Alan Shearer Exclusive: Amorim to Man Utd, Cole Palmer for Ballon d'Or and League Cup reaction | OneFootball

INEOS must get Amorim appointment right

Ruben Amorim has been named the next Manchester Unted manager, and for INEOS' sake, it is a decision that they must get right because they've had a poor start to their time at the club.

They have gone in there, cost-cut, got rid of a lot of normal working people, but then they decided to give Erik ten Hag a new contract, £200 million to spend and then, after three and a half months, decide to sack him. That isn't a very good start at all.

They must get this decision right. It's a big call and there are no guarantees but what Ruben Amorim does hopefully bring is youth, enthusiasm and know-how even though he is still so young.

He has a great record up to now at a big football club in Sporting, but he's going to a giant of a football club, which is very different, so they must get this appointment right.

Amorim age isn't a concern, but this is a step up for him

Sporting are obviously a very big club but nowhere near as big as Man United, who're one of, if not the biggest club in the world.

You can see the reaction, the scrutiny and the intensity that's put on that club every week. He looks very promising, very good, and you cannot argue with the job he has done at Sporting, but it is without doubt a step up at Manchester United.

The team can improve quite quickly; there's no doubt that Man United are better than 14th in the Premier League. How good they can be remains to be seen.

Without additions, I doubt they are top four material at this stage. We'll have to wait and see if they can do business in January but they're much better than 14th position.

Ruben Amorim will likely have his own staff to bring in

Amorim now will have to take a decision on whether to keep Ruud van Nistelrooy. There are so many factors to that which we don't know, but Ruud is a budding no.1.

He's a manager, he's had a taste of it again against Leicester on Wednesday and whether he gets the same again this weekend or not, I suspect at some stage, that he'll want to go and be a manager himself once again.

Whether he wants to do that now or whether he's prepared to wait for a period, we don't know, but he was in for the Burnley job in the summer so it's clear that he wants to be a manager, it's just a matter of when. Amorim may also bring in all his own staff in, so it's one to watch if Ruud stays on at the club when the manager comes in.

Bruno is the key, but can Amorim restore Rashford confidence?

Bruno Fernandes is a top-quality player, and I think he'd be integral to Amorim's plans, and why shouldn't he be because of who he is and what he can bring to the team.

Typically, Bruno scores twice in the week and if Ten Hag was watching he'd be thinking 'hang on, where were you guys at the weekend?'

They missed five or six sitters against West Ham, but then they score five goals in the cup, so a penny for his thoughts last night.

The thing is, Ruben Amorim will have his own ideas. He'll work out who he wants to keep and who he wants to push to one side. Marcus Rashford is another one he must think about and get right.

Does he keep him or look to move him on? There is no doubt of the ability there - the 30-odd goals he scored a couple of years ago tells you that there's ability in there - but can Amorim get it out of him once again and restore his confidence?

It's just where Marcus is at this moment in time and whether he wants to do it. We haven't seen enough from him of late and why that is I don't know as we're not inside the football club.

Viktor Gyökeres could be an option if Man Utd have money to spend

Whichever new manager takes the role, the priority must be to get a big-hitter centre forward in because, as much as I think there's a player in Rasmus Hojlund, the ask of him at his age and where he's at now, is too much.

Ruben Amorim would look at the team and identify what's been problematic for Man United in the last year or two and without doubt scoring goals is one of them.

Whether they can go and get Viktor Gyökeres, in terms of how much money they've spent already, we'll have to wait and see.

Cole Palmer has potential to win Ballon d'Or

Cole Palmer finished in the top 30 in the Ballon d'Or rankings earlier this week and without a doubt, he has the potential to win the award one day.

He makes everything look ridiculously easy, as if he's playing at the park with his pals. He's a super talent and he's only going to get better so there's potential for Palmer to win the Ballon d'Or, absolutely.

The thing is, the players who usually win the Ballon d'Or tend to win trophies with their club and country so I guess for Palmer to win it, Chelsea and England will have to be successful. There's no doubt Palmer has the talent but England or Chelsea will have to win something too.

Maresca getting a tune out of Palmer and has done well

Enzo Maresca has made a decent start as Chelsea manager, but Chelsea will still be up and down, so whether they can finish in the top four remains to be seen. My guess would be anywhere between fourth and eighth and maybe a run in the FA Cup and the Conference League for Chelsea this season.

Maresca is doing a fine job, and there's ability in there but it's been a tough club to manage in recent times.

Old Trafford will feel a renewed sense of belief

When a manager leaves and another comes in, there'll be a different atmosphere, a renewed hope and belief at Old Trafford on Sunday, especially after Man United scored five goals in the Carabao Cup.

There'll be more hope going into the game this weekend than there was last week against West Ham and that could really energise the players on the pitch.

Score draw predicted for Man Utd v Chelsea

I was at St James' for Chelsea's trip in midweek, and it was a completely changed team from the league game between the two, and the side he puts out against Man United will be different again.

It's a tough one to call and probably why I'll go for a score draw. I fancy both teams to score because both teams can improve defensively, and the added detail of a new manager in the dugout at Old Trafford for the first in the Premier League, whether that's Ruben or Ruud, means Man Utd can get something out of this game.

Saka or Salah? One on either wing please!

Looking back to Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Liverpool last week, I was asked to choose between Bukayo Saka and Mohamed Salah, which is impossible because they're both fantastic players.

Saka recently missed back-to-back games for the first time in five years which, when you think about how many times he gets kicked, and the work he gets through, is incredible.

For him to come back in and put in the performance he did against Liverpool and score the goal he did, was unbelievable. But that's what Salah is too. He was quiet for large parts against Arsenal but when Salah came alive, there was no mistake with a devastating finish.

It's a tough one. They're both amazing players for their clubs and I won't choose which one to have on my right wing, I'd like one on either side!

Spurs can go all the way in League Cup after City victory

Tottenham knocked out Man City in the League Cup on Wednesday and their prize for doing so is Man United at home, so it's a tough draw for them, but it was a big win.

Whatever side Man City put out, they're going to be competitive, even though if they had to choose a competition to go out of, it would probably be the League Cup.

It was a big result for Ange Postecoglou, but they sustained a couple of injuries, with Micky Van de Ven having to go off with a hamstring injury which means he'll likely be out for a period. That's not good news for Spurs because we know what he brings to the team.

If you asked the chairman - Daniel Levy - he would say he'd prefer to get into the top four, but If you asked me, the players and Ange Postecoglou, they'd want to win a trophy.

Newcastle League Cup win should calm everybody down

Newcastle also advanced in the League Cup, and it was a big game and win because it calmed everything down, and eased tensions a little bit. The balance in the midfield was important and really worked on Wednesday night.

Eddie Howe now has some decisions to make ahead of the Arsenal game because there was a really good, balanced effort against Chelsea. The energy was there, the pressing in the first half and the nastiness was back too. Newcastle were back to how they were in the last couple of seasons.

It was a result Newcastle needed and a really good performance.

Newcastle have to perform in all competitions, that's the pressure of representing the club. You must do well in the league as well as trying to win a trophy because you can't finish 13th or 14th, that's not acceptable.

If you asked me, or anyone in Newcastle 'trophy or top four?', there's no doubt every single person would say trophy. By the time the cup final comes next year, it will have been 70 years since Newcastle won a domestic trophy, so any trophy would be amazing.

They've got a lovely draw against Brentford in the quarterfinals, so I'm hoping this kick-starts Newcastle's season.

If Newcastle can get into fifth or sixth in the Premier League and manage a trophy, then I think that'd be an amazing season when you consider they haven't signed anyone of significance.

They signed Lloyd Kelly for free but in the last two transfer windows, they haven't really signed anyone to play in the first team and that's why I said that Newcastle haven't really improved.