He’s surprisingly soft-spoken.
That’s the first impression you get when you meet Chris Kamara ahead of the start of a new Premier League season.
Or maybe he’s just resting the voice for the unfolding drama of the next nine months.
Nevertheless the Sky Sports presenter is full of chat and opinions on the new season, on why there is no such thing as the new ”Roy Keane or Patrick Viera” and why it didn’t work out for Angel Di Maria at Old Trafford.
What are your thought on Manchester United’s summer transfers?
“I’m surprised they didn’t sign a centre-half, I think everybody will be surprised at that. I thought that would have been van Gaal’s priority. Maybe he thinks between [Marcos] Rojo, [Daley] Blind, [Chris] Smalling and [Phil] Jones he can get the right blend. Or if you have a team capable scoring of goals you’re always in with a chance.”
“Putting Wayne Rooney back in centre-forward and not starting him in midfield, I think that’s where his best position is.
“It’s hard to say when there is four or five changes made and the amount of money they’ve spent is hard to say how teams will do.”
Is van Gaal under pressure?
“Well he has to be under pressure, David Moyes was under pressure and he never got his own team. David Moyes brought in two players and he was judged on one of them and Marouane Fellaini ended up being Van Gaal’s best player towards the end of last season.
“If Moyesy comes under pressure, and I know it was different scenario because he was taking over from Alex Ferguson, but whoever was going to follow Alex was always going to be under pressure and scrutinised.
“Now that’s he been out and spent some money, and I know he’s said he wants one more marquee signing to finish it off, and if he does that, then Manchester United will expect and there will be a certain pressure.”
Has Jose Mourinho made a mistake selling Petr Cech to Arsenal?
“I don’t think it’s his biggest error because he believes he’s got a better goalkeeper in Courtois. You’re surprised that he allowed it.
Maybe, I don’t know, Jose is a good man, if he thinks a lot of Petr Cech and Petr Cech was able to go to him and say I’m going whatever.
Knowing Jose as I do, maybe he would have allowed that. I don’t think Alex(Ferguson) would have allowed that, they would have go to abroad and then come back.”
Why has it taken Arsene Wenger so long to get a really good goalkeeper?
“I think he was a big fan of his own goalkeepers. He thought Szczęsny and Fabianski would mature into really good goalkeepers. Loyalty as well. That’s probably that stability of where he has only had to tweak one or two players in the team now to make it better in standing them for this season.”
“I think this is his best chance, I don’t think there will be any excuses at the end of this season. He can look back why not, we gave it our lot but we’re not good enough.”
Do they still need a midfielder enforcer like a Roy Keane/Patrick Vieira type?
“I’m not sure do you need them anymore. Who else has got them? Chelsea have Matic but Chelsea are a different type of style for Arsenal.”
“Coquelin has come in and sits in front of the back four and done what Arsene Wenger is quite happy with and he can play a bit as well.”
“If you watch Arsenal and watch Chelsea, it is two different styles of play. Jose Mourinho is quite happy to win 1-0, Arsenal doesn’t care if it’s 4-3, 3-2, 2-1 or whatever, Petr Cech might now which might be the difference.”
Is the Community Shield a big result for both sides?
“I think you can’t read too much into a Community Shield game but certainly I think…there was two key players missing Alexis Sanchez for Arsenal and Diego Costa for Chelsea and Costa was the bigger miss.”
“Whereas Alexis Sanchez will improve Arsenal, Costa playing up front for Chelsea is the be all and end.”
So if he stays fit and 100 per cent fit, he obviously believes they are going to win it. There is no reason not to believe that. But if his hamstring plays up like it did last year, then they are going to struggle.
“Falcao still isn’t 100 per cent fit that’s for sure. Whether he ever returns to the same player he was.”
Were you disappointed by Di Maria’s failure in the Premier League?
“It’s not easy for foreign players coming into the Premier League in their first season and then to have your house burgled when your wife is in there as well and how unsettling family life can be then it becomes more difficult for him. The team weren’t paying well either and that doesn’t help.”
“He’s a good player, a really good player and PSG will be stronger that he’s involved and if he gets back to the best of his ability.”
“He won’t be the first player to struggle in his first season.
“Eric Cantona wasn’t the Eric Cantona that he became in his first year. I know he was played out of position at Leeds but Alex Ferguson saw something totally different in him than Howard Wilkinson had seen, he saw a talisman for the team.”
“If he had played like that in his first season at Leeds there’s no way they would have let him go. There’s loads of players who struggle to settle in because of the pace of it.”
Who’s going to win it?
“I just look at the signing of Petr Cech and think what a difference that makes to Arsenal. If you watch Arsenal over the last three, four, five seasons, they concede goals and you see the players looking at the ground. Nobody is taking responsibility, nobody is wagging the finger, having a pop at them. First thing Arsene Wenger said on Sunday about Petr Cech is he wants clean sheets and he’s demanding from his back four. They’ve got somebody who is going to be at them all the time.”
“It’s not acceptable to concede a goal and just walk to hacanlfway to kick off. So that will make a massive difference. I think that is because I look at their squad and see where the goals are, Theo Walcott coming back, Alexis Sanchez for me is the new Suarez, a player who has got perpetual motion, and ability and all that type of stuff. I would say this is Arsene Wenger’s best chance for a long time.”
Chris Kamara was speaking at the launch of Sky Sports’ coverage of the Barclays Premier League. Sky Sports will show every team live by the end of September as part of 116 Premier League fixtures that will be shown exclusively live on the channel.
