Arsenal, Salah/Van Dijk and Andre Onana

In his exclusive column for Caughteffofside, the ex -England, Stan Collymore, discusses some of the most important football conversation points, such as the Arsenal farms and the Aston Villa Champions League, Liverpool that tied Mohamed Salah and Virgil Van Dijk to new contracts, criticism of Andre Onana and more.

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Arsenal can win the Champions League after the Royal Madrid route

Arsenal was excellent last night against Real Madrid. The damage was done in the first stage with a very aggressive screen and I think this was the difference of the two teams. Arsenal was not intimidated and, for them, it is a great step that shows its growth, not only to win the Champions League, but also the Premier League. This progression has sometimes lacked under Mikel Arteta.

It was a better demolition of two legs of Real Madrid, which is a team of people. It is left to see if they can do it against PSG, but they should be confident, as I think they will not show as much naivete as Aston Villa did for key moments on their tie. And they should also have better quality with boys like Bukayo Saka.

In my opinion, there is nothing preventing Arsenal from winning the Champions League, as there is very little among the four teams left in the competition. PSG and Barcelona are two teams that have no experience in this stage in the competition with these teams, and Inter Milan are a team that many probably did not expect to get here.

For Arsenal, I think they will have to be even better against PSG than against Real Madrid, but can they do it? I think they can.

Unai Emery critic for Rashford’s replacement is not out of place

The vast majority of Unai Emery’s genius since arriving in Villa has been to make the right decisions at the right time, but I think the criticism of their replacements during the second stage of the PSG are a bit unfair. Rashford One killed Villa’s impetus, but if Ollie Watkins left and scored, no one would have fought against the eyelid.

Villa’s fall against PSG came to key moments on both legs. The decision to bring Axel Disasi to the first game was naive, and this contributed to the goal of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to make it 2-1. In addition, the late goal PSG scored last week and its first workshop in Villa Park on Tuesday was also mistakes that cost them. If this did not happen, they could have won the tie, as the comeback was epic.

Villa will learn from this and will do it better in Europe ahead, either in the Champions League again next season, or to the Europa League/UEFA League league if they do not finish in the top five places in the Premier League. They have large league games against teams and their surroundings such as Newcastle and Man City, and also the FA Cup semi -final against Crystal Palace. I hope the players end the seasons as they deserve it, but they can also be forgiven if they had to punch on the back of this PSG game.

In the largest image, Villa owners are very able to keep them in contentious for the Champions League places. They are very rich and can take the club to the next level. If Emery and Monchi are crucial, they are smart with their hiring considering the FFP threat, they can continue to move forward. And they will have to be smart, as there will be many clubs in the race in the coming seasons, considering that Man United and Tottenham should bounce.

Maintain Salah and Van Dijk is the best result for Liverpool

It is excellent for Liverpool to preserve the services of Mohamed Salah and Virgil Van Dijk. For me, no matter how many money is offered, because the money they would cost to replace them would surely be much more. Both are more than capable of maintaining their levels for the next 2-3 years, even if they had to regress slightly in terms of fitness.

In the case of Van Dijk, he is very able to maintain his natural ability to read a party, even if he slows down, he only has what so many other proponents do not. And with Salah, I do not see him losing much of this critical rhythm of two or three years on the line. The only thing that both have to worry about is being overlapping, which would cause injuries, but to manage it, I would not be surprised to see them from withdrawing from international football in the not too distant future. There could be a conversation about this after the 2026 World Cup.

If you had told me last summer that Liverpool would keep Salah and Van Dijk, but he would lose thirty Alexander-Arnold, he would have been doing Cartwheels, and I’m sure the followers would feel the same. The latter is an excellent player, but it is not as crucial for the side of Arne Slot as the other two. Conor Bradley is more than capable of climbing and, in terms of departure, there are already the tastes of Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister. But Liverpool is not a long side anyway.

MAN United could be criticized as a collective, not just onana

It has been a difficult period to Andre Onana, but to put it in context, it is not only him who has been the worst in the history of Man United As Nemanja Matic said Last week. From when I started to see football in 1977 until the beginning of the time of Alex Ferguson, Man United was very medium. The main goal of the teams at that time was to stop winning Liverpool’s earnings titles, not to win them themselves.

For me, this United Man team is the worst in two generations. They bought Rasmus Hojlund on the basis that he was young and scandalous as Erling Haaland, so they wanted him to play at this level despite barely playing Atalanta and Denmark. It was a panic purchase and they are now paid. Mason Mount: Where was it? It was wounded most of the time, but when he played, he has looked unpleasantly the rhythm. Can you argue as one of the worst signed of Man United? Yes, absolutely.

You could go through the whole team of the first team and ask -if these players are some of the worst signings in the story of Man United, but only Onana seems to attract criticism. Maybe it’s because he plays as a goalkeeper, which is the most important position on the pitch, or maybe it is because he looks at a scrutiny with some of his old ones. But he is right to raise what is only what is criticized because this is definitely the worst United team that I have ever seen in terms of mentality, desire, leadership, bottle and so many other features.

No one says that should not criticize onana, it should be because it has been poor. But it should only be criticized compared to the rest of his teammates. And at least he promises to play every week, which cannot be said to players like the least stained mountain. Where is your criticism?

UCL lack would not be a failure for the forest

I never thought that this season of running would be easy for the Nottingham Forest, even if so many other people had looked at their accessories and thought they would collect victories here and there. There is a small group of online followers that each club has and simply do not understand football. And that is why they do not understand how difficult it can be the functioning, and they are not only them, as it seems to be one of the only punctures to value this.

One of the first games of the Premier League, which I consider to be the last seven or eight games, is one of the most difficult football sets: it is basically a great national within another great national. It is much tougher than other leagues like the A or League series, because even teams that are no longer relegated or do not compete for anything still have things on the line: it could be a pride, a new contract or even a summer movement if you are someone like Liam Delap at Ipswich.

I experienced this situation many times when I was a player, and the message when it started the operation was as long as you played to play for something. It is the same if you are at the top or the bottom of the table, and this is unique in English football. And when you are involved in titles or battles racing for the first 4/5, your mind starts to reproduce -you tricks to think about possible results.

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And as for the forest, it is one of the successes of the season that are fourth in the Premier League in this phase. No one, not even the most optimistic forest supporter, should not be where they would be where they are and should be celebrated for this, regardless of how remaining weeks.

Although they would not have to qualify for the Champions League, it would not be a failure or a “bottlejob”. If any fan of the forest thinks, you have to give it to your head. Football does not work that way, clubs cannot rest on their laurels and think they should end where they are just because they are there now. Ultimately, wherever your team ends at the end of the season is where they deserve to end.