Merson

[Clarethalffull]

Even by his standards this is absolute drivel...

‘Burnley v Liverpool (New Year's Day, 3pm)

What a player Mohamed Salah is, and he will be a miss if he's out for Liverpool because the running he does off the ball is as good as anybody I have seen for a long time. But I still think Liverpool will win this game.

Burnley are a bit of a funny team recently. I saw them get dismantled by Tottenham and then score twice at Manchester United and then draw at Huddersfield.

Virgil van Dijk is a good signing for Liverpool. He is a footballing centre-half which is what they need. People look at Liverpool and say how do they find it hard to break teams down when they have those attacking players, but it's not just about them, it's about the players who give them the ball.

Jordan Henderson isn't really going to put the ball through the eye of a needle and neither are Emre Can or James Milner or Georginio Wijnaldum. Now when they play at home against 10 men behind the ball it gives you another option of a centre-half coming out which is so hard to play against.

You look back in 1996 when Matthias Sammer played in a sweeper system for Germany. I know Liverpool won't play that way but it's so hard to pick that person up if they are comfortable coming out with the ball. They won't get it straight away, but if they can get it so Can drops back into centre-half when Van Dijk goes forward, then they will be a massive force.

PAUL PREDICTS: 0-2 (11/2 with Sky Bet)’

[Sidney1st]

Which bit was drivel?

[k90bfc]

Is he still playing for Tamworth!

[randomclaret2]

The bit that credited those words to Paul Merson

[Clarethalffull]

The ‘insight’ into Burnley being a funny team because they got beat by spurs but then got a point at United & then at Huddersfield.

The two paragraphs dedicated to a player who isn’t eligible for the game.

Take your pick.

[paulus the woodgnome]

We're not a funny team, we're dead serious!

[KRBFC]

I struggle to see the drivel, or is it considered drivel because he predicts Burnley to lose against Liverpool? We have been a funny team since losing Brady, brilliant at Old Trafford, terrible at home to Spurs. If you were a neutral you definitely wouldn't be putting Burnley in your accumulator at the moment.

[FactualFrank]

One thing is obvious - Paul Merson doesn't like Burnley.

Which begs the question: Should somebody be a pundit if they dislike a team? Surely a pundit should be pretty much neutral over every side? So they can be taken seriously and respected by football fans across the country. It doesn't make sense to employ somebody who dislikes a team, unless they can be professional enough to do their job properly.

And he can't do that. So he shouldn't be employed by Sky.

[Clarethalffull]

It’s drivel because he is supposed to be talking about the game but just waffles about a player who isn’t eligible for the game. There are a lot of words but very little actually being said that is relevant to the game. He was probably ****** when his ghost writer did it for him.

[Sidney1st]

Yes he should be simply on the basis of his absolute meltdown when Barnes and Matic clashed.
Pure comedy gold to watch.

[Sidney1st]

What he said about us was right.

What he said about Liverpool was also right and he's talking about where they need to improve.
Hate to disappoint you but more Liverpool fans than Burnley fans will read that article so its going to be more about them.

[evensteadiereddie]

I think there's a bit of over-reaction here. He's given his thoughts on the game, us and them. He thinks they'll win - so do the bookies, funnily enough.

[MACCA]

That's me not winning my bet, I did 0-2 too.

[elwaclaret]

The bloke is a fool nothing more to him than that.

[Darthlaw]

What he said about us was right.

What he said about Liverpool was also right and he's talking about where they need to improve.
Hate to disappoint you but more Liverpool fans than Burnley fans will read that article so its going to be more about them.

Shouldn’t it be in Norwegian, really?

[Lord Beamish]

Paul Merson thinks and talks like someone with an actual brain injury. I tend to treat his utterings with the same regard I would if they were coming from one of the cast of the PG Tips adverts.

[Rileybobs]

Another precious over-exaggeration to what a pundit has said about us. Although we’re anything but a funny team. We must be one of the most consistent teams so far this season.

[Stayingup]

He's actually not very bright Merson. In fact he's numb. Not worth comenting on really. We'll win tomorrow.

[basil6345789]

He was such a good player but is he still a hopeless drunk?

[otto1959]

What makes a hopeless drunk, as opposed to a hopeful drunk.?

[Zom Zom]

He is a buffoon, but I kinda like him. He is to Jeff Stelling what Alan Davies was to Stephen Fry, an easy target for a laugh, and his lame attempts at pronouncing foreign sounding names is always a giggle.

[Clarethalffull]

Another precious over-exaggeration to what a pundit has said about us. Although we’re anything but a funny team. We must be one of the most consistent teams so far this season.

It is not an over exaggeration at what he has said about us. The point is he is a paid pundit and has offered absolutely no insight whatsoever.

He sounds like a tramp in a pub.

[KRBFC]

It is not an over exaggeration at what he has said about us. The point is he is a paid pundit and has offered absolutely no insight whatsoever.

He sounds like a tramp in a pub.

and you sound incredibly upset about what a terrible pundit has said about us, Who actually cares if he predicts us to lose 0-7? Why do people care so much about what others do/say, just enjoy your own life.