
Louis Saha Exclusive: Antony needs to take a leaf out of Rasmus Hojlund's book

Louis Saha spoke to BettingOdds.com yesterday. The ex-Manchester United striker discussed whether Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS' new football operations at Man United will have the club challenging again, the impact of Rasmus Hojlund's advice from Robin van Persie, whether Ange Postecoglou is the right man to end Tottenham's trophy drought and the Everton points deduction situation.
Now that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS’ 25% minority stake in Manchester United is confirmed, how much will their influence over football operations change the club’s fortunes? When can we expect them to mount a serious challenge again?
"I think it will be within the start of the new season because you have to make some transfers, you have to let people go, but there is a strategy that's going to be put in place but with definite guarantees of exactly who is operating. There is a change in progress at the moment, so all those questions will come to be answered now with a brain, with a strategy and a philosophy.
Those guys have put their statement out, you can understand what they want and you know who is going to be doing each thing. So this is very important and very useful to control what you have to negotiate with agents, with players, with clubs. All these negotiations will be the first impact and again on the field, the manager himself. Knowing who is operating, knowing exactly his limitations, his flexibility, all those questions that are not answered, were a big miss, and made things really hard for the players, the manager and fans.
You're starting to get answers with this, you have a direction and this is very important. It does take time to transfer that to results on the field, because that's not that easy, but there's definitely progress when you have the type of name that the INEOS group is looking for, people that are proven and have a track record of doing well. It's all about that, having the right people at the top, getting the right information at the bottom throughout the club. It’s very important, so I think it's very good."
Six of Rasmus Hojlund’s seven Premier League goals have been scored inside the first 30 minutes of matches - the joint-most of any player in the division this season alongside Erling Haaland. As someone who scored the fastest goal in an FA Cup final, is this a bit of fortune that will eventually dry up or do some strikers have a knack for adapting in matches much quicker than others?
"I think it depends, because of the challenge of the Premier League or different competitions that Manchester United are playing under. You have to adapt, you have to be strong in your approach, understanding the weaknesses you have in your game, the strengths you have and taking your chances.
Basically, you can see before that he was hitting the goalkeeper, the defender's legs, the post, all those things, but they are now going his way. You could see in the goal against Luton in the first minutes of the game, he tried hard as he's done in pretty much every game that he's been involved, and it's brought it out strongly that he believed that the ball could come back any way - the ball bounced in his path and he scored the goal. That's the type of thing you have to have, you have to have that mentality to take your chances and create your luck and this is the capacity of converting.
He's been unlucky at first, maybe some games he should have scored but didn't and you start to drop in confidence, but now his confidence is high, he's going to take that extra touch to score a goal and be calmer and that's the progress because he's still young. He has to understand his partners, understand what the Premier League is asking of him every week and I think he's doing well. His head is in the right place and that's very good for United - to remain focused on how to provide chances for this guy."
Sunday’s Manchester derby marks the fifth meeting of these two clubs since Erik ten Hag’s appointment at Old Trafford. Having won just one and lost three of the previous four head-to-heads, what can he and United do to have some success against the reigning champions?
"They approach games way better even if they didn't appear to be in control with Fulham over the weekend. It's about getting that pressure, that confidence on the ball and then you have to convert your chances. If you don't have ten chances in a game, you have to get it right and this is what we need and we think straight away when we don't have a striker up top with confidence who can convert, you put yourself in a difficult situation. Anybody can hurt you if you don't convert. You know how to defend, you think you're reducing a good amount of chances now that Onana is on his game and I think he's doing better in the way he gives confidence to his teammates.
So it's all about creating chances and converting them especially against a very very top team who has punished pretty much everybody in Europe and the world last year. But still, everybody can be fragile if you don't convert, if Haaland or other Man City players don't convert, they are a team you can beat that's for sure. Man United have to start, and I'm sure they will, believing that they can hurt Man City and I can't wait to see it."
How impressed have you been by Kobbie Mainoo’s emergence this season? Should Gareth Southgate be looking to include the 18-year-old in his Euros squad this summer?
"I'm very impressed. His composure, he's willing to go forward as well, finding pockets every time, never hiding from the ball, always in good spots for such a young age - especially in a team that's still in transition. Still sometimes with a lot of injuries you have to change and adapt to the way you get balls from the defenders, it's different than some other weeks, but he still manages to be there and be consistent and not losing his position. I think it's very impressive.
With the talk of Southgate looking at him it's fairly normal. Yes, he's a bit young. I think in some ways, for all the desire in the world for him to be included and enjoy a good competition, it's just that the national team for me it's something you have to show for six months or a year to show how strong you are and provide the right platform to maintain and remain there for 10-15 years and I think there's a bit of debate about not getting the call-up too quickly because sometimes it could be damaging more than anything. So I wish him a long long career in the national team and I think sometimes that's why you have to be patient, learning your skills and your weaknesses and understanding how to do it. But someone like Kylian Mbappe will say to you 'don't speak about my age' so I do recognise that."
Robin van Persie is in the final stages of obtaining his coaching qualifications, and Rasmus Hojlund seems to have benefited from advice provided by the former striker. How important will his willingness to learn be in developing himself into an elite-level striker?
"You have to. And if this hasn't been done before, it's strange. I was really boiling because I could see some mistakes that the forwards were making, basic ones where we are talking about the approach of games or calmness or pressing the ball. There are a lot of elements I've seen in the past few weeks where he's definitely improved, something I haven't seen with other players.
I've been really frustrated sometimes with Anthony, Rashford, Anthony Martial. It doesn't seem like they wanted to really change anything or wanted to really actually identify what was not working for them. If Robin has done that with Rasmus, all of them should be working with him. He's a striker who has a lot of knowledge, he's very passionate and a legend with a lot of charisma and respect from the players so the way the players can take advice from other players is a bit difficult because there are egos sometimes, but when it comes from a big player like van Persie I think it makes sense."
Gary Neville named you as one of his two most underrated Premier League players of all-time. Who do you think is currently the Premier League’s most underrated striker and why?
"Wow, that's a great line from Gary. When I look at under-rated players, that's a difficult one sometimes. I think that there's a difficulty to name proper strikers compared to before, I don't have names because most of the guys who score goals are more like wingers."
Maybe not under-rated then - who have you been impressed with this season?
"I would have said like before, Callum Wilson is a top striker in some ways but I like Isak as well. It's a difficult one, I don't have names in my head that pop up as under-rated, they're all playing their way and the Premier League is not easy but I don't have a proper name apart from Callum."
If you could choose any Manchester United player from the 2007/08 European double winning team to join this current side, who would it be and why?
"You catch me with difficult questions this morning eh? In that campaign it would be Cristiano."
For the obvious reasons?
"For the obvious reason, he was in his prime or was starting to be in his prime. I think he was unplayable, that kind of great example - yes you are skillful, and there are a lot of players in the United camp that are skillful that will have to catch up. And there is no debate, of 'oh he has no legs' there is no debate, of 'oh he is a super super star', at that time, everyone was really trying to catch the train of Cristiano and that's why we were unbeatable. So yes I think it's him, he would give a great platform to other players. We have a young team and he will have shown how much he wants to win the Ballon dOr, how much he wants to win the Champions League and I think anyone playing in that moment in that squad will have recognised that he was one of the most influential players."
With United currently sitting eight points behind Aston Villa and three adrift of Tottenham Hotspur, without either of these two teams left to play, how do you rank the club’s chances of securing a top-four finish?
"It's a difficult one, but I feel like we have a good chance. We beat Aston Villa, I feel we can definitely get that confidence back even after this defeat, but it's all about consistency and if we do manage to get more concrete at the back with Onana getting back on form and hopefully our striker back, I do think that the formula that worked for four or five games could be a danger to any team that we're facing. Yes, because there is consistency at the back, I'm very impressed with Maguire and Varane at the back even if obviously they have to sometimes concede a mistake but that's part of the game, they're facing some really good players.
In midfield I think the combination of Mainoo and Casemiro has worked. We need a bit more inspiration from other players helping Bruno Fernandes but the front three is good. We need that deadly approach to get those goals and then yes I think it's possible to get that position that we really need. Champions League is a must."
If they do miss out on Champions League football, how detrimental is that for INEOS’ immediate chances of progression? What would no UCL football mean for United and for ten Hag next season?
"It's gonna be very tough. I know the plan is still to be there for many many years so you have to work on your setbacks that's for sure. It will be an enormous one. I think this squad do have the capacity to do it and it definitely would be a shame if Manchester United are not in the Champions League, I really don't think that it's ever a possibility, I really think we're going to do it, it's just about getting that consistency, it's an obligation. But INEOS has a strategy that maybe they start working in two months, or even more, but I'm sure that they know it's not an easy game and not everything goes to plan in the first few months so they will have to work a plan if the Champions League doesn't happen."
This new-look Tottenham side is still in its infancy under Ange Postecoglou. What have you made of his first eight months in charge of your former club? Is he the right man to end Spurs’ trophy drought?
"I think so. When you look at how things happened, losing Harry Kane, lots of people didn't really know what he was going to bring. I think we've seen in the first few months that there definitely is a style of play that's been implemented and it's really good, fast, powerful. They did miss a few players that have an enormous impact on the team, Son has been repositioned, Richarlison was sometimes good, sometimes not, that is a part of the game and that's why I am saying if this team click they can really do anything because there are good players in there. But if you are missing some of the links, you are in trouble.
I do think that he's the man, he's proven that he can do an amazing job at Tottenham. I do think that there's still a problem with the squad to get there at the very very top. As I said with Arsenal, as I said with Chelsea, getting 10-15 players, you can't do that stuff, you have to get 11 together or something close to 11 players who you know that are very reliable and that's not easy when you are in transition. With the club losing a player like Harry Kane who was top scorer for many many years you have to rebuild so it couldn't be easy and I think he's done a tremendous job."
Another one of your previous clubs, Everton, are in the midst of a relegation battle, with Luton Town looking like the only equipped team to jeopardise their Premier League status. Are you confident of Everton’s survival? Have you seen enough from them to ease fans’ fears?
"I think yes there are some games where they show real quality, there is that toughness that sometimes we thought we are missing since almost the departure of David Moyes. But we have seen some really good games, especially having really bad news with the points deduction and all these situations outside the field and they reacted well, so I think in this situation they have done really well and there is some element of confidence. The fans should still ask a lot of the players, there are still really some stupid mistakes sometimes but I like the style of play, I like the toughness and I think they've done really well under the circumstances."
The club are also in the midst of an appeal to rescind the 10-point deduction they suffered in November. Was that initial penalty too harsh? If the Premier League stands by their original decision and rejects the appeal, does that set a dangerous precedent for the stability of some clubs or would that be a positive for the sport?
"Yeah it probably could be a positive for the sport because nobody should bend the rules and that's provisional that they should be looking at every line so you can't allow mistakes to anybody - and that's the real sentiment when people are saying that it's too harsh because it hasn't been too harsh for other clubs. It hasn't been too short or it has been very short to take that decision I think, I haven't heard anything going wrong with Everton for years and all of a sudden you hear these things and you hear this point deduction. It hasn't taken them very long, it's taken very short with other big names, other big clubs and that's not right.
The Premier League has been tough with smaller clubs and that's not fair. It sounds like the line of privilege and 'if you are my friend or if you are benefitting me it's alright.' I'm not accusing anything but it sounds like it. It's not fair and that's why people are calling it harsh because it seems like the decision has been really unflexible compared to others. It's so complex, it's so hard to go into details. It doesn't mean that Everton were right to do it, they've been punished but being harsh means they could have maybe looked at it in a different way and that's not what they've done.
It's good, I'm always for the transparency and the integrity of the game, I'm fighting against it, I'm part of a council with the SIGA organisation so I love this integrity stuff but in that decision I would love to look at how things have been taken compared to other clubs. This is where we are saying that it's harsh, harsh meaning that we try to compare what has been done and it seemingly hasn't been fair."
Now that Liverpool have picked up the first available trophy of the season, do you believe they have the capacity to win the quadruple before Jurgen Klopp departs this summer?
"Don't ask me to wish anything for Liverpool! I really don't want them to get those numbers and then they will catch the past of Man United in a way but yes they do have the quality, they do have a great manager and it will be a farewell for him to leave on those terms. I do really wish for him, but maybe not for the team to be honest. So I do think there is a tremendous squad, he has built a tremendous atmosphere at Anfield, it's amazing what he's achieved. So having that Carabao Cup, I like what they have done to come back to that position even losing Mane at some points, people were thinking "oh yes he made mistakes" and all that but it just appeared that he really coped with the transition. The manager is a top guy and a top coach so yeah, they definitely have the capacity to do that. They need to avoid injuries from big players again and let's see."
Another of your former clubs, Fulham, had an impressive result against Man United over the weekend. What have you made of their current campaign and of the job that Marco Silva continues to do there?
"Absolutely brilliant. The game, the technique, the confidence, the link of play they have, it all worked from Silva's style and the players buy into it, they have the aggression - they want it you know. I have discovered a striker I really like, Muniz played really well, so they have a tremendous ability to upset teams. Man United is not the first one so it's good work. Big up to my friend Luis Boa Morte, he's done tremendous work there so I'm very very pleased for Fulham. It's always a club that I look at and wish the best for and they deserve it because they have the ambitions to grow and they've done it the right way and it's good to see them being stable in that Premier League because it's where they should be playing every year. I can't wait to see them playing in Europe, they deserve that as well."
Antony is rumoured to be available for £43m in the summer transfer market. Should Man United cut their losses on this signing?
"It's a sad thing, it's a shame, because as I said before when we talked about Robin van Persie, I don't think he has changed his game. He hasn't improved, basically he has surprised people at the very start and people say 'oh yes he can score goals' but all Premier League defenders, all Premier League coaches, they learn. They learn very quickly how to cope with you and you have to really adapt and change your parameters and I don't think he tried to change one bit.
I've seen over the weeks, some things that change, like Garnacho went on the right and was able to cross those balls that were very important for Rasmus to get his first post move and this is very important for a striker and I've been screaming for months for Anthony to do this and I haven't seen it. He was always cutting back, always trying the same move that pretty much everybody can see from miles away so it's a pity.
I do still think he can improve, he has the potential, he can't have those techniques and can't be asked to do other stuff so it's really strange. I wish that he works with Robin and he helps him to open up and build other skills, other sets in his luggage because I think he's got it, he's got a huge capacity, physically he adapts very quickly and he can do his hard work so it will be a pity. But INEOS will come to a point where they have to do those things, they have to cash in on some players and they have to actually be patient on others and that's one of the situations we will see in the summer where the philosophy is like ‘if you're not performing you have to go.’
Is there a former player that you've played with that Anthony could benefit with advice from, similar to Hojlund?
"I would think like Quinton Fortune, Giggsy, you know those players playing on the wing and able to do the hard work. But as well there is the aspect of Giggsy being very very technical but he was one of the players who had no doubt. Sometimes I see Rashford thinking 'should I run or should I pass or should I dribble or should I shoot' and you can see that he is thinking. I never felt this with Giggsy, you could see that the guy could go left or right and still cross the ball or shoot if he wanted to but without that kind of hesitation.
This is the type of player that maybe can do the same magic that Robin has done with Rasmus but I do think when you name the likes of Ji-Sung Park and all those players that were able to play on the wing but able to disrupt any side with different types of qualities, it's all about adapting. You have to adapt and if you recognise that your defender is very strong on the one-on-one you do different stuff, you play one-twos and you come inside and do different stuff and when you feel like you have the advantage physically you just run, it's that simple."
If you could play under any current Premier League manager, who would it be and why?
"I would love to have played with Pep Guardiola because I love to improve, but it's true that I don't really fancy being dictated to in a way that's telling me exactly where to run, I was an instinct player. But yes as I said I like to improve and I think he has brought something special, but I will say the same with Klopp, there are two managers that have brought something special. But there are so many, I would have loved to have played under Zidane, Ancelotti, so many, but those two in the Premier League come to my mind straight away."
Do you think Tottenham still need to replace Harry Kane or have you seen enough from Richarlison’s recent run of form to suggest he can be Spurs’ main striker?
"That's the problem, when you come after Harry Kane you will be in trouble. I have seen this for example with Olivier Giroud. Top striker, one of the best, but comes after Thierry Henry and that's the problem. Now when you have a different kind of style, people always have the easy road in their head and say 'oh but he's not like Harry Kane, he's not doing the same' that's difficult. That's the situation that Richarlison needs to answer. I think he's got the quality to do that, sometimes he's a bit like that player who has his style and will stick to it where he has to improve, he has to learn, he has to be wishing to do some stuff for the team like Son and other players can really benefit from.
That's the angle the manager is trying, but that's not something that comes in three months, it's really tough. It's really hard because Harry Kane was such a big player, capable of fixing the midfield when the midfield were weak and fixing the problems by scoring goals where those players were not playing well, or playing well and you need to finish. So this guy was such an immense player for Tottenham that if you have a player who is really good at coming to the ball and not a real finisher like Harry Kane was, you're always going to feel like he's not playing well.
He's doing his thing, but he hasn't been recognised as being a top, top scorer. He's not a goalscorer. He can score goals, but he's not a goalscorer, he's not a machine in front of goal. He has to still have his ratio of one in four, something like this, where Harry was one in two or maybe even one in one, so it's a hard job. I think that the manager may have to think about competition or a different style to really compliment Son."
Read More:

Subscribe now for the latest previews, exclusive tips supported by stats, and top offers sent directly to your inbox.