Collymore’s column: Champions League chances for Aston Villa, PSG crying, Man United and Spurs in the Europa League, Newcastle woes for Carabao Cup final, and more | OneFootball

In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Aston Villa and Liverpool forward Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including the prospect of a Liverpool-Aston Villa quarter-final clash in the Champions League, Manchester United’s possible “redemption” in the Europa League, the upcoming Carabao Cup final and much more.

Aston Villa were fortunate against Club Brugge, but they would not fear Liverpool tie

Unai Emery during Aston Villa’s 3-1 victory over Club Brugge in the Champions League (Photo by Getty Images)

I though Club Brugge were very good, and on another day, it could have been them that won 3-1. They play great football through the lines, and create a lot of opportunities. It was the two quick-fire late goals that sealed it for Aston Villa.

It was a great start to the match for Villa, scoring after three minutes. That early goal allowed them to settle their nerves. It was a great header down from Tyrone Mings, and for him, it was redemption after the last match in Brugge when he gave away the penalty with the handball. The substitutes made a difference too. Marcus Rashford came on, Matty Cash too and he won a penalty. It shows that Villa have got a very good squad now.

I think the scoreline flattered Villa a little, and there is a chance that Brugge managed to turn the score around at Villa Park next week. They need to be careful, but at home with a full house, I think they will go through.

A Villa-Liverpool quarter-final would be quite remarkable. I think Villa can be competitive, they should have nothing to fear despite their poor historical record in the fixture. For Villa, it would be a remarkable ascent to be playing against a team that has won six Champions League in a Champions League quarter-final. I think Unai Emery would fancy it, as he would fancy any team over two legs, and for the club itself, it could wet the appetite to qualify for the Champions League many more times – although I don’t think it will happen this season.

PSG and French media should stopping crying about Liverpool result

Alisson makes a save for Liverpool against PSG (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

L’Equipe is obviously a very well-respected newspaper, and they gave very low rankings to the Liverpool players. I think there is a little bit of saltiness there. PSG have tried so hard over the last 10 years to become a Champions League-winning team, and they haven’t got there. And now the time that they are a little more humble and organic, they couldn’t seal the deal at home with that performance.

I think if you replayed that match 10 times, PSG would win on seven or eight occasions. But I don’t care how well PSG played, how many chances they had, how low Mo Salah’s L’Equipe rating is – the fact of the matter is that Liverpool won that game with a clean sheet. PSG’s prerogative at home is to find the back of the net, and they didn’t do that.

A lot of pundits said that Liverpool got away with one on the night – and they did – but looking at that, you also have to look at the mentality that they showed. PSG created lots of chances, they were scoring lots of goals in the build-up to the match, but they still could not score, and Liverpool managed to keep a clean sheet.

The reality now for PSG is that they can’t have any excuses at Anfield. Their players, coaching staff, as well as the French media and pundits, they need to stop crying and go to Anfield and be more clinical in front of goal. If they do that, and also keep a clean sheet, they have every chance of turning it around. But I think if they spent the next week crying over the first leg, they will approach the second leg in the same way, and Liverpool would take advantage of that.

I think Konate was lucky not to be sent off. For me, it is a red card, but there were 10 other incidents during the match that you can say that about, and then you’re dealing with hypotheticals. The reality is that on the pitch, the referee decided that it was not a red card. On this incident, I think there has been a bit of an agenda behind it, and it has primarily been driven by the French media.

Manchester United can save their season with Europa League success, Tim Howard Glazers comments are astounding

Ruben Amorim looks on during a Manchester United training session (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

I think the Europa League could be Manchester United’s redemption. The headlines have been that Amorim needs something this season, like Erik ten Hag did when he won the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup last year. For me, Amorim is a much better coach than ten Hag, and also a better communicator and tactical coach too, but he needs to bring success – and the Europa League is their only chance this season.

There are two or three teams in the Europa League that are better all-round that Man Utd, but if they can navigate it where they can get to a final, and even if they don’t win it, they can say ‘well look at what we did to get this far’.

I really want to see Amorim succeed at Man Utd. You see what he did with Sporting, where he managed to beat the two giants in Porto and Benfica to win the league, and also the football he plays with that identity. For me, that shows that he is a very good coach, and he clearly has talent. A strong Man Utd is good for the Premier League, and they also push all of the clubs around them too.

I think Tim Howard’s comments on the Glazers are shocking, and completely tone-deaf. I don’t know whether he has any relationship with them – I suspect not – or maybe it’s to do with him being an American speaking on American owners on an American show. Maybe he is trying to play Devil’s Advocate, but over here, it is playing awfully.

The Glazers have leveraged debt on Man Utd year-on-year, to the point that they were seeking investment from billionaires. Sir Jim Ratcliffe has done that, and there are also interest from Sheikh Jassim too. Howard’s argument that the Glazers spent money, and that it wasn’t their fault that Jadon Sancho was poor, that Cristiano Ronaldo’s second spell was a circus, does not stand up. As owners of the club, they employ everyone involved, and they are responsible for those decisions.

Personally, I am not a fan of the way that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has gone about things with the staff cuts et cetera, but in terms of the Glazers, they spent recklessly, they recruited recklessly, they didn’t hold people in important positions to account. And I think Howard’s comments as a former Man Utd and Everton player, who has seen the Glazers’ role in the demise of Man Utd, for me it came across as bewildering.

Let me be clear, the decline of Manchester United post-Sir Alex Ferguson came from the stewardship of the Glazer family.

AZ Alkmaar performance embodied Ange Postecoglou’s demeanour at Spurs

Ange Postecoglou during Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 defeat to AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League (Photo by AP)

Spurs have been so widely inconsistent this season – and the asterisk around that is injuries. I would not be surprised to see them go on to win the Europa League, but equally, I would not be surprised if they lost 3-0 in next week’s second leg.

Ange Postecoglou has constantly talked about injuries, and for me, his body language is very poor and very flat. I think that he has now got to drag himself out of that, because Spurs’ performance against AZ Alkmaar was a mirror of his demeanour, which is rather miserable. His reactions in the media will be seen by his players, and it has an effect on them, and as a result, I have no doubt that his body language and demeanour contributed to Spurs’ lacklustre performance in Alkmaar.

They should be hopeful. They are getting players back from injury, and they are in the last 16 of the Europa League – which they have as much chance to win as any other club left in the competition. Ange, you have struggled in the Premier League, but your body language is now contributing to your side’s performances, and if you don’t believe me, go look at how you were at Celtic. For me, he has let the narrative surrounding injuries get to him, and also poor Premier League campaign has also got to him.

Mohamed Salah presence could hinder Alexander Isak if he joins Liverpool

Alexander Isak turns Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

I think any top club would want Alexander Isak. It’s nice to see a striker that has a range of skills. There were doubts about him when he signed for Newcastle United, especially about whether he could deal with the physical side of the game, but he has. He’s had injuries, and for me, this could be a concern for anyone that would want to pay £150m. Taking this into account, a team like Liverpool may look to offer £75m plus Darwin Nunez and a couple of other players.

For me, no one will spend £150m on him, for two reasons. Right now, he is not worth that but he hasn’t been consistent enough for 4-5 seasons, rather than the last couple. Secondly, if Newcastle accept an offer that includes players going in the other direction, it needs to be players that fit into what they want. Liverpool are in a good position in this regard as they have players that are capable of adding to Newcastle’s squad.

Isak would be a sensational fit for Liverpool, as they do not have a proper clinical striker. However, there is an argument that he would not fit in as well as other places because he would not be the main man in terms of goalscoring – that would still be Mo Salah. He could easily suffer if he moved to Anfield because of this. In a football team, there is typically one dominant goalscorer, and a couple of others weigh in too, but Isak would not want to be the latter.

I don’t think you get two players that can score 30-35 goals a season if Isak and Salah are paired together. Football does not work like that, and if Isak sees himself as playing second fiddle, he could have doubts. Regardless, I think he stays at Newcastle for at least one more season if they qualify for the Champions League come May, especially as he is already loved there, and he has played around him that get the best out of him.

Liverpool big favourites for the Carabao Cup after Newcastle injury, suspension woes

Anthony Gordon will miss the Carabao Cup final after being sent off during Newcastle United’s FA Cup defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

I think Liverpool will be a lot more relaxed than Newcastle for the Carabao Cup final because it is not their priority. They are not under pressure to win because they are focusing more on the Premier League and Champions League, and because of this, they can approach the match as normal, which gives them a better chance of replicating their best form.

Anthony Gordon’s suspension is a big problem for Newcastle. I would have looked to see him at Wembley, where he can take advantage of the wide-open spaces on the pitch, especially as counter-attacking would probably be Eddie Howe’s gameplan.

The converse argument for Newcastle is that now everyone thinks that they have already lost, so there is less pressure on them. As a result, they could turn up with a big performance because they do not fear losing, and the expectation that they will lost could fire up their ambition to cause an upset.

I think that Liverpool will win – not only because Newcastle have lost Gordon and also Lewis Hall and Sven Botman to injury, but also mentally, there could be some Newcastle players that feel extra pressure because of their trophy drought. Liverpool will be more relaxed because the Carabao Cup is not their priority, and their players will be able to perform as normal.

I think that will be a 2-0 or 3-1 victory for Liverpool.