MANCHESTER UNITED
I wouldn’t get carried away with United’s current run. They’re very much in a transitional period and there’s still work to be done there. At the back they have serious problems. Previously they had Vidic, Ferdinand, Gary Neville and Evra. Champions don’t conceded a lot of goals but David De Gea has won them a lot of points this season already.
They’ve spent a lot of money over the summer and I think they will get some defenders in January. They have a decent run of games over Christmas with Aston Villa, Tottenham and Newcastle and you’d expect them to pick up a lot of points, probably seven out of nine.
I do fancy United to finish in the top four but I just can’t see them challenging for the title.
LIVERPOOL
Liverpool enjoyed a good win midweek and it was great to see them back in the goals again. Raheem Sterling was impressive in the striker role and it can only be a positive for Brendan Rodgers. Bournemouth came into the game in really good form and Liverpool stood up well which is encouraging for them. It has to give the club confidence that they might be turning a corner and ahead of the Christmas period.
The crucial thing for Liverpool now is to kick on and keep the little bit of momentum they have gained from the win going over Christmas. They have some tough games and Brendan will rotate his players and if they can get a few wins and decent results then it will set them up for 2015. They’ll be heading into the transfer window with a bit of confidence as well. Don’t forget they they bought Luis Suarez in January and they got Daniel Sturridge and Philipe Coutinho as well in the window so there is value out there if the club are looking for it.
CHRISTMAS PERIOD
The festive period is usually fairly tough for football players.
Not only is it hard to try and get some time with family but you have to mind yourself diet-wise and try and keep in as good shape as possible. You have to watch the Brussel sprouts and maybe half a glass of wine with your dinner is OK.
I found that having an away game on Stephen’s Day the hardest. You have training Christmas morning,you have dinner with the family and then you leave to stay in a hotel Christmas night to prepare for the game. Being a player you want to play as many games as you can over the Christmas period and it sometimes helps you forget what’s going on and what you’re missing out on.
IRELAND END OF YEAR REPORT
Ireland have had an interesting 12 months under Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane and if I was marking them for the end of year report card I’d probably give them a B+. I think there is more work to be done but we’re moving in the right direction. We’ve had some great results even though it took Martin a bit of time to get a real positive result when he came in as manager. I’m sure in 2015 Roy will be watching an awful lot more games now that the Republic have got his full attention and that can only be a positive for Martin keeping an eye on various players.
The group is still wide open but there isn’t much room for slip ups at this stage. Poland have been the surprise and their result in Germany was fantastic. We have it all to do and we need to pick up a result against Poland which will be tough. If we do that then 2015 could be a really, really good year.
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