In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points including which players Man United should sell, whether Man City can win the treble, which surprise name has entered the frame for the Chelsea manager’s job and much more…
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No future at Man United for calamitous pair
It’s time for David De Gea and Harry Maguire to go. If you’re Erik ten Hag you’re looking at where your weak links are and where you can improve with the added potential of the money from either the Qataris or Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Harry Maguire, through no fault of his own, cost £80m because if you remember Virgil van Dijk cost £75m and everyone was like ‘whoever is sold next, that’s the par for the course price.’ The reality is he’s a very good club man who will give you a solid 7.5 or 8 out of 10, but when you’re looking at the very pointy end of big tournaments he perhaps just hasn’t quite got it.
I think with de Gea now, familiarity breeds contempt. He’s been there too long and Man United need fresh gloves. If you’re looking down the spine of the team; goalkeeper, central defender, main midfielder and striker, United have got Casemiro, a 9 out of 10 very good player in that midfield position, Rashford transitioning into being a striker – though I still think they should go for a Harry Kane – so the two positions I think that need strengthening are the central defender and goalkeeper.
You don’t like to see people struggle on the big stage as they did against Sevilla, but I think that it was such a public and very glaring mistake that at least now ten Hag can go to the board and say we need to change it. Maguire would be excellent if he went to the tier of clubs underneath because you look at how progressive Brighton are, Villa are…clubs that I would say are upwardly mobile but not quite the finished article in terms of the top four. I think that Maguire still has plenty to offer that type of outfit and England as Gareth Southgate always picks him when he’s fit.
I don’t think Man United should go back to Dean Henderson, they need a clean break. There are enough quality No.1’s out there now, particularly those that are good with their feet for example. Those goalkeepers in the 24/25/26 age range where United can say we’re buying someone fresh and new and this is going to be our goalkeeper for the next 10 years. They should be looking up and down the league. I know Emi Martinez has been rumoured but I don’t know if he’s the sort of keeper that Man United would go for. Obviously the likes of Meslier has had a very, very difficult season at Leeds but he’s still a baby. Would he be someone they’d look to develop?
Lampard may have swayed Mount’s next career decision
Are we really reading too much into Mason Mount deleting his Twitter? Possibly. I know that Liverpool have been sniffing around Mason and if you’re putting two and two together and making 22 rather than four, the suggestion could be that he’s going to sign for Liverpool, the deal is already done, and as and when he signs for Liverpool and it becomes fact on social media, Chelsea fans will have a pop at him. It’s his club and he’s been there a long, long, time. There were rumours that Todd Boehly wanted to give him a new contract but I think that going to Liverpool would be a step up. I think if Chelsea were above them in the table it would still be a step up because going to a club like Liverpool, Man United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus and AC Milan – they’re once in a lifetime clubs. That’s no disrespect to what Chelsea have achieved.
I was up at Anfield yesterday as John Barnes had a mural unveiled. Walk around the corner and there’s one of Ian Callaghan, Jurgen Klopp, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Steven Gerrard and Phil Neal. The place is dripping with great British football history and it’s a persuasive argument for a young man who’s only known Chelsea to go up north to a former industrial city, a proper footballing city and to find out what it’s like. Frank Lampard interestingly may have swayed it in his favour, which might sound odd, but if Mount’s advisors say ‘he’s not signing a new contract’ and then he goes to Frank ‘what do you think?’…. don’t forget Frank Lampard went up to Man City late in his career and enjoyed that experience of being in a different place.
Kompany’s legendary Premier League standing makes him an interesting pick up for Chelsea
It’s interesting that I’ve just heard that Vincent Kompany has been mentioned for the Chelsea job alongside Nagelsmann, Pochettino and somebody else. Now, Vinny Kompany would be Graham Potter but with the trophies and the medals to prove he was a bona fide Premier League legend which is always difficult to get across in a dressing room. The Chelsea players certainly wouldn’t be able to get one over on him in the same way as they did with Graham Potter. He’s obviously a very bright guy, he went away and did a masters as well as then going to Anderlecht to cut his teeth in Belgium.
I don’t think Frank Lampard is any better than Graham Potter and all that appointment’s done is given Chelsea fans the reassurance of a sugar hit of a new manager. The board should actually be looking at a sustainable methodology that can get them success which I don’t think includes hire and fire anymore. Whoever gets the job, they’ve got to be given the time to discharge what I think it is that Todd Boehly wants, which is some sort of consistency.
From a playing perspective, Chelsea aren’t in a two or three horse race for the Premier League and the Champions League anymore. Newcastle are doing really well, they’ve got money. Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal too. Spurs aren’t going anywhere because they’ve got a certain level of capital that they can spend… clubs like Brighton and Brentford that are really progressive in terms of recruitment will be up there challenging for Europe, and then in a few years clubs like Everton, who are moving into a new, revenue generating stadium, and Villa who have very wealthy owners will be in that bracket. Leeds might be ripe for buying too, and all of a sudden the Jose Mourinho ‘Special One’ team which perhaps only had Man United to overcome, now they’ve got five, six or seven teams in the same space, so a regular hiring and firing of managers won’t work for Todd Boehly.
Not this year for a City treble
The treble is certainly possible but very difficult for a reason. There are some good teams left in the FA Cup, Real Madrid in the Champions League and Arsenal may well go and win against Manchester City, in which case all bets are off. Do I think it will happen this season? I don’t but I don’t think they’ll be far away in the next few seasons. If they continue the capital investment at City from the last six, seven, eight years, and there’s no suggestion that they’ll back off under pressure from the Qataris at Man United and the Saudi’s at Newcastle, then it’s inevitable because more clubs will buy more quality players.
This season I think they’ll be close but no cigar. If they were to do it, however, then the comparisons will start with that Man United side and I don’t think that the team that plays for Man City today, very good as they are, can hold a candle to that Man United treble-winning team. The ’99 vintage can legitimately go into a very rarified group with the great Liverpool cup winning teams, standing toe to toe with ANY team on a football pitch.
Three stars to make Newcastle a top four staple
If Newcastle were serious about raising eyebrows and continuing with known British-based or Premier League players rather than the likes of say an Mbappe, I think Kieran Tierney would be very good. He’s been unlucky with injuries at Arsenal but I like him a lot and I think he could do an Andy Robertson if he found the right club.I think that Leicester’s James Maddison would be a very good fit too as he believes in himself and has great ability. He would thrive off the love and the mania that the Newcastle fans would give him. The other player I’d choose would be Moises Caicedo. He’s incredibly athletic and if they got those three in, I would say Newcastle are taking the steps to be a top four staple. Those two midfielders would add creativity and the ability to keep the door locked, whilst Tierney could go on to be one of the best left-backs in the country. Newcastle’s recruitment has been great to this point too. They haven’t bought a ‘galactico’ and in fact they’ve been the ‘anti-galacticos.’ Fans can get behind and identify with that, and all three players that I’ve just mentioned would fall into the model of what Newcastle have done in terms of recruitment. They would significantly add to the Magpies and help them steer clear of big, possibly disruptive names for two or three years.
Hammers have a chance to move forward… without Moyes
West Ham have got to decide what they want to be. Whether they want to go down the road of having a progressive younger coach of the type that Roberto De Zerbi or Thomas Frank are. Would they even go for a Gary O’Neil, one of West Ham’s own of course? Look at the job he’s done at Bournemouth. Or do West Ham’s board give David Moyes another year whereby they know what his style and substance is, but it’s a little bit samey and players can zone out? I think they are way better than 15th in the table because their European form has proved that. If it was me I’d be looking to twist and move on from David Moyes. You tap into his experience perhaps as a director of football or some kind of role to acknowledge what he’s done, because it’s been significant, but if they continue with Moyes, it would be a bit of a lazy choice because they should be getting more out of the squad than he is.
There’s no reason why the club shouldn’t go for a proactive coach that plays front-foot, aggressive football. If De Zerbi, Frank and Unai Emery can get their clubs up into European positions, the West Ham board should be looking at things and saying we need someone who can do the same on a regular basis. I’m not convinced that Moyes can do that in the league anymore.