My Highlight of 2010: The Crowning Glory of a Uruguayan Genius

For me, the footballing highlight of 2010 had to be the confirmation of Uruguay and Atletico Madrid striker as Golden Ball winner at the FIFA World Cup. A long time favourite of mine, ever since I saw him score the first time I ever went to a professional football match at Old Trafford back in 2002, he had long been regarded as a bit of a joke by the ignorant amongst us. However, this year saw him finally acknowledged by the masses as the class act that he is.

Signed by Manchester United in 2002 as a 22-year-old striker from Argentine club Independiente, he was labelled 'Diego Birtles' (after United flop of the '80s Garry Birtles) when he failed to score in his first 27 games for the club. These however were largely substitute appearances and it wasn't long before his class began to shine through. A gradual improvement in performances led to some memorable moments, notably his brace at Anfield which gave United their first win over their bitter rivals for over three years, and he won over the majority of the Stretford End faithful. Some great goals including a volley against Chelsea in the last minute to secure a vital victory and a similar screamer against Rangers in the Champions League left few at Old Trafford in doubt of his ability. Unfortunately, with Ruud Van Nistelrooy at the peak of his powers and Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also in the frame, Forlan could never quite pin down a regular starting berth and the arrival of Wayne Rooney in August 2004 was the end for the Uruguayan at Old Trafford.

A move to Spain seemed to ignite Forlan's potential and he finished his first season with Villarreal as Europe's top scorer, claiming the European Golden Shoe award with 25 goals to his name. He was also involved as the Yellow Submarine made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2006, netting three times along the way. A move to Atletico Madrid followed in 2007 and the goals didn't dry up. The boy from Montevideo bagged his second Golden Shoe award in 2009 with a whopping 32 league goals to his name and secured Atletico's qualification for the Champions League. Los Rojiblancos were knocked out in the group stage but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as a drop down to the newfangled UEFA Europa League suited them down to the ground. Coming up against old foes Liverpool in the semi-finals, Forlan did what he does best and scored both goals in the tie eliminating the Reds on away goals at Anfield. This caused his old fans at United to chant his song the following weekend at Sunderland (Diego, he came from Uruguay, he made the scousers cry) and that wasn't the last of his recognition in England.

Not content with knocking out Liverpool, Forlan finished the job by netting the winner in the final against the lovable, but eventually hapless Fulham. Victory in the Europa League, Atletico's first major trophy for fourteen years, was a great springboard to go into the World Cup on. In South Africa, the blonde-haired striker finished joint top-scorer and would have won the Golden Boot outright if his last-minute free-kick against Germany in the third-place play off had gone in instead of hitting the bar. But Forlan's all round composure, skill, technique and fair play had already won him a legion of fans (despite team-mate Luis Suarez's perceived foul play losing him many). His love for football is clear for all to see. An amusing incident in his United days springs to mind, when after celebrating a goal against Southampton by removing his shirt, he didn't manage to get it on in time for the restart and was briefly running after the ball bare-torso with his shirt in hand before the referee had to stop play.

The Golden Ball award for best player of the World Cup was certainly deserved. Since then he has scored a decent, if not exhilarating, seven goals in seventeen appearances for Atletico so far this season but is constantly being linked with a return to the Premier League. And how great it would be to see him given a second chance in the most competitive major league in Europe. I for one am sure that this time around he would be far from a disappointment.

Why Man City still have much work to do...

Following on from their last two matches, both goalless draws, it has struck me that Roberto Mancini is going about building a trophy-winning team at Manchester City in completely the wrong way. By playing three defensive midfielders, in the form of Nigel de Jong, Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure, the Italian manager is leaving far too much for his front three to do and it is simply not happening. There was a period during the disappointing Manchester derby last week where de Jong, Barry and Toure indulged in about two minutes of square passing, resulting in absolutely nothing. Have you ever seen a team win trophies with three defensive midfielders? I don’t think so.

Chelsea claimed their Premier League titles of 2005 and 2006 with Claude Makelele doing the defensive job and other players like Frank Lampard, Tiago and Michael Essien attacking around him. Last season Jon Obi Mikel did the job while the evergreen Lampard, Michael Ballack and Essien, when fit, did the attacking. At Manchester United, Darren Fletcher is seen as the defensive midfielder, and has been crucial in their recent successes, but he shares his duties with Paul Scholes or Michael Carrick, both of whom can get forward or sit and cover when Fletcher attacks. With this in mind, it is hard to fathom why Mancini feels playing three midfielders with little attacking ambition will lead to success.

With the money at his disposal, and an already well rounded squad, Mancini should be building a brand of winning football which involves attack as much as defence. Surely a better formation, certainly for the easier home games would be a 4-4-2. Emmanuel Adebayor, Mario Balotelli or Roque Santa Cruz could share Carlos Tevez’s workload up front, while both Adam Johnson and David Silva could start on the wings with James Milner moved into central midfield with just one of the defensive trio alongside him. For away games against tougher opposition, they could certainly revert to the 4-3-3 which has been a proven recipe for success in recent years, but should keep Milner as a central midfielder because there is no situation in modern football where a team would need three defensive midfielders!

Furthermore, City seem to have problems in choosing who to sign. Perhaps it is inevitable with the temptation of the big bucks, but an awful amount of egos and troublemaking players have arrived at Eastlands. Robinho and Craig Bellamy have already been through the door and back out and Emmanuel Adebayor is currently kicking up a fuss being sat on the bench. But the reason he is sat on the bench is because of Mancini’s insistence on playing one centre forward. Captain Carlos Tevez is clearly the in-form player of the past year or so but even he seems to be unhappy at City. Given the captain’s armband this summer to show how much the club value him, Tevez hasn’t stopped talking to the media about how he doesn’t enjoy his football and is contemplating retirement, despite only being 26 and arguably at his peak. There have been reports he is suffering from depression, which he has denied, but he has certainly had several heated disputes with Mancini and his influence on the dressing room is questionable.

As for the third choice striker, Mario Balotelli has talent in abundance but again seems to be an accident waiting to happen. The Italian was at the centre of many controversies when at Inter Milan, not least being caught on camera wearing an AC Milan shirt. Imagine if a City player was caught wearing a Manchester United shirt? The upset that would be caused at the club doesn’t bear thinking about. As Sir Alex Ferguson said today in his press conference, ‘You can buy success, but only if the structure and the spirit is right’. At Manchester City, until they play a more suitable formation and remove several egos from the dressing room, their wait for trophies will go on for a while yet.

Rafa's Lucky Escape

Rafael Benitez has got to be one of the luckiest men in football. Having escaped his sinking Liverpool ship with a hefty multi-million pound pay-off in the summer, he has somehow found himself in the plush position of Internazionale coach. After leaving Liverpool with a disillusioned squad lacking in cover across the entire pitch and without a Champions League place for the first time since 2003, he was given the generally unenviable task of replacing Jose Mourinho at the European Champions. Yet for Rafa, it represented a golden chance to remain at a massive club. Massimo Moratti, the Inter President, went with the opinion of the masses on the continent who remember Rafa’s achievements in winning the Spanish league twice with Valencia and claiming the UEFA Champions League title with Liverpool in 2005. What they tend to ignore is the way Rafa ultimately flopped at Liverpool and had to be shown the door.

Benitez’s case is unusual. Having inherited a squad from Gerard Houllier, a few (mainly short-lived) Spanish additions such as Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso, Josemi and Antonio Nunez , saw the Reds claim the European Cup for a fifth time in incredulous circumstances. Garcia’s ghost goal against Chelsea in the semi-finals, Steven Gerrard’s late face-saver against Olympiakos in the group and the miracle of Istanbul itself were all remarkable aspects of a season where the Anfield outfit finished in 5^th place in the Premier League, more than 30 points behind Jose Mourinho’s champions Chelsea and level on points with Bolton Wanderers. Benitez continued to live off this glory for the rest of his reign at Anfield, with a win over West Ham in the FA Cup Final the following year proving to be his only other piece of major silverware in six years at the helm.

The Premier League was Liverpool’s real desire, with no league title since 1990, and in that respect Rafa’s reign was an abject failure. After not even coming close in his first four seasons on Merseyside, he finally built a team strong enough to challenge for the 2008/09 title. But in the aftermath of his infamous rant at ‘Mr Ferguson’ his team wavered and dropped points with a series of draws. Eventually the lack of depth in the squad saw Manchester United edge out the Anfield challenge and it was at this point that Liverpool really began to fall apart. With the peeved (due to Rafa’s advances on Gareth Barry the previous year) Xabi Alonso replaced by the injury-plagued Alberto Aquilani, a failure to significantly strengthen the squad proved terminal but at the start of the season nobody could quite have predicted the scouse team’s sudden decline. With the likes of Jamie Carragher, Gerrard, Javier Mascherano and Fernando Torres failing to perform as regularly as before, the frailties of Liverpool’s squad were revealed during a truly dismal campaign. The likes of Emiliano Insua, David Ngog and Maxi Rodriguez failed to cut the mustard while Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun and Albert Riera were just three of the many who have fallen foul of Benitez’s poor man management skills. Eliminated from the Champions League group stage, out early in both domestic cups and slipping as low as seventh in the league, Rafa had truly left Liverpool in a mess.

And while the loveable but seemingly hapless Roy Hodgson has so far failed to turn things around, with the ownership-based off-field turmoil not helping , Benitez is living the high life in Milan. Inheriting a outstanding treble-winning squad including World Player of the Year elect Wesley Sneijder, Samuel Eto’o, Diego Milito, Julio Cesar, Maicon and Cristian Chivu all in their peak, surely even Rafa can’t fail to at least win Serie A this season. But he has already dropped key points against Roma and a far from flying Juventus this season. Benitez’s ineptness was blatant for all to see in the Super Cup defeat to Atletico Madrid in Monaco where the same team who had claimed the Champions League trophy under Mourinho looked tactically confused and were deservedly beaten by their Spanish opposition. A 2-2 draw away at Dutch side Twente on the opening day of the Champions League also seemed unconvincing. Yet Rafa’s luck should continue as he has a squad of excellent players at his disposal. The likes of Sneijder, Milito and particularly the on-form Eto’o can all win games on their own. This was clear during the Cameroonian-inspired thrashing of Werder Bremen on matchday two and the same player grabbed the winner at Cagliari this weekend. Surely Benitez’s poor man-management and bizarre manner in public will prove to be his downfall in Italy, a country not known for much patience with managers. But unless Massimiliano Allegri can gel his Brazilian trio of Ronaldinho, Robinho and Pato with ex-Inter star Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Claudio Ranieri gets the best out of veterans Francesco Totti and Adriano at Roma, the man from Madrid may well achieve Serie A success with the brilliant squad that he has undeservedly inherited.

Could Big Kev lead the line for the Three Lions next week?

Kevin Davies is no spring chicken. A key member of the Chesterfield F.C team that reached the 1997 FA Cup semi-final and with nearly 400 Premier League appearances to his name, the Bolton Wanderers captain has certainly been around the block. Yet it is only now, at the age of 33, that the Yorkshireman has made a breakthrough into the England squad. So why has Fabio Capello, or any of his predecessors for that matter, failed to move before?

Davies has a penchant for grabbing goals in big matches. At Bolton he has scored in the 2004 League Cup Final, netted against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup and got a winner against Manchester United back in his Southampton days. But he is by no means prolific, having only reached double figures for goals in five of his seventeen senior seasons, and never surpassed the 12-goal mark.

Where he shines however, is in ruffling the opposition’s feathers and creating chances for the other attacking players. The man can hold up the ball better than most other players in the Premier League and has more Premier League assists to his name than the last forward who filled this role for England, the much-maligned Emile Heskey. But I hear many people asking, what can Davies bring to the role that Heskey didn’t? After all, the Villa man, despite some high points, wasn’t exactly an England success.

Well the Bolton number 14 comes across with more confidence than Heskey ever has. He isn’t shy to cross a referee and has committed 200 more fouls than anyone else in Premier League history. While this wouldn’t normally be viewed as a positive, the physical prowess and pro-active attitude of Davies could be just what the England forward line needs, with a lacklustre Wayne Rooney failing to provide his usual energy in recent months. Partnered with a goal-crazy Darren Bent, Davies could be a good short term option for the Three Lions in a 4-4-2 at home to a Montenegro team who, despite having 6 points from 6 in the group, shouldn’t prove too hard a test at Wembley.

Whether Davies even gets a chance to shine is still up in the air though. Capello has called up players and left them uncapped in the past. Just ask a certain Jimmy Bullard. With Peter Crouch’s England record and his good recent form for Tottenham, and Rooney still a Capello favourite despite fitness and form concerns, Big Kev will have his work cut out in training to break past the established order.

Elsewhere in the England team, with Theo Walcott, James Milner and Frank Lampard all unavailable, there are some choices to be made regarding the midfield. Steven Gerrard, despite his Liverpool woes is still a shoo-in along with Gareth Barry who has been playing well for Manchester City. His team-mate Adam Johnson looks a dead-cert for one of the wide berths, but Aaron Lennon, Ashley Young and Joe Cole will all be doing their best to stop Shaun Wright-Phillips from making it a Sky Blues trio in the midfield. Rio Ferdinand looks set to resume his centre-back partnership with John Terry which restores the back four to ‘full-health’ although with Ferdinand’s lack of match practice this is debatable.

With or without Davies, Capello and the England fans will be confident of England taking the three points from their Eastern European opposition. What is for sure is that the consequences of failing to do so do not bare thinking about for the Three Lions.

Will Marseille Ever Reign in Europe Again?

France has had a major impact on the history of football. Jules Rimet, founder of the World Cup, Henri Delaunay, founder of the European Championships and Gabriel Hanot, instigator of the Ballon D’or award and European Cup all hail from the country. Yet only Marseille have ever won the Champions League, defeating Fabio Capello’s AC Milan 1-0 in Munich. Since that monumental victory in 1993, l’OM have failed to even get out of the group stage. Denied the opportunity to defend their trophy in 1994 because of a domestic match-fixing scandal involving then president Bernard Tapie, the club were relegated and stripped of their domestic title. After two years out of Ligue 1, Marseille won promotion under new owner Robert Louis-Dreyfus but struggled to return to their former power.

Louis-Dreyfus oversaw Marseille’s inconsistent challenges over the course of a decade and a half as Lyon became the dominant force in French football. But one of the last things he did at Marseille before passing away in summer 2009 turned out to be the most influential. By giving the go-ahead for Didier Deschamps to manage the club, he ushered in a new era at the Stade Velodrome. Deschamps, who became the youngest ever European Cup-winning captain back in that 1992/93 season, brought in experience in the form of Edouard Cisse and Fernando Morientes which sparked instant success. A first league title since 1992 as well as a first ever league cup triumph saw Deschamps cement his legendary status at the club and there were high hopes for the 2010/11 season in Europe.

Over the summer, Morientes retired and top scorer Mamadou Niang was sold to Turkish club Fenerbahce but in came national team strikers Andre-Pierre Gignac and Loic Remy, who had been coveted by many Premier League clubs. The addition of young Spanish full-back Cesar Azpilicueta, and return from loan of Ghanaian World Cup star Andre Ayew also pointed to a step in the right direction. Added to the solid foundations of Gabriel Heinze , Souleymane Diawara, Cisse, Lucho Gonzalez and Brandao, all the ingredients for further success seemed in place. Yet the south coast giants have faltered again. Languishing in eighth after eight rounds of games in Ligue 1, the team seems to have lost all momentum.

Favourites to progress behind Chelsea in their Champions League group, two defeats in the first two group games have put pressure on the squad to deliver. Unlucky to lose at home to Spartak Moscow who failed to register a single shot on target, and only scored from an Azpilicueta own goal, the French were easily outclassed at Stamford Bridge by a Chelsea side who didn’t get out of second gear. Deschamps will be hoping for a favour from his old London club, as l’OM’s best chance of qualifying now would be if the Blues did the double over the Russian club. It is not over yet for Deschamps’ men but he will need a full six points against group F makeweights MSK Zilina and at least three points from the return game at Spartak and Chelsea’s visit to the Velodrome. Even if they do scrape through, there is a lot of work to do before Marseille, or their compatriots Lyon earn France their second European Cup success.

The Change in Fortunes of Luis Nani

In November 2009, Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha, aka Manchester United’s Nani looked to be at the end of his Old Trafford career. The Portuguese winger, much maligned for being inconsistent and a show-pony, hit out at Sir Alex Ferguson in an interview with a Portuguese newspaper and was subsequently dropped for around six weeks.

During this period it was largely expected that the ex-Sporting Lisbon player was going to be on his way to either Juventus or AC Milan in the January transfer window. He had been at Old Trafford for two and a half years and despite high points, such as wonder goals against the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, these were overshadowed by low points such as his sending off against West Ham when he feigned injury when he himself had headbutted Lucas Neill. Berated by his own manager who agreed with Arsene Wenger’s anger when he had incited Arsenal players in an FA Cup tie by playing keepy-uppy in the middle of the pitch, many felt the boy from Cape Verde would never cut it as a Red Devil.

But something changed.

A heart-to-heart chat with Ferguson in January 2010 saw Nani given another chance and this time he grasped it. Impressive performances in a 4-0 league victory over Hull City and the Carling Cup semi-final victory over Manchester City saw the wide-man back in the United fans’ good books and a fixture in the starting XI. In his next match, an outrageous piece of skill on the right wing saw him leave Arsenal’s Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri and Denilson for dead at the Emirates Stadium and force an own goal out of Manuel Almunia.

The tide had turned and Nani was rewarded with a four year contract extension in March, something which seemed unthinkable just three months earlier. Further impressive goals against Bayern Munich, Tottenham and Sunderland saw Nani finish the 2009-10 season on a high, even if United were pipped to the title by Chelsea and knocked out in the Champions League quarter-finals. The winger had finally added consistency to his game and at last was racking up the plaudits. Alas, he was ruled out of the World Cup when, in typical Nani fashion, he injured his collarbone attempting an acrobatic overhead kick in training.

Devastated to miss out, Portugal boss Carlos Queiroz even claimed Nani had threatened suicide if he was left out of the squad as he felt he would recover soon enough to participate. But he put that behind him at the start of the 2010-11 season and along with Dimitar Berbatov has become key to United’s plans. The previously under-performing duo have either assisted or scored three quarters of the Red Devil’s 16 league goals. Nani is the top assist maker in the premier league both in the 2010-11 season and the calendar year 2010, and with Antonio Valencia ruled out for several months, looks to be making United’s right wing position his own.

Finally starting to fill the boots of his friend and Portugal team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, it wouldn’t be too surprising if the rejuvenated number 17 finds himself in the running for the end of season gongs. Still just 23, it finally looks like he could be a key player for both Portugal and Manchester United for many years to come.

Playing In The Hole Is Where Rooney Shines For England

Two games, seven goals and six points see England sat atop of Group G in the qualifiers for Euro 2012. So what was so different about these two games compared to the debacle of the World Cup? Seven of the players who started the 4-1 defeat to Germany were also present in the line-ups at both Wembley and St Jakob Park but the whole demeanour of the team was different. To get the obvious out of the way, yes Germany are far superior opposition to either Bulgaria or Switzerland, but Algeria certainly weren't superior opposition at the World Cup and the USA are probably on a par with Switzerland. So how did England perform so much better in these games? People say the pressure was much less but if anything it was almost equal as the negative media attention given to the squad since the World Cup failure has been off the scale. The key factor for me was the improved performances from the wings, where two players who missed out on South Africa - Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson - did exceptionally well sharing their time on the right hand side and James Milner was impressive both going forward and back on the left. This allowed Steven Gerrard licence to do what he does best and boss the midfield, his perfectly weighted pass for Johnson's goal last night summing up what his game is all about.

Much has been made of England's formation since the World Cup, where 4-2-3-1 was in vogue and England stuck with a 4-4-2. The difference between the two formations is less than many seem to think as by dropping Wayne Rooney deep in these two qualifiers, it has essentially become a 4-2-3-1 when the wingers push forward (although many newspapers have reported it as a 4-4-1-1). Essentially, 4-3-3, 4-5-1 and 4-2-3-1 all work with 1 striker, 2 wingers and 3 central midfielders and at various times in the game can all look exactly the same. By dropping Rooney off Defoe into the position occupied by Wesley Sneijder, Xavi Hernandez and Mesut Oezil at the World Cup, England have effectively caught up with the rest. Rooney has the vision and passing ability to do the job. But it's not the first time. In Fabio Capello's landmark victory, the 4-1 away to Croatia two years ago, Rooney played in the hole behind Emile Heskey with Joe Cole and Walcott either side of him. The team was in a 4-2-3-1 formation then as it was in several of the other qualifiers with Rooney the only constant while Gerrard, Aaron Lennon, Walcott, Cole, Heskey and Peter Crouch intermittently occupied the other forward positions. Why Capello decided to play Rooney alongside Heskey or Jermain Defoe at the World Cup finals themselves baffles me. Perhaps it is because in the 2009/10 Premier League season Sir Alex Ferguson made a point of insisting Rooney played as Manchester United's furthest man forward. This resulted in Rooney's most prolific season to date with 34 goals in 44 appearances but for England it appears he works better deployed deeper, and by reverting to this role for him, Capello appears to have accepted this fact. With Defoe getting a hat-trick and Darren Bent getting off the mark for his country there are certainly good options for who to play ahead of Rooney. Where all of this leaves Frank Lampard remains to be seen. The midfielder, a real superstar for Chelsea in both the Champions League and Premier League over the past decade, doesn't seem to be able to co-exist with both Rooney and Gerrard in such a formation. With Gerrard excelling as captain in a deep central role, and Gareth Barry required to cover for the skipper's forward-thinking moves, the Premier League's all-time highest scoring midfielder may have to settle for a place on the bench.

Elsewhere in the qualification group, England's main rivals could well turn out to be Montenegro. Overlooked by many largely because they only recently separated from Serbia (who together had previously been a part of Yugoslavia) and therefore are competing in qualifiers for the Euro's for the first time ever. Consecutive 1-0 wins at home to Wales and more impressively away to Bulgaria sees them level on points with England and they are due to visit Wembley on the 12th October. They have achieved this without the injured Stevan Jovetic,the young forward who Liverpool fans may remember for scoring twice against them for Fiorentina in last season's Champions League. Captain Mirko Vucinic, the speedy Roma forward,was present though and the Eastern European side will be more of a match than many would expect from the group's 5th seed. However, this could be balanced out by the fact 3rd and 4th seeds Bulgaria and Wales are well below par. Without Dimitar Berbatov, who despite his form at Manchester United remained prolific(48 goals in 77 games) up until his international retirement, Bulgaria looked toothless at Wembley on Friday night and the resignation of their manager after the Montenegro defeat is unlikely to see an instant improvement. This generation of Bulgarians do not have anyone of Hristo Stoichkov's ilk who galvanized the Bulgaria team that reached the 1994 World Cup semi-finals. They may even finish bottom of the group, although Wales also have to avoid that ignominy. Gareth Bale, James Collins and Craig Bellamy aside, the current crop are distinctly lacking in quality or top level experience. John Toshack's successor will certainly have a job on his hands. As for Switzerland, despite being so solid at the World Cup where they incredibly beat Spain, they have a real problem scoring goals with just 5 scored in their last 11 games in all competitions. With the two Johnsons, Ashley Cole, Rooney and Gerrard all easily opening up their defence last night, it seems Ottmar Hitzfeld's team now have problems at both ends of the pitch. When put like that, it seems like England should have the group for the taking. Now as they say, it's time to "keep calm and carry on."

Capello's New Beginning, But How Much Has Changed?

Last night Fabio Capello announced his 24-man England squad for the upcoming Euro qualifiers with Bulgaria and Switzerland. These are the first competitive matches since England's disastrous World Cup campaign but how much has he really changed? At first glance it seems a lot, eleven of the players who were named in the initial 23-man squad for the World Cup are missing. But on closer inspection, how much has the Italian manager really done differently? With John Terry, Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand (who was in the initial World Cup squad for the World Cup before his injury saw Michael Dawson replace him) all injured, Jamie Carragher and Emile Heskey retiring from international football, and David James being 40 years old and in the Championship, those decision's were already made for Capello. In fact he has only really dropped five players. Leaving out keeper Rob Green after his howler in Rustenburg and injury liability Ledley King were again quite straight forward decisions and ditching reserve left-back Stephen Warnock is hardly a shock move. Joe Cole's yet to impact at Liverpool which leaves the overlooking of Spurs winger Aaron Lennon as the only real 'surprise' exclusion.

As for what has come into the squad, who is going to make that much difference? Up front, Carlton Cole has been tested before and had little success. His form for West Ham hasn't exactly been electrifying lately, but Darren Bent is surely deserving of more of a chance at international level after his exploits with Sunderland. With Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe both injury doubts despite inclusion, he may just get that chance. In central defence some much-needed quality alternatives for the increasingly less reliable Terry and Ferdinand have been called up in the form of Dawson, Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott . The latter two having recovered from their own recent injury set-backs have been impressive for their clubs and it will be interesting to see which two make the starting line-up. In goal, with Joe Hart getting off to an incredible start to the season for Manchester City and Ben Foster doing similarly well as Hart's successor at Birmingham, the recent worries for that position already seem long gone. It is somewhat surprising to see Scott Carson recalled as third-choice keeper given his history with England but he has done well at West Brom and deserves to be given another chance in the squad, if not as first choice keeper. 20-year old Kieran Gibbs is called up as cover for Ashley Cole despite not featuring for Arsenal yet this season, but he impressed in the second half of the recent Hungary friendly and with the other English left-backs vying for the position all distinctly mediocre ( think Warnock, Leighton Baines, Paul Konchesky) Capello is probably right to go with youth in this position.

Leaving Theo Walcott out of the World Cup squad was one of Capello's most controversial calls and it is unsurprising to see him back in the fold after a blistering start to the season with Arsenal, where he has already equalled his goals tally for last season just three games in. With Adam Johnson preferred to £25m David Silva at Manchester City in their last two games, it is refreshing to see England having two wingers in good form, and Ashley Young from Aston Villa is a very good alternative who has been unfortunate to be overlooked by Capello in the past. Shaun Wright-Phillips' return is perhaps the most surprising but he has scored goals for England in the past and could still do a good job for his country. Overall it seems like Capello has a good squad to take on the upcoming qualifiers. Despite calls from some for a complete overhaul, the likes of Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard and Gareth Barry all remain, which I believe is the correct thing to do. Creating a successful team is not an overnight process as can be seen by the Spain team who had largely been playing together for many years before their recent Euros and World Cup success. The first test for this post-World Cup team will be stern, Bulgaria and Switzerland are no walkovers, but it will have to be successful for the Three Lions to renew a nation's hope of making an impact in Poland and Ukraine two years from now.

Battle of the Behemoths: Can Real Turn The Corner?

With only a week to go before the Spanish League kicks off and Barcelona resume their tussle with Real Madrid, it is los Merengues who are still making the headlines with their latest star signing: the German World Cup star Mesut Oezil. The attacking midfielder, who was reportedly wanted by Chelsea, Manchester United and Barcelona themselves, is a massive coup for Jose Mourinho, who convinced the German that the move to Madrid was the right thing to do. Added to the acquisition of Chelsea's Ricardo Carvalho, Argentine winger Angel Di Maria and Oezil's Germany team-mate Sami Khedira, it is clear that Real have been very busy this summer, even if the fees aren't quite as stratospheric as those required a year ago to bring Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo to the Bernabeu. This contrasts starkly with rivals Barcelona. The Blaugrana have made only two moves this summer, bringing in Sevilla defender Adriano as a replacement for Ukrainian flop Dmytro Chygrynskiy and more notably Spain hero and goalscorer extraordinaire David Villa.

But it is the make up of the overall squads that show the real difference between the two clubs, who last season dominated La Liga so effectively that 3rd placed Valencia were 25 points behind Real in second place. The catalan club are full of homegrown players, brought through at the club's fabled La Masia complex whereas almost every player at los Blancos has been bought from elsewhere. Even homegrown legends Raul and Guti have been offloaded this summer to make way for more transfers. Only three of Real's current squad came through their own youth system, and of those, Esteban Granero and Alvaro Arbeloa both left for periods before being re-signed. Only captain Iker Casillas has been with the club for his whole career. Whereas Barca aren't shy of making big money transfers such as Villa and last year's Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the core of their team have been developed at home. Carles Puyol, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Victor Valdes, Pedro Rodriguez, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets were all local boys who came through the youth system and even Leo Messi has been with the club from the age of 12.

The philosophy continues at managerial level, Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola was a product of the club's youth system. He spent the majority of his playing career with them, winning the European Cup under Johan Cruyff and eventually returned to manage the B team. After only a year, he stepped up to manage the first team, fearlessly offloading Ronaldinho and Deco, and remarkably won the treble in his first season in charge. As if that wasn't enough, Barca went on to claim the Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and World Club Cup, becoming the first team in history to win all six available trophies in one year. When Barcelona are doing so well, Real are invariably unhappy and even when Barca lost their grip on the Champions League last season they still outshone Real, beating them to the title despite Real achieving their record tally for most points in a season. The reason Mourinho has been hauled into the Bernabeu is that he is seen as the one man who can stop the Catalans: his Inter team were the ones to knock them out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage back in April. Mourinho is effectively the first superstar managerial signing at Real, and perhaps the only man who can control a squad full of Prima Donnas.

Having recently visited both cities, the difference in football culture is very clear. In Barcelona, it feels as if the city revolves around the club, you can't walk 100 metres without spotting someone in a Barca shirt, and no matter where you look there is almost no sign of Real's existence. Camp Nou is an incredible venue and really feels like it belongs to the people. Barca's local rivals Espanyol are practically invisible. In Madrid, you'd do well to spot more than the odd fan wearing the famed white shirt in the city centre, and in shops Barcelona shirts sit comfortably alongside Real's and local rivals Atletico's. With most shops aimed at the tourists, the footballing passions and rivalries seem to play second fiddle to the lust for money. Much how Real themselves work. When Real Madrid lust after a player, they invariably get him. With his recent work Florentino Perez has emulated Santiago Bernabeu, the man who pipped Barcelona to the signing of Alfredo Di Stefano back in Real's original glory days of the 1950s. While undoubtedly glorious and visually impressive, there is a somewhat artificial and commercial feel to the stadium which is named after Bernabeu. It is clear all the club cares about is success at all costs - and that means winning the European Cup.

This season, it appears to be the Mourinho factor which has balanced out the two behemoth's chances of silverware. With his achievements in the last seven years the Portuguese tactician is almost certainly the best manager in the world. Yet in Barcelona, who once employed him as a translator, he has a nemesis like no other. If Villa settles alongside Messi and either Ibrahimovic or Pedro in Barca's established 4-3-3 formation then they could wreak havoc like no other team in the world. But with Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain in imperious form last season, the additions of Carvalho and Khedira which will shore up the defensive side of the team could see Real run them every step of the way. Expected to play the 4-2-3-1 formation with which Inter won the Champions League it will be interesting to see how star player Ronaldo fits in to the front four, and if Kaka can resume fitness and become an integral part of the team. With Karim Benzema challenging Higuain for the role of centre forward and Oezil, Di Maria, Pedro Leon and Rafael Van der Vaart all pushing for attacking positions, Mourinho certainly has a challenge on his hands. The two defeats at the hands of Barca effectively sealed Real's fate last year. Unless Mourinho can rally his team to overcome Guardiola's all-conquering Barcelona then even the Special One may struggle to keep his boss Perez happy. While the Spanish league has effectively turned into a Scotlandesque duopoly, the drama between these two is like no other rivalry in the world. Let the battle commence.

Egos, Goals and Paul Scholes: It's only the return of the Premier League!

What a relief it is to have the Premier League back, which after a somewhat pedestrian World Cup seems faster and more exciting than it even did before. And the opening weekend certainly didn't disappoint with some sterling performances from individuals and teams alike: Joe Hart, Blackpool, Chelsea and Paul Scholes to mention a few. Hart, the new England number one goalkeeper pipped the vastly more experienced Shay Given to the starting line-up of Manchester City's opening game away to Spurs and single-handedly kept them in the game, justifying his selection and surely signifying the end of Given's time at Eastlands. It is good news for the national team that Hart won this particular battle as it isn't since the days of David Seaman at Arsenal that there has been an English number one keeper at a club at the right end of the Premier League table. As for City themselves they still look a fair way from winning the title but with James Milner, David Silva and Yaya Toure aboard, surely have the personnel to push on and claim a top four place this season. Egos may prove a problem though, and although Craig Bellamy has been strangely offloaded to the Championship, between Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and new boy Mario Balotelli (and Robinho if he stays) there is more than enough potential for Roberto Mancini's men to implode.

Blackpool meanwhile defied the odds with a 4-0 opening day away victory at Wigan. With newly promoted teams in the past often going months without success on the road, this early victory could be pivotal to Ian Holloway's team's morale. Yes, Wigan were abysmal but they have been in the Premier League long enough now to be considered a decent scalp and the Tangerines will be buzzing about a trip the Emirates this coming weekend. The Arsenal side they will face are one that again seem short of title-winning quality. Laurent Koscielny seems like a solid signing in central defence, but having lost Gallas, Silvestre, Campbell and Senderos this summer he is effectively replacing four players, leaving the Gunners worryingly short of cover in the position. With Koscielny suspended it will be interesting to see how they fare on Saturday. Question marks remain over the fitness of Robin Van Persie, who was only a substitute at Anfield on Sunday and Marouane Chamakh is certainly not an out-and-out goalscorer, averaging less than a goal every four games when at Bordeaux. As for captain Cesc Fabregas, he may stay for another season but whether he can play at his best when his heart is clearly with Barcelona will be interesting.

Chelsea on the other hand looked imperious as they cruised to a 6-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion. But if they can play like that against stronger opposition is not certain, as their defence certainly looked breachable in the Community Shield defeat to Manchester United little over a week ago. John Terry's form is questionable and Ricardo Carvalho will be missed, so much will depend on the form and fitness of Alex and Branislav Ivanovic, two admittedly more-than capable defenders. At the other end of the pitch, Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard slotted straight back into goal-scoring form on the opening day and this is where Chelsea are strongest. Another injury to Michael Essien could prove disastrous though with Michael Ballack, Deco and Juliano Belletti all gone and Ramires unproven in the Premier League. The Blues remain title favourites and as usual only Manchester United look like serious contenders. Paul Scholes was the star of the 3-0 victory over Newcastle United, displaying a full array of passes and attacking prowess, but the Red Devils certainly looked good all round. Nani is my early tip for player of the season as he seems to be continuing from where he left off before the summer and Dimitar Berbatov, after two dismal seasons, looks like he may finally have turned the corner at Old Trafford with a stunning lob at Wembley last week before a clinical finish to open the scoring on Monday night. Wayne Rooney still seemed somewhat off the pace but with pacy new Mexican signing Javier Hernandez, who impressed in South Africa, available from the bench, some of the pressure to score goals may be relieved from the England forward. Sir Alex Ferguson's men will take some stopping this year.

Elsewhere Liverpool, having finally escaped the shackles of Rafael Benitez, looked rejuvenated under Roy Hodgson, and played remarkably well with ten men in the second half against Arsenal. If Fernando Torres finally regains full fitness then they will surely be in with a strong chance of breaking back into the top four. Tottenham, with little movement in the transfer market were impressive against Manchester City but may struggle to repeat the feat of last season, and their defence looked suspect in their Champions League qualifier in Switzerland last night. Aston Villa, without Martin O'Neill may struggle to maintain their sixth position of the last three seasons, but with the right managerial appointment could do well, their squad is certainly still healthy, even with Stephen Ireland swapped for Milner, a deal which could turn out better for the Villans than for City. As for the other end of the table, it's anyone's shout at the moment, with only ultimate yo-yo team West Brom starting the season looking awful and even they had the excuse of playing away to the champions. Wolves started well and West Ham started badly but with little difference in the quality of many of the squads, it should be a much tighter battle than seen last year where Hull City and Burnley were disastrous and Portsmouth pretty much destroying their chances of survival with financial mismanagement. Let's hope not to see any more of that this season.

Success, Failure and Referees...

Well it's finally over, and what did we learn? That the favourites with all the best players really can win the World Cup, that global superstars can flop miserably at finals tournaments, and that refereeing mistakes are just as prominent as ever.

Firstly, the Spanish were worthy winners despite never getting into their full stride, only scoring eight goals in their seven games. There's not a lot left to say about them that hasn't already been said but their entire squad oozed quality. When the likes of David Silva are left on the bench, Fernando Llorente makes one impressive substitute appearance then doesn't get another look in and Fernando Torres gets forced out of the starting line-up, it is clear that the team was more than special. If they go on to claim the 2012 Euros as well, La Furia Roja may well go down as THE best international team of all time. A compelling final was somewhat ruined by Holland's appalling discipline and their cheek at criticising Howard Webb, claiming his refereeing cost them the Final is plain ridiculous as if anything, he should have reduced them to at least nine men in the first half. More on refereeing later.

As for the superstars, Wayne Rooney flopped harder than most, but it is incredible to think that between the England striker, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Torres, Franck Ribery and Kaka - six of the most marketable sportsmen in the world, they only managed one goal. That being from Ronaldo who contributed a sixth goal in Portugal's 7-0 rout of North Korea, hardly a strike of importance. The reasons behind these poor performances are not completely clear, a lack of fitness seemed to afflict Rooney, Torres and to an extent Kaka, and Ribery was perhaps unfortunate to be involved in the absolute farce that was the French team. Yet where these big stars flopped, others flourished. David Villa surely muscling past Rooney, Torres and Didier Drogba for the title of world's best centre forward, and Uruguay's talisman Diego Forlan continuing his Europa League form of the past season and putting in performances that earnt him the coveted Golden Ball prize. Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben both excelled in the Dutch team and Sneijder particularly should be in contention for FIFA's world player of the year award come December. Key player in Inter's treble winning season and crucial to his team's run to a World Cup final, few could claim to have matched his achievements this year.

As for the refereeing, Frank Lampard's goal that never was obviously sticks in the mind, as do several contentious offside and handball decisions. Not to mention Webb's leniency in the final. Should technology be introduced? I think so but only for clear decisions, more precisely, whether the ball crossed the line or not, and offsides. Fouls are usually debatable even after several replays so this could slow down the game too much, but for a fourth official to observe whether the ball crossed the line or if players were offside on a monitor is perfectly feasible for top level football and this would hardly delay the game, if at all. Whether FIFA give it the go ahead remains unlikely as Sepp Blatter has always insisted the game remains the same from grass roots up, even though quite clearly an amateur game in the park is quite different from a UEFA Champions League final at Wembley in front of 90,000 fans and a worldwide TV audience while each player earns six figure sums per week. Perhaps better training for the referees, who are almost all part-time could be an option. There's enough money in the game to have full-time paid referees and if they were given serious training each week, mistakes might be minimalized. But it looks like the experiment carried out last year in the Europa league with extra officials next to the goals will persist, which of course means more officials are needed and always leaves room for human error. Some things will never change I guess...

Other World Cup mentions should go to New Zealand, who did incredibly well to leave the tournament unbeaten, after three draws in the group stage. They were still knocked out, but for a team that were expected by most to be on the wrong end of cricket scores, they did their nation proud, finishing ahead of 2006 world champions Italy. The Italians, like the French and the English have to seriously reconsider their teams, formations and philosophies...rebuilding is definitely on the agenda if these are to challenge in Brazil 2014. The Germans also deserve praise for excelling with some direct, attacking football, a blend of youth and experience, and that hard-faced German attitude that just seems to drag them through tournament after tournament. Mesut Oezil, Thomas Mueller and Sami Khedira are all going to be ones to watch over the coming seasons and will surely again feature prominently at Euro 2012.

All in all, a successful first World Cup in Africa, with less crime and transport issues than anticipated, and eventually plenty of entertainment despite some of the dull football which marred the early group games. The 4-2-3-1 formation took prominence and some of the latter stages produced scintillating football, particularly Holland's thriller with Uruguay and Germany's rout of the defensively-disastrous Argentina. Now it's over, what to do? Well, a month today and the Premier League season will be recommencing. Excellent.

Getting Closer to Glory

Well, what interesting semi-finalists we have. Spain, pre-tournament favourites have flattered to deceive yet David Villa has practically dragged them through to their (inexplicably) first-ever World Cup semi-final with five goals, mostly brilliant, when most of his team-mates, notably Fernando Torres and Gerard Pique have looked decidedly off-colour. Back-to-back 1-0 wins over Portugal and Paraguay have done the trick for La Furia Roja but they are about to face their trickiest test yet. The Germans, yet again, have shone despite being overlooked by many before the tournament. They destroyed England 4-1 then went one better and exposed Diego Maradona's sorry excuse for a defence with a 4-0 win over the Argentines. Maradona's decisions to leave out the likes of Barcelona's Gabriel Milito and Inter's Javier Zanetti look even more foolish than they already did now. The emergence of Mesut Oezil and Thomas Mueller have been instrumental to the sudden flow of German goals. Added to the incredibly prolific Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski and it's incredible the Germans weren't thought of as real contenders at the start of the tournament. Yes, neither of those strikers have been great for club lately but both do the trick for country. Perhaps England could take note, Peter Crouch has similarly performed better for country than club but he wasn't given a sniff by Fabio Capello in South Africa. Joachim Lowe has succeeded where Capello failed in drilling his team tactically and ensuring every player knows their exact role in the system, a 4-2-3-1 which seems to be the vogue formation of the World Cup, again England could take note...

In the other semi-final the Dutch will be fancying their chances. Fresh from beating Brazil, the brilliant club form of Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben seems to have continued into the World Cup, where others (Rooney, Messi, Ronaldo) have all stumbled. Combined with an effective Dirk Kuyt and Robin Van Persie(the only one who is perhaps not quite firing yet) in another 4-2-3-1 formation, the Oranje would appear to have their best chance of claiming a first ever World Cup. An astonishing thought when considering the legends the Dutch have had at their disposal down the years: Johan Cruyff, Johnny Rep, Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Kluivert, Ruud Van Nistelrooy...Not one has lifted the World Cup. But then, nor has Spain, so we have two chances of witnessing a new world champion this year.

Somewhat surprisingly, Uruguay, the underdogs of the last four, already have two World Cups in the bag, albeit from way back in 1930, the inaugural tournament, and 1950, the first post-war tournament. Luis Suarez has received much abuse for his own 'hand of god' incident but really, I defy anyone to do differently in that situation, where if he didn't act his team were certainly out of the World Cup. By making the handball, Suarez made the sizeable sacrifice of missing a possible semi-final as well as missing the penalty shoot-out (where he would have been a key-taker) while still handing Ghana a very good chance to win by scoring a penalty. No, Ghana only have themselves to blame after Asamoah Gyan, previously impressive throughout, bottled the all important penalty kick. Uruguay then won the shoot-out fair and square, Sebastien Abreu with a sublime 'Panenka' style kick to round things off. However, without Suarez, the Uruguayans will be up against it on Tuesday night, and much will be required of Diego Forlan who has scored three goals so far and like Sneijder and Robben continued his club form of the past season, where he scored winning goals past both Liverpool and Fulham to lead Atletico Madrid to Europa League glory.

Personally, I believe the Dutch will just have too much quality for the last South American team in the tournament, and that the Germans' form will just be enough to edge out the Spaniards, who aren't quite firing as well as they were expected. However, in this World Cup anything can happen as we've seen so far with some bizarre results and Messrs Forlan and Muslera for Uruguay, and Villa and Casillas for Spain in particular will be looking to see their countries into the final next Sunday. The feast of football goes on, with the final only seven days away! Oh yeah, and the third place-play off the night before, if anyone's interested? Anybody?

The Factors Behind the Failure

After watching England's World Cup dreams disappear on Sunday afternoon while stood in a sunny, sweaty field at Glastonbury festival, it has taken me a few days to really think about and decipher exactly where we went wrong. Here are my thoughts on the combination of faults and fate that denied England a third successive quarter-final:

Lack of form:

Newly-instated captain Steven Gerrard went into the tournament on the back of probably the worst season of his career with Liverpool, so confidence couldn't exactly have been high. Other key players had also been off form, with John Terry having a less than convincing spell for Chelsea mid-way through the season and Wayne Rooney failing to find the net in the last two months of the season, despite incredible form before that. Similarly Jermain Defoe's goals had dried up long before the end of the season and Emile Heskey didn't start a game for Aston Villa from February onwards.

Injury problems:

Yes, other countries have them too but losing captain Rio Ferdinand immediately prior to the tournament didn't help. Not only that but Rooney, Aaron Lennon, Gareth Barry, Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson had all picked up injuries in the latter part of the season, and Rooney and Barry in particular never looked to have fully recovered from these. David Beckham and Michael Owen were also ruled out of contention a few months before the finals, and while the former had become only a fringe member of the squad, and the latter hadn't been involved for a few years, if they were fit and firing at the business end of the season, they may well have made a difference.

Selection issues:

Fabio Capello made some interesting decisions in his squad, and starting line-up selections. Leaving Sunderland goal machine Darren Bent at home in favour of no-goals Heskey is seriously debatable, as is the choice of Shaun Wright-Phillips ahead of Theo Walcott. SWP was used as an impact substitute repeatedly but could Walcott have made more of an impact off the bench? Arsenal's Champions League quarter-final first leg with Barcelona springs to mind... Also, the inclusion of Michael Carrick seemed rather pointless as he was off form and well down the pecking order, perhaps a fifth striker would have been a better option. Regarding the starting line-ups, choosing Rob Green in the first match was clearly a mistake, as he simply isn't anywhere near as good as David James, despite the age of the latter. Capello obviously realised this in time for the Algeria match but by then the damage had been done. The lack of Peter Crouch in the line-up was also a mistake, I feel. Whereas the likes of Frank Lampard and Gerrard get lambasted for not performing for country as they do for club, Crouch is quite the opposite, and has been more prolific for country than any of his clubs, netting two against Egypt and one against Mexico in recent friendlies. Surely he should have seen more action. Again the refusal to use Joe Cole until late on in the last two matches was controversial, when he is another who has repeatedly impressed for England, including as recently as the Japan friendly shortly before the tournament.

The rigid system:

Capello stuck with 4-4-2 throughout the qualification campaign and continued through the tournament, with the exception of a brief spell against Slovenia where Joe Cole was bizarrely deployed off Defoe, and then Heskey in a 4-5-1. Yet it is this 4-5-1 system that Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool frequently employ, and Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, certainly England's three most dangerous players revel. At United Rooney often leads the line, with the likes of Park Ji-Sung, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs lurking behind him, at Liverpool Gerrard has shone playing behind Fernando Torres and at Chelsea Lampard has found form as part of a midfield three playing alongside more defensive partners such as Jon Obi Mikel and Michael Essien. A system with Rooney ahead of Gerrard flanked by Lennon and Joe Cole and with Lampard and Barry making up the midfield has been much touted by fans and journalists alike, but Don Fabio has never taken heed.

Unnecessary off-field controversy:

The whole Terry-Bridge affair (literally) which resulted in a change of captain could not have helped matters ahead of the World Cup. Further hoo-hah ensued when Capello was forced to ditch his 'Capello Index' by the FA, a scheme of his where players would be rated throughout the tournament on the manager's personal criteria. The FA feared this could offend his own players when they were rated and the idea was canned. As if Terry and Capello hadn't been involved in enough controversy already, come the tournament itself, they combined to maximum effect. The Chelsea captain announcing at a press conference that a meeting was to be held where he and the other players would voice their opinions and 'if it offends some of us, who cares?'. The next day Capello called Terry's actions a mistake and insisted no meeting of that kind had taken place and that it was simply a normal team meeting. This resulted in both parties losing face and the media cried of rifts in the England camp.

A slice of bad luck:

Injuries aside, England were unlucky in that had Algeria held on for two more minutes against the United States, the Three Lions would have been group winners and faced Ghana instead of Germany, and it could have been oh so different. Similarly, if referee Jorge Larrionda and his linesman had spotted Lampard's blatant goal against Germany, then at 2-2 England would have had the momentum against the old enemy and could well have pushed on for a victory. Not that this excuses the appalling defending that followed.

So where do we go now then?

Fresh faces are needed it would appear, with the likes of Lampard, Gerrard, Heskey and Ferdinand all the wrong side of thirty. Ashley Cole, John Terry, Matthew Upson and Peter Crouch are no spring-chickens either. For the Euro 2012 qualifiers it would be nice to see some new faces in the squad. Perhaps the likes of Ashley Young, Adam Johnson and the afore-mentioned Darren Bent deserve more of a run in the side. Other young players such as Everton's Jack Rodwell and Arsenal's Jack Wilshere will be hoping a good start to the season could see them being involved sooner rather than later. In goal, Joe Hart surely needs to be handed the number one shirt as David James is on the brink of retirement, and Green clearly isn't up to the job. As for the manager, it is hard to see how sacking him will help as a new man would have to start from scratch. Capello is experienced enough to be able to learn from the World Cup and it would be foolish to replace him when there are no obvious candidates to take over and do a better job. There are serious problems with England, and to get this team to perform at a big tournament it is going to take some extremely hard work. But it's not impossible, and if the star players can finally manage to work as a unit, like Germany and Brazil do time and again, the long wait for a trophy could end in Poland/Ukraine 2012. Don't hold your breath though...

And Now For Something Completely Different...

I feel the mood needs lifting after England's drab, dire, depressing and downright dismal draw with Algeria last night, so instead of ranting about how bad the match was, which would be far too easy, I'm going to treat you all to my World Cup 2010 Ridiculously Named Players XI:

GK: Boubacar Barry

If only England midfielder Gareth had a first name as amusing as the Ivory Coast goalkeeper's, we might have had something to smile about when he started in Cape Town last night!

RB: Danny Shittu

Yes, we know him well as he has played in England his whole career, but that still doesn't stop the Nigerian defender's surname from making the average male football fan from enjoying a quick chuckle upon hearing his name.

CB: Waldo Ponce

Complete with long hair and an alice band to match the name, the Chilean defender doesn't sound like the kind of man that is going to leave centre-forwards quaking in their boots...

LB: Gaetan Bong

Could be found playing left-back for Cameroon, but with a name like that is equally likely to be found with red-eye, the munchies and listening to Bob Marley.

RM: Kim Kum Il

The 46 Korean players in the tournament were all battling out to make this team, and Kim Kum Il, the North Korean who plies his trade with a team called 'April 25' has stormed in to claim his place in the starting line-up.

CM: Surprise Moriri

The South Africa man, who plies his trade for Mamelodi Sundowns is probably the only guy at the World Cup who isn't sure whether people are greeting him or trying to give him a bit of a shock... SURPRISE!

CM: Israel Castro

The Mexican makes the team purely on the basis that visual-learners are likely to imagine a castrated Israeli upon hearing his name.

LM: Siphiwe Tshabalala

The tricksy winger scored an absolute beauty to open the tournament for the hosts, but this resulted in confused fans trying to talk about his goal and forgetting how many 'sha's 'ba's and 'la's there were and in which order. The silent T just confused matters further...

CF: Prince Tagoe

Unlike William and Harry, who could be seen on ITV earlier alongside David Beckham with grins which should not have been seen on any self-respecting Englishman's face at any point this weekend, the Ghanaians actually get their royalty involved with the football. Hang on, he's not actually a Prince? Oh...

CF: Georgie Welcome

The Honduras frontman sounds like the sort of man who would greet his guests with open arms, take their coats, offer a cup of tea and make sure they get on the right bus home.

CF: Herculez Gomez

The USA impact sub who could easily pass as a WWE wrestler, a super hero or a video game character...

And the manager?

Nigeria's Swedish coach Lars Lagerback can claim this position, as any man with a booze-related surname can feel free to manage an imaginary team of mine!

And on that note, it may be time to go and drown my England related sorrows...

Where Did All The Goals Go?

We might only be eleven matches and four days into the tournament but I'm going to throw some disconcerting statistics out there. There's only been one match with more than two goals in it, no team that has scored has lost and there's not even been a 2-1 scoreline yet, let alone a 3-1 or 3-2. In short, there's not been anywhere near enough goals. Compare this to 06 where there were 27 goals in the first eleven games (9 more than so far this time) there seems to be something wrong with the teams' attitudes at this World Cup. Many teams seem more preoccupied with defending and trying not to lose than pushing on for the win. Coaches are making more defensive decisions, such as Cameroon's Paul Le Guen choosing to use Samuel Eto'o on the right side of midfield instead of playing the prolific forward through the middle where he might actually score. Holland were underwhelming in victory over Denmark today as were France, Italy and England in their opening draws. Argentina were nowhere near effective enough against the Nigerians, scraping a 1-0 win with Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain all failing to find the net.The only big-name nation to impress so far have been the Germans, who in typical fashion dispelled the doubters with a clinical attacking performance against an Australian team who were coming into the tournament with high hopes. There have been a few other brights sparks so far, with South Korea impressing with some aesthetically-pleasing football when defeating the dour Greeks and the hosts South Africa opened the tournament with a better showing against Mexico than many had expected. Ghana and Japan also did well to defeat Serbia and Cameroon respectively but neither of those matches were particularly exhilarating.
The World Cup is certainly yet to really take off, but there is hope yet with Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast all getting involved tomorrow before the much heralded entrance of the Spaniards on Wednesday.
Let's hope Kaka, Ronaldo, Villa et al can set the South African stage alight where others have so far failed!

Green's Blunder Just Too Familiar...

In true England fashion, the Three Lions got our 2010 World Cup campaign off to a dubious start. An absolute howler from goalkeeper Robert Green sent far too recent memories of Paul Robinson and Scott Carson flashing before the nation's eyes again. The question is, what was Fabio Capello doing selecting him in the first place? He's not had a great season for West Ham United, a Premier League howler against Bolton springs to mind, and there are two other goalkeepers in the England squad that surely have a better claim than the Hammers number one. Joe Hart may be young but he's been truly exceptional for Birmingham City over the past year and made the PFA team of the year. Veteran David James is also surely more competent than Green, and despite injuries over the past year, would still be a preferable option in goal, with plenty of experience to add to his natural ability. Ledley King's half-time withdrawal was also discouraging, and Jamie Carragher looked suspect as his replacement. It would be fair to say that a fit Rio Ferdinand would have been much appreciated in Rustenburg today.

But let's focus on the positives. After poor performances against Mexico and Japan, at least England played well for most of the match. Emile Heskey was effervescent in attack, new captain Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard both put in good shifts alongside each other in central midfield, Wayne Rooney grew into the game and looked threatening and there were similarly impressive performances from Aaron Lennon, Glen Johnson and substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips. However, the result leaves much to be desired, and Capello's men will need to be more clinical against the weaker opposition to follow, Algeria and Slovenia. Not only do we need to clinch qualification, it would be good to find some form before the knockout stages where Germany, Argentina, Brazil and the rest could be lurking. By no means a disastrous start, but the Three Lions need to eliminate these notorious errors and controversial moments from their World Cup itinerary if 44 years of hurt are finally going to end.

Jose Is Genius, But Madrid Want Mour

Last night, Jose Mourinho became only the third manager to win the European Cup with two different teams by leading his Internazionale outfit to an ultimately comfortable victory over Bayern Munich: the first time Inter have ruled Europe since 1965. Added to the six league titles won in just seven full seasons in charge of Porto, Chelsea and Inter and the cluster of other cups (including UEFA and FA cups) in his locker, then the man from Setubal really has proven himself as a 'Special One'. But could he go on to become the greatest club manager of all time?

At the age of 47, he certainly has time on his hands to equal and overtake Bob Paisley's managerial record of three European Cups (all won with Liverpool). The master tactician is bound for the home dugout at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium, the scene of his most recent success. With the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Gonzalo Higuain and Iker Casillas under his charge then it is certainly possible that he could walk away from next year's final venue Wembley with a second consecutive Champions League winner's medal under his belt but that will be easier said than done. When moving to Chelsea in 2004, Mourinho was handed what on paper, was a far superior squad to the one he had just led to success at Porto. Bringing in big money signings such as Didier Drogba and Ricardo Carvalho to complement the likes of John Terry, Claude Makelele and Frank Lampard was a sure-fire route to domestic success but the continent proved harder to conquer. Defeated twice in the semi-finals by a fortuitous Liverpool and thoroughly outplayed in the last 16 by the Ronaldinho-inspired Barcelona side of 2006, the cup with the big ears proved elusive during his tenure at Stamford Bridge, and at Real Madrid he will face similar problems.

The biggest hurdle to overcome could be the presence of an opinionated, extremely powerful owner with sky high expectations. Failure to see eye-to-eye with Roman Abramovich saw a premature end to Mourinho's time in West London and in Los Blancos' President Florentino Perez, Mourinho will be faced with a character of similar ilk. The man with power at the nine-times European champions is as crazy about landing a tenth Champions League title as Abramovich is about landing Chelsea's first. The Real supremo isn't renowned for patience and after spending inconceivable amounts in the transfer window last summer, and still seeing his team knocked out in the last sixteen (for, as if anyone needs reminding, the SIXTH time in a row) and failing to overcome Barcelona in the Spanish league, current coach Manuel Pellegrini has been a dead man walking for a fair while. After ensuring the catalan team, so hated by the Madrilenos didn't make an appearance at the Bernabeu last night, Mourinho could well have more time on his hands than previous incumbents but the pressure on the club is second to none.

Failure to reach the Champions League final next year would instantly see the heat cranked up on Mourinho, and as much as he thrives on it, he still couldn't win the Champions League when at Chelsea. Furthermore, Madrid demand more than just success, sacking the likes of Fabio Capello and Vicente Del Bosque after title-winning seasons on the basis that the football style wasn't attractive. And Mourinho is certainly no Johan Cruyff when it comes to football style. Efficiency, organisation and power are the hallmarks of his teams and whether he can get this message across to Ronaldo et al and simultaneoulsy win over Perez's affections remains to be seen. If he does, and the team walks away as champions of Europe once again, then Mourinho, for sure, will be able to say he is the greatest club manager of all time.

Goal Records for Chelsea, The End of the Big Four and Champions League Football for Spurs: A Season To Remember

So it came down to the last day of the season, for only the fifth time in Premier League history, and Chelsea showed the world that they were worthy champions. A barnstorming display in front of goal saw them smash eight past Wigan, bringing their total to a record-breaking 103 league goals and seeing Didier Drogba knock Wayne Rooney out of the way to claim the Golden Boot with a second half hat-trick. An entertaining ending to what has been an entertaining season. Following on from hitting seven past Stoke City, Aston Villa and Sunderland in the last few months, Carlo Ancelotti's side have shown that Italian boss's teams aren't always about rock solid defences and cagey 1-0 wins. With Frank Lampard hitting his best ever goals tally and Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka both getting into double figures, the boys from the Bridge had no shortage of match-winners in their side. A first ever double is now in sight for the Pensioners with the FA Cup final to come but the Champions League will surely be top of Ancelotti's agenda for next season, with the final being held across town at Wembley Stadium.

Dethroned champions Manchester United, the previous record Premiership goal-scorers with 97 back in the days of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole (1999/2000), will rue the day they lost 2-1 at home to Chelsea, with an injured Rooney looking on from his executive box. That turned out to be the turning point in the title race, as the Blues leap-frogged the Red Devils and never really looked back. Sir Alex Ferguson can look back on a relatively successful season however, as despite selling Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez in the close season his side came to within a point of the title and scored eighteen more league goals than last season. As well as Rooney's late season injury problems, his defence was devastated in the winter when Patrice Evra was the only fit defender for several weeks: a period which saw United crash to defeats to Fulham and Aston Villa. With just the Carling Cup in the bag and an unfortunate quarter-final Champions League exit, the Old Trafford faithful will be hungry for more next season, but 2009-10 has been by no means a disaster.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for United's great rivals Liverpool. An abysmal season for last year's runners-ups was capped off today with a 0-0 draw at relegated Hull City which saw the Reds finish in a lowly seventh, their worst position since 1999 and only claiming a Europa League place thanks to Cup finalists Portsmouth's adminstrative woes. With a group stage Champions League exit, and early knockouts in both domestic cups(to Reading and Arsenal respectively), Liverpool have almost nothing to look back on and must think forward if they are to reclaim their place in the 'Big Four'.

Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Aston Villa will all have something to say about that though. Harry Redknapp's boys from White Hart Lane will reap the benefits of a (play-off round permitting) first ever Champions League campaign, and United's noisy neighbours are sure to make waves in this summer's transfer window, looking to put the disappointment of missing out on 4th place behind them. The Villans will be desperate to hold onto Martin O'Neill and push on from their third consecutive sixth place finish, and with the likes of 2010 PFA young player of the year James Milner and his predecessor Ashley Young a year older, they have reason to be optimistic if they can bolster their squad in the summer. With local rivals Everton only finishing two points behing Rafa Benitez's men, change seems inevitable at the legendary club, with new owners, a new manager, a new stadium and new players all on the agenda. Whether crown jewels Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are going to stay could be crucial to the Anfield outfit's prospects.

At the other end of the table, Pompey's administration effectively sealed their fate months ago and Hull City and Burnley had both looked hapless for a number of weeks, despite both hiring new managers (albeit Burnley in somewhat different circumstances to the Tigers). Goal-shy Wolves, Jekyll-and-Hyde-team Wigan and financially-troubled West Ham will have their work cut out next season with promoted Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion promising to be more threatening than the teams they are replacing.

Overall, the gap between the top teams and the rest seems to have closed, with the 'Big Four' suffering 33 defeats between them as opposed to just 17 last season. They are now arguably a 'Big Eight' (the pessimists might call it a 'Big Two' but for one of those look to Spain where there are a whopping 27 points between second and third place) with City, Spurs, Villa and Everton all in the mix for European places. We might find reason to complain about the divers, the controversial decisions and certain manager's team selections (think Mick McCarthy and Roy Hodgson) for big games, but for pure entertainment the Premier League has been as fascinating as ever. It doesn't end here though, now our attention can switch to the FA Cup final, Champions League final and the one event all football purists savour, the World Cup...

Play Up Pompey! Are They the Best Team Ever to Finish 20th?

How incredible it is to see Portsmouth reach the FA Cup final for the second time in three years given their Premier League plight this season. Despite being relegated on Saturday, Pompey performed excellently on the horrendous Wembley pitch the very next day to deny Tottenham Hotspur their first FA Cup final appearance since 1991. The embarrassment felt by Spurs boss Harry Redknapp (not to mention ex-Portsmouth players Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Niko Kranjcar) must be paramount after his counterpart Avram Grant, with a shadow of the Pompey side Redknapp himself led to Wembley in 2008 ,got the better of him and his expensively assembled North London side. But despite their league position, this Portsmouth team isn't full of mugs.

Their situation at the foot of the league is very much deceiving, as on a few occasions the south coast club has shown true quality this season, namely the 2-0 victory over Liverpool, a narrow 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge, and their incredible FA Cup run, where they beat high-flying Birmingham City in the quarter-finals. It is largely down to the bizarre financial circumstances at the club, the revolving door of owners earlier in the season, and the refusal to appoint Grant at the expense of the hapless Paul Hart until midway through the season. Frederic Piquionne (an excellent find from French football) has shown some class finishing, including the first in extra-time on Sunday and the likes of Algerian duo Hassan Yebda and Nadir Belhadj should by no means be considered relegation-candidate players. The evergreen David James marshalled his defence excellently in the semi-final, a defence which included the experience of European cup winner Steve Finnan and South Africa captain Aaron Mokoena. If injury hadn't restricted James to just 22 league appearances this season, Pompey may well be higher up the league. Of course, the nine point deduction for going into administration was the real killer and since then the writing has been on the wall.

The saddest thing, is that despite Grant's incredible achievement of leading his club back to Wembley to face his former employers Chelsea on May 15th, their fate next season could well be even worse. With the finance of the club still in turmoil, it is likely many Portsmouth players will be on their way out this summer. Shorn of the few remaining stars they have, it seems more likely that Portsmouth will head the way of Leeds United and local rivals Southampton in disappearing to the depths of League One, as opposed to the quick return enjoyed by Newcastle United this season. But if they can hold on to Grant, then perhaps the Pompey chimes will keep ringing a bit longer.

When A 3-2 Victory Isn't As Good As A 2-1 Victory

Manchester United were last night eliminated from the Champions League quarter-finals by Bayern Munich, thanks to an incredible volley by Arjen Robben, Bayern's second away goal. This is the fourth time in their history that the Red Devils have been eliminated in such fashion, following away goals defeats to Galatasaray and Monaco in the 1990s and Bayer Leverkusen back in 2002. But what I simply cannot understand is WHY the away goals rule exists?

In the past many away teams would play extremely defensively in European competition. I believe the thinking behind the rule is to make the away team try to attack more than they otherwise would, but surely this in turn makes the home team need to play more defensively. Essentially, the rule says that a 2-1 home win is better than a 3-2 home win, and that a 2-2 home draw is worse than a 1-1 home draw. This is clearly ridiculous, surely all draws should be looked upon as the same, and a victory by a one goal margin should be seen simply as it is - a victory by a one goal margin.

A most ludicrous case comes to mind, back in the Champions League semi-finals of 2003. AC Milan were drawn to play city rivals Internazionale and the two ties took place in their shared stadium, the San Siro. A goalless first leg ensued, and the second leg finished 1-1 after Andriy Shevchenko put the Rossoneri one up before Obafemi Martins grabbed a late equaliser for the Nerazzurri. But as Inter were supposedly the home team in the second leg, it was Milan that went through thanks to Sheva's 'away goal'. Pure folly. Simply put, UEFA should abolish the away goals rule and stick to good old-fashioned extra time and penalties to settle any tied match. At least that way a team has to win by an actual margin.