3 LIONS CALL WILL SPUR ME ON
MERSON: Win cup or you'll be yesterday's man, Jose
A COUPLE of weeks ago I said Premier League clubs were back when it comes to the Champions League.
Well, I got that a bit wrong, didn’t I? It’s disappointing to see Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United all go out. But I still think Manchester City are the team to beat in the competition.
The three teams who went out will be under pressure to win the FA Cup now, but I reckon it’s more likely to be Michael Carrick than Gary Cahill or Hugo Lloris lifting the trophy.
Clinical
United, Chelsea and Tottenham are all in action in the quarter-finals this weekend and, of the three of them, United need the competition the most and will be able to take it the most seriously.
They have virtually sewn up a top-four finish and Jose Mourinho can play his strongest team. He will have to, because if he doesn’t win it he’s in danger of becoming yesterday’s man.
I thought Spurs and Chelsea were unlucky in Europe. Spurs dominated Juventus but they just lacked that little bit of experience to get them over the line.
Chelsea hit the woodwork four times against Barcelona. They should have been leading after the first leg and played well in the Nou Camp even though they lost 3-0.
If they had been a bit more clinical, they could have won the tie because they had loads of chances to score.
But United weren’t unlucky – they were awful. I’ve seen this from them all season. Beating Liverpool just papered over the cracks.
In fact, if they’d lost that game they might have beaten Sevilla because they would have taken it more seriously.
I don’t know what United are trying to do. There’s no purpose.
I see other teams and you can see the work they’ve done on the training ground.
I don’t see a game plan at United. Things just seem to happen by accident. It’s all so slow. Getting a goalless draw away from home is not a good result any more. You have to score. So I just wonder if the game’s caught up with Mourinho, in the same way it has Arsene Wenger. The FA Cup is massive for United now. Mourinho needs to win it. His worst nightmare will come true in a couple of weeks if City win the title at the Etihad. United fans will desperately hope they can somehow pull off a win at the home of their noisy neighbours. United were beaten by the fifth or sixth-best team in Spain in the Champions League and barely laid a glove on them. For all the money Mourinho’s spent, it hasn’t worked. Alexis Sanchez hasn’t worked. Paul Pogba hasn’t worked. Winning the FA Cup would buy him some time. But imagine if they went out to Brighton tonight. The inquest would be ugly. The cup should be massive for Spurs, too, because they need to win silverware.
But Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t seem bothered, even though they’re not guaranteed top four yet.
I don’t think he’ll play his strongest team against Swansea today – he can’t with Harry Kane injured – but Swansea may not either.
Catching
People might think Antonio Conte really needs to win the cup as well. But I don’t. Chelsea won the league last season. They do need to finish in the top four, though.
The cup takes a back seat to that because they are miles off at the moment and have some catching up to do.
Chasing those top four teams down will be Conte’s priority – it is more likely to keep him in a job.
The semi-final draw is going to be key in all this.
Whoever gets Wigan or Southampton in the last four will think it’s their year, because the other semi could be brutal.