In his special column for CaughtOffside, former Aston Villa attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including why Nuno Espirito Santo deserves praise, why Cristiano Ronaldo has been ‘bought’ by Saudi Arabia, Graham Potter Why should Ko go to everton and more.
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Forest deserve all the praise this season
I’m absolutely delighted that my two clubs, one of which I left to join another club, are facing each other in a game that could be huge in terms of where the title will go.
Although with Liverpool it is not so surprising, but with Forest, and I think what Nuno Espirito Santo is getting them to do week-in-week is to get back to what the football is about.
Protect your half and your box, gain a foothold in the game and then knock teams out.
They are embarrassing every one of Pep’s disciples, including managers like Russell Martin who thought they could make something in the Premier League just by coming in and playing out from the back.
English top-flight football is all about competing and winning matches and, ironically, it was Leicester City in 2016 who showed this not by scoring goals but by being strong defensively, and having a very good striker who played the ball. Time could play on the shoulders. Back, that you can win a title.
But now what do we get every year, every year? The next batch of Pep followers are told how great they are because they love to play out from the back and through the lines.
Nobody thought it was coming with Forest, and I don’t think anyone would have looked at the group of players they had and said that they were, at best, going to be anything other than a mid-table outfit. Were going.
They may finish in mid-table, who knows, but I think this far in the season and where they are, we can say that Nuno has rejuvenated his career.
After all, Ray Parlor was one of the many pundits who suggested that Spurs had gone for a ‘cheap option’ in Nuno, and it certainly damaged their reputation.
There are a 1000 ways to skin a cat, and right now, Forrest is skinning that cat. Their approach has been extremely enjoyable to watch, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they skin the liver bird next Tuesday in what is sure to be a tremendous game.
It’s time to stop criticizing the referee
We’ve seen a lot of stories criticizing referees in recent months – and over the last few years – which may continue, but I think what’s interesting is that we’re now getting full transparency into decision-making. Is.
A topic in the last column was about many of the refereeing decisions being wrong and whether there was any accountability.
Virgil van Dijk’s assessment of Tony Harrington recently was particularly scathing.
What is happening now with hearing the referee’s voice in the stadium is the first step in English football to see what happens in other games and other leagues and learn from it. To see if it works in the Premier League.
There is no excuse now.
To hear the referee say that a goal has been ruled out for offside, or whatever other decision comes up means that the noise and chatter about why the referee has come to certain conclusions ends that very day. She goes. I like that a lot.
I think this is a step towards a situation in the next two or three years where referees will be in a press conference after the game. They can come out and answer questions, and we’ll go ‘You know what, fair play.’
Even if the referee is demoted for a week, for the next week, we need to improve our relationship with the officials.
Anything that can be done to enable them to be candid, open and forthright with honesty and integrity gets massive appreciation from me.
potter should go to everton
West Ham were right to get rid of Julen Lopetegui as he was a dead man walking.
I wrote about him in a previous column and said I thought it would work if he got his people involved. Whether he realized he did it or not, I don’t know, but it certainly didn’t seem like an improvement on the pitch.
The only thing I can see going for Lopetegui now is him rebuilding his career with a club of Villarreal’s size. He may get a job in Saudi or Italy, but first he has to go there and lick his wounds after several recent job disappointments.
In terms of Graham Potter, I think he would be a better fit for Everton than West Ham.
They are both idealists; Football Academy and Science School. There are a lot of expectations from the big clubs, but I think Everton would be a good fit for him, because I think there are only two clubs in the city.
With West Ham, I think their supporters, and I say this affectionately, are supporting themselves. West Ham fans talk and behave as if they are one of the most successful clubs in England, but have one of the smallest trophy cabinets in that club size category.
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Everton would be a better destination for them given the new stadium, new ownership etc.
I don’t think anyone at West Ham at the moment will turn things around like Unai Emery has done at Villa.
West Ham don’t have enough attractive cachet for a Unai Emery type and the cachet isn’t there yet, even after a Conference League win.
Graham Potter and his coaching style… he’s just a pure coach, not a manager, not a ‘follow me’ type.
Everton, with a new stadium, a fresh start and considering they haven’t had quality football there for a while.. If Graham Potter can get them playing some of the football they played at Brighton, the Evertonians will love it Will adopt. ,
West Ham is just a club that needs to take a look at itself and where it really stands itself.
Ronaldo’s comments suggest he has been ‘bought’ by Saudi
Ronaldo’s comment on the Saudi league being better than French football, that this player was better than that… I think at this point we’ve pretty much figured out where his loyalties lie, right?
Much like when David Beckham was the Qatari World Cup ambassador, or Lionel Messi went to play in the United States and signed a big deal with Apple, these guys are big businesses around the world and whoever buys them Yes, they get their opinion. Opinions that can be shaped by the people who have bought them.
I think his influence in the game will increase further. Beckham certainly has, and I don’t think there’s any aspect he can’t touch when it comes to Ronaldo’s reach.
Beckham was a global icon for the fact that he was a good-looking guy married to a pop star, he had a great personality and he could sell everything and anything.
In the same way that Pele was certainly bought lock, stock and barrel by FIFA and included in certain events, so I think it would be no surprise to see Cristiano Ronaldo do the same.
I think we need to get used to future generations having global superstars who play a greater political role than ever before. And when I say political game, you only have to look at George Weah.
Of course, he was the President of Liberia, and there are many footballers around the world who have put themselves forward for political positions.
Let’s be completely honest, if Donald Trump and Elon Musk can put themselves forward as leaders in the free world, the global recognition of top-class footballers who are on people’s screens 40 weeks a year, 24/7 It can ensure that you completely envision Cristiano Ronaldo as Prime Minister of Portugal or President of FIFA, for example.
It starts with being bought by the entity, who then use the players for their own purposes.
Sad to say, but I think it’s going to get worse rather than better.