McGeady: Man United Are Always Just That Level Down & I Can't See Them in the Title Race

Speaking exclusively with BOYLE Sports , former Celtic and Sunderland star Aiden McGeady has given his predictions for the Premier League title race and the relegation battle.

McGeady has backed Manchester City , Arsenal and Chelsea to fight it out at the top, admitted he cannot see Manchester United in the mix, and warned the newly promoted clubs face a real fight for survival.

The former winger has also assessed the pressure on Frank Lampard and Andoni Iraola , the rise of Keith Andrews and Damien Duff at Brentford , and the modern winger, naming Jeremy Doku as the one who most reminds him of himself.

The Title Race

What's Your Prediction For the Title and Top Five?

I think Man City will be up there again. I was a bit unsure at the start of the season after Guardiola left. I don't think Man City are playing as fluidly as they did in the past, which is to be expected, but they're still getting results.

I like Chelsea too; I know they lost against Arsenal , but I like the way they're playing this season. Their attacking players seem very free, open, and fluid going forward. Seeing Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers , it looks like Palmer is getting back to his best form.

Arsenal , to be fair, are obviously going to be right up there given how they won the league last season and how they've started this one. I don't know if Arsenal are playing as freely as they were last season, but they're always very difficult to break down, so I think they'll be right in the mix.

So I think Arsenal and Man City , and I could see Chelsea being right around it as well. Possibly Liverpool too, if they start to gain a bit of momentum; they haven't started brilliantly, but if they win a few more games, they might be up there as well.

I just don't know if I can see Manchester United being up there. I always feel Man United are just that next level down. They have been for so many years, haven't they? They've never really been in a title battle since. I hope they do, because I like Man United , but I just can't see it.

The Relegation Battle

What's Your Prediction For the Relegation Battle?

It's not looking great for Coventry . It's always difficult when you're a newly promoted team. That's why Sunderland bucked the trend last season by staying up and then going on to qualify for Europe . Normally, the data from the last five or six years shows that promoted teams come up and go straight back down. Fulham could be in and around it, but I think they'll be OK.

I'd probably still put my money on the newly promoted teams, to be honest with you. Coventry haven't got the budget that Sunderland had last season to go out and sign five or six players for £20 million, £30 million, or £40 million each. That's almost what you have to do to try and stay in the league. Hull and Ipswich have started well, but it will be hard to keep that going.

Will Frank Lampard Be in Danger of the Sack at Coventry?

I don't think Frank Lampard is in danger because if you look at the Coventry squad, you'd be struggling to compete anyway. I don't think there's pressure on them like, you need to stay up, bearing in mind what they did last season.

Coventry 's run has been a bit of a fairy tale, hasn't it? Nobody expected Coventry to be promoted last season. They were promoted, and now they're in the Premier League , but haven't really been backed the way other clubs are backed in the Premier League .

So I don't think there's any real appetite there to get rid of Frank Lampard . If Coventry are still on zero points come November , yeah, there might be a slightly different dynamic, but at the minute, it's a bit early to be talking about that.

Manager Talk

Will the Pressure Grow on Iraola From Liverpool Fans?

I think that's what will happen at Liverpool ; pressure will grow on Andoni Iraola among the fans. Liverpool have had a lot of success in recent times. Obviously, there was a long period of not being able to compete for the Premier League , but over the last few years they've been able to do that and win titles.

The fans will be impatient; it's a massive club, and they want success. I mean, Arne Slot got sacked, and they've brought in Iraola because last season was so poor.

So they demand success, though obviously they will give him time to get his system right. I think they've signed a lot of players, and he's got a lot of firepower there. That's just the nature of the Premier League ; fans, owners, and boards are impatient, especially when you're at a club like Liverpool .

Would Andrews Be an Interesting Appointment For a Big Six Club?

I was really surprised when Keith got the job because he was the set-piece coach under Thomas Frank . I was unsure of how it was going to go because he'd never managed before, and getting your first job at a Premier League club is obviously outside the normal trend.

But he's done a fantastic job there. When young managers are doing well at smaller clubs in the Premier League , bigger clubs will be sniffing around them. From what I'm seeing, I think he's really happy at Brentford . He likes having control and autonomy over what he's doing in terms of picking the team and recruitment.

Brentford 's model has been working really well for them, and I think he's the right kind of guy to have in charge.

Could Damien Duff Be a Long-Term Brentford Replacement?

The only way you could see Damien Duff managing in the Premier League in the next couple of years would be if Keith Andrews was to leave and the same thing happened, where he steps in as interim or on a permanent basis.

Damien has been a manager before; he managed in Ireland with Shelbourne and had success there, but then had a bit of a fallout with the hierarchy and hasn't managed since. Obviously, he's assistant to Keith Andrews now, so there's clearly an appetite for Duffer to be a manager again at some point, which I think will happen.

But in terms of the Premier League , I'd say it's unlikely he's going to step straight into a Premier League job unless a scenario like that happens. You could probably see him taking over a Championship club, doing well there, working his way up, and then potentially a Premier League job might become available.

The Modern Winger

Which Premier League Player Reminds You of Yourself?

Wingers are different now. I saw a video on Instagram recently; it was a reel showing what wingers looked like 15 years ago, with a guy doing stepovers past someone on a beach. Then it showed wingers nowadays, with a guy doing stepovers only to turn back and pass it backwards. It feels like wingers today are more concerned with keeping possession than taking players on and creating opportunities. So, looking for a winger who reminds me of myself is tough.

Potentially Jeremy Doku . He's direct and loves taking players on. Most of the time when he gets the ball, he drives straight at his fullback, either going down the line or using that quick footwork to cut inside. Probably Doku , because off the top of my head, there aren't many wingers nowadays I really enjoy watching.

Football goes in cycles, doesn't it? In a couple of years, you'll probably see teams returning to a 4-4-2. I've already noticed certain teams going back to it, even though playing a 4-4-2 over the last five years made you look like a dinosaur. The main issue with playing two strikers in a 4-4-2 nowadays is that you risk losing control of the middle of the pitch. With only two central midfielders, traditionally one would sit while the other got forward, but now they're expected to do both.

Today, most teams play with a deep-lying six, or two sixes with an eight or a ten. If you go with two strikers, you have to balance that midfield gap, which is why managers often opt for a 3-5-2 instead.

You could also play a 4-4-2 diamond, but it's tricky. If you have two quality strikers, you naturally want them both on the pitch, so it comes down to managers figuring out the best system to accommodate them. I wish 4-3-3 had been the main system when I was coming through, as wide players don't have to track back nearly as much in that setup.

When I played in a 4-4-2, particularly under Giovanni Trapattoni , it was a steep learning curve. We were set up very defensively, so as wingers, our primary focus was tracking the opposing fullback all the way back to block crosses.

We were doing shuttle runs the entire game. In a modern 4-3-3, while you still have defensive duties, one of the central midfielders is usually tasked with covering the wide area if the fullback overlaps. I wish I'd played in a 4-3-3 more often earlier in my career instead of running 12km a game chasing fullbacks up and down the pitch.

Later in my career under Lee Johnson at Sunderland , he recognised I was older and didn't want me expending all my energy tracking back. He put a dogged central midfielder beside me whose explicit job was to cover the wide area and block crosses whenever their fullback pushed forward.

I had a similar setup at Everton under Roberto Martinez with Gareth Barry and James McCarthy ; they were instructed to slide across and cover the flanks so the wingers could stay higher up the pitch. That system suited me much better, even though I didn't end up playing a lot at Everton under him.

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