Midfielders from the EPL Headed to the World Cup | Unfiltered Soccer

0:00This bonus content is brought to you by Virgin Atlantic. LD, we're going to break down some of the English Premier League's most talented players and how we think they'll perform at this summer's World Cup. Now we've done the goalkeepers, right, to be a little deep dive into that. Today we're focusing on the midfielder, so we have three categories. Headliners, breakout stars, and question marks. For headliners, I like where you're going with a lot of these. Declan Rice of England and Arsenal. Why will he be a headliner? Well, he's playing for the argument of the best club in the world right now. And I think I watched him very closely during the Eros in dark and I did a lot of England games. And as he goes, so goes England. He's just one of those guys, Tim, you know, these guys that they just make you win. And I know he takes a lot of heat in England for, you know, he's not this, he's not that whatever. He's on the failure team wins. And I just think he's a type of guy that if they make a deep run, it's going to be because

1:01of him. Yeah. Look, I couldn't agree more. He has gone, he has gone from strength to strength and it's sort of been impressive because we don't see this, right? So he was at West Ham, LD, and he had everything. He had the engine. He had the leadership qualities, right? He's a bit young. Arsenal see the potential. We interviewed him with NBC a couple of times and he's so brilliantly candid and he said, I want to add more production. I want more goals. Coach is asking me, I've got good technique. I got to work on this and I got to, I got to, I got to, you more, gets to Arsenal, a hundred million plus pounds or, or dollars. And you're like, it's a big fee. They're buying him to win them a championship or help. Can he do it? And his goals and his assistance production, I'm going up and up, which have turned him into this like leader and stalwart. So I'm with you. I look, by the way, if England do great things in this world cup, Declan Rice will be massively behind that. I couldn't agree with you more. Yeah. One next one. Yeah. One that I sort of think we disagree on slightly, even though I love him, Bruno Fernandez of

2:02Portugal and Manchester United. Talk to me about him. I mean, look, he, he plays for, I know Manchester United's recent history, not good, but if you ask American soccer fans or even just American sports fans, they'll go, oh, Manchester United, I know that. He's the captain of Manchester United, captain of the nation's league winning team in Portugal. And he's, he's a, he's been, I think, since the coaching change at United, he's been fantastic. And so he, like Declan Rice, makes that team tick. And he's productive. I mean, he's incredibly productive in that position. So. Yeah. Why do you disagree? No, no. I wouldn't, because I think that team, that Portugal team is also filled with star names. And so, yeah, look, I don't disagree that I think he's a fantastic player. I think he wears his heart and sleeve. I think he's in a time at Manchester United where it's just, it's been up and down and

3:02more down and up. But it's like a roller coaster. He's been steady. And that's a really tough thing. And as you mentioned, his sort of role within the, within the Portugal squad, I, I, the reason I do agree with this LD is because I have Portugal as my dark horse in, in the World Cup, sort of if they can, given the names that they have, and names don't win you games, but the experience, top to bottom across that team, if they can put a run together, I think, I think they have an opportunity to surprise people, not surprise, because they're household names, but get really deep in the tournament. And then, then you just go in completely on sort of adrenaline and, and, you know, a high. So I think, I think they can be my dark horse. Yeah. Okay. And to the breakout stars, a guy, there's a few on this team. I mean, everyone knows Erling Holland. But I think Martin Oda Gard for Norway is a, again, Arsenal, like fantastic leader, productive,

4:06and he really, really makes this team go. And Norway is a team that I think a lot of people think might surprise some people in this tournament. So I, I think he's going to have a great tournament. I think between Sarla and Erling Holland, they have a really potent attack, they're really well coached. So they could, they could surprise some people. Yeah. Look, I look, Oda Gard for me is, you know, he's one of these sort of ball dominant midfielders who gets attracted to the ball. Any team he's in, you know, he drifts to the left or to the right on the, whatever strong side the ball is on, he gets the ball to his feet. He finds pockets. He's always checking his shoulder in a world cup where you would imagine if they can go on a run. And Erling Holland can be sort of in the conversation for the Golden Boot, where's a lot of that going to come from, right? Yeah. A lot of that production most likely will come from Oda Gard. So yeah, I'm, I'm on board with them. The only question marked for them is they have a really tough grip with France and Suns. Of course, challenging. The other guy, I was at the game in Austin, the US, US game against Ecuador.

5:08And in the stands, I was sitting next to the Ecuadorian sort of contingent in the box next to me. They were obviously their bias, but I say it wasn't on the field that day. It was left back and they were just, they were just raving about him and how important he is to that team. And when you see him with Chelsea as well, you realize how important it. I think a lot of American fans don't know him. He's not the type of guy who's going to be a breakout star because of all this production anything does. But if Ecuador find a way deeper into the tournament, he is their engine. I mean, he is the guy. I say this with all due respect. He is a proper Ecuador player. Like if, when he, you know, when he walks out of the field, you look at him like, Oh, okay. And my only, my only issue with him is, and I cover him every week and, and the talent that he brings the raw ability and he's added goal. I mean, by the way, he's a thunderbolt of right foot. I mean, there's like, there's two or three this season. I think he struck that just flying to the top corner. I mean, he's not afraid to hit the ball.

6:08I just question his decision making. Yeah. He literally is on a booking every week. Yeah. And then, and then he's just, and then he's rash. So then after that, I'm like, you got to go, you almost got to hook him, which the manager does. You can't take that away from him, though, right, because that's what makes him good. It's guys like that are so frustrating, because they need to be on the edge of it. Well, they can, they can be taught. Anyway, my point is like, my one, my one caveat to him being a breakout star is, is he on the field the entire, the entire, the entire card in the first game? I'm not crazy, but hopefully, but I, I definitely hear what you're saying. Yeah. Okay. All right. Our last one here is Ryan Gravenberg from Liverpool, goes a little under the radar too with this team because of all the star power they have with Liverpool. But for the Netherlands, he's a really, really key piece of everything they do along with to Johnny Rinders too in the midfield and Shavvy Simone. So I think he has a chance to really be a star. The Netherlands are one of those teams that like, you always sort of wanting more out of them because you look at the players on the field and you're like, wow, they're really

7:09talented, really good, you know, Cody Gackpo and Virgil Van Dyke. But I think he has a chance if they do well to be a real star. Yeah. I mean, for me, he is Liverpool won the, won the Premier League last year and he was far in a way their best player on a team that had really good players and production and seasons. He was their best player far in a way. And sort of he got brought to the club and then under slot, we've sort of seen this evolution, right? He's kept them in the number six role. That's all, it's all him. They don't play a double pivot. He sort of anchors that midfield allows everyone else to go forward, makes late runs, he's literally been brilliant for Liverpool football clubs. So will that translate to the Netherlands? Absolutely. It will. Again, like you said, they have, they sort of have powerhouse. Names, can they put it all together in the big moment? So the big question, but yeah, that's a question mark.

8:10And these are our other question mark players. So this is, this one's a little weird to say as a question mark because when he's healthy and he's playing well, he is so electric. And again, I'll reference the euros and people, you know he's special because of the way other people in England talk about him and that's Cole Palmer and they talk about him like he's like this God. And you, and sometimes you see it. And then other times you go, I didn't even really notice him or he's been injured. So I think he's a big question mark. If he really plays well and England play well, man, can he, I mean, he's one of those guys that could be the player of the tournament. He's got that kind of potential. Well, we saw that at the club world cup, didn't we? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Single-handedly took off. Look, I think he's untouchable and unplayable at times. And, you know, to what you just said about what people say in England, I, I minus sort of the injury layoff and sort of sort of the patch where he didn't do a ton, right? And every player has that. I had him sort of picked his like the best player in the Premier League, which, which, you

9:14know, that's a wild thing to say. It's a wild thing to say, but if you go back like a season and a half where he scored I don't know, 20 plus goals and they're like, he can easily be, you know, what most solid is to, or was to Liverpool, like Cole Palmer is that to Chelsea, I mean, two massive clubs. So like, so it's not far-fetched to say he is or has the ability to be the best player in the Premier League. I mean, he's shown that. He's shown that now. Can you do that on a consistent basis? So agreed. On the big stage, he could light it up. He could also disappear. So that's why he's a question mark. Well, not dissimilar from this, this last one here to Florian Verts, who plays at Liverpool. He's had a tough adjustment to the Premier League. He started to find his feet a bit. But if Germany want any chance of being good, he is their starman. He really is and he makes everything go for them. And we've all been sort of wanting and waiting for more out of him. Can he put it together? Maybe it's a little easier with Germany than it is with Liverpool and maybe he becomes a breakout star.

10:15It's going to be interesting to watch. Well, I think the question mark is, you see the talent, right? Now, is that a rough start to a Liverpool career? I don't think that's unfair to say, but also a lot of the Premier League is different, man. It's hard. People find people, there's a betting in process. You don't blame him for that. The price tag is astronomical. So of course, it comes pressure, but he's come good recently. He starts to see why the price tag was so high. But the take I agree with is, I don't think he has that pressure with Germany. He's already betted in. He gets into the German squad and it's like, this is his home, right? He feels comfortable. Yeah. So I think that we won't see, obviously, the World Cup itself produces anxiety and angst, but I don't think he'll be more sort of free flowing and the Florian viewers that you expect to see right from the off. So, yeah, a question mark because of the way he started with Liverpool, but yeah. Yeah, I agree with that. To me on the field, every player matters. And when it comes to their guests, Virgin Atlantic sees it the same way.

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