Premier League headlines and general questions<\/span><\/h3>\nQ: Is there a young player that you\u2019ve seen breakthrough this season that looks destined to have a career at the top of the game?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> When you\u2019re talking about youngster that look like they will have top careers, I\u2019m quite excited by the two Arsenal youngsters Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri. Those two have been fantastic this season, and both are really young, 18 and 17 respectively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLewis-Skelly has been rewarded with an England call-up, and Nwaneri is in the u21s with Lee Carsley.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBut interestingly, Liam Delap, I think, has done really well this season. A young boy playing in a struggling team.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>And of course, Tyler Dibling as well, which is interesting because he’s at Southampton and they’re struggling very badly, but he seems to be a standout player.<\/span><\/p>\nNwaneri has been great and so has Lewis-Skelly, but in a team that’s playing well. But in a team that’s struggling, it\u2019s harder to demonstrate your ability. I think that Delap and Dibling can play much higher up.<\/span><\/p>\nAnd it’s difficult for young players in struggling teams. That’s when the experienced players can show what they can do but the young players always seem to struggle. They\u2019ve been the bright spark for those teams.<\/span><\/p>\nDelap is a bit like Haaland, isn\u2019t he? He played at Man City as well, so I don’t know whether he was actually looking at him. I like him. He’s got a lot of confidence for a young player. He’s a big, aggressive boy.<\/span><\/p>\nThose are the four young English players, who, for me, are exciting for the future.<\/span><\/p>\nQ: We were speaking about the Balon d\u2019Or earlier. As someone who won one Player of the Year Awards and two Football Writers Player of the Year Award, did the individual honours matter?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> For me, the team was always the most important thing. My proudest moments, yes I won Player of the Year (1988), but Liverpool had five players in the team of the year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThere’s a real Liverpool thing, that even though winning player of the year is nice for your ego, I would much rather win the league.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSome players would rather win the player of the year because they want individual awards.<\/span><\/p>\nFor me, it wasn’t important. It’s good for your ego, but we need our egos to be suppressed now and again. So now we need to be brought back down to earth. It’s nice for your ego but calm down as long as the team wins.<\/span><\/p>\nQ: Who are the three players in contention for player of the year with the end of the season in sight?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> It really depends on what happens between now and the end of the season.<\/span><\/p>\nI know players who have won the player of the season, because they’ve done well between March and May. They may not have done well before, but of course, that’s what we remember; that\u2019s the freshest information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhen the end of the season comes, we think about who’s done well and who’s doing well? Rather than thinking, well they did really well up until January, but then of course between March and May they didn’t, so it really depends on what happens between now and the end of the season.<\/span><\/p>\nFrom Liverpool you have to look at the last two or three matches and Salah hasn’t done much and if he continues to do that maybe he won’t win it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIt\u2019s hard to look beyond Liverpool players when thinking about the contenders because they\u2019ve been the best team in the league and the most consistent team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMo hasn’t impressed me more than others. Szoboszlai has impressed me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nVirgil has been really good. It has been a really good team performance. From the end of the season, it really depends on who has done well. The whole Liverpool team has been fantastic. I’d give Virgil more of a chance to be named player of the season because of what he’s actually done. Up until this point, he’s been our most consistent performer. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Q: Arne Slot is the obvious candidate, but who else could rival him for manager of the season?<\/b><\/p>\nJohn Barnes:<\/b> I think that Nuno Espirito Santo at Nottingham Forest could rival Arne Slot for manager of the year. If you look at what they’ve done and the consistency they’ve shown, and the fact that they haven’t been lucky.<\/span><\/p>\nThey’ve got a good game plan, they’re organised, they’re well-drilled, they don’t have the household names of players \u2013 individuals you would think should be higher and should be doing much better than they are. They are a really great team, and the players all complement each other. Nuno deserves great credit for finding that balance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThose two for me have been the standout managers.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Q: Who\u2019s in your top five come end of season?<\/b><\/p>\nJohn Barnes:<\/b> I think it would be Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea and Forest. Maybe not in that order but I think Liverpool and Arsenal would be the top two and then you can pick any three from\u00a0City, Chelsea and Forest.<\/span><\/p>\nNewcastle beating Liverpool in the Carabao Cup<\/span><\/h3>\nQ: What is the first taste of silverware like for a team?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> Well, if you lose next week 5-0 and you lose the week after 5-0, then it means nothing. Yes, you’ve won, but what’s next?<\/span><\/p>\nThe best teams and players make winning a habit. You have to be consistent if you want to be a top player or a top football club.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhereas if a player thinks we’ve won a trophy, I can relax now, they’re just going to rest on their laurels and then lose every game between now and the end of the season, and think, that’s okay because we\u2019ve won a trophy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat big players and champions do is recognise they\u2019ve won, then continue to give 100% and forget about it.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>And then of course at the end of the season, or at the end of your career, you may look back and say well you’ve won. But some people want to win the trophy in March and then forget the rest of the season.<\/span><\/p>\nIf Eddie Howe is going to lose every game between now and the end of the season, I think he\u2019d get the sack. I don\u2019t think he\u2019d be happy if that happened just because he won a trophy.<\/span><\/p>\nQ: What did you make of Newcastle\u2019s success?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> Liverpool are normally a very physical side who normally outrun, outfight, outmuscle teams, and Newcastle did that to Liverpool which I’ve never seen before.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0I think that the Paris Saint-Germain game took a lot out of them, but it was not only a disappointing result, but a disappointing performance because you have to say Newcastle deserved it. They created more chances.<\/span><\/p>\nNow normally in football you can’t tell what’s going to happen. If you look at Paris Saint-Germain in Liverpool’s first leg, Liverpool won but Paris Saint-Germain dominated. I’d expect Liverpool to dominate against Newcastle and while they’re dominating possession, Newcastle created the better chances. It was a disappointing performance and obviously a disappointing result.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>Obviously, if Liverpool are to lose to anybody, then I’m glad it’s Newcastle. I played for Newcastle, those fans deserve something. They never won anything. Newcastle have been waiting for a long time for a moment like that.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>A lot of people have. Newcastle have waited for a long time. Their fans being the fans that they are, they’ve been fantastic.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>I’m pleased for them.<\/span><\/p>\nLiverpool<\/span><\/h3>\nQ: What is the striking difference between Slot and Klopp’s approach at Liverpool?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> Well, you don’t see much difference out of possession because they still work very hard to win the ball back.<\/span><\/p>\nThey’re high intensity, you can see Salah, Mac Allister, they all work hard. Mo, Diaz, they work hard off the ball when they lose the ball, and they haven’t got the ball. We are not as intense when we have the ball. We have much more possession.<\/span><\/p>\nWe obviously are looking at the players like Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliot, and those are players who are much more technical than, say, Milner, Henderson and Fabinho, who were hard-working midfield players that get stuck in and win the ball back and get it forward quickly.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>We’re playing in a much more controlled and a slower way. Of course, if you have a counter-attack available, we will do it, but we’re building up through midfield and having many more passes in midfield than we used to. I think that’s the striking difference. We’re a much more technical team than under Jurgen Klopp in terms of the players that Slot likes to use.<\/span><\/p>\nQ: Who is the Liverpool legend you would bring back to the club if you had a time machine?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> If the time machine is bringing somebody back from my time, who would have been born when he was born, playing when he was playing in the culture, in the system. Which means that there’s only one person and that’s Peter Beardsley. Only because he doesn’t drink alcohol. My other teammates, they wouldn\u2019t have been able to do it in the modern game because they enjoyed the other side of things, but it was a very different game then of course.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nQ: Which of TAA\/VVD\/Salah is most likely to stay?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> I think Virgil is probably the most likely and then Mo after that, and I think Trent is probably the least likely to stay. We\u2019d like all three of them to stay.<\/span><\/p>\nWith Virgil, if you’re looking at his stage of his career now, particularly the player he actually is, it makes sense for him to stay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMo is a different kettle of fish because of the age. With the profile he has, you\u2019re looking at Saudi Arabia. I don\u2019t think that is somewhere Virgil would go. I think the Real Madrid situation for Trent, at his age he may feel he needs to take the opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\nI think in order of importance for us, for the short term it\u2019s important to keep Virgil, because of the centre-back situation. We\u2019ve got good young centre-backs that need guidance.<\/span><\/p>\nFrom an attacking perspective, you\u2019ve got Gakpo, Diaz, Jota. At right-back, you\u2019ve got Conor Bradley. I think in terms of importance, I think Virgil will be the most important one to keep, then Mo and then Trent. But we want players who want to play for Liverpool so if they want to go, thank you very much for what you’ve done, you’ve been great servants.<\/span><\/p>\nAs long as they do what Henderson did in his last year, and Fabinho and Mane and Firmino, right till the last minute they gave 100% for the club then they left. I\u2019ve got no problem with that at all.<\/span><\/p>\nQ: Any concerns after a testing week for Liverpool and Arne Slot?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> None whatsoever. No concerns from me, despite it being a difficult week for Slot and Liverpool. First of all, look at the consistency Liverpool have shown over a prolonged period of time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHow consistent have they been? We lost to Nottingham Forest, we lost to Paris Saint-Germain, now we’ve lost to Newcastle.<\/span><\/p>\nWe’re far and away the most consistent side in the Premier League and obviously the games that we’ve lost are cup matches that you don’t want to lose, because it means that you go out.<\/span><\/p>\nBut you can’t take away from what he’s actually done, because if you’ve seen when an iconic manager has left clubs, be it Alex Ferguson, be it Arsene Wenger, you can see a dip in that club, but at this club there has been no dip.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>PSG and Newcastle are matches you don’t want to lose because you go out of the competition. You’d much rather lose in the league because you’ve got a cushion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLiverpool\u2019s superiority in the Premier League has surprised everybody, me included, because I thought when Klopp left, I thought we’d be challenging, but I didn’t think we’d be by far and away the most consistent side in the Premier League, which we are.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>The Premier League is a hard division and a hard league. You can see what’s happening to Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea. Everyone’s dropping points, but we’re not.<\/span><\/p>\nSo yes, we lost in the Champions League against a very, very good Paris Saint-Germain side.<\/span><\/p>\nAnd in a cup final, anything can happen, and we didn’t perform well. Slot has to be very level-headed. Similarly, if we had won the cup, we shouldn\u2019t think we\u2019re the best team in the world and we\u2019re fantastic. Liverpool have to be very level in terms of how well we think we’re doing and we’re okay.<\/span><\/p>\nQ: Does the international break help them recover from defeat?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> Had they won, it would be the same thing. All the top players immediately focus on what\u2019s coming up next. Top players don\u2019t celebrate mid-season, if you do that, it\u2019s when you\u2019re on the open top bus in May or June.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou have to focus on what’s next. All they have to focus on is the league. They’re not in the FA Cup, they’re out of the Champions League. They wouldn\u2019t have prioritised the domestic cups over the league. Now it\u2019s doubly important for them to focus on the league. It\u2019s doubly important, because now this is all they have to play for.<\/span><\/p>\nQ: Does the CL exit make it impossible for Mo Salah to win the Ballon d\u2019Or?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> When Rodri won it, they talked about why he won and not Vinicius Jr. But Vinicius Jr. is still around, and you have Jude Bellingham, and you have other players who are sitting in the Champions League.<\/span><\/p>\nI think that the Ballon d’Or winner normally comes from someone who has either done well or won the Champions League.<\/span><\/p>\nObviously, depending on how Mo now goes in the league, if he then scores lots of goals in the league between March and May, he will have a chance of winning it.<\/span><\/p>\nBut I think that obviously going out of the Champions League, doesn\u2019t help his cause.\u00a0 As much as I’m saying that, I don’t think there’s any real standout player this season.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen Halaand had scored 60 goals or whatever he did, and Rodri had a fantastic season and won the treble, they were standout players, but I don’t think there’s any player or any club who’s playing consistently well to then say, definitively, they’re definitely going to win the Ballon d\u2019Or.<\/span><\/p>\nAlthough Liverpool are out, if Mo has a good end to the season with all the goals he’s scored so far, I think that he would have a chance. But obviously, going out of the Champions League has probably worked against him.<\/span><\/p>\nNewcastle<\/span><\/h3>\nQ: Will Newcastle be able to kick on to the top four after winning the League Cup?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> Newcastle would like to think they could challenge for fourth spot, and they have done for the last two or three years, and they got in the Champions League.<\/span><\/p>\nIs winning the Carabao Cup a springboard? I don’t think that this is. I don’t think had they not won, they wouldn’t have been challenging.<\/span><\/p>\nYour league form is really a springboard for you to challenge either to win the league or to be regularly in the top four. Winning the cup doesn’t mean all of a sudden in the league you’re going to be winning the league or finishing first or second.<\/span><\/p>\nIt’s a feel-good factor that it brings to the city, to the club. If they celebrate too much, they may not win too many matches. But I don’t think all of a sudden they’re going to be winning the league because they won the Carabao Cup.<\/span><\/p>\nQ: Will success help them keep their players?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> Would Isak turn down Real Madrid if they came in for him in the summer because he just won a Carabao Cup? This is the nature of football. What it does is it gives Newcastle a fantastic thing, that they won a trophy, and these players have won the trophy. So they’re delighted, but that’s not to say they’re now going to want to stay at Newcastle for the rest of their career.<\/span><\/p>\nThis is the way football is, and we don’t have to worry about it. It’s a bit like saying all the Liverpool players are going to be here next year – they’re here now, that’s the most important thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSimilarly, had they lost, I don’t think that necessarily means that players would want to leave because they lost the Carabao Cup, so no it doesn\u2019t become easier. That’s not an issue<\/span><\/p>\nManchester United<\/span><\/h3>\nQ: Who has been your flop of the season or disappointment of the season (can be a player, manager or entire club)?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> Manchester United have good players, they’ve got a good manager, but the harmony, the togetherness, the spirit, the belief has not been there.<\/span><\/p>\nAnd they’ve got good players. All the players at Man United have had a good manager, so it’s just the situation at Manchester United has been disappointing.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0From a footballing perspective I do believe they should be doing well, being consistent, and maximising the potential they have. They\u2019ve been the biggest disappointment.<\/span><\/p>\nTottenham have, too, but they\u2019ve had injuries.<\/span><\/p>\nQ: Have Man Utd got worse under Amorim?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> Well, it’s not just his fault, is it? Sometimes you need to look at the players, the whole team. Because when Van Gaal was there, he got sacked. He’s a bad manager, is he? And Mourinho, he is a terrible manager? David Moyes, terrible manager too.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>It’s not just always the managers, you can\u2019t blame them all the time, so let\u2019s get away from that fact. If you keep blaming managers, everything just repeats itself. If you just keep wanting to blame the manager, then nothing will change at Manchester United.<\/span><\/p>\nIf you\u2019re always changing the manager, and then the manager goes to another club and he’s successful. How bad really is he?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe responsibility for togetherness and harmony, falls on everyone. But if you keep blaming the manager, everyone absolves themselves of responsibility. Players, hierarchy, they say it\u2019s the manager\u2019s fault.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nArsenal<\/span><\/h3>\nQ: If Arsenal had bought a striker, do you think they would still be in the title race?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> If you look at them last year, they scored more goals than Liverpool without a centre-forward. They scored 91 goals, Liverpool scored 86 goals. They conceded less than everybody else.<\/span><\/p>\nIf they get a centre-forward to score goals, other people will score less goals. I remember when Liverpool had Mane, Salah, Firmino, we didn’t get any goals from midfield, and they’d scored 90-odd goals between them. Then we thought, let’s get some more goals from midfield, which would mean we’d have to score 140 goals. That\u2019s not going to happen.<\/span><\/p>\nMan City were the same. Haaland is not going to score 50 goals if other people are scoring goals. Arsenal\u2019s problem isn\u2019t scoring goals.<\/span><\/p>\nWhat happens is in a game where they haven’t scored you say well that’s obviously because they don\u2019t have a centre-forward. But sometimes they score six in a match, people then don\u2019t talk about it.<\/span><\/p>\nI think they got the balance right, and I think had they got a centre-forward, other people would score less goals.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>They’ve had a couple of injuries in key positions. I\u2019m looking at Saka, looking at Martinelli, without them, they haven’t got that attacking threat.<\/span><\/p>\nI don’t necessarily think that it\u2019s the fact that they haven’t got a centre-forward because of course Man City have probably got the best centre-forward in the world, haven’t they? And where are they in the league? If they had a defensive midfield player, who would have been better off? I think Arsenal’s fine.<\/span><\/p>\nAnd because of the way they play, are they going to use the centre-forward?<\/span>
\n<\/span>They may have to change the way they play, which means they may not be as creative for other people to score goals. I don’t think a lack of a recognised 9 is necessarily an issue now \u2013 you can score goals without them.<\/span><\/p>\nChampions League\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\nQ: Who is your favourite for the Champions League?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> The Paris Saint-Germain team now, compared to when they had Neymar, Mbappe and Messi, they\u2019re much more balanced.<\/span><\/p>\nI think that experience counts for a lot and their lack of experience in the Champions League means they got to a final once but they haven’t won it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRegardless of how well Madrid played, for me they’re the favourites.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBarcelona are still a fantastic team, but they’ve got young players, they’re inexperienced in terms of their youth, not as a club.<\/span><\/p>\nAnd I think that really, for Madrid, that’s the most important thing for them to win, more than La Liga, so I think that they are the favourites.<\/span><\/p>\nObviously, Paris Saint-Germain from the point of view of being a very, very good team, well-balanced team who can cause anybody problems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFor me, Bayern Munich could be strong as well. They’re not setting the world alight in terms of the performances, but they’re going along nicely, Harry Kane scoring goals.<\/span><\/p>\nSo they would also be there, but I think Real Madrid for me would be the favourites.<\/span><\/p>\nQ: (How) can Arsenal beat Real Madrid over two legs?<\/b><\/p>\n
John Barnes:<\/b> What gives Real Madrid an advantage is they’ve got individual match winners.\u00a0Mbapp\u00e9, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, they’ve got players. Even if they’re not playing well, and they’re strong defensively.<\/span><\/p>\nI think Arsenal have to play well as a team. I don’t think Arsenal have those individual match winners necessarily.<\/span><\/p>\nOdegaard is a good playmaker but I don’t think they’ve got those individual matchwinners. So, therefore, if they’re not playing well, I don’t think they’ll win.<\/span><\/p>\nYou know, you’re playing Real Madrid. They have their players, you have your players.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Of course, on a one-off you can beat them. Maybe even over two legs, but I’ll make Real Madrid favourites in that one.<\/span><\/p>\n