Libero

"I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season. Now I’m sitting on the bench and I don’t know why. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus." These were the words of Mo Salah after Liverpool's dispiriting 3-3 draw with Leeds at the weekend. A match where Salah, last season's top scorer and the club's perennial talisman, did not make it off the substitutes bench. As Liverpool's title defence melts away amid a multitude of problems beyond the misfiring Egyptian, why does it appear Salah appear to be heading for the exit, how has it comes to this and why do heroes so rarely get the goodbyes they want? John Brewin, Jonathan Wilson and Miguel Delaney try to answer those questions, and others, on the latest Libero. P1: (2:57) P2: (27:44) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via liberopodcast0@gmail.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Session Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rory Smith is joined by John Brewin and James Horncastle, who – like the anxious middle-aged men they are – are seeking refuge in the past. But a past that informs our present in a way that is actually quite odd, because in many ways it does feel like football can’t quite escape the 1990s. Today's kits are based on designs from the 90s, the famous pundits who shape how we understand the game, largely started their playing careers in the 90s. We're still listening to Oasis. Why is this? Is this obsession with the not-too-distant past unique to our current era? Are we bound to 'Live Forever', forever? P1: (08:19) P2: (33:03) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via ⁠⁠liberopodcast0@gmail.com⁠⁠ Subscribe to our YouTube channel ⁠⁠@liberopod⁠⁠ Follow us on X ⁠⁠@podcast_libero⁠⁠ Follow us on Bluesky ⁠⁠@liberopodcast.bsky.social⁠⁠ Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠@liberopod⁠⁠ Follow us on TikTok ⁠⁠@liberopod⁠⁠ Follow us on Facebook ⁠⁠@liberopod⁠⁠ Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chelsea held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw on Sunday even though they were reduced to 10 men in the first half. They looked like a proper Chelsea team, playing in a proper Chelsea atmosphere. And even though they missed the chance to go second, and close the gap to three points, it felt like a day that strengthened their reputation, and that of their coach Enzo Maresca. So on today’s Libero, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Miguel Delaney and Jonathan Wilson discuss Chelsea’s strong progress. And they ask whether we might all need to re-assess our views of Maresca, the coaching job he has done there, and maybe even the recruitment strategy of Todd Boehly and Clearlake too. Because some of their much-criticised signings now look like far-sighted investments. P1: (12:14) P2: (27:43) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via liberopodcast0@gmail.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Football is ultimately a TV show, however much we might want to see it differently. The story of the rise of football over the last 40 or so years inseparable from the changes in technology, not least satellite TV in the UK and the relationship between the Premier League and what is now Sky Sports, dating back to 1992. You cannot understand the Premier League or modern football independent of that. But nothing lasts forever and this month saw news that could change the football TV landscape. Paramount+ has won the rights to show the Champions League in the UK and Germany, another step forward for the US-backed streamers who want to show the European game. Amazon Prime has already had Premier League and Champions League rights, and everyone is wondering whether Netflix will ever get involved. On today’s Libero, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Rory Smith and John Brewin look at the changing picture of football and TV, explain why technology is the most important story in the game, and ask whether the Premier League may eventually choose to own its own platform to compete. P1: (06:34) P2: (26:42) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via liberopodcast0@gmail.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Only three managers have ever won back-to-back Premier League titles and that figure does not look likely grow this season. Managerial greats such as Arsene Wenger, Jurgen Klopp and Antonio Conte have all failed, so what is it about the Premier League that is so difficult to hang on to and is that going to change in an era where the top clubs have more advantages than ever before? James Horncastle asks the questions, while Jonathan Wilson and Miguel Delaney search for answers. P1: (05:17) P2: (26:13) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via liberopodcast0@gmail.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A team of interlopers from Kent are now arguably London's biggest club and with the pendulum of power swinging back Arsenal's way in recent years, a league title appears possible again. Did North London's original club, Tottenham, miss the opportunity to retake primacy? And what are the origins of one of the Premier League's great fixtures? Jonathan Wilson, Jack Pitt-Brooke and Miguel Delaney go deep on the North London Derby. P1: (4:35) P2: (25:33) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via liberopodcast0@gmail.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week Libero called this the greatest week in football but little did we know the drama to come. In fact, there was so much to talk about we decided a bonus episode was in order. Here to talk through all things World Cup qualification are Miguel Delaney, Jonathan Wilson and Tariq Panja. P1: (1:31) P2: (18:53) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via liberopodcast0@gmail.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cristiano Ronaldo might not have done it exactly how he would have wanted — getting sent off while losing to Ireland — but the 40-year-old Al Nassr frontman is now on his way to a sixth World Cup with Portugal. On this week’s Libero, John Brewin, James Horncastle and Rory Smith discuss addiction: Ronaldo’s addiction to playing and Portugal’s addiction to Ronaldo, and contemplate whether his wealth, his celebrity and his prominence have started to affect how he is perceived as a player. Do we, somehow, manage not to give one of the greatest players of all time his due? And is that our fault, or his? P1: (7:49) P2: (33:04) Produced by: Tom Bassam Email in via liberopodcast0@gmail.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopod Follow us on X @podcast_libero Follow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.social Follow us on Instagram @liberopod Follow us on TikTok @liberopod Follow us on Facebook @liberopod Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The international break can often seem a chore, but this time around there are bountiful reasons for optimism. Miguel Delaney, James Horncastle and Jonathan Wilson discuss why this week - and specifically this week - is one of the best in world football. There is just nothing like the joy of qualifying for the World Cup, a feat more pronounced because it occurs only once every four years. The lads look back at the years that have made this week what it is - particularly 1993 - and why this purity still persists despite so many questionable changes to the game.P1: (3:30)P2: (34:13)Produced by: Tom BassamEmail in via liberopodcast0@gmail.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopodFollow us on X @podcast_liberoFollow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.socialFollow us on Instagram @liberopodFollow us on TikTok @liberopodFollow us on Facebook @liberopodMusic: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Liverpool fans rejoiced when the club signed Mo Salah to a new contract. With Liverpool’s title defence in tatters, the team in chaos, have Liverpool got a Mo Salah problem? The Egyptian has lit up Anfield for the best part of a decade but would last season’s title have been the right time to move on? John Brewin, Rory Smith and Tariq Panja try to answer the question and wonder why it’s so hard to say goodbye. They also look at whether we now have an Arsenal against Manchester City title race, consider why the table is so congested, and provide a comprehensive list of Premier League fans who are actually happy.P1: (00:44)P2: (36:16)Produced by: Tom BassamEmail in via liberopodcast0@gmail.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel @liberopodFollow us on X @podcast_liberoFollow us on Bluesky @liberopodcast.bsky.socialFollow us on Instagram @liberopodFollow us on TikTok @liberopodFollow us on Facebook @liberopodMusic: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices