22 Jan 2025
On The Premier League
Thoughts on the title race
I think it’s Liverpool’s title to lose and I do think that when weekends happen like the one we just had, with Liverpool scoring two late goals to win and Arsenal throwing away a two goal advantage, then you have to say the pendulum has swung Liverpool’s way.
When City won the treble, they had a few late wins in there, exactly like how Liverpool beat Brentford, where it was neck and neck until that vital point right at the end and your key players step up and score goals which carry the team through.
I think Liverpool tried everything (against Brentford), they created so many unbelievable chances. It was a great team performance that didn’t look like it was going to be rewarded (with the three points) then Trent crosses the ball for Nunez to finish, after a little bit of luck, and sometimes, when you work as hard as Liverpool did in that game, you need that little bit of luck to open that doorway.
It's in Liverpool’s hands now, and it will only be through their own failures that they don’t win the title from now on in. All the pressure is on them now. I think they have to be careful – they can’t draw that many games now because although you're picking up points, if other teams go on winning streaks, you’re in trouble and it can completely change the destination of the title.
Thoughts on the top four
I think Man City will creep into the top four. I think with the momentum they've got now, and the players that they've got coming in and the players that are coming back from injury, I think they will have enough to get in there.
We saw a few different players getting on the scoresheet against Ipswich, it looks like key players are starting to get back to their level, so I think they will definitely finish in the top four. Arsenal will stay there. I'd be so surprised if Arsenal didn’t (finish in the top four).
Forest, I actually believe, they can stay there. With the way that they play and the way they defend, it suits them to a T.
With Chris Wood, they can go direct, because he will hold the ball up. It's the one thing that he's been fantastic at during his whole career. He’s in the form of his life this season – this will be his best season as a player in terms of Premier League goals.
Then you've got Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi who can hit you on the counter attack from anywhere with their pace, their aggressive in terms of taking people on and going for goal while creating chances. Ola Aina – who’s been magnificent this year – keeps putting in deadly balls for Chris Wood and his defending has been top notch too.
Forest defend solidly as a unit, but they also attack in different ways. They don't just counterattack, they can go direct, and at times they do try to keep the ball. Whatever Nuno has got them doing right now, the players are enjoying it and he's getting the best out of everyone he's got there. As a manager, he’s delivering everything that you ask for. You want to be able to get the best out of all your players, and he's doing that.
Elliot Anderson’s an unbelievable player, Newcastle would be devastated they've lost him. Forest have got the tools to unlock teams at any level, and what’s impressed me about them is how they’ve got on against the top six this season, while they’re more than capable of beating everyone else. It's hard to think that Forest won’t finish in the top four because they're doing all the right things. Now, it's a matter of longevity, how long they can keep this going for?
Who has been the best young player in the Premier League this season?
Liam Delap at the minute. I think he’s been one of the youngsters that has really stood out this season. I've been there, playing for a team at the bottom of the table as a younger player, and he’s producing. He’s someone that you can rely on.
Delap has all the attributes of a top-quality striker. He can hold the ball up when it needs to be held up, he can bring people into play. He can play the role of a lone striker perfectly and he gets his shots off, is always a handful. If he does get a move in the summer, then his experience at Ipswich this season will be so beneficial for him. If he moved to a better team, I think he would score more goals and look like an even deadlier player. He's the focal point of a newly promoted club. That’s not easy. He’s very aggressive and he's done tremendously well for Ipswich this season. He is one player I will be keeping my eye on.
Could Liam Delap be called up by Tuchel?
If Liam Delap was called up by Tuchel, there wouldn't be any argument from me.
I’m not sure if he will, I think there are probably a few strikers that are ahead of him in the pecking order, but who knows. He’s certainly playing well and has proven that he is a player that can operate in the Premier League.
I'm a true believer that if you're playing well, you deserve the opportunity to play for England. I think he’s a similar player to Dom Solanke, another striker that has been playing well this season, but they both can do similar things. I think Solanke may just be ahead of him, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he was part of Tuchel’s first England squad.
Who are the teams that you think will get dragged into the relegation dog fight this season? Who are the managers that will be looking nervously over their shoulder?
I don’t think there’s any managers that need to particularly worried at this moment in time.
When Southampton sacked Russell Martin, I didn’t really understand it because the likelihood of them getting out of the situation they were in would have been historical. I thought that was a strange sacking. They made a lot of mistakes. They did the exactly the same thing Burnley did when they came up, playing exactly the same way in the Premier League as they did in the Championship with the same players. It was never going to work, but I actually think there would have been some merit to letting Russell Martin see out the season and learning from that experience given their fate looked sealed.
The mistakes at the back have been horrible, but they’re still happening with the new manager, and I can’t see that changing. When Wolves sacked O’Neil, I felt a bit bad for Gary. He had a lot of injuries at the time and even when you watch them, I didn't necessarily think they were playing rubbish.They just couldn't keep clean sheets.He gets the sack, and Vitor Pereira comes in. I don’t think things have really changed at the football club since the appointment. There isn't too much difference in what they're trying to do and go about their business.
Did Amorim make a mistake saying United were at their worst ever level in the PL?
I don’t think that Amorim should have said that this is the worst Manchester United team in history, but I also don’t think he should take anything away from Brighton, because Brighton are a good team and have been for the best part of four or five years. Brighton have been playing incredible football, causing all the top teams incredible problems, and that's while they’ve sold all their best players year-after-year.
I think the Manchester United players need to take a lot of responsibility for what is happening at the club, and we've been saying that about the players for the best part of two and a half years now.
I also think that Ruben Amorim needs to take a look at himself. He must be able to see that the players in his squad can’t play his preferred system, or they're not doing it how he wants them to.
Perhaps Amorim needs to change his tactics from now until the end of the season and wait until the summer to implement his style of play with his own players, because it isn’t working for him at the moment.
Amad has been the anomaly. He’s been brilliant, but you can’t ask him to play as a wing back and then have him playing off the striker. Amorim needs specialist players to be able to play his tactical system in the most effective way.
He needs to tweak how he plays and see what happens. There’s no harm in trying something new – United can’t get any worse!
How should Amorim handle the Rashford situation?
The only goals that are being scored for Manchester United are coming from Amad and Bruno, they need goals. They’re desperate for someone to score on a regular basis.
Given their struggles, I really think that Amorim needs to seriously think about getting Rashford back into his starting 11. They need Rashford at the moment.
Of course, nobody really knows what's going on behind closed doors. We're only getting one side. For me, Rashford is doing the right thing, he's just keeping his head down.You've got to find a way for Rashford to get in that team. They have nothing else in the attack line. Amad can't do it all and neither can Bruno. They need other options. This morning, there's a report that Antony has gone. So now you're another winger down. So what are you going to do? I don't think if they let Rashford go, they're going to be able to bring in a replacement. It would be a massive disadvantage for United to sell Rashford without bringing in someone else.
Rashford would be much more useful on side, being part of the United team, rather than being moved on in the January transfer window.
Amorim shouldn’t have come out and said, “Marcus doesn’t want to be here, he’s unavailable.” Certain things need to remain behind closed doors. This situation shouldn't be played out in public because Rashford's the only person that's getting burnt by it.
Is Amorim regretting his move to United?
Ruben Amorim has definitely had a reality check since joining Manchester United. Some managers believe that if they can do it in Europe, they can do it in the Premier League.
The Premier League is a completely different beast to any other league in terms of the mental capacity and the physical capacity for players.
There's a lot of things that he needs to get right for this Man United team to be successful, and I wouldn't necessarily say that he's doing everything wrong, but with the players he's doing it with - it might be the wrong way for these players.It feels like Amorim has to try something else. It's not working at Manchester United at the moment. You can't just play well against Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, and then struggle against the rest. There's something that's not right for that to be happening at a club like Manchester United.
Everton have recently appointed David Moyes as manager. They say in football you should never go back, from a man that did return to an old club, what’s the secret to making stint number two a success and do you think David Moyes will be a success at Everton?
What other option did Everton have? The club in many ways has been in turmoil for years. A lot of managers have tried to revive the club, not even Carlo Ancelotti could do it, a guy with multiple Champions League win under his belt.
Moyes has gone and beat Spurs with a good performance at Goodison Park. In one game, Moyes has reminded everyone that Goodison Park's not an easy place to go to.
All of a sudden, a team that hasn’t scored many goals has now scored three against Spurs.
I felt sorry for Archie Gray in that game. He's playing at centre-back and, up until then, he hasn't really had a wobbly game. Everton showed him what Goodison Park’s all about on Sunday.
During my career, no matter where Everton were, Goodison Park was always a hard place to go. If they can keep that up, they're going to pick up points.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored a great goal, he reminded everybody of the Dominic of the past. If Moyes can keep that up, they're in with a fantastic chance of getting away from the relegation zone and remaining in the Premier League comfortably.
Graham Potter has also been recently appointed as West Ham’s new boss. What lessons do you think he would have learned from his nightmare Chelsea experience?
I'm a massive Potter fan. I loved watching his Brighton team play. We only saw flashes of that at Chelsea.
He couldn’t turn down the Chelsea job at that stage of his career, it was something he had to go and get his teeth into. The stars weren't aligned for him at Stamford Bridge. There was too much going on in the club. Too many players. He couldn't get the players that he wanted. The club were buying players for him.
I think that West Ham is the perfect job for him. Lopetegui went in, and he wanted them playing football from the back, but I don’t think he had the experience of trying to do that in the Premier League whereas Potter has been doing that in the Premier League for a very long time. He knows the way to do it, but with a way that the players are buying into.Against Villa in the FA Cup, even though they lost, I saw a completely different West Ham team playing out from the back. They didn't just always play it from the back, they went direct when they had to.
I would say that if there's anything that Potter learned from his Chelsea experience, it’s that if the pass is an on, don't be scared of going direct.
It’s a small sample size, but I'm enjoying watching West Ham play again now. They play quicker. Paqueta feels like he's enjoying it again. It feels like they're moving the ball a lot quicker and having fun. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next, especially when Bowen gets fit.
I think that will be the perfect job for him in the long-term.
What is the objective for Graham Potter at West Ham this season?
Right now, it’s all about getting points on the board and not getting dragged into that relegation battle. I think after you cross that bridge, then he can push on from there.
Just keep picking up points. I imagine that would be his only target, get enough points to steer away from that relegation zone, staying clear of that. If they can do that with plenty of games to spare, then I think he will be targeting a top ten finish.
On Manchester City
Erling Haaland recently signed a huge nine-year contract with Manchester City. How much confidence will that give to everyone associated to the club and what did you make of the timing?
I think Erling’s new contract will provide a massive boost to everyone at the club. I think the deal showed you more about the club than anything, being able to get a player of Haaland’s magnitude, who most probably would have been a target for Madrid or Barcelona, to lock himself down for that long shows you that City are incredibly ambitious and determined to keep winning the biggest prizes in club football.
I’m impressed with how they did the deal, no whispers, and also how they can satisfy the ambition of a player like Haaland.
Haaland is obviously very happy at the club. That’s really important for a player. When you’re happy, enjoying yourself, good things happen. Erling’s committed the best part of his career to City. The price to get him out of the club will be ridiculous, so that’s good business as well.
I’m delighted for him. I think he’s a lovely person and player, I love his attitude. No matter how many times he misses he still believes he’s going to score. That takes a lot of mental strength.
KDB and Foden getting back to their best
Kevin is getting back up to fitness and you can see Phil Foden is starting to find his form after a run of games.
That's the one thing that City didn't have this season: all their key players on the pitch at the same time, especially in attack. They just need to get all the players back for a run of games together.
We’ve been chopping and changing a lot. Now, you can see that it is all starting to come together.
Oscar Bobb, I think I saw a clip of him back in training. That's another aspect to come.
With Dias back, the defence looked completely different because of his marshalling, his aggressiveness, and the way he puts his body in front of everything. He leads by example.
Ederson got a clean sheet against Ipswich, so things are starting to move in the right direction.
Pep Guardiola recently revealed that Kyle Walker would like to leave the club this January. Where do you think Kyle will move to – the strongest links seem to be with some of the giant clubs in Italy. Would a move to Italy suit him?
To be honest, I never saw this coming. I don't think many people did. Sometimes when you feel like it's time to move on, it might just be that time for him. To me, he would be remembered as a legend, and I think all the other fans and people within and around the club will think exactly the same thing.
Has he been the best right back in the Premier League era? I'd say over the last three or four years, he has been the best right-back in the league and I think when he hangs up his boots, we’re talking about quite possibly the best right back that England have had.
We've had good right-backs in the past, but none as good as him.
They could potentially spend upwards of £70m on Omar Marmoush and another £40m+ on Abdukodir Khusanov. Is this panic buying or do they have a long-term transfer plan?
I wouldn't say the signings that City are about to make is necessarily because of the blip, if they had the blip and all their players were still fit, I don't think there would have been a need to buy three players.
I think because of the injuries along with that blip, it made it harder to get out of that bad run of form because they could never put out a strong team. They’ve had a lot of injuries.
When you lose Rodri, City didn’t have a ready-made replacement, so you bring in Kovacic, who's doing a decent job, then he gets injured and then you've got Gundogan, but I don't think anybody was expecting him to play as many games back to back as he did.He's coming in, he's had to play the holding midfielder role. So, there were a lot of things that were out of sorts. Kevin wasn't fit all the time. He kept breaking down. No proper pre-season. Phil was absent. Jack was absent.
Haaland miraculously has just been fit all this time. In many ways it's shown you what a summer break can do for you, especially when you think about the amount of games that these players are being asked to play.
I also think that going through a season without really strengthening in the summer has played a little part in why City are active now and why they’ve had a blip this season.
There was always going to be a rebuild job at some point
I think there was always going to be a point where City started to rebuild a new project as some of their key players have got older.
Bringing in a player like Marmoush, who can play wide, and at No. ten, It's a win-win and he looks like a player that can complement and play alongside Haaland, a bit like Alvarez did at the beginning of last season. That link-up play worked really well, it was almost like a big and small guy up front again but played in a different way.
I think he'll bring a completely different strength to the City team. He's quick. He's very creative. He's also got a trick in his locker, and he knows where the back of the net is.
That's one thing that City have missed so far this season: goals coming from other places. It was Gvardiol and Haaland that were scoring all the goals. For all the attackers that City have and how good they are, the ball wasn't going in the back of the net for them. So, to have that extra bit of pressure, I think healthy competition is good.Also, when you're bringing in a player like Omar Marmoush, the other attackers in the City team know they have to up their game.
I’m pleased with the players that have been linked. Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis are 20 and 19 respectively, Marmoush is a little bit older at 25, but they are all going to part of Pep’s rebuild.
On PSG v Man City
Do you have any concerns about City’s trip to Paris?
There's always going to be concerns in the Champions League. You're not playing in the Champions League if you're not a good team, so there's always going to be slight concerns whoever you play. They know they have to play at a better level. They will know that they need to bring a performance, but they’ve been inconsistent in Europe this season.
In too many performances, they’ve conceded and crumbled. I think they’ll be fine though, I’m confident that they will find a way through. When it comes to the crunch, City have got that muscle memory. They’ve been there and done it in Europe and PSG have been very poor in the tournament so far.
A win in Paris puts them into the play-offs. It will put their fate back in their hands.
It sounds weird, but I think City could actually benefit from playing those two extra games in the Champions League play-off. They’ll have new players that need to get up to speed and minutes, while they’ll be other players coming back from injury that need minutes.
City are going to need everybody ready. They’ve still got an awful lot to play for, starting with their Champions League future.
On Chelsea
Do you have any concerns about Chelsea’s ability to finish in the top four after their poor December?
I wouldn't say there's doubt in my mind about Chelsea’s Champions League prospects. I saw them in pre-season, they were making little errors at the back, and I think they’ve been making them all season but recently they’ve been punished, whereas earlier in the season they weren’t getting punished.
I wouldn't say that Chelsea are necessarily out of it. At Leicester, Enzo Maresca went through a similar spell around Christmas and the New Year, but they recovered and won the Championship. Maybe it’s got something to do with the game load, a match every three days, perhaps Maresca works better when he’s got more time on the training ground to prepare for matches.
I don’t think the top four was something Chelsea would have been expecting at the beginning of the season when Marsesca went in there. Before Christmas, I would have been really confident about Chelsea finishing in the top four, but now, and especially with the way that Nottingham Forest are playing, it’s not looking as rock solid as it was.
Enzo Maresca labelled Chelsea’s January transfer window a disaster. Do you have any sympathy for the Italian or is that a consequence of Chelsea’s top heavy squad?
I do have a bit of sympathy for Maresca and his frustration with not being able to move certain players out this January. It'd be different if he brought all these players in, but he didn't.
He's came in and inherited a squad filled with talented young players. He’s been asked to do what Chelsea’s previous managers failed, get a tune out of this squad, and by and large, he’s done that.
He went in, the squad was bloated, and he said, “This is the squad I want, you (the club) have to deal with it.” That was what Graham Potter should have done. It sounds bad, but that's the only way Maresca could have got the tune out of the players that he's got.It's hard for a manager to work with 40 players that all want to be playing. It messes up your training sessions. How do you do a training session for it? There's people standing on the side. It doesn’t work.
Maresca is getting the most out of players
He's getting the best out of Caicedo, the best out of Lavia. Enzo's a completely different player. Sancho's alive, causing problems. Cole Palmer's doing what Cole Palmer does.Jackson's improved massively and so has Noni. Maresca’s doing it right.
They recalled Chalobah who, for me, has been really good at Palace. I feel sorry for Palace because now they're without Andersen and then I heard a rumour that Guehi might be going as well. Palace are on a fantastic run, so I feel sorry for them.Next year will be Enzo Maresca’s season. I think this year he's surprised people; Chelsea have surprised people. The players are performing the way they're performing, and have taken on board what he's told them so quickly. It's a testament not only to him but to the players as well.
Alejandro Garnacho has been linked with a surprise move to Chelsea. Would he be a good signing for your old club / do they need him?
I've been there, I've been in the world. I don't buy into links. That can just be agents.It's a weird link, to be honest with you. Because why take Sancho? You might as well have just taken Garnacho at the beginning. So, it's a weird comparison.For me, it just feels like it's an agent trying to get a move out of somebody else to be more aggressive in their approach, which doesn't seem to be working. So, I'm not buying into that. I think in terms of attack, there's not much missing from Cheslea, so I couldn’t see where he would fit in.
Chelsea have got top wingers. You don't really want more than two in each position.
Joao Felix has been linked with a Chelsea departure. Do you think they will let him go?
I don’t think that Chelsea will let Joao Felix leave because he's the only other person that can do what Cole Palmer can. The biggest problem for Felix is Cole Palmer's become undroppable in many ways. What Cole Palmer's done is kind of an anomaly. To go to another big club where it's falling apart and shine as bright as he has, like his goal the other day where he sits the keeper down, only Cole can do that.
Joao Felix is Cole Palmer’s backup, and he's had a weird career for such a good player. Apart from when he first burst onto the scene, he hasn’t really been a regular. Wherever he’s been, he's everybody's backup, but if you can get him playing well I think he's a deadly player.
On Man City v Chelsea
City won the first game earlier in the season quite convincingly. What has changed at Chelsea since and what kind of a Chelsea will Man City be up against here?
I think you have to minimize Cole Palmer's space. You don’t want Cole Palmer getting on the ball in the final third, let him play passes from as far as the final third as possible. When he's in and around that final third, we've seen him destroy teams with his ability.
I love the way Liverpool played against him. Curtis Jones was just all over him, didn't give him a moment’s breathing space. If you can emulate that, then you can nullify one of Chelsea's biggest threats.
But you know Chelsea always creates chances because they have some amazing players in that squad. Obviously with Reece James back in the team, he gives them another element of attack. So, it will definitely be a different game (as the first meeting that City won 0-2).
I wouldn't say City are in a vulnerable position because they're now starting to put wins and draws together.
It's going to be an exciting game. Chelsea are trying to get back to winning ways, City are trying to carry that winning way. If they beat PSG, that might kick-start them. Plus, you can imagine Omar Marmoush could be in the squad by then. So, there'll be a few different elements on both sides. I would imagine Chalobah will start for them, because Maresca wouldn’t have brought him back so quickly. It will be interesting to see if Reece James starts as well.
Of course, the build-up to this game will be dominated by Cole Palmer. Do you expect Palmer to come to the Etihad with even more determination to take the headlines?
There's a lot of players in the world, past and present, that have been overawed or nervous, but I can't imagine that happening to Cole Palmer. He's just so chilled and cool. He just takes everything in his stride, and he enjoys doing it.
He's going to want to get one back after the defeat early in the season. I can imagine it being an interesting match.
What kind of reaction will Palmer get from the City fans?
Oh, they'll give him a good reaction. I don't think he'll get any boos from his former club. He didn't leave in a bad way. They let everybody part ways on good terms, so the boys will be happy to see him again. The fans will cheer him on, although they won't want him to play well. I would still imagine they'll give a standing ovation at least at the end of the match.
On Arsenal
Will Arsenal fall short in their pursuit of major silverware this season if they don’t sign an attacker in January?
It's such a hard one. The forward chat is such a matter of opinion. Using Man City as an example, until Haaland came, all the leagues and titles after Aguero, City were playing with a false nine. Even sometimes when Agüero was there and he didn't play, they played a false nine. Now I think about Arsenal going neck-and-neck with City for two seasons in a row with basically a false nine. I think the difference this season is that the goals are not coming from other players. Martinelli's not scoring that much. Odegaard’s not scoring that much. The goals aren’t coming from other players to make up for not having that 9.
You're not just always going to outscore people. I just think the difference for me, and I said this a month into the season, there's something different about the way Arsenal were playing this year in comparison to last year and the year before. It feels, I wouldn't say negative, but it feels so much more conservative.Arsenal were free-flowing, the attackers were just going and going. They knew the defence was there to clean up, they could go for it.
Obviously, when you're missing players like Ben White, and you're having the injuries they’ve had, I do understand it why the fluidity hasn’t been there for a certain extent. For a team like Arsenal to depend on set pieces with the players they've got is strange.
When you lose Saka, him and Odegaard’s relationship, you can see that's missing in that Arsenal final third. And then Jesus goes down again with another ACL. It's great to have a 9, but there's not many 9s out there that are scoring every chance they get. I don’t think a new striker would solve all of Arsenal’s issues.
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