Look, I love Georgi Mamardashvili as much as Mama Mamardashvili, but the timing of his move to Liverpool seems a bit odd. He’s a fantastic goalkeeper, but so is Allison and he’s only 31. And then there’s Caoimhin Kelleher, he’s as trustworthy as any number two in the league. What’s going on, James Pearce?

And what’s all this about Ilkay Gundogan returning to Manchester City? He only left last summer, why’s he leaving Barcelona?

And I know that I said we’d watch one of the U21 EFL Cup games, but it turned out that I couldn’t access United or City, the next on the list was Spurs, but given that their own official website hasn’t even mentioned this fixture, we just felt that the potential audience for that sort of granular coverage was probably limited to the parents of the players, so we gave it a miss and did a great big stats rundown instead. No, wait. Don’t go. It’s more interesting than I’ve made it sound.

Got something to say? Get it off your chest, post it on the app or send me an email ([email protected]) or, you know, write a review on Apple.

Need something to read? Try Adam Crafton and David Ornstein’s report on the USMNT’s reported hire of Mauricio Pochettino. What’s the hold up, why isn’t this done…and will it be done in time for those games in September. Click the link here.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5707564/2024/08/18/mauricio-pochettino-usmnt-head-coach-what-next/

Presenter: Iain Macintosh With: James Pearce and Sam Lee Producer: Steve Hankey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices