Bradley Friedel Exclusive: Liverpool can challenge Manchester City

Sporting Post sits down with EPL legend Bradley Friedel to get his thoughts on his former teams, 'Messi mania' that's gripping Miami and his young players to watch in the MLS. The former goalkeeper suggests that his former club, Liverpool, can in fact challenge Manchester City, who are widely touted favourites to win it all this season.

Spurs vs Burnley Reaction

Sporting Post: What did you make of the game? How would you assess the start of Ange Postecoglou’s tenure as manager?

Bradley Friedel: I thought Spurs were better from start to finish. Vincent Kompany in his press conference was very honest and mentioned a couple times that they couldn’t compete with Spurs, and he was right. Kompany seems like a manager who will get things going, but they’ll do it their own way.

Spurs under Postecoglu are playing a new system which people will have to get used to. You just have to watch his games at Celtic to see the style he plays with a couple of different formational nuances and it’s causing teams issues. It’s similar to when Liverpool started to invert Trent Alexander-Arnold. You’ll be able to hit Tottenham on the break at times in transitions, but I don’t think it matters to Postecoglu and he knows that.

The amount of possession that his teams have, the amount of chances they have, far outweighs that against them. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when they play the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool because their attacks are menacing but it looks really good so far.

I think the players are enjoying it too after the defensive nature of the previous coaches, especially the attacking players.

SP: Harry Kane going was a big talking point but they seemed to have done ok so far. Son scored a hat-trick playing up-front, is that the future for Spurs? Or can Richarlison fill Kane's boots in his absence?

BF: I hope Richarlison can get the chance to be Tottenham’s number 9. We’ve seen at Everton and for Brazil he can score, and he can play it just hasn’t happened for him at Tottenham so far.

You can’t go off a 3,4 or even 10 game sample size to know if you’re going to miss Harry Kane or not. My logic with Tottenham is that they are going to miss him over the course of the season. It’s very hard to replace 30+ goals a season.

But saying that, this system will allow other players to score and create more opportunities. Son is an outstanding player as we all know, if they can also get Kulusevski scoring, Maddison as well who has started very well, maybe they will be able to reach the level of goals missed by Kane from multiple players.

That probably had to be the case anyway as it’s very hard to go out and purchase a 30+ a season goalscorer.

I think Brennan is an excellent signing

SP: They also made a big deadline day signing of Brennan Johnson, he was supposedly Ange’s first choice, what do you make of the £45m deal?

BF: I think it’s a really good signing to get Brennan Johnson in. You can see the type of player that Ange wants – energetic, lively, pacey. I think Brennan is an excellent signing.

There was a plan A and a plan B. Ange said he always knew Kane was leaving but he also played him in every game in pre-season, so I suspect keeping Harry was plan A. But if plan B was to get Brennan in as his number 1 target then that’s fantastic.

Spurs were in no jeopardy in the Burnley game, which is no easy fixture but they were in full control. They go into the international break full of confidence.

SP: What do you think about the new goalkeeper Vicario?

BF: Vicario has started well. You can see with his feet he is used to the Italian tempo where you have more time and don’t get closed down. But in the Premier League you do get closed down.

We saw in the Brentford game, which I went to live, and he looked a little nervy at times. So he’ll need to get used to the pace of the game but hopefully for Tottenham he does settle in and gets to grip with the Premier League.

It’s a very interesting situation with Hugo. The only thing I can think is that his options to be number 2, where he’d have to uproot his family and move somewhere else and that isn’t appealing.

But it’s very strange. He’s a World Cup winner, France’s captain in less than a year and is essentially Spurs’ number 5 goalkeeper having not been involved in anything so far.

SP: What do you make of the Hugo Lloris saga? He rejected a move to his boyhood club Nice on the final day. He is of course a World Cup winner, he played the full season last year yet can’t find a club, what do you make of it and what do you think he should do?

BF: It’s a very interesting situation with Hugo. The only thing I can think is that his options to be number 2, where he’d have to uproot his family and move somewhere else and that isn’t appealing.

But it’s very strange. He’s a World Cup winner, France’s captain in less than a year and is essentially Spurs’ number 5 goalkeeper having not been involved in anything so far.

If he terminates his contract that’ll be up to him. If he does I’m sure there’ll be a payout and I can’t see Spurs asking for a transfer fee at this stage. So if he finds a place that’ll take him as number 1 then he can consider terminating his contract, otherwise I suspect he’ll see out his contract with Tottenham.

SP: What are the realistic aims for Spurs this season?

BF: You aim to try and finish in the Top 6, with an eye on the Top 4. As the season progresses, especially around the holiday period, we’ll find out whether they are missing Harry Kane’s goals or not.

Goals are like gold in the Premier League. When you have a game every 3 or 4 days in that period you won’t play perfect every game and you need those games where you’re not at your best but someone is scoring the goals for you. Perhaps they have that in their squad right now but that’s what we’ll have to see.

But with Postecoglu’s style of play and the way the fans have taken to him, and hopefully the board have taken to him, if they do need those goals hopefully they’ll let him get them in January or next summer.

Liverpool vs Aston Villa Reaction

SP: Another strong Liverpool performance against a very good Villa side, what did you make of the game?

BF: I was really surprised with how dominant Liverpool were. From the first whistle they were pressing high on Aston Villa and they got their goal in the second minute, a really nice strike.

Aston Villa are a good team. Unai Emery is a fantastic manager and their summer transfer business has been really good. But they never looked like they could get to grips with the game. I thought Liverpool’s energy for 90 mins was really good. They suffocated Villa.

Villa had a couple breaks but Liverpool went all the way to the end with Martinez having to make saves right at the end to keep it to 3.

SP: Szoboszlai got on the scoresheet, what do you make of him after an impressive start?

BF: It’s nice that we get to see Klopp, probably for the first time in his career, have to set up a team and then re-do it. He’s hit that 7-year mark again, where he’s normally left but this time he’s stayed and we’re seeing his rebuild.

Szoboszlai looks really good and it’s interesting with the new signing of Gravenberch along with Mac Allister, there’s no recognised 6. But when they missed out on Caicedo, it looks like they’ve gone for a more high energy, high pressing midfield rather than having one killer 6 that breaks up play.

You saw on Sunday Mac Allister did that very well and if they have another in Gravenberch they can swap and rotate in games, rather than in teams but within games and I think it’ll be exciting to watch.

SP: Liverpool have also added Gravenberch late on, do you think Liverpool have enough depth now? Or could they be exposed without the 6?

BF: It depends on how that midfield – Gravenberch, Mac Allister – deal with counter-attacks. With these players they’ve assembled they’re going to have the ball the majority of the time, maybe not against Manchester City, but against everyone else they’re going to dominate. That means when they lose the ball they’re going to have a lot of energy and legs in the midfield to stop counter-attacks at source.

When you invert your full backs, if you lose the ball in the middle third you leave some space on the counter attack out wide, but if you have legs in your team you can deal with that.

I think Klopp has taken that approach, he missed out on a “true” 6 in Caicedo and going this route it’ll be exciting to watch. I think they’re going to be with Manchester City to the end. Absolutely they can challenge Manchester City.

SP: Salah scored and appears to be staying, do they have to keep him at all costs?

BF: Salah is like the Harry Kane for Liverpool. If you’re going to lose him and you knew about it, you have to have a plan B in place. Now the transfer window is closed, I think you need to keep him at all costs until another transfer window comes.

You’re going to have to replace him. Replacing him with one player is going to be difficult, it’s probably only Mbappe that can like-for-like replace Salah. With the way Liverpool have their transfer and wage budget structured, they’d probably have to get two players to spread the goals and assists that Mo Salah brings.

Aston Villa: It will take time for Torres to get up to speed

SP: What did you make of Villa’s signings this summer? Torres and Lenglet in defence, Tielemans, Zaniolo and Diaby further forward.

BF: I like Villa’s transfer business. Someone like Pau Torres is a very good player. It’s going to take him a little time to get up to speed. We saw it on Sunday that it takes a bit of time to get used to the speed and high-pressing. You don’t get that type of pressing in Spain, in Italy you get lower blocks and tenacious defenders.

In the Premier League, when you first come over, something I experienced myself, it’s back and forth, end-to-end, non-stop relentless attacking. You get used to it but I think the business was very good.

Villa are one of the favourites in the ECL

SP: How far do you think Villa can go in the Europa Conference League?

I think they should have a long run in the ECL and should be one of the favourites to win it. For Aston Villa finishing anywhere in the Top 8 and cup runs is great.

Unai Emery will look at the two heavy away defeats, and being such a great tactician he’ll figure that out. They lost 5-1 to Newcastle but it was odd, it wasn’t really a 5-1 game. Villa didn’t play poorly but came out with a heavy loss.

SP: How do you see Villa doing in the PL, can they compete on two fronts at the same time?

BF: With the players they have brought in they can do it. There are two things to consider, the players mindset and the club’s history mindset.

If you have enough players in the team who are used to winning things and playing in multiple competitions it feels normal to be playing midweek and the weekend. The hardest thing I found was playing in the Europa League was that you’re consistently playing on Sunday’s in the Premier League.

You go in these waves of ups and downs. If results go against you on the Saturday then there is more pressure on you on the Sunday. It can also go for you if results go for you then there is an added sense of confidence from nowhere. That’s what I found the hardest with the Sunday fixtures and if it’s consistent you have 8-10 fixtures on Sunday’s and at least half of those are real pressure situations.

I’m really happy for Pulisic and for the move, I think it’s great and he’s playing, so for his career it’s great. I’m a little bit disappointed, in terms of the fact that I think Mauricio Pochettino would have really liked Cristian. I think he could have flourished in his system but it wasn’t to be.

SP: USMT have two friendlies coming up, vs Uzbekistan and Oman - what do you expect from these games?

BF: I would expect the friendlies against Uzbekistan and Oman to go very smoothly for the US. Gregg Berhalter has called in a very experienced squad. A couple of new faces as well but I can’t see anything other than two US wins.

With what went on with Gregg after the World Cup I think they’re two good fixtures for him to get the squad feeling good.

I think it’ll set the foundation for leading the team into the World Cup in the US and I think it’ll be a fairly light camp. Some players have just started their seasons and those in the MLS are probably a little bit tired from the Leagues Cup and the league restarting.

I can’t see it being a heavy camp.

SP: Do you think the USMT can win the CONCAF nations league?

BF: I can definitely see the US winning the CONCAF Nations League. It’s not as easy as people think but we have a good enough squad to do it.

You just never know where you can trip up, especially away from home. In Central America the teams can be hard, when you’re playing in the middle of the day at altitude. Like in Mexico City the smog levels are incredible, the outfield players can’t run!

So you go up against the elements sometimes but will the US be one of the favourites? Yes.

Pulisic would have flourished under Pochettino

SP: This summer saw two USMNT starters, Pulisic and Matt Turner, get moves away from their clubs in search of more playing time. What did you make of these transfers?

BF: I’m really happy for Pulisic and for the move, I think it’s great and he’s playing, so for his career it’s great. I’m a little bit disappointed, in terms of the fact that I think Mauricio Pochettino would have really liked Cristian. I think he could have flourished in his system but it wasn’t to be.

But the move overall for Pulisic is a really good one. He’s started really well and it bodes well for the national team, we need our best players playing. Last season we didn’t have that scattered throughout Europe. It was really hit and miss. There was a lack of players who were playing regularly and playing well, and not in relegation battles.

We need our players playing and full of confidence.

Matt Turner should have never signed a contract to be number 2 for any club

With Turner’s move, someone that is as good as him should never have signed a contract to be a number 2 for any club. I understand Arsenal are a huge, fantastic club, but when you have the ability he has, you’re only physically able to play football in your life, you need to play as many games as you can.

I was a little disappointed for him when he was on the bench all season so I’m really happy with his move. But I’m a little disappointed again because Nottingham Forest knows how good of a goalkeeper they have, yet they have signed another goalkeeper from Benfica who’s 29 and played about 500 games and lifted titles with Benfica and he’s got another battle on his hands.

So now I don’t know if Matt’s going to be the number 1 or number 2. I hope for his sake he’s the number 1. Right now it looks like a great move for Matt. I know how good he can be and if he’s not playing it’s not good for the national team of course, but as a person more so. He’s good enough to play in the Premier League so I’d like to see a full season sample size to see how he does.

SP: How do you think Folarin Balogun will get on with his move to Monaco from Arsenal?

BF: If Florian wasn’t going to get football at Arsenal he had to move. He had a fantastic season in Ligue 1 with Reims last year. I’m sure he had a few options of clubs and he’s likely chosen the club where he’s going to develop but play.

French football is excellent and for the US national team, as long as he’s playing and full of confidence that’s good.

SP: Chelsea reportedly backed off signing Tyler Adams over fears of his hamstring injury - do you think Bournemouth was the right move for the USMNT captain?

BF: Any move to the Premier League is good and Tyler is definitely good enough to be in the Premier League. If he was fit Leeds possibly wouldn’t have got relegated. He helps players around him, he’s a leader and I think his injury hit and hurt Leeds last season.

I know there were reports about his hamstring in Chelsea, I would probably disagree with that and it was probably an excuse for the media. I suspect they were monitoring how things were going with Lavia and Caicedo, with things progressing there, with Tyler being injured they opted for the others.

I’m glad he’s landed back in the Premier League. He’s a really good person and a really good player and I’m sure he’ll show that when he’s fit again.

But since Beckham, I haven’t seen or heard of anything quite like this in the US. I live in Miami and you would hardly have known that Inter Miami was a team. But overnight they are everywhere you walk. There are pink and black shirts, there are Messi shirts, there are billboards, everybody wants a ticket!

Messi Mania: I haven’t seen or heard of anything quite like this in the US.

SP: What have you made of Messi’s start to his MLS career? Inter Miami haven’t lost a game in the last 10 they’ve played

BF: Back in the early 2000s the League nearly folded and there were three families who kept the league going, which was a pinnacle moment for MLS. The Kraft, the Hunts and Anschutz came together and saved the League.

The next big milestone was in 2007 when David Beckham signed. Some people knew about the MLS but it was more the retirement league with regards to foreigners. The players in the states was not at the level of finances to compete with world football and things have got progressively better over time with the stadiums, the training grounds, the level of coaching, the players, the different rules of being able to bring designated players (DP) in, under 22 initiative and young DP players.

But since Beckham, I haven’t seen or heard of anything quite like this in the US. I live in Miami and you would hardly have known that Inter Miami was a team. But overnight they are everywhere you walk. There are pink and black shirts, there are Messi shirts, there are billboards, everybody wants a ticket!

Perhaps it shows the good and bad of US sports, but US people love the event, but now every game is an event. If you look at the who’s who of the game between LAFC and Miami, it was quite something. People don’t really attend football (soccer) games in the US unless it’s the World Cup but now they do and why? Lionel Messi. But that’s off the field.

On the field he’s been remarkable. There’s been a lot of foreigners that come to the US and they wouldn’t want to play on artificial grass, they wouldn’t want to travel how the team is travelling, but Messi has come in and got on with it.

I’ve spoken to people I know at Inter Miami and they’ve said he’s the most kind, humble human being. Of course he wants to win and if he needs to say something he’ll say it, but the best thing being said about him is that makes everyone around him better, and he does.

The second goal against LAFC on Sunday, Busquets wins the ball, passes to Messi who turns and plays in Alba who scores. They all go and celebrate and Jordi Alba goes off to the subs bench and brings them all in.

These are guys that played with arguably the best team of all time with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Pique, Puyol, and they’ve come over here, all three of them, have done incredibly well. People thought they’d do well but not every DP does, there are DPs who wave their arms and walk around because it’s not what they’re used to.

These guys are making everyone around them better and it’s so fun to watch. Messi is so quick. He made the best defenders in the World look average at the World Cup, you can imagine that in the MLS he can do the same.

LAFC were good for the first 30 mins or so and Drake Callender had to make save after save. But as soon as Inter Miami scored the first goal there were so many chances and it was a great game to watch and a super advert for the MLS. I can’t stop to explain how big of an impact he’s made over here. Unless you live here and see if you can’t truly understand it.

I think everything will be better, there’s more notoriety, media, sponsorships. Messi is playing and flying back to play for Argentina. Tata Martino said he’s not just a leader, he doesn’t just want to win, he wants to play every game and every minute of every game. He has this hunger and desire to play, as he gets older it’s going to be difficult to manage his minutes.

Messi has been truly exceptional since he’s come over and any American who is around my age, where there was no professional league growing up, will truly appreciate what he’s bringing to the game.

Carles Gil is one of the best DP’s in the League

SP: New England came 10th in the Eastern Conference last season, and are now sitting at 2nd. What do you think has changed at New England this season? What did you make of New England Revolution’s match against Austin?

BF: New England should have won against Austin, it was a last minute equaliser. In the MLS most teams are really similar and it’s the DPs who set things aside. Not a lot is different from last year just a couple of results here and there.

They’re playing relatively the same as to what they have been. They have DeJuan Jones and Brandon Bye out for the season, they’re important to them but they have slotted Matt Polster to right back and the coach, Bruce Arena, hasn’t even been with them for a month suspended.

A lot of the teams in MLS are the same, but the confidence goes up and down and then you count on the DPs. After Inter Miami, who are of course in their own league, I would consider the joint-best DP in the League, along with Hany Mukhtar from Nashville, to be Carles Gil at New England. When he turns up he’s a great pro and he turns up every week.

He went through some injuries last season and it affected the results of the team. If he stays fit they’re going to be a force. If he gets injured or suspended their level will drop considerably.

Ben Cremaschi is my young player to watch

SP: What young player in the MLS has caught your attention this season?

BF: There’s been a few, I think the three that have caught my attention the most is an Inter Miami player – Ben Cremaschi. The reason I say that is because he was doing ok and after the revival of three U22 initiative players, along with Busquets, Alba and Messi he’s done really well. He’s really starting to learn football. He’s got himself into the national team.

Chris Brady from Chicago fire is my second. He’s been playing really well for what I would consider a poor Chicago team. Their last couple games they’ve looked really disjointed but he’s getting some incredible experience as a 19-year old goalkeeper. I think he’s been excellent and it’s not everywhere you can get top level professional games as a 19-year old goalkeeper.

My third is Noel Buck who’s just been called into the England U19 international side. He’s been playing really well for New England. He doesn’t get mentioned but between him and Cremaschi, from where they started to where they are is really impressive. He’s been outstanding along with the other two.

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