23/02/2014 MOTD2 Extra

Hello, welcome to Match Of The Day 2 Extra. Plenty to discuss on BBC One,

BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC sport website over the next 45 minutes. We

will look at the Euro 2016 qualifying draw. We will ask if

Liverpool can stay apace after winds yesterday for Chelsea, City and

Arsenal. There is a chill in the air at Cardiff, their trip to Abu Dhabi

cancelled after their 4-0 thrashing by Hull. And David Moyes celebrates

Wayne Rooney's new deal with a win at Crystal Palace. With me we have

Kevin Kilbane, Andy Dunn from the Sunday Mirror and we have BBC

sport's Ben Smith. If you want to get in touch, we want your views,

thoughts and opinions. We will look at the Premier League

very shortly. As the Euro 2016 qualifying draw has just been made,

we will discuss that first of all. If you are watching on the

television, you can see the three guests are massively excited by what

they have just seen. Convey that excitement to the radio listeners as

well, Kevin Kilbane! Looking at the top end of the draw, looking at the

Irish draw, against Germany, Poland, Scotland, Georgia and Gibraltar, I

think it is a tough draw. I really do think that. Looking at England as

well, with Switzerland. I think England have a decent draw. For the

Irish and Scotland I think it will be good games, but a tough draw for

Ireland and Scotland qualify. This the thing, you get the draw made and

you look for a group of death, that is the cliche. This draw, we are

looking for a group of interest? That is the Scotland and Republic of

Island draw, in with Poland, Germany, Georgia and Gibraltar. I

think the fans will look at the draw and that is the one they will go

for, the excitement and the games they can see. England will be

delighted from a points perspective. There is no excuse if they do not

qualify from that group. Inspiring the fans, getting people into sea

games at Wembley, the likes of Estonia, Slovenia, San Marino, that

is not going to excite anyone. I think you have to say this with a

Scouse accent, but it is what we call a group of deffo. It is. I

agree with Ben. One of the issues is how you promote these games, sell

these games. England will qualify. In a way, it is good to see these

lesser teams in the tournament, the tournament expanded. But on the

other hand it does take out the uncertainty. Any element of

uncertainty about the major nations qualifying has been totally removed.

Any uncertainty about England qualifying has been removed. It does

give them a chance to qualify. It's good from Scotland, Wales and

Northern Ireland's perspective, it gives them more of a chance to

qualify, but is it evaluate the tournament? Euro 2012 was a

brilliant tournament, you go back through the 16 team tournament, it

is an outstanding format, really top, top tournaments. I think what

will happen is that nations such as England, I am not over inflating

their capability, but they will qualify, it almost becomes a build

up to eight tournament, rather than a qualification for the tournament.

England will maybe use of those games to blood new players. They can

take... Not risks, but they can give them a chance of competitive

football. The great selling point in the past was that many people

thought it was more difficult to win than a World Cup, because of the

quality. Nothing is dilutive in the tournament. We have lost that. On

the other side, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, perhaps they thought it was

their chance to get into the top teams again, but in that group it is

tricky. It will still be difficult for them to qualify with the teams

around them. If you're looking at Ireland and Scotland, of course they

have a chance. Apart from Germany, you say they will qualify

definitely, you could beat Poland at home, you could certainly be Georgia

and Gibraltar, you would fancy your chances. It's just a good draw.

Wales in with Bosnia, Cyprus and Belgium. Northern Ireland with

Greece, the Faroe Islands, Bulgaria and Hungary. Do you think there is a

danger, when you look at a draw like this, because the tournament has

been expanded and there will be 24 teams, as opposed to 16 just gone,

is there a danger that we look at this sometimes from the arrogance of

the English? I know that might annoy English people watching and

listening, but the Scots, Welsh and Northern Ireland will probably be

nodding along and say that England can be arrogant and it isn't just

about the big nations? I totally agree, it can come across like that.

It's important that what this does, expanding the tournament 24 teams,

it will give nations a chance to qualify who not normally qualify.

Players like Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, if you keep it up 16 teams,

Wales will have a tough task to qualify. They may go through their

careers not playing in major tournament finals. What this does is

give nations with good individual players the chance for those players

to experience tournament football. From that point of view it is good.

If you go back to the early... Around 82, 84, I still have strong

memories of England playing Turkey and qualifiers. I remember 86. Do

you want me to push you off that chair? Maybe it was 86. Just pretend

to be the same age as you! But England were eight or nine past

Turkey. It was eight, two, four, six eight, roast turkey on a plate! But

you look at how Turkey has developed? You have to take the

longer term view? It's important for these nations, for their developing.

A lot of these countries are allegedly knew, from the break-up of

the Eastern Bloc, they are developing nations, 20 or 40 years

old. They need the experience of being in with a shout qualifying. If

we balance of a lack of interest the qualifying with giving other nations

a chance, the top two from every group goes through, the third is

going to the play-off, best place to side qualifies automatically. Where

UEFA could be criticised is how these qualifiers are going to be

scheduled and staggered. They have changed that as well? We will see a

change to the international calendar in the coming September. This week

of football that UEFA and Pasini Billy Platini had been trying to

organise, it means teams will play two games, Friday and Monday,

Saturday and Tuesday, Monday and Wednesday, it is interesting for the

fans. But it's a nightmare for club managers and it will be interesting

to see how it's going to work. It means you are not scrabbling between

seven different channels trying to keep up with this or that game? The

problem with the clubs, they are going to be kicking up a fuss just

by letting the players go and they want to keep their players back at

the clubs around the big international is. How difficult will

it be for players? Take us through a Premier League dressing room when

players arrived back from international duty. Do you arrive

back in dribs and drabs, even under the current system? That is aside

from lads coming back from South America and Africa. When we used to

have internationals, you would play Wednesday night and I invariably,

you would try to get back into your club Thursday morning, you would get

yearly flight, not fully recovered, trying to get back for a recovery

session on Thursday morning for training. You are not fully

recovered on Friday. By speaking to so many international players

saying, we had a nightmare on Saturday, we were not fully

recovered or prepared for that game for the club. You are not physically

ready for it. You could have situations where one club team have

a load of international players that finish on Sunday, another one might

be playing that coming weekend, they might not have them back until

Wednesday. When you are flying to Eastern Europe, if you are playing

the cars at Stans, the problem is getting back, logistically, I

difficult. -- Kazakhstan. Wayne Rooney must be made up, he has a

chance of beating the England goal-scoring records. Then says that

the qualifiers will be without interest, even third placed teams

have a good chance of qualifying, it will be boring. Dave says that to

keep football relevant, a way has to be found to avoid so many this

matches, there are almost no matches that whet the appetite. Henry Winter

has contacted us, forget quits for ?1, I think adults should be let in

for free to some of these games. -- kids. Group I, France are going to

be put in that group, Andy Dunn, just to give them some football.

Apparently, it is difficult for host countries to arrange friendlies?

It's a novel idea, the first time I think it has happened, basically, I

think it is too rounded up to 54 teams, rather than anything else, to

give it an even number. You could argue if you are looking at quite a

lot of the games, France are going to Portugal twice, it might not be

bad to watch, albeit nothing riding on it? I am sure in London would

have loved to have France in the group, a game at Wembley, it would

have been great for broadcasters, it could have really capture the

imagination and there would not have been anything riding on it. That

kind of a game just doesn't exist in England was not grow group in the

current draw. Get in touch with us and put more of your thoughts and

opinions to us shortly. Let's move to the Premier League. Yesterday,

Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea won in very differing ways. It's

down to Liverpool to respond to that this afternoon. It is one of the

1:30 games, at home to Swansea. Brendan Rodgers is taking on his

former club. Here is the Liverpool manager. It gives us a chance to

ensure that players's fitness levels are correct. We can take in the

week, in terms of focusing on the one game. The more games you have,

you are playing and recovering. You could say that when you are in a cup

competition sometimes they can give you that extra prop to move forward

in your league campaign as well. As I said, for us, we are very

determined. It is just narrowing the focus onto each and every one of

these games and looking to be at our maximum. Brendan Rodgers, there.

Jonathan Pearce is doing this game for Match Of The Day 2. Talking

about how they have been beaten by Arsenal in the FA Cup, they don't

have that destruction, it was not much of a distraction for them

anyway, was it? There were progressing well even when they were

in the FA Cup? It is expressed as disappointment and a half of the

funds for going out of the FA Cup. I have just bumped into him about five

minutes ago, he is still playing down Liverpool's chances. That is

his way, really. He's not going to show from the rooftops and say they

can win the title, they certainly have the attack forced to win the

title, and attack force that should worry Swansea very much today. When

a group 2-2 early on, Luis Suarez was still suffering from his

suspension. -- when they won two - two. Sturridge, seven games in a

row. The two of them are a very potent strikeforce and I think they

will be too quick for the Swansea defence. The sprinklers have started

and it is raining as well. Of course, it will make it slicker and

better suited for the forwards. That is what I was going to go on about.

I think Swansea will struggle. Liverpool need to win. They saw the

teams above them win yesterday. They know what they need to do. There is

a real reliance about Liverpool, a real confidence, and assured look

about them. This is a very, very good team in the making. A tough

game for Swansea, who did well against Napoli and could have won

the game. I thought Britton was superb. But they have had fewer days

to prepare and I think that will count against them. We will let you

go so you don't get too wet. The sprinklers are still on him. We will

let him go. He has put his hood up. Let's focus on Daniel Sturridge,

first. Michael has sent a tweet. Can you

class Daniel Sturridge as world class? No, not yet. I don't think

you can. I think he needs to do it at Champions League level, that is

the important thing. That is why it is important that Liverpool qualify.

What I do like about him at the moment is what I think was levelled

against him, though that City and Chelsea, maybe he was not that

adaptable. You didn't like coming in off the left, or off the flank, he

only wanted to play centrally. The suggestion was he kicked up a bit of

a fuss when he had to adapt and fit into another system. 40 Seattle in

the pool was that he is willing to fit into wherever Brendan Rodgers

wants to play him. The game where they destroyed Arsenal, who played

centrally to exploit a lack of space from Mertesacker. He is also adept

at cutting inside with Suarez to the centre. I like the fact that he

seems to have brought into the Brendan Rodgers idea, this Liverpool

way that maybe he didn't at Chelsea and Manchester City. Depends what

you mean by world-class. You would buy Daniel Sturridge. You buy him

for what he can give you, goal-scoring and everything. He is

in that world-class bracket but hast to prove it in the top bracket with

Liverpool in the Champions' League before he can be considered along

with the greats now. Ben Smith, how much credit you think Brendan

Rodgers deserve simply from a coaching point of view? In this era

where everybody thinks they can be a football manager. You play it on the

computer and you say, I can do that. With Rendon Rodgers, you can

properly see players developing under him. You can see them in

proving? Absolutely right. If we go back to Daniel Sturridge, when he

came in there was a reluctance on Brendan Rodgers' part to bring him

in. Could have taken him in the summer, did not want to, wasn't sure

then brought him in in the January. He has worked closely with him on

the field and also his attitude off the field. That has gone through the

whole squad, the team feel they belong and they wanted. There hasn't

been any difficulty or bad atmosphere. Look at Jon Flanagan, he

was considered to be leaving the club as well. Here's another one who

has progressed in the last few months and gone on to establish

himself as a top defender in that squad. Some people say his greatest

triumph might be Jordan Henderson. Again, people write into the wake

Brendan Rodgers coaches. The way he sets up his teams is impressive. And

mostly Steven Gerrard in this role, pulling the strings behind Jordan

Henderson and Philippe Coutinho. They keep desertion, not hurting

teams in behind, albeit Luis Suarez was doing that. I was at the

Merseyside derby and the way they closed Everton down and stopped

them. Raheem Sterling's workrate was outstanding. That is the cornerstone

of their success. It is pressing high up the pitch and getting the

ball back quickly when they lose it and going straight back up their

opposition. A text says, no disrespect to Swansea but we must

beat teams of their standard. The way Chelsea got the win yesterday,

they will win the title. Swansea, Garry Monk and all of them winning

the Derby against Cardiff, they are still, as you look at the table this

morning, four points above the relegation zone? It is a massive job

for him to get them away from it. Think there are a few worst teams

and I think that will be their saviour this season. They were

impressive against Natalie and they could have won that game. Going back

to Anfield today, it will be another big test. But I think they have got

enough to get out of trouble. Do you think there is an advantage for

Garry Monk? Because he knows the club inside out and he knows the

players? You can see the way the players react did when they beat

Cardiff. The players were running across the field and he has a lot of

respect. I don't think they will win today but I think it does have a big

advantage. Let's talk about the other sides in the race for the

title. We will start with Chelsea who won in injury time against

Everton. Roberto Martinez said he felt Chelsea had used every trick in

the book to secure all three points? The disappointments, the know-how of

the holding team of how to get free kicks and dead. As a referee you

need to have a crystal ball. It is impossible to get the decision right

and it became a bit of an impossible case. Obviously we defended well. We

had to defend many dead ball situations and we did that well. In

injury time it is a harsh reality. That interview is all over the

papers this morning. Front page of the Sunday mail. Says, " Martinez

left fuming over Chelsea's tricks". Is he right to be fuming? I am not

sure a crystal ball would help a referee, by the way. He said every

trick, trying to get a free kick in a dangerous area. Every team does

that. When he came into the press conference, he started talking in a

complimentary fashion about the way his team played, and he is right,

Everton played well. But it came out of the blue when he said Chelsea

used dirty tricks. They didn't, it was more a case of Everton getting

tired. The crucial free kick, Ramires come on. He is very good,

powerful player and they were tiring and they were running past tiring

Everton players. The fact of the matter is, they should have defended

the free kick better. I agree with that. Maybe Leighton Baines could

have prevented him getting in. But the quality of the ball Frank

Lampard put in, was amazing. And Tim Howard's I line seemed to be taken

by John Terry. John Terry did well to react and get in. It is typical

hard-nosed Jose Mourinho style. That goal will not make it into the end

of the season highlights package, but it is one of those moments if

Chelsea are going to win the league. Everton played so well. They didn't

go there just to defend, did they, Everton? Same at the Emirates, they

played well but did not create and that was the big problem. Everton

played so much good football throughout. Also the striker they

were going to play, pulled his hamstring in the warm up. Then he

had to reshape the team, so they did not have an attacking focal point.

They did play well. Chelsea used to strikers, they were terrible

yesterday. Torres came on and was a half-hour cameo of what he could do

wrong, he did do wrong. A tweet said Will the lack of forward firepower

catch up with Chelsea? All of those top teams have a weakness, whether

it is Chelsea's lack of a striker going forward, Manchester City not

being able to shut the back door, Arsenal have lost heavily at the

Etihad Stadium against Liverpool. I've been Chelsea just have enough.

They have experience and the know-how. In some of the papers this

morning, Didier Drogba has been linked with a return with a playing

return or the Sunday Times suggesting he will come back as a

striker's coach. You will hear more as that goes on.

Is that because they are playing Galatasaray? Yes, they play them

will stop he is out of contract in July and he has a number of offers.

He will take his time. He will definitely play one more season. I

understand his family do like living in London. I'm not sure they still

are. His son was at Chelsea? He has three children who are still at

school in London. He can also help develop the strikers within the

squad. Whether or not he will come back and have a major impact, I

don't know. You look at Chelsea's 1-0 win and you look at Manchester

City's 1-0 win and you think they ought to be similar. Chelsea

celebrated their 1-0 win more the citrus leader Manchester City did.

Manuel Pellegrini said they just won ugly against Stoke? They did, when

you look at the reaction. Babs it might have been the circumstances, a

last-minute goal against a top Everton side. Stoker caused problems

the city and showed their vulnerabilities at the back that we

have seen. You start to question when you see how exposed they become

at the back. That was their first Premier League goal in almost a

month. They scored 16 Premiership goals in January, but they miss

Sergio Aguero. Also they need someone to get hold of the game.

Without the grade, -- Sergio Aguero, you need Negredo. They say they

should be resting players because of the Champions' League. It is great

to be in the cup final and the FA Cup, but I think Chelsea will play

two more games in the league before Manchester City play again. So

Chelsea could be nine points clear by the time the next time Manchester

City play again in the league. If Chelsea are in form next week, and

Tottenham Hotspur and then they come back into the league and find they

are nine points behind Chelsea. It plays on their minds. Even when you

have The Games in hand, is it the fact other sides could be further

ahead? It plays in your head when you have the Saturday game and the

other teams are playing on a Monday. You're looking round to see, you

have to win this game. Seeing Manchester City win yesterday, they

did not look like they were going to open up Stoke. Stoke were defending

well and defending deep. It could have been a 6-point ad vantage, a

5-point advantage over Manchester City. It could have been a huge goal

for them. We said yesterday, head of the last two league cup finals, all

four sides involved in those games were beaten the week before.

Liverpool, Swansea and Bradford before last year's final, Manchester

City struggled yesterday. Sunderland were thumped at Arsenal. Kevin, they

did not help themselves at times. They tried to play out of the back

which is what Gus Poyet at once them to do, but that cost them at times?

Gus Poyet at spoke about how he likes to get his team set up. He

said he will never change it. I was talking to him about his philosophy.

He said, we will never change that, I want players to express

themselves, use the goalkeeper at times and the back four. But it did

cost them. It was the new Argentine player, he played the backpass

blind. It was an absolute error. But that is the sort of thing that can

cost you. He stepped in, looking forward, ended up playing a simple

pass and it cost them. Barcelona were playing one touch football?

Giroud being back in the team looked fresh. I do like that play. They

seem to have an understanding. If you factor in the route has played

in every game for his country as well since the middle of August. It

is a ridiculous amount of games. When he was at real Madrid he was

quite often brought off? He has looked like a player who needs a

rest. I was at Anfield and I think Jordan Henderson pinched the ball

off him and he did not have the energy to chase him down. You

mention yah yah Toure, you need those players to step up and take

you over the line. He was brilliant at Newcastle. You need that. So Ozil

can have a few days off, come back stronger and play at Arsenal. When

you are a record signing, will you get more criticism? Definitely the

case. You're looking for Attallah 's Matip character to get you through.

-- talismanic. Arsenal were flying at the time when he signed. We had

Ramsey playing so well, Giroud was playing well, so when you have your

down spell, and he has looked tired. When you are winning, rue revel in

his luxurious talent. When Arsenal are losing we want him to be Lee

Cattermole. His workrate is not going to be high, he is not going to

win any tackles. Also injuries and suspensions have made him work that

bit harder and exposed him a bit more. You look at it from a

player's point of view, saying he is pointing at players, but when you

see him pointing the finger, it highlights something that is not

there. I don't like to see that. If I was disappointed, I would go to

him in the dressing room. And also Mertesacker stopped when they were

playing Liverpool. You cannot just lame him for the way he is

performing. Another tweet, Arsenal played well, but they lack against

big teams like Manchester City and Chelsea. Which is what you are

saying earlier. Let's focus now on the bottom half of the table. The

standout result was Cardiff's 4-0 home defeat by Hull. Solskjaer

suggested they created more chances in the first half and didn't take

them, but that doesn't alter the fact they conceded four at home,

against another side who were promoted last season? Absolutely. A

side that have invested very well, actually. He said they created more

chances, I remember Norwich creating more chances at Cardiff, and won the

game. That is what happens in the game. Taking nothing away from Along

and Jelavic, they were outstanding, brilliant signings by Steve Bruce,

and by the owner that provides the money, another story. Defending

wise, for a couple of those goals, four Jelavic's header, there were

six Cardiff players in the box. That looks like a team that doesn't quite

know what is it is supposed to be doing. The Cardiff owners were

trying to point out that Malky Mackay's transfer dealings were at

the root of why they fell out, and then they said Solskjaer has spent

brilliantly in the transfer window, five of those were playing them, and

they don't look like brilliant signings to me. Kenwyne Jones, Fabi,

Zaha, I don't think you can drop them in and accept a big upheaval.

Can include Sunderland, we will bring in West Brom and Fulham who

played each other. West Brom and Pepe Mel, Felix Magath, Fulham's

third Manager of the Season, do you get a sense, the majority of these

new managers, you can even go to Muelensteen as well, they don't know

their players yet and therefore the crowds are looking unsettled, more

often than not? Sunderland might be the exception? Some of them don't

have experience of being in the trouble that they are in. You sell

Shane Long to a direct rival, he may not have been prolific from a

goal-scoring point of view, now he has a partnership with Jelavic.

Fulham, look at them, Hull signed those two for 12 million, both with

Premier League experience, regardless of Jelavic's form, you

have a top-class player that is going to work and create for others,

you have Shane Long thrown into the mix. West Brom, to let him go the

way that he did, he would not have seen too much Shane Long. I think it

a huge error. They have got Victor Anichebe, who will cause

problems... But he's not starting? That's the thing. They bring him on

at half-time, and they look better in the second half. Doesn't this go

to the heart, managers coming in, perhaps not knowing the legal their

players, you have to question that. Look at Tony Pulis, he knows the

league, he knows what the opposition are going to do, how they are going

to set up. The experience he has got, you know that Sam was going to

get them out of trouble. There were a lot of people questioning why they

were sticking with him. A lot of the fans had turned. For them to make

that brave decision, seeing David Sullivan interviewed in December,

when everyone was saying they should sack him, they were saying they are

going to give him till the end of the season, if they get it wrong,

they get it wrong. They backed the manager, the players were behind

him. How much does that help the players? Take Felix Magath, the

reporter said, have you made any changes? He replied, I don't know, I

didn't pick the last team, so I don't know who was playing. The

players must know if they are coming or going? The problem with Fulham is

the negativity that is going around, through the coaching methods,

straightaway. There is a negative field around the appointment.

Everybody is talking about how he likes to work the players, he runs

them into the ground, these sort of things. I think that. I know a lot

of Norwich fans probably disagree. A lot of Norwich fans are not in

favour of it at times. But he's done a great job and his continuing to do

that. He has done it at other clubs he has been out and had success.

That is why I think they will stick with him. You think they will? The

rumours going around... I think they should. Briefly going back to

bringing in somebody, Southampton is the exception. I think if they lose

today, I think he will go. Why? Because that is what I think. David

McNally will think, there will come a time when there are X amount of

games left. It comes down to the business that Hull did again. The

understanding is that David McNally says the brief of Chris Hughton is

to keep them away from the bottom three. If they were to lose today,

they still would not be in the bottom three? This is not the first

time that we have heard this. In December they came close to making

this decision, I think, they pulled back and went on a decent run and

now they find themselves in a difficult position. The last four

games are against Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and

Liverpool. That probably gives you seven or eight games to win four or

five matches. That's an incredible task for anyone. But who do you

bring in? Exactly. Who wants to take it. It was his relationship with

David McNally, that is the big thing you are reading. That has been going

back three or six months, with Neil Lennon coming in from Celtic. That

is a huge call, for Neil Lennon, let alone for Norwich. He's going to win

the title with Celtic, he will have Champions League football again.

They are saying, these are Norwich's last four games, you have

seven or eight to make sure that we are not playing Championship

football? Unless a couple of those teams are already sorted where they

are going to finish, that might be the case. But I think you are right

in that it would be a huge call for Neil Lennon. From my understanding,

maybe he will be ready to come down for a new challenge. And why

wouldn't he want a new challenge? Fantastic club, Celtic, fantastic

what they have done and are doing, but he has been there for a long

time as a player and manager, you might want a new challenge. But it

only lasts for 11 games... All of a sudden he could be in a Championship

club next season, and he's made a big error leaving a Champions League

club in Celtic. Let's touch on Wayne Rooney, Manchester United won at

Crystal Palace yesterday. Wayne Rooney scored one of the goals to

celebrate the new Deal. This is what he said too Match Of The Day

afterwards. To be honest, I knew what I was doing for a while now. It

was just a matter of getting it done. I have been settled, I have

been enjoying my football. Obviously, it's great for myself and

hopefully for the fans. I'm here to stay and I want to help this could

be successful. Hopefully, we can do that. Janet in Bridlington, what do

the panel think of Rooney think of him getting that amount of money?

Bismarck says, people need to get off his case over wages. If my boss

wanted to pay me 50p per second, I'm not going to refuse that. We need

him to stay to attract top players in the summer, if we fail to qualify

for a Champions League, which looks likely. That is the argument

Manchester United fans are saying. It would have cost them an awful lot

more to replace him, rather than to keep him? In a way, his contract was

so far advanced that you're thinking, it is almost like signing

another player. You think about how much it is going to cost to sign a

29-year-old world-class player, ?30 million, plus wages. It's only a

small percentage of the turnover for your marquee talent. I don't worry

for the figures. But I think might be an issue, they mentioned acting

chilly attracting players -- attracting players to the club, and

they are going to look at Wayne Rooney's wages. Why would Toni Kroos

sign former test United? You been at possibly the best club side in the

world, he'll get good money. He might sign if they say, you can have

the same as Wayne Rooney. But that creates a problem, that is the bar

being set for world-class talent. So when they are being linked with a

player somewhere in Europe, as good as he is, he's not likely to come in

and say I want ?300,000 per week. But he is more likely now he's

staying? The question was if Manchester United could have

afforded not to do this deal. In the summer, Wayne Rooney fell out with

Alex Ferguson, he went into the manager 's office and said, what do

you think, do we go our separate ways? He wasn't in the team, there

was interest from Chelsea. All of a sudden he's back in the team,

playing well, the power comes back to him. United are suddenly

thinking, we could lose this guy in the summer for far less than he is

worth. They have to do the deal and then they have to pay the wages he

wants. Ultimately, Wayne Rooney's team have played a blinder. They

have got their client... The figures are what they are because the club

can afford it. It's an astronomical amount of money, but you have to say

he is worth it because of what it would take to replace them. Thank

you very much for all of your text messages and tweets. Might read some

more out in a moment. The other 1:30 kick-off today is Newcastle against

Aston Villa. Steve Bower is doing this game for Match Of The Day too.

I spoke it to him earlier that both of these clubs always seem one match

away from a crisis? Cull as you well know, here on Tyneside it doesn't

take much to create a crisis with the natives, but they are not happy

as far as Newcastle is concerned. Four home defeat in a row and they

haven't scored a goal in any of them. If they were to lose today,

that anxiety would increase. They have not lost five league games in a

row at home since 1953. Paul Lambert has stoked the fire by saying he

thinks the edginess within the crowd can help Aston Villa today to three

points, as they look to get some consistency. Still in natural

addition fight. He mentions that the crowd might

help Aston Villa, and Villa are better away from Villa Park? As

Newcastle are, as well. That has hampered their form here. Yes, Aston

Villa are dreadful at Villa Park. We have seen them a few times this

season. Away from home, they play with a little less fear, that more

freedom. That is their hope today. As far as Newcastle are concerned,

you look at their team sheet, since Cabaye's much publicised departure,

that has hit them as well. They have big names back, Coloccini, their

captain back in defence. Loic Remy will return after suspension. Their

top scorer, where would they be without him? Already, they have a

stronger line-up, but undoubtedly they need to win. Let me confirm,

Coloccini, checked Coyote and Loic Remy all back for Newcastle, as is

appalled at. -- Dummet. Mignolet, Johnson, Jordan Henderson all

recalled for Liverpool. It's interesting, we talk about how great

the Newcastle fans are, but they are under real pressure at home?

Newcastle were incredibly edgy against Tottenham the other week. I

think Paul Lambert has just started to get the flames stoked a little

bit more, by saying what he said. Our Jew has said he is not happy

about his comments. -- Alan Pardew. It's more edgy for both sides. Just

by having Coloccini, checked Tiote back, it improves them. They need

three points? Leads to keep his stock higher, because he needs to

get away from there. One thing about Mike Ashley is that he's always

probably wanted mid-table security for Newcastle, no more. They went

into Europe, they struggled because of their squad size. I don't think

they wanted to replace Yohan Cabaye in January. They go too high up the

table, they give themselves problems, so mid-table is good for

Ashley. A text from a viewer in knowledge the Norwich, -- Norwich,

if we get four five wins from the easier games, it won't matter if we

lose the last ones. Match Of The Day 2 is that 10:25 on

BBC Two. See you next. -- see you next week. Goodbye.