Liverpool

Liverpool ace Alexander-Arnold: Man City were always going to fight back

Published

1 year ago

May 5, 2023

Liverpool ace Alexander-Arnold: Man City were always going to fight back

Liverpool ace Trent Alexander-Arnold believes that Manchester City will win the Premier League.

The Citizens are being tipped by various pundits to go all the way and ensure Arsenal do not finish ahead of them in the league.

Despite the Gunners having a healthy lead for most of the season, they have crumbled in recent weeks and lost 4-1 to City as well.

Alexander-Arnold told Red Bull: “The league’s obvious now and I’ve said it for a while. If City are even anywhere close, if they smell blood at Christmas, New Year – it’s game over really, there’s no stopping them once they start winning and now at this point, I’d be surprised if they drew a game.

“I think it’s just got to be mindset, I think it’s just the messaging because they don’t even go behind in games at this point. There’s no messing around, there’s no scares, there’s no ups and downs.

“Arsenal was exciting because they were dropping points, but in an exciting way. Whereas City, I don’t even know how to describe it, it’s like juggernauts.”

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Inside Spain: Copa del Rey dream, Carlo Ancelotti being romanced, hope of Lionel Messi return grows

Inside Spain is a weekly instalment brought to you by Football España, providing an insight into all of the major stories coming out of the rich and intense climes of La Liga and beyond.

Spanish football was a breathless affair over the course of the last week, as two matchdays were squeezed into the weekend and midweek, clearing space for the main event on Saturday night – the Copa del Rey final. Real Madrid will face Osasuna at 21:00 UK time, with the Los Rojillo looking for their first ever major trophy, while Real Madrid seek their 20th.

It was not an ideal week of preparation for Los Blancos, who lost 2-0 away to Real Sociedad, conceding their eighth goal in three games. This one was a gift from Eder Militao, which will please Pep Guardiola. That consolidates Real Sociedad’s place in fourth (seven points clear of Villarreal with five games to go), but it also allowed Atletico Madrid to pass Real Madrid into second place. They beat Cadiz 5-1, with Antoine Griezmann picking up a brace, and his campaign for player of the season picking up too.

Off the pitch, it was a little better for Carlo Ancelotti. Reports emerged out of Real Madrid that a deal for Jude Bellingham is ‘imminent’, with the first details of his prospective contract emerging too. On a personal level, Ancelotti has maintained that he is not joining Brazil, but staying at Real Madrid – which has led to Brazilian Football Federation President Ednaldo Rodrigues admitting publicly they are after him.

?Lionel Messi has apologised for missing #PSG training to go to Saudi Arabia:

“I thought we were going to have a day off after the game as always.”

“I had this trip organised and I couldn’t cancel it. I apologise to my teammates.”pic.twitter.com/XBgL2iDXAQ

— Football España (@footballespana_) May 5, 2023

Meanwhile hope is growing that Lionel Messi will return to Barcelona, despite their financial issues. Messi skipped Paris Saint-Germain training this week, was suspended without pay for two weeks, and then issued an apology video that resembled a hostage plea. He also has a new Barcelona tattoo, but their pursuit of Messi has started to cost them already. Director of Football Mateu Alemany is leaving the club in the summer, reportedly to head to Aston Villa. One of the reasons is a large pay day, another is the fact that he seemingly did not agree with bringing Messi in.

Finally, Real Madrid’s opponent in the Copa del Rey final is Osasuna. Football España travelled to Pamplona to speak to the decision-makers at the club, finding out how in the space of nine years, they went from the electricity being cut off at their stadium to the final – and potentially that much-desired first Copa. Read about it here.

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Ex-Liverpool star says he’d”probably get in a fight”with his former boss Frank Lampard

Former Chelsea midfielder and boss Frank Lampard has endured a rotten time of things since returning to Stamford Bridge and one of his former players has been particularly scathing

Lampard admits Chelsea ‘got what they deserved’ at Arsenal

Former Liverpool defender Andre Wisdom has given a scathing assessment of Frank Lampard by claiming that he would “probably fight” the struggling Chelsea boss.

The Blues icon was handed the reins at Stamford Bridge on an interim basis last month after Todd Boehly decided to jettison Graham Potter. That decision has proven to be misguided with Chelsea losing every single one of Lampard’s six at the helm.

Now one of his former players Wisdom – who he coached during his spell with Midlands outfit Derby – has stuck the knife in by explaining the pair’s “weird” relationship. Speaking on The Beautiful Game podcast, he said: “His [Lampard] job is his job, all the best to him. I don’t have no bad vibes to him.

“If he was sat here would I speak to him? Nah. What is the other guy called? Jody Morris. I just didn’t rate them. They’re just not my type of people. On a night out I’d probably get into a fight with them.”

Lampard enjoyed a relatively successful stint at Pride Park in what was the first managerial job of his career. He helped Derby to the playoff final but could not get them over the line for promotion as the Rams were beaten by Aston Villa.

Wisdom, a Liverpool academy graduate, made 13 appearances under the former midfielder. He has since revealed that the pair did not see eye to eye in the Midlands.

Andre Wisdom played under Frank Lampard at De

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“My experience was weird. It didn’t feel like I was at football,” Wisdom added. “I think what kind of threw me was the fact it was Frank Lampard. I don’t want it to be misinterpreted but it was not like I was in awe.

“I think I expected something that I wasn’t getting. I just expected more from him as a man. We had a good team as well so it’s easy when everything is going well.

“We got to the (play-off) final and lost against Aston Villa. But I think it was cliquey. It felt like there was people speaking behind other people’s backs.

“I remember in pre-season some of the lads came back late or something and the next day we were all running for it. I understand the message, but it just felt very negative. Like I said, I’ve had one manager scream at me during my career and it was Lampard.”

Since Lampard’s departure at the end of the 2018/19 campaign, Wisdom played for Derby for a further two seasons before leaving two years ago. He was reportedly on trial at both Birmingham and Portsmouth since but has yet to win a contract. Wisdom has previously played for West Brom, Norwich and Red Bull Salzburg.