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Van Gaal won’t win title despite spending big, says Carragher
The mighty Chris Froome has stopped pedalling through France, Andy Murray has lost at Wimbledon but won quite brilliantly in the Davis Cup, england are swarming all over Australia. And the football season is here, which means one thing for Jamie Carragher. The shirt. The red one. No, not that red one. A losing bet with his Sky sidekick Gary Neville — Carragher said Tottenham midfielder Paulinho would score 15 goals in two seasons because he ‘reminds me of Frank Lampard’ — could see the Liverpool man wearing Manchester United colours. For the ultimate Scouser, for a man who played 508 league games for his one club, this would be the ultimate pain.
‘Gary has already sent it to me. It has his name and No 2 on the back.
‘If I wear it, I’d have to wear something underneath it; there is no way I am having that touching my skin,’ he adds with that unmistakeable accent and delivered with a broad smile.
There is still some negotiation to be had about exactly when he will wear it. The prospect is clearly causing him some distress. ‘I have to remind myself that it’s for charity. For Alder hey children’s hospital. It will be auctioned off afterwards.’
Maybe a follow-up gamble with Neville could revolve around United’s chances of winning the league this season. Can they? ‘No,’ says Carragher emphatically. ‘Look, for me, it’s Chelsea again, ahead of Manchester City. Arsenal have closed the gap, but they are still third best. And then there is one place in the Champions League up for grabs: Manchester United should get it, Liverpool and Tottenham will compete for it. It depends on how each squad copes with the demands of european football.
‘United have spent big, they’ve added numbers and quality, but can the squad cope with the challenges of the Premier League and the Champions League? You have to expect a title challenge from United this season considering the funds spent over the last two years but there is still a gap between them and Chelsea.’
Last season, Carragher shared his views that Chelsea would win the title and that Arsenal could not be considered contenders until they signed a top goalkeeper. So, here we are 12 months on and Wenger has his keeper. Carragher says: ‘Arsenal showed towards the end of last season that they have closed the gap on the top two. Now Cech has joined them too but are they strong enough?
‘Their record with Wojciech Szczesny or David Ospina in goal wasn’t bad, but four or five times in a season they would let in a few. What Cech brings is that winning mentality. he has trophies, he knows what it takes, he will be commanding and the rest of their back four will benefit from his presence. The signing of Cech could make them Chelsea’s biggest challengers. I wouldn’t be surprised if they got closer than Manchester City, but I still question why Arsenal didn’t sign Morgan Schneiderlin. We know Wenger likes to develop his own and Francis Coquelin came in and did well, but he doesn’t have the same physical power as Schneiderlin.
‘ Schneiderlin could be a more significant capture for United than Bastian Schweinsteiger. Why didn’t Arsenal move to sign him? he would have really given them the power to match Chelsea.’
So why are they all still chasing Chelsea? ‘One answer. Jose Mourinho. Just as Sir Alex Ferguson used to be, he is now the best manager. having the best manager is worth points on the board. Jose is worth 10 points a season to Chelsea. They haven’t really strengthened at all, but they don’t need to have the best team — they have the best manager. They can have the equal best team, but Jose is the difference. When I look back on my career, United had that crop of outstanding players, including Gary. But we had outstanding local players too. There was Stevie Gerrard, Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and, yes, me too. They had Gary, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and others. We were an equal to them.
‘They had better players around them, such as Roy Keane, eric Cantona and Peter Schmeichel, but the biggest difference they had was the manager. Sir Alex Ferguson.’
Jamie Redknapp, another good friend and Sky team-mate, picks his 10 players to watch on these pages, but Carragher picks out Liverpool’s new Brazilian Roberto Firmino.
‘he can play across the front in four different positions, has scored goals in the Bundesliga and for Brazil, so I’m interested to see how he fits into the Liverpool team. Can he play with Coutinho, or are they too similar? I don’t see Liverpool finishing in the top four, but they can challenge.’
CARRAGHER will watch as the season unfolds, working with Sky and continuing to write for Sportsmail. ‘I’ve read that I have taken the easy ride, rather than pursuing a career as a coach. I disagree. I’ve embraced it all, I love it and the challenge of writing a column that nobody else has written… that’s harder than it looks.
‘Working with Gary… I’ve learned we were both quite similar as players and people. The way he felt about Liverpool and City was the way I felt about everton and United. The intensity, the rivalry.
‘he is superb on TV. If england come out of the european Championships next summer having done well and the FA want to replace Roy hodgson, then Gary will be in their thinking. Although Sky wouldn’t want me to be pushing him towards the england job. he’s got work to do with me!’
First there is the small matter of that shirt.