Collymore's Premier League 5-Point Stance: Fabregas, Pardew, Sakho and More
This week's five-point Premier League stance sees B/R's Stan Collymore cover topics relating to Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United and Southampton.
Arsenal fans might want to read Stan's take on their former hero Cesc Fabregas.
Enjoy, and please be encouraged to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Rodgers Should Make Sakho an Example
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Mamadou Sakho drove away from Anfield in a huff on Saturday after being left out of Liverpool's squad for the Merseyside derby, per the Daily Mail.
Brendan Rodgers might be a softly spoken guy, but he would have had something to say about that. I just hope Rodgers showed some Fergie, a bit of Shankly and really read the riot act out to the defender.
Everybody knows Rodgers is a good coach, but he needs to show he means business and can get tough sometimes. Sakho's behaviour cannot be tolerated.
Fabregas Has Become the Complete Player
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Chelsea play Arsenal on Sunday, with Cesc Fabregas returning to face his old club—and the fans who once worshipped him.
He's matured into the finished article since then, proving once again that Arsenal is a great place to grow as a player but not a place where great players end up.
Only a few midfielders can perform the range of midfield skills Fabregas does. Diego Costa's goals stand out for Chelsea, but Fabregas could prove the signing of the season for Jose Mourinho's team.
Newcastle's Problems Are Not Pardew's Fault
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I'm going to buck the trend here. Alan Pardew is a very good manager and—if given the tools—he can do the job at Newcastle.
But when you've lost the likes of Yohan Cabaye, Mathieu Debuchy, Hatem Ben Arfa and Demba Ba, and you work for an owner who just wants to sell, what are you supposed to do?
Cabaye would get in most midfields across Europe. If Newcastle had kept him the rest of last season, things could have worked out very differently. He was hugely important to them.
If you take Robin van Persie or Wayne Rooney out of the Manchester United team, or Yaya Toure or David Silva from Man City's XI, you're going to have a massive impact.
Cabaye brought that kind of influence. It was Mike Ashley's fault he sold him.
Ashley's only remit now is to get back the money he's put into the club. He doesn't care about anything else.
Man Utd's Midweek Madness
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How much money do Manchester United need?
They have a huge shirt sponsorship, advertisers for everything and money pouring in. This notion that they need to go to places like Dubai and play midweek friendlies is precisely what will stop them from getting back into the Champions League.
United need time on the training ground at Carrington, not jetting around the world in the name of global marketing.
Be careful what you wish for. United should concentrate on returning to the Champions League and getting things right on the training ground.
Southampton
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When you think of the players Southampton sold this summer—Luke Shaw, Calum Chambers, Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Co.—it's remarkable how well they're doing.
It just shows that when you have good recruitment, a good system and do things properly, success is sustainable, even when you lose players. It also helps when you're bold in terms of managerial recruitment, as the Saints were with their choice of Ronald Koeman.
"He's been a revelation for us so far," Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier told Simon Peach of Press Association (via Daily Mail). "He has dealt with things in a completely professional way and I like the way he carried himself. Long may that continue."
Koeman is doing extremely well. Southampton were like a boxer on the canvas, but they've got up, and now, they're fighting again.
It was very important they dug in to keep Morgan Schneiderlin. He also could have left, but Southampton made sure that didn't happen.
