The Daily Football Briefing

That’s what we’re asking our Manchester City correspondent Sam Lee. Does this mean that…the other stuff is all resolved?  And what’s going on down in Croydon were Stormzy and Wilfried Zaha have bought a non league football club and they’ve just hired former Crystal Palace coach and caretaker manager Keith Millen? Matt Woosnam has been investigating.  Plus, all the scores from the Women’s Champions League.  Did you know that The Athletic was giving Bluesky a go? Some of our best writers have moved there and I’ve cracked and followed them over. You can find me on the link below and hopefully the place will stay nice for at least a week or so.  https://bsky.app/profile/iainmacintosh.bsky.social  We are delighted to say that this show is now sponsored by PELOTON. Find out more about them by visiting onepeloton.co.uk Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Sam Lee and Matt Woosnam Producer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, that was a busy night. Wales gave one of their finest performances since 2016, beating Iceland 4-1 and gaining promotion to the top tier of the Nations League, but they’re down to Item 3 tonight because Pep Guardiola has signed a new contract with Manchester City and Tata Martino has left Inter Miami,  We’ve got all the scores from around the world, particularly in the Asian World Cup Qualifiers where Group C is now hilariously tight. Japan are running away with it. Five other nations are scrapping for one promotion spot, a single point separates them all and there are just four games left to play.   Did you know that The Athletic was giving Bluesky a go? Some of our best writers have moved there and I’ve cracked and followed them over. You can find me on the link below and hopefully the place will stay nice for at least a week or so.  https://bsky.app/profile/iainmacintosh.bsky.social  We are delighted to say that this show is now sponsored by PELOTON. Find out more about them by visiting onepeloton.co.uk Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Jeff Rueter, Dermot Corrigan, Thomas Lopez Hill Marcheno  Producer: Steve Hankey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve all had a whinge about the international break, and with no small amount of justification given the strain on footballers these days, but Scotland and Poland served up an outstanding game of football in Warsaw and Scotland, after all their bad luck and all their poor form, secured a fantastic victory. Best game I’ve seen in ages. Elsewhere, Spain won their group, Denmark qualified in second, San Marino won again and Sudan have qualified for the African Nations, which is arguably the most impressive performance of the lot.  Plus, we’ve got more details on the Lyon story and a look ahead to Mauricio Pochettino’s first competitive home game in charge of the USMNT.    Did you know that The Athletic was giving Bluesky a go? Some of our best writers have moved there and I’ve cracked and followed them over. You can find me on the link below and hopefully the place will stay nice for at least a week or so.  https://bsky.app/profile/iainmacintosh.bsky.social  We are delighted to say that this show is now sponsored by PELOTON. Find out more about them by visiting onepeloton.co.uk Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Paul Tenorio, Julien Laurens Producer: Steve Hankey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

England have returned to the top tier of the Nations League after beating Ireland 5-0 at Wembley. Jack Pitt-Brooke was at Wembley for that one. France had a good night as well, they beat Italy 3-1 at the San Siro.  Plus, did you ignore all the international football to leave the house and have fun with real people doing real things? Then you need our giant international round-up. In just ten minutes, we’ll have you up to speed with Scotland’s massive result, with Ghana’s massive fail, with Javier Aguirre’s massive head wound and Lyon’s massive financial crisis. You need this podcast, you really do.   Did you know that The Athletic was giving Bluesky a go? Some of our best writers have moved there and I’ve cracked and followed them over. You can find me on the link below and hopefully the place will stay nice for at least a week or so.  https://bsky.app/profile/iainmacintosh.bsky.social  We are delighted to say that this show is now sponsored by PELOTON. Find out more about them by visiting onepeloton.co.uk Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Jack Pitt Brooke Producer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lee Carsley isn’t going quietly into the night. He made some very bold selections and he was rewarded with a resounding 3-0 victory over Greece. Jack Pitt Brooke was in Athens to watch that one. I, on the other hand, was in my office watching Italy mostly dominate Belgium, though they should have won by more than their single goal.  We’ve got some interesting scores from around the world, we’ve got news of Claudio Ranieri’s return to Roma and, most importantly, we’ve figured out which pub I went to in Barcelona in 2006.  Did you know that The Athletic was giving Bluesky a go? Some of our best writers have moved there in the last 48 hours and I’ve cracked and followed them over. You can find me on the link below and hopefully the place will stay nice for at least a week or so.  https://bsky.app/profile/iainmacintosh.bsky.social  Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Jack Pitt Brooke Producer: Steve Hankey  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You thought we had no football to talk about during International week didn’t you? WRONG! We look ahead to Thursday’s games, the Women’s Champions League and by the way: What is going wrong at Roma? Plus what Cole Palmer really thought of his move to Chelsea and is there ANYTHING more frightening than the prospect of asking Roy Keane for his daughters hand in marriage? And you know who we haven’t heard from for a while? YOU! We’ve had so much football, we’ve had no space for your messages.  You can email imacintosh@theathletic.com or, if you’re listening on the app, leave us a comment. It’s international week, we need the content… Need something to read? Head over to the Athletic where Oliver Kay looks back on Premier League nostalgia and the perils of comparing different eras: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5917161/2024/11/13/premier-league-best-era-comparison-nostalgia/ Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: James Horncastle and Si Watts Producer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Come on, it’ll be fun. We’ve got the return of the Impromptu International Week Book Club, that’ll be good, right? We’ve got news on a 57 year old professional footballer in Japan, you can’t miss that.  Hey, and what about Lionel Messi? You know what they’re reporting in the USA right now? Messi-fatigue. You can find out more about that if you listen. And that’s not all. I’ll also reveal the location of London’s best pub…  And you know who we haven’t heard from for a while? YOU! We’ve had so much football, we’ve had no space for your messages. You can email imacintosh@theathletic.com or, if you’re listening on the app, leave us a comment. It’s international week, we need the content… Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Felipe Cardonas Producer: Steve Hankey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yes, Manchester City have lost four on the spin, but one was the League Cup, one was Europe, there are 26 matches left to play in the league and…it’s City, isn’t it? Sam Lee is here to bring perspective.  But it really is bad at Roma, there’s no hiding that. They are looking for their third manager of the season already. What went wrong? James Horncastle is here to answer that.  Wild horses couldn’t hold back Danny Kelly when it comes to summing up Spurs’ weekend. We had no chance.   And you know who we haven’t heard from for a while? YOU! We’ve had so much football, we’ve had no space for your messages.  You can email imacintosh@theathletic.com or, if you’re listening on the app, leave us a comment. It’s international week, we need the content… Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Sam Lee, James Horncastle, Danny Kelly  Producer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been another good weekend for Liverpool, not only did they win, but Manchester City lost, Arsenal and Chelsea drew and Nottingham Forest squandered a single goal lead to lose 3-1 to Newcastle. It’s looking good for Arne Slot.   Inter missed a penalty against Napoli and blew a chance to go top of Serie A, James Horncastle was watching that one. In Spain, Barcelona went to Real Socieded and lost only their second La Liga game of the season. And in Germany, Bayern Munich won and almost all of their rivals didn’t.  If you have a question, ideally about football, but we’re not fussy, get in touch. You can email imacintosh@theathletic.com or, if you’re listening on the app, leave us a comment. It’s international week, we need the content… Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Liam Twomey, Jay Harris, Abi Paterson, James Horncastle Producer: Abi Paterson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tottenham lost 3-2 in Istanbul, but that scoreline really doesn’t tell the whole story. Jay Harris does though because he was there. Man Utd beat PAOK Salonika 2-0, but Carl Anka still isn’t happy. Meanwhile, I watched Ajax who, seven months on from getting spanked 6-0 by Feyenoord, appear to be back in business.  Abi Paterson has got the Conference League covered, she spoke to Simon Johnson who was at Stamford Bridge for a goal frenzy to rival Abi’s pun frenzy… It’s all here and you should be too. Click the button now. Go on. Live a little.  Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Carl Anka, Jay Harris, Simon Johnson Producer: Abi Paterson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it time for Arsenal fans to panic? They lost to Newcastle at the weekend, they lost to Inter on Wednesday night. They’ve actually only won two of their last six and one of them was against Preston. James McNicholas has some soothing words.  Nothing will soothe Tyrone Mings pride after an extraordinary misjudgement saw him give away a crucial penalty in Bruges to condemn Aston Villa to their first defeat in the competition. Jacob Tanswell was there. Plus, we’ve got Pol Ballus in Belgrade for another Barcelona goal fest and Thom Harris was Paris for a surprise result that leaves PSG outside the qualification spots… Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: James McNicholas, Thom Harris, Jacob Tanswell and Pol Ballus   Producer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wow. Manchester City were torn apart by Sporting in Lisbon and there will be a rush to say that this really sets the tone for the future of the Manchester rivalry. Does it though? Sam Lee was there, we’ll find out what he thinks. Seb Stafford Bloor usually covers German football so he’s a useful, fresh set of eyes on Real Madrid. Because they are absolutely awful right now.  James Pearce was at Anfield to see yet another Liverpool victory, this time over a team managed by the man most supporters initially thought should have replaced Jurgen Klopp. I bet they don’t think that now. We’ve got all the rest of the Champions League news, so stick this in your ears immediately and you’ll be up to speed in no time.    Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: James Pearce, Sam Lee, Seb Stafford Bloor Producer: Abi Paterson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arsenal are losing their sporting director Edu…to Nottingham Forest. Sort of. James McNicholas joins us to explain more.  The Champions League is back! Do you remember what was going on? Could you tell me right now who’s top and who’s second? Probably not, so we’ve previewed the whole thing for you. Plus, we’ve got all the news from Monday’s games including Fulham’s stunning late win against Brentford. Listen here. Now. It’s not like you have anything better to do.  Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: James McNicholas Producer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not so much for supporters of other title contenders, however. Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa all lost, Liverpool won and Nottingham Forest have sneaked into third place. Who saw that coming? We’ve got all the scores from around the world including Napoli’s shock defeat to Atalanta, as described by James Horncastle. We’ve got Bayer Leverkusen dropping more points, but it’s nothing to worry about according to Seb Stafford Bloor. We’ve got Abi Paterson with all the WSL action. And there’s all the most important updates from all the leagues I run on a game of Football Manager. (England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Turkey and the USA, obviously. I’d run Belgium, but I just don’t understand it.)  Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Carl Anka, Jack Pitt Brooke, Abi Paterson, James Horncastle, Seb Stafford Bloor Producer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Manchester United aren’t wasting any time. They sacked Erik Ten Hag on Monday and they reached agreement with Sporting over Ruben Amorim on Thursday. Laurie Whitwell joins us to explain what’s been happening.  And how good are Bayern Munich really? They’re unbeaten in the Bundesliga, but that Barcelona result was pretty rough. Seb Stafford Bloor has been watching them and he’s written an assessment for The Athletic which he helpfully condenses for us here.  Plus how much trouble are Man City in and why? And will Arsenal’s wonderkid keep his place in the team? Find out here.  Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Laurie Whitwell, Seb Stafford Bloor, Sam Lee Producer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Manchester United had a rare fun night at work on Wednesday, levelling Leicester City in an enjoyable 5-2 victory. Casemiro scored twice. Twice! Laurie Whitwell was there.  Manchester City are out at the hand of Spurs, which means this competition is now wide open. Jack Pitt Brooke was watching.  We had people at Aston Villa for their defeat to Crystal Palace, Brighton for Liverpool’s win, Preston for Arsenal’s teenage goalkeeper and Liam Twomey was watching Chelsea on the telly. And we’ve got all the big scores from elsewhere including another very good night for Aberdeen.    Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Laurie Whitwell, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Andy Jones, Jordan Campbell, Jacob Tanswell and Liam Twomey.  Producer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s the latest on Manchester United’s hunt for a new manager? Laurie Whitwell joins us with an update. Ruben Amorim is the man they want and they are in a hurry to get this done.  Southampton survived a bit of a scare against Stoke City, they’re through to the last eight. Brentford needed penalties to beat Sheffield Wednesday. But they were brilliant penalties.  Napoli are top of Serie A, Dortmund are out of the DFB Pokal and we’ve got loads of other scores from around the world too.  Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Jay Harris, Laurie Whitwell Producer: Steve Hankey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s felt like it’s been coming for some time, so how quickly will Manchester United look to replace Erik ten Hag following news of his departure on Monday? Carl Anka looks back on a frantic day at Old Trafford and what t expect under current interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy, although could Sporting’s Ruben Amorim be on his way in imminently? Sam Lee has been watching events at the Ballon d’Or, where Real Madrid are really not happy and they’ve let everybody know about it. Plus, all the scores from Monday’s action and news from the rest of Europe including an injury blow for Brighton, a new club for Mario Balotelli and the Italy legend who could be set for a sensational return to Serie A at the age of FORTY EIGHT! Need something to read? Catch up with David Ornstein and Adam Crafton’s insight into Manchester United’s move for Ruben Amorim: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5880077/2024/10/28/manchester-united-manager-next-ruben-amorim/ Need something to listen to? The Athletic FC podcast looks back on how it all went so badly wrong for Erik ten Hag: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/podcast/144-athletic-football-podcast/episode-921/ Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Carl Anka, Sam Lee Producer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s happened, Manchester United have sacked their manager Erik Ten Hag following Sunday’s defeat to West Ham. David Ornstein and Adam Crafton broke the story and David joins us to explain what happened.  Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: David Ornstein Producer: Abi Paterson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been quite a weekend, hasn’t it? Who would have thought that Arsenal’s clash with Liverpool would be struggling to make the top three stories?  Two giants of European football experienced desperately disappointing weekends. Manchester United, of course, are used to that sort of thing. But Real Madrid? Did anyone expect the European champions to be torn apart in their own home by Barcelona?  But we’re here for all your Monday morning questions. Like, how did Bayern Munich react to their midweek misery? Who won in the French top of the table clash between PSG and Marseille? And did Aberdeen win because I am now really invested in them for reasons I do not understand. Listen now. It’s 15 minutes of your life and you’ll be so pleased with the transaction, you won’t even want them back.  Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: Carl Anka, Liam Twomey, Jay Harris, Dermot Corrigan,  Producer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices