Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Interview: Gareth Southgate Could Take United Job In Summer
Speaking with Lucky Block in an exclusive interview, Chelsea legend Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink says that if Manchester United came knocking for Gareth Southgate, he would take the job next summer.
The Dutchman also spoke about his admiration for Cole Palmer and believes that this season’s Manchester City side could be there for the taking in the race for the Premier League title…
Full Transcript
Premier League Observations
Q: From the Premier League this weekend, what was surprising and what shocked you?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “I was surprised by West Ham getting that penalty. Very generous. I was a little bit shocked that Aston Villa conceded a last-minute goal to Bournemouth, and then superb, it has to be Cole Palmer’s performance against Newcastle United. He was incredible once again.“
Q: On the title race, if we’re putting Arsenal in there, 5 points back, do you have to put Aston Villa and Chelsea in there too?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “It’s an interesting situation at the top of the Premier League but given that Aston Villa are only one point behind Arsenal, then at this moment in time, you have to put Villa in the title race if you’re putting Arsenal in the race. I don’t think Villa can show the consistency that you need to challenge for an entire season, but they’re up there at the moment.
With Arsenal, you know that when they get all of their best players back and fit, they’re more than capable of winning 15 games in a row, because they’ve got a hell of a squad. The only thing that I was a little bit disappointed with for Arsenal, when they played at home with 10 men against Brighton, they went defensive. When they played against Bournemouth with 10 men, they were defensive. If that was Man City, they would still try to win the game and attack.
I think that Arsenal need to change their mindset, especially when they are playing teams that they should have more than enough to beat. At the moment, it seems like they’re going into games with the mindset of not losing, when they should be going into games with the mindset of winning every single one. Nevertheless, I think if Arsenal or Liverpool want to win the Premier League title, this is the year to do it. I’m looking at this Manchester City team and I don’t think they’re as good as some of the City teams we’ve seen in previous seasons.
I was actually quite shocked when they played Fulham at home, Fulham played a really, really good game and had the ball for long periods of time. If you remember when Man City was on top and destroying teams, when they lost the ball, they used to get it back really quickly and you couldn’t keep the ball against them. Their press used to be so good.
I don’t know if teams have become better, or they have become worse. I think it’s the latter, because they’ve got Haaland, and Haaland doesn’t press as much – even though they are top of the league and on this long unbeaten run, I don’t think they’re as good as they used to be.
They also have some difficult games coming up. They haven’t played Liverpool yet. They haven’t played Tottenham. They haven’t played Villa, and they haven’t played Manchester United yet. City have some tough games to come. If you’re competing against them, you need to be ready to take advantage of any slip ups.“
Q: Who is the one player that has really impressed you this season?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “I was at the Chelsea game at the weekend. When you watch Chelsea, you see Cole Palmer doing some exceptional, one-touch things with the defender on his back. Cole Palmer is the master of taking a touch and then spinning away.
He plays with total freedom. You don’t know what he’s going to do. That pass that he played for Neto was absolutely unreal. Those are the things that he can do, there is no limit in his game.
I’m not surprised, obviously I’ve seen him up close with England and worked with him on a daily basis, but when he does something special, when he finds a pass that only he can see, you’re watching him and thinking ‘Wow. I didn’t think that that pass was possible.’
It’s nice to see him continuing to flourish. He’s a really, really nice kid who just loves to play football. I’m really enjoying watching him at the moment.“
Q: Who are the player that you’re expecting more from this season?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “I think I expect more from Rashford and from Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United.
I’m expecting more from Marcus Rashford because I know Rashford can do much more. Marcus Rashford is an exceptional player – we just haven’t seen enough of it – and I also think that he is the type of player that should be a leader within the Manchester United team.
He has the personality and the charisma to do that – he can carry that team and take the responsibility as the club’s main goal scorer. He has that in his locker. Hopefully we can see him start to show the talent that he has this season because there is still plenty of time for him to have a big, big impact.
With a new manager coming into the club, the first thing he will be looking to do is to get more out of his big players, and that starts with Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford.“
England Connections
Q: You would have known all about the best and emerging young English players from your time with the England squad. Is there one guy that you’re really excited about at the moment?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “Well, he’s on the radar, and I’m sure that he’s on a lot of football fans radar because he has been exceptional since he joined Aston Villa from Middlesborough and that is Morgan Rogers.
He’s a great prospect. I really, really like him. He played with Palmer at Man City (in the academy) and he’s following the same path as Palmer in terms of having the belief in his talent to make it in the Premier League by leaving a club of the stature of Manchester City. I love that about Rogers. He left City, went to Middlesborough in The Championship and was incredible at my old club.
He earned himself a move to Aston Villa and he has been one of their best players since he joined. The impact that he has had on that club in such a short space of time is fantastic. He’s also been doing it in the Champions League too.
At Bournemouth they have a young player as well that came from Bristol City that I like. Alex Scott. Unfortunately for Alex, he got injured in the Arsenal game and will be out for a while, but I think he is a terrific English prospect too.“
Q: A lot has happened since we last spoke regarding England. Thomas Tuchel has been appointed as England boss, does that appointment highlight a lack of top-class Englishmen currently operating in the game?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “I think if there was a really good English manager ready to take over, an English manager that really wanted it, then I can understand that people would want the FA to appoint an Englishman. The reality is, there isn’t an outstanding candidate to appoint and if there isn’t an outstanding candidate, then you have to look at a foreign option. In doing that, I don’t think that the FA can really go wrong by appointing a manager like Thomas Tuchel.
Thomas Tuchel is a big name who’s used to working with big players. He’s used to working under immense pressure because he’s been the manager of some of the world’s biggest clubs.
I think we need to step away from thinking, ‘Oh, he’s a foreigner.’ If the rule is that every nation has to have a manager of the same nationality, then fine, but those rules aren’t there so it’s not even an issue for me (that Thomas Tuchel is foreign).
I was a Dutchman on the England caching staff when we beat my country in the semi-final of the European Championships this summer. I did everything in my power to help England win, and, in many ways, I consider myself more English than Dutch because I’ve lived in this country longer than I lived in Holland. Look, the Netherlands are still very close to my heart, but when you’re a footballer and when you’re a coach, you need to do a job. I was delighted when we won that game in the summer.“
Q: Some people were shocked by Tuchel’s appointment, and some of the language around it, it’s like they want him to fail before he’s even started. You were of course part of Gareth’s team and understand the difficulty of the job, the criticism, whether it’s fair or not. What advice would you give to Thomas and his team when they start the job in January?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “I don’t think that I need to give Thomas Tuchel any advice. I think he will know himself what pressures the job will bring and the level of scrutiny that you’re under when you’re the manager of the England national team. He knows it’s a big job. He understands that. He’s got way more experience than I have for me to give him any advice.
I think he will also want to approach this with a clean slate and in many ways, that is what the England team needs. You shouldn’t be listening to other people, you know?“
Q: You saw the England defenders up close and personal. Out of them all, who is the one that you would least like to have played in your career and why?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “(Laughs) That’s an easy question because when I played, I didn’t care about the quality of the defenders that I was playing against.
What I will say, is that all of the defenders that were selected in Gareth’s England squad has exceptional quality. They were all very, very good players and I got on well with each of them because we would often have conversations about certain strikers and what strikers liked to do. John Stones, Harry Maguire and Marc Guehi. They are great lads and great players.
My mindset as a player was that nobody could intimidate me. Every defender has a weakness, so you just need to find that weakness and expose that weakness. That’s what I used to do, and that would give you the upper hand on them.
They’re all really, really good players. It would be a hell of a battle coming up against any of the individuals from the England squads, but I wouldn’t say I don’t want to play against him or him.“
Q: Gareth Southgate was linked with the Crystal Palace job this week. He said that he wouldn’t go back into management until next year… he was also linked to the United job. Would he find the United job impossible to turn down if he was offered it now it’s available?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “There have been a lot of reports and rumours about Gareth’s next move after England, but he doesn’t talk to me about it when I see him or speak to him. He’s very reserved in that respect.
When you come out of a demanding job like the England one, a job that he gave all of himself to for eight years, where there is immense pressure to succeed and it’s so demanding, you need to take some time for yourself and that is what he is doing at the moment.
If United came knocking in the next few weeks, I think Gareth would say call me in the summer because he is man that is true to his word. I also think that whatever job he takes next, he will want to give it his absolute best and he wants to give that club the best version of Gareth Southgate. For him to do that, he needs to have this period to recharge. You have to respect that.“
Q: Trent Alexander-Arnold and Real Madrid. Not many English players have an experience abroad, you of course had a season with Atletico, if Madrid is an option for Trent, can you see him staying at Liverpool given the success that he’s had there? Would a new challenge with Real prove too hard to turn down?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “Would the prospect of playing for Real Madrid be too difficult for Trent Alexander-Arnold to turn down? That really depends on what his priorities are and what he wants.
If he has that ambition to play abroad, then he would be an asset for any of the world’s biggest clubs because he’s a hell of a player. He’s playing at a top club. I think he has found an even higher level so far this season because he’s playing really well defensively and offensively at the moment.
Liverpool is his boyhood club. He’s won everything at the club and the days of one club players like Steven Gerrard don’t exist anymore. There’s no doubt that if he wanted it, Liverpool would give him a contract for life because he’s that good. The question is does he want to try something new?
I must say that we don’t see enough English players playing abroad. And I think it will help the English national team if we see more English players playing abroad. The Premier League would miss a player of Trent’s quality if he were to depart though, that’s for sure.“
Arsenal
Q: You’ve praised Arsenal’s meanness in defence this season. You said they reminded you of George Graham’s team – is there a danger that they are becoming a bit too cautious and how hard is it to take the shackles off a team when they’ve been set-up conservatively?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “I don’t know if Arsenal are becoming too cautious, it’s all about the mindset of the players and the team. I think that they can score more goals and attack a little bit more. There are certain moments and certain games where they probably don’t have to have everyone behind the ball when they’re defending. Without the ball, they are very, very difficult to break down because every single player puts in a shift.
Sometimes, you need your attacking players to have more of a free role. That’s when you want your players, your leaders on the pitch in the defence and central midfield to say to the attackers, ‘Don’t worry, we will do this job. You stay a little bit higher, and you go and create.’
There are moments when everyone has to dig in and, when you watch this Arsenal team play, you can see that they have a fighting spirit in the team. I was disappointed to see how they reacted to going down to ten men in the games against Brighton and Bournemouth. They took one point from those game, and if you want to win the league, then you have to do more than that and be brave. You have to go for the win even if you’re at a disadvantage.
Man City wouldn’t have tried to lock up those games. They would have gone for the win, and that’s the difference between winning the title and finishing in second or third place.“
Q: A lot of people have suggested that Arsenal don’t have the firepower to win the title this season. Do you agree with that statement? Are Arsenal missing a number nine?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “I don’t think it’s about the No. 9. I think it’s about the mindset. You can play hard with a No. 9 who can score bucket loads of goals and still not win the title. It’s more about the mindset and these players need to demonstrate that they can win at all costs.
They scored the most goals last season with the same players. Scoring goals isn’t a problem for Arsenal, it’s about winning the games that you should win and beating the teams that you should beat.
Arsenal have got more than enough quality to win the title without a goal scorer that puts away 20 to 25 goals a season, but they won’t do that unless they start picking up wins against teams they should be beating, and that’s with or without 11 players on the pitch.“
Q: For Arsenal’s title hopes, for the confidence, do they need to go to St. James Park and win on Saturday to stay in the race?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “I still think it’s a bit early to suggest that Arsenal need to win this game against Newcastle to stay in the title race. Like I said, I think that Manchester City will drop points because I haven’t seen them play at the level that we’ve seen from them over the last few years yet.
I don’t think Arsenal can afford to lose it. If they did, one point from three games, that’s not going to be good for the confidence in the squad.
It will be a really difficult game because Newcastle need to respond to the defeat against Chelsea and Eddie Howe will be looking for a response from his players. They need to start winning games, Newcastle.
If Arsenal can get some of their key players back, then I think they can go there and win the game. We all know what happened up there last season. I don’t think the two teams like each other very much – there’s going to be extra incentive from both clubs to win. I think for Arsenal, if they want to win the title, then this is the kind of test they need to pass.“
Chelsea
Q: Enzo Maresca said that he expects more from Reece James. How do you think the player will respond to those comments over the coming weeks and how do you think James compares to some of Chelsea’s previous captains?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “I haven’t seen Enzo Maresca’s comments. I was told about them, but I’ve not seen them.
The thing is, with Reece James, you have different kinds of leaders. You have the shouting leader. You have the softly spoken one. You have the leader that does their talking on the football pitch by being consistently excellent. I’ve always said that you don’t need to be the loudest voice in the dressing room to be the best captain or leader – you don’t have to shout and scream at people.
We all know that Reece is quite a quiet lad. He holds himself really well, keeps himself to himself, and he’s well respected around the players and at the football club. Reece needs to figure out for himself what kind of leader he wants to be and how he wants to go about it. He has got everybody’s respect at Chelsea.
I also see the challenge from Maresca’s point-of-view and why he made the comments. There are not a lot of players at Chelsea who you would consider outspoken personalities, and that is mainly because it was always the older, more experienced players who would speak in the dressing room. Chelsea have got a really young squad, but I’m sure there are leaders within it who are ready to emerge.“
Q: Chelsea have got such a great squad of players, they can and have been playing two teams when it comes to the Conference League and the Premier League. The size of the squad was an issue for previous managers, but Maresca looks like he has that under control. Have you been impressed by how he has managed that challenge?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “He’s got a big squad and he’s keeping people happy. You don’t hear any bad things coming out of the club anymore. Chelsea are playing well in Europe and they’re playing well in the Premier League. Enzo Maresca must be doing something right.
What pleases me is the quality of the performances this season. Chelsea have, by and large, played really well in every single game. Even when they lost to Liverpool at Anfield a couple of weeks ago, they dominated possession and played some great football. I think that was a very even game and they were unlucky not to take anything form it. Okay, they didn’t create a lot of chances, but they were in control of the game. he display against Newcastle, they responded and put in a great performance.
The only match that they were lucky to win was against Bournemouth. You can see what he’s trying to do, you can see the patterns, you can see that there is an idea behind it.
If you spoke to Maresca, he would say there is a lot of work to be done and a lot more to improve. I think the next thing for Chelsea is, when they go ahead 1-0, to keep going and look for the second, the third. Against Newcastle, they dropped a little bit after the 1-0 and after the taking the lead again at 2-1, but that is a process you have to go through. They are definitely on the right track. I’ve never really spoken to Maresca, but I can see that he’s a very good coach.“
Q: You praised Nicolas Jackson the last time we spoke. Can Jackson follow in your footsteps and score 23 Premier League goals for Chelsea this season?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “Nicolas Jackson is in a good moment. He took his goal against Newcastle really, really well. I must say it was really good play by Neto, but you still have to put the ball in the net and the pace that he put the ball in the net with was really good.
Obviously, there are still a lot of things that he can improve upon in terms of his general play, but what I like about him this season is that he’s starting to score important goals; goals that win you games of football.
I don’t know if he can hit 23 goals or 25 goals this season, but if he keeps on improving, if he works on leading the line with his back to goal, then I don’t think there is anything to stop him from scoring as many goals as I did for Chelsea. In the box, he can be a little bit sharper, coming across defenders and coming to the first post a little bit more. Scoring goals from that area, his last-minute movement. That’s things he can work on and improve.
What does help him is that he’s playing with a hell of a lot of good players around him, giving him opportunities. That will help him (reach 23 goals in a season). He’s still only 23. It’s all up to him, he’s got all the attributes. He can become whatever he wants to become.”
Manchester United
Q: On Erik Ten Hag’s departure, what did you make of it?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “Manchester United decided to pull the trigger on Erik Ten Hag after the defeat to West Ham. OK, I actually think that they can feel hard done by in that game, because there is no way that West Ham should have been given a penalty, but the reality is, that they had enough chances to win that game, and they didn’t take them.
It’s been the story of United’s season so far. They’ve missed far too many chances, some of them, really easy chances. The reality is, when you’re the manager of a club like Manchester United, there will always be pressure to get results, and you have to get results.
You need to win. You can’t spend £600 million and not see results or performances improve. Ultimately, the buck always stops with the manager. People won’t have any sympathy because its Manchester United and you’re expected to win. People won’t have sympathy for the reasons why you are at the position, because it’s Man United.“
Manchester United vs Chelsea
Q: Two massive clubs who are probably a little bit further away from where they want to be – would a win for Chelsea underline the progress that Enzo Maresca has made this season?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “I think Enzo Maresca has already shown that Chelsea are a club that are progressing under his guidance.
Will the fact that there is a new manager at Old Trafford have an impact? I think it could do, but the reality is that Chelsea don’t have anything to fear about this Manchester United team based on the performances that we’ve seen from them this season. If they can go there and play in the same way they did at Anfield, then they have got a great chance of winning the game regardless of who’s in charge. That is the next step for this team, go to a big club, an intimidating stadium, and win.”
Q: If you could take one Manchester United player and drop them into this Chelsea team, who would it be and why?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: One United player? At the moment, I wouldn’t take a single one.
Jimmy’s Connections
Q: Do you think Leeds will return to the Premier League this season?
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: “Everything is looking good for my old club to get back into the Premier League this season.
Leeds are a club that belongs in the Premier League. I think they’ve been missed (in the Premier League) and I think the Premier League will be a better place with them in it.
I look at Leeds’ squad, and I like what I see. I think they’ve got a really strong squad, maybe the best in The Championship.
They’ve got an experienced manager in Daniel Farke who knows what it takes to reach the Premier League, which is helpful because The Championship is such a difficult league and its incredibly demanding. They will have learned from what happened to them last year.
I hope they can do it. I think they can do it. I’ve got my fingers crossed for them to have a great season.“