Former Liverpool defender also thinks City squad needs new additions in January
Wednesday 3 December 2014 19:02, UK
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher will be right here each week to cast his expert eye over the forthcoming Premier League games.
The former Liverpool defender will have his say on the players, managers and stories surrounding Sky's live fixtures – and in this column, he discusses an intriguing Super Sunday double that sees second-placed Southampton host Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur entertain Everton.
Saints have been the surprise package in the Premier League this season but face their biggest test so far in the shape of City and in-form striker Sergio Aguero. Both Spurs and Everton are just two points off the top four, but Carragher thinks one team has the edge in the battle for a Champions League place...
Super Sunday kicks off with Southampton facing defending champions Manchester City, who were rescued again in midweek by Sergio Aguero's superb hat-trick. How important is he to their Premier League ambitions this season?
CARRA SAYS: He’s massively important, without Aguero firing they have no chance of catching Chelsea. Obviously they have some top players, as they have shown over recent years, but he is probably the form player in the Premier League right now. Diego Costa set the world alight at the start of the season but I always believed the best striker in the league is Aguero and I think he has proven that now.
Frank Lampard said after the Bayern Munich game that Aguero could reach the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Do you think he has that potential and quality?
CARRA SAYS: Ronaldo and Messi are slightly different, they score a lot of goals but they do a lot more in the game rather than just score goals. Aguero has got that ability as well but is maybe not in their class. In terms of an out-and-out centre forward, though, he is probably the No 1 striker in world football. I wouldn’t quite class Messi or Ronaldo as out-and-out strikers, they drift wide, drop deep and do different things, so in terms of looking at the best strikers in the world I don’t think there are many you would have ahead of Aguero.
The problem for City is that the rest of the squad haven't been as good as we have seen over the past few years when they won a lot of trophies. As I have mentioned before, that might be because of the age of the team. It’s not a young team and it looks like it needs a bit of new blood adding to it in January.
A lot of the players have been great players for City but it may be time to freshen up the team and squad. I don’t see them getting back at Chelsea, hopefully I’m wrong because we want to see a good title race, but come the summer the club will have some big decisions to make. Some of the players have been great for City and contributed to great success but it seems like a team that is coming to the end and needs refreshing.
What about Saints? They have done superbly this season but seemed to lack a cutting edge in their draw against Aston Villa on Monday?
CARRA SAYS: They didn’t have too many scoring chances and didn’t look like scoring, but they are a very solid team, very organised, and the fact we are talking about Saints going to Villa and being disappointed with a point shows how well they have done and how far they have come under Ronald Koeman this season. To go anywhere away from home in the Premier League and get a point is not a bad result.
It would be nice to see a different team up there at the end of the season but there are tough games coming up and tough questions that will be asked of them. I don’t see them making the top four but if they can come through this run of fixtures and win a few of them, you would have to say, with no European football, they could give the big boys a run for their money.
The second game on Super Sunday sees Spurs host Everton at White Hart Lane, where Mauricio Pochettino's side have already lost four times this season in the league. How important is it for them to turn their home form around?
CARRA SAYS: You want to impress your own fans more than anyone and that's where the frustration has come from – the home defeats. Emmanuel Adebayor said the players are finding it difficult to play there but that's part of being a footballer, you have to stand up to things like that and show your character out there. There are times when the confidence is not there and the crowd is getting on your back and you need to show that character, that’s what they need to do.
I always found White Hart Lane was a difficult place to go with a great atmosphere, so it will be difficult for Everton, but Spurs need to sort their home form out if they want to get where they need to be.
As far as results being better away – sometimes it happens Sometimes it can be the opposition you come up against in that little spell of games, but more often than not most teams get more points at home. You should enjoy playing at home and it should be easier to play there in front of your own fans. At times we all go on runs at home where it’s not going well, but Spurs need to turn it round because it’s difficult to win every week away from home in the Premier League.
If you had to back either Spurs or Everton right now to make the top four, who would you go for?
CARRA SAYS: I think Everton. They have a better balanced side and have impressed me a bit more. Pochettino is still trying to find his best team, trying to find out about players, and they have had a couple of fortuitous wins recently in terms of teams they were playing against going down to 10 men. It should be a good game but I think, over the whole season, Everton may just have the edge. They seem to have a settled squad, Roberto Martinez knows the squad from last season and is aware of what they did, but there's very little in it.
As soon as European football is out of the way then it’s time for Spurs and Everton, and other teams like Arsenal and Liverpool, to kick on. If they qualify for the next round they have that to look forward to but they can also really concentrate on the league and move up it, because the most important thing for all of them is to make the top four next year.
Spurs have made a lot of changes over the past two seasons, do you think it's just a matter of time before they click into gear?
CARRA SAYS: I'm sure they will get there, they have good players and a good manager as well. I like Pochettino, he has brought in some players and is trying to get the right mix, but there a lot of signings from last year who are not his players, and he has to find the right balance. In the next few months they will pick up some home points, they have to, because you can’t continue to lose in front of your own fans.
Watch Southampton v Man City and Spurs v Everton on Sky Sports 1 HD from 12:30pm this Sunday.
