Chelsea legend Pat Nevin has labelled Donald Trump’s appearance and the overall antics at the Club World Cup final ‘ridiculous and embarrassing’, in an interview with Compare.bet.
Ex-Everton star Nevin has also tipped Jadon Sancho to suit David Moyes’ team, and described how Christian Eriksen would thrive with a move to Rangers.
Nevin also revealed he was attending Spurs games as a fan at White Hart Lane… while being Chelsea’s Player of the Year and explained why you can start comparing Cole Palmer to Zinedine Zidane.
For the full transcript, see below.
Chelsea are outside contenders to win the Premier League title
“I mean it was an impressive performance in the Club World Cup. Does that change the Premier League outlook? A little. Just a little. But I wouldn’t say a massive amount.
“What has changed the Premier League chances is the fact that they’re improving at the rate I sort of expected they would.
“Last year I thought they would get top four, I said that at the beginning of last season. They sneaked into the top four, but that’s where I thought they would get to.
“This season, they’re better. And with the players they’ve added, they’re better. Now, you have to look around. Are Arsenal better? They probably will be. Liverpool? Yeah, they probably will be as well. And you start looking around, Man City, yeah, they’re going to be better as well. They’ve all added a lot and they all will be better.
“So Chelsea, do I think they’ll be in the top four again? Yeah, I think they will be. Do I think the direction all makes sense? Yeah, I get that as well. Do I understand how the costs work? No. You get fined 27 million quid for overspending and then you go and spend all these huge sums on your players.
“But then even that, in the simplest accountancy you can do, they made 90 million out of the Club World Cup.
“Are they contenders to win the league? I would say they’re outside contenders still, but they are contenders. But I don’t think the Club World Cup makes them favourites to win the league.”
You can start comparing Cole Palmer to Zinedine Zidane again
“The comparison between Cole Palmer and Zinedine Zidane was fine a year ago. It wasn’t fine last year. But it could be fine again.
“Look, he is definitely a world class player. He’s still very, very young. Remember back in the Euros and it was all about a lot of other players, Cole seemed to be sitting on the bench. And I was thinking, ‘What are you doing? Why are you doing that?’ He should be on.
“It doesn’t matter who’s the sexy player. It’s who’s doing the business. I think just about any team in the world would be very, very happy to take him. That is the definition of a world-class player.
“He’s right up at the level. So Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, don’t compare anyone with that because it’s not fair. But the next level beneath, I think he’s pretty close there already as it is, but he needs to do it year in, year out. And last year was quite a year.
“What’s going to help him this year is the players around him, Estevao and Jamie Gittens, they’re probably going to make it a bit easier for him and everybody else getting stronger.”
Joao Pedro is special – Chelsea fans are right to be excited
“If you’re a Chelsea fan, you’re delighted with Joao Pedro. Absolutely brilliant. You need the running, you need the attitude, you need everything, but you know what you need? A bit of class as well. You need an all-round game.
“Poor old Nicolas Jackson. He’s been bought for a lot of money, was the main man, was the number nine last year. He is the top man and he’s one of these players who kind of likes that. He’s third now. That’s horrible. Football’s horrible that way.
“But Joao Pedro seems like an upgrade and that’s just the way it is. That’s just football at the elite levels like that. And that’s what you keep on trying to do.
“Joao Pedro is a fabulous, fabulous buy for Chelsea. I wouldn’t be concerned for a second. I mean, he’s right up there with the top players. And he’s already shown his willingness to move into good areas all the time, intelligently.
“Now to be honest, Jackson did that, but it kind of seemed like pure pace was getting them there. Not always thinking in pace. This is thinking in pace and it’s pretty special. And it’s good when you’ve got someone like Cole Palmer and other players in the wide area creating for you. So I think Chelsea fans are right to be excited and they are excited about it.”
Liam Delap is not Joao Pedro’s back-up – he could leapfrog him
“I would be staggered if Liam Delap doesn’t get plenty of game time. I think he’ll be fine, he’ll be okay. We always make the mistake of thinking, ‘Oh, we’ve got Joao Pedro, that’s your number nine’. It isn’t like that now. It’s just not like that now.
“You’ve got a lot of competitions to play in. Chelsea are pushed to the edge already, having played most of the summer. So they’re going to get injuries, they’re going to get tired players. It’s a season, it’s going to happen, full stop.
“So you need your quality back-up. I don’t know why they even call Delap back up because if it’s not working for João Pedro after 60, he’ll be on. And if he scores, he’ll be starting. It’s fine.
“It’s always great to have two. It’s really incredible. For periods of time Chelsea had none last season. It’s very, very noticeable. You need two. And let’s not forget, the world changes, football changes.
“You can play two together. It can happen. It’s possible. There are systems and situations that allow that. So I think Delap will get plenty of game time.”
Liam Delap should not go on loan like Harry Kane did
“Liam Delap shouldn’t go on loan. There’s lots of players I think should do, he shouldn’t. He is a top first class striker already. He can do it in the Premier League.
“The reason why the Harry Kane comparison is interesting is, I’m not saying he’s going to be Harry Kane and score that many goals at all, but what Delap has got, he’s got all the basic stuff that you need. He’s a natural goalscorer. He works hard. He is improving all the time. He’s got great physicality.
“But Harry Kane had this massive jump and the jump happened over a season or so and you thought ‘Where did that come from?’ It’s because everything else was in place and then you needed to make the wee jump.
“Playing for a team like Ipswich, you’re going to get a set amount of chances and it isn’t going to be many. If you’re playing with Chelsea, you’re going to get a lot more.
“If your strike rate is good, which it probably will be because he’s quite natural, he’s going to look much, much better. So Delap, don’t worry about him. Absolutely don’t worry about him.
“I think quite clearly they are two players that Chelsea want there and want working together on the pitch or swapping going forward.
“Jackson will be there as another backup but to be fair those numbers don’t work and Jackson is a sellable asset and he’s played in the Premier League, so they’ll probably do a good deal and, let’s be fair, Chelsea are quite good at trading.”
Robert Sanchez is the new boo boy – Chelsea do not need to prioritise a new keeper
“My take’s the same as it’s always been. I think Chelsea fans have got a wee bit uptight about the whole goalkeeping thing that’s not been the big problem. I’ve been shrugging my shoulders about it all the time.
“You sometimes have to have a boo boy. Somebody that’s going to get the stick. I remember for the first season Marc Cucurella getting hammered and I’m going, ‘He’s great. What are you talking about? He’s a brilliant player.’ Sometimes you slightly doubt yourself because I don’t see every single game, but I’m looking and I’m going ‘He’s superb at what he does’.
“He’ll make some mistakes and you notice them. But in reality, I’m thinking, well, he is absolutely fantastic. But you remember back, he was a laughing stock, wasn’t he?
“Robert Sanchez is getting that a wee bit just now. He’s alright, he makes mistakes, all keepers do. Chelsea, the way they have to play in the modern way, he’s going to be left a wee bit isolated now and again, that’s just the way it is. Because their full backs are flying forward, they’re being really positive. Yeah, they’ve got good cover in midfield, but they’re going to lose some goals. And they’re young, their centre backs are young. That’s what happens when you have young centre backs.
“Chelsea have fixed their other priorities, as in centre forward and a little bit more midfield and getting the whole wing thing sorted, they’ve done all of that. They probably still need another centre back to make it absolutely right. And if Reece James is fine, the right back’s going to be OK as well. But other than that, don’t worry about the keeper.
“You know, if you get a better one, you get a better one. If you can get it done, get them. But is it a priority? Not for me.”
