Amorim: Arteta had time at Arsenal | Mainoo seeks move abroad | Millwall goalkeeper Roberts given six-game ban
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Welcome to Back Pages, bringing you everything you need to know about the biggest sports stories, making the headlines in the morning's newspapers. I'm Dave Fulton and joining me are ESPN senior writer Mark Ogden and Martin Ziegler, chief sports reporter for The Times. Welcome to you both. We are going to start with the Man United story and the front of the telegraph then and get to this story, Martin, which is all about politics.

Ruben Amarim saying that he will not get as much time as Mikel Arteta in turning Manchester United around. Is that fair? Well, I'm not sure about that, really. I mean, didn't Arteta, I think he won the FA Cup in his first season, didn't he? So I think, you know, all these big clubs...

you know, time is of the essence. Arteta, I know he was given time, that's for sure. He was allowed to build it. I don't, you know, they didn't finish in Champions League places for the first couple of seasons.

I think Amarant's problems are actually deeper than Arteta's because, I mean, they are struggling much, much more than Arsenal were when Arteta took over. So he's probably got a bigger job and he doesn't have the sort of perhaps the goodwill that Arteta being a former Arsenal player had when he went to the Emirates.

Mark, I mean, the Express has more on this. United are no worker of art. Do you think he gets any credit in the bank only because he didn't really want to come in halfway through the season? Does that buy him a little bit longer, given that he said he wanted to come at the end of the season when he could work properly with players and bring players in?

I'm not sure. I mean, listen, the thing, the quote about Arteta, he's probably right in the sense that Arteta finished fifth, sorry, eighth and fifth in his first three seasons. And I don't think a Man United mind would survive that. But there were signs of progress towards the end of that third season with Arteta. But in terms of Amarim, yeah, he wanted to come in at the end of the season. He wanted to wait until the coast was clear, so to speak. But, you know, he's there now. And I think as a top class coach as he is, and he's reputed to be, you have to be better with what you've got. And

I'm the first one to admit that that squad of players isn't good enough for Man United, but a top coach makes average players play better. And none of the players are playing better, apart from maybe Bruno Fernandes. So you can't really point to any positives or any uplift, apart from the fact he's dealt with some big decisions. He's moved on Marcus Rashford, he's moved on Anthony, he's got players out that weren't performing. He's made some big calls, but you could argue that he's been a little bit too severe on the squad because of what he's left with is a squad that's...

just nowhere near good enough. You've got two forwards who don't score goals. So was he too quick to get rid of Marcus Rashford and Anthony? I think Rashford was the right decision. Anthony's not good enough. So he's dealing with a very weak hand, but still you'd expect better. And he is stubbornly rigid in terms of his formation. He wants to play three at the back, but he's not working with that group of players. They're just not equipped to play it. And you think at some point he might just decide that,

I need to get a result, I need to get some results, let's make it simple, let's go back to basics and get to the end of the season, try and improve the position, but he's not doing that.

The credit that he's got, yes, the fans are still with him because he's doing what they wanted him to do. He's getting tough with players, but in the summer there has to be some sort of positivity, some optimism, some belief that it's going to get better. And with the situation United are in financially, it's hard to see how it does get better unless they get in the Champions League by winning the Europa League. And again, it wasn't a great result in Sosined last night. They have to win next week in the second leg to get through to the quarter-finals. So everything is based on getting in the Champions League by winning the Europa League. It's a high-wire act, really. United have to...

put all the eggs in that basket. And if that doesn't happen, then it's going to be a very tough summer for United, getting people in and getting people out. And Amarim has to deal with that. OK, interesting piece from Jamie Carragher in his column in the Daily Telegraph. Never slow, I guess, a former Liverpool legend sticking the knife into Manchester United, Martin. But he says Amarim drowning in tidal waves of mediocrity, pointing out that teams like Everton have improved, have bounced since David Moyes has gone in. We've never really seen that with Amarim and Manchester United.

Yeah, I mean, you know, David Moyes, he's almost produced miracles since he's gone to Everton. There was a slight bounce, wasn't there, when Amarant first took over, but that's very much drifted away and now it's, you know, every, just about every match seems to be painful.

And I think Mark's absolutely right in that the players just don't seem to be able to adapt to the formation he wants to play, but he's been adamant he's not going to play anything else and maybe that's a weakness of his if he can't adapt himself. So, yeah, I mean, a tidal wave of mediocrity is probably fair enough, isn't it? Just on that, Mark, just the kind of tactical side of things, I mean...

Do we give Amrim praise for sticking to his guns and wanting to play this system? Or should he be able to be pragmatic as a coach, work with what he's got and just kind of do what needs to be done to dig out results? It's hard to give him praise for being so stubborn. If there was a sign of positivity that it was working and that players were getting better and adjusting to the system, you say, yeah, the green shoots are there, give it time and it will come good. But you have to say there are no green shoots and that's

The one thing I will say on Amarim's part is that he has made the point that why go back to four at the back? Because it wasn't working for Eric Ten Hag either. So no matter what system these players play, they're not very good at it. So that suggests the players aren't good enough. And if the players aren't good enough, then you have to find a way to either change the players, either get new players in or use the players from the academy. But whatever he's trying, he's not making it work. You know, a coach...

any good coach, look at David Moyes at Everton, he's made a difference. You'd think that a coach would go in there, look at what he's got and find a way to get the best out of an average bunch of players. United are, this is a bad squad but it's not that bad. It's not so bad that they should be sixth bottom in the Premier League. So I think he's so wedded to this system that

it's not working and a top coach would think right we have to we have to win games and he's not doing that so i think you have to hold it against him the fact that he's so stubborn there because there are no signs that it's working if there are no signs that it's working it's that whole thing isn't it if you repeat the same mistakes again it's just it's a sign of madness in many ways so change the system do something break it up just try and try and kick start a season because it's going nowhere for man united right now apart from the wrong direction

OK, well, this is not going to please Manchester United fans or Ruben Amrim. An exclusive by Will Unwin in The Guardian, which suggests, Martin, that Kobi Mainu is seeking a move abroad. Midfielder likely to reject United deal. I mean, he would be someone that United would be looking to build their team around. Ahmed Diallo perhaps being another one who's out for the season. These young players are kind of key in terms of those green shoots. But according to Will Unwin, it looks like he might want to move.

Yeah, I thought it was a really interesting story. I mean, Mane is somebody who obviously got through into the England squad last season, looked really, really impressive. And yet he's a classic example of someone who's just sort of completely, you know, his career has gone into reverse. I know he's had the injury problems before.

But I think Amrin has said he doesn't fit into his system exactly. He's going to have to play in a different place. And if he is now saying he wants to go abroad and play somewhere else, that speaks volumes. What do you make of this, Mark? Mainu on the move, possibly?

Well, as Martin knows, with PSR right now, if you sell Komi Mainu and get a significant fee, all of that goes down as profit. So it helps United balance the books. And in the summer when they're going to need money to bring players in, then the likes of Komi Mainu, Alejandro Ganacho and Marcus Rashford would be attractive sales from when United because it helps them bring money into rebuild the squad and it desperately needs rebuilding.

The situation Mainu is that he doesn't fit the system. As Martin says, he's not athletic enough. And for that system to work as it did at Sporting Lisbon, Amarim had lots of athletic box-to-box players. Now, Kobie Mainu is not...

He's not particularly quick. He's not particularly quick with his feet. So I guess in terms of Amram, he's looking at that skill set and thinking, you don't really fit in this team. He's a very good player. Obviously, he's got two years left in his contract and this might just be a play to nudge United to give him more money. He's one of the lowest paid players in the squad. But I don't think if he was to be sold in the summer, it would leave a massive hole at United because he doesn't fit the system. So if they can find a club that will pay big money for him, it actually might be the...

the best move in the short term and the long term for United to get rid of him and get some money to rebuild the squad. OK, let's move on from Manchester United and get to Martin's piece in The Times. Martin, tell us about this. Liam Roberts, this kind of horrendous tackle on Jean-Philippe Mateta. He's had his ban doubled. Is that right? Is that the right decision?

Yeah, I think, I mean, anybody who saw that, I mean, I'm sure everyone's seen that terrible challenge and the absolutely sickening result that it had on Mateta.

And obviously, somebody can get a three-match ban for a much, much more less severe incident than that. So it makes absolute sense for the regulatory commission to double it to six games. It's actually quite rare for the FA to do this, to seek to increase the amounts of a ban. I mean, it's happened...

to a Cheltenham Town player, I think in 2019. Happened famously with Ben Thatcher about 20-odd years ago with that tackle on Pedro Mendes. Doesn't happen a lot, but I think it is the right decision here. Yeah, I mean, I think in fairness to Roberts, Mark, he's come out, he's reached out to Jean-Philippe Mateta, they've communicated. There was no intent on his part, it was a horrendous challenge, but he wasn't like he set out to nobble the Crystal Palace centre forward. He just got it wrong in a split-second moment.

Yeah, but it's that lack of control, isn't it? If you're going to make that challenge and come out of your area like that, you have to be in some element of control. And he wasn't. We saw the pictures, we've seen the stills, we saw it in real time. There's no way of looking at it thinking it was a good challenge. And it was reckless on his behalf. And intent isn't an issue. If it's reckless and it's dangerous, then it deserves...

a red card as it did. I think I have to say that Michael Oliver, the referee, missed it and he had to go to VAR so he's not doing a Premier League game this weekend so he's also had to suffer some consequences for missing probably the worst foul of the season so it doesn't reflect well on our referees that that was missed but in the sense that extending the ban, I think it's fair and it sends a message that goalkeepers have to be careful of what they do. I was reading a column at the weekend by one of the writers who said that goalkeepers are...

much bigger than some outfield players because of the way they work. They have to be much more physically imposing. And when they hit a player, they really hit a player. So if you're a goalkeeper, you have to be mindful of the fact that you can do real damage. And that's happened in this case, whether it was intent or not, it was very damaging. And Mateta's look at it, he wasn't more seriously injured.

Right, let's go to the sun then. Art to heart is the headline. Mikel talks with MLS, that is Myles Lewis Skelly, not Major League Soccer, to stop him being a liability. Martin, he has had previous in his fledgling career, hasn't he? Myles Lewis Skelly, super talented player, sent off twice and he was yellow carded the other night and was taken off pretty early by Arteta to keep him from being perhaps red carded again.

Yeah, I think he, perhaps maybe a bit fortunate to not get yet another red card. And he's very, obviously vastly talented, very skilful, good defender, but it just seems to not be quite a sort of wise, slightly naive perhaps in some of his challenges and that sort of taking him over the edge and

It sounds like Arteta's saying, you know, he's spoken to him and he needs to basically wise up a bit. And just because, you know, it can be so costly when you lose a player, obviously. And he, you know, not only has he had those red cards, he's actually had another red card, which was overturned famously, wasn't it? So, yeah, he's somebody perhaps living a little bit too close to the edge.

Yeah, Martin, what do you make of this, Myles Lewis-Skelly and this disciplinary side of things? I just think it's good management by Arteta. He's got a real talent there, but obviously Arsenal have had a lot of injuries this season. Their squad has been hit quite hard, so he doesn't need his best players to be missing games through suspensions. I think he can be a bit rash, a bit reckless, but if you're a manager that is prepared to sit down with a player and just say, look, you've got to ease off a little bit, you've got to be mindful of the referees, you've got to be mindful of opposition trying to get you into trouble,

I just think it's good management on Arteta's part but obviously it has to sync in with the player I'm pretty sure it will do but that's the point isn't it if you're a manager you have to make sure you press the right buttons and I think with Lewis Skelly he's such a good player I'm sure the penny will drop and he will hopefully avoid more disciplinary problems

OK, we're going to stay with the sun. Real's TAA June bid. Real Madrid are ready to pay Liverpool a fee to get Trent Martin before the Club World Cup in June. I mean, it's a poorly kept secret, I guess, that he looks like he's going to Real Madrid, but the timing of this one's important. Yeah, because there's a bit of a sort of strange thing with the transfer window caused by the Club World Cup.

there's almost like two separate transfer windows, one beforehand and then one after it starts. Now, if they want to get Trent Alexander-Arnold in for their Club World Cup team, he may not be able to contract. In that case, they may have to pay some sort of fee. I mean, I can't imagine it's going to be a huge amount, really, given the fact he'll have a matter of days left on his contract. But...

It'd be an interesting one if Liverpool dig their heels and say, look, if you want him, you're going to have to pay something for him. Yeah, Mark, what do you make of this, Mark? A bit of financial brinkmanship, even though it looked like he was going on a free. They might have had to squeeze a few pounds out of him.

Well, yeah, obviously, FIFA have opened the transfer window before the Club World Cup. So, in terms of his Liverpool career, if he gets to the Champions League final, it'll be done and dusted by the end of May. So, June comes along, Real Madrid have got a tournament in mid-June to mid-July. You know, for Trent Alexander-Arnold, what a great opportunity to start his career elsewhere if he does leave with a Club World Cup. So...

I think it makes sense, but whether Real Madrid would be willing to pay a significant fee and how much they'd want to pay and how much Liverpool would want from them, but if a month's left on his contract, it can't be that big a fee. But anything that Liverpool could get for him, whether it's £5, £10, £15 million, they should take it because they're going to get nothing if he leaves on a free transfer. So I can see this happening, actually, but I think the bigger question is what happens to the players. People like Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan at Man City, their contract expires on 30th June.

Well, if they play all the way to the final, they're out of contract and their fever have opened a window. But if you're a player that's got the potential of a move somewhere else, do you want to risk putting that move in jeopardy for the sake of a two-week contract? So there are issues that are going to arise in this Club World Cup because of the situation with contracts. So it'll be interesting to see what happens to players that are out of contracts and players that could also get a move before the tournament. Yeah, some interesting points. We will watch this space. Martin, we are going to look at your...

A story by your colleague Charlotte Dunker in The Times. Pep says that Grealish lacks rhythm. Jack Grealish been pictured a couple of times on nights out. Pep keen to focus on his performances kind of on the pitch. He's saying he lacks rhythm. What do you make of where Grealish is at at Manchester City at the moment?

Yeah, I mean, I think it's fair to say his time at Manchester City had been a bit disappointing, £100 million move, wasn't it? And it hasn't lived up to the potential, really. And he's been in and out of the side. I don't think these sort of pitches of him on nights out particularly help. I think Pep Guardiola saying the obvious, you know, he has, like, rhythm on the pitch for whatever reason, you know, injuries, injuries.

I think also if you're out of the side, it's actually, you know, on a lengthy basis, it's actually quite difficult to come in and adapt perhaps to people who are playing, you know, much more regularly than he is. So he's probably just speaking fairly honestly, Pep Guardiola, and in a way, you know, speaking the obvious as well.

On the inside of the Telegraph, he's talking about his future being decided on the pitch, Mark, as opposed to this kind of extra hiatus kind of off it with him pictured in nightclubs and things like that. Is Guardiola got this one right?

Well, if it's going to be decided on the pitch, it's kind of a clue that he doesn't have much of a future there because we have to be honest that obviously Jack Grealish missed out on the Euro squad last year because he wasn't playing for Man City. It's going on for about a year now, that's 18 months that he's been out of form. So if Pep's pointing to his on-pitch form, then that doesn't bode well. The problem is he's a £100m player on big wages and he's still under contract. So if City do want to move him on, somebody's got to pay that

that kind of money to take him away. So I think he's 29 now, Jack Grealish. So it's going to be difficult for City to move him on. It's going to be difficult for him to find a club. So maybe he has to kind of get his head down and try and save his City career. But I think it sounds like the way that Pep's talking that he might not have much chance of saving that career.

OK, let's go back to Liverpool then. Back of the Express, right at the top of the page here. Slot's leading lights, not great yet. Arnaud Slot has told his Liverpool players, Martin, they're not a great team yet. Keen that they don't let up. He's talked about three cup finals coming up, the PSG and the Newcastle one, but also Southampton, which is quite pointed because you'd imagine that would be a stroll in the park for Liverpool, but Klopp keen that his players don't see it that way.

Well, you know, he does want them to take their foot off the gas for sure. I'm sure this is a way of geeing them up, saying, you know, don't be complacent. But yeah, you know, it should be a walkover the way both teams have been playing. I mean, in a way, it's fairly obvious that

They're not a great team yet because they haven't got those trophies in the bag while Slott has been there. So he doesn't want them to take anything for granted. Perhaps at the end of the season, it could be a different story. And, you know, it looks like the Premier League, certainly that trophy is going there and we'll see which other ones can go there too.

Mark, too early to say that this is a great team and how does it compare from the kind of Jurgen Klopp era? I think Klopp has gone on the record to say if they do win things, he'll be back there to join in the celebrations, but he doesn't want to jinx them by turning up too soon. Yeah, as Martin said, they haven't won anything yet, so...

if they don't win anything this season, I'm sure they'll win something, but they have to win things. At Liverpool, they've set a pretty high bar. This is a club that's won domestic travels, it's won six Champions Leagues, 19 top division titles, so you have to do a lot at Liverpool to become a great team. I think Liverpool have to win a title, maybe the Champions League this season. If they win both, then they'll be a great team in the club's history. If they win the Carabao Cup as well, that'll be three trophies, which they did before, I think in 1984. They have to win a lot at Liverpool to be regarded as great. While they haven't won anything yet, they can't be regarded as great, but

They've certainly got great players like Mo Salah, so I think they're not far away from being great, but they have to win something to do that. Mark, what do you make about these comments that Liverpool were lucky? I mean, I think all of us who watched the PSG game would suggest they got away with one, but is that the sign of a really good side, that you can be battered and you can still come away with the victory?

That was Arnie Slott's point today, wasn't it? He quoted Michael Jordan saying that, you know, the harder I work, the luckier I get. And that's it. Liverpool probably earned the luck. They had fortune on their side with the Canate situation and the offside goal. But, you know, they made that pay at the end of the game by winning the game with Javier Lich scoring the goal. So, yes, they were lucky, but they earned the luck and they made it pay. So I don't think any team complains about being lucky. They just want to win and Liverpool did that.

OK, let's go to the back of the Guardian then and just focus on a little bit of rugby then because Marcus Smith, full guy, Martin, is saying. Steve Borthwick has left him out of the Six Nations match when he was very much the main man and looked like the man around which this team was going to be built. What do you make of it? Yeah, this is a column, very interesting column by Hugo Mounier in the Guardian.

So Marcus Smith is probably the most naturally talented player in the England squad, but he's lost out.

I think the point Ugamoni is making, he doesn't quite fit into Steve Borthwick's vision. Borthwick is very much a sort of careful coach. Smith is a sort of bright, explosive player. He does the unexpected, does a lot of running with the ball. But his replacement, Finn Smith, at fly half is much more of a sort of steady playmaker. Very, very reliable. And he's got Steve Borthwick's... He's a choice.

For many, many rugby fans, you think it's amazing that Marcus Smith is such a talent, can't play for England. Interesting to see if he gets called up for the British Lions and whether Andy Farrell thinks actually England may not want him, but we certainly rate him.