Les Ferdinand: I'm backing Newcastle to stay up and Liverpool to see off Chelsea

Premier League / Les Ferdinand / 07 April 2009 / Leave a Comment

Former Newcastle striker Les Ferdinand tells us what Alan Shearer was like in the dressing room, how he's backing Newcastle to beat the drop and why Liverpool are rightly favourites to knock Chelsea out of the Champions League.

People have been asking me if I was surprised to see my old Newcastle team-mate Alan Shearer agree to take over at Newcastle last week. The answer is no. The way I see it he adores that club and will do everything within his power to ensure that they remain in the Premier League, by hook or by crook.

For sure, he would have preferred to start the job in very different circumstances. He would have liked to have had money to spend in the transfer market and overseen pre-season training, not to mention the small matter of starting the job with Newcastle in a more favourable position in the league! But he'll do what he's always done and just get on with it rather than sit around and moan about what he's up against.

Even when I played alongside him at St James Park all those years ago you could tell he was a manager-in-waiting. He had a drink and a laugh with the lads like everyone else but when it came down to the serious stuff he meant business and in his case that normally meant scoring a lot of goals! It was a dressing room full of big personalities and if someone had something to say they'd just go ahead and say it and he was no different, though he always did it in a constructive way.

He's got a hell of a job on his hands but I think the appointment in terms of his influence and his ability to inspire those around him will be just enough to keep Newcastle up so at their current price of [2.04] on Betfair for the drop, I'd rather be a layer than a backer.

That said, I suspect even the most passionate Shearer fan up in the North East would agree that their chances of staying up would have further improved if they had Guus Hiddink or Rafa Benitez in charge instead of Alan. Those two have been there, seen it, done it and I'm guessing have a wardrobe full of t-shirts.

Though on paper it's Liverpool v Chelsea for a place in the last four of the Champions League, it could come down to which of those two gets their team selection and tactics right over the two legs. Benitez's record in the competition is outstanding and a lot of it is down to meticulous preparation but let's not forget Hiddink coached PSV to a European Cup win with PSV back in 1988 so he knows what it takes as well. He's already had a massive impact at Chelsea and he's certainly a coach I wish I'd played under.

Aside from the managers' own personal little duel I see three other battles that will be crucial in this tie, starting with the keepers. Reina is a fantastic shot-stopper and has also caught the headlines recently for his long kicks that have directly resulted in goals, but I feel Cech has more of a presence about him. Add to that his distribution, which also starts a lot of Chelsea attacks, and I think he just shades it over Reina.

As I believe does Michael Essien over Mascherano in the battle of the holding midfielders. They've both got an incredible engine on them, are fierce tacklers, shield the back four beautifully and are good passers but Essien also chips in with a few goals. And when he does score them it's very seldom the last goal in a 5-0 drubbing, they tend to be crucial, match-winning goals. Who popped up with a vital equaliser just before half-time away to Juventus in the previous round? Or the winning goal when they beat Man City at home in the league four days later? Yeah, you guessed it - Essien. People always take about Lampard's goals from midfield but the man they call "Bison" has scored 16 so far at Chelsea and like I said before, have a look at the circumstances in which they were scored and you'll see that most were pretty important goals.

I praised Drogba a few weeks back in my column and I haven't changed my mind about him but at the moment I'd just favour Torres ahead of him. Drogba is the stronger and more intimidating of the two but "El Nino" is a pretty strong boy himself and in my opinion, slightly the better finisher. The tie could come down to which of the two has his shooting boots on over 180 minutes, or beyond that.

I see Torres is trading at around the [2.7] mark to score at anytime on Wednesday night with Drogba at [4.0] and the best bets of the night may be to actually back them both - they're that good. I have a feeling that neither manager will want to push the boat out too much in terms of taking risks in the first leg and I like the look of the draw at [3.1], but the better bet may be to back Liverpool to go through at [1.92] given their pedigree in the competition.