On Manchester United vs Fulham
Manchester United got off to a win in the Premier League. It’s what Erik ten Hag would have been looking for, but bigger tests lie ahead. How important is it to start the season on a positive note?
It's the three points, they're huge. That’s all that Erik ten Hag would have been thinking about ‘I need to begin the season by getting three points on the board’.
You just want to get off to a good start. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, results are the most important thing.
Over the next few days, ten Hag will be thinking about how he can improve the performance.
Looking ahead to Brighton and the way that they play, lots of energy, forwards pressing from the front, I think it will be a much trickier game for Manchester United.
The Fulham performance
We didn’t come away from that and think that Manchester United were great to watch. It was ordinary stuff, a lot like last season.
For your opening game of the season, you want to see something you like. I don’t think that’s happening at Old Trafford now and hasn’t for a long time.
We haven’t seen the whole package from Manchester United under Erik ten Hag. We haven’t seen a complete performance for 90 minutes - that’s something that he absolutely needs to address this season.
On Joshua Zirkzee
The thing about Zirkzee, he’s kind of come out of nowhere. He’s had a fairly nomadic career that, after one decent season playing in Italy for Bologna, has taken him to Manchester United.
I think if you asked most football fans in the UK about him six months ago, most of them wouldn’t have been able to tell you much (about him).
I liked his debut. He didn’t look in awe of Old Trafford, and we’ve seen players struggle on that stage in the past. You’ve got to have the right character if you want to play for Manchester United and, on first impressions, he’s got that.
He didn’t look nervous at all. It was a great start for him.
Gordon’s Manchester United worry
I look at the way teams like Brighton, Liverpool, City and Arsenal play without the ball, and their forwards are working tirelessly to press and harry the opponent. They’re aggressive. They force the opposition into mistakes. Manchester United don’t do that. We haven’t seen Manchester United’s forward players doing that under Erik ten Hag and that worries me.
Is it a case of fitness? Is it a case of attitude and desire? I just don’t see the United attacking players being positive in terms of hunting down the opponent and putting them under pressure.
With the exception of possibly Real Madrid, every single top team hunts down possession and presses with their forwards. PSG used to be like that with three world-class players in Messi, Neymar and Mbappe just trotting about - that is why they never won the Champions League. United’s front three remind me of them, and not in a good way! In a way that says, I’m going to saunter about and not put the work in off the ball.
When you close down and press as a team, every single player has to commit. I don’t see that whole-hearted effort, and it starts from the front three players.
On Jadon Sancho
Everybody's screaming and shouting about Jadon Sancho and his future at Manchester United.
Perhaps Erik ten Hag had a word with him and said: “I need you to work a wee bit harder for me without the ball.” Perhaps that is why they fell out in the first place.
Sancho and his people have thought to themselves, ‘no, the manager is disrespecting me by asking me to do that’. He’s not disrespecting you; he’s telling you the truth! As a manager, you’re in trouble if your players don’t want to follow your instructions.
The situation between the pair of them is one to watch this season. He wasn’t in the squad for the Fulham game and the manager said that he wasn’t 100% fit…
Life can be a bit too easy for some of these Manchester United players. I like that Erik ten Hag is trying to change that.
One of the biggest criticisms about Erik ten Hag is that his team doesn’t have a defined way of playing. Does he need to put that right this season?
He’s chopped and changed his style of play, and if he's confused at all...then there'll be confusion with the players.
The best managers have a defined and clear playing style. They know what they want their teams to do.
I watched Liverpool yesterday - Arne Slot’s first competitive game in charge - and they knew exactly what they wanted to do. There was variety in their play as well, which was highlighted by the two goals they scored.
One goal is built from the back, going through people. It was a wonderful goal that first one from Diogo Jota.
As for the second, they’ve looked at where Ipswich are going to be most vulnerable and have exploited it. Put the ball in behind the left back and let Salah run in there.
That’s the football that I like. That’s football with variation. That's the manager's plan. Look for where the weakness is and play for it.
Some managers constantly waffle on about their playing philosophy, some managers just like at the one-v-one battles over a pitch and target weaknesses.
We haven’t seen Erik ten Hag implement an identity on his team in two seasons; I can’t see an identity in the way that United play.
That’s the difference between the very best teams in England and Manchester United.
On Lisandro Martinez
Lisandro Martinez has got a bit about him. He’s got that fighting spirit. When he loses a game of football, you can tell that he feels it deep down inside. It’s horrible for him, and that’s how you should feel if you’re a top player. You should hate to lose football matches.
He gives you that desire, that commitment and that aggression that all of the best Argentinian defenders have. There’s a mentality there, that, despite his size, where he think to himself ‘nobody is going to beat me today’.
You love those type of players when they’re in your team, and you hate them when they’re not. The dirty tricks, niggles, it can get on your nerves when you face it, but, when it’s done in the right way, when a player can find that balance between being a nuisance and not a hinderance, it’s a fantastic asset to have in a team, and it all stems from a desire to win at all costs. That fear of losing.
In his first duel with Adama Traore against Fulham, he lost it, he let him run alongside him. He quickly realised that the way to defend against him was to get his body in front of him. He stepped in front of him and blocked his run. He's got the intelligence and the strength to find the solution to stop a player.
Bruno Fernandes has a similar mentality. The best players do; it’s that feeling of hating to lose.
I wish that Lisandro Martinez could sprinkle a bit of that desire and attitude onto Manchester United’s forward players because you can still have that level of determination from your attackers when it comes to pressing the ball.
United have had players like him over the years. Players that can look after themselves but could also scare you with their technical ability with a football. Eric Cantona was one of those, Ruud van Nistelrooy did it when he played at the club. You couldn’t keep these guys down because they had the mentality to keep on going. Brian McClair was a bit like that.
All of the great Manchester United teams had players with that desire, but sometimes, a bit of nastiness. I’d like to see some of that come back into the team, because it’s all a bit too nice, especially in the forward areas. I want to see those players taking responsibility and dealing with moments of adversity this season.
On Newcastle vs Southampton
How do you think Russell Martin got on in his first Premier League match as a manager?
I saw Russell’s interview before I saw the game. He was talking about how well they kept the ball, possession stats and the problems they gave Newcastle, but then I saw they were playing with an extra man for an hour, so that should have been the case. I wondered if his analysis was just manager speak after the game, but after watching the match, I agreed with all of his points.
Russell can be pleased with his start even though he lost the match. As first games go, Newcastle away at St. James Park is about as difficult as it gets, so to come away from the match and to look at the performance where his team held their own and were the better side, that bodes well for the future.
Even before the sending off, Southampton controlled the game and Newcastle didn’t really threaten at all. The difference between the teams was that Newcastle took the one chance they had, and Southampton didn’t take any of theirs. That’s what happens in the Premier League, and it would have been a decent lesson to learn for Russell.
Overall, I liked what I saw. A lot of people have been talking about his playing style and whether or not he will adapt in the Premier League, but I saw a team that knew what it wanted to do and was brave on the ball.
Premier League Observations
Two managers new to the Premier League are Liverpool’s Arne Slot and Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler who both got off to winning starts. How pleased will those managers be to get that monkey off their back and what do you think they would have learned from the experience of managing one game in the top division?
In many ways, for the likes of Liverpool’s Arne Slot and Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler, they are simply picking up a what was left behind and maybe tweaking things slightly. There’s an identity at both clubs and that exists beyond the grass and filters through every level, but Manchester United and Erik ten Hag don’t have that.
The people at both clubs know what they’re doing is right, and it’s a case of keeping things on a similar path. They just want to keep going and making progress.
The structure is in place at both club’s for these managers to come in and hit the ground running. People will say, what are the differences between these teams this season and last season, but there won’t be much. The changes will be details and they will come to fruition over the next six months - it’s not radical change at either club.
With Brighton, they were great, and the new manager will be absolutely delighted to get of to a winning start, but the scoreline flattered them. Everton had two great chances with the score at 0-0, so it could have been a different scoreline. It was a poor start for Sean Dyche, but if Everton can keep doing what they normally do, then they will be absolutely fine this season.
Slot’s life is a bit easier because he’s working with world-class players. Only a fool would start asking players as good as Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk to change their game, which is why I think it’s more of the same from Liverpool. We will see differences between Slot and Klopp, the heavy metal football may be toned down to something a bit smoother; soft rock, but it’s still going to be Liverpool.
Fabian Hurzeler is the youngest manager in the Premier League at 31. Do you think age matters in management? Is it harder to command that dressing room as a younger manager without a significant playing career behind you?
I don’t think his age will make the slightest bit of difference. I really don't think so.
If you asked me that about 20 years ago, I would have said, yeah, but not anymore. I am really open-minded to all these things. I think as long as you've got a presence and as long as the players know that you're working for them, not for yourself, then you’ll be absolutely fine regardless of your age.
The most important part of management is results. That inspires confidence. You need to build that confidence through winning football matches.
If you were a top player that goes into management, then you have that respect right off the bat from the players. That respect can quickly go if you’re not winning games, or you mishandle communication with your players. By the way, I’m not putting myself in the bracket of being a top player that managed, let’s be clear about that (laughs).
On Chelsea
The difference between Chelsea and Manchester City
I watched Manchester City’s visit to Stamford Bridge, and I thought it was a pretty even game. The difference was the midfield, and I say this about all football, if you win the midfield battle, you’ll win the match.
The Chelsea midfield players can pass, and they can protect the ball. The Manchester City players can do that, but they can also beat you in midfield and eliminate you. That's where their brilliance comes from. Silva can beat you and eliminate you, so can De Bruyne. Mateo Kovačić, not known for his goals, but he saw the opportunity and had the ability to win his team the game.
Chelsea, after spending so much money on that midfield, their midfield players aren’t capable of doing that. Over £200 million on that pairing (Fernandez and Caicedo), £50 on Lavia, they couldn’t win the battle and the game. They don’t have the confidence to eliminate you. Maybe they don’t have the quality too.
On Chelsea’s Spending
Everybody goes on about this Moneyball thing. So, how’s that working out at Chelsea? What’s happened to them then since the new owners came into the club?
You can have all the data you want in the world, but it will never, ever give you the full picture on the type of player that you’re bringing into your club.
Chelsea must have the best data scouting in the world. They’ve spent almost £300 million on Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. They’re not bad players, let's get that right, but they’re not on the same planet as the Manchester City midfield.
What happened? Why aren’t they? What does the data tell you? You have to deal with the data. There’s so much more to buying players than data. I wish someone over at Chelsea’s recruitment department would understand this. Data is just a tool that can helps. It's a support tool.
How can data tell you what a player is going to be like in the dressing room?
Every club has access to data now – they’ve all got it, and they’ve all got access to the results from it – but regardless, there will be teams that have bought well, teams that have bought OK, and teams that have bought badly.
You can’t be completely reliant on data when it comes to player recruitment.
On Raheem Sterling’s Statement
There are a lot of clubs that are unsettled at the moment. I’m looking over at Chelsea, before the match Raheem Sterling’s agents put out a statement. I understand that the player may very well be unhappy that he’s been left out of the first team squad, but what was he expecting would happen off the back of it?
There’s a lot of PR in football these days. Could you imagine that happening with Sir Alex Ferguson? Excuse me, Sir Alex, Raheem’s people want to know if he’s got a future at the club. His team’s demanding an answer.
Sterling’s team would have been shown the door. Bring your man in if he wants to speak to me, don’t start playing games in the press and on social media. If he had any guts, this would have been sorted face-to-face and behind closed doors.
I had a couple of run-ins with Sir Alex, and each time, I thought to myself ‘you’ve probably made the wrong move here, Gordon’ but at least it gave me the clarity and I knew firsthand what he thought about me and my future at the club.
On Celtic
Everything seems very settled at Celtic. How much of an advantage will that give them when it comes to challenging for domestic honours this season?
That continuity will help Celtic massively. It’s the second season for Brendan with his players, obviously he had a spell at the club before, but, when he joined, the first few months were a bit strange because he normally tries to put his stamp on things immediately, and he wasn’t able to do that.
Things started changing for him from the New Year, and the football that he’s got his team playing is definitively Brendan Rodgers football with some of the best bits of Ange Postecoglou kept in.
Everything is ticking along nicely. I was really impressed with what Celtic did in pre-season, and I’ve never placed much on that before, but with the results that Celtic picked up (Celtic beat Manchester City, Chelsea and DC United scoring four goals in each game), they’ve carried that form into the new season.
The team is settled. They’ve added a little bit more to the squad, but it’s largely the same group that was so successful last season. Everyone understands what they want to do and their roles on the field - Celtic will be difficult to stop in Scotland this season.
Apparently Celtic are keen on signing Owen Beck from Liverpool. What can you tell us about the player that was on loan at Dundee?
With Owen Beck, you can take all the data away from the player and it will tell you this: he gets forward, his engine's good, it's all good. What it won’t tell you is that Owen is a great kid with wonderful personality. He has a great team ethic, and he can’t do enough for the people around him. His first thought is always the team, and I like that in younger players.
He's made himself into a better footballer. He’s clever. He’s watched Andy Robertson and has modelled parts of his game on his. I’m not saying that he is the new Andy Robertson or he will have a career like Andy’s, I’m saying that he's picked up a lot of good habits from him.
That means he's intelligent. That means he can pick things up and develop as a player.
At Dundee, as the season went on, he got stronger. He worked on his upper body strength, and a little bit like Lisandro Martinez, he’s not the biggest, but that doesn’t mean you can bully or intimidate him. He reads the game well and understands where to put his body to be the most effective defender.
Andy was like that as a kid as well, because he was slight. He’d try to nip in and win the ball, he’d get into battles, but he’s a lot cuter than that now. He’s clever. He knows when to stand off and he knows when to get close.
Unfortunately, Owen got an injury when he came back to us.
He's a good player. He could be a very good player. There’s a couple of teams in the Championship that could do with a player like Owen Beck, that's for sure.
On Matt O’Riley
I think Matt O’Riley’s attitude and commitment has been exemplary throughout the summer. All managers will have had to deal with players that have their heads turned when club’s come knocking and they can become really disruptive influences in and around the squad.
The last thing any manager wants is guys moaning and groaning, grumbling in the background.
Matt’s been the very definition of a professional. He has kept his counsel. He's trained incredibly well. He's been a great teammate, so that's helped everyone at the football club.
There’s no question of him starting, even with all the speculation, and that is something to be commended.
Atalanta are interested in him, and they can offer Champions League football, so I can see the appeal there. Premier League club’s Bournemouth and Brighton are interested. Is there an argument to be made that perhaps O’Riley would be better playing in the Champions League with Celtic and moving on next summer if a club not playing in Europe’s top tier competition comes in for him?
Matt's done terrifically well at Celtic. I'm sure he wants to play for a top team in Premier League. I'm sure that's where he wants to go because every player wants to go and play in the Premier League.
Atalanta are reportedly interested, and they can offer him Champions League football like he’ll be playing at Celtic if he stays, but I think if you gave him the choice between Italy or the Premier League, he would choose the latter.
The Premier League is where the excitement is. It’s where the best players are, full stadiums. The appeal is absolutely massive for a player.
Would it be better for him to have a season with a minimum of eight Champions League games under his belt if the clubs that come in for him aren’t top six Premier League sides? I can see the argument for that, definitely. I think though that he will want to test himself at the highest possible level, and that would be in the Premier League. Don’t get me wrong, I would absolutely love him to stay at Celtic and in Scotland, but we can’t offer him that test.
The build-up to the games, there’s a buzz. The stadiums for mid-ranking Premier League clubs are pulling in 30 or 40,000 - it’s not like that in the SPFL. I wish the game was bigger in terms of stadia because it would generate more money, and it would raise the standard.
He will want to compare himself to the best midfielders in the Premier League. I think he has the ability to walk into that Chelsea midfield, and if he was playing for them, maybe they would have got something against Manchester City.
Celtic have completed the signing of Adam Idah from Norwich. It feels like a great opportunity for him - do you expect to see his grasp it?
I don’t know Adam Idah as a person, but joining Celtic is obviously a massive opportunity for him to show what he can do as a player.
Will being a record signing bring extra pressure? It could do for him, he might be thinking about that, but I don’t think the fans will care. I don’t think the Celtic fans are all that bothered about the price of players, they just want to see good performances and they want to see their team win.
Whether a player cost £5 million or £10 million, the expectations are the same for any player that joins the football club. You have to be committed and you have to give everything for the badge.
Celtic are such a massive football club. We find out pretty quickly if you can handle playing for the club both mentally and physically. The Celtic environment is exactly the same as the Manchester United one, it finds people out straight away.
Obviously, he was on loan, but being on loan and joining permanently are two very different things. If you’re on loan, you know it’s temporary, it’s a stop-over, you can disappear and go somewhere else. When you're a permanent signing, that's when it really starts to matter. You’ve just joined an institution, there are certain things that you have to do as a Celtic player and there are certain things that you simply can’t do.
He's a young man, and he will have to live with those expectations. He will have to handle that, but I’m sure that Brendan and his coaching staff will give him the opportunity to flourish as a player.
He's definitely got the raw assets that can make a very good player. I don't know if he can be a top player, but he can be a very good player, that's for sure.
On Rangers And European football
You shared your hope for Rangers to get into the Champions League this season, but they were defeated by Dynamo Kyiv and went out on a contentious decision. How disappointing is that for Scottish football?
What happened to Rangers in the Champions League was incredibly unfortunate. The red was the most ludicrous, and I mean ludicrous thing that I’ve seen in a while. I can completely understand why Philippe was so angry.
I was sitting with Mrs. Strachan, because she knows the game, watching it. After watching more than 2,000 live games of football, she knows the game. She couldn’t believe what was happening to Rangers!
The posturing from the referee afterwards. It was like he was thinking ‘I've got this spot on, why are you speaking to me?’
Why are we speaking to you? Because it's ludicrous. That referee should pick up another profession after that. He really should do something else, something that people can really hate you for.
I was devastated for them, and for the players, who put in a great performance in the first leg. The sending off had a massive impact on the result and now they will have to contend with a place in the Europa League.
I know I’m a Celtic sympathiser, but how could any football fan not feel for them when you get a decision like that in such an important game. I know the feeling and it’s not nice.
On British Teams In The Champions League
The Champions League returns with a revamped format. Are you looking forward to seeing what the changes will bring to the competition?
The format has changed, and I think change is good. When UEFA first changed the competition, it improved it, and I hope that’s the case this time because the group stage has become a bit stale and predictable.
I think they’ll be the usual suspects that dominate things - the best teams will come out on top, they always do.
The extra games could be crucial. With the way the qualification works, for certain clubs that can create that cauldron-like atmosphere at home in Europe, that could be an added advantage. The caveat to that is, if you’ve taken a few hidings already and you can’t qualify or get into the play-off, then that can be damp squib as well.
On Celtic in the Champions League
The extra game at Celtic Park could give them an advantage. Brendan has mentioned that he wants to have a real go in the competition this season, and that could help him.
In the previous format, I always believed that you needed at least one big scalp to get through. We managed to beat AC Milan, and this was when Milan were at their absolute peak. That was a great Milan team we beat in 07/08, we beat Manchester United the season before.
When you’re playing the best teams with the best players, when you can give your fans a victory, those are the special nights that live long in the memory.
That’s what you need to get through, and I imagine it will be the same with the new format.
On Man City in the Champions League
I don't think anything changes for Manchester City. Whether this is Pep Guardiola’s last season or not, the ambition will be the same and that is to win the competition because that’s all they know over there. The mentality at City under Pep is to win everything and that’s it.
They won four Premier League titles in a row; it had never been done before. They’ll be favourites to win the title again.
I think the reason why some are tipping Arsenal to win the Premier League is because people are thinking, ‘can this lot do it again at Man City?’
I understand that opinion, but it’s so difficult to look past them in any competition they compete in, and that goes for the Champions League as well.
Have the City players got the mentality to do it all again? Has the manager got that mentality to do it again? The answer is a resounding yes, and that’s a scary thought for anyone that is trying to compete with City both domestically and in Europe. The standards at City are simply ridiculous.
On Liverpool in the Champions League
Liverpool are a good team, but are this Liverpool team as good as the team that won the Champions League a few years ago? I don’t think they are. The midfield isn’t nearly as strong as the one from that team.
They’ll have the mindset of wanting to win it. Anfield is obviously a very special place to play your football on those Champions League nights.
I expect them to get into the knock-out rounds, but I don’t think the midfield is good enough for them to win it this year.
On Arsenal in the Champions League
I think that Arsenal will be looking at that Premier League title this season. It would be an unbelievable achievement for Arsenal to win the Champions League; history-making.
My only concern about them is that it takes a little bit of time to build that understanding between challenging for the title and also attempting to win the Champions League. Arsenal aren’t new to the tournament as a club, but this group of players is.
You would think that their experience last season will help them, and I would expect them to make it into the knock-out rounds, but I don’t think they will have the resources to mount a title challenge and go deep into the Champions League.
I hope I'm wrong about them. I hope Mikel Arteta proves me wrong.
On Aston Villa in the Champions League
They’ve got such a brilliant manager when it comes to European football in Unai Emery, that I actually think Villa will do incredibly well in the Champions League.
Emery’s Europa League record is outstanding, and, when he’s managed in the Champions League, he’s done alright too.
I'll be very surprised if Aston Villa don't get the to the quarter finals. They are the one team in tier four that nobody will want to play. There’s a lot of variety to the way that they play the game. In behind, on the counter. They press high. I really like them as a team.
On Tottenham
On Dom Solanke
I think Solanke is more than just a goal-scorer; he's a threat all the time, he wants to go in behind.
Everyone always talks about a striker getting you 20 or 25 goals a season, but I don’t think that many teams play with one striker that is the complete focal point of a team, where all of the other players are there to feed him.
I think Ange wants all of his players in the attacking areas to contribute for him. That’s what happened with his Celtic teams - it wasn’t about one man taking on the scoring burden, it was about everyone chipping in.
He’ll look at it and think, ‘what can my front three give me?’ He’ll be looking at total goals, so he’ll be happy if Solanke gets 15 goals and Son or Kulusevski get 10 each. That’s what he’ll be aiming for.
If you’re looking for an out-and-out finisher, then you have to watch Manchester City. Everyone always talks about the limited number of touches that Erling Haaland has, but it’s a complete nonsense because he is in the team to finish off the moves and he does it brilliantly.
Keep him as far away from the game as possible. Ange played a bit like that at Celtic with Kyogo finishing everything. He’ll get all of his players to play around Solanke and to create opportunities for him, but Solanke may have to make a few adjustments to his game and resist the urge to drop off, because we know he’s got the ability to do that.
Tottenham definitely needed a player to apply the finishing touch. Hopefully, Ange has found that man in Dom Solanke.
On Leeds United
3 performances, no wins and a few rumbles of discontent. Are you concerned by anything that you’ve seen so far?
I saw the first game against Portsmouth, and I thought Leeds did more than enough to win that game - I tried watching the game against WBA, but it was so hard to watch. Neither side was really trying to be proactive, it was all a bit flat and quite cautious stuff, which I can understand to an extent, especially if you’re Leeds playing away from home and going into the game after a 3-0 defeat.
The Leeds fans are stoic. They’ve seen it all from their club over the years, and, what typically happens when you spend money and gamble, there is always a moment when you must cash everything in.
It’s good to be ambitious in football, that’s what it’s all about. You play to win and be successful, but there must be an element of realism that goes with that and, all of the Leeds fans know that players on big wages will have to be moved on if you can’t bounce back to the Premier League on the first attempt.
For all the excitement that comes with being a Leeds fan, splashing the cash on players, there has to be a downer. That’s how things have been at Leeds over the years.
Players are sold, and everyone moves on. That’s what happens. I know a lot of Leeds fans, my wife's a Leeds fan, and she's not moaning too much. They understand the way it works.
What I will say, with a week or so left in the transfer window, if there are players that don’t want to be there, then just get rid of them. There will always be players that want to play for a club like Leeds and there will always be stars out there for your football club at any level, you just have to find them.
I’m not too worried yet. I said that a top six finish would be a good season for Leeds given the volume of changes at the club. It should be a season of consolidation before having a proper crack at promotion next year.
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