“At times defensively, they are quite solid. They have Lascelles there, the captain, who has surprised me to be brutally honest. He comes across as a very good leader. They then have decent goalkeepers, but I think they perhaps need somebody else in there. A goalkeeper that’s been there, seen it and done it. He could then do with another centre-half and another midfield player. Forward-wise, Daniel Sturridge has been mentioned, Torres has been mentioned who obviously has the connection with Benitez. I’m not too sure someone like Giroud would like it up there, it’s probably a bit too cold for him to be honest!
“The manager has obviously got to scout out and about - see who is available and who’s not happy, who wants to play more football. If you look at the money he has had to spend, they need an influx of finance to help them. I think they have a decent team, but if they don’t strengthen they can find themselves back down there.
“They are very lucky because they have a fabulous manager. He is one of the top managers around if you look at his pedigree, where he’s been and the team’s he’s managed. I do think he’s getting frustrated. When he comes up against Mourinho or Guardiola or anybody, he wants it to be on an even playing field. He wants to say: ‘My team is as good as your team, and can I tactically beat you’.”