The Talking Barefoot Podcast

The 2019/20 Premier League season will finally come to a close this weekend after what was been an unimaginable campaign both on and off-the-pitch. Spoiled and marred by the coronavirus pandemic, the season was halted mid-way through March with a sinking feeling of uncertainty and unpredictability. 

The return of football in June was a welcome sight for fans around the world but the beautiful game was not the same anymore. Empty stadiums, sanitised footballs, artificial crowd noises, mega fan-view screens, socially-distanced benches and elbow celebrations made for a sight never witnessed in football. 

However, football came through and stood tall as Liverpool claimed their first league title in three decades. In what has been a season packed with individual brilliance and performances of the highest quality, it is time to review the campaign and make our Team of the Season. 

In the twelfth episode of The Talking Barefoot Podcast, the trio pick their Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Manager of the Season by pitching in candidates, analysing their seasons and debating and discussing their impacts.

Subscribe to our channel for more in-depth analyses and discussions on European and Indian football, match previews, transfer news and off-the-pitch drama. Follow our Instagram page @talkingbarefoot for regular updates. Music by longjizun. Artwork by doodlegun.

The 2019/20 Premier League season will finally come to a close this weekend after what was been an unimaginable campaign both on and off-the-pitch. Spoiled and marred by the coronavirus pandemic, the season was halted mid-way through March with a sinking feeling of uncertainty and unpredictability. 

The return of football in June was a welcome sight for fans around the world but the beautiful game was not the same anymore. Empty stadiums, sanitised footballs, artificial crowd noises, mega fan-view screens, socially-distanced benches and elbow celebrations made for a sight never witnessed in football. 

However, football came through and stood tall as Liverpool claimed their first league title in three decades. In what has been a season packed with individual brilliance and performances of the highest quality, it is time to review the campaign and make our Team of the Season. 

In the twelfth episode of The Talking Barefoot Podcast, the trio plan and plot their combined Team of the Season by pitching in candidates, analysing their seasons and debating and discussing their impacts.

The PFA Player, Young Player and Manager of the Season are also deliberated about in detail in Part II.

Subscribe to our channel for more in-depth analyses and discussions on European and Indian football, match previews, transfer news and off-the-pitch drama. Follow our Instagram page @talkingbarefoot for regular updates. Music by longjizun. Artwork by doodlegun.

00:11 - Intro

03:30 - Timeline of the feud

09:16 - Rival managers’ reaction to the CAS decision

12:53 - Allegations against City

16:43 - Why clubs and managers spoke out against City

19:46 - How City disturbed the footballing elite class

28:59 - Why FFP is not dead

32:01 - Why it may not as big a victory for City as it seems

34:33 - How FFP can be improved

36:09 - Loopholes in FFP

38:53 - Final thoughts and Outro

Last week, the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned Manchester City’s two-year Champions League ban imposed by UEFA. While the judgement was monumental for the Abu Dhabi-owned club, it did not go down well with others. The eleventh episode of The Talking Barefoot Podcast dives deep into the long-standing battle between City and UEFA, the CAS verdict, the debate around Financial Fair Play, the gap between the elites and the non-elites and so much more.

Subscribe to our channel for more in-depth analyses and discussions on European and Indian football, match previews, transfer news and off-the-pitch drama. Follow our Instagram page @talkingbarefoot for regular updates. Music by Longzijun. Artwork by doodlegun.

Is Thiago joining Liverpool? How will City replace Sane? What's the situation around Kai Havertz? We discuss this week's hottest transfer rumours, bring  you the latest updates and weigh the pros and cons of every prospective deal. 

Crisp and to-the-point, ‘Talking Transfers’ is a weekly segment of The Talking Barefoot Podcast which dissects the most talked-about and lesser-known transfer sagas of the week, analyses its credibility and studies its costs and benefits. 

Subscribe to our channel for more in-depth analyses and discussions on European and Indian football, match previews, transfer news and off-the-beat topics. Follow our Instagram page @talkingbarefoot for regular updates. Music by Longzijun. Artwork by doodlegun.

00:11 - Introduction

02:42 - Neglect of mental health in football

7:58 - Players moving to different countries or leagues

12:39 - Players during lockdown and impact of transfer rumours

17:17 - Being in and away from the limelight

22:35 - How price tags, fees and wages effect players

26:20 - Kids 

30:13 - Outro

The glamour and blitz of football has forever overshadowed and stigmatised mental health in the sport. Topics of depression, anxiety, alcoholism and racism have been little spoken about in mainstream football.

The Talking Barefoot Podcast recognises the need to kickstart conversations about mental health in sport and, therefore, our new mini-series will attempt to provide listeners a psychological perspective of football.

This week in ‘Mental Health and Football’, we discuss the toll of a football transfer, how players are affected by it, how it can influence performances on-the-pitch and how the online toxicity towards athletes need to be wiped out. Our in-house psychology expert Bhasker Malu sheds light on some of the most neglected issues in the footballing domain.

Subscribe to our channel for more in-depth analyses and discussions on European and Indian football, match previews, transfer news and off-the-beat topics. Follow our Instagram page @talkingbarefoot for regular updates. Music by Longzijun. Artwork by doodlegun.

The most decorated club in the world is being tainted to its core. The team who have forever epitomised the beautiful game on the pitch are now suffering from some of the ugliest off-the-pitch controversies. In the eighth episode of The Talking Barefoot podcast, the boys cross the English Channel in order to investigate the mishappenings at Football Club Barcelona. 

The trio shed light on Bartomeu’s troublesome tenure, the club’s puzzling transfer policies, Setien’s mismanagement, Messi’s uncertain future, the Arthur debacle and so much more.

Subscribe to our channel for regular insights on European and Indian football, the La Liga, Premier League, transfer news and the hottest debates and discussions in the sport. Follow our Instagram page @talkingbarefoot for regular updates. Music by longzijun. Artwork by doodlegun.

The Arthur-Pjanic swap deal involving Barcelona and Juventus is just the first of many blockbuster transfers this summer. Even with the coronavirus pandemic causing significant financial damage, clubs across Europe will look to bolster their squads ahead of next season. And we want to bring all the latest transfer gossip, rumours, opinions and stories to you. 

Kickstarting an all-new section of The Talking Barefoot Podcast where the boys will sit down and dissect the biggest transfer sagas of the week. Crisp and to-the-point, ‘Talking Transfers’ will weigh the pros and cons of each transfer, dissect its credibility and analyse its costs and benefits.

This week, we are focusing on Arthur, Pjanic, Koulibaly, Hakimi and so much more so get ready for some transfer talk.

Subscribe to our channel for more in-depth analyses and discussions on European and Indian football, match previews, transfer news and off-the-pitch drama. Follow our Instagram page @talkingbarefoot for regular updates. Music by Longzijun. Artwork by doodlegun.

Jurgen Klopp's relentless Reds finally tasted Premier League glory on Thursday as Chelsea handed them the coveted crown with a victory over title rivals Manchester City. In the sixth episode of The Talking Barefoot Podcast, the trio look back upon what has been an unimaginable campaign for Liverpool and divulge into their transfer policies, financial strategies, training regimes and other behind-the-scenes narratives which have helped put the club back on their perch. Subscribe to our channel for more in-depth analyses and discussions on the Premier League, match previews, transfer news and off-the-pitch drama. Follow our Instagram page @talkingbarefoot for regular updates. Music by Longzijun. Art work by doodlegun.

Ziyech and Werner sealed. Havertz and Chilwell linked. A year after Hazard’s departure and the transfer ban imposition, are Lampard’s Blues on the quest to restore supremacy?

The boys strip down everything Chelsea in the fifth episode of The Talking Barefoot Podcast. Subscribe to our channel for more in-depth analyses and discussions on the Premier League, match previews, transfer news and off-the-pitch drama. Follow our Instagram page @talkingbarefoot for regular updates. Music by Longzijun. Art work by doodlegun.

Did you know that the All India Football Federation interviewed Manchester City’s recently-appointed assistant coach Juanma Lillo to be their technical director back in 2011? The Spaniard is perhaps one of world football’s most influential characters but his managerial failures have restricted him to becoming just a peripheral figure of the sport. Episode 4 of the Talking Barefoot Podcast delves into the life of the man who created Pep Guardiola, holds the honour of being La Liga’s youngest coach ever and introduced the world to the game-breaking 4-2-3-1 formation. 

Subscribe to our channel to discover such untold stories and hidden accounts of the beautiful game. Follow our Instagram page @talkingbarefoot for regular updates regarding the podcast. Music by longzijun. Art work by doodlegun.