Football Preview

Mikael Silvestre Interview: Can Manchester United win the Premier League?

Former France and Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre gave his thoughts to NetBet on how Manchester United will do in the Premier League this season.

Silvestre also talks about his illustrious footballing career, Paul Pogba and the similarities and differences between legendary managers, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.

Where do Manchester United need to strengthen before the end of the transfer window? 

 

I don’t think they need to strengthen or add to the current squad, they’ve done what they pretty much wanted to do. 

 

They wanted a new striker and by extending Edison Cavani’s contract that was done. 

 

They wanted a right winger and they secured Jadon Sancho, although it was after a year of waiting. 

 

Finally, the last piece of the jigsaw was Raphael Varane, so I think the squad is ready to go this season. 

 

What do you think of Pogba’s contract situation at United, would you like him to pledge his future to the club? What do you think his future plans may be? 

 

As a United fan and a Paul Pogba admirer, I would to see him stay at the club and extend his journey with Manchester United. 

 

I wouldn’t say it’s impossible to tie him down, it’s possible that he will sign a new contract. 

 

For the benefit of the team and the squad, it would be best if he stayed. 

 

If he did sign, how important would that be to the club? 

 

It would be a great boost and it would show that the club is rebuilding and going in the right direction if they can keep Paul Pogba. 

 

He is an important player and even he isn’t quite at it. 

 

For me and personally and many others, sometimes we see he is lacking consistency, but I still believe he is a massive player for Manchester United. 

 

What do you make of the Raphael Varane signing? Does that make United title contenders again and can he build a partnership with Maguire similar to that of Ferdinand & Vidic? 

 

He’s coming to the club at a time where he is on top of his game. 

 

He is the finished article as a centre back and he has so much to give to the team and that partnership in the backline. 

 

He brings leadership and experience and alongside Harry (Maguire), I think it will be very important. 

 

They both need to stay fit and they need to gel together as quick as possible to give the team that platform to be more attacking. 

  

Do you see a long-term future for Martial at Man Utd with Cavani coming back in and the ongoing talk of a move for Haaland being made in 2022? Does Martial warrant a place in the Manchester United starting XI? 

 

Anthony has been at the club for a while and he knows what it takes to play for the club. 

 

He knows what the expectations are from the manager and from the supporters. 

 

It’s normal to be under pressure for your position when you have a lot of competition, but I think he’s the type of character where this will boost him in a good way. 

  

On the subject of strikers, should United wait that extra year for Haaland? 

 

Edison is not in his prime anymore and obviously you will need to look forward to his replacement. 

 

Haaland being on the market is definitely someone you need to consider as a top club. 

 

United are one of those top clubs and they have the finance to bring him in. 

 

Haaland has to be on the list of targets for next season for sure. 

 

If Martial was sold this summer, would you reinvest that money into another position? 

 

If Anthony was to leave he would need to be replaced. 

 

When you get to the end of the transfer window it’s all about opportunities in the market. 

 

What United have done well this summer is to secure the main targets early, which has been a massive failure in previous seasons. 

 

Everyone knows that Manchester United have the funds for any requested price so it’s been difficult to get players in quickly in the past.  

 

Fred has faced some criticism from certain sectors of the Manchester United support, how do you assess his role in the squad? 

 

He took his time to adjust to the Premier League and to the pace of the game. 

 

When United were on a great run of games and when they kept winning, he was one of the top performers. 

 

He’s doing the dirty work which goes unnoticed in front of the back four, but I can tell that the defence will always like these types of players because they give protection. 

 

What if anything are Manchester United missing in their starting lineup in your opinion. Are they in a position to challenge City/Chelsea/Liverpool for the title this season? 

 

I think they’re now in a position to challenge the other teams in the Premier League. 

 

It was something that was going to take time and I still believe it will be a difficult task for Manchester United to win it this year. 

 

But, they need to be in the race and close the gap to whoever may finish on top. 

 

Who knows though, with confidence and a good run of games, they could be there. 

 

It would be a surprise, but on the other side of things, I believe they have enough quality in every position to challenge. 

 

Who is the most underrated player in this current United squad and why do you think that is?  

 

I think it’s Fred, because he brings so much to the team in terms of recovering the ball. 

 

He gives that freedom to the forwards and I think he’s actually a lot better than the perception of what people have. 

 

He’s precious to this team in that sense, that’s why I think he goes unnoticed, but every team needs players like him. 

 

He game is all about giving, he gives the ball to the strikers and he gives the protection to the defenders, so it’s a crucial position. 

 

Do you think that’s why Ole hasn’t gone and signed another central midfielder? 

 

I think he trusts Fred to do the job, offensively he can be a bit erratic, but he gives so much on the defensive side of the game. 

 

You can’t really blame him, he can’t be on every single loose ball like a magnet and then be so accurate and have the style of Bruno Fernandes going forward. 

 

It’s too much to ask of him, but you win titles by making sure you don’t concede goals, so he’s a massive part for United. 

 

I think this is why Ole considers him to be a good enough player to achieve that. 

 

Is Ole the man to bring silverware back to Old Trafford? How do you rate the role he has done? 

 

If you look at when Ole took the job to this moment in time, there’s been dips in form, but overall it’s a constant progression. 

 

You could argue that making it to semi-finals and a final is seen as progression, they just need to take that extra push this season. 

 

They need more concentration, self belief and structure into their game and that should should bring some silverware to Old Trafford. 

 

I personally believe they will achieve that this year. 

 

Do you think the criticism is unfair on Ole? 

 

I think there’s a lot of noise from pundits and ex-managers on certain shows because it gets people talking. 

 

Ole is a honest, hard-working and humble guy who does the best he can for the club. 

 

He did so as a player and he’s trying his best as a manager and I believe he was the best candidate at the time for the job. 

  

What are your expectations for Arsenal this season? How do you reflect on where they are as a club at the moment and the job being done by Mikel Arteta. 

 

It’s too early to judge where they are right now, they’ve had players out for various reasons such as injuries and covid. 

 

The picture we see now is not looking good, but there is quality in that squad and the manager is trying something new with this team in terms of the style of play. 

 

It’ll take some time, you’ve got to the patient, but on the other end they need to start picking up points. 

 

They need to work on progressing as a team and apply what the manager wants them to do. 

   

Where would you improve this squad? 

 

It’s difficult to say because they’ve tried their best to improve the squad already with the money that they’ve spent. 

 

I think it’s more about finding the balance in that starting XI, getting the injured players back and some of them finding some form. 

 

They need to find consistency and some of the players will need to get to know each other. 

 

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang seems like a shadow of the player he used to be since signing his new contract last September, what do you make of that situation? 

 

I think he can get back to his best form, he’s a very good character and has a good mentality. 

 

When he accepted the armband and the responsibility as Captain he knew he would have scrutiny and he had a difficult season for him personally last year. 

 

The thing is with football is that you can always bounce back and quickly, so I’m sure he will be a key member and a key leader. 

 

He’ll do that by scoring goals and being an example for the other guys in that squad. 

 

Having played for both Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, how do you compare the two managers and who brought out the best in you? 

 

There’s a lot of differences between the two and you could go on all day about it. 

 

It’s best to talk about what they have in common and definitely at number one is the passion they have for the game. 

 

When I say passion, I don’t just mean about English football at the time, it was global football. 

 

They will both watch any league at any type of level day and night non stop. 

 

They showed massive dedication to those clubs. 

 

Finally, their knowledge of the game because when you win that many trophies and achieve so many things for the club, it shows that you understand the game better than the average manager. 

 

Did they both have a similar hair dryer treatment? 

 

Definitely not, Arsene definitely had a soft side compared to Ferguson! 

   

Mikael, were you shocked to see Bremen relegated last season after so many years in the Bundesliga? And can they come back up? 

 

I wasn’t shocked because they were on the verge of relegation a few seasons before, so it was coming. 

 

I think everyone had that feeling including the fans, but you always have that hope you can save yourselves, unfortunately that didn’t happen this time. 

 

It’s been going downwards since I left the club and you can see that Bundesliga 2 is not an easy league. 

 

Hopefully they can bounce back, but like a lot of clubs they’ve been hit financially. 

  

There are several traditional heavyweights of German football now in Bundesliga 2 – notably Hamburg, Schalke and Bremen – what do you think that says about the state of the domestic game in Germany? 

 

I think it shows that there was some bad management in those three clubs. 

 

I think this is a result of many years of spending more than you earn and poor investment in players. 

 

It doesn’t show that the Bundesliga is improving and becoming more competitive, it just shows those three clubs should have done better. 

 

They all have the fanbase and the infrastructure, you only have to look at the amount of managers Schalke had in the last few years to see why they’re there. 

  

You were at Bremen for a couple of years towards the end of your career. Do you look back on your time at the club with fondness? 

 

I enjoyed it, it was a great club and I had some great team mates. 

 

I’m still in touch with a few of them and it’s a great league. 

 

Despite being injured with my cartilage being repaired which was tough for me because I wasn’t in my prime. 

 

But, I still looked back and say it was a good experience for me. 

 

When I look at my career, I played in four of the five top leagues and Bundesliga wasn’t my best football, but I still enjoyed it.