Solksjaer identifies new talented striker

Solksjaer identifies new talented striker

Whispers around Manchester United suggest we keep a watch on a new young player who first broke through into big-time football with Ole Gunner Solskjaer’s former Norwegian club Molde, where he was managed by Ole. Erling Braut Haaland is on Solkjaer’s radar as a possible future striker at Old Trafford and he caught the eye when scoring a hat-trick this week for Red Bull Salzberg against Belgian club Genk. His hat-trick made him the first teenager to score more than one goal on his Champion’s League debut since Wayne Rooney in 2004. One possible problem with Haaland signing for United is his family. The striker’s father, midfielder Alf-Inge Haaland, sustained a career ending knee injury when United captain Roy Keane tackled him. Alf-Inge is reputed to have said, "I really dislike United and I can't stand their players". Solskjaer himself says, “Erling can become a top striker, for sure. He reminds me of the way Lukaku plays and if United come knocking on his door it will be difficult for him to say no.”

Guardiola faces defence problems

Following on from my recent story about Manchester City being weak at the back because of the retirement of Vincent Kompany and mounting injury problems to key defenders such as John Stones, manager Pep Guardiola admitted this week that he has only one main option as his starting centre back and that is Nicolas Otamendi. Pep however was adamant that he and City can cope and said, “It’s a big challenge. We’ve got just one centre defender in Nico but I believe in him a lot and something people don’t appreciate is his spirit and commitment. We are not going to complain because the situation is what it is. My players are the best and we will work it out. Football is all about handling bad situations and that is what we will do.” Despite his brave words it was obvious to me that Guardiola was dismayed and upset that Stones came away from the defeat at Norwich last weekend with a thigh problem. Stones was in obvious pain.” City fans are complaining that money was not spent to replace Kompany when he left to manage Belgian club Anderlecht and now Guardiola must patch up the holes left by his injured centre backs. 34 year-old Fernandino has suddenly become very important and necessary and City tell me that he will be drafted into the side to repair the under pressure defence until other defenders are fit.

Pochettino explains the Tottenham way

Without using his words as an excuse, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino says their new £600m stadium investment left him with few options for strengthening his team this season. He points out that rivals Arsenal have signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who he considers was the best striker in Germany, Alex Lacazette, the best striker in France and now for this season Nicolas Pepe. I am not sure why he didn’t mention Heung Min Son but he said that Harry Kane is his main striker and then 17 year-old Troy Parrot. He points out that Spurs have spent for their future by investing in the new stadium and now he must get the best out of the team players he has available. However, to prove he is not moaning, he points out that Tottenham have finished above Arsenal for the past three seasons and reached the Champions League final. All that without buying a single player in the past two transfer windows! He said, “We are different to Arsenal and teams like Barcelona ask the bank for £600m and spend that on players. They create a huge debt and put that debt on the pitch, trying to win. We are different. We want to create a legacy for the future. We need to work hard and find a way to compete in this very tough league, in different ways to our rivals.”

Hail the superb David Silva

One of the best creative attacking midfielders I ever had the privilege to watch was Paul Scholes. He could almost win games on his own. However, right up there with him is Manchester City’s David Silva. David says this is his last season in the Premier League now he has reached the age of 33 and football will inevitably lose one of the most brilliant class acts of all time. He has played over 400 games for City and you could probably count the number of poor performances on one hand. When you think of Iniesta, Zidane, Xavi, De Bruyne and Messi you can certainly add the name of David Silva into that elite group. We should relish this season because we will be saying goodbye to an extraordinary talent next  May.

Not speaking English is a problem

Buying players who cannot speak English and cannot communicate with fellow professionals or the manager and his assistants is a growing problem these days. Arsenal manager Unai Emery, for instance, spent some of his summer break learning to speak better English and he is doing well. Watford’s £40million signing Ismaila Sarri arrived from French Club Rennes on August 8th and came straight to the Hornets from the African Cup of Nations where he played for Senegal. Regrettably he could not speak to anyone because his English does not exist. Senior player Etienne Capoue, who himself came to Watford from France, has taken Sarri under his wing and the two have become very close friends with Capoue translating for the youngster on the training pitch.

Klopp hails Firmino

Liverpool’s Mo Salah was the first of Jurgen Klopp’s team to become the superstar who could not stop scoring. Defences hated playing against his skill and determination. Then it was Sadio Mane’s turn to improve and turn on the magic and last season he was second to none in the Premier League with his impressive performances and goals galore. Now it is the turn of Roberto Firmino. “Si Senor” shout the fans from the terraces as he puts together assist after assist for Sane and Salah whilst bagging a few goals himself. Jurgen Klopp has quite rightly called him the “creative engine room” of Liverpool. Since Jurgen Klopp took over at the helm of Liverpool they have scored 447 goals and Firmino supplied an assist in a quarter of them and scored 68 of them himself.

Klopp must sort out Mane and Salah rivalry

Much has been written about the on pitch argument between Liverpool’s Sadio Mane and Mo Saleh. The pair now claim to have patched up their differences and Mane in particular says they are back to being best of friends. The now famous incident, in which Saleh did not pass to a better placed Mane but instead took a weak shot at goal, made world headlines. Many will argue that a striker has only one thing in mind when he gets near to goal and that is to put the ball in the back of the net. The problem which sparked this flare up is something I have frequently noticed this season when watching Liverpool and I have pointed it out to colleagues. Mo Salah seems more selfish than most when he gets the ball. Instead of looking for a better placed fellow striker he will go for goal even if the positioning is too difficult to give him sight of the net. If you watch Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero or Marcus Rashford at their respective clubs, you will notice how they are always aware of the players around them and make as many assists as they do goals. Both Sane and Salah scored 22 goals last season and there is a lot of rivalry between them to be top dog this year. However, the situation came to a head when Sane criticised Salah for not passing to him and going for goal himself whilst in an inferior position. In fact he was furious! When Sane was later substituted he shouted verbally at Salah and pointed his finger at the Egyptian and had to be restrained by manager Jurgen Klopp. The situation was later played down by Klopp who said everything was resolved in the dressing room. But I can tell you that the incident was also dealt with by Klopp at Monday training  and the post match analysis discussions. However, I can see this intense rivalry leading to more problems if the manager does not monitor the situation closely and handle it with a tough resolve.

Guardiola: Walker and Foden must improve

Manchester City are playing well but manager Pep Guardiola has told both Kyle Walker and Phil Foden that he expects more from them. Walker has been dropped by the England national team and he also faces tough competition for his starting City place from Joao Cancelo who signed from Juventus for £60million. Guardiola said he thinks Kyle needs to be more composed, calmer and keep his feelings more under control, if he is to improve. Foden has made very limited appearances this season despite Guardiola saying that he is the most talented youngster he has ever worked with - and that includes the incredible players he managed at Barcelona! But Guardiola said, “Phil is a shy person and I would like him to talk to me more. I go to speak to him on the training pitch and at the club and he still looks at me with a little bit too much respect and shyness and after two or three seasons that is not necessary. He is 19 years-old and he is going to play a lot for us and he is a nice young man who I like.” Guardiola said finally that Foden has to learn to compete with some of the world’s best midfielders and he is playing alongside huge talents such as Kevin De Bruyne, Gundogan, Bernado Silva and David Silva and added that such competition is tough even for them.