Laura Woods: Don’t Compare Szoboszlai With Gerrard

SZOBOSZLAI AS GOOD AS GERRARD? NOT YET

I think it’s unfair to compare Dominic Szoboszlai and Steven Gerrard.

Szoboszlai is only at the start of his Liverpool career and, although he’s been their best player this season and makes big moments happen in big games, he’s nowhere near the level that Gerrard operated at yet.

Stevie has an entire career behind him and I don’t really think it’s right to be comparing them at this stage.

I do think Szoboszlai will get better, which is a pretty exciting thought for Liverpool fans, and we can get carried away with all of these comparisons with other players.

My view is just let them be and see where they can get to.

Szoboszlai is playing at a very high level at the moment – and who knows where Liverpool would be without him – but Gerrard was different class and is one of the best midfielders the game has ever seen.

They played in two different eras and, if Szoboszlai turns out to be anywhere near as good as Gerrard was, Liverpool have got a serious player on their hands for the future.

Liverpool to finish top four is 11/10 with BetMGM

FRANK HAD TO GO; SPURS HAVE BIG PROBLEMS

The Tottenham manager situation is a very interesting one.

I think the big question is whether the system, recruitment and general style of play at Brentford make Thomas Frank look good or have Spurs made him look bad… or both?

There are clearly a lot of problems at Tottenham, probably more than meets the eye.

They’ve tried all sorts of managers and none of them have worked but I do think the players have to take responsibility because they’ve let Frank down.

He seems like a really good guy and I do feel sorry for him. The results weren’t good enough and they were right to make a change.

As to what they need now, who knows!

In all honesty, I’m not even sure if Spurs know what they need and will be very interested to see what they do ahead of next season.

As for Frank, I don’t think this will tarnish his reputation too much and I fully expect him to get another job sooner rather than later.

In this age, good managers are very hard to come by and Frank is certainly one of those.

FOREST HIRINGS & FIRINGS VERY CONFUSING

The issue the Nottingham Forest fans seem to have is that there is no stability at the club – four different managers in one season shows that.

For me, it probably highlights how good a job Nuno Espirito Santo did and the position he got them to.

Since his departure, it’s been pretty slow progress and it does come across a bit trigger-happy sacking three managers by early February.

There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the managers they pick and I just think they need to sit down and nail down an identity and style of play they want and stick to it.

It feels a bit like you’re trying different shoes until you find the one that fits as opposed to going out and buying the actual ones you want.

The team follows that analogy as there’s a group there that have all been brought in by different managers with different styles and philosophies.

Some players don’t fit the way certain managers want to play and it all just gets very confusing.

Will the latest hire work to keep them up? Time will tell…

Nottingham Forest to be relegated is 5/2 with BetMGM

Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change