On The Premier League
McAteer impressed by new managers Enzo Maresca, Aren Slot and Fabian Hürzeler
I always like to look at how the new managers are settling in around this time. How are they going to settle, how are teams going to play?
I would say everyone was surprised about Pochettino leaving Chelsea. Enzo Maresca went into a difficult job at Stamford Bridge. It’s not easy making the step-up from The Championship to the Premier League and, because of the chaos narrative that is tied to the club with the ownership, I think everyone was waiting to see how he was going to perform at the club at the beginning of the season.
Everyone was waiting to see how he handled that situation and Chelsea’s massive squad, but the biggest compliment that I can give him is that Chelsea look like a very settled team.
I actually think Chelsea’s last transfer window was the most productive in terms of the players coming in. You could see players were being signed to suit the way that Maresca wants his team to play. Jadon Sancho was a fantastic acquisition, and obviously he had Cole Palmer. Refining Nicolas Jackson around the edges was always going to be a challenge, but he’s done that.
At Liverpool, Slot has got off to a brilliant start, filling such big shoes. That has been, as a Liverpool fan, amazing for me. I’ve been very impressed with them so far this season.
Brighton’s Fabian Hürzeler is such a young manager. All eyes were on them and what they were going to do. You think with them going to the well for a new manager every season, they’re going to fall away, but they’ve gone from strength to strength. At home they’ve been outstanding, that home form was one of the manager’s greatest attributes when he was in the second division in the Bundesliga. He’s done really well.
Are you expecting a three-way title race this season?
I’m expecting a three-way title race between Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. I don’t think there’s another team in the Premier League that is ready to challenge them yet.
Arsenal have made so much progress over the last couple of seasons. Mikel Arteta has fine-tuned them into an outfit that challenges City. Liverpool did it under Klopp, we got close to City a couple of times, but to get there took a lot of hard work on and off the pitch. It takes time to win a Premier League title when you’re competing with the quality and finances of Manchester City.
You have to credit Arsenal’s board for keeping the faith with Arteta. Three or four seasons ago they got battered by City and were languishing near the bottom of the table after four or five games, and you think are they going to pull the trigger, but they stuck with him and his philosophy and are being rewarded for that.
Who would you tip to win the title?
It’s a really tough question. If you’re looking for longevity in an answer, then Arsenal. I think at this moment in time, they’re really ready to win it. Last season and the season before, there was a question about mentality. Can they last the pace? Will injuries affect them? I think they’ve bought really well in the last three or four windows, to bolster the squad with quality.
Now if they lose players of quality, they’ve got players who can step in. The perfect example is Martin Odegaard’s injury and Leandro Trossard stepping in. Trossard isn’t of the same quality as Odegaard, but he’s a very good player.
They also have their new signing Mikel Merino coming into the team after he picked up an injury and he will add a bit more to that Arsenal midfield.
People question Arsenal’s firepower. A lot of pundits were clamouring for them to sign a striker like Ivan Toney or Victor Osimhen this summer, but they chose not to do that. Perhaps Arteta didn’t think that either of them would have been a good fit for the culture he’s building at Arsenal.
Havertz is having to step up to the plate, and he has done. When I look at their team and their development over the last few years, I feel they have the right mentality this season to go all the way.
Who is the missing piece in the top four puzzle and who do you think will be fighting for that this season?
I think Chelsea will nab that last Champions League place. I was really surprised to some extent with how well they’ve started the season because of all the behind-the-scenes problems with the Todd Boehly and his strategy to run his football club. It’s his club, and he can run it however he wants, but when you look at the turnover of players and the approach to recruitment, there were doubts about how successful Chelsea were going to be this season.
I was surprised when Pochettino left in the summer. I met Mauricio at the World Cup in Qatar, and he’s such a calm character. I can imagine certain decisions being made at the club by Boehly would have blown his head off.
He got Chelsea moving in the right direction. He took his team to a League Cup final, which is a massive milestone for a young team in terms of its development. That was a huge step in the right direction in terms of getting the club back into a place where its competing for trophies.
Chelsea finished the season strongly, and when they pulled the chute, I was surprised. Marasca comes in and you’re thinking that Chelsea will be going back to square one, but that hasn’t been the case at all. You can see that this is a team that is starting to find its groove and I think they will only get better as the season progresses, which is why I’m tipping them to finish fourth.
McAteer tips Morgan Rogers to be the break-out star of the season.
If I had to pick one player who would be a break-out star this season, then I have to pick Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers. He has been outstanding since he joined the club last summer. He’s got good pedigree and was part of the City youth teams that included Phil Foden and Cole Palmer, but he kind of flew a bit under the radar because of the talent that City has produced.
He's really starting to shine at Aston Villa. He’s established himself as one of Unai Emery’s most important players in a very short space of time. No disrespect to Villa, but if he continues to develop like this, then I think it’s only a matter of time before one of the big boys come in and try and get him.
With Monchi at the club, I’m not surprised that they identified a talent like Rogers.
Unai Emery’s done a fantastic job; he’s got his team absolutely flying. There's lots of quality running through that team and Morgan Rogers is looking like the standout player, which is a huge compliment to him.
You can only see him getting better and better. Champions League football is going to help him develop even quicker. He’s having a really good spell in the team in the Premier League.
It’s hard as a youngster to really find your feet, but he just looks like he's made for the Premier League. I spoke to my mate the other day and he went, ‘He’s got a bit of Gazza about him.’
He's ready for a fight and he has a good attitude. He's comfortable on the ball. He can nick a goal; he can see a pass. He's got a bit of everything about him, so I think he's with a really, really good player and he’s not quite in the same spotlight that he would be if he was playing for Liverpool, Arsenal or City, which will help his development.
Who has been the best player in the Premier League so far this season?
Erling Haaland has been outstanding. I think we were all waiting for him to fall off his perch, but having a summer off has has helped him.
He’s been at Manchester City long enough now to know what he’s expected to do. You can see that he’s worked really hard on his weaknesses and deficiencies.
He’s scoring different kinds of goals now, it’s not all about power. There’s a bit of finesse about his game. I’d like him to do a bit more if he was in my team, but if he’s scoring that many goals, he’s probably allowed to dictate how many times he’s touching the ball.
What he has done in the first seven games is phenomenal.
I also want to single-out Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch. I think he’s been absolutely outstanding. We get caught up in No. 6s, in Kantes, Rodrigos, Fabinho, players who specialise in breaking things up. I think you can have a different type of No. 6, with a different skill set and Ryan Gravenberch has proved that.
Arne Slot has put his arm around him. He’s played him from day one. He feels loved, he feels like he’s part of it now, because under Jurgen he was a bit-part player.
He was a player with massive potential at Bayern, and now we’re starting to see him fulfilling that.
As great as Jurgen was, and I love him, Ryan Gravenberch might feel differently. Under Slot, he’s flourished, and I’d say he’s one of the standout players in the Premier League right now.
McAteer wants to see more from Bruno Fernandes
I think Bruno Fernandes is a fantastic talent, he’s just in the wrong environment.
I want to see more from him and more maturity from him. Manchester United are in turmoil right now and you need your captain to demonstrate proper leadership in these types of situations. He’s so petulant. He should be setting an example.
There’s a lot of really good young players in that United team: Garnacho, Mainoo, Hojlund. These are really good young players. Bruno Fernandes needs to be setting an example, and getting sent off in consecutive games is not the example to set.
It’s been a really difficult period for Manchester United. They’ve started the season terribly. I’m really disappointed in Bruno Fernandes’ contributions in games and how he’s behaved. That’s not how a Manchester United captain should be showing his attributes or behaving.
His attitude and performances, considering the role he has at a giant of a football club in Manchester United, have been the biggest disappointment for me in the Premier League this season.
Who would you consider as the three best midfielders in the Premier League?
If I was assembling a dream Premier League midfield, then the best three midfield players that I’d pick would be Rodri, Martin Odegaard and Cole Palmer.
I was really disappointed when Rodri picked up his ACL injury. He was talking about the amount of football elite players are playing, and then that went and happened, the irony of it! I believe it’s a bad one as well. I wish him a speedy recovery, because he’s outstanding.
Cole Palmer has established himself as one of the best players in the Premier League in twelve months. What he’s done in that time has been absolutely remarkable.
Odegaard has to be in there. He’s been consistently excellent for three seasons now.
That would be some midfield. It’s perfectly balanced with a complete maverick of a player in Cole Palmer, discipline coming from Rodri and the creativity and guile of Odegaard. They are three players that complement each other really well.
Bewildering decision to give Erik ten Hag a new Manchester United contract
Manchester United’s decision to give Erik ten Hag a new contract in the summer is a decision I’m still scratching my head about. I find it bewildering.
From what we were hearing on the outside, United did speak to a few candidates to replace him in the summer.
They obviously didn't get their man. To then go and pin all of their hopes on ten Hag and to give him over a hundred million to spend looks like a crazy decision if you had doubts about him in the first place, which they clearly did.
The players heads would have been scrambled in the dressing room. I think they were all expecting a new manager to come in, and then they find out that ten Hag is staying.
INEOS have come in and they’ve completely overhauled the football team at an executive level. There was a sense of excitement that they would fix the problems at the club.
They’ve appointed Dan Ashworth to oversee that strategy and move the club forward. He’s got a brilliant reputation as has Jason Wilcox – you would think they will get it right at some point, but you have to question their decision-making on what they've done over the last four months.
The Manchester United job is too big for ten Hag. He's shown that, over the last 10 games when pressure is on, he can't step up to the mark. I think he's lost the dressing room.
The United players look bewildered with what's going on – you can see that from a lot of their performances. Bruno Fernandes looks utterly frustrated with the situation and I think a lot of his attitude is born out of a frustration with what's going on behind the scenes and Erik ten Hag’s training and ideas. The Manchester United players look lost under this manager.
McAteer expects better leadership from Ratcliffe
I thought that Jim Ratcliffe’s comments or non-comments on Erik ten Hag’s future were interesting. He really shied away from making a statement on his manager. OK, it’s a tough question to be asked if you’re backing the current manager, but his response wasn’t what the Manchester United fans wanted to hear.
United fans want to hear from their leader. They want to be given the confidence that Jim Ratcliffe is taking the club in the right direction, and in the current circumstances, they want leadership.
The fact that he said, ‘This is not my decision.’ Well, ultimately it is your decision. He sits at the top of the organisation, so for him to shy away from the question was disappointing.
I don’t understand why INEOS allowed Erik ten Hag to spend so much money in the summer if they had doubts about him. These players have been signed to fit his philosophy, and, if a new man comes in and these players aren’t for him, then United are going to be in big trouble. You can’t have a situation where a new manager comes in and picks up the pieces if he wants to play in a different way or has a different philosophy – it’s not going to work.
A new manager will look around and say, ‘You don’t suit how I play, neither do you, neither do you.’ These are players on four or five year-deals, and they're not going to be going anywhere.
PSR is already pinching them on the backside. They're leaving themselves no wriggle room to develop the squad. Unfortunately for Manchester United fans, I can only see this season drifting nowhere.
On Manchester City
On Manchester City financial charges
Right now, there's 115 charges being investigated. Why’s it taken so long when they can find Everton and Forest guilty so quickly? They issued the punishments. I know there’s a lot more charges, and City are innocent until proven guilty, but there’s 115 charges! They'll be very lucky to get away with every single one of them.
I have my own take on why it's taken so long. I think there are a lot of other outside elements to consider that go beyond a purely sporting decision. The lawyers are going at it and they're trying to find an outcome which suits everybody.
As a Liverpool fan, if City are found guilty, of course it will disappoint me. Whether you want to use the word cheated or whether you want to say they bent the rules by having really good accountants, it’s still not right. Cheating is a very, very strong word, but if that's what they get caught doing, then of course ( I’ll be disappointed).
The Liverpool players put so much into their tussles with City over a four-year period. To find out that a team has bent the rules so significantly to gain such a significant advantage – Liverpool lost two potential titles by a single point – and has dominated British football for the last five, six, seven years, then, it would really, really disappoint me. We're not at that stage yet and we'll have to see what the outcome is.
I think if City are found guilty, then financially, they can cope with whatever the fine is.They've got bottomless pockets of money, so that's not really going to hurt them, but from a points perspective, they’re going to have to set an example.
Even if the league took 40 points off them, they'd still probably finish in the Europa League.
A transfer embargo for two or three seasons could be another way of looking at it. I don't think City will get relegated if they're found guilty. I think the Premier League needs them. I think the government needs them. We'll have to wait and see what happens.
On Liverpool
McAteer impressed with Slot’s Liverpool start
Listen, when a manager tends to go into a football club, it’s usually to change fortunes, and that obviously wasn’t the case for Slot. Liverpool were not on its backside; the club was left in an extremely healthy position.
The mindset at Liverpool has been all about success over the last seven or eight years. Jurgen Klopp was the focal point of the football club. He was untouchable, so following in those footsteps was always going to be difficult.
We've seen many managers go into a situation like this and fail. David Moyes would probably be the one that stands out. He tried to stamp his own authority on Manchester United and got it wrong.
Slot hasn’t really had to change much. He was clearly identified as a leading candidate for when Jurgen departed. I was optimistic that he would succeed. I liked the look of him, what he’d done at Feyenoord. I liked his temperament. I think he’s got charisma, which is something you need that to manage Liverpool.
I think he's done a remarkable job.
Slot is learning every single day
Arne Slot is learning every day by having the job in the Premier League, where he's never managed. He's learning about all the other teams, all the other players, the intensity, the pressure – he’s dealing with completely different scenarios than he would have faced at Feyenoord and he’s also navigating the Champions League.
Liverpool fans want to win silverware, so there is an importance on placed on the domestic cups. I think navigating that and getting to grips with all of the games will be his biggest challenge because Liverpool fans won’t accept throwing those competitions away.
Everything is calm at Liverpool
Everything is calm at Liverpool. It's ticking over nicely. Positive results really help that scenario. You only need to look 30 miles down the road at Manchester United to see the difference that positive results bring.
Slot hasn’t faced any moments of adversity yet, but they will come. If Liverpool start losing a few games or if they pick up injuries with key players, then we’ll see how he handles that.
He’s also going to have to make decisions on rotating his players. That will be coming as the games start to stack up, but he hasn’t really had any of those problems to deal with yet because it’s very hard to change a winning team as a manager. He's done remarkably and it's been brilliant, but there are questions to be asked which he will face later down the line.
Slot sent a statement to his players in the first game against Ipswich
The opening game of the season against Ipswich was always going to be a tough ask. It was a daunting fixture for a manager because of the occasion. Tough atmosphere, newsboys in the Premier League, the pitch is great, the crowd’s full.
That first 45 minutes was difficult and then he made a massive call by taking Jarell Quansah off and deciding, ‘It's not working, and I don't care who you are, this is what I'm doing.’
It set a statement. I know you can say he’s a kid and it was an easy one. He didn't shy away from making that decision, and I like that. Then Liverpool get the points and the momentum grows.
You could see his philosophy straight away. There's more of a patient build up, the full backs aren’t bombing on. They go to a three in the back, they pack the midfield.
He’s made a player of Gravenberch. He's not shied away from testing him, giving him the opportunity and believing in him.
Some people have suggested that Liverpool haven’t really played anyone yet and their title mettle will be tested after the international break. Is that a fair statement? Do you think we will know more about Liverpool’s title credentials at the end of the month?
I don’t think Slot would have been intimidated by any of the opponents he’s faced so far. The Manchester United game is arguably a standalone game. It doesn’t matter where they are, it's always a massive fixture in world football.
For him to taste that was great. How he managed that game, and that scenario was outstanding. I actually thought it would have been a good test of Slot’s management and a good barometer to see where Liverpool were at that time of the season.
I come away from the game and asked myself are Liverpool really good or are Manchester United really bad? I couldn't make up my mind.
Now, seven games in, I'm thinking Manchester United are really bad and Liverpool are really good.
There's not been a real test for him yet. Youcan only beat what's in front of you and he's navigated his way through those games brilliantly. The bigger tests are on the horizon with Chelsea and Arsenal to come, and its those games that will tell us whether or not Liverpool can be the real deal this season.
When you play the likes of Chelsea, whose tails are up right now, and certainly the Arsenal game… We saw it last season where you could argue Arteta shied away from the challenge when he came up against Manchester City. He played for the draw, and it ultimately cost him the title.
You learn so much as a manager in those situations. Should he have been braver or should he have had more faith in his team and his tactics. I think if he did, he would have gone to City and won. It's the same for Slot. When he comes up against Arsenal, how does he approach it? Will he give them too much respect or does he go out and play the way he wants to play and ask questions of Arteta and Arsenal?
We will see what he's got then. You don't want to lose the game. You don't want to lose it and think, ‘I wish I'd been more positive there.’ That game will be a massive indicator of where we are this season and what we can achieve.
It's a fascinating one really, and it's coming this month when we also have a game against Chelsea, Champions League football and Brighton. He’s about to embark on a season-defining period with Liverpool.
We’ve seen Slot shuffle his pack in recent weeks. Do you have any concerns that performances may dip when he does so or are you confident in the Liverpool squad depth.
He's not afraid of making big calls. He's in a catch-22 because you're a new manager, you come into a football club with the philosophy, tactics. The hardest thing to do is keep changing your team.You've got to have consistency in your selection to bed in what you're trying to do.And you've got to be careful with that.
He's picking the same team week in, week out, although he made changes at the weekend. But you don't want to lose the players to injury. You’ve got to give your squad players game time to keep them fresh and match ready.
Player management is where a manager really earns his money because we all know that the last period of the season is so demanding physically. You need you fresh legs in the run-in and that comes back to resting and rotating players.
Slot’s got to find that balance. If he finds it, then Liverpool will be genuine contenders for the title. If he doesn't, they'll fall away.
On Liverpool Contracts
It would be fair to say that Alexander-Arnold could probably pick his next club. The Real Madrid rumours aren’t going away. Would that be a move that is hard to resist when you consider everything that he has won at Liverpool?
The days of a one-club player are gone. I don't think you'll see a Steven Gerrard again. I don't really think it goes on anymore.
There's so much more to football now, you know, off-the-field contracts, lucrative deals elsewhere. Real Madrid changes the whole landscape for Trent as a person and as a sportsman. It opens his world up to different opportunities. It's Real Madrid, it's Spain, another language, another culture.
He's won everything at Liverpool. It's not like he’ll look back at his career and wish he stayed back to win the league. Steven Gerrard did that. Steven’s objective in his sports career was to win the league at Liverpool. He almost did it, but it fell away at the end.Maybe if Liverpool had not won the league under Klopp, it might entice Trent to want to stay. I just think the chips are stacked against Trent staying at Liverpool right now.There's other positives for him to stay. He's a home-grown talent. He owes a bit to Liverpool. His mum's a scouser and probably will tell him what to do. I've met her, she's brilliant, I love her to bits and she's a very strong character.
There's a lot of positive influence around Trent: Alex Inglethorpe, his mum, different players. As much as I'm fighting an argument here, there is that side of things, but I just think the allure of Spain and Madrid and Carvajal being injured and coming to the end of his career, the space is there, isn't it?I think Ancelotti will go at the end of the season. I think Xabi Alonso will slot in there. Why wouldn't he want Trent? Tchouameni, Mbappe, Bellingham, Rodrigo, Vinicus Jr.
You know, they’re all young players who can dominate world football over the next five years
What’s your gut feeling on the future of Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk? Do you expect them to sign new deals this season?
It's the question everyone's talking about, isn't it? It's a really difficult one. It’s a world of sporting directors right now. We know Liverpool only employed Michael Edwards towards the back end of last season, so he wouldn't have been involved in that. Obviously, Richard Hughes has just come in at the beginning of this season.
I've no idea how three players of the stature and quality of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been able to run their contracts down.
The flipside of the argument is that the club can't do anything about it if the players want to do that. I'm not really buying into that. I'm not really buying into that because of the stature of the players and the stature of the football club.
If Liverpool were to lose all three, it would rock the boat. It would put a massive hole in that ship. I don't know how it's been left where that is a possibility.
They will be working behind the scenes with a strategy and a plan. In an ideal world they will want to keep all three. Whether they keep all three is another question. Will FSG facilitate keeping them all, I’m not sure, because of the expenditure.
The landscape of football has changed again. Carvajal has just picked up an ACL. He's 32. Trent Alexander-Arnold, one of his best mates is Jude Bellingham. He's won everything at Liverpool. He's at that age where he can go and test the water elsewhere. And we know there's only one club you leave Liverpool for, as a Liverpool fan and as a Liverpool player, it's Real Madrid.
You'd be stupid to think they wouldn't want him. I think personally Trent will go, Salah will stay, and Virgil van Dijk will sign a short-term contract. That's what I think will happen.
What’s the minimum objective for Liverpool this season?
I think you answer that question from a club point of view rather than the manager's point of view. The club's expectations and the fans' every season is to win whatever competition you're in.
The mentality and the mindset of Liverpool is very much we go to win everything, and we expect to win everything.If you fall short, that’s a failure. As much as that might not come out, using the word, that’s how it would feel in the club.
Can Liverpool win the title in Arne Slot’s first season in charge?
I think for Arne Slot, I think there's a real expectation that Liverpool can challenge this season. There's no reason why they can't. I think they've got players capable of winning it, with the right mindset to win it. They've got winners in that squad who have tasted success.
I don't see why they cannot seriously challenge for the Premier League title. I think in the Champions League they have really good fixtures. There's an opportunity to finish in that top eight. They've got all the tough teams at home. There's no reason why they can't go deep into that competition and even win it.That will probably come at the expense of the domestic cups, but Slot’s got a squad to cope with that. We don’t know how injuries will affect him because he will get them at some point. It just depends on who and what areas are left a bit short.
With what's happening with City losing Rodri, I don't see as big a fear factor with City as what we've seen in past seasons.
Arsenal will be the team that worry me. They're really, really equipped this season, mentally and physically, to be real contenders. That’s why I think there’s a real importance to the game in a few weeks. It’s not going to decide anything, but there’s going to be a real psychological importance to whoever wins that game.
Republic of Ireland assistant manager John O’Shea has branded the language used to describe the team and it’s performances as "too derogatory" and has urged the fans and the media to get behind the players. What did you make of those comments?
I think John O’Shea’s press conference was more about rallying the troops and asking for a bit of patience and maybe a bit of leniency.
I could sit here for an hour and talk about why Ireland are in the position they're in.
With three wins in the last 15 games, for the fans and everyone who's involved with the Irish set-up, whether it's ex-players or its supporters, there's a lot of disillusionment and question marks about the vision and ambition of the team.
I was a bit bewildered by the process they went to in finding a new manager. We've gone back to the words of a rebuild, introducing younger players, changing things around and trying to bed in a philosophy. You can see that Heimir Hallgrímsson is trying to put a stamp on the team in terms of tactics and personnel. Reading between the lines, I think he's going to use the Nations League as a bit of a bedding-in ground, sacrificing results and going far in the competition to focus on qualifying for the World Cup in America.
I think Hallgrímsson wants to give that World Cup a real go, but there's a lot of work between now and qualification for that tournament. He's got to bed in a lot of younger players. He's not been afraid during this camp to make some big calls. Leaving out Matt Doherty was a big call because he brings a lot of experience.I think it's his way of showing the fans, listen, I'm not frightened to bring a younger player in, and this is the way we're moving forward at the expense of an experienced player.
You could argue the two fixtures he’s had, against Greece and England, were probably the toughest fixtures to face. I know they were both at home, but it was the quality that they faced.
He had five days on the training ground before he took the England game. I was at the game, and it was a mismatch. There’s a lot of work to be done.
My glass is definitely half empty on this one rather than half full.
