Listen to the Gary Neville podcast as he talks about Harry Kane's struggles at Tottenham, Spurs fans' exodus and boos at full-time whistle, Jesse Lingard's predicament at Man Utd, Mark Noble's penalty miss at the London Stadium and the passing of Jimmy Greaves...
Monday 20 September 2021 23:41, UK
Gary Neville discusses how alarm bells will start ringing after Harry Kane's despondent demeanour during the defeat against Chelsea and provides his thoughts on the penalty drama at the London Stadium...
Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast following Chelsea's 3-0 win over Tottenham, the Sky Sports pundit had his say on Harry Kane's barren start to the campaign after failing to force through a move to Manchester City this summer.
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"When Manchester City drew with Southampton, the talk resurfaced about them not signing Harry Kane. He's playing for Tottenham and he loves this club, but just being on the left on Sunday, I was thinking in the first half, 'if this doesn't work, it won't go down too well'.
"As soon as Chelsea went 2-0 up, I was watching and thinking he wouldn't be hanging out on the left for much longer. Nuno switched it straight away but when he did go central, nothing happened. He didn't get more involved in the game.
"They are difficult circumstances in the sense that he did want to further his career and win trophies. Kane chose this summer to publicise the fact that he wanted to leave, and to go and win trophies but Daniel Levy and Tottenham decided to keep him which is their right as he's under contract.
"But it's never easy when a player wants to leave your club and everyone in the ground and in the dressing room knows that he wants to leave. Things aren't going well. We had the stat at Crystal Palace where he'd played his first 90 minutes without a touch in the opposition box or a shot on target. Little things like that start to ring before the game.
"There were alarm bells and now there will be further questions as he looked despondent towards the end. He was playing against a very good team and he's been part of a Tottenham team in this situation for a number of years. He'll be thinking, 'I'm here again'. He'll be thinking, 'I'm not going to challenge for the title again at Tottenham and I'm not even going to get into the top four'. He wanted more.
"He wanted to challenge for titles and this Chelsea team will challenge for titles. I can't see any way in which they won't. Of course, they could get injuries but I just look to the bench. They seem to have everything.
"At this moment in time, I still don't believe Liverpool are the same team of a couple of seasons ago even though they're very good, Man City just haven't got the striker and Manchester United are doing OK but they're not the same as Chelsea. United struggled to beat West Ham."
"My immediate verdict is that there were only a few Spurs fans still in the stadium by the end of the game and I was a bit surprised by the boos. They had nine points out of 12 and it had been a good start to the season. I thought they would've accepted that their team did very well in the first half and Nuno had them on the front foot.
"But they were playing against a top side in the second. We knew this anyway, but Chelsea are a real team. I've seen them three times now this season - also at Anfield and at Arsenal - everything you'd want in a title-winning team is there.
He'll be thinking, 'I'm here again, I'm not going to challenge for the title again at Tottenham and I'm not even going to get into the top four'. He wanted more.
"They're good defensively and they can cope with difficult situations in matches. They were shocked in the opening 25 minutes against Tottenham and so was I. When I saw Cesar Azpilicueta selected at right wing-back, I expected it to be a lot cagier but Spurs really did go high press and front foot - something we don't ordinarily see from Nuno's teams.
"At Wolves he was famed for sitting back in a compact shape while against Man City a few weeks ago we saw them being pragmatic and playing on the counter-attack. But what we saw was something very different today with Harry Kane to the left.
"When I was watching it, I was thinking 'how will Harry adapt to that in the long term?' He might go home tonight and think, 'was I left wing today?' I could see why they did it as they wanted Son to isolate Thiago Silva with Lo Celso on the right.
"It worked and they sacked Chelsea's midfield and back three a number of times but they didn't get the goal. Nuno's tactic was to get in front and to then revert back to type, trying to catch Chelsea on the counter-attack but that didn't happen. It's very difficult to break down this Chelsea defence even when you do have the ball and are creating moments.
"The best teams and the best coaches respond and they find a way. At half-time, we thought Thomas Tuchel might change it but we thought N'Golo Kante would come on for one of the midfielders. But instead he brought him on for Mason Mount and went 5-3-2. It was a brilliant substitution tactically but then obviously also as it's Kante who scores the crucial second goal.
"Chelsea were rampant for 10 minutes and the best teams do capitalise and they do score goals. Chelsea did just that."
Neville also had his say on the drama during Manchester United's 2-1 win over West Ham, which culminated with David de Gea saving a 95th-minute spot-kick taken by Mark Noble - who was subbed on to take the kick.
"I think Cristiano Ronaldo should've had a penalty. I think the Luke Shaw handball was right and was a penalty. On the subject of bringing on someone to take a penalty, I don't like it. I think Jamie Carragher came on in 2006 for the shootout against Portugal and it was the first time I'd seen someone come on cold having played no part in the game.
"You've not got a feel of the game and you've not had a touch of the ball. You're asking someone to come on in the most pressurised situation.
"Mark Noble does have a good penalty record and he also has a lot of experience. In the summer, Gareth Southgate took some criticism for doing the same with players of lesser experience in Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford. Managers are now more innovative and they are more led by data and stats.
"They know everything down to how many penalties have been scored by certain players and there's no doubt these type of substitutions wouldn't have happened 25 years ago - a player already on the pitch would've taken it.
"But managers do make these types of decisions more nowadays. Louis van Gaal subbed on as a goalkeeper for the Netherlands at the World Cup and he was hailed as a genius, so I'm not going to criticise David Moyes. We've seen it work in goalkeeping situations and for penalty takers.
"Manchester United were fortunate in the end but this is what they are - 'the odd bunch' that play in moments during games. United's team performance was nothing like what we saw from Chelsea and that's why I've been saying that the best team will win the league.
"If Manchester United go on and win this league, it'll be through momentum and it'll be through moments and it'll be through having so many wonderful players in forward positions. But with Chelsea, the champions of Europe, they're a better team when you watch them. Our eyes don't lie."
"I still maintain he should've left but he will have his moments. I was happy to see how he bounced back after what happened in Europe in midweek.
"To bounce back and score the winner is a fantastic moment for him. He's got good character, he's a very good player and I feel he should be playing 40-45 games a season.
"He won't get that at United in terms of 90-minute starts but he's one of those players that I do feel United will benefit from having. I just thought for Jesse himself, he should've left. United could be a better team with someone like Lingard in it.
"Others may be more exciting but can you create a brilliant team with all those attacking players whilst having balance in the team? It's important to have those who are willing to run the other way. Chelsea have a good balance, but United at the moment don't quite have that same balance."
"First of all, I knew he was a goalscorer when you see his record with England. I knew that he missed out on the 1966 World Cup final which always sticks in the mind.
"But what blew my mind was going to the game on Sunday and being given a statistic by a very keen Tottenham fan that said that the greatest goalscorer in the history of the top five leagues - Jimmy Greaves is in third place. Only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are in front of him.
"If you'd said to me, 'who is the top goalscorer of all time across the top five European leagues?' you'd get Messi and Ronaldo straightaway but I wouldn't have put Jimmy Greaves next which tells you how good he must've been.
"I never got to see him play but I've seen some goals. The speed of movement and the way he glided across those pitches tells you he was ahead of his time. I've seen goals like the ones in those videos as though they were scored on the pitches we now have in the Premier League.
"But my experience of Jimmy Greaves was on television with Ian St John. I don't usually post pictures of people that I don't know on social media when they pass away because I don't know them, but I felt like I knew Jimmy Greaves. He was a massive part of my childhood.
"I saw Jamie Carragher post something out earlier and a number of players of my era who grew up with Saint and Greavsie and it was special. I've always watched live football and it takes a lot for me to watch a non-live football show. It's the only show I would consistently make sure I was in the house to watch every single week. I absolutely loved it - football, personality, character, humour - it was a huge part of my upbringing and enjoyment of football. That was down to Jimmy Greaves.
"He massively helped with my understanding of the game and he touched everybody. He touched people across four or five decades. The fact that he passed away on a day Chelsea were playing Spurs in some ways is quite fitting.
"There was a great tribute to him before the game between both teams. It's a sad day but one which felt almost like a celebration. When I watched Jimmy Greaves on television, there was always humour and enjoyment and I think that was a little bit of how it was today. People remember him as a footballer but also as a broadcaster."
