Steve McManaman: Galopin Des Champs is my favourite for the Gold Cup at Cheltenham.

With the Cheltenham Festival set to get underway, racehorse owner and former Liverpool midfielder Steve McManaman has been speaking to Betfred and has claimed that Galopin Des Champs is his favourite for this year’s Gold Cup. Steve also spoke to us about why he would prefer to win the Grand National over any race at the Cheltenham Festival and has also provided his thoughts on all the latest news from the footballing world. 

The Gold Cup is of course the Cheltenham Festival's blue riband event. Who's your fancy for it this year?

“Galopin Des Champs is obviously the favourite, but I think it all depends on what the weather’s like on the day. If it’s soft ground, then I believe he will win it quite easily. When he won at the Dublin Festival, he won easily, beating everybody, and his form has been really good. If I have to choose a winner now, then it would have to be Galopin Des Champs as his form has been rock solid and he’s beaten Fastorslow a couple of times in their last few encounters.

“I don’t know what the ground’s going to be like, but it’s currently raining down south, so I’m going to have to say Galopin Des Champs.”

As a racehorse owner yourself, would you rather win any race at the Cheltenham Festival or the Grand National?

“It all depends on what race it is. I’d bloody love to win the Grand National, but Cheltenham has a bit more kudos. The best horses are primed for Cheltenham and Aintree comes three or four weeks later. The good horses do, of course, go to Aintree, but I believe that Cheltenham is the festival that everybody’s primed for. If you can win a featured race at Cheltenham, then there’s more kudos with that really. However, I’d swap it all for winning the Grand National.” 

What is your lay of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival? Any fancied horse you just can't see winning next week.

“State Man is 1/3 in the Champion Hurdle, Lossiemouth’s 1/3 in the Mares’ Hurdle and Ballyburn’s odds-on in the Novices’ Hurdle, so I’d say the hardest race to call this year is the Gold Cup. As Galopin Des Champs is 5/4, that would be the one question mark. Most of the favourites are Willie Mullins’ horses and his record at Cheltenham is brilliant, so it’s difficult for me to predict a lay for the festival.”

After Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Sunday, which team do you now believe has the advantage in the Premier League title race?

“To be very honest, I don’t believe any of them have an advantage in the title race at the moment. There’s the FA Cup games this weekend and then there’s the international break, and it will give them all the rest they need. 

“Manchester City and Arsenal face each other at the Etihad on the 31st March, so Liverpool have the opportunity to jump ahead of the pair of them. Manchester City then have Aston Villa, but if Aston Villa play anything like they did against Tottenham, then you think Manchester City should beat them quite comfortably, especially at the Etihad.

“Arsenal need to go away to Tottenham, Liverpool need to go to Manchester United and Everton, so I believe it’s too tight for anyone to have an advantage. All the teams will drop points and it’s not going to be like two or three years ago when Manchester City and Liverpool won every game from January until the end of the season. It won’t be like that, especially when you consider that points will be taken off either, or both, Manchester City and Arsenal in a couple of week’s time. I don’t believe anybody’s got a particular advantage at the moment.”

Do you believe Liverpool has an easier run-in than Arsenal and Manchester City?

“Possibly. Their most notable hard games will be away to Manchester United and Everton and Tottenham at home. In terms of the league position of their upcoming opponents, then you could say that Liverpool have an easier run-in than Manchester City and Arsenal, but going to Old Trafford is never easy and going away to Goodison Park will be difficult, especially when you consider when it could be rearranged for and whether Everton are in desperate need of points. 

Their run-in may look best on paper but I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily the easiest.”

As a Liverpool fan, were you happy with the result on Sunday or do you believe Manchester City were there for the taking?

“I was happy enough in the end with the result because I thought Liverpool played really well. It wasn’t as if Liverpool were hanging on for a result or Manchester City battered them, because it wasn’t like that at all. I thought Liverpool were very, very good, particularly in the second-half where they had opportunities to win the game. 

“Liverpool fans would have left the game thinking that Manchester City, the team to beat, were second best and they were the better team. [Jérémy] Doku hit the post, but Liverpool had multiple chances to take the lead early in the second-half. 

“When you consider the injury problems they have, Liverpool didn’t even have their strongest team out on Sunday, so when you look at it like that as a Liverpool fan, the overall feeling would be that their team played really well in a very intense game.”

Do you agree with this notion stated by a number of pundits that Arsenal need to win at Manchester City in their next league fixture to have any chance of winning the Premier League title?

“No, not at all because what if they draw? Are people going to say if they draw it’s not good enough? Come on. Even if they lose, they’d only be two points behind Manchester City, so it’s not the end of the world with nine league games to go. This belief that they have to win away at Manchester City is nonsense. However, if they go to the Etihad and get hammered, all the stories and claims from last season will start to re-emerge again on social media and people will be questioning whether they can handle the pressure and things like that. 

“Arsenal now have a better team than they had last season, they’re scoring plenty of goals and with the addition of Declan Rice this season, they’re mentally stronger than they were last year. They just need to get rid of the demons they had last year.” 

Do you believe Jérémy Doku was fortunate to not concede a penalty late on in the game?

“At the time, I thought Doku was rather fortunate but ultimately, I don’t believe it was a penalty. I didn’t think that Michael Oliver was going to give a penalty in the 97th minute. For it to be given, it would have had to have been like the penalty that Manchester City conceded earlier in the second-half where it was a definite penalty. There was no way that the game was going to be decided by a penalty in the 97th minute. 

“I understand Jürgen Klopp’s reading of it, but I didn’t believe it was going to be given at all. If it was given and Liverpool won 2-1, then it would have all been about Michael Oliver on Monday morning rather than the game, which was the real winner because it was a really, really good game between two outstanding teams.”

Do you believe Michael Edwards returning to Liverpool would be a major coup for your former club?

“I think it would be because everybody wants stability don’t they? It’s not only Jürgen Klopp leaving Liverpool this summer, but all his staff are too. There’s been question marks regarding the Sporting Director and obviously Jörg Schmadtke isn’t in the job anymore, so gaps needed to be filled and they needed to be filled very quickly. Stability needs to reign and a process needs to be put in place to start bringing in the new manager and players for next season. I believe Michael coming back will be brilliant.”

How do you expect Liverpool to get on away at Old Trafford on Sunday in their FA Cup quarter-final?

“Last week, and I say this with all due respect to the FA Cup, you would have thought this game was a bit of a hindrance for Liverpool in all honesty. However, after their result against Sparta Prague, they can have a good crack at it. The 5-1 result over Sparta Prague now allows them to rest players, if they want to, in the second leg. They can play the kids at Anfield on Thursday because that job is effectively done and they can then go very strong against Manchester United and if they do, then they will be favourites to win that game, definitely. 

“If you look at Manchester United’s form against Fulham, Manchester City and even Everton the other day, Liverpool should be the favourites if they put a strong team out.”

The Telegraph believe that Bayern Munich are the favourites to hire Xabi Alonso as their next manager. If not Alonso, then who would you want to take charge of Liverpool next season?

“Xabi Alonso’s work at Bayer Leverkusen this season has been great and the same can be said for Rúben Amorim at Sporting Lisbon because they’re both top of their respective leagues and playing very well. Julian Nagelsmann’s name has been mentioned, but there are question marks surrounding him and Roberto De Zerbi’s been mentioned but over the last few months, his reputation has suffered a little bit after defeats to Luton and Fulham, as well as that heavy beating at the hands of Roma. 

“Xabi Alonso and Rúben Amorim are the outstanding candidates. Xabi’s record at the moment is superb and he may feel that the Liverpool job is too soon for him in his managerial career and it would be interesting to see if he’d be prepared to jump ship from Bayer Leverkusen to Bayern Munich. 

“If he wins the Bundesliga this season, he will be an absolute hero at Bayer Leverkusen and he’ll be able to do whatever he wants if that happens.”

Why do you believe Alonso would choose Bayern Munich over Liverpool?

“I don’t think he necessarily would. Bayern Munich have been after him for a while, so if he does decide to go there then maybe it would be because he knows the Bundesliga, but I don’t necessarily believe he would choose Bayern Munich over Liverpool. 

“I think he could have got the Bayern Munich job whenever he wanted it because they’ve been desperate to have him for a long time, but I don’t know whether he wants that job or the Liverpool job yet.”

The Telegraph have also reported that Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle United are in the race to sign Wolves’ Pedro Neto. Would you like to see the Portuguese international at Anfield next season?

“I think he’s a wonderful player, but I can’t see him at Anfield because I believe Wolves will want an extortionate amount of money for him when you consider the financial difficulties they’re currently in. He plays in the same position that Mo Salah occupies for Liverpool and where Harvey Elliott fills in on occasion, so if Wolves want around £100 million for him, then I’d be very surprised if he turns up at Liverpool.”

After receiving a two-game ban recently for a rant at a referee, are you concerned by Jude Bellingham’s temperament at times?

“No. If you look at the circumstances, you can understand why everybody was annoyed. I don’t understand why he got a straight red; I think it was for the use of his English language rather than his Spanish, so it was a surprise.

“He wants to win. The circumstances of the so-called rant at the referee was because, of course, he scored the winning goal after the whistle had blown, so I think it was just frustration really. Everybody was shouting at the referee, and he must have taken umbrage at what he said that resulted in him being sent off. He missed the Celta Vigo game on Sunday, and they won comfortably, but it’s hard to understand, especially when you realise the circumstances of the sending-off. It’s easier to understand a horrific tackle or something else.”

After their round of 16 tie against RB Leipzig, do you believe Real Madrid should still be considered as one of the favourites to win the Champions League this season?

“I do because I’ve seen them do this loads of times before and then they’ve gone on to win something. I’ve watched them lose legs 2-0, then come back and win 3-0. I’ve seen them do it many times, in group stages, in the early stages of the knockout stages. I don’t think they’re favourites; Manchester City are the favourites still, but when I look across the European teams and the teams that are remaining, they should still be considered as one of them. But Manchester City are the standout team in the Champions League. 

“Paris Saint-Germain are slowly but surely going about their business because they’ve not got the superstars anymore. There’s nothing been said about Kylian [Mbappé] leaving until the Champions League is over and done with. Bayern Munich had a good result in their second leg against Lazio too. However, when you look at the overall form and how teams are playing, Manchester City are favourites, but Real Madrid, were excellent when I saw them play against Girona, and when they get everybody back, and there’s talk of Éder Militão and Thibaut Courtois returning soon, they will still have to be considered as one of the favourites.”

Gareth Southgate is amongst the favourites to become the next Manchester United manager, despite Erik ten Hag still being employed by the club. Do you believe Gareth would seamlessly adapt moving from international management back into club management?

“I think he would be fine personally, but I just can’t see it happening. I believe Manchester United have to go for a more high-profile manager than Gareth. That’s no disrespect to him, but I just think they would have to go for a day-to-day manager, someone who's been in the job every single day, rather than an international manager. I’d be surprised if they went for someone like Graham Potter too, but they may do. I’ve got no idea what David Brailsford and Sir Jim Ratcliffe want to do, but I think with the pressure from the fans, they would have to appoint a big-name manager and a big-name manager that has got something on their CV to say ‘I can manage Manchester United.’

“I think the job is so big. I’ve had this discussion before about certain clubs, but you’ve got to hire the right manager with the right CV and the right stature. You can’t go for managers with question marks over their names and that’s what Gareth would be because he hasn’t been a day-to-day manager for years and he hasn’t necessarily lifted trophies at the highest level and that’s what the Manchester United fans would want.

“You can imagine Gareth or Graham Potter being appointed after Jürgen Klopp for example, and as I’ve said, I really like these managers, but you can imagine what the fans would be like if these managers came in. They would be saying ‘what about this and what about that?’, and as soon as you have question marks over managers, you’re on the back foot straight away.

“You need a manager to come in and be like ‘he’s done this, he’s done that, he’s won this and he’s won that,’ and that’s how you get your message across and win over all the fans because ultimately that’s who you’re trying to please. You might think it’s the right decision for yourself as the boss, but you’ve got 40 million fans around the world who start to question you, and that’s when the trouble starts.”

Chelsea are said to be interested in triggering Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams’ £43 million release clause. Do you believe he’s currently good enough to justify that figure and excel at a huge Premier League club?

“If I’m being completely honest, I think he’d be mad to go to Chelsea because you just don’t know what you’re going to get with them. They’ve got too many players, with many of them lacking gametime, and the club is all over the place. They may change the manager, so if I was Nico Williams, I’d be very wary if Chelsea were interested.

“I don’t think he would be good enough to get into Liverpool or Manchester City’s teams, but of course he can play in the Premier League and £43 million isn’t necessarily a lot of money for Premier League teams now, so somebody may take a chance on him because of the price tag and the type of player he is. 

“He wants to be playing, he wants to beat players and he wants to take people on. If he wants to go to Chelsea, I’d say be careful because nobody knows what direction they’re going in. Nobody knows if [Mauricio] Potchenttino will be here this time next year. Nobody knows what players they’re going to try and sell in the summer and what financial FFP problems they have, but he can definitely play in the Premier League.”