During the summer Liverpool strengthened upfront bringing in Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak to add firepower alongside Mo Salah. Wirtz was hauled off the field early by Arne Slot for the seventh time this season as the £116miliion Bundesliga player added little to the attacking midfield. Fortunately for Liverpool Dominic Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch are dependable, strong and creative plus also adding goal threats of their own. They covered well for Wirtz.
As a successful player at Bayer Leverkusen, Wirtz would collect the ball in midfield and move past players before delivering an incisive pass into the penalty area or taking a shot himself.
This season all that Bundesliga skill has deserted him and he failed to have any impact during the loss to Crystal Palace. The Premier League is more physically demanding for players and incoming European talent often find it difficult to adapt. Time and again Wirtz was simply pushed off the ball.
It is at the back where Liverpool have come mainly unstuck and last weekend Crystal Palace cruelly exposed the Red’s defensive failings.
This week in training, Arne Slot split his squad into two, concentrating on working with Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahim Konate, M Kerkez and Conor Bradley. Konate is his main worry. The strong, tough defender has lost his form and Crystal Palace forwards Jean-Philppe Mateta, Yeremy Pino and Ismaila Sarr often left him behind after taking him on one on one. That is what Slot is worried about and cost Liverpool the game.
Fans ask United players ‘where is your fight?’
Manchester United have yet to win consecutive games with Ruben Amorim in the manager’s chair. He often says his United team suffer from bad luck but that excuse is running thin with most followers of the club. As the players went to wave to their supporters at the end of the match, which saw them beaten 3-1, many fans pointed to the badge on their shirts and shrugged their shoulders asking ‘where is your fight and passion?’ Many gave rude hand gestures and many just shouted complaints at the players.
Brentford fans sang that old favourite towards losing opposition coaches ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning.’
Amorim points out that he still has the backing of Sir James Ratcliffe’s INEOS Group because he can show them that United have improved on chances created and shots on target. However, he fails to point out that since he took over at Old Trafford in November 2024 the team has conceded the first goal in 21 Premier League matches and in six of those the goals came within the first ten minutes.
Amorim came under severe criticism for playing Mason Mount out of position as a left wing-back. The amazing thing is that it was the second time the midfielder had been forced to play in that position. It appears that Amorim is quickly losing the faith, loyalty and respect of his players with dressing room body language very obviously one of frustration.
After the game and being questioned about his position at the club he went on the attack commenting, ‘I am always comfortable in the job and I continue to give 100 per cent to my job. I’m never concerned about my job. I’m not that kind of guy.’
He would do well to think about his situation because Graham Potter was sacked at West Ham after 26 per cent wins and Amorim is only a per cent point ahead at 27 per cent.
Personally, I think the new management has made so many mistakes since they took over and they don’t want to be criticised for appointing the wrong manager.that in my opinion is why Amorim is still at Old Trafford. But how long will it last?
I have received word that former Real Madrid and French legend Zinedine Zidane has been spoken to about the possibility of moving to Manchester.
In another possible twist to the story ex-Barcelona player legend and former manager Xavi has expressed interest in United should Amorim be shown the door. He has been without a club for a year now.
Saliba commits.now for Saka
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says he would love Bukayo Saka to follow William Saliba and sign a new contract. His current contract, signed in 2023, has only two years before it expires. Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri have all committed themselves to the Gunners and signed. Real Madrid showed an interest in Saliba but after he sat down with Arteta he said he wanted to stay with Arsenal for the future and win the league this season.
Guardiola pays tribute to Kyle Walker
Kyle Walker’s return to the Etihad did not go Burnley’s way. After a star-studded career at Manchester City the right back decided to take up a new challenge, trying his luck in Italy at Milan but then returned to the north east of England with Burnley. Kyle won 14 major honours in eight years and Pep Guardiola described him as ‘one of the greatest full backs ever.’ He said, ‘I don’t judge behavior over a short length of time. He was an unbelievable player for us. One of the greatest full backs ever. I slept like a baby for the games with Kyle in the team. He is one of the greatest too in terms of consistency and no injuries and playing every single game. An incredible figure in the locker room. In eight years, six Premier League titles, a Champions League, many other titles and always being there in good moments and bad moments.’
Liverpool look after Diogo Jota’s family
I was delighted to see that Liverpool owners Fenway Sports are going to pay Diogo Jota’s contract to his family. Arne Slot said FSG will look after Diogo’s widow Rute Carduso and his three children after the striker died in a car accident along with his brother. Diogo’s contract paid him £140k a week which means his family will receive approximately £14million over two years.