Speaking exclusively with Thunderpick, former Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Newcastle and Man City midfielder Didi Hamann has given his thoughts on the Premier League and more. The ex-Germany international has given his opinion on Arne Slot’s struggles at Anfield as well as discussed the booing of Marc Guehi and the potential appointment of Xabi Alonso. Hamann also spoke on a potential move from Mohamed Salah to the Saudi Pro League and discussed the ability of MLS clubs to sign stars from Europe.
What did you make of Liverpool’s defeat to Man City?
Didi Hamann: It would have been a huge three points for Liverpool in the situation they’re in to scrape past a good team that’s still in the hunt for the title. Wonderful free kick from Dominik Szoboszlai, which we know he’s capable of. And then, just very disappointing, the first goal, I think it’s a great header by Erling Haaland to knock it down where he did. The second one, I don’t think is a penalty. I think it’s very harsh.
The player has nowhere to go. He was just a split second ahead of Alisson to the ball, knocks it out of play, falls over him. I don’t think that’s a penalty. Very harsh and a huge blow because things seem to have settled down a bit. Florian Wirtz has been scoring a few goals, coming to life, but the top five is still in the balance.
What did you make of the VAR controversy?
Didi Hamann: I thought he was going to give the goal. The thing we talk about with advantage is, if you asked Man City in the last minute: ‘Do you want a potential goal, or should I give you a free kick outside the box?’ Do you take the goal? I think it’s a no-brainer because that’s the game wrapped up.
I think if he just let it go and gave the goal, it probably would have been the best decision.
Are Liverpool’s Champions League qualification chances at 50/50?
Didi Hamann: Liverpool’s Champions League qualification chances are 50/50. They are four points off now. After winning the league last year, there’s maybe a bit more emphasis on the Champions League this year and obviously they still have a chance, they’re in the last 16.
We need to see what happens in the playoffs. Some of the best games they played this season have been in the Champions League. The way the game is played probably suits them a little bit better in the Champions League. I think they are a runner in the Champions League. If they go deep, which would be good for the club, for the confidence, for the income, it might hurt their chances a little bit of getting in the top five.
This is because they might rest one or two players if they play a semi-final in three or four days’ time. So it’ll be interesting to see. They just haven’t been consistent. Don’t forget, they’re four points off now after 25 games, so we’ve got a bit to go. But if you go back five months, the first five games they all won, they probably shouldn’t have won any of them. So I think they’re in a very fortunate position to only be four points back off fifth.
Can Arsenal still mess up the title race from here?
Didi Hamann: For the Arsenal players, they haven’t been Premier League champions. And unless you do it, you don’t know you’re capable of doing it. So, I think there will be a few edgy moments. But, I think they probably watched Man City beat Liverpool, I think it would have been a huge blow to them, but it makes a big difference to go from losing the game to winning it in four or five minutes. Yeah, I think it’s far from over. I don’t think City are great.
It’s not the City we used to see, but they find a way of winning games and they know how to win the league. They know how to win titles because they’ve got some Premier League winners in the ranks. Yeah, I think it’s game on.
What has gone wrong for Newcastle this season?
Didi Hamann: It’s obviously very disappointing because they probably won’t get into Europe at all for next season. They did so well in the Champions League, coming so close to getting into the top eight and winning in Paris. It’s a Jekyll and Hyde situation between the Premier League and the Champions League, where they did really well. But it’s a very unsatisfying situation because, with the Saudi money coming in, expectations rose.
I think the fans are getting a bit restless. Eddie Howe is very well-liked by the people and speaks well, but the tide is turning. They’ve got to win games, and they’ve got to win them fast. If you look at the team, even though you have to say they’ve probably had a lot of injuries over the course of the season, so have other clubs.
With the players they’ve got and the money they’ve spent, they certainly should be further up the table.
How much will Liverpool miss Dominik Szoboszlai against Sunderland?
Didi Hamann: I think Dominik Szoboszlai has been brilliant. I had my doubts when he first came. I’d seen him here for a few years. I watched him in Austria, in Salzburg. He’s a hugely talented player, but I have to say I didn’t think he’d make the impact he did.
It’s a different game in England, and he’s got a good engine, he’s got a good touch, he’s a good footballer, but it always takes more to find your place in the Premier League, especially for Liverpool.
But I think he’s been brilliant since he signed, and this season you’ve got to say he’s probably the only one coming out with some credit, along with Hugo Ekitike. I think the two guys have been the standout players.
Is Arne Slot right to focus on style of play rather than winning games?
Didi Hamann: I think it’s got to be the other way around. You’ve got to win football games and then you can see how the style of play is, not the other way around. So, I was a bit surprised when I read it from Arne Slot. Because, obviously, when you do win games with confidence, things progress and players usually get a bit more confident. But I’ve never seen Liverpool fans go home after getting beat and saying at least we played well.
It’s a club that’s used to winning. It’s a fan base that’s used to winning, and there’s nothing above winning games or winning trophies.
Style comes second, you have to win games. And as I said, I was a bit surprised when I read it.
What does Arne Slot need to do to keep his job at Liverpool?
Didi Hamann: Arne Slot needs to win at least one knockout round, probably two, in the Champions League and then finish in the top five because, financially, it will be a huge blow to Liverpool. Obviously, with AI, you can do wonderful things these days. If you put the Liverpool squad into the system and say, ‘How likely is it to finish in the top five?’ you probably would have got 98 or 99%.
If you miss out, financially, it’s a bad situation for the club. I think for Slot to have a chance to be there next season, he’s got to finish in the top five, and maybe get to the semi-final of the Champions League.
But the question the board has to ask is, ‘Are we capable of winning the league with him next season?’ There’s quite a gap now. Then you can say, ‘Well, can we make up 20 points or 25 points on Arsenal and City next season?’
I think that’s the question because expectations rose with the players they brought in. Everybody thought we’d definitely compete for the league because we’re just too good to not win games. In the Champions League, you need a bit of luck. With a bit of luck, we might be in business as well. So overall, it’s been very disappointing. I think the next three months will decide what’s going to happen.
Is Xabi Alonso the obvious candidate to take over from Arne Slot?
Didi Hamann: Xabi Alonso the obvious candidate to take over from Arne Slot. Obviously there have been reports that they spoke to him. I’m not sure that’s true.
What I also hear is that City needs a new manager as well in the summer. I’m pretty sure with the Spanish background they’ve got, they probably spoke to him, approached him. It’s hard to know what his plans are because I think he’ll be hugely disappointed about his time at Real Madrid.
Obviously he’s played in Madrid, he’s still got a place there, moved back there with the family. And after six months he’s gone because he probably thought he’d be there for three, four, five years.
Liverpool will always be one of the first places for Xabi Alonso because he’s got so fond memories. Can I see him coming to Liverpool? Yeah, I can.
However, something tells me it’s not going to happen. I don’t know. I just have a feeling. He certainly wants to manage again, still a very, very young manager, I wouldn’t be surprised, but for some reason, I don’t think it’s going to happen.
Could you see Steven Gerrard being Liverpool’s assistant manager at Liverpool?
Didi Hamann: I don’t think Steven Gerrard would turn down any job at Liverpool, he has said that if the club wants him, if the club needs him, he couldn’t say no.
Xabi Alonso has got his people in, had them in Leverkusen, he took them to Madrid. I think he worked with him for quite a few years. So I think for the backroom staff, there’s very little change usually, unless somebody wants to go off on their own. I’d like to see Stevie in some capacity at the club. If Xabi comes back in, as assistant manager? I can’t really see that because I think that Stevie probably wants to manage himself again.
I don’t think he would have a problem with number two, but I think he’s a guy who should be in the first row, not the second.
Is age catching up with Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool?
Didi Hamann: Is age catching up with Virgil van Dijk? I think so, as well as the form of the team having an impact on his own performances.
Obviously, he’s in his 30s now. If you compare it with last year, he played in a very dominant team that put a lot of pressure on opponents. Sometimes when the opponents got the ball back, they were very tired, and it was pretty easy to get the ball back. Sometimes it was a long ball, which was easy for the centre-backs to deal with.
I think this is where he set the bar for the last eight or nine years since he came to the club, because he’s probably not made a mistake for a long time. He used to help his team-mates out when they made mistakes, now he needs his teammates, and more often than not, there’s nobody there to help him and clear the situation.
Obviously, confidence is probably a factor. Maybe he starts to think nobody’s satisfied with the situation. Even though he’s an experienced player, they do need confidence as well. And if things don’t go well, they start to wonder. So I think it’s a combination of both.
He is the captain, should be the captain, and I hope he still is next season.
What did you think of Liverpool fans booing Marc Guehi?
Didi Hamann: The booing of Marc Guehi, I think it was poor. The guy never played for the club. He made it clear he wanted to join the club and from what I hear is that they could have had him in the summer. It was pretty close to him signing for a little bit more money.
Liverpool also spent £400million on three players and then haven’t got another £10m for Guehi. Obviously, he wasn’t a priority. I understand that. But I think it’s only Liverpool to blame. I didn’t like the reaction. I didn’t like it when Trent came back a few months ago.
Guehi might be wondering why it happened given that he wanted to sign, but he is now playing for a good team and he’s probably made the right choice.
Is re-signing Jarrell Quansah a good move by Liverpool?
Didi Hamann: It’s been a strange season for Leverkusen so far. Obviously, they got Erik ten Hag in the summer, but they sacked him, Kasper Hjulmand, the former Danish national team manager, steadied the ship and did okay initially, but then they got beaten badly by PSG.
Jarrell Quansah I think he’s done okay, it’s been a good experience for him so far. He hasn’t set the world alight, but at the same time, I can’t remember too many mistakes he’s made.
‘I’m not sure if there’s a clause in the contract or whatever, because I think Leverkusen would be very reluctant to let him go at this stage and also in the summer.
Is Florian Wirtz showing signs of being a player worth £100million?
Didi Hamann: Florian Wirtz has turned things around at Liverpool and I can’t see why, but sometimes these things happen. You get the first goal, then you get a bit of confidence, and all of a sudden things fall into place. It’s just the way it goes.
Sometimes you can try to push it too hard, not playing well, and not getting on the end of things. Once it starts going the right way, it’s the same thing, you can’t stop it. I said a few weeks ago I wasn’t sure whether he was going to cut it because it’s been too long now. We’re past Christmas and he’s hardly scored and he’s not assisted. But he seems like a different player. Confidence is growing; confidence is coming back.
However, I think now he has to do it against the bigger teams because some of the games where he scored or assisted were against West Ham, Wolves, and I think 10-man Spurs. I think now what he has to do is do it against the better teams. He’s got to do it against Villa, against City, against Arsenal, and also in the Champions League.
I think the next three or four months are really vital for the club. If they were to get knocked out in the last 16 and not qualify for the Champions League, I think there might be a lot of things happening in the summer.
Will we ever see Mohamed Salah back to his best at Liverpool?
Didi Hamann: I didn’t really understand when Mohamed Salah said he’s done so much for the club and shouldn’t need to fight for his place every single day. I think he should fight, he has to fight for his place. I think they found a good solution, but maybe it would have been best for both sides if they had gone separate ways in the winter.
At the same time, I don’t really want to see the end of an era for a player who has won everything. People still talk now, years later, about Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, and Salah. Salah and Mane, didn’t get on the best, but on the pitch, they were just dynamite, the pair of them. Firmino linked it all together. It would have been sad to see it end this way during the season.
So I think they probably made the right call, especially because Liverpool is a bit different in that respect with the way they treat managers and their players. He’s got a year left on his contract now. Is he the same player? No, he’s not. And I mentioned it before, he has struggled to score goals from open play since Christmas last year.
So, is there a chance he’s going to leave in the summer? I think, yes, there is. I don’t know the financial situation, but Liverpool probably has to bring in at least one quality winger, a player who makes a difference. Maybe a squad player is not enough, maybe you need somebody who starts as a regular.
I think he could have gone last year or two years ago, but he didn’t. I’m not sure he wants to go, but I think there’s a chance that maybe they go separate ways in the summer.
Might European giants now shy away from a move for Mohamed Salah?
Didi Hamann: Mohamed Salah’s future depends on whether Liverpool want a transfer fee, as well as his wages, but the Italians always appreciate an older player more than we do in Germany and maybe in England.
If you look at Inter, if you look at other clubs, they’ve got managers who are older than the ones in other countries. They’ve got the players, if you look at Inter. And obviously, he had a spell at Roma, so he’s been there before. Maybe he’s got unfinished business in Serie A. And there are some brilliant clubs. If you look at Roma, they haven’t really been on the map in the last few years. What a wonderful story that would be if he went back to Roma.
Then obviously with the Milan clubs, you always have a chance in the league. They’ve both done well in the Champions League in recent years.
I wouldn’t say Saudi is the only destination, it’s probably the most likely one, but I think there will be one or two clubs who will be sniffing once they hear that he might go and Italy might just be perfect.
Could Al-Nassr appease Cristiano Ronaldo by signing Mohamed Salah?
Didi Hamann: It’s a bizarre situation for Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi, it seems as though he may have gone on strike because of the transfer situation at Al-Nassr.
It will be interesting to see how it pans out, but one way to appease him might be by agreeing to sign Mohamed Salah in the summer, it might be the perfect situation for him.
Can MLS clubs no longer compete with Saudi Pro League sides?
Didi Hamann: MLS obviously have a salary cap. I believe they can have two or three designated players in their squad who earn more than the basic wage, which I think is about $150,000.
So, financially, it’s a huge advantage. Also, what Saudi Arabia is doing is bringing in some players who are in their prime or still capable of playing at the highest level. Riyad Mahrez went over there, Riqui Puig went over there in his early 20s.
I’m not sure if it’s competition for the MLS because it attracts a different type of player. Saudi Arabia spends a lot on certain players, but I think they are very selective about who they want to bring to their league. On the other hand, the MLS has always been a place where players want to go once they get to a certain age.
Obviously, you have Messi, and I think what is happening in Miami is great for the league. But there are just three or four sports that are just bigger. And if you watched the Super Bowl, what they did in San Francisco was just a different world, it was overwhelming.
Will the league ever compete with basketball or baseball over there? I’m not too sure, because they tried it with Franz Beckenbauer and Pele 40 or 50 years ago.
Other players went over there. It’s tough. I don’t think Saudi Arabia is competition, but the MLS, with Thomas Muller going to Vancouver last year and reaching the finals, I have to say there is more exposure now and I do like watching a bit of MLS.
Want more? Check the second part of our exclusive interview with Didi Hamman.