The Athletic
500 episodes listed below
The scoreline starts the conversation.
The Totally Football Show puts Premier League and European results under a tactical lens, from pressing problems to a striker's movement. James Richardson and the panel leave room for football memories, comic tangents and arguments about what the scoreline actually explains.
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The Totally Football Show looks beyond who won to ask what a performance reveals about the team behind it. James Richardson hosts a panel conversation. Premier League matches and European ties provide the setting for discussions of pressing, midfield balance, attacking movement and the consequences of managerial decisions. A team can win and still leave questions about control, just as a defeat can require more explanation than the final score provides. The detail earns its place. Discussion of Chelsea's wide players connects selection decisions to defensive work, while analysis of Liverpool considers how different attacking profiles affect the cohesion of the whole side. Manchester United's difficulties bring questions about pressing choices, rather than stopping at a verdict on effort. Numbers enter the argument, too. Expected goals and shot totals help test whether a run of results reflects the chances a team creates and concedes. Those figures sit alongside observations about confidence and atmosphere, including the frustration inside a ground when misplaced passes and individual mistakes accumulate. The conversation can change scale quickly. It moves from a striker's ability to hold the ball and run behind defenders to recruitment decisions, managerial futures and the pressures surrounding a struggling club. Champions League discussion extends the view beyond English teams, with Bayern's attacking combinations, Real Madrid's balance and Atletico's adjustments offering distinct football problems to consider. Humour gives it air. Tangents about watching two matches simultaneously, the logic of Olympic sports or the names printed on club crests sit beside the more technical exchanges. The pacing stays brisk, with questions, interruptions and quick agreements making the analysis feel like a conversation among people comparing what they noticed. Football memory has a place here. The Romario retrospective considers his movement and finishing alongside his Barcelona spell and his World Cup campaign, with anecdotes about his personality adding another dimension. Recollections of particular goals make room for the visual pleasures of football as well as arguments about records and historical standing. Across these discussions, the appeal lies in the combination of specific football observation and conversational freedom, with room for both a defensive explanation and an absurd aside.
Made for: Suits a listener who follows Premier League and European football and wants discussion of how teams play, with room for historical recollections and dry humour.
What sets it apart: Suits a listener who wants tactical arguments to share space with football's stranger details. The combination of pressing analysis, statistical context and digressions about everything from club names to Romario's beach-going gives the conversation its particular texture.
James Richardson and Team Totally are here four times a week throughout the season with all the football news and chat you need - and plenty that you don’t. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Based on 8 episodes we listened to · November 2026
The Totally Football Show connects results to player duties and team structure, with football history adding perspective to its match analysis.
A winger's work without the ball becomes a selection argument on The Totally Football Show. James Richardson and the panel discuss Premier League and Champions League matches with attention to how individual duties shape a team.
Romario's beach stories come with movement analysis, because your nostalgia deserves more than a commemorative mug.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Buffon, snow, and a goalkeeper's reset, with subtitles doing some of the work.
Gigi Buffon stops by The Totally Studios for a conversation with James Horncastle about an extraordinary career, and the sharpest stretch comes when the focus tightens to one brutal match in the snow.
A Champions League debate with tactical bite and a few useful detours.
The piece treats Bayern and Real Madrid as a familiar Champions League argument, moving between Bayern's attack, Real Madrid's usual complaints, Vinicius Junior's petulance, and the risk that comes with a high line.
A sharp post-mortem that links Liverpool's exit to Slot's recruitment and tactical choices.
It uses Liverpool's Champions League exit to ask where Slot's side are headed, and the best moments are the ones that stay on recruitment and structure rather than the scoreline itself.
Champions League quarter-final second legs and league news, delivered with pace and a steady focus on the football.
The episode moves quickly through Champions League quarter-final second legs, with Barca, Atleti, and Bayern in the frame before the discussion widens into league news.
A sharp title-race debate that keeps Arsenal's wobble and City's pressure in view.
The discussion keeps coming back to Arsenal's wobble, City's pressure, and a lead that starts to feel less like cover and more like a dare. It works because the panel does more than repeat the headline tension; it shows how the title race is being shaped by tactics and by the…
Sharp football talk built around Atletico's Camp Nou win and a lively tactical debate.
This episode opens with Atletico's win at Camp Nou and keeps Barcelona in view as classy even in defeat, with Kubasi part of that picture. It then moves into Premier League talk about Chelsea, Man City, and Spurs, and the question of whether teams can win with De Zerbi even…
Dry, sharp Champions League chat built around Arsenal's late win and a lively read on Martinelli and Havertz.
The episode follows Arsenal's scruffy 1-0 win away from home and the wider drama in Madrid, using both as fuel for a conversation that stays alert without feeling pinned down.
A brisk quarterfinal roundup that keeps circling back to Lamine Yamal and the Barca-Atletico tension.
The episode moves quickly across the Champions League quarterfinal picture and the weekend's sharper moments. It takes in Balogun's chip, PSG's work against Liverpool, Martinez's return in Italy, Barcelona against Atletico, and Real Madrid facing Bayern Munich.
Birdland nerves, familiar banter, Baltimore patience.
Buffon begins in the cold.
Bayern-Real gets the proper treatment.
Liverpool's off-ball work has slipped.
Ads crowd the doorway.
The show opens on a Sunday of Premier League action and settles quickly into the main question of the day: Arsenal's lead at the top, which now feels a bit shaky.
Thursday, 9th of April.
First, the studio checks the guest list.
Champions League quarterfinals are the whole point.
James Richardson and panel discuss the FA Cup thriller between West Ham and Leeds, plus other football news.
This episode revisits the iconic 1996 Premier League match between Liverpool and Newcastle, analyzing its significance and impact.
A panel of football experts discuss the latest football news, including World Cup qualifying results and analysis.
A football talk show discussing Tottenham's managerial change, World Cup playoffs, and other football news.
A football podcast discussing the historic Leicester City Premier League title win a decade later.
A football news show covering World Cup qualifying matches and the latest on Mo Salah.
A football news and analysis show covering European leagues, including the Madrid Derby, Como's rise, and Dortmund's performance.
James Richardson and guests discuss the latest football news, including Man City's Carabao Cup win and Premier League drama.
A football news and chat show covering the latest in soccer, with analysis and discussion from James Richardson and the Team Totally panel.
A roundtable discussion of recent football matches, including Brentford vs Wolves and Champions League experiences.
The Totally Football Show European Edition opens with Tom Williams in the studio and a run of European football topics, including Real Madrid, Bayern, and Italy.
This episode discusses recent Premier League football matches, focusing on Richarlison's performance for Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield and Dowman's contributions to Arsenal.
This episode discusses recent football matches including PSG vs Chelsea and Real Madrid vs Manchester City, while previewing Pep Guardiola's team's upcoming game at West Ham.
The Totally Football Show episode on Wednesday, 11 March, covers Champions League last-16 first legs, with Liverpool’s loss, Tottenham’s “disastrous decision,” and Newcastle’s near-miss against Barcelona all named in the opening rundown.
The Totally Football Show European Edition opens with a Champions League last-16 rundown that names Newcastle, Paris Saint-Domingue, Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Man City, Milan, and Derby.
FA Cup fifth round, Chelsea, Sunday surprises, and Spurs.
A bonus Saturday helping lands in Milan.
Relegation math gets strange quickly.
The panel discusses the possibility of Wolves avoiding relegation by winning their remaining fixtures.
James Richardson and team discuss the latest European football news, including key matches in Italy, Spain, Germany, and France.
A roundtable discussion of the weekend's Premier League and European football action, focusing on set-piece tactics and key matches.
A roundup of Champions League matches and Premier League previews with expert analysis.
Bodø/Glimt, somehow, are the story.
Madrid's week starts to wobble.
Sunday evening, then football.
Thursday, the 19th of February, arrives overloaded.
Victory and venom share the stage.
This episode covers European football news including Real Madrid's sacking of Xabi Alonso, Scott McTominay's performance, and Bayern Munich's struggles.
A football news and analysis podcast covering FA Cup drama and match results.
James Richardson and team discuss the Arsenal-Liverpool match and other football news.
The episode consists of multiple sponsor advertisements for Magnum Bonbons, Wayfair, and Shopify, with no actual football discussion.
A panel of football journalists and analysts discuss the weekend's Premier League matches, including Man City vs Chelsea and other results.