On The Premier League
After Arsenal failed to beat Forest, with the gap at 13 points, is that the title race over?
For me, it’s over. Liverpool are going to win the title, 13 points in front, Arsenal have a game in hand. 13 points in front – I just can’t see Arsenal catching them because I can’t see Liverpool losing three or four games in the ten they have left.
If you're a betting man, you'd give it up. So, I've got to say yes, it’s over.
Is Arsenal’s failure to sign a forward in January the main reason for them faltering in the title race?
I don't know how blatant it has to be. Arsenal have been crying out for a proper striker for ages; years.
I hate repeating the facts because the more the people get on at him, the more Mikel Arteta will have to address it and buy someone.
I'm going to play it down and say: keep doing what you're doing, Arteta. If you think you don't need a centre forward to score goals, then I'm with you. As long as you finish second, I'm absolutely delighted.
Has Alexander Isak replaced Erling Haaland as the Premier League’s best striker?
I think from a centre forward's performance, then I would say that Alexander Isak has replaced Erling Haaland as the league’s dominant number nine. Isak is the man that a lot of people are talking about week in, week out, who can score goals.
Haaland, even though he's playing in a team that may go out and win four or five-nil every week, and he could get a hat-trick in the next three games, because that's how good Manchester City can be, even though it’s been a difficult season for them, I think Isak has the edge.
Haaland is formidable. He’s at the top of the game, and he knows that he is going to get the service. When he’s firing on all cylinders and is in form, he will score loads of goals, but I just think that Isak is scoring loads of goals in a team that doesn’t create or dominate as much as Manchester City.
In terms of the golden boot, I think Haaland will run Salah close. They will be trying to finish as high in the table as possible and Haaland will be crucial.
But Isak and Newcastle, are fighting. They’ve still got the League Cup final, they’re buzzing. Those two can run Salah close, but he’s the man in form at the moment, and I think he is the main man at the moment.
Does Jack Grealish seriously need to think about moving on from Manchester City this summer?
I really don't know. I used to work hard, play hard in my day, but you still need to know when to play hard. There's always been players over the years that worked okay and played hard, and their football abilities fell off a cliff. Jack's a little bit in that mold at the moment. They won the treble, and he celebrated on that front and it doesn't seem like he's got back into his football mode yet. He needs to, otherwise his career might slip away.
He's had a couple of injuries, I know he has, but it's amazing how easy it is for a football career to slip away. He needs to get his focus back again and make sure that he gets back in the Man City team and stays free of injuries. To do that, you have to do the right things at the right times.
I think he needs to get his focus back on football and everything else will fall into place. Whether he stays at Man City, he's obviously good enough to be in the starting lineup when he's firing on all cylinders. But if he's not firing on all cylinders and he's not good enough for City, then it might not be good enough for anyone else either. He just needs to get his focus back. That's the first thing for me.
Who’s getting top five?
Even if Arsenal don't have a great run-in and lose a few games or keep dropping points, they'll have enough in the run-in to get into the top four, without a shadow of a doubt.
For City, it's just what Pep does, it's what is expected. They will not fall away. They’ve had a terrible season by their standards, but they're in contention for a place.
Nottingham Forest haven't been there before.
Chelsea are a young team that have played under a lot of different managers, so it's going to be hard for them to keep producing because we all know how difficult the final stretch of the Premier League season is.
You have so many games and it can become a bit of a grind. Saturday to Saturday to Saturday for ten more weeks, it becomes a long drawn-out period. It's hard to stay focused if you're not going for something important and if you've not done it before.
Newcastle will have a strong push. They've been in and around the Champions League places before. I fully expect them to be quite consistent towards the end of the season. Eddie wants Champions League football. The hierarchy above him are demanding it, without a doubt, so Newcastle will be there as well.
Top three: Liverpool, Arsenal and City, then the final two, because it looks like we will have five clubs in the Champions League this season, will come from Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Newcastle.
On Tuchel's England Squad
Who’s been the best English player in the Premier League so far this season?
It’s really difficult to pick one stand-out English player.
Marc Guehi was very good at the start of the season. There was a lot of talk about him leaving Crystal Palace and moving on to pastures new.
Declan Rice was formidable in the early part of the season for Arsenal, the driving force.
Cole Palmer was outstanding for a period at Chelsea.
Anthony Gordon has been electric in periods for Newcastle, but there's no real standouts that are performing week in, week out.That happens after European Championships or World Cups, where you have a long hard season, and you go straight into an international tournament. Players need time to come down after a tournament – it takes time to reinvigorate your intensity and enthusiasm for the game.
You have a couple of injuries, you play with injuries, you try and get through games.It's hard to keep going, keep going, keep going. I know where these players are at and that's when you end up getting fits and starts, because it is an intense season, and it's hard to get your rest at the right times.
That's where all the England players are at. Saka, he's another one that you're expecting big things from, he looked great at the start of the season, then he's had a couple of injuries.
Hopefully when these key England players get their rest at the end of this season then things start to change again, and they can go into the business end of World Cup qualification feeling good.
We’re all looking forward to seeing what Tuchel does with his team. Are there any players that you think could be surprise picks when he names his squad or are there any players that you’ve seen this season who you think should be rewarded with a call-up to the England camp?
I think the only ones we're thinking about are left-backs. The boy at Arsenal, Lewis-Skelly, he had an unbelievable period and everyone's getting excited about him, but since then, all of a sudden there's indifferent things. It's all about consistency.
When you play for England, it's not just about doing things on a one-off basis. You had to be a consistent performer to get in the England setup, not do something for two weeks, and everyone goes, ‘Ah, he's got to play for England. He should be in. Have you seen his goal? He's got to put him in.’
Everyone wants things right now, these days. Have we actually looked at the full package of this player? Is he a top player or can he do things in little periods? You don't want someone coming into the England set up and playing like a nine out of ten one minute and three out of ten the next. You have to prove your quality as a footballer.I don't think there's any youngsters or prospects out there who has done that yet.Tino Livramento, he was talked about highly and then all of a sudden, he's gone quiet recently.
That is fine, that's what happens when young lads come into football teams and everyone's talking about them, and then they have their little lull and it's because they're still learning the game.
Hopefully from his point of view, Eddie's looking after him and encouraging him. Let’s hope he learns, stays professional and becomes a better player. After six months he might come strong again and have the consistency to go with it.
Livramento may need to learn not to go too far down the right wing or going into midfield when he shouldn't, and young players do that because they get excited about the game, it’s like, hold on a minute, you're a right back. That's your position. That's where you've played your best football. Don't get carried away.
We’ve seen Tuchel use a 343 mainly in the Premier League. Is that the system you would play to get the best out of this group of England players?
I don't think 343 suits England as a set-up in general. When you look at Man United, 343 has put them in disarray, because playing with three at the back is difficult. It may sound sill because their professional footballers, but most players don't play with three at the back and aren’t used to it.
To the average football person, how different can it be to play a certain system? You're still playing football on the grass. The pitch is still the same size. You've still got two goals. What's the difference?But when you are put in a slightly different position on a football pitch, you don't do things naturally. Most of our players have grown up with four at the back. Most of our defenders understand the positional sense of four at the back.
When you look at the Brazilians, the Germans, even the Dutch to a certain extent, they've all tried these different systems and they work them nicely, if it's put out there to them in the right manner, they all understand it.
I don't think that's the case with the England set up and the England defenders in general.
I would be very surprised if Tuchel went with three at the back just because he likes that. I think you have to work with what you've got. You have to see how your players perform and how comfortable they feel with the system.
Ben White. Would you welcome him back into the England fold or would you leave him on the outside after everything that’s happened between him and the FA?
When you're a new manager coming into the setup, there'll be people out there saying, if he's turned down the chance to play for England, then he shouldn't play for England again.But you have different opinions, different ways of managing and understanding players, and how you get on with people. I think things can be forgiven.
I think if Tuchel speaks to Ben White and Ben White tells him exactly what went on, we don't all really know. But we feel we understand that there was a conflict between him and the coaching staff in terms of how he was being asked to play, but that can be all made better.
If Tuchel thinks he's the best right back in the country for England, then I would have no problems about bringing him back in and seeing what he can do.
On His Career
If you could pick one former teammate in their prime as a player and drop them into this United team, who would it be and why?
Roy Keane, without a doubt. There's no leaders at the football club. You need leaders at top football clubs. You know your John Terrys, your Tony Adams, your Roy Keanes, players that lead by example and make sure other people are doing their jobs. No one's doing that at Manchester United. So, get Roy Keane in there to ruffle a few feathers, make sure that they all understand what they should be doing and do it.
Do you think Sir Alex Ferguson could turn around this version of Manchester United?
I think Fergie evolved over the time that he was at Manchester United. From what I have been told, he was far more sedate in his manner by the time I got to Manchester United, and had started to become more relaxed.
Fergie was a cool customer compared to what he was at Aberdeen, so I think he would have adapted. He would understand the current situation and he would have worked out how to speak to certain players.
I think there's still a time to be able to speak to players in no uncertain terms, to ruffle a few feathers. But you have to make sure that if you’re digging out a player, you’re digging out the right ones.
You need your players in the dressing room to understand what you want from everybody, not just from your leaders. Fergie would probably go for one of his leaders to send a message. He might even tell him beforehand that I'm going to come for you in this meeting but it's not really directed at you. I'm directing it at you so that other players look and think, Jesus, if he's having a go at him like that, how does he feel about me? I need to buck my ideas up.
That was the psychology side of the way Sir Alex went about things in his dressing rooms, and I think it's still needed, and it needs to be done at certain times. This United team definitely need it.
What were the main differences between Clough and Ferguson?
The similarities between Brian Clough and Sir Alex was that they didn't complicate things, without a doubt. They had different ways of getting their point across, but there were no big meetings and talking about everything else. It was, this is what we do. We're going to go out and do this. They didn't worry so much about the opposition. You know, this is Manchester United.And Cloughy was exactly the same.
This is how we play. If we play properly, the way I want you to play, we will beat the opposition, whoever we were playing. There were no big meetings about watching their left winger, watching their midfield player. We're here to perform. So, let's go out and perform.
Sheringham's Connections
Is it impossible for a guy like Roy Keane who can be so outspoken and critical to have a role in the modern game because of how football has changed?
Roy’s been out of work for a little while now. I wouldn't be averse to having him back at the football club, but I think there's only one role for Roy Keane and he needs to be the leader. If they're thinking about changing Amorim, for me, putting someone back in charge like, it would be a leadership coup to do that and get Roy in. There might be fireworks at certain times, but it needs to be sorted out, doesn't it? Manchester United needs shaping up in there.I don't know whether he's evolved in his time away, if he’s ready to go back into football or not. His ego would probably take him back in there as well.
Will Cristiano Ronaldo’s reach his target of hitting 1,000 goals? He’s on 925.
I think Ronaldo will get to 1,000 goals, especially with the league that he's playing in. I think he could probably get to 1,000 goals in the next two seasons.
But again, I've talked about it before, it gets harder when you get older as a player. Once you get past that 40th birthday. Then again, he's not going to be getting kicked about all over the place. He has the red carpet rolled out for him every time he steps onto the pitch and the centre-halves that he's playing against are probably saying, Cristiano, let me see what you can do, and you can score a goal so I can applaud you, and get your shirt afterwards.
Beckham At 50
What would you choose as his best performance during your time together for club and country, would it be the Greece game in 2001? What are your memories of him that day?
A lot of people talk about Beckham and that particular moment, but for me, the true quality of the man came out when he got sent off for England in the 98 World Cup. He got vilified for it and for the next five months of the season, 98/99, he got dog's abuse every time he touched the ball. Every five, 10 seconds.
People wanted to kill him. They wanted to hang him. They wanted to burn him. And every time we got the ball we got booed, and that is such intensity. For a player to come through that and be strong enough to come through that, that's what made the man for me, and he went on to bigger and better things. It’s a credit to him because it was just disgusting (the abuse he was getting).
The general public jumps on the bandwagon, saying he's the reason why we got knocked out of the World Cup. It wasn't the reason we got knocked out of the World Cup. He made one slight mistake of a little tap of his ankle while he's on the floor and Simeone made the most of it to get him sent off when the referee was in the vicinity, but didn't actually see what happened.
I saw it with my own eyes. I was 20 yards away and it was unreal how it all unfolded and for Becks to get sent off; for him to get vilified. Every time he touched the ball he was booed; every time he took free-kicks or corners. Leicester fans, Wolves fans, 20,000 Liverpool fans all booing him, hoping that he misses his freekick, and he just puts it in the top corner and starts running off as if to say ‘eff you.’It's amazing how he came through that and became a better player.
That was the period that could have broken him without a doubt.
Why do you think he recovered from that so well, and was so good in your treble season with Manchester United? Did the hate he was experiencing help create a siege mentality that helped the club in that golden season?
Maybe. It definitely brought us closer together early on in the season and I think Fergie's management skills were phenomenal in as much as he could be ruthless with David Beckham.
But he also knew when to put an arm around his shoulder and say, you know what, son? You'll do for me. Don't worry about all these idiots in the world or in the country trying to bring you down. You're a proper player. Just remember that when you put on your Man United shirt, we still love you. You're going to be fine. We're going to go on to bigger and better things.
He knew exactly when to do, so that's why Becks still holds him in such high regard, even though they had their problems throughout their careers.
Would Manchester United have won the 1999 Champions League final without David Beckham taking the corners, that led to your equaliser and then the winner?
Delivery is everything. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Ifs and buts mate, don't it doesn’t matter. No, it doesn't matter. The most important thing is winning it.
On Man United
It’s been a really challenging season for Manchester United. What are the silver linings for you?
I think there might be one or two. Amad, without a doubt, he has been a revelation at times. The centre midfielder, Mainoo, at the start of the season everyone was talking about him, that he's going to be a Manchester United legend for the next 20 years. He was going to be mainstay in the England squad, and now, all of a sudden, he’s on the sidelines.
That's an experience that Mainoo will be better for because of it. He'll bounce back. That will hold him in good stead. You know, like I'm talking about with the Beckham period. This will hold Mainoo in good stead, that it's not all a bed of roses. There will be ups and downs in your career. It's not easy to get in there and compete and perform each season.
You have to be at the top of your game, and watching other people performing will help him in the long run.
Is it concerning that Marcus Rashford appears to be a player who’s form has improved since leaving Manchester United?
Marcus Rashford’s improved form wouldn't be a worry for me, no. Players need to realise that when they're at Manchester United, they're at one of the best clubs in the world.
You have to fight tooth and nail and give 100% and more to make it work at Manchester United because you're not going to be at a better football club.
Aston Villa is not anywhere near as big as Manchester United, so if he's happy there doing what he's doing then I'm delighted for him. I would have fought a little bit harder to resurrect my career at United first.
How does Amorim turn this around?
First things first, understanding the British press is a massive thing. Maybe he could be as honest as what he's been in Portugal, but for him to come out and say what he said about being the worst Manchester United team that's been in the Premier League, or whatever he said, he was being open and honest.
But it's backfired on him because, every time Manchester United have a bad performance, they abuse him for it and the headlines all point towards it. That's a good learning experience for him as well.
Don't be so honest.
Sometimes you need to be a little bit guarded when you talk to the press, otherwise it just gets thrown back in your face. He's learning about the English mentality and English football, so I'm sure he's learning about his football team as we go along as well.I think he speaks well when he talks about his football team, and he understands the game and he understands the work ethic that he wants from his football team and his players. But he just doesn't have to say it so openly to the press.
Keep that within the dressing room, otherwise it's just putting more pressure on yourself.I can understand that you want to reply to certain people, but the only way you can reply as a football manager is to get results on the football pitch. You don't need to start getting in fights with Wayne Rooney, with Roy Keane, with Gary Neville, whatever, or with something that I might say here today.You don't need to reply.
We're asked our opinions, this is our opinions, but the only opinion that matters is the one from the United manager. And he needs to get things right there.That's always been the case for Man United. That's what happens. They're one of the biggest clubs in the world and there's a lot of people around the world that want to see them fail.
You know that they went 1-0 down against Ipswich the other day, the daggers were out, weren't they? What's the headlines? Quick, let's write them. More papers, more excitement. And then they win. We'll leave that headline for another couple of weeks.
That doesn't happen at every other football. But at Manchester United, it does. So, you always have to be on your guard.
On Nottingham Forest
Should Nottingham Forest prioritise the FA Cup over the top four?
Definitely not. Don’t prioritise competitions. Certain clubs, they would prioritise. I don't think there is any prioritising going on at Nottingham Forest. You've just gotta keep going. But Champions League football would be absolutely amazing.
Different perspectives for different football clubs at different times, different aims, different targets. Either one of the FA Cup or the Champions League would be absolutely amazing this season. Both of them would be incredible. Neither at this stage would be heartbreaking, but that's just where they're at.
Are you backing them for a top four finish?
It's a little bit too early to convincingly say that Forest are in there, but they still look strong, don't they? They got through against Ipswich in the FA Cup the other day, so the ball's still rolling for them. There's still optimism in the football club. They're still confident and the expectancy levels are still there for them every time they go on the football pitch.
Do you think bigger clubs would look to take a chance on Chris Wood in the summer?
Without a doubt. He's a young man at 33. I played till I was 41 in the Premier League. He's still a young man. For the way he plays the game, he can keep going until he’s 36, 37, no shadow of a doubt.
He's a bit bigger than me, a bit more solid, but the way he performs, he doesn’t go charging all over the place. It’s a positional game that he plays. He arrives at the right time; he doesn’t run the channels. He can play for a few more seasons.
If I was Arteta, I could quite easily break the bank for him to play as a goal scorer for Arsenal. Someone that scores goals at the top level is hard to come by and he can do it.
Yes, he's had a phenomenal season, but he's a natural goal scorer that is capable of leading the line and creating danger in the boxes, occupying defenders.
Newcastle could even get him back up there. If they want to cash in on Isak and get £120 million for him to go to Arsenal and then get Wood to go in there for £20-30 million. You've got a goal scorer that finishes off all the good work that the rest of the players are doing.
On Arsenal
If you were a player in the dressing room, would you feel a bit let down by the club or question the ambition that Arsenal are moving in by not making signings in January. Player like Declan Rice publicly said they wanted more players to join in Jan…
Declan Rice is a leader, wants to win titles, so he's been outspoken. If he's come out with that, that’s a little bit of frustration and he’s come out and said what he feels, and possibly what everybody else feels around the situation and wants to happen.
You don't always come out with quotes like that because there's players playing in those positions that might look over their shoulder. It can cause a bit of friction within the football club. But as I say, he wants to be a winner, he wants success as a footballer.
Have the Gunners got any chance of winning the competition?
At the top level you need to score goals in important moments. What can I say? Moments come and people score goals for you out of nothing. That's what goal scorers do.
And top players do top things at the right moments in football games that win football matches. And that's why you have them in specific positions to do what they do. And if you haven't got people in those positions, then it becomes very hard to win football games at the top level.
Arsenal don’t have that at the moment. They don’t have a goal threat, and you need a goal threat to win the Champions League.
On Tottenham
Would you fancy them to get past AZ Alkmaar?
They need to get through this tie, and they are expected to get through, but it becomes tricky if you don’t treat the opponent in the right way. You need to respect your opposition at this level, in KO football in Europe.
Tottenham need to win a trophy. This is the only trophy that's left on the table for them, so it would be amazing if they could go on and win it.
It's been such a long time for Tottenham and Tottenham's fans and all that, that it's an optimistic view, it's a very hopeful view that we could win the Europa League.They’re in the last 16, so they have a great opportunity. It is hopeful at this moment,and obviously there's been a lot of injury problems this season.It's been tough. I feel there've been moments as well where Ange has been a little bit picked on in the press. I think he's had a bit of a rough time.
Is Solanke’s return important?
He looked like he was really ready. He plays the position like a centre forward. He does it naturally. He leads the line. He stays up there. He keeps the two centre halves away from anything in the midfield because he's a big lad. He needs to be watched. He plays the game naturally; he's a top performer.I really like him. I think he's a fantastic player for Tottenham and I'm looking forward to him coming back as well. He'll give a massive lift for everyone at the club.
Would you stick with Postecoglou?
I'm quite happy with Ange. I think he’s had a learning period in terms of working with the English press, regarding some of the things that he's come out with at the start of the season.
He probably wouldn't use that terminology at different times in the season. He probably wouldn’t leave himself open to such criticism.
He’s very open and honest, and sometimes that comes back to bite you when you speak to the English press like that, it definitely did with Ange.
I'm still optimistic about him because of the way he approaches football matches and the way he takes the game to the opposition.
They’ve had loads of injuries. For me, he speaks sense, and if you’re missing your two international top performers in your centre-halves, and your goalkeeper. They make a massive difference to any football team.
Any team from kids football to the top level of Champions League football. If you’re without your two main centre-halves and your goalkeeper in any football team, it makes a huge difference.
People haven't respected that situation and they're still cutting away at him, chomping away. Saying, we've heard that excuse, come on, tell us something different.
Ange can't tell them anything different. It's still the same situation, but we need to keep going to get through this period.
Sometimes when your repeating yourself, it becomes tiresome and you don't want to keep saying the same thing, but it's the truth.
I'm backing Ange, and when the players come back, things will look so much more positive and strong for Tottenham. That positivity floods through the rest of the team. The confidence will ooze once they come back into their positions.
On Liverpool
Can Liverpool do the treble? Where would it rank v City and United’s if they do it with the League Cup?
Well, it's the League Cup, isn't it? It's not the same prestige. It would be unbelievable for them though, wouldn’t it?
They're going to win the league. They're in one final. They're looking good in the Champions League as well.
They're a solid outfit and look good, but we all know things change towards the end of the season. That little bit of luck at the wrong time or the rub of the green changes things for a football club.
So having said that, I've been around Lee Westwood this week with his Newcastle connections, and I'd love to see Newcastle win something.
I think it'd be great for English football if they were to win. I'm not saying it against Liverpool. I just think it would be great for English football if they were to win the League Cup.
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