In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including Harry Maguire’s latest England call-up, Brennan Johnson’s Nottingham Forest future, as well as a look ahead to Sunday’s featured Premier League game between Arsenal and Manchester United, plus much more.

———————————————————————————-

Gareth Southgate is too loyal for his own good…

I was surprised to see Raheem Sterling left out of Gareth Southgate’s latest England squad. I think Sterling, who has been quite consistent for his country, has been one of the Premier League’s best players during the first three games. I thought he was excellent against Luton Town last time out and is easily one of the first names on Mauricio Pochettino’s team sheet at the moment so to see him left out of England’s squad for their upcoming qualifiers was quite a shock.

Harry Maguire still being named in the team despite barely kicking a ball under Erik Ten Hag at Manchester United is obviously causing a lot of debate. I know Southgate quite well, I played with him during my pro career and he is a very loyal man. If he backs you, he’ll back you all the way, and the more pundits and fans call for Maguire to be dropped, the more likely Southgate is to stand by his man, so am I surprised to see the United defender still in the Three Lions’ squad? – Not really.

The same applies to Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips. Both players have performed well for Southgate, which admittedly, does go against his decision to snub Sterling, but both Maguire and Phillips have done the business for their international manager whenever called upon, which is why they’ve been, and will continue to be, selected.

Ange Postecoglou won’t mind losing Sergio Reguilon…

Luke Shaw’s untimely injury has forced United back into the market in search of a stand-in left-back. Obviously, Marc Cucurella from Chelsea wasn’t one that materialised, but it looks like they’re about to announce Sergio Reguilon, if they haven’t already done so by the time this column is published.

I’m not saying I don’t rate Reguilon, or think he’s a decent player, but managers have a full dossier of players, and in Ange Postecoglou’s case, he would have arrived at Spurs and given everyone a clean slate. Managers see their squad members day in, and day out on the training grand so if Postecoglou has taken a good look at Reguilon and still doesn’t fancy him and is willing to let him join a direct rival, then I think it’s very telling of what the Aussie thinks of him.

Chelsea have taken a huge punt on Cole Palmer…

Similarly to Reguilon, Cole Palmer to Chelsea is another example of where a club and a manager won’t be bothered by pundits and fanbases saying their team have pulled off a transfer masterclass.

More Stories / Latest News

Don’t get me wrong – Palmer looks like a great young talent. He’s already scored important goals and should, all being well, continue to develop into a top player. However, there is a reason Pep Guardiola has let him leave and join a domestic rival – arguably one of their biggest too.

Palmer obviously wasn’t in his manager’s plans as much as we thought he was. Chelsea have taken a huge punt on him in the hope he goes on to emulate the career Phil Foden has had, but again, there are no guarantees, and Guardiola is obviously confident the lad won’t be as good as the rest of his City squad. Only time will tell which club benefits the most from the deal, but Guardiola will be confident he’s made the right decision.

Brennan Johnson will probably go, but he shouldn’t…

If recent reports are to be believed, Brennan Johnson is closing in on a deadline-day transfer from Nottingham Forest to Tottenham Hotspur.

He’s a player a lot of club’s scouts like. Brentford really like him; they were prepared to smash their club record fee for him. Tottenham Hotspur have been sniffing about for a long time, so have Chelsea and Aston Villa so he’s obviously highly rated.

He’s rapid, he’s creative and he knows how to score goals. His goalscoring stats at Forest, which I think are about one in every three games, aren’t the best, but if you put the lad in a better team; one that has more possession and creates more chances, I am sure his goal returns will improve. Regardless of that though, I think a move this summer is too soon for him.

I think he should stay with Forest for at least one more season. He’s from Nottingham, his dad played for the club and he’s come through the academy so he knows the club’s set-up very well. I think he should say no to a transfer this summer and spend the 2023-24 season continuing his development and perfecting his game before he looks to move on, because if he fulfils his potential, he won’t need to worry about securing a big transfer, the opportunities will inevitably come, and he probably could do better than Spurs anyway.

Arsenal to be this weekend’s big winners…

This weekend’s big Premier League game comes from the Emirates Stadium when title hopefuls Arsenal take on Manchester United.

Both teams have failed to impress during their first few games of the season but obviously, Arsenal, playing at home, will be the game’s favourites. However, the Gunners’ last result against Fulham (2-2) wasn’t great. Mikel Arteta will always expect more than a draw against Fulham but the fact they conceded against 10 men would have really frustrated the Spaniard.

Last weekend has been and gone now though, so looking ahead to this weekend’s fixture, I think if you offered Ten Hag a point now, he’d snatch your hand off but I actually believe Arsenal could edge it.

A 1-1 draw wouldn’t surprise me, but I think Arsenal will prove to be just too much for United to contain for the full 90 minutes, so I am going with a narrow 2-1 win for the home side.