A collage of Marcus Rashford, Super League clubs and Bruno Guimaraes. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images and Sky)
In his exclusive Christmas column for CaughtOffside, former Aston Villa attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including why Marcus Rashford needs to leave Manchester United, why Newcastle would be mad to sell Bruno Guimaraes, why the Super League can do one and much more.
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Marcus Rashford has to leave Man United to enjoy his football again
Marcus Rashford
A collage of Marcus Rashford and the badges of AC Milan and Napoli. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Marcus Rashford should leave Manchester United. I’ve been saying it for probably a couple of years now, and he should either go abroad or to a progressive Premier League club.
Would that be a West Ham or a Brighton or would it even be a Bournemouth? Would the Cherries go for a big fish and see if he could go to a smaller pond and just enjoy his football on the south coast? That isn’t so ridiculous – but would they be able to afford him?
I think there will be takers for Rashford whether that be from Germany or Italy, but I’m not so sure about Spain.
He just needs to enjoy the game and love the game again, and I wonder if for the past five or six years whether he actually ever has. He always looks as if he’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
For me, it’s really simple. Either go to a wild card in terms of a Bournemouth, or head abroad to somewhere like Napoli or AC Milan.
Newcastle crazy to consider Guimaraes sale and Howe still under pressure
Bruno Guimaraes
A collage of Bruno Guimaraes and the badge of Manchester City (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
I think Newcastle would be crazy to sell Bruno Guimaraes in January.
If rumours of Man City’s interest is accurate, then at the end of the season, when City will have a technical and tactical review and look at where they’re at, that might be a more sensible time for the Magpies to consider cashing in.
He may well be a player that City feel can freshen things up, but certainly not in January.
As for Eddie Howe, I think that if they finish outside of the Europa League places again, that would probably mean the end for him at Newcastle United.
I’ve always said that he’s under pressure, even if, when Newcastle went on that amazing run to escape relegation and then get into Europe, PIF were like “no, no, we support him. He’s the best thing since sliced bread, yada yada yada.”
PIF have the money and the clout to be able to get anybody in world football and if Howe can’t move the club forward, I absolutely believe that before Jose Mourinho retires, he will manage Newcastle United.
That’s because the Saudis will want some degree of success soon, and because of Mourinho’s relationship with Sir Bobby Robson.
He always said that he has unfinished business and wants to go there to crystallise Sir Bobby’s legacy.
The Super League can do one
European Super League clubs
European Super League clubs. Picture credit: Sky.
I think that the whole idea of the Super League was and is preposterous, particularly if it becomes a sort of invitation-only tournament.
It’s back in the news again, and you can see what’s going to happen.
The way that FIFA have gone about populating the Club World Cup is a prime example. Managing to crowbar Lionel Messi in there despite no real sporting merit from his Inter Miami side, save for a second-rate Leagues Cup or whatever it was.
You can see any Super League organisers doing exactly the same to make sure the usual suspects are in there, ignoring the likes of Nottingham Forest who would absolutely deserve a place on this season’s form.
It’s ironic that Forest may well qualify for the Champions League this season if they continue in the same way in the second half of the campaign, but they wouldn’t qualify for an initial Super League tournament.
As preposterous as it is, the Super League is an inevitability and it will happen.
A lot of people will say, let the teams go, we’ve got a strong enough and robust pyramid system in England, but if it didn’t run alongside the domestic leagues, the Super League would kill a lot of leagues around Europe stone dead.
Let’s be perfectly honest, if you to take out the two biggest clubs in a lot of those leagues, they’re finished. Done for.
I just don’t think the organisers care really, because they just want to see Real Madrid against Manchester United or Barcelona against Bayern Munich and Ajax against Inter Milan etc on a loop each and every week.
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So, however that leaves the domestic leagues or the schedules, they’re not bothered.
Pep Guardiola was almost literally banging his head on the table with the scheduling in terms of the Club World Cup, so we as football fans need to decide, and the FA needs to decide when enough is enough, in terms of the amount of games being played.
The Super League is just greed and a vanity project.
No thank you.
Arteta is my Christmas pudding and my predictions for 2025
Mikel Arteta embraces Andoni Iraola
Mikel Arteta, manager of Arsenal, embraces Andoni Iraola, manager of AFC Bournemouth. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
Hot or Not: I have to give a nod to Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth. He’s been an absolute breath of fresh air in the Premier League, superb. They get my Christmas cracker of the season so far award.
Christmas Pudding: This was meant to be the season for Mikel Arteta. It still might be but they’re miles off the pace and now they’ve got Bukayo Saka out for weeks which could be fatal to their title chances.
Predictions: Eddie Howe to be gone at the end of the season, perhaps, and Ange Postecoglou surplus to requirements at Spurs if he doesn’t get in the European places.
Marcus Rashford off in January, Liverpool to win the Premier League title and get to the Champions League final.
Chelsea to win the Conference League, Manchester City to have a complete revamp in the way Chelsea recently have, by recruiting lots of Europe’s best young u25 players, and the top four placings in the Premier League will be Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and I’ll go for Villa again as I think that they’re just about good enough.