Niall Quinn talks Pep Guardiola, Dimitri Payet, Zlatan Ibrahimovic in his latest column
Tuesday 17 January 2017 09:57, UK
In his latest column, Niall Quinn advises Pep Guardiola to get used to doing things the hard way at Manchester City.
In one way the past seven days have been all about the most depressing aspects of the modern game.
The tantrums thrown by Dimitri Payet and by Diego Costa in two corners of London were a reminder that the loyal footballer is an endangered species.
And yet it was a good week because it finished yesterday with the two matches which made up the Merseyside v Manchester theme to the weekend.
Happily neither game disappointed. I came home with some faith restored.
I was at Goodison Park to see Everton put four goals past Manchester City.
The Manchester City of today is barely recognisable from the Manchester City that I played for sometime back in the last century. The club has a top shelf stadium, a top shelf manager and a large top shelf squad.
Yet one thing remains intact, the tendency for City fans to still mutter the words “typical City” on days like yesterday.
There is a still a tendency to do things the hard way, to stutter on the afternoons when they most need to make a big statement.
For ten games at the start of the season City dazzled and Pep Guardiola looked like he was the second coming.
If you were a blue it was made all the better by the idea that across at Old Trafford Jose Mourinho was showing signs of cracking up under all the pressure.
Pep must wonder where it has all gone wrong. Did nobody tell him about ‘’typical City’’ when they were wooing him.
Yesterday they were undone by an Everton team which got nearly everything right on a cold afternoon in their rickety but beloved stadium.
It was a pleasure to see the performance especially of Tom Davies, an 18-year-old local kid who has been at Everton since he was 11-years-old.
From my childhood I remember Tom Davies' uncle, Alan Whittle playing for Everton and for Crystal Palace.
I had a chewing gum card with his face on it. That’s how old I am!
Like his nephew Whittle came through at Everton, had the same blonde locks and all out style. Everton have a brilliant tradition of bringing their own talent through and this lad could be exactly the sort of player they need.
Tom Davies, a local kid scoring his first Premier League goal for his local team and walking off with the man-of-the-match award on a cold January afternoon was a breath of fresh air.
He wasn’t the only bit of old-style tradition. On Saturday, West Ham’s big man Andy Carroll softened the effects of Payet’s shallowness by delivering a goal straight from the pages of Roy of the Rovers. It was a moment of defiance and brilliance which might just be the turning point for West Ham’s difficult season.
But was Carroll’s bicycle kick just the greatest goal ever scored at the London Stadium or was it the greatest bicycle kick in the history of football?
Ask Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He would be the first to tell you that his bicycle kick from 30-yards against England in 2012 edges Andy’s effort out. It was so good that even England fans had to tip the cap to him.
Back then - when we were viewing from a distance - Zlatan was still a big unit but somehow I didn’t take him seriously.
I certainly didn’t take him as seriously as he seemed to take himself.
He was just a guy with a naff ponytail and a knack for fancy goals and referring to himself in the third person.
Yesterday against Liverpool when Manchester United needed somebody to lead from the front in the second half those of us who have been sceptical got more evidence that he is the real deal.
Three months into his time in England, Zlatan says that he has conquered the place. Maybe he has.
We have learned in the last few months not to take Zlatan literally but to take him seriously.
Most of the things he says seems to say with his tongue in his cheek. There is more humour to him than I gave him credit for. And he takes his football very seriously indeed.
Yesterday United were in trouble at half-time, suffering problems (or poglems if you wanted to point the finger) with defending high balls at the back. They came out and played more directly for the second half and Zlatan’s goal - his eleventh in eleven Premier League matches - was a great example of the art of heading.
Zlatan is a very modern player, well travelled, well paid and well looked after by a mega agent, but a lot of what he does beyond the flash and the goals is sheer hard work.
Arriving at 35-years-old, he seemed like a gamble and a vanity project for Mourinho.
Now signing him up for another year makes good sense.
They say that when Zlatan visits your house then you are the guest. He is big enough to have made Old Trafford his own house.
Liverpool left Old Trafford with a point and were sightly disappointed by that. United’s winning streak ended but it seems like an age since they lost a game of football and when they threw Marouane Fellaini on for the second half and went for the direct route they showed that they know there is more than one way to skin a cat.
Neither United or Liverpool are exactly where they want to be either in the league table or on the field but neither Jurgen Klopp or Mourinho will be as worried this morning as Guardiola is.
