Collymore’s column: Amorim’s challenge, Real Madrid’s shame and much more

In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Aston Villa attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including Ruben Amorim’s challenge at Man United, why Rodri was a worthy Ballon d’Or, the shame of Real Madrid for not attending the awards and much more. 

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Amorim needs to be a manager first and a coach second

INEOS get a one or two out of 10 for not getting rid of Erik ten Hag last June, but 10 out of 10 for actually doing it when it needed to be done – ie right now.

I think that most people thought that when he got the contract extension, that meant that ten Hag would get till the end of the season. That INEOS would then basically look at the situation and make a decision based on that.

But the results and performance are more important. They’ve been so poor that making the decision now was absolutely the right thing to do.

In terms of Ruben Amorim taking over, he’s a guy that is well respected and well regarded as a coach, and has a very defined way of playing, like Klopp, Slot and Pep.

My theory is that we’re getting back to the days of an old fashioned manager. Not just a head coach that gets out on the training pitch but someone who manages people.

Erik ten Hag had the ability to coach but he wasn’t a manager. You could tell he didn’t have the respect or the charisma or the character to get people along the journey with him. He massively and painfully lacked that, to the point that at times you thought to yourself, is he deluded?

What Manchester United need now is a manager. Unai Emery is a classic example. People say he’s a really good coach and he’s got a defined style of play which he absolutely has, but you look at him and the way that the players talk about him.

If Amorim is going to be successful, he has to gravitate back towards a situation that worked for over 100 years in association football; be a manager that has coaching ability. Be a man that has the belief, the spirit, the soul, the character and the personality to bring your players along with you, every step of the way.

Let’s see what he’s got.

Barcelona have been brilliant under Flick but there’s still work to do

When Barcelona were hit by near bankruptcy they needed to look in their near view mirror, not the rear view. It forced them to confront a few facts.

They were no longer able to compete in the space race with Premier League clubs for the best players. Unable to outspend them, which seemed trendy and funky beforehand, Barca had to start thinking about being organic in their growth. They had to look internally at what they had rather than letting players move on, adding to the grand ecosystem that is European football in the process.

Fast forward to today and Hansi Flick is doing a fantastic job. I think he’s fairly understated in his post-match comments, but he gives off the aura of a manager that can manage players.

All you want as a player is to go in from Monday to Saturday and look at a manager that you respect because you know he has the experience to be able to guide you. Flick gives that off in spades.

From a club perspective, with a very prodigious young talent in Lamine Yamal, everybody can see that, once again, Barcelona is a very fertile environment for young players.

La Masia players will think “he’s only two years older than me, I can do that,” and that’s the biggest compliment I can pay the club.

Does it mean that they’re back?

I think there’s still plenty to do, but when you are beating teams of the caliber of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich by multiples of goals, it’s fair to say that if you could add consistency on and off the pitch to that, you are going to get back to where you feel you need to be quicker than most clubs, because of the sheer size of the club.

Real Madrid trio can’t be expected to reach Ronaldo or Messi levels every week

I think that the issue with Vinicius, Junior, Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe is that they’re not quite as good as a lot of people believe.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re all very good players in their own right and because of their age, they’re all going to get significantly better.

However, what we’ve done as a global football community is go looking for the next Ronaldo and the next Messi, so these three guys are going be expected to hit those heights every week.

If they don’t, the wider footballing community are just going to say that they’re not good enough.

Do I think that Mbappe will get anywhere near breaking Ronaldo’s records? No. I think he’s very useful for Real Madrid, but he has to accept that he’s not the political boss in the dressing room as he was at Paris Saint-Germain.

Do I think Vini Jr is as good as Messi at traveling with the ball? No. He has too much confidence and cockiness and he just isn’t as good as he thinks he is.

Do I think that Jude Bellingham yet has the consistency and skill set of the likes of a Toni Kroos or a Luka Modric? No. He’s now getting used to the the grind of 60 plus games a season as a midfielder/attacking midfielder but he’s got a way to go.

If they are at fault, it’s because they’ve allowed their sponsors or people around them to try and elevate them to greatness far too early. Messi and Ronaldo did the business first and then would perhaps appear in a commercial venture. These younger players are trying to do it in reverse and there’s the issue.

But let’s not forget that they are all league winners, and both Bellingham and Vini Jr have won the Champions League too, so they’ve already won some of the best trophies there are to win.

I think that what we’re talking about is a mythical Ronaldo and Messi playing 10 out of 10 every week and therefore any direct comparison with them is only going to ensure that no one matches up.

Arsenal and Liverpool will both be happy with a point

I don’t know the exact statistics on it, but you would say that Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola and Arne Slot might tell their dressing rooms that they’ll only be able to lose one or two games in the season if they want to win the title. That’s the that’s the reality of the situation.

So their respective clubs can either draw six or lose two, but not any more than that.

It focuses the players minds so that they know that they’ve got to perform week in and week out, and that’s why you see lots of goals going in late. So, Arsenal score goals at home with players out, against a team that has the best defensive record in the country.

Yes, they’ll be kind of disappointed, but I would imagine that on the chalkboard at Arsenal’s training ground that if they’re crunching the numbers, they’ll look at it and say for us to be champions, we’ve got to win one of the two games against City, or we’ve got to not be beaten by them at all – and I would imagine Liverpool are in that equation as well.

Arsenal started off very well, as they seem to have done in the last seven or eight games against Liverpool, and I also thought that the Reds had chunks of the game, 10/15, minute spells, particularly in the second half, where they kept the ball and they created opportunities on the counter attack.

Overall, with the likes of Saliba missing for example, I think that that’s a very good point for both teams and it instills confidence that they’re playing against the very best in the country, and being able to compete.

I think that both managers were generally relaxed with the result and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they didn’t both chalk that one down as a point earned.

Rodri is a worthy Ballon d’Or and Real Madrid have brought shame on themselves

Along with Luka Modric, Rodri is the purest player on the planet.

I don’t think you could argue with most of the Ballon d’Or’s of Ronaldo or Messi in terms of the levels that they were hitting, but it’s really simple for me.

Individual consistency of performances at a level that others can’t get to, for a period of time that is significant, a player that creates moments that significantly add to your team winning trophies… that’s simple, linear criteria and Rodri ticks all of those boxes.

He’s been the mainstay of a Manchester City team where he’s been the best player and most consistent player, and he’s scored big goals in big games to help win trophies over a period of time.

Rodri. Ballon d’Or. The end.

As for Real Madrid not turning up to the gala, I thought it was really mealy mouthed and borderline shameful.

A trophy let’s not forget that they’ve massively helped overhype, and because their new star boy hasn’t got the glory, they go and make such a big deal about it.

If it’s true that Vinicius was handing out Rolexes to helpful, friendly team-mates along the way and having an all-night celebration party before the result was officially announced, I think that’s a massive red flag too.

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