A year ago
Several players have shown impressive performances for their respective teams during the 2022/2023 season. Karim Benzema is the highest rated scorer in the top 5 leagues for the 2022/2023 season. The 35-year-old is the league's second-highest scorer, with Robert Lewandowski finishing as the league's top scorer.
Benzema has left Real Madrid and signed for Al-Ittihad. He is currently the most valuable player in the Saudi Pro League and he is expected to compete for the league's golden boot next season. Antoine Griezmann is the most appreciated midfielder in the top 5 leagues of the 2022/2023 season. He has been very impressive for Atletico Madrid and can be considered the club's best player at the moment.
Kevin De Bruyne is the most highly rated attacking midfielder in the 2022/2023 season. He helped Manchester City win the treble and established himself as one of the all-time great midfielders in the Premier League.
Below is the starting lineup of the highest rated players in the top 5 leagues for the 2022/2023 season. Karim Benzema, Cabella and Antoine Griezmann are the strikers while De Bruyne, Joshua Kimmich and Bruno Fernandes are the midfielders. Raphael Guerreiro, Schlotterback, Pavard and Trippier are the defenders while Raya is the goalkeeper.
Read More
Liverpool discussed a move to Saudi Arabia because 'when you coach you learn at every level', although he admitted that he did not know who Al Ettifaq was.
Gerrard has been unemployed since leaving Aston Villa last October.
The 43-year-old roamed Villa Park towards the end of the game and left the club 17th in the Premier League.
Unai Emery was Gerrard's replacement at the club and the Spaniard was quick to get Villa back on track.
Since then, Gerrard has embraced the opportunity to work as a professional and has been linked with a number of jobs in recent months. The likes of Leeds United and Leicester City have been linked with Gerrard, but his future seems to lie elsewhere.
According to Rudy Galetti, Gerrard's move to Al Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia is now a 'concluded fact', but that is not what Gerrard told Murphy, who defended his former team-mate's decision.
"I know people automatically jump into finance in Saudi Arabia, for obvious reasons, but I think of course he wants peace of mind on the football side and the project," Murphy told talkSPORT.
"He talked to them but it certainly wasn't done as some reports claim, that's what he told me.
"You have to think about family and all that, but let's just say he has - I don't think that's a bad thing."
Host Jim White then asked:
Who is Al Ettifaq?
"Which one of them?" Murphy said with a wry smile. Just one of the teams there, right?
What he went through at Villa must have been difficult and when you are a coach I think you have to keep working, wherever you are, as often as you can, to keep improving. .
"It's about competing, you have to keep training and working hard even when you're not playing every Saturday. You have to be there to improve.
You can't be a great coach in a few years. He's only been in the profession for a few years, he's a young coach.
When you train at any level, you learn. And if they're going to bring in the quality players they're trying to bring in, there's going to be good players to coach.
"But not only that - I think it's better to step off the pitch and reset. Get your confidence back on the training ground; try different things in a less pressurized environment.
Then White asked if we "would value him more if he stayed and went to a mid-tier team in the Championship". Murphy replied
Possibly, but since we evaded it with Brendan [Rodgers], what are the offers? I don't know if he has any other suggestions. If there were no other offers, what would you do? Sitting around doing nothing?
"You're better off working somewhere, keep trying things and see what you can do."