"That is probably one of the best games, I've seen Liverpool come back in," says former Liverpool-ace Jermaine Pennant of Sunday's fantastic rescue mission. The Reds delivering with their 2-1 win at St. James Park.
“We can all talk about the Champions League match against FC Barcelona at Anfield, when they turned 0-3 into a 4-3 win on aggregate, but you have got to put things into perspective," Pennant, on behalf of bitcoincasinos.com, tells Tribalfootball.com.
“That was at Anfield. You have got the Kop behind you, you have got 11 players on the pitch and as soon as they got that early goal in, you saw the Barcelona players heads drop. This was an away game, and Newcastle are very, very good at St. James Park. They were down to 10 men, lost their captain, who is one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League and they were 1-0 down, having to score two goals," Pennant continues, calling it out as one of the greatest comebacks from a club fairly accustomed to big comebacks.
“For these boys, absolutely," says Pennant, who still thinks his old club is capable of a title-run this season.
“They need another defender and possibly another midfielder to bolster the ranks, should (Virgil) van Dijk or (Ibrahima) Konaté get injured. If that happens, I am sure they can have a stab at the title. With that result up in Newcastle, they have shown they still have the grit and passion," says Pennant, who made 55 appearances for Liverpool FC himself between 2006 and 2009 - a dream come true for the boy from the Meadows in Nottingham.
“While at Arsenal, I once turned down Everton because I wanted to play for Liverpool one day," the former Arsenal prodigy recalls. Once the youngest player to make a first-team debut for Arsenal, he even scored a hat-trick on his full league debut, but never managed the consistency to become a regular in his seven years with the Gunners. Which is why he is able to fully acknowledge how big an achievement it is for Bukayo Saka to recently break an old Arsenal record of featuring in 83 (and counting) Premier League-matches on the bounce.
“There are all sorts of things that could have prevented him from that. Illness, injuries, fatigue, avoiding all that in a period over two years in an achievement in itself. Then there is also the matter of simply performing well enough week in and week out to even get selected each time. That is good going," Pennant says.
Speaking of Arsenal and Saka, though, Pennant remains a bit in the dark over their title chances this season.
“Arteta seems to be experimenting at the moment, and that will cost them," thinks Pennant who is still scratching his head over the signing of Kai Havertz.
“I think that was a weird transfer. He has not shown me anything yet, so unless Arteta's got something up his sleeve which will prove us all wrong, I'll maintain they could have invested that money elsewhere to improve the team, not least an out-and-out goal-scorer, which they don't have. It is going to make a difference."
In another rather eventful year, Jermaine Pennant was officially declared bankrupt at the start of 2023, having to concede he'd lost more than 10 million pounds. Almost simultaneously he was diagnosed with ADHD, and looking back over his life and career one is left wondering; didn't nobody suggest he get checked for ADHD at any point years ago? Really?!
It probably would have provided Jermaine Pennant with a much more stable career, quite possibly kept him out of trouble and also left him with some of this football earnings still in the bank.
But he looks content these days, talking football while representing Bitcoincasinos.com and as a former winger, there are quite a few players out there who are able to impress him.
“Anthony Gordon looks really good up at Newcastle, who has another very talented winger now in Harvey Barnes. Antony from Manchester United can sometimes be magic and sometimes awful, he is one of those players, and then there's Son at Spurs. But I think he misses Harry Kane," Pennant signs off with a wry smile.
Jermaine Pennant was speaking to Tribal Football on behalf of bitcoincasinos.com.
