As Pep Guardiola walks out at Wembley on Saturday, he does not know what version of Manchester City will turn up. And that’s a horrible position to be in as a manager.
When I was covering the FA Cup as a TV pundit, Manchester City were playing League One Wigan Athletic in the fifth round in 2018. I remember saying, listen, City won’t lose today because they have suffered a cup upset before against Wigan, when they lost the final in 2013. Their cage had already been rattled. But City lost again, and it proved that lightning could strike twice.
Fast forward to now and I’d be wary of making any bold remarks about City.
They still have the quality and could easily run out comfortable winners but no-one knows what to expect.
As we saw last week at Southampton, they went there as a team who still desperately need to qualify for next year’s Champions League, but they didn’t perform. Afterwards, Ruben Dias was complaining about Southampton not wanting to play, what does he expect? You’re the big team pal, deal with it.
Crystal Palace are a very workmanlike team who have real quality such as Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta, who on his day can be a real handful up front.
Pep Guardiola heads into the FA Cup final not knowing what version of Man City will turn up
City are battling to qualify for the Champions League yet somehow drew with Southampton
Ruben Dias was complaining about Southampton not wanting to play but what does he expect?
Then they have someone I really like and am particularly looking forward to seeing in young Adam Wharton.
I’ve spoken before on this boy prior to the European Championships last summer when everyone was talking up the merits of Kobbie Mainoo instead and his worth to the England team. As talented as Mainoo is, he still doesn’t understand the holding midfield role and empties the space too readily for me.
Wharton has greater discipline in the position. He has got it from day one about what his job entails.
This is the biggest game of his young life and an opportunity for him to show the world that this is his stage.
He has already experienced a semi-final there, walking on the pitch getting that sight of the stadium, watching the big crowd gather. That is when you begin to switch on and go into a different mode. I couldn’t wait for that whistle to go and relished the atmosphere.
His first final experience at Wembley is unlike mine. My first was a European Cup final for Liverpool against Bruges. I’d been brought into a side that were already European champions, and the dressing room was full of serial winners. As the ‘newbie’ in the Liverpool squad, I looked round and thought ‘we won’t lose’, in fact the vibe was it would be a major shock to football if we did lose.
That pressure isn’t on Palace. But it will be interesting to see how Wharton handles a Wembley final where he will be put under pressure from the off.
He will be a big player going forward and one who I can see establishing himself as an integral part of the national team and, unfortunately for Palace, a target for some of the real big boys out there.
City still have the quality on their day as well as a midfield that is extremely talented but ageing
Crystal Palace are a very workmanlike team who have real talent and could cause an upset
On Saturday, he is up against an extremely talented but ageing midfield.
One that is as good as anything out there on its day but doesn’t have those kinds of days consistently anymore.
That’s why City’s recruitment targets will be in midfield this summer. A large part of their ills extends from that lack of intensity which has made them so much easier to play through this year.
They could be starting with a midfield that has 33-year-old Kevin de Bruyne, 31-year-old Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva, soon to be 31.
Throw in the fact they’ve also been missing the best holding player out there in Rodri and it’s easier to understand why they are so vulnerable.
Palace will quietly fancy themselves. They can play good counter-attacking football which could be effective against a City team that no longer have that consistent intensity to their pressing game across 90 minutes.
Pep is right to say that winning this Cup final will not salvage their season.
It’s a glamorous day out of the office for them but, given their recent form, there is no guarantee that they will be in the ‘Cup with the Big Ears’ next season and that is their priority.
I’m excited to see how Adam Wharton gets on and I believe he will go right to the top one day
City are heavy favourites but Guardiola’s side have shown their vulnerability all season
Trent deserves a fitting farewell
I can understand why some Liverpool supporters are unhappy, but I have never heard one of their own booed before.
Having lived and worked in the city for the best part of 10 years, it was always ‘us against the rest of the world”, and it certainly galvanised us and created a sense of we are all in it together, no matter what. That’s what made it a special place.
So, by booing Trent Alexander-Arnold, a boy who has grown up in the city and given 20 years’ service to the football club, a few have shown something that I never thought I would see or hear at Anfield.
Society behaviour has changed but such traditions of the city, the football club, should be upheld.
The Kop only ever used to boo us players as a p***-take. When we were winning games comfortably, they would cheer the opposition when they had the ball and boo us when we had it.
When I was leaving Liverpool, my circumstances were very different to Trent.
It is understandable some fans are unhappy that Trent Alexander-Arnold is leaving on a free
But I can’t believe some Liverpool supporters still decided to boo Alexander-Arnold last Sunday
I was 31, Liverpool were getting twice the money they paid for me, and I’d given seven years’ service.
The anger some feel towards Trent will be because he is going for free or, at worst a nominal fee, if Madrid negotiate to take him early for the Club World Cup in June. Those supporters will be aggrieved as they see it as Liverpool giving him everything. Helping to make him into a quality player worth circa £50m – but to what benefit to the club?
I think we must remember the Bosman works both ways. Liverpool have signed the likes of James Milner and Joel Matip on free transfers. There will be more opportunities to do similar this summer.
I’ve never met Trent, so I don’t know what is going through his head. If he wanted a fresh challenge or different cultural experience, then where do you go? It can only be Real Madrid or Barcelona.
His strength is in his attacking qualities with his delivery, which is second to none, so in a Madrid side that are so often the dominant team I expect him to be a sensation. The only thing is it is a Madrid side that’s had a difficult season. Uninspiring Champions League performances and runners up in La Liga to their biggest rivals. So, he is arriving at a club that must have a successful season next year. But he is used to playing under pressure at Liverpool so that should not be a problem for him.
As they start the new season, he won’t be the only new face in the dressing room as they will be making several changes including a new coach in Xabi Alonso and possibly Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth.
Life in Madrid as a Real Madrid player will not be too shabby and speaking from experience, the cultural change will do wonders for his development as a young man. Something you never forget and only makes your life richer. But who knows? Trent has never lived outside of Liverpool, he may decide he doesn’t like it and want to come back in a year’s time.
Supporters have got to respect his wishes. He has shown commitment, quality, and good service to Liverpool.
I would hope, if he plays some part in the final home game against Crystal Palace, then he is afforded a fitting farewell. Full Stop.
Alexander-Arnold deserves a fitting Anfield farewell and I hope he gets one against Palace
Real Madrid will give Alexander-Arnold a fresh challenge and a different cultural experience
Awoniyi injury ramps up pressure on authorities
It is madness that it has taken a player to suffer such serious injury for the powers that be to consider changing a stupid protocol that delays the waving of an offside flag.
It is a classic case of people without proper football awareness being in charge of changing the rules of the game.
I’m struggling to see any positive here. You’re either offside or not offside. It’s equally difficult for the linesman because when he doesn’t raise his flag the crowd are baying down his neck shouting that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. It heightens the frustration around the stadium, setting the tone for the rest of the match.
But the purpose, according to the lawmakers, has been to allow more goals to be scored as officials do not intervene until the attack is completed and a VAR check can be carried out if necessary.
For a player you are taught from very early age that you ‘play to the whistle’. If they don’t see a flag, or intervention by a referee they will carry on with full commitment. A defender at this time is desperately trying to prevent conceding a goal. So, he is defending in full commitment and sometimes his actions can be clumsy or dangerous to himself and anyone else around. The risk of serious foul play or injury will always be there.
Now we have a player in Nottingham Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi who was in a coma after rupturing his intestine which sounds very, very painful.
I think it’s time the geniuses look at this rule and come up with something better.
It is madness that it has taken Taiwo Awoniyi to suffer such a serious injury for the powers that be to consider changing a stupid protocol that delays the waving of an offside flag
Awoniyi ruptured his intestine and was in a coma, but all of that could have been avoided
Muller’s longevity is testament to his character
Look at Thomas Muller’s CV and it will tell you all you need to know; 750 games at one club, Bayern Munich.
They are the most powerful in the Bundesliga by a country mile. They historically buy the best players from their biggest rivals, and they also change managers on a regular basis.
So, the fact Muller has survived there all these years says a great deal about the character he is.
Not just a top player, who has won 13 league titles, two Champions Leagues and a World Cup for his country, but this is a guy who must be a really good type because of his longevity at that ruthless institution of German football.
Thomas Muller’s longevity at a club like Bayern Munich over his career is awe-inspiring
Sampdoria decline is a sad tale
It’s sad to see Sampdoria, my old club, dropping into Serie C for the first time this week.
It’s a long time since I was there with a young Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini, who went on to win the Serie A title there. We had a wealthy benefactor then in Paolo Mantovani, who invested wisely in building a very talented young squad.
Their story underlines the importance of recruitment. It’s not about increasing turnover, having the best training grounds or best stadiums, it’s about what’s on the pitch. It was and always will be.
I hope my old friend Roberto Mancini, as consultant, and his pal Attilio Lombardo, can get them back on track for a speedy return to Serie A.
