Harry Kane Wins The Ballon Dor

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2:42Myself, Yves Saint Laurent. And there's nothing to prove But I'm dancing with myself Hello and welcome to The Rest Is Football with me, Gary Lineker. Today I'm joined once again by Julian Laurent. Julian, lovely to see you. I went to the Ballon d'Or last night and I didn't see you there. No, I was invited. I could not make it. I had a French radio show that we do every Monday, so I had to stick to that. But I knew you were there because obviously all the big names in football were there. So I was not surprised you were there. Big old, old, old names in full. It was lovely to see a lot of people. It was glorious to see Harry Kane win. Obviously, first English win for a long time. And I was really thrilled for him and his family.

3:18I think it's richly deserved. He's had a magnificent year. There was, you see a lot of people you haven't seen. In fact, Harry Kane, I met Harry Kane for the first time. Nowhere! Absolutely true. I've never met Harry Kane. I've interviewed him down the line, you know, like we are now. Occasionally on Match of the Day or something like that over the years or in England World Cup. But I've never actually face-to-face met him before. So I did that. I met him at the end. Heface met him before. So I did that. So I met him at the end. He was with Rodri, who I met. And Rodri went, well, you've met me three times. So that was lovely to meet him. So it was brilliant for the award winners. It was a very, very long night.

4:00It was late off. They seemed to be more focused on the red carpet arrivals than probably the event itself. That must have been three, four hours long. They wanted to string everybody out. The actual show was pretty disastrous in terms of making a professional television show. It was, the order queue didn't work at the start. I felt for Kate, Abdo and Thierry that it was very difficult for them all night. It was a tough one for them. But ultimately, it's about who wins the award. So we'll gloss over the kind of amateurism side of things. I mean, I have to say the French, the French do football wonderfully and they do food brilliantly and they do fashion. TV? There's been some good series lately I've seen in France,

4:50but it wasn't brilliant in terms of the production side of things. I mean, he was in London, so it must have been an English-British production or something. You can't blame it on us when it's not even happening. Well, alas, it wasn't. Alas, it was French. So, but it was, it was nice to be there, nice to be invited. I probably after that won't be invited next year. So, I saw, I saw you, I don't know, three weeks ago talking about possible Ballon d'Or winners and I think you discounted Harry Kane. No, I didn't. And you know what? I'm really happy he won. And you know why? Because you're right. He had a great year. 73 goals in 65 games in all competitions. He's incredible. The domestic double is great.

5:33He was almost there in the Champions League, almost there in the World Cup with Bayern and England and just, you know, didn't happen fully in the end. I just felt that Michael Ulisse was incredible for Bayern and he was the Bundesliga player of the year. And I always think in my very rational mind that you can't be the best player in the world if you're not even the best player in your own league, you know, in your own team. He was ninth though, Julian, ninth. I know, I know, I know, I know. Which is the one thing that actually struck me when I looked at the order of, the one thing I thought, ninth, Alisse. I think he's a bit better than that but yeah and then for Kane the story of you know he's 33 years old

6:10and when he was 17 18 remember he had to do loads of loans at Millwall at Norwich at Leyton Orient and he made it maybe later than a Laminia Mal or a Kylian Mbappe and yet I think this great story of humility and keep working hard and you will achieve great things that's what this Ballon d'Or is all about and I think that's great a lot of people will relate to Harry's story will be inspired by Harry's story maybe more than if Lamin had won it or Kylian had won it and I think for that as well he's great for football You excluded Leicester there from his life and Leicester I remember there's this brilliant picture where he was sat on the bench and couldn't get on him and Jamie Vardy. They both did quite well later on in their careers.

6:52So overall, I think killing them back, it was funny, I started to, I didn't know the result. No one knows the result. I mean, I know Alan Shearer went to Harry and went, before it happened, he said, do you know? Have you been told? And Harry told him no. So he didn't know. I started to think, because Killian was sat there all night, wasn't giving a mention, because we'd seen Kane go up, obviously, to win the Goal Scorer Award. We'd seen Laminia Mal go up to win the Young Player Again, or the Young talent, as they call it, win it again. And then they sat there and Kylian wasn't even mentioned all night. And I thought, is he going to sneak it? But he did get in second ahead of Luminium. The only person that looked a bit disappointed was Luminium.

7:41He had a kind of bit of a grimace when it was announced. Yeah, I agree. I think Kylian would be disappointed too. And I think we don't have actually yet, as we record this, the full result in terms of who got how many points. And I think it would be very close between them three, really, because I think they all believed it could be theirs. And as we said the last time I was with you on the show, but even before that, it was the most open we've had in a very long time for a Ballon d'Or race between so many contenders you know and I think I think they will be disappointed I think Lamine to get another of the Young Talent Award is like come on even himself said like Pau Kubasi should have won it

8:20not me because I know he's still only 19 but come on he hasn't been he's been a top he's going to win it come on he hasn't been he's been a top he's going to win every year it's up to about 22 isn't it or something 22 yeah so it's a bit when Phil Foden won the young PFA player do you remember that when he'd been already in the Premier League for five years can I ask you you're a journalist are you one of the people that vote no so why not no it's one per country. So in France, it's the guy, the editor of France Football, obviously. Ah, okay. So it's him. In England, it's our friend Henry Winter, who is the voter for England. And until something happens to those, not that we want something to happen to those people,

9:03but they only get replaced when you know when they when they can't vote anymore for example so but yeah Henry was the the voice of England Will Kylian Mbappé ever win one? I hope so he's so good yeah he's 28 in December at the end of December well he's going to his prime now it's an absolute prime and he's playing so wonderfully well at the moment yeah and he felt that finishing top goal scorer in La Liga, in the Champions League and in the World Cup, which in itself is an incredible achievement to top those goal scoring rankings in all those three competitions was something pretty amazing, which is true, but just not winning anything shows you as well that of all those criteria to win it, there's also what you win with your

9:45team and the fact that he didn't win anything. So I think he will win it one day. I think Lamine will win many at 19, now he's got plenty. But you know what? I think if Bayern Munich and Harry win the Champions League this year, this season, I think he'll have a great shot to go back to back. And then if obviously he wins the Euros on home soil in the UK with England the following season, we could easily see Harry winning three years in a row, which again, three years in a row, we're talking Cruyff and Messi and, you know, those kinds of guys. So the dynasty, the mini dynasty for Harry could be really, really impressive. Julian, you're getting ahead of yourself there. No, I'm just saying. You said I dismissed him.

10:22So now, like, I'm, you know, I'm staying positive. You do know how long it's been since we won something don't you never mind the Ballon d'Or if Harry leads us to winning the Euros we'll give him it'll be Sir Harry Kane it'll be everything he wants to be we'll give him everything King Harry the front page of L'Equipe today is King Kane which I think and Reina Putellas, which is fitted for both of them, obviously. I think it's a wonderful front cover. Yeah, we should have a word on the women's winner as well. I mean, she's, it's a few times now. Yeah, three Ballon d'Or for her, equalling the record of Aitana Bonmati, who's a teammate who got injured and missed a lot of last season but alexa was just fantastic i mean she's incredible technically in the way she sees

11:11the game and she plays the game and she's also a wonderful ambassador for the women's game too and what she represents and and the way she talks and everything the story that she has in a very dominant barcelona team, there's no doubt they won. Vicky Lopez won the Young Talent of the Year as well. Pere Romeu won the Coach of the Year for women's football. Absolutely, completely deserved. And there might be more because next year, this summer coming up is obviously the Women's World Cup in Brazil and Spain will be heavily favoured too with with England so she was wonderful last year leading that team to a wonderful quadruple again It was a very dominant night for Spain as you'd expect not only the women's football side of things, Barcelona

11:54won everything but also of course Unai Simon won the goalkeeper award as a head of his team mate David Raya which was really good. Obviously, De La Fuente won the coach's award. I mean, Luminio just missed out. If he'd have won that as well, it would have been pretty much a kind of clean sweep. So, I mean, what a year it's been for Spanish football, Julian. Yeah, incredible. National team level, club level, especially on the women's side, because on the men's side, because on the men's side, you could look at it and, okay, Atletico reached the semifinal of the Champions League against Arsenal. Real Madrid was quarterfinal. Barcelona was quarterfinal against Atletico. So maybe there's that little run

12:35in the Champions League missing for one of those big, giant Spanish clubs, really. But for the rest, the men's national team was outstanding at the World Cup, going from strength to strength and then being deservedly winners. Completely De La Fuente, again, going back-to- outstanding at the World Cup, going from strength to strength and then being deservedly winners. Completely De La Fuente, again, going back-to-back Euros, World Cup is pretty special in itself for a national team head coach. And as you said, Lamine, Unai Simon, all of that is just the men who are missing, but they've been wonderful. And if you look even at the youth teams, both for the men's and the women's, or the boys and the girls, if you want,

13:04under-19s, under-17s,s and the 21s they've been incredible so they've got even more depth coming up now through the ranks for to keep the domination for men and women's even in terms of leagues now i mean there's a lot if you look at the success in european football over the last maybe two decades it's it's very much been dominated by Spain. Yet here in this country, we still go, yeah, but the Premier League is the best league in the world. It's the best league in the world. Is it? It's a great question. There's certainly probably, the competition is probably stronger here. I think there's more depth in the quality. You know, we often say, but the team that finished sixth in the Premier League,

13:46where would they finish in La Liga? Probably behind Barca and Real Madrid. Maybe, okay, behind Atletico, but even sometimes I'm not too sure. So that for sure. But then when you think of the success, you're right, that Spanish clubs have had and look at Spanish managers, for example, or even Spanish players in La Liga, but also outside, It's pretty remarkable. And they keep producing those talents. That's the thing. You know, we often say football is cycles and we'll talk briefly at the end about Manchester United and cycles, but the Spanish domination cycle seems to have gone for quite a long time. Let's go back to the winner, to Harry Kane and what a wonderful, not just season he's had but I mean

14:25tops off his career. If you go back just a few years before he went to Bayern there was a lot of talk wasn't it that Spurs had never won anything and even though he was obviously remarkably consistent it's proved to be such a fantastic move for him hasn't it? I mean we've seen obviously and witnessed in the Premier League over years and years and years, but I think he's actually got better and better. Yeah, I agree with you. Should he, could he have left a bit early? Maybe. We never know. Obviously, I think he wanted to stay to try to finally win something with Spurs. He came close, Champions League final, obviously, some League Cup finals and things like that. Second place in the Premier League too,

15:03but he was just missing and at some point he felt that to go and get better maybe some League Cup finals and things like that. Second place in the Premier League too. But he was just missing. And at some point he felt that to go and get better maybe and achieve something bigger, he had to leave, which was probably heartbroken for him. But that was the right move to do. I agree. I think he went to another level at Bayern, challenging himself to go away from home to a new league, a new country where he didn't speak the language and was very, very different to England. I think Vincent Kompany has done him Thomas Tuchel first, sure, but Vincent Kompany also has helped in that kind of progression at 33

15:33to be having the greatest season of your career, really, when you've been so, so good for so many years, speaks volume, I think, of the improvement that you had and what you did to get there. So now it's just the Champions League missing. And as we said, something with England, but the Champions League is the one that he's been the closest to. And I'm sure that will come. He's got, what, two, three more years, probably, with Bayern and England. And there's many, many more goals to come. But like we said earlier, it's the incredible story of the ones who worked harder than everybody else, who had talent, but still had to work harder than everybody else who had talent but still had to work harder than everybody else

16:06to get to the top What a massive opportunity for Tottenham this is and here is Harry Kane for Tottenham Oh what a goal a classic derby goal from Harry Kane catch him if you can But also I'd say he's football intelligence and we saw examples of it, didn't we? In the game last week in the Champions League where the quick thinking to take a goal kick. I mean, I don't think I've ever seen a number nine take a goal kick before. And the brilliant ball for the Davis goal. I mean, he's really, I mean, he's become, he's not just a number nine, far from it. I mean, he's almost like a midfielder and a number nine turned into one. Yeah, really unique profile. I mean, the only one maybe we could look at is Karim Benzema,

16:53post-Cristiano era Real Madrid. When he won the Ballon d'Or, he was also like that. Pushed him out a little bit, yeah. Yeah, he was creating, he was scoring, but he had that incredible ability and vision to be able to play some of the passes. Probably not even as well as Harry, because Harry is very special for that. You mentioned that goal kick, which almost became an assist, that ball for Davies, but that's what he does week in and week out in the Bundesliga and then midweek, every midweek in the Champions League when they play too. I think he would probably play even longer because you could easily see him dropping and just be a 10 when he gets to be older and has less of the legs to kind of play as a nine.

17:31And then maybe you could even see him in front of the back four at some point, just like a quarterback distributing those balls, you know, and dictating the pace of the game because I think he can even do that. Yeah, that's before he goes to the NFL and does the kicking thing he's talked about. Be a kicker, yeah. He'd be very good at that. I think, oh, it's a different shape ball. You never know. I'm sure he'd be really good. I agree. He sort of developed a little bit of a relationship, I think, with Michael Alise as well, hasn't he? I mean, they work really well together. Yeah, they work great. Good players do. I mean, basically. And he had a similar relationship, perhaps, with Heung-Min Son when he was at Spurs, but

18:05this is almost on another level. And if you are smart, I think he must be so much fun to play with Harry because he finds you even probably when you least expect it because you think, okay, I'm going to... But no, the ball still comes even if it's a hard pass for him to attempt. When you've got Luis Diaz on one side with all his runs, when you've got Lissé on the right with who you can combine more than playing the ball in behind for him, for example. And then you've got fullbacks who are very attacking. And we mentioned Davis, but it could be Stanisic, it could be Leimer. And then all of that for Harry, all that movement around him is just perfect for him to ping those passes as well as scoring for the chances that they would create for him.

18:42So this Bayern team is wonderful. Let's see what they achieve this year collectively. And again, like I said to you, it could go back to back Ballon d'Or if they have a successful domestic season. Certainly not impossible. Just before we take a break, Julian, what's the latest on Vincent Kompany? Do you know, is he okay? Yeah, he's okay. Yeah, he's resting. He's still in hospital, I think. They've done a lot of checks and I think he's all good. He was a bit scared for everybody when he fainted and collapsed watching the reserve game. They said a lot of coffee, a lot of stress, a lot of late night watching tapes of the opposition or videos of the opposition and things like that. So he needs to rest

19:16and take it easy for now. His assistant will take over for the near future, the foresee future. But then hopefully he will come back full of energy for certainly maybe for the second part of the season. Yeah, we're certainly sending our best wishes from here and hope to see Mondi in the dugout very soon. Okay, let's take a little break. And when we come back, we'll talk about a few things that are going on in Europe. Somewhere out there is a Chevy truck and the person who drives it, well, that's a Chevy person. You probably know one. Your buddy. Your sister. Ones who always show up. They're the first to rise, the last to leave. They always have that little extra something. And maybe you've got it too.

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20:38Are your ad campaigns lighting up the dashboard but not the pipeline? That's bullspend, and marketers are calling it out in Dashboard Confessions. My boss asked for results, so I opened my dashboard for the only positive-sounding metric I had. Impressions. Cut the bull spend. See revenue, not just reach. LinkedIn delivers the highest return on ad spend of major ad networks. Advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a $250 credit. Go to linkedin.com slash campaign terms and conditions apply. Welcome back to The Rest Is Football with Julien Laurent and me, Gary Lineker. El Clasico. I mean, I didn't anticipate Real Madrid winning at the Nou Camp. I mean, they're two very good sides,

21:21but Barcelona have been going so well this season, although that's two defeats in a row now. You know, it looked like it was going to be a breeze and then suddenly a little twist. Yeah, you're right. And I mean, the defeat against PSG in Paris in the midweek before that, I think was telling, but it was a different style of defeat, wasn't it? Than Real Madrid, where Mourinho had a great game plan. Stay narrow, stay compact, that 4-2-3-1 for Real Madrid. Who wouldinho had a great game plan. Stay narrow, stay compact. That 4-2-3-1 for Real Madrid. Who would have thought Real Madrid had a game plan like that? Exactly. And Jose Mourinho. You said that, but I did wonder before the game if Jose still had in him

21:55to prepare the perfect game plan for the team and certainly for those players to just execute it really, really well. And that's exactly what they did. Arda Gullo on that right-hand side with Valverde behind him. That has worked quite well. I thought T exactly what they did. That other Goula on the right-hand side with Valverde behind him, that has worked quite well. I thought Chouameni was great in midfield. And then even the substitution, because the game is won in the 88th minute. Four passes, Jude in the middle, then finds Kamavinga, Goula, Kamavinga again. And then that little square ball, once he's kind of humiliated Paolo Cubasi for Kylian to have a tap in. And that's pure Mourinho, right?

22:28You're compact there, you get the ball back and then four passes, five seconds and the ball is in the back of the net and then he's on his knee celebrating like if it was his greatest hour 20 years ago, you know? That's Mourinho for you. That certainly is Jose. Never rule him out. Yeah. I think a couple of things came from that for me in terms of, we can take it back to the Ballon d'Or in a way. If this had happened, I don't know when they do the voting for the Ballon d'Or, maybe a month ago. If this game would have been just before the vote and two goals for Kylian Mbappe, it might have just taken him over the line. Yeah, maybe. Eight goals in seven Clasicos now. You know, even if he hasn't won them all,

23:07he'd been very, very efficient in what is arguably the biggest game in world football, right? Club games in world football. He's there. Okay, got to be lucky on the first goal. Sure. The second goal is at the right place at the right time. But I thought his all-around game was, for what he had to do in this very strict Mourinho plan, I thought was good. And we built this game and rightly so, I think, of Mbappe against Lamine and Kylian against Lamine. And on the other hand, I thought, guys, that Lamine was a bit disappointed like he was against PSG too a few days before. Yeah. It's just a bit of a lull at the moment. You've got to remember he's still a teenager and teenagers are going through things, aren't they?

23:43I mean, he's so talented there. As is this fella, Jude Bellingham. I've got a few he's still a teenager and teenagers are going through things, aren't they? I mean, he's so talented though, as is this fella, Jude Bellingham. I've got a few of his stats here. 56 touches, three out of three successful dribbles, 13 out of 15 ground duels won, three out of five tackles won. It's all about these nowadays. Eight defensive contributions. He's all round game. That's another thing, take it back to the Ballon d'Or again, is that Jude in 11th, I thought was, I thought that was outside the top 10. I mean, I thought in the World Cup, he was absolutely sensational as well. I was really surprised at that.

24:17I thought he'd certainly been the top five or six. Yeah, I agree. Top 10, certainly. I mean, I could have put my house on it. Yeah, certainly top 10. Yeah, top 10 for sure. And especially on a World Cup year where the World Cup is, the voters look a lot at the World Cup and he was even probably slightly just above Harry in England's best player there. Over the World Cup, yes, definitely. Yeah, just on the World Cup. If you just look at those eight games, he was the key for me in that tactical plan from Mourinho in that kind of number 10 position. But was the key for me in that tactical plan from Mourinho in that kind of number 10 position. But really, as you read in the stats, he was everywhere,

24:49especially in that midfield, consolidating all of that. He's at the start of that second goal, the move that win the game for Real Madrid. Once recovering the ball and then he's got three bar supplies around him and he still does the little roulette, you know, over the ball and then gives it to Kamavinga and then after that they're off when he's in like that. Even if there's less goals and less assists maybe in his first year at Real Madrid under Carlo Ancelotti, he's so, so important and you're right, he's so powerful, he's so strong now, he plays with so much confidence that if he stays on this form, I think Real Madrid could push. Again, if they get things right and if they all play together and put in the same direction, there could be something there for Mourinho. I think Real Madrid could push. Again, if they get things right and if they all play together

25:25and put in the same direction, there could be something there for Mourinho. I think he could have found the recipe and there was no Vini and maybe that's also the key. Yeah, maybe. I do see Jude Bellingham winning a Ballon d'Or. Yeah, me too. Down the line. If he stays fit and strong, obviously he had an injury or two over the last season, but I mean, he's so good at football. Yeah. And you know what? Okay, Harry won it because of all the goals he scored as well, right? And this was a bit of a throwback to when Messi and Cristiano would win because they would be so much better and they would outscore everybody and things like that. But we've also seen in recent years, ballon d'or were more collective ballon d'or,

26:04not strikers, not even forwards. At times, like Luka Modric said, but we've also seen Ousmane Dembele who won it. Okay, he scored some big goals, but also because PSG as a team was so good and he was very important in what the collective was. And that's how Jude could win it. Because Jude would never score 50 goals. He might win the Champions League, but there would also be Kylian in the team if he wins the Champions League. Well, he's a midfield player. He might win the Champions League, but there will also be Kylian in the team if he wins the Champions League. Well, he's a midfield player. He's a midfield player, really. I mean, he's a midfielder stroke number 10. I mean, he is a 10, I suppose,

26:32but he's actually all round, isn't he? Yeah, and that's what, for everything that he would give to the collective, I think that's what could give him. And it feels like maybe the voters are thinking about this differently. It's not just all about the goals or individual achievements in a way. I think, and that's why I'm like you, I'm convinced he's still only 21 years old. So he's got plenty of time, like Lami, to win it. But he will get there for sure. Yeah, I confidently predict that he'll be a winner in the future. I still think Barcelona will win the league. I think they've overall got to, they'll probably be more consistent than Real Madrid. I think they still look to me, Real Madrid, they didn't against Barcelona,

27:13but that's a one-off game and Mourinho can pull that out of bag. You can't play that. I agree. Necessarily that style against all the other teams. You get away with it against Barcelona, but Real Madrid's fans are ultimately not going to stand for too much of that sort of football. But he understands that, Mourinho, and I think he'll run them close, but I still see Barca as being, overall, the squad and the talent that they've got is stronger, I think. Yeah, I agree. I mean, it's a massive win because obviously they were six points behind before the game, so now they're back three points behind. If it'd been a draw, six points, six points behind before the game. So now they're back three points behind.

27:46If it'd been a draw, six points, if they'd lost, et cetera. I agree with you. I think Barca would win it. The only thing, I look at Pau Kubasi and Gerard Martin as the two starting centre-backs for Barcelona. We don't even have to look at the two full-backs, but even just those two who are young and both against PSG and Real Madrid struggled at times, made mistakes. And over the whole season, they might be okay. But I do wonder if maybe in January you go and get an experienced centre-back. Okay, Christensen is injured. Koundé is injured and could have done a job there. So the injuries will come back. But maybe that's where they could just add something to the squad to make sure that third Liga in a row is theirs.

28:26And of course, Araujo went to Liverpool as well. No, he's doing all right. So, before you go, I just want to talk to you about, obviously, the situation at Manchester United, the struggles that continue there. I think most of us know, even though it's probably not really down to any of the coaches, but what will happen to Michael Carrick? I mean, it does look a bit grim for him. And of the coaches that have been reported, there's Conte, Nagelsmann, Eddie Howe, they've all been linked with the job. Any rumours in your world? I mean, you know who the best would be, right? Right now, I think the best for this job, that is right beyond just the pitch, beyond football. You have to restructure everything,

29:13reconnect everything. Luis Enrique would be the guy. And when you think that he's a guy they've interviewed in the past, not even that long ago, and yet decided not to go ahead with. And now they're crying out for somebody like that because you need us. Hang on a minute though. There was a time where I think Manchester United could go, yes, Luis Enrique, he's the best coach out there. We'll go and get him. Would Luis Enrique realistically be interested in going to Manchester United and how that club's being run at the top at the moment? No, no, no. I mean, any coach must look at that and see all the big name coaches. They've tried the superstar names. They've tried up and coming coaches, local boys,

29:54kind of one of their own types. But nothing has worked. And there's a reason for that. What would be, do you think, attractive for someone like Luis Enrique going to Manchester United, even if they paid him a fortune? He doesn't need that probably either. No, you're right. But I think the challenge of taking this club back to the top for those guys, as you know, who are so confident in their own ability and the ego and like i'm the one who will do it you know x failed and he failed and he failed and he failed but i can do this i don't think luis enrique would go there right now but you need somebody like that you need somebody with discipline and authority that would really run the club because somebody you need somebody with

30:43that kind of vision of okay this is not just the 11 players on the pitch it's not even just about the recruitment and getting that right it's everything you have to look at how you rebuild everything really a bit like what Arteta did at Arsenal when he arrived and they were in disarray as well and it's even worse because United is one of the greatest clubs bigger than Arsenal of course and the problems have been more than since Alex left, really. So Conte, I think, has a lot of those points, but he's still Conte and it's still difficult maybe to manage him sometimes. Nagelsmann, I don't think he's ready. Unai Emery, would you leave Aston Villa to go there? I'm not so sure. Eddie Howe, does he have the character for it?

31:23The personality for it? That kind of discipline to be the boss at everye, does he have the character for it, the personality for it, that kind of discipline to be the boss at every stage, every level of the club? Because that's the thing. The one thing I would say on that is that I'm not sure someone like Ratcliffe would allow someone to run the club. And that's part of the problem. And therein, for me, lies the problem. I agree. Until they sort their top out, I don't see it as an attractive opposition for the great coaches in the game at the moment. I mean, obviously, one or two are out of work and they look at it and, you know, you bring, say, say Conte, you bring in Conte, like brilliant coach,

31:58elite, has won leagues in different countries, but he's got a style of football that's kind of very pragmatic, more defensive probably than than perhaps Manchester United are its supposed identity and if they keep changing styles with every manager as well there's no long-term there's no long-term plan at some stage they need to go right we do need to restructure everything we do need to think about our recruitment we do need to think about our recruitment. We do need to think about getting someone in long-term. Now, I'm sure whenever they sign any of the coaches, they've considered, oh, this will be it. It'll be long-term. But until they get the other bit right, that ain't going to happen, is it?

32:36No, you're right. Absolutely. And we can look again at the ownership and the glazes. I mean, what are they doing? What do they even want? You know, you look at Radcliffe, you're right, and Ineos who went in and that was his dream. This is his club, everything. But look at what he's done really so far since getting those shares within the club. You look at the recruitment and we have to, and it's not all on Jason Wilcox, but he also is responsible for whether this team is up, some of those players, Bruno and Lissandro Martinez and those outbursts and publicly criticizing the club, the manager and all of that, this is not good. It feels so toxic that you need, you're right, and you need more than just six months or a season.

33:18It would be a longer process than that, but you certainly need the right structure, the right people and this right manager, again, for me, has to be the one that you need to let, give the reins to and he will restructure that and he will get everybody to pull in the same direction. Are they still considered outside of this country as one of the game's giants? Yes, they are in Europe. Everywhere you go, sure. I think so, yeah. But they're becoming a laughing stock and this is not, I'm not having a dig at United here or their I think so, yeah. But they're becoming a laughingstock. And this is not, I'm not having a dig at United here or their fans. It's true. But it's true. Everywhere, we're just laughing at everything

33:52that happens to them. You could not make it up, Gary. You could, you just could. If somebody had to write a script of, hey, this great club in 2013, okay, this legendary manager is going to go, but this is the greatest club of the last 50 years or whatever. And look at where they are now. Look at what's happening to them. You know, they're just above the bottom three in the Premier League. It's a complete chaos. And that is just the laughingstock of European football right now. We've seen giants in Germany like Hamburg going down and things like that, but we never thought United would be in this position right now. No, I think it's beyond belief, really, what's happened. It's quite sad, really, as well.

34:29It is. Because the fans are always the ones that generally suffer. But thanks for your time, Julian. Fascinating, as always. That's it for this episode of The Rest Is Football. Goodbye from me. Hey, Bo's here. Before you go deep into your year in music, the songs you had on repeat or the minutes, or the artists you fell in love with. We got a quick cue for you. How much did you actually listen to? Not from the next room, not while doing five other things. Like, really listen. Hear every last note on Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones. Your music deserves Bose. Hi, I'm Emily, your friend and jeweler at Shane Company, where a small box with a burgundy bow will help you win the holidays. As an in-house designer,

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