Alan Shearer “Arsenal must back Arteta to turn things around”

“I would expect all the English sides to progress in the Champions League, whilst Manchester City will be happiest with their draw. Despite that, they are the one who need to improve the most on current form.

They need to find a way to kill teams off, they are missing far too many chances at the moment. Sergio Aguero returning against West Brom will help as if he is fit, he will add goals.

It’s a common theme at the moment across Europe that a lot of the bigger teams aren’t doing as well as they would of been expected to, with many of the usual suspects not sitting top of the football leagues across Europe. Going forwards I think they will begin to improve and get back to their best and this should be seen in Europe in the spring.

Bayern are the worthy favourites, they were definitely the best side in the group stages which the results emphatically showed but City, Chelsea and Liverpool all have a very good chance of making it through to the quarter-finals.

If Pep doesn’t win the Champions League during his spell at Manchester City, he will regard it as unfinished business. He was brought in with that as the ultimate goal, they have spent a fortune in building a squad capable of it, and he will be desperate to do it.”

Pogba’s silence tells the story – I’d get him out at whatever cost

“I think how Paul Pogba didn’t say anything himself about his agent’s comments recently is telling. He could have come out and said that he sees his future at Manchester United, that he doesn’t want to leave, but he hasn’t and that tells the story.

Without doubt, the time has come for United to sell him. We have heard it all before and we haven’t seen anywhere near enough good performances from Pogba to justify keeping him.

I am sure there will be clubs that will want him but it’s tricky to see any paying the fee that United will want. If it was my decision, I would cut my losses and get him of the football club at whatever cost.”

Shearer’s star of 2020 and his wishes for 2021

“Jurgen Klopp has to be my star of 2020 for what he achieved at Liverpool. He gave them what they wanted, what they needed and craved for so long, and they eventually got their hands on the Premier League title after thirty years of waiting.

They were absolutely magnificent along the way, every single player in the squad played their part, but that all comes from the manager so my star of the year is Jurgen Klopp for what he delivered for the Liverpool fans.

Looking forward to 2021, there’s a few Christmas wishes that I have for football in the New Year. The first is to get the fans back properly, I can’t wait to see full stadiums and I want to see them rocking and the excitement and atmosphere back at grounds.

Unfortunately, VAR would have to be my other. I want to see it working, the way they told us it would when it came in, where it was for clear and obvious errors and not to re-referee games.

One of the things I am most looking forward to in 2021 is the European Championships, which will now hopefully go ahead as scheduled.

England have a lot of exciting youngsters who will have a fantastic opportunity to shine. We have some phenomenal talents coming through who can play a huge role within the senior team and it will be exciting to see.

When you add that to the existing core of Kane, Sterling, Henderson and the likes then you have to be hopeful that England will do very well at the Euros.” Shearer added.

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