I’ll start this week by reflecting on the World Cup final last weekend, and I would say that Spain were deserving winners. They were the best team, even though they didn’t start the tournament brilliantly against Cape Verde.
But as I said many times, it’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish. And they were outstanding. In the final itself, they tried to play football the right way and were the ones on the front foot trying to cause problems. Argentina were trying to make the game scrappier and get in people’s faces.
They had the same approach against England in the semi-finals, and were hoping for a bit of magic from Lionel Messi. But as soon as Enzo Fernández got that second yellow card, you knew Spain were going to win.
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Would somebody please think of the children!
The post-match scenes were very ugly too, and I feel that Leandro Paredes was one of the worst offenders. He tries to get into people’s heads, and I saw the way he was trying to fight young Gavi at the end of the final.
I understand that you’re disappointed after losing the game, but you don’t need to resort to violence. Kids are watching it, and they’re thinking, “Is that the right way? When we lose matches, do we then start fighting?”
So I think Paredes was the main instigator. It didn’t look good the way they dealt with it. But Spain were class in the way they handled the situation.
When reflecting on the tournament as a whole, I’d have to say that the 48-team tournament was a brilliant success. Countries like Cape Verde got their recognition, and you only have to look at their goalkeeper Vozinha, who’s now a superstar with millions of followers on Instagram! It puts you in the shop window. I also look at the centre-back, Roberto Lopes, who was born in Ireland and plays for Shamrock Rovers.
Surely some Championship clubs are looking at him, because I thought he was outstanding for Cape Verde. You look at Norway’s run to the quarter-finals, and Curaçao getting their first-ever World Cup point as examples of how the 48-team tournament has delivered.
However, I have to say a few words about the half-time show. I love the performers, but it needed more energy. I was thinking, ‘get back to the football.’ Or you might as well let me go and perform at half-time, and I would have kept the crowd going!
It was started off well with Madonna, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, while Shakira and Burna Boy were brilliant. But it all turned really flat when Justin Bieber came on and brought the whole atmosphere down.
There’s now talk about whether the World Cup will be expanded to 64 teams. I think that’s maybe too many, and 48 is a perfect number for the tournament. It gives countries that you don’t know a lot about in football terms a chance to go and showcase their ability. Their families and the people who live in their countries are proud of them. If you go to 64 teams, it will make the tournament too long.
Focus will now shift back to club football, and there have been some huge signings in the Premier League. I’ll start with Morgan Rogers’ £117 million move from Aston Villa to Chelsea. Obviously it’s a huge sum of money, but the reason he’s gone for that much is because Elliot Anderson went to Manchester City for £116 million.
Rogers is a top player. I feel like him and Cole Palmer both like to play in the number ten role so it’d be interesting to see where Xabi Alonso is going to fit them both into the team. But I think it’s a very good signing. With that in mind, some people have said they didn’t need to sign him. Although when someone like Rogers comes into your squad, it can only improve the team. I thought he was going to go to Arsenal, but I don’t think they were willing to pay that sort of money for him.
Another player who could be heading to Stamford Bridge this summer is Alex Scott. Bournemouth turned down a £64 million bid for him, which I was surprised about, considering he’s not signing a new contract there. I reckon an offer in the region of £70-75 million would get a deal done. And if I’m Steve Parrish at Crystal Palace and teams want Adam Wharton, I’d be thinking “He’s going to go for just as much, if not more than Alex Scott.”
Chelsea could also bring in John Stones, which is a no-brainer in my opinion. They need experience at the back, and a partnership of him and Maxence Lacroix would be brilliant. From a Palace perspective, I hope Lacroix doesn’t go, but Stones is definitely a good fit for Chelsea.
It has certainly been a mad window overall, but Manchester United have made a very shrewd signing by bringing in Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa. He was outstanding last season, and Villa fans were talking about how much they missed him when he got injured. I think it’s a brilliant piece of business, because you’re talking about a player who’s been there and done it. This transfer window has certainly delivered so far, and rest of the summer will certainly be very interesting.