MNC: Nearlymen Arsenal, Liverpool turning on Slot, Spurs crisis continues
Football Daily
BBC
4.3 • 4.6K Ratings
🗓️ 23 March 2026
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Former Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given joins Mark Chapman, Chris Sutton and Rory Smith to review the weekend's key talking points, starting with City's Wembley win over Arsenal. How much will it impact the Premier League title race? Did Pep Guardiola's celebrations suggest he'll be leaving at the end of the season? What could the psychological effect on Arsenal be in the FA Cup and Champions League?
The panel also ask whether criticism of Mikel Arteta's decision to start Kepa ahead of regular first-choice goalkeeper David Raya is harsh or justified, before moving onto their North London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs fan Jack Hussey and BBC Senior Football Correspondent Sami Mokbel join the MNC to discuss how Spurs can save their season over the upcoming international break. Later, Abigail Rudkin — from The Anfield Wrap and The Redmen TV — explains why Liverpool fans are suffering from their own identity crisis under Arne Slot.
Finally, York City boss Stuart Maynard explains the context behind a fascinating National League title race between The Minstermen and Rochdale.
TIMECODES 00:20 How important is a trophy win for City's new squad? 04:00 Is Pep going to leave at the end of the season? 07:25 Were Arsenal too lacklustre? 09:45 Was Arteta wrong to start Kepa over David Raya? 12:42 Will this turn Arsenal into the 'nearlymen' in the cups? 18:40 "He didn't put Gunnersaurus in goal!" 24:30 Tottenham's crisis, with Jack Hussey from the 'Rule the Roost' podcast, and Sami Mokbel, BBC Senior Football Correspondent 41:45 Why Liverpool fans are turning on Arne Slot, with Abigail Rudkin from the Anfield Wrap and The Redmen TV 53:40 The National League's incredibly tight title race, with York City manager Stuart Maynard
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | An early start here. It's time to kick off. |
| 0:10.0 | Your day. Morning! |
| 0:11.9 | What a line-up. |
| 0:13.3 | Oh, thanks very much. We do get some great guests on the show. |
| 0:16.1 | The crowd is loving this. |
| 0:18.3 | Thanks, guys. Thank you. Too kind. |
| 0:20.2 | From morning chaos to match day commentary. |
| 0:23.6 | And everything in between. |
| 0:25.0 | BBC sounds packed with personality. |
| 0:29.6 | This is the Monday nightclub with Mark Chapman. |
| 0:33.1 | On the Football Daily podcast. |
| 0:35.7 | Welcome to the Monday night club. Chris Sutton, Rory Smith and Shadegiven are with us. |
| 0:41.1 | Let's start with the League Cup final, and I'll start with you, Sharon. |
| 0:43.4 | How important do you think that trophy was? |
| 0:46.3 | Not necessarily for Guadiola, although he celebrated it more than I've seen him celebrate a lot of trophies recently. |
| 0:52.6 | But how important for the new players that have come into that squad that haven't won anything yet, do you think? I think Pep's reaction after the game was quite telling as well. Maybe he didn't think that they were going to win a trophy. You know, that's his reaction. Was that? It was nearly not over the top, like, but it was kind of like, you know, getting all the staff in for pictures and this and that. It was really, you know, |
| 1:12.8 | buzzing with the win. And you say there's players who have in one trophies within that squad and it's a sum of the squad, not all of it, it's been a rebuilt squad, new players and stuff. So, again, they're going to get a taste for it, you know, I just watched the Premier |
| 1:24.7 | League was closer |
| 1:25.3 | because I think |
| 1:26.0 | we would have said |
| 1:26.4 | here a month or |
... |
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