The Daily Football Briefing

Manchester City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain is set to leave the club at the end of the season, it’s going to be a huge loss for the club, but what does it mean for Pep Guardiola?And Chelsea got off to a very decent start in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, they beat Real Madrid 3-2 at Stamford Bridge and Megan Feringa was there for us.Plus, Tottenham assistant coach Ryan Mason could be the new manager of Anderlecht. Find out more here.  Need something to read? Mark Carey has been scanning down the list of potential Erik ten Hag replacements and he’s put together quite the dossier herehttps://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5815401/2024/10/08/manchester-united-manager-shortlist/Need something to listen to? The new Totally Football Show European Edition is live, it’s still my favourite football podcast and it’s right herehttps://podfollow.com/totallyfootballshowPresenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Sam Lee, Megan FeringaProducer: Tom Fuller

A battle, not the battle, between Manchester City and the Premier League has ended with a written verdict and both sides have moved quickly to claim victory. But who’s right? And what does it mean? Thank heavens that Jacob Whitehead is here to explain it. There’s not very much football on for the next few days, but there is the Women’s Champions League. Who’s playing? What does it all mean? Charlotte Harpur is here to preview the games. Plus, should you read Transformer, Neil Atkinson’s new book about Jurgen Klopp? And what’s all this about a new contract for Jhon Duran. And who in global football is injured this week? Find it all here.  Need something to read? Oli Kay is asking, what’s next for Paul Pogba.https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5822266/2024/10/07/pogba-juventus-dhea-cas/Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Jacob Whitehead, Charlotte HarpurProducer: Tom Fuller

Right, lap this up because it’s international week now and we all know what that means. We’ve got an extended-by-popular-demand FIFTEEN minute episode to wrap up the weekend’s football because there’s so much drama and I always end up having to read at x1.5 speed to fit it all in.We had Laurie Whitwell watching Manchester United’s draw at Aston Villa, we had Liam Twomey watching Chelsea drop points to Nottingham Forest, we had Jack Pitt-Brooke watching Spurs Spurs it all up at Brighton, but that’s not all because we’re not the sort of parochial podcast that only cares about its own backyard.We’ve got Seb Stafford-Bloor on Bayern, we’ve got Pol Ballus on Barcelona, we’ve got updates from the second rank of global football, which as anyone knows is the Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Turkey and Major League Soccer.We’ve got it all, so click now or wander about all day feeling like you’re not really caught up on it all. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Laurie Whitwell, Liam Twomey, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Seb Stafford-Bloor, Pol Ballus Producer: Lucy Oliva

Where do you even start with Manchester United? Two nil up, three two down and then Harry Maguire scores possibly the most important header of Erik Ten Hag’s career. Is it a good result or a bad result? Does this intensify the pressure or relieve it? Does anyone know anymore? Charlotte Harpur was in Porto, she joins us to explain what just happened. By contrast, Spurs had a far easier night and Jay Harris is here to tell us which of their young players caught the eye. And Simon Johnson was watching Chelsea, seeing if they can do stuff without Cole Palmer. And indeed they can. Plus, we’ve got all the scores from the big games, some of the scores from the small games and some stuff on Inter Miami too. Need something to read? Liam Twomey and Dan Sheldon have been speaking to the people who know Cole Palmer best to ask the entirely reasonable question, “Did anyone expect him to be this good?”Need something to listen to? The TIFO Podcast is back in its original form, it’s sort of like Monty Python meets Match of the Day and it is, according to recent reviews, the second best podcast on our network. Behind us. Obviously. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Jay Harris, Charlotte Harpur, Simon JohnsonProducer: Abi Paterson

Was this the second greatest night in Aston Villa’s history? And also the second greatest victory over Bayern Munich? Has any manager had as much of an impact on one club in just two years as Unai Emery? And what on earth happened to Real Madrid? How did they manage to lose to Lille? Mind you, RB Leipzig will be asking exactly the same thing after they let a 2-1 lead slip against a ten man Juventus. Liverpool had a good night though, they beat Bologna 2-0. We had people at all of those games and you can hear from them if you just click that play button right now. Go on, do it. Live a little. You know what they say: If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much room. Need something to read? Pol Ballús and Laia Cervelló Herrero have done a long read on La Masia, a location of dramatically increased importance to Barcelona now that they’ve done all their money and half their players are knacked. Need something to listen to? You can get a more detailed recap of the Champions League games on The Totally Football Show, still the best football podcast out there. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Jacob Tanswell, Guillermo Rai, Seb Stafford Bloor, James PearceProducer: Abi Paterson

The second week of the new look Champions League started with a bang; Arsenal beat PSG 2-0 at The Emirates and you can actually hear Amy Lawrence grinning as she reports into us. It was a tough night for Celtic as they were taken to the cleaners by Borussia Dortmund, but at least they weren’t the only team to get a thrashing. Man City crushed Slovan Bratislava, Barcelona smacked down the Young Boys, we had Seb Stafford-Bloor, Sam Lee and Dermot Corrigan watching those games, and we also had Mark Carey watching the comparatively quiet Bayer Leverkusen win over AC Milan. He drew the short straw.  Plus there are scores and news from all the nights other games, including that rarest of things; a marvellous night for Sunderland.Need something to read? Andy Mitten on Manchester United is always unmissableNeed something to listen to? The award winning Athletic FC is asking if Cole Palmer is the best footballer in the Premier League. Listen here.Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Amy Lawrence, Sam Lee, Seb Stafford Bloor, Dermot Corrigan, Mark CareyProducer: Abi Paterson

Manchester United resisted the temptation to immediately dismiss Erik Ten Hag after Sunday’s humiliation, but he’s heading into an extremely tough week and you wonder how much longer he can survive. Laurie Whitwell is our man on the ground at Old Trafford, he joins us with an update.  It was a tough night for Southampton boss Russell Martin. His team were taken apart in a brutal first half away at Bournemouth and you wonder how much patience there is at the club for his methods. This is a brittle football team, they collapsed when the first goal went in and could have conceded more. Alas, we no longer live in an age where ‘winning the second half’ counts for anything. And there’s a lot of Champions League football coming up. Can you remember what happened a fortnight ago and what it all means? Nope, us neither. But we’ve made you a comprehensive briefing. Need something to read? Everyone (including us) has been focusing on Man Utd being really bad, so why not spend some time reading about Tottenham being really good with Ahmed Walid’s tactical breakdown?Need something to listen to? Well, in a similar mood, let us direct you to our Tottenham podcast, View From The Lane with the wonderful Danny KellyPresenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Laurie Whitwell and Julien LaurensProducer: Abi Paterson

It’s been another miserable weekend for Manchester United. Yes, they were reduced to ten men in the first half, but you sensed they’d lost the game long before then. They were fortunate that Spurs only scored three. Charlotte Harpur was there for us. Barcelona’s 100% record has gone, they were beaten 4-2 by Osasuna. How? Dermot Corrigan joins us to explain exactly what happened back there. And the big one in Madrid was a fiery affair. It ended 1-1 but that was only half the story…And what happened when the two biggest teams in German football went head to head at the weekend? Seb Stafford-Bloor knows because he went to watch.PLUS: All the important updates from all the divisions I run on my Football Manager saves. So that’s England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France, plus the Netherlands, Portugal, Turkey, Scotland and the United States. We don’t do Belgium because we don’t understand what they do there.Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Charlotte Harpur, Dermot Corrigan, Seb Stafford-BloorProducer: Lucy Oliva

You had to feel for Ange Postecoglou. Seven minutes into a must win Europa League opener and Radu Drăgușin gets himself sent off. If he’d lost this, the pressure would really have made itself known. But against all odds and expectations, Spurs prevailed. And in style. Jack Pitt-Brooke was there. Eventually. After a two hour walk in the rain. Meanwhile, flu-ravaged Producer Lucy was watching Serie A crisis club Roma as they battled Athletic Bilbao. They started well, but then Athletic brought out the big guns and salvaged a point. As the only member of staff with a subscription to Premier Sports, I was on Atletico duty ahead of the big derby on Sunday night. And if Diego Simeone’s men play like this, they’ll get their pants pulled down. They beat Celta Vigo, but it was very, very much against the run of play.   Need something to read? If you’re NFL-curious, Nate Taylor has written an excellent piece on Travis Kelce, arguing that he’s not washed up, it isn’t Taylor Swift’s fault and people should lighten up. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5792045/2024/09/26/travis-kelce-slow-start-performance-chiefs/Need something to listen to? Whenever Manchester United slip up, it’s always worth listening to Talk of the Devils where the analysis is considered and objective and a welcome relief from all of the noise. https://podfollow.com/talk-of-the-devilsPresenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Jack Pitt-BrookeProducer: Lucy Oliva

Manchester United dropped two points on their first night in UEFA’s giant new Europa League, they were leading against Twente right up until the moment they weren’t…United have only beaten Fulham, Southampton and Barnsley this season, they just don’t seem to be improving.Liverpool and Arsenal are all right though. The Red breezed past struggling West Ham at Anfield and a team full of teenagers did the business against League One’s Bolton Wanderers at The Emirates.Talking of teenagers, Barcelona’s match day squad is packed with them now because everyone else is injured. They just about got past Getafe and they have seven wins from seven games.  Need something to read? The Athletic has a full Spanish news bureau, don’t you know? They’ve put their expertise to good use, speculating on how Real Madrid might operate without Kylian Mbappe.  https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5793881/2024/09/25/mbappe-injury-real-madrid-replacements/Need something to listen to? The Athletic FC podcast is going deep on the Everton takeover. Get stuck in right here. https://podfollow.com/the-athletic-football-showPresenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Andy Jones and Carl AnkaProducer: Lucy Oliva