Alan Hansen Column: Views on Liverpool Title Belief, Jermain Defoe’s Return to Spurs, Arsenal Under Threat from Aston Villa & Manchester United v Chelsea
I’ve been asked numerous times recently whether Liverpool have now gained a psychological edge over their title rivals due to their record of just 1 League defeat all season. Well for me, I cannot see Chelsea or Manchester United just fading away so I don’t think Liverpool’s form will affect them. However, for Rafa Benitez and his players the psychological boost of being top despite some indifferent results will be immense.
The main difference in Liverpool this season is they’ve looked far more solid than they’ve done for a number of years. The affect on the opposition this season is key to their form, no longer are they a team that teams fancy their chances of beating, they now know they are in for a real tough game. Liverpool are now extremely hard to beat.
Liverpool have done exceptionally well to get in the position they currently are in which has given them a real good chance of winning the title. They have the momentum and have taken advantage of their rivals recent decline. Take the FA Cup game at Preston for example, whatever side Rafa puts out looks extremely strong and that goes for every match they play at the moment which is a major difference to the relative weakened sides they’ve put out in the past.
One player that has impressed me in recent weeks is the Argentine full-back Emiliano Insua. The player turns 20 this week and has been terrific of late. He’s a full-back who on the ball offers something totally different from the other players in his position at the club. He can get forward impressively, can hit great crosses either by bending the ball with the outside of his boot or curling into the box. Unlike summer signing Andrea Dossena he offers great balance to the team as he is far more attacking than Alvaro Arbeloa who is extremely solid on the right-hand side. Liverpool have signed a number of full-backs in the last 5 or 6 years who have cost from £4-8million who have failed to adapt and become the superstar they wanted. Ok the lad has not been tested defensively on too many occasions but he looks to have a bright future at Anfield.
I was impressed with Steven Gerrard at the weekend following his impending court case. He answered any questions regarding how the off the field problems would affect him with an excellent display and I expect more of the same in the upcoming weeks.
Whilst Liverpool have grown in stature this season Arsenal have gone the other way. The Gunners remain the best footballing side in the Premier League and at times are simply irresistible to watch, However, they are also easier to beat than the other big 4 sides. This is perfectly illustrated by the teams they’ve lost to this season and the amount of games they’ve lost compared to their rivals. Despite this, they remain in the FA Cup and Champions League so are hardly in crisis. The main threat to their qualification for next season’s premier European competition is Aston Villa and if the Villans were to overtake them this season then this would be a huge backwards step for Arsenal as the finances lost would be immense.
Martin O’Neill has done a fantastic job at Villa and his side have gained both momentum and impetus even when not performing well. They’ve been winning when not playing at the top of their game which is a sign of a good side. Martin has created a young team full of pace and if they were to qualify for next season’s Champions League it would be an unreal achievement. However, for me, to break into the top four would take qualification over a number of years into the Champions League as well as making it through to the knock-out stages to cement their position. The club have been linked strongly to Emile Heskey this January and he’d be a good signing for anybody. He would give the team far more options as he is a great targetman. The problem for Villa is that teams will begin to defend deep to negate the pace of their attacks so Emile would be perfect for them if they need to toss the ball into the box.
It would seem that Jermain Defoe is about to re-sign for Tottenham and any arguments that a return to a former club is a bad idea don’t come into the equation here as he hasn’t been away that long. At 26 he’s a really good player and would cause any defence problems. The mistake isn’t in Jermain returning to White Hart Lane, rather that Spurs sold him in the first place. Will he fit in with the various styles of the strikers already at the club? Well for me, top class players won’t have a problem and Defoe fits into that category, so it’s a great move for both the club and the player.
In terms of the big games this weekend, they don’t come much bigger than Manchester United v Chelsea. This is set to be an absolute cracker with Manchester United not playing overly well but slowly sneaking up on the leaders whilst Chelsea have been terrific on the road. I’ve gone for the draw on Premier 10 and Footy 15 this week as although United are not firing on all cylinders they still have tremendous strength in depth and despite Chelsea’s recent slip-ups, they are still an excellent side away from Stamford Bridge.
The matches between the big four this season have been even better than usual in my opinion as the quality on show has been as good as ever. So I expect a real top drawer match between these two powerhouses. Whilst those two giants clash, Liverpool face a tricky trip to the Britannia Stadium. Stoke took a point from Rafa’s side at Anfield but I fancy the Reds in this one. The onus will be on the home side and unlike at Anfield they won’t just sit back and defend. The Potters were also rocked by their FA Cup shock defeat at Hartlepool so will be ripe for a very strong looking Liverpool team to take the points.
Good luck this weekend
Alan
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Tags: Alan Hansen, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Portsmouth, Stoke, Tottenham
