Steve Nicol &#8211; CaughtOffside

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“Last summer he was very professional, Liverpool didn’t want to sell him and he decided to accept that, but now he has to decide with new directors and under new manager Arne Slot.

“I wasn’t there so I can’t give much more information than that. I’m just sad to see two legends of the club having an argument on touchline, but sometimes it can happen when results are not positive. Salah’s future will be decided at the end of the season, not now; for Liverpool it was crucial to prepare new project and they have now new manager, new directors, all set.”

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“Average” Chelsea duo who cost a fortune “don’t add anything”, says pundit in extraordinary rant

Mark Brus — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 11:35:21 +0000

Chelsea duo Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo have been heavily criticised by ESPN FC pundit Steve Nicol in the video clip below.

The former Liverpool man went on an extraordinary rant about the Chelsea midfield pairing after yesterday’s dismal 4-2 defeat at home to Wolves that continues this dire campaign for the Blues.

Nicol says Fernandez and Caicedo both look like ordinary and average players who don’t really add anything to the team other than running around a bit, which is quite a claim to be making about two players who cost huge money to sign for the west London giants, and who both looked like exceptional talents at their previous clubs.

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Chelsea’s change in direction under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali clearly doesn’t seem to be working, even if some will feel this is a long-term project that still needs more time.

The very fact that so much has been invested on elite young talents like Fernandez and Caicedo, however, means the club won’t be able to escape scrutiny as they continue to slump in mid-table, nowhere near where they’d ideally want to be at this point.

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Liverpool dodged transfer bullet as Reds legend calls out 27-year-old Man Utd player

Farrell Keeling — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 08:27:13 +0000

Liverpool may have dodged a bullet in missing out on Manchester United’s Sofyan Amrabat.

Steve Nicol was critical of the 27-year-old, whom he admitted he had previously presumed would be the right fit alongside Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister at Anfield.

“If they can get somebody beside the two of them [Szoboszlai and Mac Allister] they can just take a step further forward,” the ex-Red spoke on the ESPN FC podcast.

“Right now I don’t know [who that could be], I don’t have anyone.

“I used to think Amrabat would be the right one beside them, but at United it’s not quite working out. I thought initially he would be ideal, he could sit just behind the two of them and let them do more going forward.

“But I don’t think Endo’s the answer, I don’t think Jones is the answer. So right now, I think Liverpool need to be on the lookout for somebody.”

It didn’t work out that way, fortunately, perhaps, for Jurgen Klopp’s men, though there remain questions over the ideal option to fill the No.6 role at L4.

Wataru Endo has infrequently impressed since his switch away from the German top-flight.

Curtis Jones, also mentioned, has experience playing at the base of the midfield, though simply not enough to mark him out as the standout choice.

Do Liverpool buy? Or trust Mac Allister?

Andre of Fluminense has been heavily linked in the meantime, though recent reports have suggested that Liverpool may be looking in a different direction to solve this challenge.

Statistically, however, it’s worth pointing out that Mac Allister has been far from appalling in the holding role, amassing a superior rate of tackles, blocks and interceptions per 90 compared to Rodri.

In a brand-new midfield that still needs time to mesh, perhaps the Argentine simply needs to be left alone to figure out what is both an integral and complex position.

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“The answer is…” – Pundit claims out of work English manager could succeed at Spurs

Mark Murphy — Sat, 13 May 2023 18:55:16 +0000

Pundit Steve Nicol believes that Graham Potter could be “the answer” for Tottenham Hotspur as they look for a new manager.

Potter was sacked by Chelsea back in April after a dismal and poor spell in charge at Stamford Bridge. Spurs parted ways with former boss Antonio Conte at the end of March and are still without a manager.

Speaking to EPSN, Nicol floated the idea of the former Blues and Brighton & Hove Albion boss as being someone who could do well at Tottenham.

He stated, “Graham Potter, is it too soon after Chelsea? Or would that just be a smart move? He was never given a chance. He in my opinion wasn’t given the opportunity to do well at Chelsea. If you erase Chelsea from Potter’s CV then I guess the answer is Potter.”

With former Bayern Munich boss Julian Naglesmann out of the equation, the club could do a lot worse than the out-of-work English manager.

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There aren’t necessarily a lot of candidates that would want to take charge of the North London club, due to their potential lack of Champions League football next season.

However, Potter was successful at Brighton and was able to develop a number of exciting players at his disposal. If given the right tools at Spurs, perhaps he could be a success and work some similar magic.

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Steve Nicol raves about 23-year-old Liverpool star after his superb performance vs Newcastle

Darren Looney — Sun, 19 Feb 2023 16:36:00 +0000

Darwin Nunez opened the scoring for Liverpool during the Reds’ 2-0 win over Newcastle United and Steve Nicol was impressed by the 23-year-old’s performance.

The Uruguayan has divided opinions in the football world this season, as the striker has been erratic at Liverpool. The former Benfica star no doubt has a lot of quality and speaking on ESPN FC, former Red Steve Nicol was full of praise for the 23-year-old, having claimed he doesn’t deserve the criticism he receives.

“Poor Darwin Nunez, people jump on his back for missing chances,” said the pundit.

“He sticks that away like a world-class striker – that I think he’s going to be.”

The goal was Nunez’s 11th of the season in all competitions and it is certain that the Liverpool star will get many more.

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“Let’s be honest” – Former Liverpool defender reacts to Jurgen Klopp’s Real Madrid links

Andrew Walker — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 13:36:34 +0000

Jurgen Klopp is enduring his worst-ever spell as Liverpool manager.

The Reds are already out of the EFL and FA Cup and sit down in 10th in the Premier League table. The club’s season hinges entirely on the Champions League and with a Last 16 knockout tie against defending champions Real Madrid coming up, it seems the odds are very much stacked against Klopp.

Consequently, now under pressure at Anfield, there have been suggestions that the German could leave his role and take up another high-profile job.

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Speaking in an exclusive interview at the start of the week, Stan Collymore said: “The reality is, if FSG sack Klopp, there is no one else out there better equipped to do a better job, so anyone calling for him to go should be careful what they wish for because I’m certain that if he suddenly became available, you’d have Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG and even Chelsea all lining up.”

Reacting to suggestions that Klopp could end up succeeding Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid, former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol, who spoke to HITC, said: “Let’s be honest, he has had a bad seven months,” said Nicol. “But the last 14 years with Liverpool and Dortmund, he ain’t been bad.

“Really, would you have a problem?! Yeah, you are right (he would be brilliant). It would be good.”

Do you think Klopp should think about moving clubs? – Let us know in the comments.

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Liverpool legend now claims signing Jude Bellingham could hurt his old club

Farrell Keeling — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 22:15:11 +0000

Steve Nicol has warned Liverpool that signing Jude Bellingham could harm, rather than benefit, his old club.

The Merseysiders have been heavily linked with the Borussia Dortmund sensation, valued at £129m (according to The Times (via the Daily Mail), and reportedly find themselves in a three-horse race with Real Madrid and Manchester City for his signature (according to Florian Plettenberg, via Empire of the Kop) in the summer transfer window.

“Bellingham, obviously, was incredible. But you wonder, the way he plays the game, does that suit Liverpool at their best?” the Reds legend told ESPN (via The Boot Room).

“Liverpool at their best under Klopp, I’ve said this a lot, have three guys in the middle of the park who just work and work. Albeit they’re talented players, their job is to get the ball to the front three.

“That’s not Bellingham’s game. Would that take away from Liverpool (if they signed him).”

The Reds enjoyed their best period of success under Jurgen Klopp with a midfield combination generally consisting of Gini Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho.

It’s worth pointing out that the addition of Thiago Alcantara represented a major shift away from the industry-heavy nature of the midfield three prior to his switch away from Bayern Munich.

Likewise, the potentially club record-breaking signing of Darwin Nunez for £64m (set to rise to £85m once all add-ons are activated), represented a significant shift for the front-three with the Reds taking on a No.9 comparatively more committed to driving toward goal and scoring chances than Liverpool’s link-up star Bobby Firmino.

Only time will tell whether it was one risk not worth taking for Klopp’s men – assuming they can beat out their rivals and complete a deal for Europe’s hottest talent.

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“Dinosaurs” – Arsenal fans fuming with pundits’ bizarre take on Bukayo Saka

Mark Brus — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 10:08:41 +0000

Arsenal fans are not at all happy with ESPN pundits as they made some pretty bizarre takes on Bukayo Saka after the recent win at Aston Villa.

The England international scored the winning goal for the Gunners at Villa Park, but also drew criticism from Steven Gerrard for the way he complained about a physical challenge from Tyrone Mings.

See below as ESPN’s pundits blame Saka for being too soft, and criticise him for making it so clear that he doesn’t like the physical side of the game…

Listen to these dinosaurs man never heard so much rubbish in my life @ESPNFC do better #Saka pic.twitter.com/3lixRfdztJ

— Mike ?? (@Mikega2020) March 23, 2022

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Liverpool looking to steal 6ft 5in player from Aston Villa

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