Romelu is raring to go for United
Barca to turn the heat up on Liverpool for Coutinho
addition, rivals Manchester United arrive at Anfield on Saturday. But while their stance regarding the player remained officially unchanged with the club adamant they will not part with him midway through a season, Coutinho is still understood to be keen on a move to Spain.
Barcelona may have to get closer to Liverpool’s £183m valuation for a player they re-signed on a five-year deal in January 2017, but if they do, Liverpool will find it hard to say no again. Barcelona sold forward Neymar to PSG for a world-record fee in August, before spending £97m to bring in Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund.
Coutinho has shown no signs of being distracted recently despite his attempts to force a summer move. After missing the first seven games for Liverpool, he has scored in their past three. The injury to Mane, right, means Liverpool will need Coutinho at his best against United. And with just one win in their past seven, midfielder Emre Can wants the channel off’. The first time I played against him was for England when we played Spain in the Bernabeu and I thought, ‘Wow, what a player!’ But I always felt there was something missing, something not quite right. He had that unbelievable partnership with Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso passing balls through to him but by 2010 people had worked him out in terms of how to stop him.” Carragher: “You used to say you’d love to sign him but Ferguson was never convinced. I don’t think his head was right as soon as Alonso left [in 2009]. Technically he was quite poor, but in 2008-09 he was devastating – probably the best striker in the world.” Carragher: “Rooney always had a problem coming to Anfield and Goodison. And I think Fergie always felt that as well.
“In terms of actually causing you a problem one v one, you knew he didn’t have blistering pace but he had fantastic talent with the ball coming into his feet so you just got as tight and aggressive as you could be.”
Neville: “It was an emotional thing for him. Going back to Merseyside – and especially Everton – was a big thing for him and his family. It built up a lot in his mind.” Neville: “I remember seeing it on TV and thinking, ‘What has he done?’ The fans started chanting, the front men to get more ruthless against United.
“I’ve read a stat which shows we had 120 shots in the past seven matches and we only scored eight goals. That’s clearly not enough,” said the Germany international.
“It’s a fact our defending wasn’t good recently and we conceded too many goals. I still believe if we had scored those goals then we would have won those matches and nobody would talk about our defence.” ‘Rafa’s cracking up’. And it did feel like the pressures were getting to him. You could imagine Sir Alex thinking, ‘I’ve got him’. If you are going to call it on like that, you’ve got to make sure you win.”
Carragher: “I don’t know why he did it. I can only think we were going for the title, we hadn’t won it for a long time, United had won it loads of times, and he was calling it on. People say it affected us and we went off the rails but it didn’t. United were a great side and just pipped us to the title.” Carragher: “I don’t think he got enough credit the season he won the Ballon d’Or in 2001 – he’s the last British player to win it. There are quick players, then there are players who can turn on the turbo and just go away from you. That was Michael.”
Neville: “I was always told get close to the right centre-back to cut off that channel Michael loved. I don’t think we got it right until he left in 2004!”
Neville and Carragher were talking on ‘Gary Neville’s Soccerbox’ on Sky Sports. ROMELU LUKAKU is fired up and ready for Manchester United’s clash with Liverpool – despite Jose Mourinho’s anger with Belgium.
Lukaku has been nursing an ankle injury but was sent on as a substitute by Roberto Martinez in the second half of Belgium’s dead rubber World Cup qualifier against Cyprus.
The £75 million striker took only 12 minutes to take his tally for club and country this season to 16 – he has scored in nine games in a row – but United manager Mourinho was dismayed he was used at all given Belgium were 3-0 up, he had missed their weekend game with Bosnia, and the importance of United’s game at Anfield on Saturday.
But Jan Vertonghen believes the international break has done Lukaku good.
The Tottenham defender, who became Belgium’s most-capped player with 97 appearances, said: “The goal he got against Cyprus was so typical – a ball in behind and he brushed defenders off and smashed the ball into the net.
“I am sure he will be fine for United at the weekend. He used the first week with us to get fit. He was injured, I spoke to him and his ankle wasn’t in good shape but he has used the time well to recover and is back and fit again.”
And Mourinho has warned Liverpool that United are stronger with the arrival of Lukaku and Nemanja Matic.
“We are a better team,” he said. “It would be unfair to say Lukaku and Matic didn’t have an impact on the improvement of the team – of course they did.”
Despite the huge rivalry between the clubs, Mourinho said he is not treating Saturday’s game differently to any others. “It wouldn’t be the right example to my players to prepare the Liverpool game in one way and then to prepare for next week’s trip to Huddersfield in a different way,” he said. SKY have scrapped controversial plans to move United’s trip to Leicester to Christmas Eve. It will go ahead as scheduled on December 23 because Leicester Tigers are at home to Saracens in rugby’s Premiership 24 hours later.