STAN COLLYMORE Monk must beware Cup upset that could derail his grand plan
Follow us on Twitter: @peoplesport DANIEL STURRIDGE needs to leave Liverpool. He doesn’t need to prove to Jurgen Klopp that he can close anyone down. He doesn’t need to be judged in the terms of that most modern of football approaches.
He shouldn’t be judged for what he can’t do. But valued for what he can.
Sturridge is a 25-a-season man if played in the right position and given the appropriate service.
It’s like the situation involving Pep Guardiola and Sergio Aguero at Manchester City.
Apparently, it doesn’t matter that Aguero weighs in with 30 goals-aseason – his boss wants him to race around like a Tasmanian devil.
Good football managers tailor their teams to the qualities available. Am I alone in thinking that Klopp isn’t making the best use of Sturridge?
He’s an exceptional central striker. And if Liverpool don’t want him, then there will be plenty that do. ROSS McCORMACK – your professional life could go one of two ways from here.
Option one is to buy yourself a pair of decent trainers, a nice pair of jeans and make sure your shirts and club tracksuits are all ironed properly.
Go into training every single day, wearing the same boring clobber, eat healthily, work hard on the training pitch, cut out the booze – show Steve Bruce you want to be part of Aston Villa.
The other path involves spending a grand on a name pair of strides in Selfridges, dropping a couple of thousand quid in the casino, then going on the booze and finding an easy way to satisfy yourself. I should know. I’ve done both. I remember being down once and spending £1,500 on a sleeveless Vivienne Westwood leather jacket. I wore it on nights out in London looking like a prize plum for over 12 months.
Ross, head in one direction and you could be a Premier League footballer. Take the other path and you’ll become another statistic.
You’ve clearly got talent. It’s up to you. CHELSEA have changed managers whenever Roman Abramovich has felt the need.
But they’ve not always been so quick to axe other staff. Think about the likes of Steve Holland and Ray Wilkins, who were part of the backroom for years. As was Steve Clarke.
I would love to see free agent Frank Lampard become one of the Stamford Bridge staff, in the same way that Patrick Vieira has been at Manchester City.
Lampard is no threat to boss Antonio Conte. But he can act as a link between the players and management for the next few years, while building up his coaching credentials and experience at first-team level.
Frank will be snapped up... everyone knows he is a class act.
And the Premier League leaders should act now – before it’s too late. GARRY MONK isn’t one of the brown-brogued brigade of football managers.
You know the sort – who speak endlessly about “philosophy” and end up losing matches in search of a non-existent Holy Grail.
He’s soft-spoken, a thinker – and a man who has cut through what needed to be done at Leeds United very quickly.
It’s an oil-tanker of a football club that might not have been heading towards the rocks – but the rudder was certainly stuck in one direction – and it was going in circles. Monk clearly understood the dressing room he inherited and has identified with that.
He’s applied the simple basics of Championship football – clean sheets, hard work and a bloke up front in Chris Wood, who knows where the net is.
Force
That’s the “philosophy” you need, if you want to make it to the Premier League. And Leeds United is just awakening from a slumber – giving us all a glimpse once more of the force it could be in English football. I’ve seen the Whites twice this season. I like Pontus Jansson at the back, Monk knows centre-half Kyle Bartley from his days at Swansea. Liam Bridcutt is honest and Souleyman Doukara is a powerful force in the heart of Leeds’ engine-room. Just for a change, it’s all systems go at Elland Road. There’s no gossip about Massimo Cellino’s latest stunt. Ownership issues have been sorted out. The fans aren’t being marginalised by sky-high ticket prices and the players appear to be singing off the same hymn-sheet. It’s a potent mix. Contrast this with Nottingham Forest – where I went last week. The crowd at the City Ground was flat, there’s a moany atmosphere, the owner is getting it in the neck from the punters.
There’s none of that at Leeds – the club is on the way back.
Obviously, the eyes of the football world will be on them today to see if Gander Green Lane will play host to another FA Cup upset.
Obviously, it won’t be on the same scale as when Colchester United famously killed a true footballing giant in the early 70s.
Nerves
Defeat at Sutton should not derail Leeds. But it may knock their confidence, placing a seed of doubt in players’ minds.
I played against Shrewsbury and Rochdale in cup competitions for Liverpool – and I was more nervous against them than ever I was pulling on that red shirt when Manchester United were in town.
Those matches take care of themselves. And every manager and player knows it.
But lose in the cup competition and it could have a negative effect – and that’s why Monk needs to tell his players to forget surroundings and to treat this as they would any Championship fixture.
It really does depend on the manner in which Leeds United approach this.
If they are in the zone after 25 minutes, Monk won’t need to worry. He should be able to tell by then how the match is going to pan out.
It’s not a must-not-lose. It’s not even a must-win.
But Leeds United have a good thing going at the moment. It would be typical of the club of old to allow nerves to creep in and make it a difficult afternoon.
The chemistry is working at Leeds United at the moment.
As per the club anthem, the Whites are Marching on Together and, if they can negotiate this banana-skin safely, there’s no reason why it should not lead them back into the promised land. JOLEON LESCOTT fell out with me after he tweeted a picture of a Mercedes supercar, following Aston Villa’s 6-0 defeat at home to Liverpool last season. I felt lt he was insulting Villa’s supporters. He was upset, I was frustrated. We were both angry and exchanged words. He has been a great professional during his career, winning the title at Manchester City. Of course, David Moyes knows him well from their days at Everton. But the Joleon Lescott who played for Villa wasn’t the player I saw win the Premier League crown for Roberto Mancini. All of our legs go at some stage –only Joleon (right) knows if his have. On a personal al level, I quit at the age of 30 when I couldn’t find a burst of speed to go past an opponent. After a car crash of a season at Villa Park, the Black Cats’ new defender is one year older, one year slower and hasn’t been playing football regularly. I hope, for Sunderland’s sake, that there is something left in the tank.