Speaking exclusively to BOYLE Sports , former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker Dean Saunders has given his perspective on his former clubs contrasting fortunes in recent weeks with Villa's return to form with Liverpool's league slump.
Saunders has also given his assessment of Liverpool's under-fire summer signings, but reaffirms that losing is unacceptable at Liverpool amid further pressure on Arne Slot.
Elsewhere, he concludes that to go on a late title-run Liverpool will need to sort out their defensive issues before going on a winning streak while also stressing that Salah must get on the same wave length as Wirtz.
Aston Villa
Villa's Return To Form
That's five wins on the bounce, so Aston Villa are in great form at the minute. Unai Emery he had a bad start, and I think he showed what a good manager he is since, because what I thought was they had started thinking that they were better than they were and started not doing the things that got them the success they had last year.
To play for a top club and to be challenging for trophies all the time is so relentless. You have to get ready for the next season. That's gone. And I remember when I signed for Liverpool, Ronnie Moran's favourite saying was: ‘That's gone, you get nothing for looking back in life. Let's get forward.
This is Liverpool, and it's the same for Villa now. They're expected to win things. So I think they just stopped getting back in shape, stopped playing the ball quickly forward to Ollie Watkins. When Unai Emery took over, if you remember, he got the back four 15 yards further up the pitch, and the game plan was to intercept passes when they were compact. The first thought was to hit Ollie Watkins.
And they either put it in the space for him or put him in between the two centre-backs. He was benefiting from everybody looking for him, but I think they just went away from that, started playing a bit sideways. They still take a few chances at the back with the goalkeeper for me, but what can you say? Five wins on the bounce, going great guns, so they're doing really well.
Watkins Crucial To Champions League Challenge
I just think they've got to keep winning. And obviously, as you're going along, there are going to be a few knocks and bruises, and the players who've been waiting for their chance have got to come into the team and take the opportunity.
It just shows how good a player Ollie Watkins is. Managers will leave you out of the team if you're not scoring, you know, if you're not contributing in other ways. If you go five games without scoring, the manager is looking at the substitutes who are desperate for a game and knocking on his door, saying he's gone five games without scoring.
Ollie's gone more than that, but the way he plays is vital to how Villa play. He stretches the back four, he runs in behind, and when they lose the ball, he's the first line of defence, and he puts the effort in. So, it's a testament to him. We all go through droughts as a striker. I know exactly how he feels. You can't sleep properly, you're just thinking about it.
We watched Alexander Isak get his first goal; that'll be such a relief to him. And it is when you're in a bad run, it's a relief when you score because you stop the rot and you think, 'Right, I can go on a run now,' and you normally do. So, I don't think Ollie Watkins has become a bad finisher overnight. He'll get one goal, and then you'll see he'll go on a roll.
Liverpool's Slow Start
Assessing Liverpool's Summer Signings
Well, to sum it all up, in July, we all thought the signings were brilliant, a master stroke, getting it done early, apart from Alexander Isak, they had to wait on that one. Who would have thought it could have gone this bad for Liverpool?
I don't think anybody could have thought, especially the manager, Arnie Slot, who would have been thinking, We are fully loaded up. People automatically think that, because you're spending that much money on transfer fees, it's an upgrade.
Well, the back four is not the same back four, the defence. You can see how Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have struggled because they've got two different fullbacks on either side of them. Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, and Joe Gomez played at the weekend.
So that's been unsettled. Alisson got injured. So when you look at the reasons why this has happened, you can see you're adding six players to half your team. You've got half the team coming in from a team that just won the league. And they're all trying to keep their own heads above water.
They all want to prove to their teammates and the crowd that they deserve to play for Liverpool. Then obviously the pressure's on Florian Wirtz, Isak got a goal at the weekend, so that's great. But Hugo Ekitike has probably been the best of the new signings.
Pressure On Slot: "Losing Is Unacceptable"
Losing for Liverpool is unacceptable; a draw is only good against a title rival. The pressure is on the manager, especially after leaving out Mohamed Salah. Three months ago, Salah was the world's best, and he hasn't become bad in that time, though his output is below his usual standard.
Salah greatly benefited from Trent Alexander-Arnold's passing and the crosses from Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo. The midfield also used to cover him; unselfish players like Jordan Henderson and James Milner would immediately press when Salah lost the ball.
Now, players like Ryan Gravenberch are pushing up too much. The decision to drop Salah for the West Ham game was huge. But Liverpool would’ve won that game if Salah had played.
Despite all the issues, Liverpool are only four points behind Manchester City. A couple of wins, starting with Sunderland, should see them back in the top four or five. The manager needed the West Ham win to relieve pressure, and we need to see their reaction.
Title Hopes
Title Hopes? Unbeaten Run Needed!
Can Liverpool get back into the title race? I look at the back four, and at the moment, Milos Kerkez is struggling. The goalkeeper's struggling. Ibrahima Konate looks like he's not 100% in the game. His contract's up. That should have been sorted a year ago.
That should have been dealt with. It looks like he's going to walk out. Obviously, with the mistakes he's made, the finger's going to get pointed at him that he's not mentally at the races. But at right back, we've had Jeremie Frimpong injured, Conor Bradley injured. They're not as good as Trent Alexander-Arnold, obviously. Not as good going forward. And defensively, there's not a lot in it.
So they're not as strong as they were at the back. They got a clean sheet against West Ham. It's the first clean sheet for about nine games. And that's not Liverpool.
You've got to be able to leave players on the halfway line in a race and cope with it because Liverpool normally has most of the ball. So, being honest, I don't think they can go on a 10-game unbeaten run with the problems at the back.
Can Liverpool Still Win The Premier League?
Salah Must Get On Wirtz's Wavelength
I wonder what's going through Mohamed Salah's head. Cody Gakpo was on the pitch, Florian Wirtz was on the pitch, they've not been better than me. Hugo Ekitike has not been bad.
He started off good, but Alexander Isak has not been better than me. Curtis Jones is playing. Salah must have been thinking, How am I not on that pitch? Is it going to give him a kick up the backside? We'll wait and see. But every other player needs Salah in the team. Every player. He's just world-class, but Salah needs to get on their wavelength as well and adjust, so it will take a bit of time.
I was thinking this morning, when I was playing, the wages weren't ludicrous. But when you look at the money Liverpool have laid out, it's a problem if it goes wrong and you've got players sat on £350,000 a week.
I think we need to wait and see how Salah reacts. But you can look at the team, when's the last time you've seen him one-on-one with a keeper? That used to be every week. Virgil van Dijk isn’t hitting diagonal balls, which he's famous for. I don't think he hit one in the first half. So it’s not all down to Salah.
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