Collymore’s column: Maresca has lost respect with Enzo decision, Liverpool fans must be patient, Toney’s Saudi move a waste and much more

In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Aston Villa attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including why Enzo Maresca has made a disgraceful decision at Chelsea, why Liverpool fans must be patient, why Ivan Toney’s move to Saudi is an absolute waste and much more. 

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Maresca’s descisions deserve respect apart from the absolute disgrace of giving a racist the armband

Players respect the fact that managers give them clear information because too many don’t. Too many will literally walk down a corridor towards a player and give it the old ‘how are your pal? etc. etc.,’ pat them on the back, and then knife them in the back by leaving them out and not saying anything or facing up to the problem.

It’s happened many, many times in football history and the stories are legion about how a manager will say one thing and do another.

I think that you’ll find players won’t be overly angry by these instances of a manager basically saying to five or six Chelsea players ‘you’re done, you’re finished, you’re not going to get a game here.’

I’m a massive fan of that.

In the case of Conor Gallagher, he gets a very warm welcome from 40,000 fans at the Atletico Madrid stadium with fireworks and stuff, so he won’t care now what opinion Chelsea have of him.

I don’t fully understand what Chelsea didn’t know about Joao Felix that meant they desperately needed to have him coming back? For me, that’s filed under another Chelsea aberration. If it didn’t work the first time, what makes them think it’s going to work the second time within a year or two?

In terms of Raheem Sterling, he was okay at times for Chelsea but I don’t think he was ever great. His options in England are limited and he’s no longer at the elite Premier League level. I could see him going to an LAFC, New York Red Bulls or maybe to one of the Saudi clubs.

In terms of giving Enzo the captaincy, I think it’s nothing short of a disgrace, if I’m being perfectly honest. It sets the tone.

You saw the players on their social media feeds, the reaction after what happened in the Copa America, with some coming out who were very, very upset.

On what basis now have those players been placated to the point where the manager has sat them down saying ‘Enzo is going to be captain.’

No black player at the club, and I don’t any white player either, would be happy with the manager saying Enzo’s our brand spanking new captain. That he’s going to be the poster boy and the face of Chelsea Football Club.

I think that Maresca has got that one absolutely wrong, and I think that the fact that the club had to come out and make a statement after something that Enzo Fernandez did on on international duty tells you how wrong it was.

The optics are absolutely awful but let’s be perfectly honest… Chelsea Football Club over the years haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory on or off the pitch when it comes to matters of racism.

Ivan Toney’s move to Saudi is an absolute waste

If Ivan Toney was 32, he could go out to graze in Saudi Arabia and earn a few million by doing the classic 12 to 18 month stay. Say that his family haven’t settled and come back. Likewise, if he was 25, Toney would stay put because top-class European football is where it’s at.

But at age 28 it’s interesting, because if he does sign a three-year contract with the Saudi Pro League, as has been rumoured, that will take him to 31 years of age, and there won’t by anyone in the Premier League’s top 10 that would be willing to take him by then.

To be honest, it’s a dreadful move for him, but he’s clearly being advised to go to Saudi. What a shame. What an absolute waste.

In my opinion, he should stay at Brentford, get his head down and score goals. If he scores a shed load, who’s to say that the big clubs he expected to move for him this summer still won’t come in for him?

Let’s be realistic here. Ivan Toney has been very good for Brentford and Brentford have been very good for Ivan Toney, sticking by him throughout the gambling stuff.

Did he think he could just coast it at the end of last season and he was going to get a massive move anyway, because there was just this queue of clubs?

You could argue that the current situation is a lot of his own making. Just four goals from January to the end of the 2023/24 campaign tells its own story.

If Solanke doesn’t work out at Spurs, or if West Ham are still on the lookout for a hit-man, there’s a possibility that there’s a route back to the top of the English game for Ivan Toney… but don’t hold your breath.

Hold your horses Liverpool fans

Key players turned up at Ipswich in the second half for Liverpool, and showed Arne Slot exactly what he already has in situ.

The Reds are like any other club in that they need a couple of players every window to be able to freshen things up, but we are now, of course, not talking about a team of just 12 or 14 players like when I played, but a squad of 25/26 players.

Liverpool have also got an academy of players that has produced plenty of talent over the years, like the Trent’s and the Curtis Jones’.

The question I’d put to Liverpool fans is, yes, ordinarily, you’d have at least two that would come in to freshen the team up and to create competition for places, but with a squad of 20 plus an academy that’s producing players that can get into the first team squad, why do you think the need to buy more players is still so great?

Look at what Manchester City do. They bring in a couple and they let a couple go, but there’s always an improvement of personnel, not buying for the sake of it.

I think that Arne Slot has come in and he’s assessed what he’s got, and then gone to the board with a shopping list.

He’s obviously not that desperate, and he’s still got another nine days before the window closes anyway, so Liverpool may yet still do business.

Furthermore, I honestly believe that when you look at Arsenal’s first game performance, you look at Spurs, Villa, Manchester City, Manchester United… Liverpool’s second half at Ipswich was as good as any performance that you’ll have seen over the past weekend, so there was obviously a lot of confidence in the camp and perhaps they just don’t feel the need to change things a hell of a lot.

So I’d say to Liverpool fans ‘don’t panic.’ There are players that are not needed arguably until the January transfer window, when the squad might need a little bit of help.

Chill out, the big cavalry is already there. The captains, the lieutenants, the generals, are already in the team, and even if one or two infantry are required to help them get across the line, the last days of the window or even in the January transfer window is just fine.

Jhon Duran is a maverick talent but if he doesn’t grow up, Villa should get rid

Aston Villa fans have already shown their fickle nature where Jhon Duran is concerned.

A week before kick-off, it was like ‘silly boy, get him out, what an idiot, don’t want him anywhere near Villa Park,’ and then he comes in against West Ham, he looks sharp and scores a cracking goal, and all of a sudden he’s back in vogue. They’ll be going to the club shop and getting Duran on their shirts I’m sure, and will be very excited about him playing for Villa.

The boy’s undoubtedly got talent and ability but he’s a maverick, and let’s make no bones about this, he will create problems for Aston Villa.

Despite Chelsea and West Ham wanting him, Unai Emery has handed him the number nine shirt. That’s a responsibility in itself because Villa have had great number nines over the years, going back to Peter Withe, who scored the winning goal in a European Cup final.

Emery will have to realise that he’s got to keep him on quite a short leash, however, because he doesn’t want any antics or perceived favouritism to upset squad equilibrium.

Duran could ‘poison the well’ for want of a better phrase, and players like John McGinn and Emi Martinez could turn around and say ‘hold on a sec, we’ve done the business for you for two or three seasons, and this guy turns up, doesn’t train hard, is disruptive and he’s in the team’… that could be a problem.

To be honest, I don’t think that Jhon Duran will have loyalty to any club, and if he’s still a pain in the ass in another season or two, then Villa should just sell him. Simple.

Brighton and Mitoma get opening day plaudits

Kaoru Mitoma at Brighton was excellent against Everton, the best player on the pitch by a considerable margin, and boy have they missed him.

Obviously, he’s had a long time out with injury, and though it wasn’t a disaster last season for Brighton, as a club that were hitting the giddy heights of Europe it was a little disappointing how things ended up.

From my perspective, it was a really good attacking performance at Goodison, and Brighton fans will be salivating.

If Mitoma continues to play well, then they’ve got a £50m-£60m player in the squad who I’m sure the big boys will be taking a keen interest in.

In three to four months it wouldn’t even surprise me if an offer came in the January window, because he scores goals, creates chances and goes past opponents with ease.

What more do you want…?

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