned the right to get that job. I am still very worried about that squad. I think it is still one of the thinnest squads in the league and I know that Scott Parker's comments about them at the time were perceived very negatively and I don't think they were helpful to the team. It would be interesting in January right? They do need five players but if they get in five quality players and O'Neill was able to manage the squad and use them well, the really impressive results were the ones against Everton who were battling out at the bottom of the league and they managed to do them twice. One of the domestic competitions. It is all about how much money they will be able to spend on these players and their talent and If they can do that and they have a good enough manager in O'Neill to continue, I think there are three worse teams than Bournemouth. I'm worried about Bournemouth and I'm not sure they are. I think for them to still be not rock bottom after 14 match weeks is some achievement given the talent discrepancy in their team versus the rest of the league. For Phil Billing to be one of your top goalscorers going into the Christmas period, not ideal, has been useful at times as a battering ram. We saw that against Tottenham and he is very good in the air when you are slinging the ball to him. Dominic Solanke is having one of those Premier League campaigns where his goals don't reflect the effort he is putting in or the qualities he is bringing to the team. Not a massive amount to add on Bournemouth to be honest. I think they are going to go down. Let's talk about another team that are below them but have a lot of upside, Leeds. I feel like the break came at the wrong time for them who were gathering a bit of momentum. There was a point where the Liverpool game was a season defining match for Leeds. There was a point where the away end had turned on him, the home fans had turned on him, it looked like he was going to be chopped at any stage. He went to Anfield 1 and it felt like everything changed from that moment. If you're in neutral right now the best thing to watch is Leeds. It's the most fun because every game is ending 4-3. It's crazy how it goes. They're unfortunate against Spurs not to get that result in the end after Spurs bringing it back last minute. They look like they've got Patrick Bamford coming back as well. Against Arsenal they should have won that game. But Bamford had a bit of a mare. So it'll be interesting to see what they do in January. They've got their players coming back as well like Tyler Adams who had a fantastic World Cup and obviously Brendan Aronson who had a brilliant first half of the season as well. I really like Jesse Marsh. I think he's a really fun manager and also one that I think can go far. I do just worry about how this second half of the season go because if they do have that run again where they're losing four games in a row people might end. Honestly I really think the players are playing for Jesse Marsh. Even though he lost the fans at one stage I think the players were really playing for him. The celebrations on the pitch after a win they all went to Jesse Marsh. It wasn't as if the effort wasn't there for him and they chucked in the towel. Their defence is a bit of an issue. 26 goals, third worst in Premier League. That's third worst by goals conceded but I think most of their underlying numbers are very middling. Me and Pat two or three weeks ago were putting up a lot of leads saying they're going to be fine. My opinion hasn't really changed since then. Like you say it's one thing for the crowd to be chanting Bielsa's name but this is a new side they're effectively turning over the spine of the team. Luke Ayling and Liam Cooper are the last bastions of that era. You're seeing several other players phased out. Here's the Polish midfielder Glik was like a mainstay in that side and now we're seeing him get cameo minutes at the end of games. I think if they stick with him they'll probably finish between tenth and twelfth. Let's go to West Ham then because David Moyes is having a bit of a struggle this season. Maybe a lot of people are pointing to the fact that is he able to integrate this next level of talent into a team where the older generals have got older now and aren't... Well I would just say with Marsh there is teething issues isn't there. He's just got to decide whether the juice is worth the squeeze. If his vision is the correct one. It's always been the thing that's come back to David Moyes is he able to take these guys who are better players than what he had and actually integrate them and decide and make them effective in this West Ham side and we're seeing still that he has to go back to the old school of using Antonio. And he spent £180 million in the summer. It's a lot of money. It's a lot of money. I don't know whether he'll be able to spend that anywhere near or be big spenders in January because of that. And there's also the kind of issues of maybe having to deal with the future of Declan Rice who when he was playing for England kind of admitted that you know what I'm ready for that next step and this rest of this campaign could be my last for West Ham. I think he's got two years left however by the sounds of the media it does seem like this summer's going to be it for Declan Rice. £70 million could be the game. massive campaign from him isn't it? To kind of massage his way out of the club like I don't think he wants to be there for it. And then you have the defensive issues obviously Agard getting injured, Zouma apparently is also out at the moment. Yeah exactly and so I think that's going to be a bit of a problem and so maybe they have to go back to Dawson's face. Is Dawson going to be I think there's upside from some of those new acquisitions isn't there? There's more to come from Schmacker I think he's on four goals at the moment. There is more to come from Lucas Paqueta. So I think Moyes will take solace from that that I've got boys who aren't giving me anywhere near their optimum output and it's not unreasonable to expect them to go for a bit of a bedding in period. So I think we can see them climb the table pretty quickly but yeah not reaching the same heights as previous campaigns. The start's been too bad hasn't it? If they don't. Everton next? Everton next yeah he is. Just speeding through some of these things. No it's fair enough. They had a really weird first 14 games because it started negatively and people were talking about worrying about Frank Lampard then they had a really big upturn and it was going oh they figured it out they fixed it. Smug. And then it went down again. I'm not. And so yeah look I think they had some interesting bits as well because defensively like using Tarkovsky and Cody they managed to get some decent performances out of them and Pickford we mentioned before the World Cup that he was going into this in flying form however apart from that game against Bournemouth. Yeah I just don't think the shortcomings in their squad and the shortcomings in Lampard's approach or what we've seen historically from his approach I just thought that was a bit of a dangerous combination at the start of the season. I remember tipping them to be one of the sides that could be going down. Sitting in 17th and having just lost to Bournemouth what was it twice before the break. Not great and struggling for goals as well. I think Calvert-Lewin and Neil Papai are both on one apiece. Top scorers I think Andy Gordon on four. Anthony Gordon not Andy Gordon on four. Yeah so they've only scored 11 which is the second worst return in the Premier League. They need a goal scorer don't they? They just need a goal scorer. They need to find a pipeline to Calvert-Lewin don't they? He can't stay fit when he's injured again. It's a massive issue. His injury record for Everton now cannot stay fit from surgery and time. He's their jewel in the forward area for them really isn't he? I think the midfield balance is alright and O'Hana's look quite good. Forward line just can't click. I think the defence are having to do far too much work as well. Pitford's had to when your goal keeper is the third highest performing goal keeper in the league by post shot expected goals and Tarkovsky is doing everything humanly possible to keep the ball you know shots going on target I think he's top for a bunch of attritional defensive metrics it's worrying and there is a stat down here that no side has conceded more shots from turnovers than Everton which means that I don't know giving the ball away in silly areas. That and also the patterns of play aren't there to sort of progress the ball from out the back into midfield and then getting it to that forward line they're struggling to play it out from the back and being caught like you said by high pressing sides. They've had a month though they've had a month and he's not a lot of his players so Cody probably going wasn't amazing he would have wanted to work on it so hopefully they could have worked on that side of things. I'm being very punctual with my answers because I'm getting conscious of time. Eighteen Nottingham Forest eight points for the last five matches though did get a little bit of a spark going didn't they and they do have so much talent in that squad like to beat Blackburn midweek was it four in the end? Four one that's exactly what the doctors were saying. Yeah exactly and like on the score sheet there again they need Jesse Lingard to pop up with a big second half of the season. I think Chiate's injury is a bit of a mud for them because he was becoming quite a vital component to the midfield and obviously torn his hamstring now I think they'll probably dip into the defensive midfield market. They've already signed another player for January already it's going to be ridiculous. Yeah again I mentioned Everton I think this month they would have had a lot of these players actually to train with and use and do preseason games with would have been fantastic and would have had time to really put into his plans and into their heads and how he wants to play his football and so yeah that World Cup break I think was a real silver lining for him and obviously committing their future towards him was the right move I think we all kind of agreed and so yeah it'll be interesting I think we might see an interesting Nottingham Forest Impressive 2-1 win over Valencia in this in this period and I think like the World Cup would have benefitted very few sides to the extent that it would have. I agree. Nottingham Forest just having that massive turnover you almost need two preseasons to get those players to develop an understanding of one another so I would not be surprised yeah if we saw a massive surge Okay Southampton You said going into this you were very worried This is a side I'm worried about See I was fairly positive about Southampton you were fairly positive about Everton and they're both in the mud at this point I have like concerns about the forward areas again Southampton like I think top scorer a little bit akin to Everton I think it's Chet Adams actually is on four and then I think Roman Perrot has two yeah Malbir I think has got maybe three yeah Arribo's got two or three I think as well Armstrong hasn't I don't think scored or maybe scored one and obviously Nathan Jones coming in replacing Ralph Hassen it's a big gamble it's a big gamble but he's been an amazing manager at Leeds he's done such a good job and he has a proven track record of coaching young players and getting good quality output from young players so I really like the appointment but it's undeniably a risk and I think he's got that bad experience under his belt with Stoke where he tried to placate I don't know certain players or the board by playing a style of football that he wasn't necessarily keen on in order to achieve short term success I don't think he's going to make that same mistake again with Southampton so at least you've got a manager who's going to stick to his guns and if things were as bad morale wise under Hassen Hurtler as we're led to be believed then there can only be a little honeymoon period can't they that they need and again a little bit like I don't know some of the sides we've mentioned here like with West Ham there are players that you'd expect in this Southampton setup to take a little while to adjust to Premier League football although you know certain players have a quick I know that was bizarre wasn't it and he went on that pre-season on the pre-World Cup training camp two months ago scored in the EFL Cup there didn't he and also I think the Cooney move is a smart move his output has not been dynamite you're right and looking at him at 23-24 you might expect a little bit more from him but his only full season in recent memory because of course he well he's at Atletico last season sorry and put up a decent amount of expected goals and assists I think it was 0.85 per 90 he was used very sparingly I think he got 10 in the end but didn't have many starts was a really effective super sub so you could see that as decent progression while his output not being meteoric but in the full season where he was the man at Hertha Berlin I think they finished 14th he was their joint top goalscorer their third top assist star and I can see him being a really good connection between the midfield and Raul Jimenez if they want to get Jimenez firing again he's super mobile he's a top half manager lot to take in he's a top 10 manager in the Premier League he's going to be the star forward in the side now I don't think he'll be the only signing apparently there's another 5 or 6 but he'll pay once as well I mean still even without those signings even if Kanye just came in it'd be one of the best sides to get relegated from the Premier League coming back for injury as well I mean Jimenez has barely had an impact in this side so far Nunez Ruben Neves his contract situation still up in the air I was under the impression it was his last year I don't think it is so I would back him to sort them out fairly quickly still a salvageable situation 20 teams wrapped up in about an hour in true Sunday vibes fashion we have paced it terribly let us know what you think about your team in the comments below let us know if you want to see more reactive videos hit the like button hit subscribe thanks for watching see you later