Andy Cole quotes: Disrespectful to compare Nunez to me; Mystified why Gakpo chose Liverpool over United; Howe will be replaced at Newcastle by ‘big name manager’

Andy Cole spoke exclusively to Casinos En Ligne about a number of clubs, including Liverpool and Nunez, Eddie Howe at Newcastle & Sancho at United.

Irked by comparisons to Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez

Nunez has faced criticism over his inconsistent finishing and Cole revealed his frustration at being compared to the struggling Kop star by a journalist on Twitter recently.

Cole said: “To be fair I wouldn’t give him any advice. Everyone on social media wants to give him advice. Someone said they put him in the same bracket as me and I said to myself I find that very, very disrespectful. Nunez is a totally different player to me. He tried to mention that he gets himself in positions but doesn’t finish off his chances.

“You never know what’s going through a certain individual’s mind, what he’s struggling with. He’s robust, he’s strong, he gets in great positions but for some reason his finishing is lacking at the present moment.”

‘Mystified’ why Cody Gakpo chose Liverpool over Man United

Cole said: “Wow I’m really not sure what happened there. All reports before and during the World Cup said the same thing, that he was headed for Manchester United. What happened after that? I’m as mystified as everybody else.”

Eddie Howe will be replaced by a ‘bigger name’ manager at Newcastle

Cole said: “If you look at the majority of clubs that get taken over, they always end up going for a big name manager because the perception is you’ve got a better chance of bringing in big name players. It all depends on what they see as the target.

“Are they trying to win the Premier League, then the Champions League? How much investment is being put into the club? The game is about winning and Eddie Howe has done a fantastic job but would I be surprised if Newcastle brought in a bigger name manager? No, I wouldn’t be shocked.”

I want 5 minutes with Jadon Sancho to ask him “What’s going wrong?”

Cole said: “I really would like to have five minutes to sit down with Sancho and find out what’s going on and where it’s gone wrong. Us in the media have a tendency to say ‘it’s this, it’s that, he’s not working hard enough’ etc. But it’s not just about that is it?

It’s not about someone working hard enough because on the flipside it’s not enough to simply work hard. That’s a given. When people say ‘what are his attributes?’ and people say ‘he works really hard’. Great but that’s the minimum. Who doesn’t work hard? But with Sancho I’d love just five minutes with him to hear his side and see how he reckons he can turn it around.”

Full of praise for Haaland ahead of Manchester derby

Cole said: “He’s clinical and I was in this position at Newcastle. When you have a team that is built for you all the chances are going to be created for you it makes it easy. If you look at the way Man City play when he’s in the team, all he does is run the box. City have been like this for years but no one’s scored the variety of goals like Haaland has. If you look at his numbers it’s not even a surprise because they’ve been creating so many chances previously.

“He had two touches of the ball in the first half an hour the other night and one of those was a goal. He doesn’t get involved in the build up but when you’ve got the likes of De Bruyne, Mahrez, Grealish to do the creating you don’t have to get involved. He’ll burst into the box, have one chance, take it and put his side 1-0 up and they’ve got a great chance of winning the game.”