In his first Betway Insider blog, our new global ambassador discusses Arsenal v Manchester United, two new Premier League No. 9s and Marcus Rashford’s move to Barcelona.
Arsenal begin their season against Manchester United on Sunday. What are your memories from your battles with United in the Premier League?
In my time, it was the game where you knew if you lost, it was going to be difficult to catch them. If they beat us, they could break your momentum and derail the train. Chelsea were pretty competitive, Liverpool also had a good team, but it was always going to be between us and United in my time.
You knew that if you messed up against them, the league was almost gone, which is kind of crazy to say because it’s only one game.
When I think of United, I think about the battles, yes, but above all respect. Sometimes you respect them so much that you go overboard. It’s weird to say that, but we knew we had to go above and beyond, like they had to go above and beyond to try to intimidate us and beat us. A win is a win against them, and it was the same for them against us.
Obviously those guys won the title more than we did, but we knew and they knew that it’s not easy to be at the top, so you had to respect that.
Those games against United were so important, were they the matches you looked for first when the fixtures were released?
I was never that type of player. I always spoil this type of thing, because I couldn’t care less when we played United – first game, last game. If you want to win the league, you have to be consistent. The two times I won the league at Arsenal we didn’t lose a single game away from home. It’s not only about appearing against United, or against the top four, you had to be good every weekend. If you concentrate only against United, and then don’t concentrate against Middlesborough, or Charlton, or anyone else, then so what?
The press were making a big thing out of it. Whatever Arsene or Sir Alex said, even if it was normal, the press were making it bigger than what it was, and it created a certain tension between the two managers and the players, and the referee arrived there with pressure.
But for us, apart from the night before going to Old Trafford or them coming to us, you didn’t really think about it before that because you have a game in midweek.
It was big, in all fairness, because it was usually the title decider, but personally I wasn’t thinking too much about it, too early. But it was always the show that everyone wanted to see, although at times they were more like battles than football games.
United and Arsenal aren’t competing for the title now, but do you think Sunday’s match will have that big game feel as it’s the start of a new season?
It’s still Manchester United against Arsenal. We still don’t know what’s going to happen this season, but it hasn’t been the game in the Premier League for a very long time. Having said that, for both teams it is important, regardless of where they’re going to end up.
For United, with what’s been happening recently, they have still managed to go to finals and win trophies along the way even though they did struggle. The coach is going to want to see where they are against a good team like Arsenal.
For Arsenal, is it going to be the year? That’s what it’s going to be for the whole season. It’s going to be a long one, the Champions League is coming, the players are going to play the qualifiers for the national team, but is this going to be the year? They’re going to drop points, they’re going to win games. Can they do it? It’s been a thing for a very long time, but this year I think is going to be the year where something has to happen.
There is a lot on the game, and we all know that it’s only the beginning, but if you don’t start well, questions are going to be raised straight away because of what’s been happening recently.
Which team or player are you most looking forward to watching in the new Premier League season?
It’s not just one team. Everyone wants to see if Chelsea carry on what they’ve been doing, because it looked at the Club World Cup and towards the end like things were happening. I’m not a Chelsea fan, but I want to see how they’re going to play this season.
You want to see how Liverpool’s signings are going to do. They won the league, by the way. I keep saying that buying players doesn’t assure you of the title. Last year, they didn’t really buy anyone, they got a new coach and everyone thought they were going to struggle because they lost Klopp, and then they didn’t. You never know, but you want to see how those guys are going to adapt.
Obviously, Arsenal, it goes without saying. Even fans that don’t follow Arsenal are asking, can you win a title? That’s going to be the question.
There are so many teams. Man City – was that the year we’re going to all give them, because what they’ve been doing under Pep for a very long time is just crazy, but they also want to have a response, go back and win it.
Are Newcastle going to back up what they’ve done? Can Crystal Palace carry on and go higher, and try to push? There are so many things that are going to be pretty interesting this year.
The league is pretty challenging, you can never know what will happen. Everyone thought that if Man City was struggling one year, it looked like it would be Arsenal’s year. Well, Man City struggled and Liverpool won it. You just can never tell.
There are already so many questions that we’re always talking about. They need to answer them, and show us what this season is going to be about.
Arsenal have their new striker in Viktor Gyokeres. What qualities have you seen in him?
It’s always unfair because when I talk about a striker, it brings an unnecessary pressure, sometimes, because whenever I say something it goes above and beyond. What I would say about Gyokeres is that you saw his goal against Athletic Club the other day. That instinct and understanding to anticipate the cross, a great header with soft touch to guide it to the other side of the goal – he is a proper No. 9. That’s the goal of a 9.
He is not a Firmino type of 9 that’s going to drop into midfield. He wants to be in the box, in between the posts, and he said it himself – please put the ball in the box and serve me.
You have a guy that’s a killer in the box – numbers don’t lie – and you have a team that create a lot of chances, so it should be the perfect match, but you have to also understand that sometimes it doesn’t click straight away.
What you want is people to be patient with him, and what is annoying right now is that people are not that patient anymore. They want the guy to perform straight away, score goals straight away and make us win straight away, which doesn’t happen often.
He already was in England, let’s not forget that. He was at Coventry, he couldn’t do it at Brighton, so you can see a guy who already knows what struggling is and comes back from that. He’s more confident, and you can see from his body the way he’s looked after himself, the way he’s changed.
I love when people show me what they can do, and then I can talk. Right now, people love to talk before the performance.
I’m an Arsenal fan, I obviously hope he’s going to do well, bang goals for us, and guide us to a title, but he’s not going to do that alone. We have seen that goals don’t always assure you a title. We’ve seen guys with mad numbers, but they didn’t win anything. The team around them has to be good.
From what I’ve seen from him and how he finishes, hopefully it’s going to be a great match and we can finally go back to lift that trophy. But as I’ve said, a lot of teams want to lift that.
What do you think of Liverpool’s new French striker, Hugo Ekitike, and how much potential does he have?
Hugo had an outstanding season with Reims. He came out of nowhere, he’s a local boy, and he took the league by storm. Then he went to Paris Saint-Germain, and that was the year of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe. You’re not going to start a lot, so he struggled.
He went to Germany, and we saw what he did last year. That duo with Marmoush was lethal, they were both unplayable. When Marmoush left, Ekitike struggled a bit, but then he went back to scoring goals.
I’m not surprised to see what he has done and I’m very happy for him to be back on track, because it’s not always easy to get back up when you receive that first slap. He answered the call.
I remember we were looking at him for France Under-21s, but he wasn’t playing much at the time so it was difficult to take him.
Now he’s playing for Liverpool, he has already scored, and what’s good with him is that he has both – he’s a very good finisher in the box and can also play on the counter because he’s fast. That gives you a lot of options when you’re a coach.
Do you see him as a No. 9 for Liverpool, or will they move him around in the front three?
Arne Slot will figure out what he wants to do with him, but for me he’s a 9. Liverpool already have exactly what they need on the wing. They were waiting to get that guy, they paid a lot to get him. He’s a 9. Can he play on the left or right? Yes, he’s versatile because he has speed. But this is what I’m saying, you were never going to ask Alan Shearer to play on the left or right, right? So yes, he’s a 9.
Marcus Rashford has moved to Barcelona and, like you, will wear the No. 14 shirt. Did you feel a different level of pressure and expectations when you moved there?
It is different, with the history and the players who have played there. Even more so, now that the team is back where they should be, but everyone knows that. Marcus Rashford doesn’t need me to tell him that when you’re playing for Barcelona, it’s a different ball game, a different level.
You have to win well and play well all the time, even in training. They analyse everything. Losing a game is like losing 10 in a row everywhere else. You lose one? Fire. You don’t score for one half? What’s wrong with you?
It goes with the club. It’s very difficult to surprise people. They’ve seen greatness time, and time, and time, and time again.
Did you improve as a player at Barcelona?
It’s a different way of seeing the game, a new philosophy, obviously it did make me better. But one thing’s for sure, you can’t fall asleep.
You arrive in a dressing room with Samuel Eto’o on your left, Deco on your right. There’s Thiago Motta, Xavi, Iniesta, Marquez, Toure, Zambrotta, Thuram, and then you have Messi and Ronaldinho. You’re arriving at the training ground and the competition is there in the car park. I’m sure you hear this a lot, but the hardest thing was training – in the midfield you had Motta, Marquez and Deco facing Iniesta and Xavi. Even Edmilson was playing in Brazil’s midfield.
That’s how it was. I got better, but one thing’s for sure, you’re not getting worse.
Rashford has had a difficult time in the last couple of years, but what did you see from him during his loan spell at Aston Villa?
It’s kind of weird because at times you have to analyse if a player is playing well or not in a game, but that doesn’t mean we’re talking about his entire career. Marcus Rashford never had any issue up until the last two years or so. He arrived on the scene and took the league by storm.
Any player will hit the wall at some point, and that’s what happened, but it happened to him later than most. He just has to figure out a way to come out of that ‘issue’, which has happened to every football player.
Sometimes, you are watching a game and he’s not playing well, and you have to say he’s not playing well, but when you look overall, this has been the first time in his career where there was a moment of all not being well.
For me, he did answer it when he went to Villa. He went to Villa and everyone was like, “oh, that’s the Marcus Rashford we know.” He stepped out of his comfort zone. Maybe he was at United too long, and it’s not always easy to be the local boy.
He left, he showed that he could and now he’s at Barcelona, and I wish him all the very best. When you’re an ex-player, at the end of the day, you want those guys to be successful, so I hope he’s going to enjoy his time at Barcelona and go back to enjoying his football.
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