by JeffBet | Date of Publishing: 5 November 2024
Speaking exclusively to Jeffbet, former Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona midfielder Emmanuel Petit gave his latest reaction to Erik ten Hag’s dismissal as Manchester United manager.
The Frenchman also reacted to the latest title race clash between Arsenal and Liverpool on the weekend and what it means for both clubs.As a former Barcelona player, Petit was delighted with the El Clasico result and spoke about teenage sensation, Lamine Yamal.
Read the full interview below.
EP: “It was about time Erik ten Hag was sacked by Manchester United. I’m sorry to say that and I pity him because lots of the players at the club are far from their best. When I watched the game against West Ham, even I was frustrated for the Manchester United fans. They concede goals easily, they are a mess. Ten Hag had no support from the fans, the club or the players, but he is responsible for a lot of the issues. Players must share this responsibility, though, they are the reason he’s been sacked. Ten Hag is responsible for bringing in average Dutch players from the Eredivisie.
“Ten Hag showed no passion either, he always seemed bored in press conferences. The only consistent thing at Manchester United now is their average performance, which has been happening for years now. Even with a change of manager, nothing will change.”
The body language of the players has been awful. Bruno Fernandes annoys me a lot, I really just want to tell him to shut up. He was terrible on West Ham and he was a terrible captain, he’s not captain material. There needs to be a reaction from these players.
“If I’m a manager linked to Manchester United, a big club with lots of money, I’d look at that club and ask what is the project? What are the ambitions? I don’t see anything worth joining them for.
EP: “Manchester United can sign anyone as the new manager, nothing will change because of the team. For years, they’ve bought the wrong profile and players, they were obsessed with buying big-profile names rather than players they needed. Look at what Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola did, they signed players they needed for their teams to compete, not just big names.
“Manchester United can bring the best player in the world in each position, but that doesn’t make them work together well as a team. That’s where Manchester United need to look at now, fix the squad. Bruno Fernandes is an example, he was amazing when he first joined, but he’s declined year by year.”
EP: “AC Milan are not what they used to be. They did well a couple of seasons ago, but they’re not European giants anymore. AC Milan don’t have a DNA anymore, and Manchester United are losing their DNA too. The players they’ve bought have caused this.
EP: “Ruud van Nistelrooy worked with Erik ten Hag every day on the training pitch, has there been any difference? I don’t think so, and I don’t expect anything to change in the performances. There is no point in appointing an assistant as the manager when the previous manager was not getting the results. I wish him the best, but I can’t see anything changing.”
EP: “The Arsenal and Liverpool result was fair and I think they’ll both continue to challenge for the title. I don’t think either side can claim they deserved the win, so a share of points was the correct result.
EP: “There will be no rest for Arsenal in the upcoming schedule. The gap to Manchester City is five points and when I look at the Arsenal squad and the players they’re losing to injury, it’s not filling me with confidence. However, even if Arsenal lose to Newcastle on the weekend and Manchester City have an eight-point gap, I won’t rule them out of the title race as it’s only November. There is a long way to go. In 1998, we were 13 points behind Manchester United, anything can happen and the squad needs to believe in themselves.”
EP: “Arsenal didn’t have a choice, they needed to sit back and defend in the second half against Liverpool. Losing Gabriel is a mess, it reminds me of when Arsenal lost Saliba to injury a couple of years ago and the title challenge collapsed in a matter of weeks.
“Liverpool have one of the best attacks in Europe and are battling for the title, I can understand why Mikel Arteta chose to sit back. Especially without Martin Odegaard, and with a partnership of Jakub Kiwior and Ben White. Come on! They’re not the strongest of centre-back partnerships.
“It’s a good point won for Arsenal.”
EP: “Why did VAR not look at a possible red card for Virgil van Dijk’s reaction to Kai Havertz early in the game? Why did Arsenal not get a corner in the last few minutes of the game? Why was the Gabriel Jesus goal not allowed? Every game, the referees on the pitch and VAR never have any consistency. It feels like they have different interpretations of the rules every game. This happens outside if the Premier League too, especially in Ligue 1. But the consistency of decisions has been terrible.
“There’s no refereeing conspiracy against Arsenal, though. Sometimes, they benefit from a referee’s decision but that gets forgotten because the bad sticks with you more than the good. Sometimes it’s hard to accept a decision, but we have to. There’s no choice.
EP: “I could not believe my eyes, Barcelona absolutely trashed Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. It reminded me of seeing the great Barcelona team of the past, with the likes of Lionel Messi, Carlos Puyol, Xavi and Andres Iniesta, when they dominated Real Madrid. There’s massive pressure on Carlo Ancelotti and Kylian Mbappe.”
EP: “I’m surprised the linesman was not replaced with a shoulder injury with the number of times he had to raise his flag for Kylian Mbappe.
“I don’t think Erling Haaland scores the chances Mbappe has in the El Clasico, because the problems came from the midfield of Real Madrid. Every time Luke Modric comes on the pitch, you see a difference. I am not convinced by Aurélien Tchouaméni, he can’t run the midfield like Modric has and can.
“There is a huge gap between the attackers and midfield at Real Madrid.”
EP: “Jude Bellingham has to play on the right-hand side. I think he’s under an enormous amount of pressure because he set his standard so high last season and now he’s a shadow of what he could do. Bellingham was amazing last season and always smiling, but I never see him smile now. That’s a sign he’s probably not enjoying the football like how he used to.”
EP: “When Real Madrid bought Kylian Mbappe, he already came as a superstar because of what he was able to do with PSG and France. Carlo Ancelotti has no option but to play him on the pitch, but he’s always at his best on the left wing. It’s the same problem with the national team, striker is not his natural position. We all see that. There is a lot of trouble at Real Madrid, they have to deal with all of these big egos and they need to be controlled on the pitch. Something has to change tactically. I wish Ancelloti a lot of luck.”
EP: “I don’t think we can say Lamine Yamal is ahead of Lionel Messi when he was 17 years old. But, I’m a huge fan of Yamal, he impresses me every time he plays, he can destroy any defence. Yamal is fast, technically amazing, a goal scorer, playmaker and he always makes the right decisions, which is very unique at his age. It does remind me a lot of Messi coming through at Barcelona, also, Messi had Xavi, Andres Iniesta and top-quality teammates around him whereas Yamal has to do a lot by himself. Messi did a lot by himself too, but he had world-class players all around him.”
EP: “Preston is a perfect game to give minutes to Ethan Nwaneri, Lewis Miles-Skelly and other youngsters in the team. Mikel Arteta needs to rest the spine of the team. With the injuries against Liverpool, I’m very confident he will field a heavily-rotated side, especially with Newcastle coming up on the weekend.
“This is Nwaneri’s time to show he’s the back up to Martin Odegaard, of course. Arsenal’s tradition is to bring youth into the starting XI, and they need these games to make that step.”
EP: “Bukayo Saka to replace Mohamed Salah at Liverpool? Forget it! Saka has just signed a new contract, he’s from the academy, he loves the club and he’s loved by the fans. Saka is such an important character to the club, I’d be very surprised if he decided to join Liverpool, his life is amazing on and off the pitch where he is now, the grass isn’t always greener. My advice is to stay, don’t be tempted to leave.
“What is the difference between Arsenal and Liverpool? Neither club is winning trophies at the moment, it would be a step down for me. I don’t think Saka wouldeven leave if Mikel Arteta left the club and Liverpool offered £150m.”
EP: “Mikel Arteta will want midfielders who can control the tempo of the game,Declan Rice can’t do this at the moment. I understand the criticism towards Rice from the fans. But, I think Rice has gotten worse since Martin Odegaard had his injury. Rice needs Odegaard as an option to pass forward to.
“Arsenal need an attacking midfielder, it’s the position they’re missing at the moment. When it’s Rice, Mikel Merino and Leandro Trossard in the midfield, there is no creativity there. Because Kai Havertz roams about the pitch, there is not a consistent pass to the striker. A solution could have been Emile Smith Rowe, but he’s gone to Fulham.”I watched the game with William Gallas, we agreed Arsenal have a quality squad but not many quality players. When the spine gets injured, the team struggles. If that happens to Manchester City or Liverpool, they don’t struggle. I think the new Arsenal signings have looked average, but I won’t point any fingers.”
EP: “Maghnes Akliouche and Eliesse Ben Seghir are talented young players for Monaco who can create, score, fast and technically very good. They would be very good additions for any big club, they won’t stay at Monaco, but I could see Arsenal having an interest in them.
“Monaco are very good at selling their players. Will they be cheap? I’d say they’d cost about £50m to £60m each.
EP: “The schedule coming up for Chelsea is very tough. They have to play Newcastle again then it’s Manchester United this weekend and then Arsenal the followingweekend.
“Chelsea will need to rotate their team against Newcastle, despite only just winning against them. It’s important to keep the squad fit for the long-term, it will help them finish in the top four.”
EP: “Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson are playing very well together, their partnership has improved a lot under all the pressure at Chelsea. They are one of the best-attacking duos in the Premier League. Enzo Maresca has done well to
let this partnership flourish, he’s built a solid spine in the team and it lets other
players express themselves. It was a tough job because Chelsea had so many players to choose from, and Maresca had to be ruthless. I’m not surprised how
well Maresca has done so far, but I am surprised how quickly this improvement has come about. It has convinced me that Chelsea will finish in the top four this season.”
EP: “Chelsea are going to win the Europa Conference League. Look at their competition, Chelsea is on another level to the rest of the teams. It’s their competition to lose and they have a chance to create history by being the first club to win all European competitions for the first time ever.”
EP: “Enzo Fernandez has not had an easy time in these last few months, but I don’t doubt he’ll find a spot to get back into the Chelsea XI. Enzo is a world champion, he has the quality and mentality to make his way back in. He won’t be a burden at Chelsea like what Paul Pogba was at Manchester United. We will see step by step, but I’m convinced he’ll come back into the team eventually.”
EP: “Lamine Yamal’s situation will be the same as Nico Williams, they won’t leave their clubs anytime soon. It would take years to see Yamal in the Premier League, he’s living the dream with Barcelona at the moment. I think he’d turn down a big-money offer from any team in the Premier League, he will be focused on improving Barcelona. I’m sorry but the Premier League see Yamal for at least a few years.”
EP: “Rodri deserves to win the Ballon d’Or ahead of Vinicius Jr. They both have to be at least top two. I would love it if Rodri wins it and it sounds like he will as defenders and holding midfielders so rarely have a chance to win the trophy. Look how important Rodri was for Manchester City and Spain, not just this season but for years, he deserves it more. Vinicius Jr did score in the Champions League final, so I can see why maybe he’d win it.
“Defensive midfielders, like I was, are overlooked. We are never a part of these conversations. Obviously, the hardest thing to do is score goals so that’s why attackers get the benefit. It would be a very good change and fair if the Ballon d’Or is awarded to Rodri.”
EP: “Paul Pogba will become a free transfer at 32 years old. I can’t remember the last time I saw him smiling. Pogba wants revenge, he wants to prove to himself and fans around the world that he’s not finished yet. France’s team have missed him. He’s apparently working very hard to get back to match fitness. I know Pogba’s personality, I know he’ll do anything to come back on the pitch.
EP: “Honestly, Arsenal should 100% gamble on signing Paul Pogba. He will give everything on the pitch. It will take him a few weeks to get fully fit, but he will be so eager to wash his name. There is a motivation that is priceless to a manager lik Mikel Arteta. Pogba fits the Arsenal midfield perfectly, he’s tall, strong and ver creative. We all know how good a happy Pogba is, he needs love and to be given confidence, I think Arteta and Arsenal can offer this to him.”
EP: “Cristiano Ronaldo won’t reach 1000 goals, even if he plays in Saudi Arabia until 42 years old. It will be extremely hard to average 30-40 goals a season at that age, and he will only decline with age. I don’t expect him to get near that figure in all honesty.”
Author: JeffBet
JeffBet is an online gambling company founded in 2022. Its product offerings are online casino, online slots, live dealer games, table games and sports betting. The organisation holds regulatory gambling licenses in the UK and Malta.
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