Mike and Paul from EPLpod take in the Champions League action as Atletico win their last European fixture at the Vicente Calderon but are eliminated from the competition by archrivals Real for the 4th straight season, Arsenal keep their top 4 aspirations alive with a win over Saints, which could have Paul jumping for joy in his soon to be gymnastic camp.
EPLpod: Wenger finally trumps Mourinho
The EPLpod boyz take in the weekend action as host Mike finally manages to flee Mexico only to be greeted by Manchester United’s unbeaten streak coming to end thanks to none other than Arsene Wenger. Elsewhere, Chelsea all but seal the title as West Ham screw over Spurs, Manchester City thrash Palace to give Big Sam the jitters and Swansea climb out of the relegation zone after a vital win over Everton.
Listen to the latest episode of EPLpod below:
EPLpod: Liverpool say Yes We ‘Can’ to top four
Paul and Ben from EPLpod chat about tea and football as Liverpool take a step closer to finishing in the top 4 thanks to an outrageous strike from Emre Can. At the opposite end of the table, Hull and Swansea are hoping to pull Crystal Palace back into the relegation scrap, while England’s last remaining hope in Europe comes down Manchester United as they prepare for a semi-final clash with Celta Vigo in the Europa Cup.
Meanwhile, EPLpod host Mike is hopeful of making a return for Sunday’s pod, providing he can recover from a bout of Stockholm syndrome.
EPLpod: Farewell St. Totteringham’s Day
Paul and Ben from EPLpod take in the weekend’s Premier League action which saw Chelsea put in an emphatic second half performance at Everton to keep their title hopes firmly on course, Spurs blitz Arsenal in 146 seconds which means they will finally finish above their rivals for the first time in 22 years, Manchester United do what they always seem to do at Old Trafford and pick up another draw, while Burnley pick a timely moment to win their first away game of the season to edge closer to safety.
Meanwhile, back in Mexico EPLpod host Mike claims to have escaped his captor and is currently running wild somewhere in a scorching hot desert.
Listen to the latest episode of EPLpod below:
EPLpod: Eriksen’s sublime strike keeps Chelsea in sight
Paul and Ben from EPLpod chat about the midweek action which saw Spurs keep the pressure on Chelsea in the hunt for the title thanks to a magnificent strike from Christian Eriksen, no Fuchs were given in Arsenal’s clash with Leicester and Joey Barton has been handed an 18 month ban for betting on football.
Meanwhile, back in Mexico City, Mike is being subjected to unrelenting torture by his captor who’s demanding a ransom for his release.
Listen to the latest episode of EPLpod below:
Banned Joey Barton free to spend rest of his days betting on football
The Football Association have slapped Joey Barton with an 18 month ban for placing bets on football matches, effectively ending the Burnley midfielder’s career and clearing a path for him to spend all his time exclusively on football betting on sports betting kiosks around the world.
Barton accepted the FA’s charges that accused him of having placed a whopping 1,260 bets on football matches between 2006 and 2013, but was less than happy with all the free time that will be coming his way.
“The decision effectively forces me into an early retirement from playing football,” grumbled Barton in a statement posted on his website.
“I think if the FA is truly serious about tackling the culture of gambling in football, it needs to look at its own dependence on the gambling companies, their role in football and in sports broadcasting, rather than just blaming the players who place a bet.”
Many people enjoy betting with a pay per head sportsbook, and why shouldn’t they? If they’re responsible and know when to cut their losses, surely they should be left to enjoy this perfectly legal pastime.
While Barton calls in to question the FA’s own relationship with betting, he fails to realise that football will happily sell its soul to the highest bidder long before it develops anything remotely approaching a conscience. In fairness, Barton’s highlighting of the FA’s contradictory stance on one of Britain’s favourite pastimes should be evaluated further by the top brass of the board. But Barton should also understand betting represents a conflict of interest for someone of his occupation; whereas fans of the sport watching from home are free to place a mobile bet unhindered by sporting organizations like the FA. If he really wants to spend his Saturday afternoon at William Hill slumped in a seat, arse crack hanging out, clutching a can of Stella and ten grand down, then give up the day job now. A man of his salary is not exactly the target market of these companies. He should know better, maybe this is something he will want to raise the next time he’s on Question Time. Right, back to the point of the FA essentially prostituting itself for the benefit of these tycoons. There are at least some people that are leading the fightback against these modern-day Pied Pipers, through what is known as matched betting. It enables the customer to take advantage of free bets to snatch profits from the ghoulish hands of the likes Mr Hill and Mr Ladbroke. Punter 1-0 Bookies.
Back to Mr Barton who has said he plans to appeal the FA’s charge, which means you can fully expect betting companies to start offering odds on Barton’s chances of success if they haven’t already done so.
Yaya Toure calls for Manchester derby to be played without a ref
A sulking Yaya Toure has insisted that the Manchester derby would be better off without a referee after witnessing first hand the apparent sorry state of officiating in England following a wrongly disallowed goal in Manchester City’s FA Cup semi final defeat to Arsenal over the weekend.
“I think the referees have to stop this, Maybe on Thursday we are going to have a better referee or maybe play without a referee – I’d prefer that,” sniffed a bitter Toure.
Toure was left spitting feathers after a referees assistant had the gull to wave his little flag and rule that a Leroy Sane cross had gone out of play. An ultra slow motion replay captured from a perfectly positioned camera on the byline later showed that Sane’s cross had stayed in play by a massive 2 inches. A measurement that translates to approximately 1 mile in footballing terms.
If Toure is granted his wish of playing the derby free and without the interference of error prone match officials, it is widely believed that absolutely nothing will go wrong and the that mature nature of footballers will enable them to police themselves with no controversy at all. A belief only made stronger by the fact that that footballers never, ever make mistakes.
EPLpod: Arsenal ride their luck to another FA Cup final
With Mike held hostage in Mexico City, I join Paul in the EPLpod studio to take in an action packed weekend of FA Cup football that saw Arsenal make their way into yet another final thanks to their savour Alexis Sanchez. The Gunners will will face rivals Chelsea who made sure Spurs’ FA Cup misery continued after a 6 goal thriller topped off by a Nemanja Matic thunderbastard.
Back in the Premier League, memories of Crystal Palace once again derailing Liverpool’s season came flooding back after Big Sam grabbed all three points at Anfield to keep the race for the top four very much alive, forgotten man Wayne Rooney returned to help brush aside Burnley and the relegation scrap is hotting up nicely with both Swansea and Hull picking up wins.
Listen to the latest episode of EPLpod below:
Chelsea 4-2 Spurs: 5 things you should’ve learned
In today’s lesson: If you see a Spurs fan in the fetal position, do not disturb.
1. There are grave concerns for the well-being of Spurs fans around the World as Chelsea proved they can still beat their rivals despite not starting three key players in Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Gary Cahill. If you come across a Spurs fan snivelling and staring at the floor it is strongly advise not to remind them that they’ve now lost their last seven FA Cup semi-final matches.
2. Spurs Chairmen Daniel Levy is frantically trying to cancel plans for his team to play ALL their home games at Wembley Stadium next season while White Hart Lane is being rebuilt. Spurs have won just once during 9 visits to Wembley over the last eight years. Alternatives to playing at Wembley include anywhere that isn’t within a one mile radius of the national stadium.
3. The action on the pitch produced one of the most exciting FA Cup semi finals in memory. However, in the skies above the pitch we bared witness to the dullest and least creative airplane banner yet. “Antonio! Antonio!” read the banner, proving football fans are almost as good at wasting money as the clubs they support.
4. Seemingly without provocation, Nemanja Matic launched a ferocious missile strike. World leaders are now in crisis mode as they figure out how to respond to the Matic aggression.
Matic's goal with added Partridge. pic.twitter.com/a7vCUjvvae
— Andy Ha (@_AndyHa) 22 April 2017
5. The horror on Kurt Zouma’s face in reesponse to Matic’s MOAB captures the concern felt around the world.
Just look at his face! ??? pic.twitter.com/HaHPCIps4e
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) 22 April 2017
EPLpod: Barcelona’s Neymar cries his way out of Champions League
Paul and Mike from EPLpod take in the mid week action as Barcelona find out it’s much harder to score a bunch of goals against Juve than it is PSG which has left Neymar in tears, and Leicester’s fairytale finally comes to end against a resolute Atletico.
Back in Premier League land, the guys chat about John Terry’s announcement that he is to leave Chelsea at the end of the season.
Listen to the latest episode of EPLpod below.