Same Shit Different Day

As England disappoint on another world stage, I can't help but ask myself exactly how many times we, as a

nation can tolerate such dismal failings in our national sport.

So much was promised from the "new breed" of England players but unfortunately for a variety of different reasons, we find ourselves watching the same slow, toothless play that served us so poorly in years gone by.

Like everyone else, I was enthused to see Barkley, Lallana, Sterling, Sturridge, Shaw and Wilshere in the squad. Finally, we have a manager willing to give a new brand of attacking football and youthful hunger to the National team... or so I thought. But, when the time finally comes, Hodgson well and truly bottled it. Against Italy, I thought our tactics were spot on and with little bit of luck we'd have come out of that game with at least a point. Nevertheless, slack defending costs us and sets up a must win game against Uruguay.

Hodgson decides to go the same way as every England manager that I've experienced in my lifetime -- conservatively. No place in the side for Barkley or Lallana, and Henderson playing over Wilshere which I find frankly baffling. Although we had over 60% possession, all I saw was the same slow, numbing build up play that has typified England over the last 20 years. England players play like they're wearing shackles. If you look at any of the teams that have excelled in the competition so far - Holland, Chile, Colombia... they're so fast! They play with freedom and without fear. Many people are blaming our defence, but can you really say that any of the aforementioned are rock solid? We believe in an old fashioned style in England, that the defenders defend, the midfield pass and the strikers shoot. Unfortunately, while we keep employing the old-school managers and coaches, we will keep seeing the same results. 

For me, Hodgson has to go. I don't agree with his post-match comments that we've played well and lost, particularly against Uruguay. You can say that Godin should have been sent off and

that Rooney should score from his header, but I am of the opinion that you make your own luck in life.

I hate to say it, but too many of the current squad simply aren't good enough. He's been a fantastic servant to the nation, but I think it's time for Gerrard to hang up his boots, and take Lampard with him. The captaincy needs to go to Cahill, who seems to be the only leader on the field when England play. Glen Johnson, Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines and Jordan Henderson have been found out at this level.

There has been a witch-hunt surrounding Wayne Rooney at this tournament. Perhaps if we treat our stars the
way that Uruguay treat Suarez or Brazil treat Neymar, we'd actually see something that represents the best of Rooney in an England shirt. I believe that Wayne Rooney has been OK in this tournament. Against Uruguay, I'd say he was one of our best players. The word scapegoat springs to mind. Dropping him would be a mistake. After Sven and Capello, I can forgive the FA for wanting an English coach for the national team, but given the lack of quality young domestic managers, I believe that we need foreign blood to reinvent our side.

We've tried evolution; we need revolution

I want to see passion. Passion like this.

Meulensteen's Massive Mission

As news breaks that Fulham are set to spend £11 million on Greek striker Kostas Mitroglu, I can't help but feel that new manager René Meulensteen has a very difficult job to turn that squad from relegation candidates to the Europa League contenders of a few years ago.

There is no doubt Meulensteen is a superb coach. Just ask Sir Alex Ferguson, who had him on his coaching staff at Manchester United for 11 years. However, whether he will make a successful manager remains to be seen, particularly when you consider the ageing and under-performing squad currently making up Fulham Football Club. It is worth mentioning as well, that Meulensteen's only other managerial role at Danish club Brøndby ended with resignation 6 months in.

I believe the current Fulham squad is devoid of real quality. If asked to name the players at Craven Cottage, I suspect many would stumble after Berbatov and Parker, so I've listed it below.

Scott Parker is a good Premier League player to have when you're struggling. He'll put himself about, give 100% and get stuck in, which in itself will lift the crowd. Unfortunately he has very little actual footballing quality and will not make anything happen going forward.

Fulham would do well to cash in on Dimitar Berbatov before his sell-on valuation falls even further. I'm sure he'd fit in well in a Spanish club willing to pay his wages, because he simply isn't effective in England any more. You cannot doubt his quality on the ball, but he doesn't cut it anymore.

The others are tremendously average and frankly are worthy of a relegation dogfight. The average is 29.2, and i'd imagine that the regular starting XI will be even higher. Fulham fans will hope that new man Mitroglu will add some quality up front, but I am always wary of unproven European strikers moving to the Premiership. A betting man would probably put their money on a flop and i'm probably in that category, but I haven't seen much of him.

I think a changing of the guard is needed at Fulham. Players like Berbatov (32), Duff (34), Parker (33), Karagounis (36), Riise (33), Hangeland (32) and Hughes (34) need to be phased out and replaced. Younger blood will help in a number of ways. Meulensteen can shape his own team, which will in turn re-energise the club and fans in turn. 

Ballon d'Or Winner 2013 - Cristiano Ronaldo

Congratulations to Cristiano Ronaldo on winning his 2nd Ballon d'Or. Fully deserved for an unbelievable year.

#CR7 #Ronaldo #BestInTheWorld

FIFPRO World Team of the Year 2013

FIFA's team of the year for 2013 is as follows:

Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich - Germany)

Philip Lahm (Bayern Munich - Germany)
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid - Spain)
Thiago Silva (Paris Saint Germain - Brazil)
Dani Alves (Barcelona - Brazil)

Xavi Hernández (Barcelona - Spain)
Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona - Spain)
Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich - France)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid - Portugal)
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Paris Saint Germain - Sweden)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona - Argentina)

As usual, Barcelona are overrepresented as FIFA continue to brown-nose the big teams instead of taking into account actual performance and contribution to the teams of the players. What Xavi and Iniesta are doing in there I genuinely do not know. Their reputation has gone before them. Xavi has played 55% of barcelona's games in 2013 and Iniesta has played at a fraction of his form in previous years. I also think Franck Ribery plays in a similar role for Munich as Ronaldo plays for Madrid (wide left of an attacking trio). If you're going to ignore any kind of formation in order to fit all the best players in, why not play 3-4-3 have Bale in there at left-back and play Yaya Toure in there too. I can only assume that FIFA categorise players as defenders, midfielders or attackers and simply pick who they think is best based solely on that. Also worth noting that Vincent Kompany is a far better centre-back than Sergio Ramos and has a much better disciplinary record. 

My 2013 team of the year - 

Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich - Germany)

Philip Lahm (Bayern Munich - Germany)
Vincent Kompany (Manchester City - Belgium)
Gerard Piqué (Barcelona - Spain)
Thiago Silva (Paris Saint Germain - Brazil)

Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich - Germany)
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid - Wales)
Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich - France)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid - Portugal)
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Paris Saint Germain - Sweden)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona - Argentina)


*Footnote*

Franck Ribéry is overrated and shouldn't have been in the shortlist for the Ballon d'Or.

The FA Cup

I read something that really disappointed me today. Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert said today that he believes that the majority of top-flight clubs would rather not have the "distraction" of the FA Cup. This saddens me, as I'd imagine it saddens almost all football fans, but particularly those of an older generation. Let us not forget that the FA Cup is the oldest football competition in the world. 

Undeserved Fab Pen sinks Town - Great day

As a supporter of a 'lesser' team, the FA Cup presents teams like Huddersfield with the chance to test themselves against truly top opposition. Should a game be picked to be shown on TV, clubs receive hundreds of thousands of pounds, which is pure gold to teams in the Championship, League One and below. For fans too, it can also provide some amazing days out to top clubs, like I had in 2008 and 2011 at Chelsea and Arsenal respectively. On each occasion we were sunk by Frank Lampard and Cesc Fabregas. Those are memories I treasure, and typifies the majesty and romance that the FA Cup brings to fans.

Old Wembley - A real acheivement to play there

I recently watched 'The Class Of '92' which focuses around Man Utd in the 90s. Great watch, but more relevantly, in it Ryan Giggs talks about how FA Cup final day used to be the biggest day in the domestic footballing calender year. He reminisced about how it was every young lads dream to be able to play in the final and the unique euphoria around Wembley and the sense of occasion. I think that there are a couple of reasons for the decline in the perceived worth of

'New' Wembley - Overused due to cost?

the FA Cup in recent years. Firstly the League Cup, which serves little purpose and only manages to give out Wembley appearances like Jimmy Savile gave out back rubs. This without doubt takes away the sense of occasion of playing at Wembley. Another thing is the amount of money that goes into the Premier League, meaning that clubs can't afford to take their eye off the ball for a second. Even the difference between 13th and 14th in the Prem' means millions of pounds which could be the signing of a new player! 

That said, I actually disagree with Paul Lambert. Given the choice, I think most managers wouldn't want to see the history and tradition of the FA Cup (now in its 143rd year) cast aside. I sincerely hope that isn't the case. I consider it to be a vital aspect of the footballing identity in England and I would hate to see it devalued with the increase of foreign players and managers.

From the comments made by Paul Lambert, the only thing that is assured is that I, and I suspect a few more, will be hoping that Lambert's Villa side get smashed by Sheffield United in the 3rd round, then go on to lose their place in the Premiership too!

P.S Happy 2014 Everyone

Englands World Cup 2014 Squad

This picture was printed in the Daily Mail in 2007 and predicts England's world cup squad for the 2014 World Cup. If ever you needed proof that the Daily Mail are full of horse shit, then look no further. What a baffling array of woefully poor football players this team consists of. I will give them the benefit of the doubt on Theo Walcott who will definitely be in the squad in Brazil, but is by no means guaranteed to start

This picture is pretty self-explanatory, but I do have a couple of questions to ask the author of this article. Firstly WHERE IS WAYNE ROONEY?! Surely, having seen the rise of Wayne Rooney since his debut, even a retarded cocker spaniel could see that at 28, he would be 'quite important' to England. I also struggle to see how Michael Johnson could ever be conceived as being better than Steven Gerrard and why Ashley Cole isn't still in there.

2007 is a year that a lot of people in football will want to regret. Portsmouth will no doubt regret signing John Utaka. Liverpool will regret signing Andriy Voronin and Man Utd were prolific and definitely regret signing Anderson, Nani and Owen Hargreaves. I suspect, someone at the Daily Mail wish they'd pulled the plug on this as well/

World Cup 2014 Draw

It has just been announced that England will play Uruguay, Costa Rica and Italy in the Group stages of next years World Cup. All over my Twitter feed and Facebook timeline are people saying: 

"England might as well book the plane home now"

Frankly, these people have seen the names Uruguay and Italy and proverbially shit themselves. England are more than capable of topping that group. Whether they will or not is frankly another matter but we'll wait and see on that one. I want a bit of "this is our year" positivity. 

Firstly, I think Italy present a far bigger threat that Uruguay to England, despite all this talk of "OMFG South American teams!!!". Think back to the Euro's last year, we lost to Italy in a shite game where neither team did very much. In horrendously hot and humid Manaus at 2am GMT, noone is going to fancy that one. Italy will be just as annoyed with the group as us, and we certainly shouldn't fear them. 

As for the Uruguayans, did noone watch the Confederations Cup in Brazil not long ago? Uruguay were utter shite, and I mean that politely. Look down their teamsheet and you'll see 3 stand-out names; Forlan, Cavani & a certain Luis Suarez. Forlan is well past it and I personally think Edinson Cavani is grossly over-rated. As for Suarez, all we need is Stevie G to run through him in the last Liverpool training session before he goes. If not, chances are he will be suspended for biting a black pensioner in Toxteth anyway. 

Then when we come away from Group D top with 7 points, we'll have a favourable draw in the second round with Ivory Coast probably being the bookies favourite. Like I said, a bit of English positivity please.

I actually rather like the draw. Group G will be great to watch but for me Group B wins it. The long awaited rematch of the horribly ugly 2010 World Cup Final will be a great watch. Something tells me Howard Webb might not get that gig.

Fuck that haters. Come on England

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro

Since 2008, I have rated Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player in world football. I will explain why later on. However, he is my idol for different reasons for that. I will explain that too.

Ronaldo has publicly thanked his childhood friend Albert Fantrau for his success. If you don't know the story, allow me to fill you in. When Sporting Lisbon scouts came to watch Ronaldo's team play, they said that the player who scored the most goals will be accepted into the academy. The team won 3-0 with Ronaldo scoring 2 and Fantrau scoring the other. At 2-0, Fantrau went 1-on-1 with the keeper, rounded him and instead of tapping the ball into an empty net, passed to Ronaldo, who scored and therefore was taken to the Sporting academy. After the match, Fantrau told Ronaldo "You're better than me." and thats why he passed. If you were to go to Albert Fantrau's address now, you'll find a gorgeous house, nice car and a very rich, unemployed man. All gifts from Cristiano. This is why I admire Ronaldo so much.

On the pitch, Ronaldo is the single most complete footballer in the world. Physically, his speed, power and endurance can be matched by noone. He is a threat with his left and right foot, as well as being an talisman in the air, no defence in the world can contain him. He revolutionised the way free kicks are struck and can make the ball do things that seem physically improbable. In recent years, his goalscoring record speaks for itself, 206 goals in 2014 games for Madrid is simply indescribable. Ronaldo has proved himself in different countries, with different teams, coaches and managers. Where his rivals struggle to make an impact at International level, he single-handedly drags Portugal to tournament after tournament. This year alone, Ronaldo has outscored every Premier League on his own, and as of today has scored 8 goals in this seasons Champions League.

If Cristiano Ronaldo does not win the Ballon D'Or this year, then I will lose what little (very little) respect I have for FiFA.

My 3 Favourite Cristiano Ronaldo Goals

3) Man Utd v Portsmouth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smnOWsLmXI8
2) Real Madrid v Sevilla
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtrdg1qMMF0
1) Porto v Man Utd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JLkI7AUFo0

6 Real Life Wonderkids

It is always risky to predict the future stars in football. Injuries can hamper progression or they can simply go the same way as Francis Jeffers or Freddie Adu. However, from the extensive football I watch and follow, I have found 6 players that should be right at the top of world football in 5 to 10 years time. I have tried to choose some of the less obvious names. It doesn't take a genius to work out that Neymar and Gareth Bale with still be 'quite' good in 2018. Fingers crossed on this one!


Stephan El Sharaawy (21)
Ludicrous hair for a player with ludicrous potential, 21 year old El Sharaawy has broken into the AC Milan set up in the last 2 or 3 years. A speedy winger who possesses great skill and an eye for goal, it is hardly surprising that he has adready made it into the Italian national set up, although he tends to be used from the bench at this stage. Rumour has it that Milan are allowing El Sharaawy to leave the San Siro in the near future, and Premier League clubs such as Liverpool & Chelsea are keen. Don't go there Stephan, you're better than Liverpool and won't get played at Chelsea!


Álvaro Morata (21)
21 year old Álvaro Morata has the potential to be something really special at Real Madrid. In his tenure, José Mourinho chose to leave Morata in Real Madrid's 'Castilla' (Reserves), a decision that proved unpopular in the Spanish media. On his first full appearance for the senior team, Morata scored after 60 seconds of coming on, securing a 2-1 away win - talk about an introduction! His goalscoring record is exceptional... 45 goals in 83 appearances for Real Madrid Castilla and 11 goals in 9 games for Spain U21s. This guy has the potential to be something really special. At present he is used off the bench as a more than capable replacement for Karim Benzema, but I think he's good to start from time to time. Come on Ancelotti, take the chance on him. When Morata is the next Raul, you heard it here first!



Gerard Deulofeu (19)
You have probably heard of 19 year old Gerard Deulofeu because of his current loan spell with Roberto Martinez at Everton from Barcelona B. I would not be surprised if he is kept

at the Nou Camp long term though. Barcelona have a rich history of integrating youth team players into their first team set up, usually as back up. Look at the likes of Christian Tello and Pedro. However, should he not be kept at Barca long term, he could be a hell of a catch for other clubs. In the 2012/13 season, Deulofeu scored 18 goals in 33 appearances for Barca B, not bad considering he is an out-and-out winger. I want to see him play more for Everton, and so most probably to Barcelona. I believe he's been loaned to them to toughen him up before he comes back to become a big hit in Spain.



Zakaria Bakkali (17)
Bakkali is next on the conveyor belt of young Belgian wonderkids. Currently plying his

trade at PSV in Holland, the 17 year old is most famous for becoming the youngest Eredivisie player of all-time to score a hat-trick, at the age of 17 years and 196 days. Having scored 7 goals in 9 games for Belgium U17s, Bakkali has recently been promoted to the Belgium U21s. In this list, Bakkali is the youngest, has little first team experience and hasn't proved himself yet. But I have a feeling he will.



Raphaël Varane (20)
Having played 28 times already for the Real Madrid first team, Varane is already showing

his class and can only get better and better. I am not sure why Carlo Ancelotti chooses Pepe over Varane in honesty because I believe in the long run, he could turn out being the best central defender in the world. Standing at 6'3'', but still possessing a decent turn of pace, no striker will fancy going up against him. His height also makes him a goal threat, proven when he scored a towering header in El Clásico last year. Irritatingly, he's French. 



Julien Draxler (20)
Draxler is considered as a well- rounded attacking midfielder with massive future talent,

who has the ability to be a game-changer in any given moment. He has already played for the German national team and he’s viewed as the future of the squad. He has already been linked with Chelsea, Bayern and Real Madrid in recent years, not bad all before your 21st birthday. Ze Germans speak of him very highly indeed, with good reason. Looking at the young german midfielders, to be mentioned as the future star is some accolade. I hope for his sake that he doesn't jump off the Schalke ship too early, as a move to a big club too soon could stifle his progression if he isn't a regular starter. Just what the world needs, another German wonderkid... 

Racism in Football

Having not posted on this blog for a while, I was watching the CSKA Moscow v Man City game and searching for a new topic when sky announce that Yaya Toure is the subject of monkey chants from the home supporters. This sent my mind into a spasm of depression and rage at a whole manner of different parties.

Firstly this latest incident comes from a set of fans that support CSKA Moscow, a Russian team whose first choice strikers are pictured below. I typed the word "laughable" to describe that fact, but it isn't laughable at all. To be honest, I genuinely am lost for words.

Seydou Doumbia & Ahmed Musa - CSKA Moscow players

This comes in a country that is notorious for racism. Below are just three incidents that I've thought of off the top of my head. There are likely to be many more that barely even make the headlines.

1) Roberto Carlos - In an away match for Anzhi Machachkala at Krylia Sovetov , Roberto Carlos received a pass from the goalkeeper and was about to pass it when a banana was thrown on to the pitch. He walked off the pitch immediately, indicating that this was the 2nd time this kind of incident had happened. 


2) Chris Samba - In a similar incident, Chris Samba had a banana thrown at him playing away at Zenit St Petersburg.

3) Zenit Fans Letter - When Zenit first announced the signing of Hulk, the Zenit fans wrote an open letter to the club, in which it said, "We're not racists but we see the absence of black players at Zenit as an important tradition,". (See here for full story - http://ind.pn/UDbOmD)

As you probably know, Russia have been elected to hold the 2018 FIFA World Cup (At England's expense I might add!). This can be added to the already mammoth list of baffling decisions and stupid choices that FIFA make. As much as I would like to, I won't be talking about that decision here. Instead, I will slaughter UEFA's policy for punishment for this kind of offence.

It is likely that CSKA Moscow will be fined a few thousand pounds for this, the media will call it an outrage, nothing more will be done and we'll have another racism issue in Russia in about 2 months time. What should happen is that CSKA Moscow should be fined heavily, and they should be kicked out banned from the UEFA competitions for a couple of years. I am willing to bet all that I own that Spurs will be fined more than CSKA for the flair incident earlier this week. UEFA are just as bad as the fans for failing to address the issues in European football.

As if to insult us all, during half-time in the Man Utd game later on, a 'No To Racism' advert, endorsed by the worlds best footballers is shown. I wanted to punch the screen. 

UEFA, you're a joke. Russia, you're a joke. Racism, no joke

Not quite all European football...

Read about todays abuse at the expense of Yaya Toure here - http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/23/manchester-city-yaya-toure-racist-chanting

Are Sunderland Making The Same Mistake Twice

It has broken today that Gus Poyet is set to be unveiled as the new Sunderland manager,

after the recent sacking of the ever-amusing Paolo Di Canio. Compare the CVs of the two men and you find a lot of similarities. You could call both foreign hot heads who, whilst playing in good premier league teams in the 90s, have no elite experience in management.

Make no mistake, Poyet has done a great job at Brighton. He took them from a mediocre League One team to a Championship team with playoff aspirations, transforming their playing style in the process. Poyet won 86 of his 194 games as Brighton manager, leading them from League One to the Championship play-offs last season, where they lost out to eventual winners Crystal Palace.

Sunderland chairman Ellis Short heavily hinted that Di Canio's appointment last season was a short term fix and keeping them in the Premier League was his only task. But what next for Sunderland Football Club? Their squad contains players too good to be battling relegation this season. The likes of Emanuele Giaccherini, Adam Johnson and Steven Fletcher are simply too good to be battling relegation over and over again. 

For the record, I do not think that Sunderland will be relegated this season, and Poyet can look to build a new Sunderland with increasing amounts of foreign flair and vigour.

The Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup Shambles

Sepp Blatter has today reiterated that the World Cup in 2022 will definitely take place in Qatar, despite the debate surrounding the countries summer temperatures and recent reports of 'slave-like' working conditions. FIFA have also announced that they are setting up a 'task-force' who will look into a winter-held tournament for the first time ever and make a decision in about 12 months.

Qatar 'won' the right to hold the 2022 world cup in December 2010, almost 3 years ago. I CAN believe that its taken  FIFA 3 years to find Qatar on a map, but can't believe that noone thought that it might be hot in the Middle-East in summer. 

I am a firm believer that moving the Qatar World Cup to

winter is a poor idea. When talking about this, my friend Luke made a point that I completely agree with. When the issue first arose and a winter tournament was considered, Qatar should have had to rebid for the World Cup against Japan, South Korea, USA & Australia with their bid centred around being held in winter. Then, if they won the bid, they could go ahead and mess with the world's football calender. The fact of the matter is, noone voted for a winter World Cup in 2022.

Qatar's Crazy Stadia Designs

I believe that the USA should have won the right to hold the World Cup, although obviously I don't know the specifics of the bid. Russia won the bid over the UK because FIFA thought that the tournament could invigorate football in Russia. By that same logic, 'soccer' would see a huge surge in popularity across the pond if all the world stars came calling.

Saying that, who is surprised to see FIFA, with Sepp Blatter at the helm, make questionable choices. The man is an idiot.

"What Am I doing?" - Sepp Blatter

Midweek Fixtures - Champions League & Championship

Here are a list of tonight's matches. I will discuss a couple of the bigger games in a little more detail.

Champions League - Tuesday 1st October

Group E

Basel v Schalke - KO: 19:45
Steaua Bucharest v Chelsea - KO: 19:45

Few would have predicted Chelsea losing at home to Basel in week 1, leaving their trip to Romania this week much more important than they'd have hoped. With Mourinho still struggling to find his way back in the Chelsea dug-out, anything other than 3 points will set alarms bells ringing in fans' ears, as failure to get out of this group would be a disaster. Basel were impressive in London but face another tough test in a typically organised Schalke side who regularly dispose of average teams at this level.

Group F

Borussia Dortmund v Marseille - KO: 19:45
Arsenal v Napoli - KO: 19:45

Both games will be fast-paced and exciting in my opinion here. Dortmund & Marseille both lost in week 1, and if you can have must win games this early on in the competition, this is surely one of them. Mesut zil tweeted earlier this week "Looking forward to meet on tuesday Higuain, Albiol and Callejon. But: sorry. We have no presents...". He is clearly relishing the task of beating his former team. A strong Napoli setup will probably be Arsenal's toughest test so far this season.

Group G

Zenit St Petersburg v Austria Vienna - KO: 17:00
FC Porto v Athletico Madrid - KO 19:45

Im expecting a really exciting game between Porto & Madrid. Both picked up wins in matchday 1 and will be looking to move clear at the top of the table. I watched the Madrid derby at the weekend and Athletico were fantastic. Going to the Bernabéu and keeping a clean sheet is a feat not many can boast. Couldn't call this, but Porto at home are notoriously hard to beat and I think Madrid will take a point.

Group H

Celtic v Barcelona - KO: 19:45
Ajax v AC Milan - KO:19:45

Cannot see beyond two away wins in this group. Despite the absent Lionel Messi, Barcelona should prove superior in Glasgow. Ajax put up little resistance in Barcelona and I think Milan will be too strong again this week.

Championship


Barnsley v Reading - KO: 19:45
Birmingham v Millwall - KO: 19:45
Blackburn v Watford - KO: 19:45
Brighton v Sheffield Wednesday - KO: 19:45
Charlton v Nottingham Forest - KO: 19:45
Derby v Ipswich - KO: 19:45
Doncaster v Burnley - KO: 19:45
Leeds v Bournemouth - KO: 19:45
Middlesborough v Huddersfield - KO: 19:45
Yeovil v Leicester - KO: 19:45
Blackpool v Bolton - KO: 20:00

One of the most unpredictable leagues in world football, where anyone can beat anyone. Gonna stick my neck out and say I expect wins for Brighton, Forest and Leeds

Is Özil Arsenal's saviour?

Ever since the £42 million deadline day capture of Mesut Özil, there seems to be a new sense of positivity surrounding Arsenal Football Club. It would seem that finally Arsène Wenger has caved to fans pressure and spent big to make them competitors for silverware, is Özil the missing piece to the Gunner's silverware jigsaw?

As I have been reminded by my many Arsenal fan friends, they currently lead the way in the Premier League having won their last 5 league games after a disappointing opening fixture defeat to Aston Villa. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Gunners recent form is the way they've started considering the players they have unavailable through injury. Lukas Podolski, Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta would all be right in the mix of the first team without pre-season injuries.

However, if you look at the last 5 games, they have beaten Swansea, West Brom, Stoke, Fulham and Spurs. Tottenham aside, those are sides that Arsenal should be beating. Compare that to the start of Man Utd who have already visited Anfield, the Etihad and hosted Chelsea, my warning to Arsenal fans is to not get too complacent just yet. I would go as far to say that Özil is Arsenal's only world-class player but look through their squad and you find a lot of talent. Jack Wilshere is rated as probably the best young

Ramsey: Who saw this coming

Englishman since Wayne Rooney, Aaron Ramsey recent transformation has Arsenal fans purring with delight and Olivier Giroud's goalscoring start to the season has been just what the doctor ordered. I still think Arsenal possess some weak links. Wojciech Szczęsny always has a mistake in him, and I if was an opposing manager I would always be targeting the left-back area. Kieran Gibbs is a liability in defence, and Per Mertesacker has the turning circle of a medium sized ocean liner.

Despite their good start with several players missing, I still think Arsenal lack the strength and depth in their squad to win the Premier League. All it takes is for 1 tackle for Wilshere to be out for another long period. I also think that an injury to Olivier Giroud would knock all the wind out of Arsenal's sails. Lukas Podolski is not a player I would want to have as my leading striker in a team, which is what they're left with without Giroud. In the games he has played in an Arsenal shirt, Mesut Özil has a lot of space to influence the game. Against the top teams, I will be interested to see if he has the same effect or whether he is starved of the ball and the game passes him by.

For the last 3 or 4 years, Arsenal have had to fight to get into the top 4, but I think they can finally start at least challenging for the top 2 now. I don't think Arsenal win finish this season with any trophies, but that prediction has the potential to come back and bite me come May. I am more sure that Arsenal are still a long way away from being competitors with ambition to win the Champions League. Perhaps with the addition of someone like a Robin van Persie...

Note: His name is pronounced 'eurgh-zil', NOT 'oh-zil' or 'oh-zeel' <- Someone tell the commentators