In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Aston Villa and Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including where Jose Mourinho will manage next, Luis Diaz’s Liverpool future, Paul Pogba’s doping ban and a look ahead to this weekend’s Manchester Derby, plus much more.
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Liverpool need to prepare for life without Mo Salah…
There have been whispers of Luis Diaz being sacrificed by Liverpool so the club can keep Mo Salah out of the clutches of the Saudi Pro League.
I think these types of stories are going to come up more and more often the closer to the summer window we approach, and with Jurgen Klopp leaving at the end of the season, I expect this summer to be denominated by Liverpool-related links. Diaz, for me, is just the latest player to have his Anfield future speculated.
Although Diaz’s numbers aren’t quite at the levels I certainly think there are other players who Liverpool will get rid of before they offload the Columbian.
Either way though, the club have got to start planning for life with Salah. Although he may not move this summer, he isn’t going to go on forever. The Egyptian is approaching 32 years old, it’s time the club looked to the future.
The Special One would jump at chance to manage Newcastle…
Rumours are beginning to surface about Newcastle’s board looking to replace Eddie Howe.
I am not surprised to see his future under threat. He’s done well up to this point, but as I have always said, as soon as things start to slide the club will be looking for replacements. The Saudi-back regime are there to win, they don’t care how loyal supporters are to a manager because they’ll know if they can get someone else in to take the side to the next level, it won’t be long before they’ve forgotten all about the previous man in charge.
I tipped Julian Naglesmann to replace Howe at some point nearly a year ago, and although the German could still take the St. James’ Park hot seat, it’s less likely he will do so now he’s Germany’s national team manager.
Consequently, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jose Mourinho emerge as the frontrunner to succeed Howe. I am fully expecting ‘The Special One’ to start appearing on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football and talk up the possibility of returning to the Premier League. He’ll know how big Newcastle are as a club and he’ll know he’ll be back to the hilt so it’s an opportunity he would jump at.
Not only that but with Jorge Mendes as his agent and Mendes having close ties with Saudi chiefs, it seems to be just a matter of time before his top managerial client ends up at one of the clubs the state is associated with, and while that could lead to Mourinho managing in the Pro League, I could certainly see him in the northeast soon.
Just give Man City the three points already…
Sunday’s Manchester Derby at the Etihad is the biggest game of the weekend but I think it’ll be disappointment again for the red half.
City have dished out some thrashings over the years and I don’t expect this one to be much different. Although I don’t think United will lose by five, six or seven, I certainly see them getting played off the park and losing comfortably — my pick is 3-1.
United are supposed to be closing the gap between themselves and their cross-town rivals but if anything, it’s getting bigger. When exactly is Erik Ten Hag going to end this ‘era’ he spoke of?
Not only that but they’ve got a captain in Bruno Fernandes who will not lead the team to victory. He just isn’t capable of being the fierce leader all the top teams have. He spends his time throwing his arms up in the air, pulling funny faces and moaning about every single little decision. There is a reason so many United fans haven’t taken to him.
Perhaps I am being a little critical, so irrespective of all that, I know some promising things are happening at United, including the possibility of a new stadium and poaching some top backroom talent, including Omar Berrada, previously of City of course, but on the pitch, especially when it comes to this weekend’s game, I just can’t help but feel United are just nowhere near Pep Guardiola’s men. Nowhere near.
Paul Pogba’s career has been overrated…
My final point is on Paul Pogba. The midfielder has been banned for four years following a guilty doping verdict.
He may appeal but assuming the ban is upheld, he’ll be almost 35 years old by the time he’s eligible to return to playing, and while he may play again, I certainly don’t think we’ll ever see the Frenchman at a big club again. His career is more or less done now.
It’s a sad way to go out, of course it is, but in my mind, he’ll always be remembered as a midfielder who could’ve done it, but never quite did do it. He was far too inconsistent to be considered a world-class player. If you remove that 2018 World Cup from his CV, his career is very average. I certainly don’t put him anywhere near the best 100 midfielders of his generation.