SILVA GIVES A HISTORY LESSON
ANFIELD legend Mark Lawrenson says Liverpool’s front three are the best in the world.
Lawro (right) reckons Mo Salah,
Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino are even better than PSG’s trio of Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe – and that is saying something.
But Lawrenson is not talking with a loose tongue, the
Liverpool three definitely take some beating as they spearhead another defining week with Wednesday’s Champions League clash at Napoli and Sunday’s potentially epic visit of champions Manchester City.
Lawrenson said: “No, there’s not a better front three in world football for me than the three boys up front at Liverpool.
“I said that to someone the other day and they replied, ‘What about Cavani, Neymar and Mbappe?’ My answer was ‘yes’ but without the ball ‘no’.
“The three Liverpool lads, without the ball, are absolutely brilliant. Brilliant. And the three complement each other as well. They are not all desperate to score.
“If someone is in a better position they play them in. In fact, I think Firmino’s not really ever got as much adulation as the other two.
“When his mate Philippe Coutinho left to go to Barcelona I kind of thought, ‘You know what, he will tail right off now’. But he’s been brilliant. I think he’s the one who makes the other two tick.
“He generally plays more centrally and his movement is brilliant. And he will play people in all the time as well. I think he’s an absolutely great player.
“They all play with a smile on their faces, too – but wouldn’t you if you were getting 26 chances a game? The other players love them, not because they’re great players and score loads of goals.
“It’s just their teamwork where they get the ball back for everybody else if they can. That Liverpool front three can also just rip teams apart. It’s the pace. LETHAL: Sadio Mane If you watch PSG in the first game, they were like, ‘Wow, what’s happening here? We have never encountered this in our lives’. The biggest thing now is keeping them fit.”
Lawro’s admiration does not end there. He is totally impressed by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and his handling of his superstar squad.
And the BBC TV pundit smiles when he recounts the German’s antics around the club’s Melwood training ground when he fancies a quick ciggie.
Lawrenson added: “The lads at LFC TV use one of the offices at Melwood.
“He goes in and has a fag. He will knock on their door, the manager of Liverpool Football Club, and go in and chat to them.
“And then he says, ‘Do you mind if I have a cigarette but I will open the window and stand by it’. They are just like ‘wow’. He knows everyone, all the people at Melwood by name.
“Every single one, no matter what job they do. He makes people feel like they’re wanted. It’s fantastic playing for a manager like Jurgen.
“You speak to people who don’t know much about football or don’t go to games and they just go, ‘My God, how could you not play for Jurgen Klopp?’” BERNARDO SILVA says the bookies have got it WRONG by making Man City favourites to win the Champions League.
They remain 5-1 shots to become kings of Europe for the first time this season, despite suffering a shock 2-1 defeat to Lyon in their opening group game.
And Silva feels City’s short odds fail to take into account the crushing weight of history facing Pep Guardiola’s players.
Ahead of a trip to Hoffenheim on Tuesday, Silva (below) said: “I think it was a mistake for people to say we are favourites to win the Champions League. “And I am sure all the other players here feel the same. Yes we have a fantastic team – I think we all believe that.
“But if you look at the past, we have never won this competition and other teams are much more experienced at this level.
“That is a big difference in the Champions League. It is a special competition. “It’s not like a league, where you have
38 games and you have to be steady.
“Here you can have one bad game and you are out.
“Last season we had
30 bad minutes at Liverpool and we were finished.
“Of course, we will try to do much better than last year, but this is a competition of the best teams in the world and it’s impossible to say that you can always win.”
City have never been beyond the semi-finals in club football’s top competition.
Their only trophy in Europe came in the golden era of Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee, when they lifted the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970.
And Silva says Guardiola & Co must learn to thrive on the pressure of expectation if they are to put that right.
He added: “Does it put us under extra pressure that people expect us to win? Maybe. But pressure is a good thing.
“If you want to play for Man City you have to cope with it.
“We have put some pressure on ourselves by losing our first game.
“It is never good to start any competition with a defeat and we now play Hoffenheim knowing we can’t afford to make any more mistakes. But we are not panicking.”