Colliemore’s column: Alexander Isaac’s Liverpool debut, Reuben Amorim, West Ham issues, etc.

In his exclusive column for catch-offside, former Liverpool striker Stan Colliemore discusses some of the biggest topics in football, including the debut of Liverpool’s Alexander Isaac, Reuben Amorim’s Man United, Noni Madueke and Arsenal’s Ebeki Eze.

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My takeaway from Alexander Isaac’s Liverpool debut

I saw Alexander Isaac very closely against Atletico Madrid until he left the pitch. The first thing is that Arne Slot has to manage the situation well with Ekitike. Suddenly, when I joined Liverpool as a British record transfer, it was definitely a carbon copy. Ian Rush was there and Robbie Fowler was there. They scored many goals in the season before I came. I’d come into the team and the human nature was spinning around, so they’d be thinking, “Why is he taking my place?” – In my case it was Fowler. He was on the bench for the first game of my debut season against Sheffield on Wednesday.

When it comes to Isaac’s performance itself, one of the most important things I was looking for was his relationship with Sarah. That was fine, but it could have been better. From a striker’s perspective, I want to create connections with the players around me. The connection was actually with Wirtz. As the first half progresses, I think Wirtz began looking for Isak. Isaac was pointing where he wanted the ball and he was running. And both his relationship and his relationship with Gakupo and Wiltz were encouraging.

From a discipline perspective, he must become Erling Haaland in his first season at Man City. Because every team that goes to Anfield, most teams playing in their position against Liverpool, are deep defenses, so there’s no ton of space behind them. Therefore, his feet are blocked to a great extent. He just has to put it in the box and do what Haaland did: tap in. He may not like it, but it will keep him ticking.

So my rating for Isak’s debut is a very solid 8/10. The only caveat to that, and I’d like to ask Liverpool fans with an open mind, his relationship with Sarah. If one person gets the ball and is looking for another, happy day. Liverpool has gained many individual targets from both players and they are getting a really good collective attack threat. If a player thinks he is the top man, there can be problems.

Liverpool’s current approach is unsustainable

The way Liverpool wins a game where their goals are delayed is unsustainable. They were beneficiaries of scoring late goals and everything that comes with it, they showed the character, great belief, absolute belief that you score at the first minute or the last minute. But they have to start maintaining a clean sheet. That would depend on the protection of Van Dick and Conate, such as McAllister and Graven Birch. I’m a huge fan of Frimon and Kerkez, but they have to start to defend properly.

Three or four clean sheets in Liverpool’s next six or seven games mean fixing the issue, but continuing with the same pulse will help you drop unnecessary points in the Premier League season.

And thinking about the Champions League, it’s at the level where they’ll recognize the second, they’ll recognize the third and if they’re not at their best, they’ll admit the fourth. That’s where clean sheets really matter, and clean sheets win the trophy. There are no Premier League titles or Champions League winners. At some point, they don’t maintain clean sheets along the way to give them confidence to win lucky people in the 1-0s.

This Liverpool team is undoubtedly the best central defender in the world, Conate is still a very good central defender, and with two players signed with Fripon and Kerquez, both are very good, but they need to come back to be enough.

Reuben Amorim is not tactically flexible at Man United

We were fooled as soccer fans. There is only one way to play. I grew up watching soccer and playing soccer where there were many systems, and they were all very different. If you’re a coach worthy of your salt, I think you have Plan A, Plan B, Plan C.

What happened is that Pep Guardiola said this is how I play, win, lose, draw, so unfortunately the other coaches would come in and say the same thing. They believe in playing in a certain way and solely. I’ve seen it in Russell Martin and his struggle with Rangers. We’ve seen it with the very stubborn Jose Mourinho, and now we have Ange Postecoglou in Nottingham Forest, which was attacked by Arsenal.

What happened to the coach saying, “I don’t have a player to play 3-4-2-1, so I have a player to play 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 or 4-4-2.” Ultimately, I think all managers will paste their colours into the mast and one way of playing on the mast. I have no sympathy for coaches, managers, whoever they are. I’m a fan of Villas and Unai Emery is the same.

Reuben Amorim is a victim of the mantra, and this is the problem for many modern coaches and managers. He intends to play Plan A, whether or not he plays a player. If you’re going to be the next big success manager, I think you’ll have to forget what Pep Guardiola does. Forget what other managers do. You may need to play with Arsenal for a week 4-4-2. In Europe you may need to play in Europe 4-3-3. And that’s where Amorim is wrong. He is not tactically flexible.

Noni Maduke can expel Bukayo

I love what Ebebeki Eze and Noni Maduce do. In this column I think I’ve been a little certain about Maduce, writing if he has the ability to step up, and that Eze was clearly very late in the day. But in my words, I love the wideman who goes outside of the half-back 5, 6 times the fullback, whipping fours towards the opposition goal, then anything happens.

What I love most is that Madueke formed himself with England, and that’s what he took him to the Arsenal team. Probably faster than he expected with his injuries. And now he tells Bukayo Saka, “I want to take your place for the sake of the club and the country.” And I think it’s very old school and really noble. It’s a highly competitive environment. And for me, if you choose a team now to enter the number one match in the World Cup next summer, I would choose Saka who fits Madueke.

The reason is that by going outside people and placing crosses in boxes, Madueke gives people like Harry Kane more ammunition than Bukayo Saka. But if you’re looking to get the most out of Gyoker for Harry Kane and Arsenal, what Maduke and Eze are doing is top class. They brought a new dimension to the extent I’m concerned about Arsenal. I’m a huge fan of what they do both.

West Ham’s problem is bigger than Graham Potter

I think West Ham fans agree that their issues come from the top of David Sullivan and the board of directors. Whether it’s pricing at London Stadium or anything else, there’s a lot of unhappiness with how fans are treated.

They eliminated David Moyes. That was definitely a good choice at the time. But then they had several managers there afterwards. Lopetegui and Potter are very different types of personalities and very different types of characters.

I think West Ham from the pitch needs to go back to basics. They need to get the basic adoption right at prices of £15-40m. They have to get those players right and I don’t think they’ve done it well. I don’t think they’ve hired well since conference league teams began to disband. Obviously, the natives are not satisfied with David Sullivan’s tenure there. Their argument is very clear and I think he’s not the right guy at the right time and the right club.

Wolves giving Vitor Pereira a new deal is a smart business

The context is that wolves do not spend much on many transfer windows due to club hierarchy decisions. On top of that, Jorge Mendes took his eyes off the wolf ball, so they couldn’t move forward.

Many of my peers were wolves season ticket holders, and Vitor Pereira gave them some hope, identity and spirit. If you can’t get up the team and outperform your rivals in the lower half of the table scrap, you obviously think you could have seen the players you have. They lost a few key players, so they had to see in-house who could get songs from people and who could get people from enough gals. And I think the way Pereira did is as good as any manager in the Premier League. He listened to his supporters and went to the pub with them. He took people on board.

I think the personality you have as a manager is a lesson from other clubs in that they are ten times more important than CEOs, CEOs, analysts, Data Guys and TV-going owners.

No matter what happens with the Wolves this season, whether they’re comfortable in the Premier League, whether they’re relegated scraps, or not, I think most wolves fans will be happy if Pereira stays as manager. He did the cracking work.

Why does Jose Mourinho continue to get these big jobs?

As long as he puts himself there and he goes on TV and tells everyone how amazing he is, Jose Mourinho is about to continue with these famous jobs. I think the difference with Benfica is that he started with them, he is Portuguese, and that might be a kind of staging post for Portugal’s national work and some kind of retirement.

I think he’s really lazy from Benfica. When you see clubs like them, you compete at the top of their leagues with Porto and sports etc every season, and you see competition in Europe. And hiring Mourinho, who hosted Fenerbafe’s departure from the Champions League, did not improve his ability to do that at Benfica.

I think because of the Benfica ownership structure they should have seen who is there, who is hungry, get a really attractive style of play and make it better than leaving the club. Jose Mourinho has not left the club in a better shape than he leaves it since leaving Inter Milan. Most of Tottenham, Man United, Fenerbafe and the supporter bases will say he doesn’t make this place better. This is true and I’m happy to say this.

Benfica is not only one of Portugal’s biggest clubs and Europe’s biggest clubs, but also one of the largest clubs in the world. I think it’s a lazy tapping from their owners, and I think it will bite them backside.