When watching soccer on TV, have you ever sat there and wondered what the man behind the microphone really thinks?
Maybe this will go someway to helping with that.
In the latest edition of “View from the Booth” we chat with NBC Sports’ lead soccer announcer Arlo White about the crazy title race, Manchester City’s trip to Everton, Chelsea vs. Norwich and Liverpool heading into the final two games no longer controlling their own destiny.
MORE: Full archive, View from the Booth
You can hear Arlo calling live games every weekend on NBC Sports Network and NBC, and watch every single game available live online via NBC Sports Live Extra,
So, let’s get to it.
This title race just keeps surprising us Arlo. Do you think there are a few more twists in the tale before the end of the season?
There could be three lead changes in the next three days if Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool win their three games. That would make it 25 changes this season so far, it is quite remarkable. All eyes, if those games go to form, will be on the Etihad on Wednesday for City against Aston Villa who may need something from that game, so you wouldn’t rule out a mercurial performance from Aston Villa. For neutrals, they hope the title race goes down to the final minute of the 38th and final game, it appears to be heading that way.
The toughest task remaining for any of the title hopefuls is Man City’s trip to face Everton on Saturday. How should City approach this?
They need to be as positive as they normally are. I spoke to Samir Nasri in the week and he seemed very positive about things. He called it a miracle to be back in this situation that City control their title challenge. It is incredible that Saturday will be the 260th day of the Premier League season and Manchester City have only spent eight days in first place, but that is where they could be if they beat Everton at Goodison Park with the caveat being that it is mainly down to them playing catch up. City have it in their own hands but they are not exactly in Championship form. They have only taken 11 points out of the last 18, they lost to Liverpool, they drew against Arsenal and Sunderland but they appear to be hitting form at the right time and they’ve been handed this second chance and seem determined to take it.
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Their record at Goodison is very poor, four defeats in a row, one win in their last 15 but Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero are back, David Silva could be back, even Martin Demichelis has limited his mistakes and has been getting some praise. There is plenty of talk of Everton lying down so they won’t help Liverpool win the title but Roberto Martinez has dismissed that and Tim Howard gave a rallying cry on NBC last week from Selhurst Park. It could be a fantastic afternoon.
As for Chelsea, they host Norwich after being humbled by Atletico Madrid in the UCL. Can the Blues still win the title? What about Norwich’s survival hopes?
When all is said and done, Chelsea will likely finish third and they will kick themselves. They beat Spurs 4-0 at Stamford Bridge a while back, I was there, and they were very good despite Spurs’ capitulation. Since then they have won four and lost three, they lost to Villa, Palace and Sunderland, scoring one goal in those games. If you look at the games they won in that time it includes victories over Liverpool and Arsenal and they scored 12 and didn’t concede any. It is very telling that they have got more points from the top six than the bottom six this season, those results against the lower sides have impacted their title challenge. Also, it will be interesting to see how Eden Hazard responds to the scathing criticism from Mourinho.
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As for Norwich they slipped into the bottom three, they were poor at Old Trafford, they’ve lost eight in a row away, five in a row overall and they are the lowest scorers in the league. I think their only hope is facing Arsenal on the final day of the season and if Arsenal have already clinched a top four spot and have a FA Cup final the week after, they may take their eye off the ball. Crazy things can happen on the final day of the season but for Norwich it is looking extremely difficult to stay in the league.
Liverpool head to the tricky confides of Selhurst Park to play Crystal Palace on Monday. Do you see the Reds’ coming unstuck against the Eagles?
Liverpool could start the game in third place after so long at the top and having the title in their hands. If the mantra a couple of weeks ago was ‘we go again’ because of Steven Gerrard’s inspirational post-match teamtalk after the Manchester City victory, I think the motivation for them now is to not allow Gerrard’s slip at Anfield, which allowed Demba Ba to score, to be the defining moment of their title challenge. They have missed Jordan Henderson and Luis Suarez isn’t scoring as freely as he did throughout the season. They need to come out at Crystal Palace, who are a tough team to play against, and give it absolutely everything. Liverpool need to give themselves the chance that if Man City do slip up then they are prepared to pounce on any mistake and that means a convincing performance at Crystal Palace and then a tidal wave of emotion on the final day at Anfield against Newcastle.
They will never forgive themselves if Manchester City slip up and Liverpool don’t manage to get six points from the final two games.