The Champions League was back this week and what a start to the competition it has been. For me the highlight was Liverpool’s late victory against Paris Saint-Germain to maintain their brilliant unbeaten start to the season.
I said in my opening column that I believed Liverpool would be the team to mount a serious title challenge to Manchester City this season. Well they’ve certainly proved that with six wins in a row, and while I understood but disagreed with Gary Neville’s comments that they should sacrifice the Champions League for the Premier League, I think it will be very difficult for Liverpool to win both in the same season. They certainly have a very strong, dynamic and now consistent starting XI but I question if they have the depth in the squad to do it, although you definitely can’t write them off after they reached the Champions League final last season with some fantastic performances. I think the only real challengers in the Premier League are Manchester City so it might come down to the head-to-head between them in a few weeks’ time.
I always love watching Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah combining but they are only able to be that effective on the counterattack because of the hard work of players such as James Milner and Naby Keïta behind them, who are constantly pressing in midfield to win the ball back. Milner, Keïta and Georginio Wijnaldum are really diligent players who act like servants to the front three. I would not say any of the Liverpool midfield are stars, whereas other teams have players such as Kevin De Bruyne or Paul Pogba who are not expected to sacrifice themselves for the team so much.
Then there is the defence, which has only improved since Virgil Van Dijk signed. Joe Gomez is an exciting player who plays almost like he has a Cuban cigar in his mouth – he reminds me a lot of Rio Ferdinand because he is quick, very good on the ball and passes it well through the midfield lines. I was pleased to see him get into the England team because we need more defenders who aren’t afraid to do that alongside John Stones who I think epitomises the “creative” centre-half.
The Liverpool front three all have different qualities but if I had to pick one it would be Salah. He has everything – he can score with both feet, he’s quick and can beat a player but has also stayed really humble. He has a great back story as well, having not always succeeded and having had to come back from failure in the Premier League.
It’s really hard when you’ve hit those kind of numbers the previous season but just because you don’t replicate them it doesn’t mean you’re not doing the same things. That’s what is so good about Liverpool – when Salah isn’t scoring then Firmino or Mané, or even Daniel Sturridge is. It was the same with Barcelona when they had Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar and you could always rely on one of them to score. Maybe that has been the problem with Tottenham Hotspur because if Harry Kane is not scoring, there aren’t as many seasoned goalscorers to step up. I think there has been a bit of an overreaction to their third successive defeat but I’m not surprised they have hit a bump in the road.
Spurs always seem to fall just short as challengers for the league – I remember in 2016 when they were chasing Leicester and failed to win crucial games towards the end of the season, including that feisty affair against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It is better to get a bad run out the way early than have it later on.
Tottenham decided against going for Wilfried Zaha in the summer, although there are no guarantees Zaha would have suited them and excel in the way he currently does at Crystal Palace. He’s already had a move to a big club and it was a disaster. I’ve met Wilfried a few times and he is a very normal and simple guy. He has a lot of family down in Croydon but absolutely failed at Manchester United – or was not given the opportunity to succeed, whichever way you choose to look at it – so that shows it’s not always a case of being a big fish in a big pond. Often it works out to be a big fish in a smaller pond, which Zaha is at Palace.
If you look at Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who was at Palace on loan last season, now he is back at Chelsea he can’t get a game. Then there’s Marcus Rashford, who I think should leave Manchester United because I don’t think it’s going to get any better under José Mourinho. He needs to go somewhere he can be a bigger fish.
It was interesting to see Zaha’s comments about needing more protection because I think that is something players need to be more forthright about. Pep Guardiola mentioned it last season when there was an awful tackle on Leroy Sané and the minute you raise the issue in the media, I think referees pay attention and start trying to protect players.
People have said Zaha should take it as a compliment but that’s not easy when you’re being chopped down every two seconds. As a quick, tricky player, I’ve been told that I don’t go down enough because I’ve always tried to stay on my feet or I don’t win clever fouls around the box. But when you are quick, the fastest way to be stopped is by being fouled so it happens to me a lot, even if I don’t always maximise the opportunity. What Zaha is saying is that exciting players such as him need more protection and I think he is right to say so and hopefully we will see him benefit from being vocal.
It has been a great week at Juventus preparing for our first league game on Sunday. Even better news off the pitch is that Sky acquired the rights to the Serie A women’s league so there will be a live game every week on TV. This is a big step in Italy and an indication of a growing appetite for broadcasters and fans to showcase the women’s game. Exciting times. Wish me luck for the weekend!
The Guardian Sport
