The Anfield factor on Sunday with Man City coming to town, with all the backdrop, all the noise, how pivotal a role could Anfield play? 'Cause it often does, but looking ahead to this one in particular, it feels like the importance of Anfield might be heightened even more.

Yeah, I think it is.

With all what's gone on, uh, with Manchester City, with the, the case, what, that, that's going on, you can imagine what it's like.

And it, it...

This again, this game's took on a life of its own.

You know, Klopp versus Guardiola has, has just been sort of fantastic, and two wonderful teams, but it has, it has got that.

I, I go back to sort of when it became, Chelsea became that team that we want to do because of, um, sort of the, the managers have all been at, at each other.

You will have played in many cauldrons at, in, in Anfield, obviously in a way as well, but how significant a factor can it play in terms of if it's on your side as opposed to against you?

Did any of those victories stand out to you of those players that made it, or were you surprised by any of those guys that made this 53-man roster for the Bears?

Well, let me kind of take one back.

You mentioned Ozzie Trapillo, and I had a conversation with the inimitable Brad Biggs, who you all know, and in this discussion he was pointing out that You know, they put him on IR.

You know, he can't practice.

And it may be a case where they sacrifice that spot.

So he has that ability to slowly ramp up, slowly practice, get his confidence back.

Because his coaches keep mentioning, you know, we want him confident.

Teammates have called it bizarre? Phil, this is serious.

Did any of those victories stand out to you of those players that made it, or were you surprised by any of those guys that made this 53-man roster for the Bears?

Well, let me kind of pick one back.

You mentioned Ozzie Trapillo, and I had a conversation with the inimitable Brad Biggs, who you all know, and in this discussion he was pointing out that You know, if they put him on IR, you know, he can't practice.

And it may be a case where they sacrifice that spot.

So he has that ability to slowly ramp up, slowly practice, get his confidence back.

Because his coaches keep mentioning, you know, we want him confident, we want him confident at that left tackle spot.

So that may be a sacrifice they have to make.

Teammates have called it bizarre? Phil, this is serious.

Did any of those victories stand out to you of those players that made it, or were you surprised by any of those guys that made this 53-man roster for the Bears?

Well, let me kind of take one back.

You mentioned Ozzie Trapillo, and I had a conversation with the inimitable Brad Biggs, who you all know, and in this discussion he was pointing out that You know, they put him on IR.

You know, he can't practice.

And it may be a case where they sacrifice that spot.

So he has that ability to slowly ramp up, slowly practice, get his confidence back.

Because his coaches keep mentioning, you know, we want him confident.

Teammates have called it bizarre? Phil, this is serious.

Mm.

Things have gone wrong, so you need a n- new manager.

You need new ideas.

You need the players to tap into them as quickly as possible if... 'Cause Arne Slot came in, unsurprisingly all, by winning the league, but the players invested in that.

From Jürgen Klopp, they invested straight away.

So hopefully this time is a difference, and whereas, uh, Andoni Iraola is gonna come in and he's, he's gotta change it.

We've gotta get the intensity back.

Uh, do you think that perhaps they're holding back spending money, w- uh, not willing to invest the same levels of money as they did last year because of the way that it went?

I mean, he was, even for someone who wasn't a Liverpool fan, this man loomed so large over the game and was really, really one of the greats.

He was one of the greats.

You know, Kevin booked the trend a little bit because people become superstars.

And they lose a bit of touch of reality and they change a little bit.

Kevin Keegan was the most humblest of people that you could ever wish to meet.

And I know people will talk about that.

But I've looked over since Kevin passed and I've looked and I've thought of anybody who's anywhere near Kevin to sort of how he was a people's person.

When did you meet him first? Was it when he joined Liverpool back in the early 70s? Yeah,

I haven't actually asked a question about how good a player or how good a manager he was because everybody's story, you used the word a couple of times there, it's just love and the resonation of that love.

It's his honesty.

His honesty about everything.

About his implying he wasn't the greatest ability in the world, he wasn't a George Best skill-wise.

He made the most of what he had, which drove him forward.

He knew how good he was at everything, even to the point of England manager, knowing that he couldn't take the team any further, and he knew his limitations.

And that was Kevin in a nutshell.

How did they manage Kevin Keegan? Did they manage him differently or, or similarly?

Is that, is that indicative of the Kevin Keegan you knew?

No, it is.

And that was one of the great things about Kevin.

Nobody had a bad word for Kev.

You can go on and we always talk about the greats, and this fella was good, and this fella.

But this Kevin Keegan had time for everybody.

He would spend hours.

He was just kind of, like, honest, "I'm ready to move aside and let somebody else do it." There was something incredibly honest about all of that.

Is that, is that indicative of the Kevin Keegan you knew?

No, it is, and that was one of the great things about Kevin.

Nobody had a bad word for Kev.

You can go on and we always talk about the greats, and this fellow was good, and this fella.

But this Kevin Keegan had time for everybody.

He would spend hours.

He would go along to do something, and if he was supposed to finish at 10 o'clock, he'd still be there at midnight.

Like, you know, he, he got over it pretty quickly, but it, it actually did sorta sum him up, didn't it?

Is that indicative of the Kevin Keegan you knew?

No, it is.

And that was one of the great things about Kevin Keegan Nobody had a bad word for Kev.

You can go on and we always talk about the greats and this fellow was good and this fellow.

Of course, Kevin Keegan had time for everybody.

He would spend hours.

He would go along to do something.

There was something incredibly honest about all of that.

if you would make changes, what would they be?

These three group stages, right, these three games, I think they're all winnable.

And you have to be able to adjust, adapt, and that.

But I'm looking at this now, that's quite similar to what I would play.

Uh, but John Stones and not Ma- uh, Marguet, I just think that's, to me, Guehi, little bit of pace.

John Stones I, I've loved and it's great.

In those games, in that heat, it'll catch up on him quicker than what it, uh [laughs] will do to the other players.

I'm filling it in.

Yeah.

You know, Trent Alexander-Arnold, unbelievable assists, and Andy Robertson.

You know, being a sort of Scotsman, we've had a great sort of relationship with the Scots.

Andy took a little bit of time to s- actually settle, and, um, it was after that 12 months, I think he's just been nothing but absolutely brilliant.

He's, he's been, as Sammy says, a legend of the football club, and y- you realize that legendary status sort of later when you ...

Certainly when you move.

Robbo's brought a bit of class.

Mm.

But when you talk about these two guys, it is apt to call them two legends, and th- as you said before, Dan, the, the figures speak for themselves, mate.

The real, real legendary status, as I said, comes after you leave.

And Mo will be, his stats speak for themselves.

He will be in the top five, and we've had some unbelievable players who've played for this football club and who, who've left.

I think he's in that top five because of what he's done.

Those figures, doing TV work.

Oh my goodness, the- week after week, he's sort of breaking records left, right, and center.

Um, and again, as you so rightly said, you know, the biggest thing about these players is, uh, availability.

Are there any standout memories for you on the football pitch?

Oh, Jeff, it was one of the highlights of, of my life.

Your debut's always special, but to make your debut at Old Trafford and you're up against Bobby Charlton, Denis Law, and George Best.

George Best.

And I'm thinking, "Oh my God, I'm substitute." And it was about 20 minutes to go, and John Toshack's got a bang on the head, and I'm, I'm warming up on the, on the, uh, the byline, uh, the touch line.

And Shanks, Bill Shankly says to me, "Come on, son.

Get your kit off.

Six goals in a game.