Alan Shearer Exclusive: On Alexander Isak's Injury, Morgan Rogers and Festive Football Memories | OneFootball

Alan Shearer

Shearer says Alexander Isak has been plagued by setbacks

In this Betfair exclusive our ambassador Alan Shearer discusses the setbacks faced by Alexander Isak, high hopes for Morgan Rogers in the World Cup and memories of the festive season as a player...

It has been one setback after another for Isak

It was a great finish by Isak for his goal against Spurs and I really hope it's not a serious injury. You can have a fracture and be out for a couple of months, or it can be a really bad break. I've been on the other side of that with a really bad break.

You never want to see anyone injured. It hasn't been easy for him at all; it's been one setback after another for Alexander since he's been at Liverpool. It was a good movement and a really good finish. It's such a shame he gets injured in the tackle. It was just really unlucky.

When I broke my ankle and leg, tib and fib, it was my second serious injury. That hurt me. Yes, it was painful, but in terms of going forward, it was tough because that was the second injury where I'd been out for several months. If you get one, you've been unlucky, but I had three of those.

Whatever injury you get it is tough, but a long-term one is really tough because you're training with the physio and doctors, away from the group. It's even tougher when you go to a new club because you're still bedding in and getting to know people. It's a long road to recovery.

For Liverpool now I think it depends on the severity of Alexander's injury whether they go for a forward in the January transfer window. If it's going to be five or six months, then they would look at it. I suspect they were looking at it anyway. Semenyo might have been on their radar already, as he would be for a few clubs if the release clause is true. That wouldn't surprise me, depending on how long Alex is out for.

Liverpool are mentally fragile

Confidence is a huge thing and Liverpool are fragile. They know how much pressure they're under. When you've been through the run Liverpool have been on, it's tough.

They are fragile in terms of their mentality given what they've gone through. You need a long run of results to try and get past that. The Spurs result will help. It wasn't a great performance, but it was all about getting those three points. Tiny bits going forward will help improve that.

If the World Cup started tomorrow Morgan Rogers would start for England

The talent England have got in the number 10 position is incredible. Morgan Rogers is unbelievable. He's having a great time, full of confidence. Everything he seems to be doing is coming off for him. Those two finishes against United were superb. We're really gifted in those positions when you look at who we can wheel out.

Rogers has that number 10 spot for England at the moment. If you remember, Tuchel played him. If the World Cup started tomorrow, he'd start. We've got another six months to wait, and hopefully, he'll still be in the same form. He's an unbelievable talent. So are the others he's up against, but if the World Cup starts tomorrow, he starts. That's how good he has been.

Villa are in a European competition and have been for the last couple of seasons. Villa are a huge club. Don't forget they won the European Cup. If Villa want to keep Rogers it will all depend on how much they can spend and keep improving. He has just signed a new contract within the last four or five months. From a Villa point of view, they want to build that team around Rogers rather than lose him. Emery will be looking to do that in the years ahead.

I don't expect Aston Villa to challenge for the title

I don't expect to see Villa challenging for the title come April. That's not to take anything away from the job Unai Emery's doing. When you consider the start, they had they couldn't score goals but the two Rogers scored on Sunday... he's in such great form, full of confidence. The job the manager is doing is fabulous. I hope I'm wrong for Villa, but I think it'll be Arsenal and City going head-to-head in April and May.

A realistic target is to try and keep Villa in the top four, and even that would be an unbelievable achievement. I read that when Emery took over, there were six in the team yesterday that were in the team for his first game. That is incredible. His win rate at Villa is 55%, which is astonishing for a manager.

Bruno Fernandes has been the one constant for Man United

Losing Bruno Fernandes at any time would be bad but losing him when you're already missing three players in Mazraoui, Diallo, and Mbuemo will hurt Man United. He's been the one constant through all their troubles, the one pulling them through games at times. There's no doubt they'll miss him massively. He very rarely gets injured, so he'll be a big miss.

Performance-wise, I thought Man United did alright against Villa, but the result was decided by Morgan Rogers. With injuries and people away, Newcastle are the same. They have massive injuries defensively, but Lewis Miley was brilliant at right-back. He was one of the best players on the park. Both teams are struggling because of injury situations.

Give me Newcastle winning the Carabao Cup again this year

The first-half performance on Saturday for Newcastle was as good as it's been this season. Everything missing in the derby was back. The aggression, pace, energy, closing down. They were absolutely superb in the first 45 minutes and deserved the 2-0 lead. But goals change games. Reece James came at the right time for Chelsea, and all of a sudden, they were on the front foot. Newcastle missed some big chances; Barnes missed two, Elanga missed one. They still could have won it.

Being 2-0 up, you are disappointed not to come away with all the points. That has been their issue with consistency this year. That's what they've got to try and cut out: silly defensive errors giving chances to the opposition. You're never going to stop it fully, but they've got to stop the silly mistakes. When they are leading, they've got to hold onto it. When you're playing against good opposition, you know you're not going to control the whole game. Chelsea came right back into it, and you've got to credit the Maresca for the changes. But from a Newcastle point of view, it's those silly errors giving team's chances that you didn't see so much of last season.

But look they're in the semi-final of the League Cup and doing alright in the Champions League. It's the league form where we've got to try and get into the top half. Having said that, if you give me winning the Carabao Cup again, I'd gladly finish in the bottom half.

I loved the Christmas period as a player

I saw a stat on Saturday that December was my second-best month for goals. I loved this period because you can't really train much; you're playing and recovering. I loved how hectic and busy it was. All managers do it differently. Some give you Christmas Day off totally. Some have you train in the morning or afternoon. Kenny Dalglish at Blackburn gave us Christmas Day off, while Sir Bobby Robson had us in on Christmas morning. I absolutely loved this period just because of the number of games.

I was slightly fortunate with my Christmas dinner. I didn't overindulge anyway, but I could still have the full trappings minus the alcohol. I could still eat what I wanted for a Christmas lunch. It didn't really affect me that much, so I'm one of the lucky ones who got away with it.

I've got good and bad memories of Christmas. In my first season at Blackburn, I was sat on 22 goals on Boxing Day, and unfortunately, I ruptured my cruciate ligament. I scored two against Leeds at Ewood Park, and ten minutes later, I went through in a challenge and did my knee. But I remember many times scoring lots of goals on Boxing Day. I just felt good in and around this period.

I would be lost without football over the festive period

I can't remember the last Boxing Day I had off. Even now, I always worked on Boxing Day. I carried that on even when I finished, volunteering for Match of the Day. But for God knows how long, I'm not working on Boxing Day. I'm on the 27th but not Boxing Day. It seems mad that there's only one game on Boxing Day; that feels really strange.

What's the world coming to? We've only got one match on Boxing Day. The rest of Europe like Germany and Spain are off having a break. But all my life, all I've ever known is sport in and around Boxing Day. It's amazing there's only one match.

The big thing in this country is sport on Boxing Day. There are usually so many matches in and around this period and I think I'd be lost without it. It feels weird there's only one match, so God knows what it would be like if there wasn't one.