Stan Collymore's latest CaughtOffside column features views on Man United and Alexander Isak (Photo by Photo by Michael Reaves - Premier League/Getty Images for Premier League, George Wood/Getty Images, Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including Man United’s move for Benjamin Sesko, Darwin Nunez and Alexander Isak transfer sagas, Daniel Levy’s “charm offensive”, and more.
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Man United’s transfer focus should be on defence – not attack
Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig
Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig (Photo by Luciano Lima/Getty Images)
Man United have paid top money between Cunha, Mbeumo and Sesko. That’s a whole creative department, so there’s no excuse for them in a Premier League continues to break records in terms of goals scored and chances created.
Obviously, it’s been disappointing in that department over the last two or three seasons with who they’ve had up front, most notably Hojlund – who I would keep, by the way. I think the kid’s got something. He looks a little bit brighter in pre-season. He wants to stay and he’s saying the right things, and he’s still young. So that might be one that comes good for them.
But I genuinely think that they needed to prioritise defensive reinforcements. That’s been obviously a major problem for them. I have no problem with spending top dollar on forwards, but if they do it without strengthening at the back, they are generally going to lose games 4-3, 3-2.
If you look at what Pep Guardiola did when he first went into Man City. He made a number of big signings in defence, and also replaced Joe Hart too. I wonder if that is the route that Amorim should have taken, rather than spend £200m on three attacking players, because it will be difficult to get defenders or a new goalkeeper in now.
Alexander Isak is top class – but do Liverpool need him now?
Alexander Isak reacts during a Newcastle game last season
Alexander Isak reacts during a Newcastle game last season (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
I saw the Ekitike assist for the Salah goal against Athletic Club, and it did remind me of myself teeing up Robbie Fowler. And we had a really good relationship. And I think that an attacking unit, it’s not just about numbers.
Liverpool fans will say that they want the right amount of players to be able to get through the number of tournaments they’re in, which is a lot. But here’s no point in Ekitike and Gakpo having prolonged spells as substitutes. Because I think that both are good enough – especially, considering that he should be a regular starter given the money that was spent on him.
You’ve still got Mo Salah, who’s going to start. They had to fill the gap with the tragedy of Diogo Jota, as well as the sale of Luis Diaz. So three players out, now that Nunez is going to Saudi Arabia. But I think that Wirtz, Ekitike, Salah, Isak and Gakpo could be too much.
And it’s not just the number of five attackers that they would have. Mo Salah is top man, and at Newcastle, Isak has been top man. One of them – probably Isak – will have to play differently, as I did when I joined Liverpool because I was having to support Robbie Fowler.
Still, there is scope for Liverpool to sign Isak, but if Newcastle are going to be asking for more than £120m, I don’t think he’s worth it now. Maybe they get a loan done now or in January, before revisiting the situation next summer – when he would be cheaper, provided that he does not sign a new contract. At that point, it can also be established whether he would be main man or Salah, depending on the latter’s numbers during the upcoming season.
Daniel Levy’s interview with Gary Neville was very telling
Daniel Levy, Chairman of Tottenham Hotspur, looks on. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
I’m fascinated by Daniel Levy’s interview with Gary Neville, because it feels like a charm offensive. He was quoted when sacking Ange Postecoglou, saying that it’s not just Europa Leagues that Tottenham want to win, it’s Premier Leagues too. And I thought, that’s unusual for Daniel Levy to come out and say something.
I think he’s either getting a little bit drunk on the fact that people are enjoying seeing him come out and say something, or more likely, that he knows that the bar has been set fairly high now. They’ve won a trophy, they’ve got an amazing stadium, they’ve got rid of a popular manager. Yes, they’re losing a club legend in Heung-Min Son, and they’ve been very unfortunate with the Maddison injury, but the bar is now very high – and he knows that the blowback, if there is going to be any during the season, is going to be on him.
How do I think Spurs will end up this season? I think with a new manager in Thomas Frank, you’re only going to be three games away from fans going: “but he’s from Brentford”. And so, he’s got to hit the ground running. And he’s going to have to do it without Son and Maddison. You look at Tottenham, last season they were 30 points off the European positions. So that’s going to be a big gap to fill in terms of wins. And if Spurs would have brought in four or five quality players, I’d have said that it’s possible for them to challenge for 5th/6th.
I think Spurs, like Man United, will finish no higher than 5th, 6th or 7th. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they finish 7th. But equally, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they finish 5th.
Aston Villa’s quiet transfer window is to be expected
Unai Emery, manager of Aston Villa, speaks to a member of his coaching staff. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
There used to be this healthy banter rivalry for many years between Aston Villa and Newcastle, but it’s the opposite now. They’re both effectively calling out what they call as the Sky “cartel” and the inability of both sets of owners, that are very wealthy, to be able to spend money. But we have financial fair play for a reason. We may not like it, but we only have to look at Morecambe. We only have to look at Sheffield Wednesday’s woes and other clubs’ woes to suggest that at least in theory it’s a good thing.
From a Villa perspective, I think that the big signings are, for the moment, keeping Emi Martinez and keeping Oli Watkins. And they’ve managed to get Boubacar Kamara on a new deal. There’s talk of Jacob Ramsey going, and his sale would free up some more wiggle room to potentially do a deal or two before the window closes because he is pure profit for PSR. It’s a shame because he’s a very good player, but he’s got lots of suitors.
With Villa, it is a situation whereby the wins are keeping the playing staff that the club have already got, which have got them into really good positions. I think that that will be Villa’s playbook for the next two or three seasons under a manager that deserves that kind of trust. You always want to see people coming to your football club at the start of the season, but I think that the demands that Unai Emery puts on his players and his track record at every club bar Arsenal shows that even if they don’t bring in 3-5 players, they can still compete for those European places.
Premier League fans will hope that Netflix reports are true
Roy Keane during punditry duty with Sky Sports
Roy Keane during punditry duty with Sky Sports (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
I really like the idea of the Premier League being shown on Netflix, and I’m surprised that it hasn’t already happened. I do punditry for Canal Plus, and they will have people on site at the ground or they’ll do their own scheduled programming before a Premier League game. A lot of countries don’t. So they take pre-packaged stuff that’s been created in the studio in Stockley Park, which would be played prior to a match shown on Malaysian or Indonesian TV, or places that don’t create their own Premier League pre-match, half-time or post-match programming.
Fans have been turned into consumers, whether we like it or not. And that’s a deliberate choice by football clubs and by the Premier League. So if you’re going to have a consumer, the consumer is always right. And the consumer in England that pays the most in the world to watch a Premier League team, including a season ticket, several television packages, traveling week in and week out, petrol money, food and drink etc.
If Netflix were to get rights for the Premier League, it would probably be £20/30 a month more than what their subscription price is now. So it’s not going to be cheap, but it cuts out having to have two, three, or four subscriptions to watch all of the matches. And I think it would work for everybody, because streaming technology is now easy. Internet speeds are very good. You can apply advertising per territory or per region very easily. It would also stop the criminalisation of fans for wanting to watch their clubs via illegal streaming.
Tom Brady does not come across well in Birmingham series
Birmingham City recently have released a documentary, which gave focus to Tom Brady’s involvement at the club (Photo by IMAGO/News Images)
From my perspective, these behind the scenes football club documentaries has been done now, because they typically follow the same pattern. It shows a little bit in the dressing room, but usually nothing of interest. It might include a player being shouted at by their manager, or a Churchillian pre-match speech, or it’s the new owner coming in promising to make changes. There’s also a few fans involved, telling you how much they love the football club and how important it is to them and how much their club’s been revitalised and how much they deserve it. So I just think the genre has been done.
I have no problem with Birmingham City’s rise because I want all Midlands clubs in the Premier League. But I think all this particular documentary does is make Tom Brady look like an idiot. I think it also makes Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds actually look like human beings that have a human interest – other than just a business interest – in a football club. And because Tom Brady does not come across well, players could see that and think: “do I really want to be involved in a circus, or do I want to go somewhere where people know what they’re talking about?”
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I think that that’s one of the downsides. Everybody talks about the upsides of getting Wrexham on telly, and Wrexham-American tours and Birmingham-American tours. But by contrast, players watch these documentaries and some players – particularly big name players – don’t want to be plastered all over these documentaries. But in terms of the genre, I hope that this Birmingham one’s the last one, because it’s too formulaic now. You know what’s coming, and I think it’s just been done to death.