The Athletic FC Podcast

Va-Va-Voom

Tom Williams

The book was introduced as a modern history of French Football, written by guest Tom Williams.

“

With us today we have Pierre etienne minon zeal from Frank publication le keep and Tom Williams author of Vava voom the modern history of French football Tom let's start with you

My Turn

Johan Cruyff

It was mentioned that Ghele had read loads of books about total football, which is a style of football that emphasizes fluidity and interchanging positions.

“

Ghele as a person who's worked with Pep Guardiola and has read loads of books about total football and Jan Cruyff he would ideally want moments where the ball is circulated on the right hand side defences get dragged towards the right hand side and you can pull it back towards the left and then a pass is made that's not necessarily been totally possible due to I mean Zinchenko has been very very useful at left back and then inverting but Zinchenko is not the best defender Arsenal fans have been very very good at keeping out on the hush hush but I think that became a little bit more apparent last season and Kiriol while he came while he came through and definitely offered a very very good option he came through in January and while he's offering quite a bit defensively what he offers in terms of progression isn't perhaps Premier League winning quality that nebulous thing so there there is definitely space there for an upgrade and I think that entire left hand side needs a bit of work you need a little bit more fluidity at left back you need a little bit greater ball circulation and fluidity between the left-sided midfielder and the left winger it be that Trossard or be that Martinelli so that that can all use some work so can Califuri offer that he offers more progressive play than Kiriol he's got a nice little whipped cross that you've seen in parts in the Euros I think what's also very pleasing about him is a bit similar to what we just discussed about Joshua Xerxes for a tall man he's got good balance he's got very very good body control he's he's not necessarily the quickest and I think he can get beaten in a foot race down the down the line and down the channel but his sense of anticipation and he's often the fastest defender to react when things go wrong he can pounce in a way that's quite pleasing Michael Cox in 2019 wrote a fantastic piece about how centre-backs can be broken down into dogs who sort of chase after the man in possession and cats were very good at interpreting space and then realizing and now I gotta make the jump and Califuri at this point in time is a very good combination of both defensively at this point in time from what I've seen that Europe's he might be better suited to being the left-sided centre-back in a fall which is I'm sure Arteta will say there ain't no problem yeah we can make that work I'm sure you know I watched Arsenal play four centre-backs at Old Trafford towards the end of last season I'm sure Arteta can find a way to get Gabriel and Califuri to work in that configuration as well and in terms of that progression play yeah there's definitely quality to Califuri's passing game that can be used to help invert I think when he when he receives the ball facing the opposition goal and he's got his head up he can make some some good passes but and then it gets a little bit sticky if obviously there's there's a bit of pressure but when you've got a manager as great as Mikel Arteta in charge of you you'll find a way to make sure that your strengths are exacerbated and and your not-so-strengths are being hidden so this is a deal that makes sense I think it's also that thing of like you say the big thing now is left-sided centre-backs because you talk about is there a left-back in the world a genuine left-back in the world that can take Arsenal up to the next level and you're basically gonna have to go to AC Milan and give them a very large amount of money for Theo Hernandez because we're just in a dearth of left-backs because now you're either left-sided centre-back or you're a right-sided winger who cuts inside and shoots on your left foot.

The Art of War (Deluxe Hardbound Edition) (Fingerprint! Classics)

Sun Tzu

The Wars was a book that Glasner managed while working with Frankfurt.

“

Which which happened with the wars book and Frankfurt.

Team Effort Collegiate CVX Ball Mark Repair Tool & 2 Ball Markers

The book was mentioned in passing while talking about Liverpool's upcoming match against Brentford, however, it wasn't specifically discussed in detail.

“

So yeah, Tirthmore, the Unkato ball, easy place to go.

Bring the Noise

Raphael Honigstein

Raphael Honigstein, the author of this book, is a German football writer who contributed to the podcast discussing Jurgen Klopp's departure from Liverpool. The book is a biography of Jurgen Klopp.