'I could do it with one of those contracts!' I know John Barnes when asked about the expired trio of Liverpool. Couldn't we all?
Football has changed since 1987, when he joined the Reds and became the best paid player in Great Britain with £ 10,000 per week. However, many have stayed the same in recent years, including the tightrope walked by the local Liverpool boys done well.
Yes, Kop's adulation signals, songs in its name, murals, legendary status. But you also risk the wrath of some followers if there is the possibility of going.
Ask Trent Alexander-Arnold, such as Steven Gerrard and Steve Mcmanaman before him. Earlier this month, after a day off against Manchester United, West Derby's boy, who has given 20 years of dedication to the Reds, faced a torrent of abuse. He “could not give AF ***” and must be “taken from the team,” according to some philosophers in X. All this in front of a contract and flirting saga of Real Madrid, of course.
Curtis Jones has faced a similar vitriol this week for daring to give a cautious and balanced explanation of why he felt that Eden Hazard, one of his childhood models, was “better” than Mohamed Salah. He was qualified as a “misfortune” and warned that his “bad judgment” could derail the persecution of the team's title and endanger the contractual negotiations of the Egyptian.
We will address it in due time, but it is the situations of Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Virgil van Dijk that are the primary threats in a serene season. Some fingers in the club for not tie them before, others in the players for the greed or the discontent perceived. Barnes has a firmly pragmatic vision, although slightly pessimistic.
John Barnes talk to Mail Sport about the trio and almost out of the Liverpool contract towards Curtis Jones
Trent Alexander-Arnold faced strong criticisms of some followers after draw with Manchester United earlier this month
Barnes believe that all power falls to the players and that Liverpool has done everything they can
'It is a very simple enigma. Players these days have all power. Clubs cannot do anything about it. What I demand, and what fans should demand to players, is exactly what these three have done: while they are hired to Liverpool, they give 100 percent, 'Barnes tells Mail Sport from the live admirers event Livescore in Long Shot Bar in Liverpool.
'With mo, the club cannot compete financially with the Saudi, so it is not about money in what is concerned. With Virgil I think it is the easiest to do. I think Virgil will stay. With Trent, you can decide that you want to try a new culture, a new country, a new language, has been here enough time.
'The club cannot do anything to stay. The club is putting everything in its place from a football perspective: they are the best in the Champions League, they are the best team in the country, they are the best team in the world.
“The club will offer them what they can offer them, they will not say:” We will try to put it at a low price. “It depends on the players if they want to stay or not and the club cannot do anything about it. So, I think that fans have to Stop blaming clubs when players decide to go. ''
In these situations, the fact is difficult to separate from fiction. On January 15, the Spanish media Reber said that Madrid had resigned to try to sign Alexander-Arnold this month. A day later, Marca said it was a treatment made.
Jamie Carragher had an interesting theory after the 2-2 draw with United. He suggested that Alexander-Arnold or his agent had told Madrid to offer for him. In his eyes, Madrid would not make an offer without a certain guarantee that at least he was interested. Barnes does not agree that the right would invite directly to an offer.
I doubt it very much. That wouldn't make sense at all, “he says.
'I don't think Trent would have said that he would make an offer because that does not do any favor.
Barnes does not agree with Jamie Carragher's suggestion that Alexander-Arnold would have invited Madrid to make an offer
Liverpool's promise in the field and a fan base that worships are two convincing reasons to stay
Perhaps the 2-0 victory over Real Madrid in November pointed out a change of the tide between the two clubs
'Why would Trent want the situation to be restless when he goes to the League, staying until the end of the year, and knows that this will create waves? I can understand from the point of view of Real Madrid why they did it, but I don't think Trent had been part of that at all. ''
The charm of Spanish giants is a Buggly Clubs in English that are difficult to shake. As Jude Bellingham said: “When Real Madrid hits, the whole house shakes.”
Liverpool has faced the anguish many times with the whites and Barcelona: McManaman, Michael Owen and Xabi Alonso to Capital Club; Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and Javier Mascherano to their Catalan rivals.
However, the 2-0 victory over Madrid on an open night in November was different. He felt authorized. Conor Bradley kept Kylian Mbappe so silent that he could well have been mummified. A sliding backle on the Frenchman had fans out of his seats.
Liverpool had lost seven and drew one of his previous eight games against Carlo Ancelotti, but directed them to the Arne Slot penitentiary. He felt a significant turning point, and one that Barnes expects to be persuasive for Alexander-Arnold, a man who has declared his ambitions Ballon d'Or.
“He has a better opportunity to win the Golden Ball in Liverpool than in Real Madrid,” he says.
'If you look at the Superstar of Real Madrid, Trent is not going to go there to be a MBAPPE, or a Junior of Vinicius, to be a Bellingham. I would go there to be correct. And yes, he would be an important player, but I don't think the way the team plays will necessarily adapt to what Trent wants.
'And I think that many Liverpool players have found it: Miras (Georginio) Wijnaldum, (Roberto) firmino, (Jordan) Henderson. All those who have gone have not done so well. From a football perspective, there is no other club that suits Trent than to Liverpool, but that is not necessarily enough for him to stay.
Madrid has dominated the Golden Ball in recent years, but Barnes believes that Alexander-Arnold would have more chances of winning it if he stayed in Liverpool
He believes that the attack talents of the Spanish team would take away the brightness
'If Real Madrid does not win the League or the Champions League, how are you going to win the Ballon d'Or? Do not want the ballon d'Or just because you are in Real Madrid. Are you going to win the Ballon d'Or ahead of Bellingham, ahead of Vinicius Junior? You are the right at Real Madrid, instead of being the Liverpool player that everyone is talking about.
In the maximum, Liverpool has 32 games that remain this season, which is certainly almost a long -lasting campaign for some clubs. In the great scheme of things, no time is to treasure a trio that has played 1,018 cumulative games for them. Quite legacy.
In that note, some fans this week felt that Jones had lacked respect for Salah's legacy. In a pretty cheerful interview with Río Ferdinand in TNT Sports, the midfielder argued that Hazard was the best footballer he would pay to see, but that he would prefer to have Salah on his team for a winning effect of the game.
It was refreshing to listen to a player to be so honest, even in such an issue at the surface level. In the modern internet climate, speech is a travel cable where players can find the most anodine of disproportionate comments.
Any suggestion that would cause a crack was duly banished when Jones helped Salah during the middle of the week against Lille and the couple held together. Even then, Flak copied for copying the celebration of the Egyptian, sitting in the advertising hoardings with the arms stretched.
“I think he's just doing a mountain with a Molehill,” says Barnes about the reaction to Jones's comments.
'He is very honest in his evaluation. Of course, we are very tribal when it comes to football, whether you are Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United. Should I say that Salah is better than Messi or Ronaldo or Pelé or someone like that?
'I'm not interested. Curtis is a fantastic player and a great servant for the club. He is a local child, he loves the club, and the fact that he believes that Eden Hazard is better than Mo Salah has nothing at all, to be honest with you.
The abuse towards Curtis Jones is 'making a mountain with a molehill', says Barnes
Fans reacted strongly after Jones said Eden Hazard was a “better” player than Salah
Jones clarified that he thought that Salah was more winner of the game than the former Chelsea star
'It is not only in modern football, it is for all people in the public eye. No matter what you say, the keyboard warriors will come and give you stick. That is why players cannot be honest.
'If people want players to leave and be more open, they have to stop abusing them when they are open, particularly about something as innocent as this.
'Now I completely emphasize all the players. When I was playing, you could go out and buy an advertisement of drinks to do what you wanted, while now you are only being judged with such hardness for everyone, so I understand why players are so reluctant to be honest or open.
'I love Jack Grealish. I love Cole Pale. The problem that Cole Palmer can have is that if suddenly he begins not to play well, and he is the way he will begin to get stick.
'What should be judged is football and the way you are as a person. Curtis is a fantastic young man.
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