In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including Erik Ten Hag’s opening season in charge of Man United, which club Harry Maguire should join, why Newcastle should be scouting Man City star and reaction to Mauricio Pochettino’s links to becoming Chelsea’s next permanent manager, plus much more.
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Erik Ten Hag has proven he’s a great coach…
Obviously, as we all know, Manchester United, after beating Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday, will now play Manchester City in the final on 3 June.
Firstly, I thought Brighton were excellent yesterday. I sincerely hope they can keep their squad together in the summer, but I fear they won’t be able to, and secondly, anyone that is writing United off for the trophy is crazy. They have such a rich history in that competition and Manchester City have never played them in that competition’s final, so I wonder if the Cityzens will feel the nerves a bit more than they usually do. Over a single game, anything can happen, so although City will probably be the favourites to lift it, you can’t disregard United’s chances.
Regardless of what happens at Wembley in June though, assuming United can finish inside the Premier League’s top four, I think Champions League qualification, one trophy and a final in another competition would be a fantastic opening season for Erik Ten Hag. He’s made Man United competitive again and the only way to judge a coach is by their ability to make players better, and I think you’ve only got to look at what he’s done with the likes of Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw to see that he’s a great coach.
It was great to see Rashford starting again yesterday but I thought Shaw at centre-back had a particularly good game. I can’t imagine he’ll see out the rest of his career in that position because I think height and physicality at the back are as important as pace is up front, but there is no doubt about it – he is a superb backup option for Ten Hag to have.
I hope whoever the club’s owners are in the summer give Ten Hag the financial resources to take them to the next level and allow him the chance to clear out a lot of unwanted players.
I would love Aston Villa to sign Harry Maguire…
On the subject of potential players leaving Man United… Although I think the criticism he receives is hugely unfair at times, I think Harry Maguire, for his own sake, has to leave Old Trafford at the end of the season.
He’s a quality centre-back who puts his body on the line, but he does have his limitations; it’s just a case of putting others around him to mask those areas of weakness, and personally, I think a team like Aston Villa are able to offer him that. I would love to see him at Villa Park – I’d drive him from Manchester to the Midlands myself if I could.
A club like Aston Villa and Maguire would be a match made in heaven – they’re big enough to match his ambition, they’ve got an experienced manager who could definitely get the best out of him and competition for Tyrone Mings would only be a positive thing.
Newcastle United trio are on fire…
The biggest talking point from the weekend was obviously Newcastle United’s 6-1 demolition over Tottenham Hotspur. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing unfold at St James’ Park on Sunday – it was absolute madness!
A great performance from the Magpies. Every single one of their players performed to a very high standard yesterday and credit to Eddie Howe for getting them in the right frame of mind to win what was actually a very important match, especially considering they’d suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa last time out.
I think everyone will agree that the three standout performers were Joe Willock, Joelinton and Alexander Isak.
Firstly, Willock getting into the England squad is a no-brainer for me. I am all for any in-form English player, regardless of who they play for at club level, getting a chance to play for the Three Lions and Willock is certainly giving Gareth Southgate a reason to think about including him in his England squad in time for their next set of fixtures.
Secondly, on Isak, I wrote about him a couple of months ago and was quite harsh on the lad. I basically said that I wasn’t sure he is the right player to lead Newcastle’s line on his own, and although he’s not exactly proving me right, I will remain cautious over talking up his ability too much until I see him do it in the Champions League, assuming Newcastle finish inside the top four this season. But there is no doubt about it, he’s young, incredibly talented and quite clearly has an eye for goal. My only concern would be that if the side hit a tough period through injuries or bad results, will Isak be the type of player to drag them through, such as Harry Kane has done for Tottenham over the years?
As for Joelinton, he’s a totally different story. He was a player that was just waiting to show us what he can do. He actually reminds me a bit of Richarlison. Joelinton is a player with exceptional physical attributes, he has a bit of tenacity about him and if a manager puts their arm around him and says ‘you are the best player in your position in the country’, he’s going to shine for you, and that is exactly what Howe has done with him, and now we’re seeing the effects of that.
If we see Newcastle playing in the Champions League next season, I am very confident that Joelinton will be their most important player because of how great a fit he’ll be for that competition. He looks made for it!
Kieran Tierney to St James’ Park would make a lot of sense, but so would Man City attacker…
I really like Kieran Tierney. When he first moved from Celtic to Arsenal there were a lot of comparisons made between him and Liverpool’s Andy Robertson. Robertson obviously kicked on and grown to become a genuinely world-class left-back and Tierney has stagnated a bit due to injury and fitness problems. However, I still think at the age of 25 and with Howe’s exceptional individual coaching methods that there is still plenty of time for the Scotsman to enjoy the same kind of success Liverpool’s number 26 has.
If Newcastle have the money available to look at signing quality players in the summer then there is absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t go out and get Tierney. He’d be a really good player for them – he would offer some very good balance, he loves to get forward but he is also solid defensively.
Riyad Mahrez is another player I think Newcastle should be seriously considering. I know he’s played a fair amount of football this season, probably more than he was expecting, but with Jack Grealish the younger of the two, as well as how much they paid for him, I can’t see him being a player that is moved on, whereas, I think Mahrez could be made surplus to requirements under Pep Guardiola, and should that be the case, Newcastle should go all out for him – I would be stunned if they aren’t already to be fair.
I would worry for Mauricio Pochettino if he takes Chelsea job…
The problem I see happening further down the line is Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t inherently strike me as a Chelsea manager. What I mean is, Pochettino isn’t the type of manager we’ve seen previously over the years at Stamford Bridge.
Others have come in and been fully aware that they must hit the ground running. Obviously, Pochettino will know he’ll need to start well and get some good results if he gets the job, but he is a manager that builds for the future. He will want time to get the young and inexperienced players playing a certain way – that is unlikely to happen instantly.
He also appears to be a very calm and collected manager, whereas most of the Blues’ previous managers who have done well, have all had that bit of spice and controversy about their personality, so I am not sure how good of a fit he’ll be