Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle at the weekend has left the Red Devils five points adrift of their ‘noisy neighbours’at the top of the table. Their loss at home to Crystal Palace in the Carling Cup exposed a worrying problem for the defending Premier League champions.  In previous articles, I have suggested that Tom Cleverley could be the man to lead United to another domestic title, but following the team’s recent performances I feel compelled to ask whether Sir Alex Ferguson should have broken the bank to mount a tilt at the Premiership?  My answer now would be a resounding maybe.

Before falling to Palace, United had gone unbeaten in three matches, with a 1-0 win over Swansea and draws with Benfica (2-2) and Newcastle (1-1).  Those performances, however, fell well short of United’s normal standards.  The ball has been bogged down in midfield, David De Gea has given some abject performances, and, with Phil Jones deputising in the center of the pitch, the defence has looked unsettled.

Michael Carrick has come in for criticism from some sections of the United support, but, when he’s on form, he can pass the ball as well as anyone in the world. He just doesn’t hit that form regularly, and, when he’s not at his best, seems to pass the ball laterally far too frequently.  It’s frustrating to watch, although his cautious play does help maintain possession when United is ahead. If they’re chasing the game, though, such a timid approach isn’t what’s needed.

Anderson began the season in great form, bombing forward and netting against Norwich City and Tottenham. Unfortunately, he has followed Cleverley to the trainer’s table.   Although Fergie couldn’t have anticipated both being injured, their absence has the gaffer scraping the bottom of the barrel for midfield talent.

Cleverley is on his way back, with Old Trafford faithful hopeful that he will return with the same confidence and control he showed before going down.   The 8-2 mauling of Arsenal, where he started, the 3-1 victory over Chelsea and the 5-0 win over Bolton, all demonstrated his worth, but since he’s been out, United have stuttered, with no-one on the bench to replace him.

Darren Fletcher has been ever-present, yes, but he is a more defensive minded player, and needs someone with guile and passing ability alongside him.  While signing Wesley Sneijder, would have seen Cleverley on the bench, when he clearly is deserving of first team selection, United might now be neck and neck with City, rather than having to match them just to stay within five points of the top.

The Dutchman is world class, there is no argument there, but Sir Alex refused to pay his astronomical wages (believed to be £200,000 a week), although it was reported in many quarters that a £35 million fee had been agreed. Even Sneijder thought he was Old Trafford bound.

It’s difficult to believe that the Inter man wouldn’t have made a difference, but Sir Alex’s decision is understandable. Whatever one thinks of the Glazers, £200,000 a week and £35 million may be a little too much.  Especially with Wayne Rooney already on the books for a similar amount.  The Americans can’t be faulted for not being Sheikh Mansour.

So what are the alternatives in the transfer window, if Anderson and Cleverley aren’t back to a hundred percent by the end of the holidays?

Mario Götze was a name that was bounded around over the summer and many United fans believed him to be the man to lead United’s new age revolution. His asking price stood, and still stands, at around £30 million. The main criticism of a deal is his age (19), but if he’s this talented as a teenager, it seems a bargain.

I don’t think either of them should be signed though. I won’t even entertain mentions of Shinji Kagawa, Xabi Alonso or another youngster, Christian Eriksen.  Instead, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that United needn’t spend huge money on a temporary stop-gap until their missing duo are fully recovered.

There is a veteran player out there who can unlock a defence with a single pass from virtually anywhere on the pitch, provide a bit of set-piece magic, and restore the feel-good factor to a team that’s beginning to doubt its legacy, as their noisy neighbours continue to run unchecked.  He has just completed the last year of his contract, meaning he would be available on a free; has led his side to a championship, and might be looking for the perfect ending to a storybook career.

Yes, I’m talking about David Beckham, and yes, I know he’s thirty-six, has lost virtually all of the pace that once terrorised Premier League fullbacks, making him a defensive liability.  However, he has played in the middle with LA Galaxy, in a league that, while short on skill, is definitely long on fitness and pace.  He has the intelligence to compensate for his shortcomings, and his presence may see Rooney drop back into a deep position less often, as the ginger Scouse is certainly aware that Becks can get the ball to him up the pitch.  Then, once Cleverley and Anderson are fully reintegrated, Beckham will undoubtedly be a strong mentor and threat off the bench, in the latter stages of tight matches.

While Golden Balls has fully exploited his marketability throughout his career, and has entertained the notion of playing with Spurs or QPR, there is no question that he would jump at the opportunity to once again don the red strip of United.  Nor would he cost £200,000 per week.

I may be looking through rose-tinted spectacles when I mention his name, but United certainly need a spark to revive not only their flagging hopes of another Championship, but also to regain the swagger that has suddenly gone missing in this young squad.  Too many of the icons are gone and those remaining, Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs, are both playing too seldom and suffering from tarnished images.  Beckham’s tenure in MLS has been looked upon with scorn, often on both sides of the Atlantic, but there is no questioning his competitive spirit.  The doubts raised if he returns will only stoke that fire.  He’ll have something to prove, and, as he did in LA this year, he will prove it.

Who says you can’t go home?

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I can’t speak for other footy fans who were born in North America, but one of the reasons that I have embraced the game and now virtually ignore sports on which I was raised (hockey, baseball and grid-iron football), is that all the leagues in America have gone corporate.

Don’t misunderstand.  You won’t find me sitting on a commune, growing my own wheat-grass, curdling my own tofu, and taking time off to attend sit-ins against the UN or the World Bank.  I’ve nothing against money.  Hell, I’ve crewed on yachts for a healthy portion of my life.

If a baseball player has the opportunity to sign a ten year, $250 million contract, more power to him.  If NFL owners can cajole multibillion dollar television contracts out of American networks, let them sit back and light up a cigar.  No, what irks me is that American sport has become so image-conscious in chasing the almighty dollar that they’ve censored into extinction the characters who made their world so captivating.

You’ll never see another Casey Stengel or Yogi Berra, or have the opportunity to hear but not understand exactly what either is trying to say.  In hockey, Don Cherry, his garishly coloured suits and homespun conservatism are the last of a dying breed.  In the NFL, Rex Ryan may have carried on from his father Buddy and the immortal John Madden, but the five digit fines that the NFL is handing out to anyone who utters anything other than the company line have silenced him, as well.

If you’re an American athlete, coach or team executive, and want to keep your weekly wage packet, you’ll check your personality at the door and utter banal clichés whenever a microphone is thrust in your face.  Corporate speak has won.

If you reside outside the ‘greatest democracy in the world’, however, free speech is still an option.  That is why Giovanni Trappatoni can talk about cats being in sacks, Harry Redknapp can threaten to give the media the cold shoulder if he’s fined for calling a bad call a bad call, and Jose Mourinho, bless his heart, can call Arsene Wenger a voyeur.   And don’t get me started on that Frenchman’s penchant for speaking his mind.

The American sports fan loves to make an ass of himself, braying endlessly about how boring soccer is, but the fact is, even if that were the case (I said if, you plonker) the goings on off the pitch make the beautiful game more entertaining than anything Uncle Sam can dish out, at least on the order of ten!

And while il Trap’s comparison of Estonia to a bedraggled tabby almost bagged and ready to be dropped in the river was worth a chuckle for those of us not indoctrinated into PETA, it wasn’t the most eye-popping statement made this week.  Nor, given Ireland’s massive four-goal advantage, is Estonia likely to leap out of their sack and give him cause for regret.

On the other hand, Santos president Luis Alvaro Ribeiro may find that his latest outburst may come back to bite him where it hurts most.  Ribeiro has fought a running battle in the press with European clubs eager to obtain the services of his sensational teenaged striker Neymar.  For the most part his defiance has been admirable, as he has warred against the disrespect some European outfits exhibit towards South American clubs, by dealing directly with the player’s agent rather than the club.

Most recently, it was rumoured that Real Madrid had negotiated a mega-deal to sign Neymar in the January window.  Instead, Santos penned the youngster to an extension which ties him to the Paulista squad until the 2014 World Cup.   Unfortunately, Ribeiro then pulled a Derek Llambias, insulting the Meringue negotiators and boasting about his hold on his starlet.

“The behaviour of Real Madrid’s board of directors was lamentable and arrogant. Their attitude resembled a colonial mentality. I convinced Neymar to stay by telling him that Jose Mourinho would have forced him to cut his hair. He can do with his hair whatever he likes here.”

Political rhetoric and historical grudges aside, the last time I checked, Jose Mourinho wasn’t acting like a drill sergeant.  Ribeiro’s jibe was obviously in reference to Emmanuel Adebayor, who had his locks shorn voluntarily, as he was desperate to get his career back on track with a top side.  To suggest otherwise fails to take into account Didier Drogba, who kept his dreads upon his Stamford Bridge arrival, and continued to grow them throughout the Special One’s tenure.

What’s more, if the Castilians are willing to invest €40-50 million on the Brazilian wunderkind, would they allow the deal to fall through because Neymar has a phobia regarding barbers?   If you’re going to heap praise upon yourself, that’s fine, but the braggadocio has to maintain at least a shred of credibility.  The worst aspect of Ribeiro’s rant, however, is the potential effect it could have on the player at the center of the matter.

There is no question that the boy has both a healthy ego and prickly temper.  He has argued with his coach in the midst of a match, seen that coach sacked, and accused the entire Scottish citizenry of racism because of one errant banana peel (thrown as a prank, it turns out, by a German student on holiday).  Further, he has topped his reed-thin frame with a mohawk of such bushy proportions that if he stood on his head in a closet, the team janitor might mistakenly begin sweeping the clubhouse floor with him.  When it comes to Neymar’s coif, ostentatious is understatement.

Yet for all that, he has mirrored one of his heroes, Pele, by putting off his publicly proclaimed desire to play abroad (preferably with Real Madrid), in the interests of promoting the Brazilian game ahead of that country’s upcoming turn at hosting the World Cup.  That could, in turn, attract other Brazilian stars, such as Robinho, to return home.  Given the improvements in the Brazilian economy, standard of living and with the upcoming tournament, quality of stadia, one might eventually see a few European players heading over to the land of Carnaval.  And I’m not just talking about unwanted Manchester City stars, either.  Yet, those dreams hinge precariously on Neymar’s willingness to stay.

If such was your decision to make, how would you feel if your team president informed the world that you were so foolish as to believe him when he told you that possibly the world’s greatest coach at possibly the world’s greatest team would not sign you, possibly the world’s next great player, if you refused to cut your hair?  As lamentable, arrogant and colonial as Real’s attitude might have been in pursuing their target, Ribeiro has easily trumped them, and his charge can’t be so stupid as to have missed the slight.

Given the dismissal of Dorival Junior, it’s fairly certain that Neymar already knows that he can do as he likes at Santos.  He can grow his mohawk.  He can colour it pink and green.  In fact, he can probably insist that the club change its colours to match whichever tint he has dyed it this week.  More importantly, he can stay as long as he likes, or, contract or no, leave at a moment’s notice.  And, if he chooses to exercise the latter option, he can name his price and any conditions he likes, wherever he goes.

So, as much as I love to hear footy personalities speak without forethought, this might have been one time that Luis Alvaro Ribeiro might have been better advised to shut it.

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The media vultures have been circling over Anfield in the wake of Liverpool’s lacklustre  0-0 draw with Swansea City at the weekend, which was Kenny Dalglish’s first goalless draw since returning to the manager’s office in January.  The weekend result, of course, followed just a fortnight after an equally disappointing one-goal standoff with the Canaries of Norwich City.

With such dismal efforts, it’s hard to argue with the press when they suggest the Reds are for the birds.  Certainly, the headlines didn’t sow any seeds of hope.

The Guardian went with ‘Carroll gives limp Liverpool new kind of Tosh’, comparing the current striking duo at Anfield with Kevin Keegan and John Toshack. “Unfortunately for all concerned, whereas the excellent Suárez may be Keegan’s equal, Carroll is “Tosh” only in the pejorative sense” the report said.

Personally, I think that the media have been a little harsh on Andy Carroll. So far, he has played 1,088 minutes (or twelve full games effectively) in the league for Liverpool, and he has scored four goals. A one-in-three scoring ratio is hardly the return of an outright flop, especially when you consider that he was patently not fit during his first four months with the club at the end of last season.

The Reds’early season advantage in the league table over the likes of Spurs and Arsenal, who were considered their main rivals for fourth place, has been rapidly eroded.  Much of that is due to the fact that only two of the six matches played at Anfield this season have been won. Some of the criticism in the media is therefore merited, but not to the levels it has reached.

The point earned on Saturday by last season’s Championship play-off winners means that the Reds have now only won three of their last eleven games against newly promoted sides. Hardly a record that will strike fear into Queen’s Park Rangers when they come to Anfield in December. Carroll and Jose Enrique’s old mate Joey Barton and his new side have beaten Chelsea and gave Manchester City a fright at Loftus Road at the weekend.  One doesn’t need one hundred and forty characters to understand that they won’t be overawed.

Make no mistake about it though, the Swans were decent value for a point, and a repeat of the 8-0 defeat they suffered on their previous visit to Anfield in 1990 never looked more than a million-to-one shot.  Michel Vorm, the Swansea goalkeeper, was equal to everything that came his way, and made some wonderful saves. He visited Anfield last season with FC Utrecht in the Europa League, and that also finished 0-0, so he clearly plays well against the Reds.

The Swans’ best chance fell for Mark Gower, who has been more renowned for his creative abilities this season.  Prior to the match he had averaged 3.8 chances created per game, and no player in the top five European leagues can match that.  Swansea boss Brendan Rogers must wonder at all the fuss about Xavi and Iniesta.

Poor finishing in front of goal once again cost Liverpool more dearly than any other aspect of their play.  Whilst this was certainly one of the poorest performances since the weign of Woy, the Reds still managed to have twenty-five shots at goal; that only five of those were on target illustrates best why another two points were dropped at home.

Tree-huggers everywhere grew more agitated, as Liverpool continued their record assault on the woodwork. Carroll hit the bar early on, making it eleven ricochets on the season.  They did eventually find the target, but Dirk Kuyt’s effort was narrowly — but correctly —  ruled offside towards the end of the match.

Liverpool’s fascination with near misses is becoming beyond a joke now. Not only do they lead the Premier League in this dubious category, the much maligned Stewart Downing has found the frame more times himself (three) than some teams. He’s also without an assist, yet if Carroll had converted that early chance on Saturday, then the £20 million man would be off the mark in that regard. If ever a player needed a little luck to kick-start his season…

Whilst it is still early days this term, Liverpool currently have a better points per game average away from home than at Anfield, and that is not a common occurrence. In fact, Liverpool have already earned half as many points on their travels as they managed in the whole of last season, despite only playing five games on the road so far.

When you consider that they have played two promoted sides at home, plus Bolton who are in the bottom three, whilst their trips have included Arsenal and Everton, their lopsided record this season seems even stranger.

Overall, they are now averaging 1.73 points per game. Whilst this would have been enough for fourth place in twelve of the previous sixteen seasons, it’s clear that the bar for fourth has been considerably raised; indeed, the 1.79 points per game that has always meant a minimum of fourth place in years gone by is unlikely to be enough this time around.

After the forthcoming international break, Liverpool have a run of three massive games within ten days: Chelsea away and Manchester City at home in the league, and then another trip to Stamford Bridge for a league cup quarter-final.  In this, they parallel an unexpected rival for a Champions League place, Newcastle, who face the same three sides in the league once play resumes.

Everyone expected that Carroll and Enrique would enjoy far more success than their former comrades after their respective moves.  Amazingly, it hasn’t turned out that way, but their clubs, old and new, may have their seasons defined by their November exploits.  For both, three defeats will have the vultures picking at their carcasses.

Statistics sourced from EPLIndex. Read more of Andrew Beasley @ basstunedtored.com

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Another international break is upon us.  They seem to be coming fast and furious, this autumn.  Then again, so does Newcastle.  Inexplicably, the Magpies are in third place, ahead of familiar names and expected Champions League contenders Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham.  It’s not a distant third, either; the Geordies are just a single point behind Manchester United.  In the armed forces and the constabulary, on the high seas and anywhere else where radio is still a common form of communication, the call sign for such unexplained phenomenon is Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

What makes the club’s early success so surprising is that their chairman has developed a reputation for doing everything that a team owner can to guarantee that his club sinks into mediocrity.  Discount sportswear magnate Mike Ashley has applied the rules of business to football, much to the derision of all of us who know that running a club is much like owning a yacht; in that they’re both bottomless money pits.  If spending large amounts of cash with no other return than a few moments of pleasure causes you concern, then football isn’t for you.

Chairmen such as Jack Walker and Peter Ridsdale have experienced both the adoration and hatred of their supporters, with the love flowing so long as they lavished money on their respective clubs.  When the well ran dry, however, and they had to tighten their belts, they quickly became pariahs.  Yet, more reviled still are those owners at big clubs who seemingly sit on their money, when it could be used to improve the club.  Supporters would like nothing more than to see the back of such skinflints.

The Red Knights at Manchester United have had little success in dislodging the Glazers because Sir Alex Ferguson has proven adept at developing young talent and keeping the Red Devils in the top two for so long that it seems as though they have never been any lower in the table.  The Kop, however, mounted an impressive guerrilla campaign to force the club’s board to sell against the wishes of the overextended Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

The Toon Army’s war against Ashley has not been nearly so effective, as evident in the fact that while both the Glazers and Hicks & Gillett became very reluctant to show themselves at matches, Ashley proudly dons the Newcastle kit and sits amidst the fans at every game at hallowed St James Park.

Sit there he does, though, rooting on his Magpies, despite the massive outcry from those around him when he attempted to rename the club’s historic ground for marketing purposes; despite the overwhelming condemnation when he failed to hire Alan Shearer as manager, even though everyone else believed that the former captain was the man to bring them immediately back to the top flight; despite the unanimous disgust at his sacking of Chris Hughton after the oft called upon caretaker boss had done the job in Shearer’s stead and more, knocking Chelsea out of the Carling Cup at Stamford Bridge, defeating Arsenal in the league and guiding the Magpies into the top five of the Premier League in the opening months of their return campaign; despite the outrage when he hired personal friend Alan Pardew as Hughton’s replacement shortly after Pardew had been sacked for coaching Southampton to the bottom of the League One table; despite selling hometown hero and Shearer heir apparent Andy Carroll to Liverpool for £35 million and reinvesting little, if any of the profit; despite allowing team morale to sink to the point where captain Kevin Nolan forced a sale to newly relegated West Ham, now managed by one-time Toon boss Sam Allardyce; despite those two champions of free speech and public protest via Twitter, Jose Enrique and Joey Barton, following Nolan out the door, the former sold, again to Liverpool, and the latter permitted to move to QPR on a free transfer; and despite replacing the three departed Britons and single Spaniard with so many French-speaking players that there was a run on Rosetta Stone software in local bookshops.

That’s a lot of spite for any man to endure, yet Ashley has done so.  What’s worse, the combination of Toon’s recent success and the unimpressive performances of those he has discarded in the name of efficiency, workplace harmony and cost consciousness has largely, with the exception of renaming the ground, proven him to be right; one man against tens of thousands, a lone voice in the wilderness.  When you’re talking about a man who sells jogging suits to overweight couch potatoes at a discount, that’s frankly embarrassing.

Yet, here we are.  Newcastle is one of only two unbeaten teams in the Premier League; the other, ironically, being obscenely wealthy Manchester City.  Toon may not have played anyone of consequence other than the then-floundering Gunners, but, unlike the Liverpool side partially staffed by former Magpies Carroll and Enrique, they have taken all the points which one would expect of them.

A former fringe player under Hughton, striker Leon Best, and new arrival Demba Ba, who passed Kevin Nolan on his way out the Upton Park door, have made people forget Carroll, whereas the Geordie giant’s meager haul of goals in a red strip have left the Kop all too mindful of his exorbitant price tag.

Pardew has his squad fully confident and playing amazingly consistent football, while Hughton, again in charge of a freshly demoted side with no money to spend, is finding it difficult to weave his magic a second time.  Birmingham is four points out of the playoff positions and one place away from the bottom half of the table.  Hardly the dominance the former Irish international enjoyed with Newcastle.

The outspoken Barton is leading QPR, who are holding up well in the middle of the Premier League standings, although he personally has felt a backlash after putting the knife to Arsene Wenger and Wolves enforcer Karl Henry in one hundred and forty characters or less.

Most notable of all is the general lack of respect from the public for Alan Shearer as a broadcaster, largely down to his casual approach to research in preparedness for the World Cup in South Africa.  After all, who would want a manager who saw no need to do his homework?

As ludicrous as it seems, all the evidence leads one to the conclusion that a football club can be run both competitively and profitably at the same time.  Of course, after the international break, Newcastle face a run of games against their fellow clubs in the Champions League frame.  The daunting trifecta of matches begins with a tour of Manchester; Saturday the nineteenth at a stadium which is itself a cautionary tale in naming rights, the Etihad Campus, against City, and seven days later at Old Trafford against United.  Finally, Chelsea journey Tyneside on third December, hoping to prey on a bruised, battered and demoralised Toon.

If that is in fact what the Blues discover when they arrive, and they have their way, then the lack of points from the three fixtures may affect the Magpies through the remainder of the season.  On the other hand, if Pardew’s squad can come away with three solid performances and a result or two, there is no telling how high the club will go or whether its supporters will actually come to love their universally despised owner.  After all, when has that ever been the case in Geordieland?

Sir Alex Ferguson. Just the mention of his name conjures up so many memories for any Manchester United fan. There are all the last-gasp winners, the iconic signings, the phenomenal games and the trophies, oh the trophies.

Never before has a manager made a club their own quite like Sir Alex, except maybe the late, great Bill Shankly at Liverpool. Apart from these two majestic Scotsmen, no other manager in history has quite managed to embody the spirit of a club. There may be the argument that Arsene Wenger has managed it at Arsenal but the teams he has built have been so contrasting that you would struggle to compare him to either Fergie or Shankly.

The fact is this: Manchester United is Alex Ferguson and Alex Ferguson is Manchester United.

The  sight of him striding up and down the touchline, chewing on his gum with the intensity and purpose of a mastiff gnawing a bone, and the accounts of his terrible clubhouse tirades and alternative use for cosmetological equipment have made him a living legend.

It almost didn’t happen.  When he came from Aberdeen, replacing Ron Atkinson in mid-campaign, the club finished eleventh.  He led them to second place the following year but then they dropped back to eleventh.  Only the first of a long string of memorable victories, an FA Cup replay defeat of Crystal Palace saved him from the axe.  It wouldn’t be long before the suggestion of sacking Fergie would be greeted with laughter.  United’s dominance in the Premier League years soon made him untouchable.

His fighting spirit is United to a tee. Not once have I ever seen a Manchester United team roll over in my seventeen years of support. Not once. There may have been a couple of shambolic performances down the years, the 6-1 mauling at the hands of City being the latest, but there is also the 0-0 draw against Burton Albion and the 6-3 loss to Southampton. Yet, even when you look back at the embarrassments, you have to say, United always played the United way.

Even better for each of those few humiliations, there have been any number of defining triumphs. Look at the recent 8-2 battering of Arsenal, the recent 6-1 win over those same Gunners, that wonderful penalty shootout win over Chelsea in the Champions League, the 5-3 comeback against Spurs, the 2-1 win in the Nou Camp over Bayern Munich and the 7-1 humbling of Roma. There have been so many that I could write an article just on the subject of United fans’best memories and I think I’d take a 6-1 defeat if it meant 10 more nights like the one in 1999, or 2008.

That is the testament to Sir Alex Ferguson’s management; every loss is answered by a run of victories and every departing star makes way for a brilliant replacement.

That is, again, a testament to his management. Look at David Beckham. A loyal servant to United since he joined as a schoolboy but when he left for Real Madrid in 2003, United pocketed £25 million. As a replacement they signed a rather precocious teenager for £12 million. That teenager was Cristiano Ronaldo, and what a player he is now. When the Portuguese followed Golden Balls to the Spanish capital, for a tidy £80 million this time, Wayne Rooney stepped to the fore.  When Paul Scholes retired, the manager remained calm while all around him panicked, calling for a major signing, be it Wesley Sneijder, Samir Nasri or Luka Modric.  Instead, Sir Alex gave young Tom Cleverley an opportunity.  Before his unfortunate injury, Cleverley stepped seamlessly into the creative midfield role and led United to that Community Shield fight back over City.  For me, that is Fergie’s greatest attribute – the ability to spot a diamond in the rough.

Chicharito is his most recent, signed for £7 million from Chivas and already an established name on the United team sheet. And there have been so many more on down the years. Nemanja Vidic was plucked from obscurity, so was Patrice Evra along with Peter Schmeichel and Denis Irwin. Of course, that hasn’t stopped the gaffer from making a few mistakes. Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djemba spring to mind, along with Massimo Taibi and Bebe (who Fergie admitted to signing sight unseen) but the old prospector has yielded far more nuggets than dirt in his time.

In fact, so many great players have passed through Old Trafford in my lifetime, that it’s difficult to name the greatest match the club has played under Ferguson.  After thinking on it, my choice may surprise a number of people, as it is not a final, nor a deciding game in the title race. Instead it’s the 1-0 win over Barcelona at Old Trafford in 2008.

Part of the magic of that victory was that it was one of those rare matches where United were not expected to win.  They’d held Barcelona at the Nou Camp with Ronaldo missing a penalty, but the Catalans had looked stronger, more decisive. The rematch at Old Trafford will forever be etched into my memory and that of thousands of other United fans.

It wasn’t just that we won, it was the way it was accomplished. A screamer from Paul Scholes in the early stages was coupled with the most outstanding defensive display I have ever seen. Barcelona threw everything at United — absolutely everything — and the defence was magnificent. Owen Hargreaves played at right back, with Wes Brown and Rio Ferdinand the centre back partnership and it was Patrice Evra at left back. Looking at that defensive line up, you’d struggle to believe they kept a clean sheet against the likes of Messi and Henry but they did it through sheer force of will. They believed they were going to get through the game unscathed, they believed they were going to make it into the Champions League final.

And who is that down to?  Sir Alex Ferguson of course. Very few manager can claim to have tactically outclassed a Barcelona side in the past ten years. Sir Alex did, although Barça would exact their revenge.

Not many managers can claim to have won two European Cups, either. Or to have lost another two.  Not many managers can claim to have built not one, not two, but nigh on five title winning sides, to have averaged at least one major trophy per year over a quarter of a century or to have defied the BBC and the FA for seven years and remain employed.  Sir Alex Ferguson can.

Whenever a new power has risen to threaten United’s supremacy, be it Gerrard Houllier and Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool sides, Arsenal’s Invincibles or Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea, Fergie has always bounced back, defying belief, with a new stronger squad.  For those who think city’s ascendance will finally put him on the sidelines, they’d best think again.  They’ve only given him a reason to stick around.  Sir Alex loves nothing more than a challenge.

And that is why it’s going to be so hard to replace him. Names like Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola always pop up when the discussion is revisited.  While either of that duo would be wonderful, when the Scot finally abdicates his throne, United fans had best be prepared for a difficult time.  There is simply no one on the planet who can walk in and immediately top twenty-five years of glory.

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Collectively, Liverpool supporters are well known for their pride in the club’s history and traditions.  Rivals might call it living in the past, but many wish they had as rich and vibrant a backdrop for their club.  Yet, while clubs love to parade the names of former greats, most also have skeletons in their closet.

In the not too distant past, Doncaster Rovers signed the loathsome El-Hadji Diouf, who, when he wasn’t spitting at opposition players and fans, was busy becoming the only number nine in the club’s history not to register a league goal across a whole season.  On the management side, Merseysiders need only rewind twelve months to find the most widely hated of Liverpool managers, one Roy Hodgson.  Not only was Woy weviled for his cautious (the more fervent among his detractors might say cowardly) approach to matches, but when he was finally shown the door, he returned and promptly took three points from his former club, as the new man at West Brom.  On Saturday evening, the man with the extremely stroke-able chin sat in the home dugout, with visiting Liverpool seeking to put their pursuit of Champions League qualification back on track following a disappointing home draw with Norwich City.

Whilst revenge might not be the most accurate term to use, the fans were certainly looking for Dalglish to put one over on Hodgson after the Baggies manager had said, last year, that he considered the King less suited for the role of Liverpool manager than himself.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I suppose, even if it is wrong.  It was hugely interesting, therefore, to see both teams line up in a 4-4-2, with Woy’s team playing as reluctantly (poorly for you fanatics) as his Reds had  a year ago.  Meanwhile, Kenny’s current breed of Kop idols proved that an ‘outdated’formation can be hugely effective if properly deployed.

As usual, it was Luis Suarez making the headlines for the wrong reasons. Yet, believe-it-or-not, on this occasion he was not to blame.  A challenge in the box sent the Uruguayan to the ground, causing any Sir Alex Ferguson acolytes in the viewing public to mutter, “Typical Suarez, diving to win a penalty.”

This instance was a little different to the usual theatrics, however.  Rather than beseech the official with eyes agog and arms outstretched, little Luis simply got back to his feet and tried to rejoin play. Before he could get involved though, the linesman flagged for a penalty which referee Lee Mason duly bestowed on the Reds.

Hodgson, naturally, was not happy with the award of the penalty.

“It was a situation where our defender is entitled to screen the ball to clear it and should have been allowed to do so. I don’t think the referee will be in too many doubts, or the linesman, what most of the people watching the game thought of the decision.”

I’m not sure about ‘most people’, but the travelling Kop were clearly delighted, especially when Charlie Adam coolly slotted home to give the Reds the lead.

Suárez was then involved in the second goal, a swift, flowing counter-attack which was finished by Andy Carroll in first-half injury time. It’s still early days for Liverpool’s Mutt and Jeff strike duo, but there are certainly indications of a fledgling understanding between the two hitmen.

Although the Baggies still had the second half to make a game of it, that, in truth, never looked likely. The Reds picked up their third clean sheet of the season, despite having yet to register even one at Anfield.  They also continued this season’s unbeaten run when scoring first, a trend which they have exploited in eight of their ten games so far.  Much of the credit for that success may be down to the side also extending its lead in the fewest shots on target conceded (3.5 per game) category.

Pepe Reina, who was captain for the night in the absence of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, was, for the most part able to merely supervise, rarely needing to adopt a hands-on approach.

It was also a good night for Daniel Agger, and one where he may have had a point to prove.  Despite being widely recognized as the only centre-back on the Anfield books who can defend, dribble effectively out of his own end and distribute the ball with some imagination, the Dane was nearly forced out of the Liverpool exit door by Roy Hodgson.

Luckily for the Reds’ fans he outlasted the former manager and, on Saturday, showed Hodgson just how wrong he was with a superb effort.  With Martin Skrtel too often paired with Carra, the double dose of hoof-and-hope were aimed at Carroll far too often.  Agger’s ability to supply subtle, cultured passing options is certainly more suited to complement the skills of Luis Suárez.  Having options is always good.

Revenge is all well and good for the fans and players, but more important to management is that Liverpool is again dead on course to finish the season with the targeted 68 points which would normally put them in the mix for fourth place. Unfortunately, while that number has been sufficient to yield Champions League football in the recent past, the current form of Tottenham, Arsenal and, surprisingly, Newcastle suggests that a higher figure may be required in this campaign.

The victory at the Hawthorns lifts Liverpool ten points ahead of last season’s pace, but the upcoming quintet of fixtures were all 2010-11 victories for the club.  In short, the best they can do over the next stretch is tread water.  With Chelsea and Manchester City lying in wait, just beyond this week’s match with Swansea, weathering the tide will be challenging indeed, no matter your opinion of Kenny Dalglish’s talents.

Statistics sourced from EPLIndex. Read more of Andrew Beasley @ basstunedtored.com

Is Michel Platini fighting a losing battle or is 2011-12 merely the final, frantic, spasming death throe of the way it’s always been done?  After a cautious 2010-11, when spending was tempered by the reality of a global recession and the perceived threat of Financial Fair Play, 2011-12 has erupted into the Year of Money, making one wonder just how seriously the big clubs are taking UEFA’s attack on excessive spending.

Look at the defending champions in Ligue 1, the Bundesliga, Serie A and even the Premier League.  Lille and Borussia Dortmund each won their competitions with young, mostly homegrown squads.  Both sides emerged from a condensed pack in the second half of the season, taking control of their leagues while the traditional powers, such as Bayern, Bremen, Leverkusen, Marseille and Lyon, struggled to come to grips with the fact that age and experience were no longer sufficient to overcome youth and speed.

It was the same elsewhere.  AC Milan traveled a more beaten path, acquiring thoroughbreds Robinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Cassano, albeit at cut-rate prices, as the Rossoneri also emerged from a jumbled pack in the winter months to claim their first Scudetto in seven years.  In England, Manchester United belied their status as the most valuable sporting club in the world, weathering Chelsea’s early dominance, Arsenal’s enthusiasm and City’s persistence and pacing themselves to their record nineteenth championship, without any noticeable spending.

Barcelona was the only champion who won by spending big, bringing in David Villa and Javier Mascherano in a bid to stay ahead of Real Madrid, now led by their Champions League nemesis, Jose Mourinho.

This season, the shoe is on the other foot.  The Achilles heel of Arsenal’s youth policy — that loyalty to club is trumped by big money offers — was cruel exposed this summer, with both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri jumping ship.  The same has occurred at Lille and Dortmund, with players such as Yohan Cabaye, Gervinho and André Schürrle lured away by clubs willing to pay more than the title holders can afford to keep their talent.   Milan, who made only small changes in the summer, are chasing a completely revamped Juventus.  United, who spent big but focused on youth, were blown out of the water by their ‘noisy neighbours’, who again lavished tens of millions on big name stars while casting away last year’s investments like outdated fashions.

A week after their 6-1 thrashing of United at Old Trafford, which put them five points and twelve goals clear at the top of the Premier League, City widened the gap by beating Wolves 3-1 while United held off Everton 1-0.   All that oil money is beginning to pay off.

In Paris, another Qatari contingent has invested millions in that city’s lone major club, signing Palermo’s Javier Pastore out from under the noses of Chelsea and complementing his talents with those of Kevin Gameiro, Jeremy Menez and a host of others.  After a short but bumpy bedding in, during which nearly everyone other than new Sporting Director Leonardo was ready to panic, PSG are now three points ahead of Montpellier in first place.

Bayern, whose reputation as big spenders may colour perceptions somewhat, largely stood pat in the off-season.  Their one major purchase was secured before the window opened, agreeing to terms with Schalke for the services of German number one Manuel Neuer, after a heated negotiation.  Still, the line-up which is now leaving the rest of the Bundesliga behind is comprised of highly sought after and dearly bought talent.  The key differences are that Franck Ribery is finally in the full bloom of health and form, and that new old coach Jupp Heynckes has placed complete trust in Mario Gomez, whereas had his predecessor Louis van Gaal had his druthers, the twelve goal man would have been offloaded two summers ago.

Ironically, the lone exception of money talking and bullshit walking this year in the major competitions is Barcelona.  Despite finally prying Cesc Fabregas from the Gunners and paying through the nose for the now injured Alexis Sánchez, the Catalans are chasing Real Madrid, who turned down opportunities to purchase Neymar and Emmanuel Adebayor.  To be fair, the Castilians did match Barça euro for euro during their summer shopper spree, but other than Fabio Coentrao, most of Madrid’s investment has been earmarked for the future, while Cesc and Sánchez were very much intended to be plug and play.  In that light, Real’s early lead seems an example of doing more with less.  Of course, as the former American wrestler Nature Boy Rick Flair was fond of saying, “To be the man, you have to beat the man.”  So, one can’t put too much weight on the Meringues’early lead until they meet  the Blaugrana in the opening leg of this season’s Clasico in December.   When the season ends, it won’t be a shock if Barcelona’s €55 million outlay brings them yet another championship.

The lure of the big buck works both ways, however.  United Arab Emirates club Al Ain forced a loan from Premier League side Sunderland by turning the head of Ghanaian World Cup hero Asamoah Gyan with the promise of outlandish wages and let’s not even get into what Russian Premier League minnows Anzhi Makhachkala paid to sign Samuel Eto’o.  So, it’s not just the top sides who flash the cash.

In any event, it does not appear that clubs are taking UEFA’s proposals seriously.  All told, UEFA clubs paid out over half a billion euros for players in the summer.  That’s a mind-boggling figure, even if top sides weren’t facing the prospect of losing their license to play in the Champions or Europa Leagues should they fail to balance the books.  That they are makes their lack of restraint even more puzzling.

On the other hand, the top clubs’continued dissatisfaction with international scheduling and compensation for injured players has led European Club Association chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge to suggest that the organisation’s contract with UEFA, which obligates major clubs to compete in the Champions and Europa Leagues and to allow their stars to compete when summoned by their national teams, should not be renewed when it expires in 2014.

If that occurs, ECA members could break away from their national federations and form an elite European league, possibly patterned after the American franchise system, which does not employ promotion and relegation.  While the concept may seem completely alien and even impossible to the average European fan, it has been so profitable that the Forbes list of the fifty most valuable sports teams is dominated by American franchises.  Most notably, all thirty-two NFL clubs are on the list, although they are joined by six baseball and two basketball squads.  F1 teams Ferrari and McLaren also make the cut, leaving just eight places (less than twenty percent) to be split between the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga and Bundesliga, UEFA’s so-called Big Four.  ECA big wigs can’t be happy with those numbers.

Further research into dealings across the pond reveals that baseball and basketball both support lower league programs which the universally profitable NFL has chosen to abandon.

An ECA break from UEFA, in order to follow gridiron’s ‘look out for number one’example, would naturally have a drastic effect on the footballing landscape.  An elite competition without promotion and relegation would likely consign lower divisions and non league football to the rubbish heap.  Big clubs with the power to deny national federations access to their best players would also threaten the existence of the Euros, Copa Libertadores, African Cup of Nations and, of course, the World Cup.  Yet, with the amazing success of the NFL, can ECA chairmen be blamed for wanting to be rid of the ‘dead weight’of the lower leagues in exchange for a much bigger slice of the pie?

Michel Platini doesn’t believe that the threats of the ECA are anything more than posturing. He points out that big clubs are just as much to blame for the crowded fixture list when they schedule extended summer tours to the far corners of the globe, regardless of the fact that these lucrative junkets help to promote UEFA as a whole.  But when he asks why the ECA doesn’t consider smaller clubs when lobbying for independent television rights, he loses his audience.  The big clubs know that they can make more money if they don’t have to prop up the lower tiers.  Threatening to “throw them out” before they leave of their own accord, as Platini did in July, may not be the best position to take.

Abandoning the century and a half old club system may seem inconceivable to UEFA, but both sides have been pushing hard to rake in every available penny and pound, filling the fixture list with competitions, friendlies and tours to the point of bursting, with neither group satisfied with their share of the spoils.  Platini needs to pay more heed to the clubs’argument that it is they who invest the money in players, assuming the greater financial risk.

Should he not, the question bears asking again.  Is Financial Fair Play necessary and just legislation which will corral irresponsible spending and preserve the UEFA club system or a draconian measure that will drive the big clubs right off the reservation?

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There are two sides to every story.

For many, the international break is a rare chance to see the cream of each nation’s crop pitted against each other in exciting and passionate matches which drum up national pride like no other, at least until the next, distant, round of international fixtures are played.  For international football fans, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

For those who prefer the club scene, with its day in, day out action, ethnically diverse squads, and players such as Wayne Rooney playing the villain’s role, rather than (fallen) hero, the international break is nothing more than a frustrating period, where nothing really happens and the threat of one of your key players being lost to injury in a ‘meaningless’encounter is very real.  For league fans, absence makes the heart skip a beat or leap into one’s mouth.

With the only news issuing from Cobham or Stamford Bridge being the club taking the first steps towards building a new ground and Jose ‘Am I Out of Position Again?’Bosingwa somehow earning a new contract, I’ve decided to ease my nerves over seeing Juan Mata, Petr Cech or Ramires return to the club on crutches by focusing on manager André Villas-Boas’performance to date.

Overall, the results under the Portuguese have reflected the club’s steady improvement, as they adapt to the new boss’system.  Chelsea started the season slowly, perhaps even unconvincingly, but the Swansea and Bolton maulings have added some gloss to a solid start that leaves the Blues in third place behind Manchester United and City.

Although the Blues did succumb to United at Old Trafford, in their only loss so far, that result contained plenty of positives for Villas-Boas’ new side.  One of the chief concerns regarding Villas-Boas’appointment was his ability to deal with older players.  At 33, he is the same age as some of the players.  Hired to wean the club off its dependence on Frank Lampard, John Terry and Didier Drogba, loyal supporters worried that his approach to the greybeards might be too abrupt.

Apart from dropping Frank Lampard to the bench for a game or two, that hasn’t been the case, and the demotion served to reignite Lamps’competitive fire, earning the new gaffer plaudits for his man-management skills.

After being taken off at half-time in the loss against United and then going unused against Swansea, you could find epitaphs for Lampard littering the media landscape.  The midfielder, however, replied with the footballer’s version of Mark Twain’s famous declaration, his four goals in the first two matches after being restored to the starting eleven exposing the hyperbole riddling reports of his demise.

After much talk in the summer about the need for Chelsea to retire the old guard, Villas-Boas has managed to prove he is his own man while still making the best use of the remnants of the Class of Mourinho.  That is especially vital with the enforcement of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play right around the corner.  Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Everton, with goals from John Terry, Daniel Sturridge and Ramires was the perfect case in point.  Yet, the project is hardly limited to those three players.

Raul Meireles, at twenty-eight, is the oldest of Chelsea’s six summer signings.  In recruiting youth, Villas-Boas has set the foundation for the club’s future.  Fleet winger Juan Mata (23), powerful striker Romelu Lukaku (18), promising goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (19), and holding and attacking mids Oriol Romeu (20) and Ulises Davila (20), respectively, AVB has addressed needs across the board. On top of that, there is the confidence he has shown in the twenty-two year old Sturridge, whose form since returning from his loan spell at Bolton has embarrassed Roman Abramovich, in light of the oligarch’s £50 million purchase of the less-than-impressive Fernando Torres.

While AVB’s signings indicate an eye towards the future, the youngsters on the flanks, Mata and Sturridge, whose creativity has injected some life into the stodgy Blues’attack, already regard themselves as starting players for Chelsea, while Lukaku and Romeu are on the cusp of gaining a spot in the starting XI.  Priced out of a move for their number one target in Luka Modric, and outbid for second choice Javier Pastore by PSG, Villas-Boas has not flinched, proving to his free-spending chairman that value can be found without breaking the bank.

Even better, the creativity and service of Sturridge and Mata has begun to revive the flagging form of Torres, despite the self-pitying forwards unwarranted criticism of Chelsea’s lack of speed in passing the ball.  In feeding him ball after ball in dangerous positions, the pair, Mata especially, have forced Nando to eat his words.

Success from their young players may turn out to be a double-edged sword for fans at the Bridge, however.  With Wayne Rooney being sent off against Montenegro, Sturridge may be deservedly selected to the England squad for the upcoming friendlies.  Although his style is criticised by some, scoring three goals in the three games he has played in the league (after serving a three-match ban to begin the season) is a pretty good way to shut them up.

If Sturridge stays in form, questions surrounding Rooney’s temperament and the abilities of players currently ahead of him in the pecking order — namely Bobby Zamora, Theo Walcott and Andy Carroll –the youngster may find himself on the pitch in Poland and the Ukraine.  Mata’s play must also be forcing him into the thoughts of Spanish national coach Vicente del Bosque, although La Roja are a more difficult line-up to crack.  Success on the international stage would be wonderful for both players and also raise Chelsea’s profile further, but there is always the spectre of injury.

Regardless of the price to be paid for developing players, Villas-Boas has enjoyed a fine start to his Chelsea coaching career.  The team has remained competitive in the midst of rebuilding, his signings are integrating into the team very well, he’s forged a strong rapport with the veterans, and addressed the lack of creativity, in turn, coaxing better performances from marquee striker Fernando Torres.

While he hasn’t fully come to grips with the English media (who, other than Jose Mourinho, does?), and it may take a longer run of results to finally quiet his critics, nothing the Portuguese has done thus far would suggest that he won’t be at Chelsea for as long as he chooses.

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The times that I have been to Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge Stadium have been some of the best of my life. In my opinion, the stadium provides one of the best atmospheres in England. Yet, despite that intimate charm, it seems that the higher-ups at Chelsea may be taking the first step in moving the club from its one hundred and six-year home by proposing to buy out the Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO) shares in the ground.

This has raised rumours about just how long Chelsea will stay at the ground, due to the fact that the members of the CPO, who don’t just own the ground but rights to the name of the club, must agree to any move before it can be implemented.  If Roman Abramovich can secure the CPO shares, then the process of Chelsea moving to a new stadium becomes far easier.

But would such a move be good for Chelsea?  The last time a similar project was undertaken — the redeveloping of the East Stand  – Chelsea nearly went bust.  Despite the risks associated with such a bold move, the benefits which Arsenal derive from the 60,000 seat Emirates Stadium and Manchester United from massive Old Trafford make it difficult for the Blues to compete, residing in tiny Stamford Bridge, with its capacity for only 40,000 patrons.

Despite my feelings about the Bridge, I believe that Chelsea will soon have to move from their home to a bigger ground, to maintain their place as one of Europe’s biggest clubs. Although the decision to move from Stamford Bridge will be Abramovich’s, it has, in some ways, been forced upon him.

The imminent UEFA Financial Fair Play Rules mean that a club like Chelsea now has to look beyond a sugar daddy for funds, hence the need for an increase in match revenue.  Staying at Stamford Bridge will prevent the club from reaching the necessary monetary goals.

Critics of a move from Stamford Bridge will use games, such as the recent Champions League match attended by a crowd of less than 34,000, to point out that Chelsea wouldn’t be able to fill a 50-60,000 seat facility.  With that in mind, they would wonder why the club would want to throw away its rich heritage.  However, if tickets were cheaper in a larger stadium, the club likely would attract bigger crowds.  With a fifty percent increase in capacity, the Blues should be able to raise far more revenue, even if they do lower admission prices.

Chelsea has already promised their supporters that they will not move more than three miles away from Stamford Bridge, with the area around the Old Battersea Power Station or Earls Court believed to be their first choice for a new home.  While a large number of fans will not want to leave the Bridge behind, with its countless memories, economics rule the modern-day football landscape and it may be that the faithful will have to be happy with their team at least staying within a stone’s throw of the old neighbourhood.

The Monday Morning Drip grinds up the footy fare from the weekend into a blend of the choicest bits from leagues all over the world.  It’s also a weekly opportunity to appeal to footy bloggers out there, who are looking for a new forum in which to display their wares.  So, if you enjoy blogging, want to reach new readers and are available to cover your favourite league or team, then just click Write For WFC!  

Meanwhile, open your laptop wide and say Ahhh.

Here’s this week’s Drip…

It’s amazing how much can change in a week.  Seven days ago, Manchester United and City were running away from the rest of the Premier League — from the world, to hear some talk — with no one to challenge them.  Two clubs from either side of the Alps changed that thinking during the week.  Bayern Munich put City in their place –as upstarts — with a 2-0 win at the Allianz Arena, which once again threw the lid off the contentious atmosphere in the City clubhouse.  Meanwhile Swiss side FC Basle nearly upended United at Old Trafford, with Ashley Young’s late effort rescuing a point for the English champions.  It took a bit of time for the two clubs to shake off the effects of those poor outings, both leaving it late to polish off their respective opponents, Norwich and Blackburn.

Yet, Sunday brought more disturbing news for the Mancunians, as Chelsea finally put in a complete performance, knocking off woeful Bolton, 5-1, at the Reebok.  It mattered not that the newly in-form Fernando Torres was suspended, as Frank Lampard proved that he is not nearly ready for the scrap heap, notching a hat trick.  Young Daniel Sturridge also quieted any worries that Torres might slip back into the doldrums after his ban ends, by supplying a brace himself.  After a moment of initial joy upon scoring his first, Sturridge also quieted his celebration, respectful of his recent spell with the Trotters.

There’s been a great deal of talk regarding the tenuous job security of the Steves, Bruce and Kean, at Sunderland and Blackburn, but the Wanderers’brain trust must be considering their options, too.  While his side has faced all the big guns in the first two months of the season, with points unsurprisingly difficult to come by, the club has capitulated far too easily in recent games.  Owen Coyle‘s open attacking style is pleasing to the eye and has high paid dividends on low investment, but with confidence at an all-time low, it may be time for the club to get down and dirty to rediscover their swagger.  The question is whether the Scot is prepared to do that.

Speaking of job security, the knives may be out again for Arsene Wenger, after the Gunners went down to defeat in the North London Derby against Spurs at White Hart Lane.  Yet, this was a match which promised to be a tough test, even in the best of circumstances.  These two played to a 6-5 aggregate in their league tie last season, when Arsenal were still in the title picture.  Given the vast amount of changes and key personnel missing on Sunday, a 2-1 setback was neither an unexpected nor unacceptable result for the Gunners.

Another runaway race tightened up in Germany, this weekend.  Bayern’s joy at handling the Manchester City Billionaire’s Club with such aplomb was tempered when they were held to a goalless draw by Hoffenheim.  However, the second and third place sides, Werder Bremen and Borussia Mönchengladbach failed to take advantage, both taking it on the chin.

The flat performances from the top clubs allowed two dangerous sides to make up ground.  Bayer Leverkusen, after two rough outings, bounced back to dump Wolfsburg 3-1.  The win kept them level on thirteen points with Hoffenheim, Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund.

BvB romped to a 4-0 victory over still winless Augsburg, thanks to a Robert Lewandowski three-bagger.  Mario Götze added the fourth and Jürgen Klopp’s defending champions are back in the Bundesliga frame, six points off hitherto rampant Bayern’s pace but holding down a European spot on goal difference.

Like the Mancunians, Jupp Heyncke’s Bavarians may be about to learn that nothing is ever easy.

Ajax?  Nope.  PSV, Twente or Feyenoord?  Pffft!  Suddenly the dominant side in Dutch football is AZ Alkmaar, back from the brink of financial ruin to wreak havoc on the big boys.  Their 3-1 victory over VVV Venlo was powered by goals from Robert ‘Dutch’Elm, Adam Maher and Simon Poulsen.  

Meanwhile, Theo Janssen, Kolbein Sigthorsson and Siem de Jong were powerless to stop FC Groningen from claiming a 1-0 victory over the Eredivisie champions.  Feyenoord were handed a worse defeat, 3-0 at De Kuip against ADO Den Haag.  The Verhoeks, Wesley and John, as well as Tjaronn Chery, did the damage.  Darren Maatsen popped in a deuce for doormats Excelsior, leaving Luuk de Jong to steal a point for FC Twente in added time.  Only PSV Eindhoven matched AZ’s success; a 2-0 triumph over NEC Nijmegen at the Philips Stadion rocketing them into second place.

Frank de Boer’s struggling side, now in fourth, will have the first crack at breaking into AZ’s four point lead, when the two face off next Saturday at the Amsterdam ArenA.

If you thought Paris in springtime was pleasant, autumn is suddenly not too shabby, either.  Forget fashion, Roland Garros, and the Tour.  All one needs is a little Arab oil money and a few Serie A stars looking for new frontiers.  Thanks to Paris Saint-Germain, football is suddenly the trend across the City of Light.

For most of the first decade of the new millenium, Lyon was the standard-bearer in Ligue 1, but on Sunday, Les Parisiens reminded Les Gones who was from France’s first city and who from the second, cruising to a 2-0 win at the Parc des Princes.  Javier Pastore continued to return dividends on the Qatari Investment Authority’s €43 million roll of the dice, by scoring the opener just after the hour.  Then, Christophe Jallet killed off the match in added time, after coming on for Kevin Gameiro in the eighty-sixth minute.  PSG is now top of the table, with a three-point cushion on the three nearest clubs.

Montpellier‘s 2-2 Saturday draw at Bordeaux moved them ahead of Lyon and Toulouse, who lost badly at Sochaux, on goal difference.  Elsewhere, champions Lille continued to climb back into the race with a 2-0 victory over Stade Rennes at the Metropole, while Marseille slipped, held to a 1-1 draw in the Velodrome by Brest.

It’s not quite business as usual, yet, in La Liga.  Sure, Real Madrid are rolling again, after a 4-0 dismantling of Barcelona side Espanyol.  Not quite the real deal, but satisfying nonetheless, with Gonzalo Higuain picking up a hat trick on the road.  On the other hand, the real deal had their hands full with the club on the bottom rung of the ladder.  To be fair, Barcelona didn’t field their strongest eleven but were forced to rely upon Adriano’s twelfth minute goal, as host Sporting Gijon stubbornly held on to the match, hoping to find some chink in the champions armour.

However, the table still looks a little wonky, with Levante unbeaten in second place, possibly proving that self-hypnosis is effective, as they’ve apparently convinced themselves that they really are wearing Barcelona kits.  Malaga, the third tine in the Qatari trident which also includes PSG and Man City, is also changing the status quo, sitting in fourth, while the third unbeaten side in the La Primera Liga, Sevilla, lay sixth.

Give it time; it will all sort itself out.

The early campaign is as plain as black and white in Serie A.  The Bianconeri, not just Juventus, but Udinese, as well, top the table.  The Old Lady has scored two more goals but the Friuli have been exceptionally stingy, conceding just once in their opening five matches.  When you play that well defensively, it’s turns out to be Barcelona who miss Alexis Sánchez more.  Antonio di Natale seems unconcerned about who provides his service, having notched his fourth league goal and fifth in all competitions in a 2-0 victory over Bologna.  Likewise, Andrea Pirlo didn’t fret over putting the sword to his old side, Milan, forcing a big save out of Christian Abbiati as Juventus took a similar 2-0 decision, thanks to a Claudio Marchisio brace in the dying moments.

Despite the best efforts of Dagestan, the Russian Premier League has settled into its usual pattern:  the big city clubs at the top and the outlying sides chasing for scraps.  Prior to Anzhi Makhachkala‘s outrageous deal with Inter to acquire the services of Samuel Eto’o, the club was a cohesive unit capable of defeating anyone on any given day.  Since agreeing to pay the Cameroonian €350,000/week, the squad has come to rely almost exclusively upon him for goals.  He has produced regularly but it has become a case of as Samuel goes, so go Anzhi.  Of course, that’s a natural reaction when someone is paid such a disproportionate salary in comparison with his peers.

Regardless, Anzhi are well off the pace, twelve points behind Zenit St. Petersburg and five away from a European qualification, with CSKA, Dinamo, Lokomotiv and Spartak Moscow each claiming one of the remaining money slots.  For the big-spending outsiders, the balance sheet is beginning to turn an alarming shade of red.

After both Gamba Osaka and Kashiwa Reysol went down to defeat last week, the pair still managed to open a four and three-point gap, respectively, on the rest of the field, in the closing weeks of the J-League campaign — with a little help from lower standing sides.

Albirex Niigata moved away from the danger zone with a desperate performance, defeating fourth place Yokohama F Marinos 4-2.  Meanwhile, Shimizu S-Pulse consolidated their mid-table position by doubling up on third ranked Nagoya Grampus Eight, 2-1.

Neither Gamba nor Kashiwa were very stylish in returning to winning ways, grinding out 1-0 results against Urawa Diamonds and Kashima Antlers.  Kashiwa held on despite going down to ten men just before the break, when Park Dung-Hyuk was sent off for a second bookable offence shortly after Masatao Kudo had earned — shall we say plaudits? — for his game-winner on the half-hour.

What is wrong with Real Salt Lake?  The 2009 MLS Cup winners have dropped their last three in the midst of the stretch run; a period wherein they have become known for raising their game a notch.  The third defeat came at the hands of runaway league leaders LA Galaxy, with David Beckham – who has pointedly not cultivated that same reputation during his MLS tenure — playing a part in both goals.

After falling behind to Fab Espindola’s first half strike, the Galaxy rallied in front of the home crowd in the second frame.  Golden Balls fed Chad Barrett in the box as the hour mark approached, to level terms; a result visiting RSL would have been happy to accept and which they deserved until defender Nat Borchers knocked an errant ball into his own goal, from a Beckham set-piece on seventy-two minutes.

The former England captain then turned on the charm, noting that he “honestly enjoys the assists more than scoring.”  Aw, shucks.

On the other coast, or near enough, NY Red Bull continued to straddle the fence, settling for their sixteenth draw in thirty-one matches.  Thierry Henry salvaged the point with two minutes on the clock at Toronto FC’s BMO field, scoring his thirteenth goal of the season.  With three games remaining, Red Bull are clinging to the final play-off spot on goal-difference over expansion side Portland Timbers and two points over DC United, who are being led by erstwhile Red Bull Dwayne De Rosario‘s league leading fourteen goals.

No, a revival of Cats isn’t playing South of the Border.  But Pumas, Jaguares and Tigres are, in fact, topping the table two-thirds of the way through the Apertura mini-season.  All three are clawing to stay near the top, as well.

Pumas 1-0 victory over struggling América, on Saturday, lifted them top thanks to Jaguares Friday night 1-1 draw with Atlas, and Sunday’s like result against Tijuana’s Aztec Dogs for Tigres, the three opponents being the bottom squads in the top flight.  The tight competition in the Primera Division is further exemplified by the crowded play-off picture, with the clubs from third to thirteenth all within a single result of falling below or climbing above the cut line between the eighth and ninth rungs on the ladder.

In the battle of the week, in Brazil, Vasco de Gama clung desperately to first place as visiting Corinthians attempted to reclaim the top spot which they had held for most of the early doors in the National Championship.  Strangely, both Vasco goals came from defenders, with Dede’s header opening the scoring on the quarter-hour and Fagner’s first-half added time strike restoring the lead that Alex had cancelled out.  Danilo’s noggin-shot on sixty-six minutes split the points and kept the Paulistas two points adrift of the Rio giants.

On Saturday, Neymar‘s goal on the half-hour was wasted as Santos allowed Marcio Rosario to head home in added time for ten-man Fluminense.  The Copa Libertadores champions continue to struggle to get into the domestic race.

Boca Juniors consolidated their position at the top of the Primera Division de Argentina Apertura table with a 1-0 victory over surprising Tigre.  The fifth placed side might have split the points at La Bombonera had it not been for Diego Castaño’s own goal fourteen minutes into the match.  It was a hard-fought affair, with the official handing out eight cautions, split evenly between the sides.

Newly promoted Atletico Rafaella continued to lead the chasing pack, thanks to a 2-1 victory over Lanús.  Fabricio Fontanini and Federico Gonzalez scored less than five minutes apart, early in the second half, to overturn Mario Regueiro’s first half goal.  Regueiro was sent off shortly after Fontanini had leveled, and when Gonzalez put Rafaella in front, El Granate imploded, going down to nine men when Carlos Izquierdos was issued a second yellow.

The result will keep Juan Roman Riquelme and company on their toes, despite their comfortable margin, but Boca seem intent on making up some ground in the championship category, while rivals River languish in the second tier.

See you next Monday! 

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Stoke are not an easy team to beat when defending the Britannica, yet in their six previous Premier League matches against Manchester United, both home and away, they had failed to garner a single point.  That finally changed on Saturday.  With the rest of the day’s matches following form, much to the bookies’pleasure, the outcome is that United have come back to Earth, somewhat.

Despite their perfect record against Stoke and to date in 2010-11, United had to know that a painstaking effort would be required to once again put down the Potters.   With arguably their most physical player, Wayne Rooney, nursing an injury, it would only be more difficult.  Then Jonny Evans came up lame in the warmup, forcing Antonio Valencia to slot in at right back against a side which lives off wide play and crosses into the box.   Worse, Javier Hernandez suffered another knock, when clipped from behind by Jonathan Woodgate, he clattered into Stoke keeper Asimir Begovic.  Despite the forward laying crumpled in the box, the incident was deemed as no harm, no foul.   The Mexican, after failing to walk off the pain, was forced to leave for Michael Owen after just eleven minutes.

Still, it was United who struck first, through Nani.  The Portuguese, teaming with Darren Fletcher, worked his way through the box and drilled a shot past Begovic, just prior to the half-hour.  Thus, with Rooney in Manchester, Chicharito on the trainer’s table and Danny Welbeck on the bench, there was suddenly no cutting edge on the pitch for the visitors.  Owen and Dimitar Berbatov sent a handful of chances wide, allowing Stoke to hang onto hope.

At the other end, Stoke’s aerial attack was causing problems for United’s young keeper David de Gea.  While tall, the lack of muscle on the twenty year old’s frame made it difficult for him to impose his will on the Stoke attackers.  Peter Crouch and a supporting Jonathan Woodgate both missed golden chances.  When the Potters kept the ball on the carpet, however, De Gea made several impressive stops.

The writing was on the wall, though, and shortly after the restart, a corner found Crouch, who nodded the ball home.  Welbeck came on for United with twenty minutes remaining, as did Ryan Giggs, but neither could fashion a winner and the draw allowed Man City to pull level on points.

Roberto Mancini’s side remain behind on goal difference, though, as Everton proved resistant to the attacking verve of Sergio Kun Aguero and Edin Dzeko in the first hour of the match.  The pair, already boasting fourteen goals between them, were nonetheless sat down by Mancini, when they proved incapable of finding a way past the resilient Toffee’s defence and a near-impervious Tim Howard.  Still, their efforts had taxed the Everton rearguard to the point where their fresh and eager replacements, Mario Balotelli and James Milner were each able to find openings and finish.

Balotelli, who came on at the hour mark for Dzeko, was actually set up by the soon to depart Aguero, who dished off nicely, when he was closed down in the box.  Then, David Silva, who had been harried all day by Jack Rodwell, finally found a moment’s peace to thread a ball into the path of an onrushing Milner, whose goal killed off the match.  The contest mirrored the United/Stoke tilt, as well, in that City typically have more success snatching players from Everton, than they do goals.

There was a third unbeaten side, of the four remaining in the Premier League, in action on Saturday.  Toon held their place near the top of the table, with a 3-1 win over Blackburn, proving that the opposite of the adage ‘nice guys finish last’, also holds true.  Despite chairman Mike Ashley’s generally reviled status in the eyes of the Geordie Nation, his offloading of manager Chris Hughton and stars Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan and Jose Enrique purely for profit, not to mention Joey Barton purely for noticing, the Magpies are somehow still grinding out results.

Against a Rovers side temporarily buoyed by their unexpected victory over shaky Arsenal, Demba Ba registered his first Premier League hat trick, scoring twice within three minutes of the half hour and then putting the match away after the break, cancelling a Junior Hoilett strike which had given Blackburn a lifeline.  Thus, in a season where both were expected to be safely in the mid-table, Newcastle are holding down the last Champions League berth and Rovers have dipped back into the relegation places.

Speaking of nice guys, Martinez, Owen Coyle and former Liverpool whipping boy Roy Hodgson managed just one point and one goal between them.  Hodgson’s West Brom got the point, in a bore draw with fellow strugglers Fulham.  Martinez’s Latics took the goal, courtesy of Mohamed Diame, but it wasn’t enough to stop Spurs from claiming all three points at the DW.  Bolton, meanwhile, without Gary Cahill, were unable to mimic Blackburn’s success against Arsenal, going down 3-0 at the Emirates, where Robin van Persie’s brace included his century mark for the Gunners.

Chelsea were in tune with their London rivals, knocking off Swansea 4-1.  Fernando Torres once again played good news/bad news with the Stamford Bridge faithful, scoring his second goal in as many games but drawing a red card for an overzealous tackle, later on.  This time, instead of missing the goal, he will be missing from the lineup as the Chelsea machine gets back into gear after stalling at Old Trafford.  If, upon returning, his form also goes missing again, neither manager André Villas-Boas nor owner Roman Abramovich will be too pleased.

The pair should both be happy with young Brazilian Ramires, however.  The midfielder, who provided the most of the creative spark in defeat, against United, did so again in victory, setting up Torres’opener.  Then, he proceeded to finish off two plays himself.  More good news came late, with the return of a clear-headed Didier Drogba, who potted the fourth Blues tally on the day.  Maybe Nando won’t be missed all that much.

Liverpool, long a Chelsea nemesis and recently a handy source for Iberian players, also returned to winning ways, with a 2-1 victory over Wolves at Anfield.  Charlie Adam continued to be involved in Reds goals, when his errant blast was unintentionally deflected in by Wolves skipper Roger Johnson.   Luis Suarez continued his rampant form, adding a necessary second seven minutes before half-time.  It was needed because Kenny Dalglish’s side, nervous after consecutive losses, developed a siege mentality in the second half, which allowed Steven Fletcher to halve the difference between the clubs.

With only Aston Villa protecting its unbeaten mark against QPR on Sunday and Sunderland’s Black Cats hunting Norwich City’s Canaries on Monday, still to be played, the Premier League table is virtually set heading into a Champions League week.  A winner from the Sunday match can replace Liverpool in fifth place, although Joey Barton and co. will need a three goal margin to do so.  Then, if Steve Bruce’s Mackems can overcome Norwich, they’ll have gone from the bottom rung to the top half in just over a fortnight.

It might not be as easy as all that, however.

]]> http://worldfootballcolumns.com/2011/09/24/the-sunday-morning-hangover-man-united-discover-that-nobodys-perfect/feed/ 0 Coming Up Crouchy resulteditor Coming Up Crouchy Hangover Howard To The Rescue Man Of The Century http://worldfootballcolumns.com/2011/09/19/the-monday-morning-drip-because-ade-is-light-on-his-feet/ http://worldfootballcolumns.com/2011/09/19/the-monday-morning-drip-because-ade-is-light-on-his-feet/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 03:50:03 +0000 Martin Palazzotto http://worldfootballcolumns.com/?p=21784 Continue reading »]]> _______________________________________________________________________

The Monday Morning Drip grinds up the footy fare from the weekend into a blend of the choicest bits from leagues all over the world.  It’s also a weekly opportunity to appeal to footy bloggers out there, who are looking for a new forum in which to display their wares.  So, if you enjoy blogging, want to reach new readers and are available to cover your favourite league or team, then just click Write For WFC!  

Meanwhile, open your laptop wide and say Ahhh.

Here’s this week’s Drip…

Unlike last week, this Premier League Sunday was hardly an afterthought.  Instead, it rose up and smacked fans of Liverpool and Manchester City right between the eyes.  Then it delivered a blow to the mid-section of an unsuspecting Stoke City, and, for good measure, kicked Chelsea in the butt.

Spurs hammered Liverpool 4-0, while Kenny Dalglish fumed and referee Mike Jones did his best to keep a straight face as he sent off both Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel, who will be having nightmares about Gareth Bale for weeks to come.  Dalglish at least has learnt to keep his remarks regarding officiating between himself and the men in black.  He had plenty to say to Jones in the tunnel at the half but absolutely nothing to the press after the match.  Meanwhile, Harry Redknapp was feeling like the Prince of the City, after Ex-Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor hit for a brace and Chelsea wannabe Luka Modric swallowed his pride and contributed the opener at White Hart Lane.

Stoke, who stole three points against the Reds, last week, learnt that there is no easy match in the Premier League, as Sunderland came off the bottom of the table to hit them up for another 4-0 shellacking.  The legendarily prolific trio of Titus Bramble, Craig Gardner and Sebastian Larsson were aided by an own goal from Jonathan Woodgate.  While Tony Pulis was tearing his hat to pieces in frustration, punters across the Northeast were doing the same with betting slips touting Steve Bruce to be the first manager sacked in 2010-11.

Manchester City failed to heed the lesson of the Blackburn/Arsenal match, wasting Sergio Kun Aguero‘s seventh and eighth goals for the club and letting struggling Fulham back into the match.  Goals from Bobby Zamora and captain Danny Murphy split the points and dropped the Billionaire’s Club further behind United’s Boys Club.

Fergie’s Fledglings made the most of their toughest test thus far.  Although Chelsea had their fair share of ascendancy, they did little with it.  Fernando Torres did score his second goal in six months for the club but then refused to increase his rate of production, circling a helpless David de Gea and sliding his shot wide of an unprotected goal.  Other than that, however, De Gea was the reason that United led 3-0 at the half, through Chris Smalling, Nani and Wayne Rooney, rather than trailing by the same score.  He had to rescue his teammates in the second half, as well, when Rooney pulled a John Terry, slipping as he struck a penalty kick which would have killed off the match.

The one worry to come out of the match, as United moved clear at the top of the table, was Ashley Cole’s nasty tackle on Javier Hernandez, who limped off under duress and may now become Tom Cleverley’s FIFA ’11 partner for the near future.

The question in Germany, this week, is has the country fallen in love with Ashton Kutcher and That ’70s Show in the same manner as they did with der Hasselhoff?  It seems as though they may have, with the table beginning to look much as it did in the Polyester Decade. Last year’s relegation survivors, Borussia Mönchengladbach, are suddenly flashing back to the days when they challenged Bayern for Bundesliga honours on a yearly basis.

Igor Camargo got his kick in minute sixty-six, to give M’gladbach a win over Hamburg and solidify their grip on third place, level on points but a goal behind Werder Bremen, whose application for three points was denied at the EasyCredit Stadion, leaving them with a 1-1 draw with hosts Nurnberg.  Both Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund continued their inconsistent starts, suffering defeats, 4-1 at home to Cologne and 2-1 away to Hannover, respectively.  Lukas Podolski picked up a double for Cologne.  Hoffenheim and Stuttgart also stayed near the top, with wins over Wolfsburg and Freiburg.  Hoffenheim’s 3-1 cruise over Felix Magath’s side, has the embattled boss considering petitioning the league to play Schalke every week.

The Royal Blues, who took it on the chin to their former manager, last week, were kicked by Bayern while they were down.  The league leaders opened some space on the chasing pack with a 2-0 victory in Gelsenkirchen.  Manuel Neuer had all the time in the world to count the ‘Judas’signs sported by Schalke fans, as his new mates didn’t let his former ones anywhere near the goal.

If you’ve read David Winner’s Brilliant Orange, you know that Total Football was born out of the Dutch knack for coping with a lack of space.  No surprise then, that the Eredivisie table is gridlocked after week six.  Four clubs are grouped within a point of each other at the top, and the season is just getting warmed up.  

The key match was at the Philips Stadion, where PSV pushed Ajax to the limit but failed to close ground.  Neither did they give any away, so, on the whole, they won’t be complaining too much.  The 2-2 draw saw the Eindhoven side on the front foot for most of the match, with Tim Matavz’s second minute strike and Giorgio Wijnaldum’s penalty just before the hour eventually pegged back, in turn, by Kolburnn Sigthorsson’s leveller before the half-time whistle and Dmitry Bulykin’s point-splitter on seventy-nine minutes.

FC Twente and AZ Alkmaar each took advantage of the stalemate, moving into the top two slots, on fifteen points.  AZ had to work hard to get by new boys RKC 2-1, but Twente reclaimed the league lead with a resounding 5-2 win over ADO Den Haag.  Luuk de Jong was on the board twice in the Enschede romp.  Feyenoord‘s 4-0 pasting of de Graafschap, put them fourth.  Ironically, the Rotterdam giants, along with Ajax, are the only two unbeaten sides in the Eredivisie but are both looking up at the Champions League places.  Don’t you just love the early doors?

Elsewhere, disciplinarian John van den Brom may have finally driven the message home to his young charges at Vitesse.  After back-to-back 4-0 embarrassments, the Arnhem club drilled five past Roda JC, who had no answer.

Okay, here it comes:  my first official Evian pun.  I’m sure it’s been said elsewhere and more than once, but PSG, will tell you that whatever the newly promoted club have, they ought to bottle it.  The club is stubbornly hanging onto a place in the top half of the table, this week jumping out to an early two goal lead against the well-heeled Parisiens.  Javier Pastore paid off another installment in his €43 million price tag, by pegging a goal back, appropriately in the forty-third minute.  It was left to Mathieu Bodmer, who had come on with a quarter-hour remaining, to salvage a point for the Qatari-backed club.  It took him six minutes, but the job was done and PSG remain within shouting distance of the leaders.

That is no longer Montpellier, however.  The unlikely table topper could only manage a 2-2 draw at Brest, allowing Lyon to move top, after a battle of Olympian proportions with Marseille, won 2-0 at the Stade Gerland on goals from Bafetimbi Gomis and Michel Bastos.  The defeat won’t sit well with Didier Deschamps, who, less than two years removed from a championship is parked at the bottom of the table.

Were you beginning to think that Barcelona was mortal and that Real Madrid finally had the answer to the Catalans’mastery?  Foolish human.  The Blaugrana got their feet under them in the third week of the Primera Liga campaign and dropped an eight spot on a ridiculously optimistic Osasuna.  Lionel Messi had a hat trick, David Villa a double, with Cesc Fabregas and Xavi also helping out.  Osasuna defender Roversio apparently thought the second letter in his name was an ‘e’, rather than an ‘o’, as he put the remaining tally into his own net.

Conversely, Real Madrid were reduced to ten men and fell to Levante 1-0, after Sami Khedira was sent off in the first half and Arouna Kone scored the only goal of the match in the sixty-eighth minute.  Given that the start of the season was delayed a week, and Levante’s kit is remarkably similar to Barça, I suppose it’s possible Los Blancos thought they were playing a much tougher match.

Meanwhile, there are two teams with perfect records but strange shirts at the top of the table.  Real Betis went into San Mames and, impressively, came away with a 3-2 win over Athletic Bilbao.  Likewise, Valencia won away at Sporting Gijon, albeit by a more subdued 1-0 score.

Although it’s only two matches into the Serie A season, and the table has yet to settle, there is a hint that the scoring race, at least, will be a repeat of last year’s heated competition.  Udinese and Napoli are two of the four teams with two victories in as many tries, and they are being led by their talismans, Antonio di Natale and Edinson Cavani.

Cavani hit a treble as the Neapolitans did away with Scudetto holders AC Milan.  Alberto Aquilani’s first goal for the Rossoneri went for nought, once the uruguayan cranked up his game.  For his part, Di Natale has now scored in both of his club’s 2-0 victories.  Even without Alexis Sanchez to feed him the ball, the veteran appears intent on keeping his golden boot for a third Serie A consecutive year.

Competition continues to be fierce in the Russian Premier League.  CSKA Moscow‘s 1-1 draw away to FK Rostov, languishing near the drop zone, was costly for the capital giants.  Zenit St. Petersburg refused to let up, themselves, away to the much tougher Rubin Kazan, and outlasted the recent champs 3-2, with Roman Shirokov’s opener and Danny’s brace providing maximum points.

Dinamo also took advantage of their neighbours recent slide.  After toppling CSKA 4-0, a week ago, Dinamo made Amkar Perm’their third victim on the trot, with former Liverpool benchwarmer again sparking the victory.

Zenit now have a clear lead in the table, but Dinamo lay two back and CSKA three.  The weather may be cooling on the Steppes, but the race in the RPL is definitely heating up.

Last week, I wrote that Kashiwa Reysol have their groove back.  This week, they emphasised that fact in a major way, knocking off Vitesse Kobe, 4-0, to leapfrog Yokohama F Marinos and close to within a point of Gamba Osaka.

Rafinha continued his good run for the current leaders, as Gamba drew with Marinos, affording Reysol the opportunity to edge within reach of the top.  With eight matches left in the campaign, the J-League race is providing fans, who have been through a tragic 2011, a pleasant diversion from their daily travails.  Unfortunately, however, tragedy is refusing to take any time off in the Land of the Rising Sun.  Former Shimizu S-Pulse keeper Masanori Sanada, just forty-three, passed away from a heart attack early in the week.  He is the second Japanese footballer to be stricken by a coronary siezure this year, following defender Naoki Matsuda, who died in August.

With half a dozen matches left on the schedule, New York Red Bull have begun to be something other than indifferent about the MLS season.  A hard fought 1-0 victory on the road, against Western power FC Dallas has lifted the Red Bull, who have drawn half their matches, back into the play-off picture.  Former Notts County bad boy Luke Rodgers, making his first start after mising ten weeks with an injured heel, provided the only goal of the match.

Another side lagging behind their usual pace, Real Salt Lake, also notched a big win by halting the progress of Sporting KC.  Nat Borchers potted the lone strike, as RSL stayed ten points behind LA Galaxy, with two games in hand.

The thing about a split season is that a sudden run of form, good or bad, can quickly change a club’s fortunes.  Take Jaguares, for instance.  They were one of the worst teams in the recently completed Clausura, and when the Apertura opened, they didn’t seem much better.  However, a string of three victories, including an electric 5-3 triumph, on Saturday, against the suddenly hapless America.  Edgar Andrade‘s brace cancelled out Daniel Montenegro‘s and Christian Valdez’s tally did the same to Christian Benitez.  That left the two late goals, one in each half, from Franco Arizala and Jackson Martinez, respectlively to claw out the victory.

Puebla‘s stunning 4-1 victory away at the Estadio OmniLife against Chivas knocked the Goats from the top of the hill, with Cruz Azul also leapfrogging the Guadalajara side, after a road win of their own, 2-1 over Monterrey.  Tigres reversal to Atlante leaves them one point behind the three pacesetters.

Corinthians have slipped into a dangerous funk, dropping their last two matches and three of their last five.  Sunday’s hammering at the hands of Paulista rivals Santos, who won the match 3-1 despite Paolo Henrique Ganso seeing red, has cost them their place atop the National Championship table.  In fact, it has dropped them all the way to third, with the slide seeming more severe for the performances of the two clubs which overtook them.

Both Vasco de Gama and Sao Paolo recorded comprehensive 4-0 victories over Gremio and Ceara, respectively.  The two clubs each featured four different goal scorers, but it was pleasing to see old warhorse Rivaldo on the score sheet for the Paulistas.  Vasco now sit top, ahead of Sao Paolo by a single point.

Boca Juniors managed to stay a step ahead of giant killers Atletico Rafaella for a second week, with a 2-1 victory over Lanus.  Defender Juan Insurralde made the match closer than it was with an own goal just after the restart, but Walter Erviti’s strike, after the hour, restored the lead.

The Genovese will be looking nervously over their shoulder to see what Rafaella are up to next.  The upstarts took the lead with twenty minutes remaining against San Lorenzo, only to endure a mad frenzy at the end of the match.  Sebastian Gonzalez leveled a minute from time and then, in added time, Federico Gonzalez put Rafaella back in front.  Moments later, Nicolas Castro put the game to bed from the spot, after Bernardo Romeo saw red for the hosts.

With both clubs winning on the road and putting some distance between themselves and the pack, Argentina may be in for an unusual two-horse race in this year’s Apertura.  Circle Sunday October 30th on your calendar.  That’s when these two meet, at La Bombonera, perhaps to decide the title race once and for all.

See you next Monday! 

After playing four games of their season and with a huge game against Manchester United upcoming, Chelsea are lying third in the table, unbeaten.

Regardless, the club has failed to impress in their early games and have been branded too old and lacking in spark and flair.  That assessment has not only come from critics outside Stamford Bridge, but apparently from their own £50 million/goal forward Fernando Torres.

The Spaniard made the remarks in an interview conducted in Spanish for his official website.  The out of form striker claims his comments were misquoted, but André Villas-Boas is insisting on seeing the transcript from the interview, to determine the truth of the matter.  At Anfield, Nando was verbally unhappy with his service and now, apparently, he is seeking someone to blame at Stamford Bridge, as well.

Yet, the  2-1 victory over Sunderland was far more comprehensive than the scoreline indicates.  With new signings Juan Mata and Raul Meireles making their full debuts, Daniel Sturridge returning from his suspension, Oriol Romeu making his debut, and the dissatisfied Fernando Torres dropped to the bench, Chelsea looked sharp and creative, playing in the manner which AVB has been seeking to implement.

Passes were short and sharp, possession was easily kept, there was imagination and spontaneity in attack, a high line employed in defence, and the Blues relentlessly sought to win the ball back immediately after losing it.  The only thing missing was the finishing touch which would have produced another goal or two and eased nerves in the final third of the match.  While not as pretty on the scoreboard as the games featuring the two Manchester clubs, the victory proved that it would be foolish to write off a Chelsea challenge for the title.

With a daunting task against Manchester United at Old Trafford looming, their performance offers the Blues some optimism that they can deal with the new juggernaut which Sir Alex Ferguson has raised up to replace Neville, Scholes, Giggs and Rio.  With the instant impact of their new signings and returning players, Chelsea will be fancying their chances.

Hearing his fellow Spaniard rue the fact that Chelsea don’t have any players who can move the ball quickly, Juan Mata offered a rebuttal through his impressive performance at the Stadium of Light.  There was a marked difference between Chelsea’s movement while Mata was in the game and afterwards, when Florent Malouda came on for him.  If Torres wants someone to move the ball any faster than the former Valencia star, he should have signed with Barcelona, where he’d get impeccable service from Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas.  Then again, that trio hasn’t done much for him with the Spanish national team, have they?

Another new signing and fellow Iberian, Raul Meireles, showed his versatility in the holding role, putting in a performance that was among Chelsea’s best in the game, on his debut after transferring from Liverpool.  Keeping the ball throughout the game, delivering crunching tackles and several good breaks from the midfield, not to mention a sublime through-ball to set up Sturridge’s goal, Mereiles offered up a new conversion rate for the European market:  £12 million in Portuguese equals £35 million in Croatian.

Sturridge’s successful loan spell at Bolton has made him a better player, and whether or not Torres gets with the program, the youngster’s performance against Sunderland, the audacious backheel just the icing on the cake, suggests he can be a key player in Villas-Boas’plans as the season progresses.  Mata and Sturridge, on the flanks, could be the set of pincers that sharpen the Chelsea attack, and, despite his ill-advised remarks, offer Torres the chance to overcome his goal-scoring woes.

The trio certainly did well in their clash with Bayer Leverkusen.  It was David Luiz, another youngster, who opened the scoring after the hour, but Sturridge and Torres were both dangerous in the early going.  Torres, flicked on for a Mereiles finish that was ruled offside.  Sturridge fed Torres with a cross that narrowly missed over and tested Leverkusen keeper Bernd leno with a low hard shot to the near post.  In the end, the Torres who was unhappy with his own service turned provider, setting up both goals, with Luiz’s followed up by Juan Mata’s.

Considering that John Obi Mikel and Alex were only added to the squad for the Champions League and Didier Drogba and Romelu Lukaku were not in either match squad, Villas-Boas finds himself with a team, and the depth, to prove that this isn’t the Manchester Premier League, whatever the rest of the world may think.

My basic problem with human beings is that they act out of fear, feeling a desperate need to control their environment as much as possible.

On a small scale, that attitude has made it a felony, in the county in which I live, to falsify applications to register your (typically minority) child in a school district which might offer him/her a better education than your local one.  In the UK, it means there are several schools where girls are not allowed to wear skirts.   To the authorities, it matters not whether the rules are having an unintended and adverse effect, or make little to no sense, only that they must be followed for the sake of control.

On a larger scale, this fear and the urge to conquer it has seen the same country which proudly displays the words, “Give me your tired, your weak, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” at the foot of the Statue of Liberty build a wall across its southern border with Mexico, to keep out said huddled masses who, diabolically, wish to take jobs cutting grass, digging ditches and keeping house from unemployed American college graduates.  In Australia, it means that the government seeks a way to ship its huddled masses to nearby Malaysia, where there is no work, education or opportunity, but rampant disease and political oppression.  When a decision must be made between two groups of man, the rationale as to who must suffer is always better you than me, rather than both of us together.

On an environmental scale… well you get the idea.  Man tries to organise everything down to the tiniest detail, intending to raise the ‘quality of life’, but too often with the opposite result.  He fights the natural order every step of the way, when he might be better advised to trust somewhat to fate, respect the planet, and just let things be.

Yet, I am human, too.  So despite my ideology, I feel sorry for the big teams in one or two of the groups in this year’s Champions League.  These clubs have spent money, worked hard and done well, only to be pitted against each other from the outset, while poorer sides from lesser leagues have been granted an easier road, through the luck of the draw.  There is something within me that believes it would be much fairer for the teams to be properly seeded and distributed evenly throughout the groups, so that fans might see the best sides — aka the traditional, established powers — meet in the later rounds.  Yet, on a weekly, if not daily, basis, I can usually be heard asking the question, “Since when is life fair?”

It’s tough being me.

On the other hand, it’s probably tougher to be Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Napoli or Villareal.  This group contains Sergio Kun Aguero, Edin Dzeko, David Silva and Carlos Tevez in the City attack; Mario Gomez, Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Thomas Müller powering Bayern; Edinson Cavani, Marek Hamsik and Ezequiel Lavezzi for Napoli: and Giuseppe Rossi and Nilmar with Villareal.

Each of these clubs finished in the top four of one of the Big Four leagues in Europe.  City and Bayern are both perfect in the Prem and Bundesliga, respectively, running riot over the opposition, this season.  Napoli have started well in their quest to do more than challenge for the Scudetto in 2011-12.  Villareal have been sluggish out of the gate in La Liga, which can perhaps be forgiven, as the Yellow Submarine may have had its sights set on making this group stage.  At any rate, the Spaniards are the club most accustomed to dealing with powerful neighbours, being measured against Real Madrid and Barcelona, year in and year out.

If UEFA ranked its teams in a manner similar to American college football, all four squads would be in the top twenty, and, conceivably, in the top sixteen, which would put the entire group in the top half of a thirty-two team Champions League table.  Yet half of a set which all ‘deserve’to progress to the knockout rounds will not. One will drop to the Europa League, another will have its continental adventure end before Christmas, and even Man City, with their wealth of talent, realise that, in such a short competition, they could be the unfortunates.

This is not a group of death; it’s a group of utter annihilation.

As someone who believes that everyone deserves a fair shake, and who tries to maintain some objectivity in writing about football around the world, I usually make every effort to reel in my own biases when they try to creep in to my work.  In this group, however, there is one team that I will definitely be rooting against.  I don’t believe Trabzonspor, or any Turkish club, should be in this competition.

The Super Lig has acknowledged that the corruption and match-fixing in its competition is so rife that it has delayed the start of its campaign until it can be sure that the cheaters have been rooted out.  Like most other Turkish clubs, Trabzonspor have been implicated in wrong-doing.  One should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise, but, when there is sufficient reason to suspect guilt, the honourable usually step aside for the betterment of the whole.  I believe it would be best for football’s integrity, that no Turkish teams compete in Europe until their house is put in order.

That leaves three very strong clubs, however, to compete for the two berths providing passage into the round of sixteen.

Normally, Inter, with the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Esteban Cambiasso, Javier Zanetti, Maicon and the Diegos, Milito and Forlan, would be heavy favourites to win the group.  However, now on their third coach, Giampiero Gasperini, in the year since Jose Mourinho departed, there is a sense of confusion at the club which has affected their confidence, most notably goalkeeper Julio Cesar, who has been very erratic of late.  They’re still favourites, of course, but consider them as having been to Jenny Craig.

French Champions Lille were weakened by the exodus of Yohan Cabaye and Gervinho to the Premier League and Adil Rami to La Liga, but, with Eden Hazard pulling the strings, they are still a threat to anyone.

CSKA Moscow are an unknown quantity despite their annual presence in Europe.  Seydou Doumbia is the danger man, but can’t be focused on to the exclusion of Vagner Love and Japanese set-piece magician Keisuke Honda.  Zoran Tosic and Tomas Necid are also in this squad and it shouldn’t be forgotten that keeper Igor Afinkeev was one of the names mooted to replace Edwin van der Sar before United narrowed the list to Manuel Neuer and David de Gea.

Now, Manchester United aside, here’s a group of those huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

Benfica were in the Europa League semifinals last season, but that only proved they were the third best team in Portugal, although, at the moment, they are nipping at a weakened Porto’s heels.  Having signed Joan Capdevilla from Villareal and Ezequiel Garay from Real Madrid, when players of that ilk typically travel in the opposite direction, this is not a team to take lightly.  Belgian Axel Witsel is also a promising talent in the midfield.

You’d be forgiven for not giving FC Basel a second glance had you not watched this competition, last year.  Led by Marco Streller and Alex Frei, the Swiss champion didn’t progress but gave much better opposition a game every time out.  Expect the same again this year.

I was half tempted to do a Shearer, shrug my shoulders and say that I don’t know that much about Otelul Galati.  However, unlike the Geordie legend, Wiki doesn’t strike fear into my heart or impede on my golf time.  Thus, I can proudly recite that Otelul are Romanian champions and, unsurprisingly, are made up almost exclusively of Romanians, with three Serbs and a Czech goalkeeper most of you wouldn’t be familiar with added into the mix.  The club has sprinkled in some global influence, in the form of Argentine Gabriel Viglianti, Peruvian Daniel Chavez and Nigerian John Ibeh.  Haven’t heard of them, either?  Hmmph.  Maybe Shearer organises his time better than people think.

With this trio to contend with, Sir Alex Ferguson must be feeling quite pleased with the draw.  Given that City will have to bring their A-game every weeknight, while United will likely feature Michael Owen, Dimitar Berbatov, Park Ji-sung, Michael Carrick and several other reserves with regularity and still progress easily, the wily old Scot surely sees an advantage for his club as they attempt to fend off the ‘noisy neighbours’in domestic competition.

Okay, having done with Wiki, I’ve now accessed a copy of the UEFA rulebook and nowhere inside does it say that Real Madrid must play Lyon in the Champions League every season.  So, what’s up with that, then?  The Spaniards finally got the better of the French side in the knockout round, last year, only to draw them in the group stage for ’11-12.  Still, better the enemy you know…

Los Blancos will also have a second date with Ajax, who joined them in ’10-11 to form the famous Group of Champions, along with AC Milan.   Overall, however, it shouldn’t be Jose Mourinho’s side concerned with progressing, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, the in-form pair of Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain, Angel di Maria and Mesut Özul in attack.  The Castilians will also be confident, having gained an early advantage over rivals Barcelona.

Although Dutch sides took a beating in the Europa League last season, Ajax weren’t one of the battered and bruised.  With Frank de Boer taking over for Martin Jol in mid-stream, the Amsterdammers didn’t get all their oars in the water until too late in the year.  Although Maarten Stekelenberg moved on to Roma in the summer, the club improved through the additions of Theo Janssen and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson.

Lyon, on the other hand, stood pat.  New boss Remi Garde’s first order of business will be to coax better performances from Yohan Gourcuff than Claude Puel managed.  The club’s early chances will suffer from the absence of physical midfielder Lisandro Lopez, who is out for a month with an ankle injury.  So, for the moment at least, the smart money is on the two past European champions to move on.

Dinamo Zagreb, the Croatian champion are a slightly stronger version of Otelul Galati.  Dynastic within domestic confines, they simply don’t have the quality to do more than cause an upset or steal a point somewhere along the way.  At the moment, they are sniffing around Lyon, hoping that they might be able to sneak past the preoccupied Ligue 1 club.

The ugly duckling in Group E is Racing Genk.  The Belgian side are languishing in mid-table, having drawn half of their six league games in the early going.  Given that the Jupiler League champion replaced UAE bound manager Frank Vercauteren with Mario Been, who left Feyenoord in the summer after receiving a vote of no confidence from his players, there is a bit of ‘I told you so’surrounding their current plight.  Been will have to make a positive impression quickly, if this side is to transform itself into a swan and fly on into the elimination rounds.

Like fellow Premiership title hopefuls, Man City, Chelsea are probably shaking their heads at a draw which places them in such a dangerous group, while Man United are seemingly cooling their heels in Group C.  The Blues are finding their stride in England, but it is still far from matching the leaps and bounds of the two Mancunian clubs.  Fernando Torres is beginning to settle in — at the end of the bench — while a cheeky Daniel Sturridge is making a case for being the first option in attack.  With Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka also in the picture, Juan Mata impressing immediately and John Terry helping out on the offensive end, new boss André Villas-Boas’selection problems are by and large of the positive variety, but there is not much room for error.

Valencia are perfect in La Liga’s late starting campaign and Bayer Leverkusen, with a physically and verbally in-form Michael Ballack are right there in the Bundesliga.

Ever Banega, Aritz Aduriz and Roberto Soldado have made Mestalla faithful forget the Davids, Silva and Villa, with Adil Rami arriving from Lille to create a formidable central midfield partnership with Hedwiges Maduro.  Los Che pushed Manchester United in the group stage last season and, being stronger this year, they will enjoy a crack at Chelsea.

New Leverkusen boss Robin Dutt feels some empathy for AS Roma gaffer Luis Enrique.  With Jupp Heynckes at Bayern and Sami Hyppia retired, Dutt has chosen Simon Rolfes to fill the void in leadership but the ever-ambitious Ballack has been speaking ‘for the club’both in the press and on the pitch.  Dutt has had to pull on his reins more than once, but the competition has been healthy for the squad, so far.  Newcomer André ‘Don’t Call me’Schürrle is a nice complement to fellow young gun Stefan Kieβling.  As long as the contentious factions in the side continue to pull in the same direction, Leverkusen will be a tough proposition for the rest of the group.

Group F seems to have been reserved for the fashionably late.  Arsenal, everyone knows about.  Losing your two most influential midfielders, playing an early scoreless draw with Newcastle, a loss to Liverpool, and an absolutely crushing defeat to United is not how a title contender expects to begin their season.  Yet, if you ask Arsene Wenger, the side’s confidence was totally restored by the narrow 1-0 win over newly promoted Swansea.  As they say in French:  <cough> –Bullshit!–<cough>

Yet, Bundesliga champion Borussia Dortmund are also languishing in mid-table after a slow start.  The sophomore blues have hit Jürgen Klopp’s youngsters, with Mario Götze, Lucas Barrios and Shinji Kagawa unable to match the torrid pace set by Bayern Munich.

Marseille, meanwhile, are five matches into the Ligue 1 season, and sit on the relegation bubble.  They’ve lost two straight, after opening with three draws, and the crowds at the Stade Velodrome are not happy.  Loic Remy, Andre-Pierre Gignac and Lucho Gonzalez should make an impressive attack force, but they’re not getting it done at the moment.

Greek side Olympiakos are the ultimate procrastinators in the group, however.  While Panathanaikos has won a perfect two of two in the Greek Super Lig, their rivals have yet to play a match.  So, as is àpropos in such circumstances, if you want a prediction on how this group will shake out, I’ll have to get back to you.

Okay, all you leftist guerillas and student activists out there, here’s the group for you!  There is no favourite in this quartet; no rich, fat cat, bourgeoisie, pet of the establishment, already assured of advancing into the lucrative elimination stage.

The closest thing to that is Porto, the defending Europa League champion.  Yet, the manager that masterminded their epic run is at Chelsea, spending Roman Abramovich’s new oligarchy billions — can you say irony?  As well, the striker who carried them to Irish glory — can you say oxymoron? — is at Atletico Madrid.  Porto is used to its players and coaches selling out to the man, though, so it’s no surprise that they are right at the top of the Portuguese Super Liga again this season.

Joining Porto in this socialist experiment are 2008 and 2009 UEFA Cup winners Zenit St. Petersburg and Shakhtar Donetsk, and APOEL.  The Nicosian side, which has dominated the Cypriot league since its inception, winning over twenty titles, may be a big fish in a little pond at home, but here they are very much the minnows.  Zenit have spent decades chasing after the scraps of the Muscovites, CSKA, Spartak, Dinamo and Lokomotiv, but, under first Dick Advocaat and now Luciano Spaletti, are creating a revolution in the Russian Premier League, while Shakhtar have done much the same by overtaking Dynamo Kiev, in the Ukraine.

As all of the contenders play an open attacking system, so this may be the most exciting group to watch, provided that you can suppress all those years of subliminal advertising, peer pressure and brand marketing with which Big Brother has indoctrinated you, in order to make you an unwitting pawn of the state.  Good luck with that.

Now, after a pair of very well-balanced foursomes, we return you to your normally scheduled, predictable Champions League group.  Barcelona, the new establishment in La Liga, are paired off with Serie A champion AC Milan, owned by one of Viagra’s biggest clients, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. With Lionel Messi, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas on one side and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Antonio Cassano, Pato and Alberto Aquilani on the other, if either of these two Mediterranean giants fail to advance, I’ll eat my copy of Mao’s little red book.  Oh wait, mine was written by Harvey Penick.  You get the idea, though.

BATE Borisov and Viktoria Plzen, Belorussian and Czech champions, respectively, stand as much chance of progressing out of this group as Moammar al Gaddafi does to win a Nobel Peace Prize.  Essentially, the duo will be looking forward to playing each other, to see which will be given a second chance in the Europa League.   My vote is cast for BATE, who fought well in Europe last season, and are champions five times running, giving them a better measure of experience on the continental stage.

Try as I might, I just am not a radical at heart.

What the hell happened in the Premier League yesterday?!

There are certainly questions to be answered, even if my head is a little fuzzy.  For instance, what does it take to get Steve Bruce angry?  Will Swansea ever score a goal?  Is Liverpool this year’s Stoke?  And, perhaps most importantly, is it time for Man City to panic?

Everton twice gave up a one goal lead, to prove that Mikel Arteta and Jermain Beckford were not the reasons that the Toffees don’t become unstuck until the holidays roll around.  The 2-2 draw saw Aston Villa remain unbeaten under Alex McLeish, while their Goodison Park hosts are in the top ten, despite their typical sluggish start.

Tottenham took their double dose of Mancunian frustration out on Mick McCarthy and Wolves, with recent acquisitions Emmanuel Adebayor and Scott Parker combining for the first marker in the routine two-goal win.  Coupled with the Gunners victory, the last of the usual suspects are beginning to show up for the Premier League party.

The head chair at the pity party, however, should be reserved for Sunderland boss Steve Bruce.  I mean, how can so many bad things happen to such an optimistic guy?  First, his nose is so pliable that everyone calls him Mr Potato Head.   Next, he twists in the wind at Birmingham, under Messrs Gold and Sullivan and their hatchetwoman, Karren Brady, and is hacked to bits by the trio as soon as he leaves.  When he gets to Sunderland, after a decent spell at Wigan, he gets the club heading up the table, only for Darren Bent to ditch them for relegation threatened Aston Villa.  He sticks up for Sir Alex Ferguson when Wayne Rooney throws a hissy fit to land a better contract, and still endures a thrashing from United in league play.  Then Kenwyne Jones heads for Stoke.  Now, Asamoah Gyan has delivered the ultimate insult, taking a loan deal to the United Arab Emirates to escape the Stadium of Light.

Is it Bruce?  Is it the ground?  Is it Mackems in general? No write-in answers from the Geordie crowd, please!

While most fans in England can’t fathom why Gyan would want to go from the best league in the world to the hottest league — literally — on the planet, not many English fans have grown up with the level of poverty and disease that the Ghanaian did.  Just as with Samuel Eto’o, now with Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia, that level of suffering teaches you to be loyal to the almighty dollar above all else.  Footballing decisions are a luxury that such men have learnt they cannot afford, as, given their destinations, are concerns regarding weather.

Yet, after a series of ‘nice guys’, in Bent, Jones and Gyan, have all left Bruce in the lurch, he may get some satisfaction from a self-centered narcissist.  Nicklas Bendtner played the match at Stamford Bridge as a lone striker and, although the match was already decided, fought until the bitter end, setting up Dong-won Ji for a consolation goal in added time.

For the Blues, John Terry cleaned up Juan Mata’s near miss in the early going and Daniel Sturridge showed some nerve, with a back heeled goal after the break.  Fernando Torres was left on the substitute’s bench for the entire match, although it’s to be expected that he will feature against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Swansea are the only club in the Premier League who have yet to score.  In four matches, they have conceded five goals and barring their opponents on the day, Arsenal, are level with Spurs and QPR for the worst goal difference in the competition.  For all that, if the season ended today, they would survive.  Of course, the three clubs below them, Fulham, West Brom and Blackburn have a match to play over the next two days.

Brendan Rogers wasn’t at the helm for the trip to the Emirates, as his father had passed.  Condolences to the gaffer and his family on their loss.

Despite his absence, the Swans gave as well as they received.  Arsenal, with Mikel Arteta pulling the strings, were rusty but impressive.  However, the only goal came when Swansea keeper Michel Vorm unintentionally caromed his clearing pass off a defender, gifting Andrei Arshavin.  It’s difficult to criticise the Dutchman too heavily, as its been his play, for the most part, which has garnered the newly promoted side its two points to date.  If the ten men in front of him can work out how to put the ball in the opposite goal, the Welsh club may be dangerous.

At the Britannia, visiting Liverpool dominated the match but came away empty-handed, when Jamie Carragher drew a penalty after wrapping his arm around Jon Walters’waist in the box.  Walters may have gone down easily, but he got up in the same manner and drilled home the spot kick.  From that point, Stoke clogged the box and clung to their lead, in especially desperate fashion over the final twenty minutes.

As the Reds piled on the late pressure, it seemed as though the Potters may have gotten the benefit of some calls in their own box.  Yet, the 1-0 score lifted Stoke above the Merseysiders into fourth place, where they would be just as overjoyed as Swansea if the season were called to an unexpected halt.

In his post match interviews, Kenny Dalglish did a poor job of pretending to respect the officials, claiming that the club had seen important decisions go against them in every match, thus far, but was at least sufficiently honest to admit that concern for his team came first.  Tony Pulis will have to be forgiven for laughing somewhat at Dalglish’s frustration, as his complaints sounded eerily similar to the Welshman’s own laments from 2010-11.  Like as not, the Scot will use the setback to engender an us against the world mentality in his young squad, as he attempts to keep them within striking distance of rivals Chelsea, if not the Manchesters, United and City.

The two Mancunian giants continue to stride across the Premier League landscape with impunity, although City must be wondering what it takes to surpass the old Trafford outfit.  The club has transformed itself over the summer, from the most expensive bus to ever park in the Premiership, to an even more pricey stable of thoroughbreds.  This week, they galloped over Wigan as though the Latics were the lowest hedge at the Grand National.

Edin Dzeko, with seven goals in the club’s first four competitive matches, was rested ahead of their Wednesday Champions league opener against Napoli.  Sergio Kun Aguero took the opportunity to make those numbers look average, collecting a hat trick.  Meanwhile, his out of favour countryman, Carlos Tevez, missed a poorly taken penalty.  Thankfully, his family is now in town to console him.

Yet, despite their dominance, City actually lost ground on United.  Last week, the Citizens trounced Tottenham 5-1 only to see the Red Devils put the pitchfork to Arsenal 8-2.  On Saturday, their 3-0 run-out paled in comparison to United’s five-spot away at the Reebok.  Wayne Rooney matched Aguero goal for goal and some fellow named Chicharito shook off the cobwebs to add a brace.

Owen Coyle cut an even more sympathetic figure than King Kenny — although not Steve Bruce — in trying to rationalise his side’s performance.  The Bolton boss estimated that his side had twice the shots and the better of the possession.   The stat sheet, however, indicated that Fergie’s fledglings held the ball for nearly sixty percent of the match and that, while the Trotters took eight more shots (22-14) than United, only six were on goal, compared to eight for the table toppers.

Now, given the tatters that remain of Arsene Wenger’s principles, it’s debatable whether the Gunners are a better squad than Harry Redknapp’s Spurs, but Owen Coyle’s Wanderers certainly have more quality than the Latics.  Wigan have cobbled together a squad out of so many cast aside bits and pieces that MacGyver would be their ideal manager — not that Roberto Martinez isn’t doing a decent impression of Richard Dean Anderson at the DW.

The early (and very hypothetical) question, though, is, if the two sides manage to split their head to head points and run the rest of the table, can Dzeko, Aguero, Tevez, et al take their game to the level necessary to keep pace with United’s young snipers?

While the rest of the league discovers what it feels like to support a Spanish club not named Real Madrid or Barcelona, Mancunians should have fun finding out which side of town has the most bullets in its gun.

Well, it looks like Frank Lampard’s England’s career is on the rocks, with the Chelsea vice-captain named on the bench in their recent game versus Bulgaria and while starting against Wales, Fabio Capello has said that it may be a long way back for decorated midfielder to be a permanent starter, again.

The Bulgaria game was the first since 2002 that either Lampard or Steven Gerrard weren’t in the starting lineup for England, perhaps the first step in a changing of the guard for the Three Lions.

With Gareth Barry and Scott Parker preferred to Lampard in Bulgaria, promising youngster Tom Cleverley on the bench, and the injured Gerrard and Jack Wilshere to come back into the squad, Lampard may find his appearances in an England shirt limited.

What does this mean for Lampard’s club career? We have seen many players, such as Paul Scholes, sacrificing appearances for their country to prolong their club career.  Chelsea will be the real winner if Lampard’s England career is on the slide.  There will be no more worries over fitness or risk of injuries while on international duty, which worry every top manager during every international break.

If Lampard leaves the England set-up, then Chelsea will be able to get his full effort over the course of a season.  With the serious injury that Lamps suffered last season being the type which never fully heals, a lightened load for the veteran could be key to Chelsea’s silverware hopes.

While Lampard will naturally express his disappointment at a lack of games for England, the standard of international football cannot compare to the club game.  Although his patriotism is so strong that he isn’t likely to walk away as easily as Jamie Carragher and Scholes did, Blues fans must be hoping that he can come to accept that his England time may have passed.

For all his fervour, Lampard has polarised opinion among England fans.   For whatever reason, there are a significant number of Three Lions supporters who don’t like him.  Despite being named England Player Of The Year in 2004 and 2005, he is normally one of the first players in the squad to be booed when things go wrong.

Yet, despite the distinct lack of appreciation he receives as a member of the national team, Lampard would be just as happy to lift a trophy in the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, this summer, as he would at the Allianz ArenA in Munich.

On the other hand, if a lack of appearances for the Three Lions guaranteed another league title and the Champions League Holy Grail which Roman Abramovich’s knights still seek out in vain, Chelsea fans will be happy if their beloved midfielder never dons the colours of St. George again.

In the midst of a chaotic transfer deadline day, a temporary deal was completed that many Chelsea fans will hope is extremely successful, much like a similar deal that occurred in January.  The old business between Chelsea and Bolton Wanderers saw Daniel Sturridge blossom and the Blues will be hoping that a new deal will benefit another talented youngster who couldn’t get enough game time at Stamford Bridge:  Gael Kakuta.

One of the most heralded talents in the game, worth a temporary transfer ban to Chelsea, Kakuta’s career has stagnated ever since his exciting debut against Wolves, a couple of years ago.  A loan spell at Fulham, last season, was unsuccessful and Chelsea will be hoping that Owen Coyle, the Bela Karolyi of young footballers who vastly improved Sturridge and Jack Wilshere, can repeat his magic with the youthful Frenchman.

If that proves the case and Kakuta begins to realise his potential, Chelsea will have one hell of a player for years to come.

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This weekend’s installment of Chelsea’s Premier League campaign saw the Blues dispatch Norwich City, 3-1, even though the latest shotgun marriage between Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres misfired,  as with every previous attempt.  Add to that the league putting the kibosh on the club’s attempt to loan Romelu Lukaku to Stoke and André Villas-Boas has a major selection headache in attack.  Many Chelsea fans will be optimistic, however, after seeing the debut of the Blues’latest signing, Spanish international winger Juan Mata.

On the pitch for twenty-seven minutes, Mata had a debut to remember, scoring his first goal for Chelsea and offering tangible proof that he can be a star for Chelsea now and in the years to come.  His performance raised hopes among the Stamford Bridge faithful that the former Valencia star might be the last piece in the Villas-Boas jigsaw puzzle, completing Chelsea’s much ballyhooed transformation from an impenetrable but unimaginative eleven into an open, entertaining attack force.

After much talk about Chelsea’s need for creativity, Mata may be the player to provide it.  Upon coming into the match, he promptly gifted Torres a wasted chance and then sent a sublime through ball to Ramires; one that few players could visualise, let alone execute.  Mata’s early success may lessen the urgency to acquire Luka Modric.

What does that mean for the current players at Chelsea?  While it would be nice for Chelsea to have Modric in the line-up, as the central midfield has been solid but uninspiring, Mata’s presence has made the fee sought by Daniel Levy at Spurs completely unreasonable.  The desperation is no longer there; thus, it is probably a good idea to let Modric remain at Spurs.

Further, with Josh McEachran waiting in the wings, Chelsea have a supremely talented youngster  who will be ready to come into the midfield, if not by the January window, then by next season at the earliest.  Signing Modric for a large sum may hamper McEachran’s development, something that Chelsea fans do not want to see, as the youngster is on the same club and international fast track as Jack Wilshere and Tom Cleverley.  If he is played further up the pitch, which has yet to occur for a significant period, McEachran may prove to Villas-Boas that investment in Modric would be money poorly spent.

On the other hand, squad depth is a must, as Arsenal found out in their game against Manchester United.  Modric would certainly take the strain off Frank Lampard, who has slowed noticeably and is approaching the twilight of his career.  The time has come to lessen Lampard’s workload from forty-five to fifty matches per season to a less taxing and, hopefully, career lengthening thirty to thirty-five.  Mata can be deployed on either wing, behind the striker, as an attacking midfielder, a striker, and even in the centre of midfield, but only one at a time.

One player already looks like he will leave in the wake of Mata’s arrival, Yossi Benayoun, having already given up his squad number to the former Valencia star, looks to have given up on his place at the club, as well, tweeting to his followers that he is “in negotiations with several clubs.”

As well, Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou, who had been sharing duties on the left side of the front three, which will probably be Mata’s position, may find their appearances limited. Although Malouda did score the winner against West Brom, neither has shown the form to make himself an automatic choice.

While young Mexican Ulises Davila isn’t yet ready to be a strong part of the first team squad, despite the convenient comparisons to Javier Hernandez, the talented Gael Kakuta is waiting in the wings.  So, one from Malouda, Kalou, Nicolas Anelka, or even Didier Drogba could find themselves saying goodbye to Chelsea.  With Lukaku forced to stay with Chelsea, don’t be surprised if it’s Drogba.

But would releasing one or more of those players be a good move for Chelsea?  As I said before, depth is crucial for title challenges, and if Chelsea sell one or more of the players mentioned and choose to give the youngsters a chance, Villas-Boas must integrate them into the first team correctly, quickly finding the balance between youth and experience that Carlo Ancelotti found so difficult to pin down, last season.  Yet, Sir Alex Ferguson has done exactly that in the early doors with Man United.

Now that Chelsea have signed Mata, it will be fascinating to see the makeup of Chelsea’s squad after the transfer window slams shut later today.

Saturday’s Premier League action began, appropriately for this column, with Aston Villa and Wolves seemingly hung over in the early match.  The Midlands derby ended scoreless, although the home side certainly picked up the pace in the second half at Villa Park.  Unfortunately, one of their best chances went wanting when Emile Heskey returned to his usual form, after proving dangerous last week against woeful Blackburn.  In the early going, the big man dragged a well-delivered Gaby Agbonlahor cross, where else, but wide of the post.  To be fair, the retired England international had a strong game otherwise.

A woeful Wolves attack wasted their best chances, in true Heskian fashion, and were surprised by the solid play of young defender Chris Heard, who filled in for QPR bound Luke Young.  The youngster was also involved at the opposite end of the pitch, sending in a cross that was just too high for Heskey and then nodding a ball over the bar himself.  After Villa’s dominance in the second half, with the hosts largely denied by the yeoman defending of Wolves skipper Roger Johnson and goaltending of Wayne Hennesy,  Mick McCarthy has to consider it fortunate that his side kept an unbeaten record and came away with an undeserved point.

Obviously, Alex McLeish will be rueing the missed chances but his side also remain among the ranks of the unbeaten.  Next up for Villa is a trip to Goodison Park, while Wolves will welcome what may be a very desperate Spurs side to Molineux — Harry Rednapp’s side play their second match against a Mancunian giant in the space of a week, with a 12:30 match at White Hart Lane against City, today.

Another relegation survivor from 2010-11, Wigan, completed their opening trifecta against newly promoted sides.  After splitting points with Swansea and Norwich, Roberto Martinez’squad finally came away with a victory, over QPR, thereby putting some distance between themselves and the new boys and current bottom clubs.

The difference for the Latics was the return of Hugo Rodallega.  The Colombian, well rested after his national duty in the Copa America, provided a spark that was lacking in the first two weeks.  Rodallega created a handful of chances before Franco Di Santo finally converted one, five minutes before the break.  Di Santo would add a second just after the hour, helped by a carom which fooled the Hoops’netminder, Paddy Kenny.

Rangers pushed hard to get back into the match during the final half hour, with Adel Taarabt denied by Ali al Habsi, the ‘keeper at full stretch to keep the free kick out.  Taarabt also knocked a set-piece off the woodwork in first-half stoppage time, and another on the quarter-hour from the run of play, with the follow-up by Patrick Agyemang heskeyed past the far post.

The near misses will allow Neil Warnock to rationalise that it just wasn’t the Londoners’day, and should be the first clips that Martinez shows his team when reviewing their performance on Monday, lest they begin to think too well of themselves.  If they do, it’s likely that Man City will set them straight in six days’time.

It should be noted that, despite the tense nature of the match and the ill luck which led to his new side’s defeat, Joey Barton, looking on from the stands after the club failed to register him in time for the match, managed not to get into any altercations with nearby fans.  Isn’t it ironic to see a Premier League player who can’t stay out of trouble on the pitch but knows how to behave away from it?

With Luke Young on the way, and two credible performances after a horrid opening match, Warnock’s side are beginning to look like candidates for survival.  Next week, they have a Monday night match, wherein Joey Barton will debut, naturally, against Newcastle.

If there was one match which hapless Blackburn had a reasonable chance of winning, it was against visiting Everton.  David Moyes’ squad proved last week that they are, as usual, no-shows in the first half of the Premier League season, losing at home to the as-yet unreplenished QPR.  A solid League Cup win over the even more pitiful Sheffield United didn’t provide the Toffees with a needed shot of Premier League adrenaline and Rovers had things their way for the better part of the match.

Yet, for all their futility, one cannot accuse Steve Kean’s side of lacking creativity.  How many teams can you recall who have crafted defeat by missing two penalties and then conceding one in added time, helped along by a dubious call from the referee?  That is what happened to Blackburn, as Tim Howard saved an early second half penalty, from Junior Hoillet, and then watched gratefully as Mauro Formica knocked another off the upright.

The American number one gave Everton every chance to win, when he somehow got a forearm to Formica’s sitter, after a beautiful dribble and cross from former Dundee United striker David Goodwillie in the final fifteen minutes.  Finally, with the ball seemingly already beyond them, Marouaine Fellaini appeared to back into Chris Samba, losing his balance.  Lee Mason saw it differently, however, and immediately pointed to the spot.  Unlike the home side candidates, Mikel Arteta made no mistake and marked his second goal of the week.

The match also marked the end of Aussie Brett Emerton’s eight year stint at Ewood Park.  The defender has been let out of the final year of his contract to return home to finish his career with hometown club Sydney FC.  His first meaningful match on native soil will be an 8th October Olympic city derby against Melbourne Victory, who have also signed a prodigal son, in former Liverpool winger and Galatasaray striker Harry Kewell.  That’s certainly a more inviting prospect than spending the year with this season’s West Ham.

In Cwm, vowels weren’t the only thing missing when Swansea, who have yet to score in top flight play, and Sunderland played out a goalless draw at the Liberty Stadium.  Free of goals was likely not what the architects had in mind.  Yet, even over the mountains and through the woods, heskeyitis was rampant.

The Swans new signing, Danny Graham, was all alone when he headed wide and, a little later, Scott Sinclair hit the crossbar.  For the visiting Black Cats, former United jack-of-all-trades John O’Shea had similar luck, matching Sinclair’s effort.  Asamoah Gyan had a gilt-edged opportunity, when Stephane Sessegnon threaded a perfect through ball to him, but stumbled over it.

When the two clubs were on target, both Simone Mignolet and Michel Vorm were in superb form between the sticks.  In the end, a point was probably more than either side deserved but this isn’t Olympic figure skating, so a point is what they were given.  Swansea next visit Arsenal, which, with the way this season has been going for the Gunners, may be cause for optimism.  Sunderland, on the other hand, welcome the conundrum that is Chelsea to the Stadium of Light.

The Blues picked up their second win of the season, on Saturday, but Norwich gave them all they could handle for the first eighty minutes of the match.  André Villas-Boas threw the Swans for an early loop, starting Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres together in a 4-4-2, after deploying a 4-3-3 in his first two games in charge.  The Canaries, who had camped five defenders in front of goalkeeper John Ruddy, allowed the Stamford Bridgers to pepper them with long distance cannonade.  Ruddy handled Ramires’blast but failed to corral one from Jose Bosingwa, and the Blues had a sixth minute lead.

When the barrage continued, Paul Lambert made a half-hour substitution, switching to a corresponding 4-4-2.  With the midfield numbers now balanced, Norwich focused on containing Chelsea’s strike pairing.  Drogba and Torres weren’t able to generate any decent chances separately, and seemed disinterested in combining their efforts.  Thus, the news that Petr Cech is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation was small consolation when Grant Holt jumped on an Henrique Hilario gaffe to equalise on the hour.

Then, shortly after the goal, Drogba collided with Ruddy on a fifty-fifty ball and was knocked cold.  The Ivorian had to be stretchered off, but, optimistically, was later released from hospital after undergoing several tests.  Torres was soon to leave the game, too, as Villas-Boas could not afford to wait for him to find his stride, with the result in the balance.

As the match wound down, the Canaries began to have the better of play, drawing confidence from Hilario’s error and becoming ever bolder in testing him.  Still, as they weren’t able to break him again, it was inevitable that Chelsea would hit on the counter.  Nicolas Anelka sent Ramires in alone, forcing Ruddy into his second collision in fifteen minutes.  This one drew a red card and sparked a sideline incident, when Canary boss Lambert took umbrage with a Chelsea assistant signaling for a red card from the touch line.

While Lambert felt that Ramires had lost the ball, the official really had no option but to award the penalty, which Frank Lampard cleverly sent straight up the King’s road.  When you think about it, the Chelsea midfielder made a brilliant choice.  With a new goalkeeper just entering the match, surely eager to be quick off the mark, down the middle is the one place he is not going to cover.

Down a goal and a man, what had been a promising match fell apart for the Swans.  Juan Manuel Mata opened his Blues account to make the score a very misleading 3-1 in the host’s favour.  Having been gifted a win, Chelsea move on to face out of sorts Sunderland.  Norwich, meanwhile, prepare for a visit from Roy Hodgson and West Brom.

With the afternoon matches out of the way, and only Wigan and unlucky QPR offering much entertainment, Liverpool took on the responsibility of rescuing the day.  Leaving Geordie giant Andy Carroll on the bench, Kenny Dalglish opted for vintage pass and move.  Luis Suarez led the charge out of the gate and Bolton never got on the front foot until it was well past too late.  The Uruguayan was involved in virtually every attack, and, while he was unable to find the finishing touch himself, he was instrumental in the first two strikes.

On the first, he delivered a perfect cross for Stewart Downing, exactly the reverse of the predicted formula for the Reds new attack.  Downing, who also spent most of the match marauding into the Wanderers’half, had his effort blocked beautifully by Jussi Jaaskelainen.   Dirk Kuyt recovered and fed the ball to Jordan Henderson.  The ex-Sunderland starlet had failed to impress in the opening two matches but coolly hammered home a second effort after Nigel Reo-Coker had impeded his first.

After missing a one-on-one opportunity, lofting the ball over both the Finnish ‘keeper and the bar, Suarez delivered another excellent cross to Downing — what is going on here? — who flicked on to Kuyt, only for the Dutchman to send his shot straight at a thankful Jaaskelainen.

In the second half, Suarez resumed terrorising Owen Coyle’s shell-shocked troops.  Attacking the six yard box, he was muscled off the ball.  Trailing the play, Charlie Adam had his shot deflected, setting up a corner.  Adam then delivered the set-piece into the box, where Martin Skrtel rose up to put Liverpool ahead by two.  Immediately after the restart, Adam showed the killer instinct that was sorely lacking at Anfield a year ago, cleaning up after Kuyt.

Suarez continued to be the most dangerous knight-errant in the Premier League, out Torres-ing Nando and going Emile one Heskey better, dancing around a flailing Jaaskelainen but hitting the wrong side of the side netting.

For Coyle and Bolton, this was a forgettable performance after two excellent efforts to begin the campaign.  Life won’t get easier, with Manchester United headed to the Reebok next week.

As for Liverpool, there were two sour notes.  First, Martin Kelly had to be subbed out after nicking his hamstring; hence the presence of Martin Skrtel.   Second, Jamie Carragher showed a worrying lapse of concentration in added time, allowing Ivan Klasnic  to spoil an otherwise complete effort by the Reds.

Those are the type of plays that plagued the club last season and which Dalglish will not be happy to see from one of his most trusted veterans.  With Liverpool off to the Britannica, Glen Johnson will likely take over at right back.  Carragher will still be in the middle but if the thirty-three year old continues to make mistakes, Sebastian Coates, who was in the stands on Saturday, may be given his first Premier League start sooner than expected.

Welcome to the Premier League, André!

The first game of a new season for Chelsea was a tough nil-nil draw versus Stoke City, at the fortress that is The Britannia Stadium. Despite the result, there were a number of positives (and negatives) that emerged from André Villas-Boas’ first game in charge of Chelsea FC.  Although people have been saying that it is a poor start for Chelsea, and Villas-Boas, remember that Stoke away is one of the toughest games in the league.  The Britannica crowd is intimidating and bring out the strengths in their side.

However, despite the presence of Rory Delap and his sling-shot arms, the Potters didn’t really test Chelsea from set pieces or throw ins.  Alex, in particular, had a fine game against the physical Stoke side, making one wonder why there are reports linking him with a move away from Stamford Bridge?

The main positive that Chelsea fans are taking from the game is the performance of their £50 million man, Fernando Torres, who after a miserable start to his Chelsea career looked refreshed.  Named as the man of the match, Torres’ performance will bring a sense of optimism to Stamford Bridge, with fans believing that he isn’t past his best, as many have predicted, especially after the Spaniard displayed that turn of pace which made him so threatening with Liverpool.

Another player who really impressed was Ramires.  After a slow start to his Chelsea career, the Brazilian is rapidly becoming a key player for the Blues.  His Energizer Bunny style of play is starting to win him some admirers. He continually pressured the Stoke defence with his pace, and went into tackles with a ferocity that would have had Arsenal players blanching.

Yet, even though the Britannica is a very difficult place to escape with three points, especially to open the season, a club the size of Chelsea really should be doing better than a scoreless draw.  What will vex Villas-Boas and his backroom staff, as they review the film, is the lack of creativity that the team showed in failing to unlock the Stoke defense.

Despite the solid game from the midfield three of Ramires, Frank Lampard, and John Obi Mikel — who really showed some bottle by having a good game after just learning of his father’s kidnapping — they just couldn’t make the connections required to put the ball behind Asmir Begovic.

It’s no surprise that reports are surfacing in the aftermath of the game that Chelsea are set to make another offer for Tottenham’s Luka Modric.  He is certainly one who could deliver the service that Torres craved throughout the match.  Word has come out of White Hart Lane that Harry Redknapp may have decided it is no longer worth fighting to keep the Croat, as well.

On top of that, Modric has been left out of Spurs Europa League tie against Hearts.  Redknapp has indicated that the omission is down to a groin injury but it is convenient that his absence will not cup-tie him should he come to Chelsea.

Another worry for Villas-Boas will be the poor performance from his two starting wingers, Florent Malouda on the left and Salomon Kalou on the right.  Last week, I talked about how Chelsea is weak on the flanks, and this game proved it in my opinion.

Malouda’s passing was poor, he looked slow — when you can’t outpace Robert Huth you know something is wrong — and he showed no desire to beat his man and cross the ball, instead choosing to drag the ball back, slowing the game down and costing Chelsea its momentum.

With a chance to claim a first team spot, Kalou disappointed.  He was virtually anonymous throughout, with his missed header summing up a dire performance from the Ivorian.   He possesses the talent to turn heads.  The question is whether Villas-Boas can help him tap into it.

Chelsea have been linked with such players as Neymar, Samir Nasri, and Racing Genk and Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne in the ensuing days, as Villas-Boas has acknowledged that his team needs some fresh blood on the wings, to spread stubborn defenses like the Potters.

After getting sent off in the last game of the previous season, Daniel Sturridge has to be hitting his head against a wall.  Were he not suspended, the youngster would be walking into the side, on one side or the other.  Still, his imminent return is only a partial solution.  The Blues will still require someone to man the side Sturridge does not take.

With all that in mind, it will be interesting to see how Chelsea perform against a West Brom side which gave United a difficult time, and whether they make the two or three purchases necessary to complete the squad.

Without them, it may be a long nine months.

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Make no mistake.  This season is going to be, without a doubt, the most interesting in the history of the Premier League. With so many teams vying for supremacy, there will be numerous challengers to Manchester United’s crown.  Last year, United’s main rival coming in was clearly identified as Chelsea.  No surprise really; the defending champions should be the team to beat.  This year, however, it’s United who are looking to repeat.    With both Chelsea and Manchester City’s managers clearly stating their intent to win the title this season, you’d expect one of those clubs to be my nomination as the Red Devils’chief rival.  There’s another team, though, which I believe poses a bigger threat, and that is Liverpool.

Kenny Dalglish has bought big this summer — bringing in Charlie Adam for around £9 million, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing for near enough £20 million apiece, and Jose Enrique for £6 million.  The club may talk about taking one step at a time and reclaiming their place in the top four, but Dalglish is not the sort to set easy targets for himself.  As a player he was a champion and, before his retirement, raised trophies as a manager, as well.  There is no question that his intent is to return to the top at the earliest opportunity.

It may not be that simple, but with the quality that Liverpool have throughout the side, not to mention their Premier League pedigree, I expect them to be fighting tooth and nail with Manchester United and the rest all season long.

While from a mental standpoint, Dalglish may have had to start from scratch with the Reds, there was plenty of ability to work with when he first stepped into the void created by Roy Hodgson, Rafa Benitez, Tom Hicks and George Gillet.  Pepe Reina is arguably the best keeper in the Premier League.  Jamie Carragher, while as slow as, remains a rock at the heart of the defence; one who would rather die than miss a tackle — if you can believe everything a Kopite will tell you.  Steven Gerrard, when fit, may be the best English midfielder of his generation (put your hand down Scholesy, you were a generation before).  If that trio weren’t a solid foundation, Dalglish moved quickly to replace the unsettled Fernando Torres with Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez, in essentially a £50 million two-fer.

And who could forget the fan factor at Anfield? When the place is rocking, there is no ground like it in the league and it is, bar Old Trafford, the toughest away ground from which to take points.

When you put all of these factors together, I think United have identified their nearest challengers.

Okay, while you try to get a grip on yourself, I’ll give equal time to the more popular nominees.

Many people believe that Manchester City, with their big spending and galaxy of world class players, will push United all the way.  Having bought established names where Liverpool bought youth, they have the experience required.  However, they have the same lack of familiarity and tenfold the egos in a dressing room roughly the same size as the one Merseyside.

As we have seen with Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Craig Bellamy, in the professional sense, and Mario Balotelli in the opposite, City has too many players concerned about the me rather than the we.  That absence of trust, combined with a lack of discipline (City were cautioned ten times for dissent, more than any other Premier League side in ’10-11), will hold the side back from their ultimate goal of Premier League glory.

Certainly, they have spent  sufficiently — again! — to be considered a title threat, yet the greater part of that has been on one player:  Sergio Kun Aguero, whose price tag was comparable to Carroll.  Stefan Savic and Gael Clichy are the only other purchases the Eastlands outfit have made, their cost roughly equal to Adam and Enrique.

Of course, £50 million for the three is a princely sum, but surely City need to buy well, and not necessarily big, if they are going to win the Premier League?   After all, the two don’t always go hand in hand. Just look at the purchases of Javier Hernandez and Fernando Torres. The little Mexican cost £6 million and was easily the signing of the season.  Meanwhile had the £50 million Torres provided more than one goal to Chelsea, they very well might have caught — and passed — United in the final weeks.

Problematic is that City look set to miss out on long time target Samuel Eto’o, and it has become apparent that they need to buy experience in midfield. Yaya Toure and Nigel De Jong are excellent footballers but City need a marshal in midfield; someone who can break up the play without breaking bones or giving away foul after foul. Daniele De Rossi would provide that and, if Mancini were to bring in the Italian, they would surely be contenders.

To me, however, they don’t seem quite there, as yet.

Chelsea, on the other hand, are a conundrum. With Roman Abramovich taking a relative gamble by bringing in a thirty-three year old manager, albeit with at least some backroom experience in English football management, Chelsea will need to hit the ground running, and, in this campaign, keep going.

Nine points out of nine from their first three matches against Stoke, West Brom and Norwich would have been ideal, even reasonable given their two 6-0 results and a 25-2 aggregate over the first five league matches and opening Champions League group game, last year.  Yet, the side is missing Michael Essien, has the doubt of Fernando Torres’form still hanging over their heads and now, sadly, the spectre of Jon Obi Mikel’s father’s abduction in Nigeria.  The scoreless result against the stalwart Potters at the Brittanica wasn’t too shocking considering.  Overwhelming problems don’t matter to the fans and the media, however.  If Villas-Boas doesn’t get his side in gear quickly, they’ll be on his back like lions on a wildebeest.  And that can only be bad gnus.

Having said that (!), there is more than enough quality at Stamford Bridge to win the league, regardless of who Abramovich puts in charge.   How many other teams can boast the potent attacking threat of Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba? – the midfield ability of Frank Lampard, Florent Malouda and, when fit, Michael Essien? — the defensive strength of John Terry, Ashley Cole, Alex and Branislav Ivanovic? –and how many other teams can boast a goalkeeper with the qualities of Petr Cech? In reply to the last, at least, these days not even United can.

The Blues veterans are, when on the top of their games, probably the best in the world in their positions, but when they hit a blip, the whole team can be thrown off kilter.  Last season’s November collapse, triggered oddly enough by the firing of one of the backroom staff, saw them lose 3-0 at home to Sunderland, 1-0 to Birmingham and, in the match which usually lifts them out of these slumps, a 3-1 London derby defeat against Arsenal over the holidays.

Happy Christmas.

In total, Chelsea picked up three points from six November and December games and, although they gave it every effort, never recovered.

Now, I am not saying that such a run will happen again.  Still, if Andre Villas-Boas fails to sell the players on his methods and fan unrest grows, then they are just as likely to face a battle for third as one for the title.

Arsenal are another team that is always mentioned when the new season rolls around, but with Cesc Fabregas now officially in Barcelona, and Samir Nasri likely heading north and west, Arsene Wenger’s stubborn refusal to enter the transfer market — although he may be softening — means that the Gunners are likely to be battling their London rivals, Spurs, for the fourth Champions League spot.

Nevertheless, if Wenger does decide to spend the income gained by the sales of Fabregas and Nasri, then he will have to do it both quickly and wisely for the Gunners to stay in contention for the title. So far this summer, Gervinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Carl Jenkinson have come in, but only one of those players looks ready for the first team.

With Robin Van Persie all too susceptible to injury, Wenger must invest in another striker and he must replace at least one of the aforementioned midfielders.  If Gervinho is injured, there will be no one to replace him as the Frenchman’s squad looks thin on the ground, as it is.  Jack Wilshere is still out and Emmanuel Eboue is on his way to Galatasaray, which essentially leaves Aaron Ramsey, Andrei Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky.  Not a lot of cover for a team in four competitions.  Be that as it may, with only a fortnight to do business, signing replacements may prove easier said than done for the wily Frenchman.

Now, don’t misunderstand me.  I am not rating Manchester United miles above the rest or considering them as automatic favorites for the title.  I’m hoping that they win it but I’m realistic about the difficulty of the task.  Fergie’s new fledglings have some glaring deficiencies that need sorting.

Ashley Young certainly showed his potential against West Brom on Sunday, as did Tom Cleverley.  Danny Welbeck wasn’t bad, himself.  Conversely, David de Gea will be looking ahead to better days.  But one game does not a career, or season, make for any of them.  They will all have to put in top performances on a weekly basis and against tougher opposition to prove their mettle.

Yet, I’m not Alan Hansen, either.  The talent is there and the management, as well.  If you blend this batch of kids, including De Gea, Young, Cleverley, Welbeck, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and the da Silva twins, with Nani, Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and Javier Hernandez  – whom you would have expected to be lumped in with the other youngbloods — you might just have a winning recipe.

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With certain London matches already postponed due to the current civil unrest, it’s difficult to get too excited about the opening weekend of the Premier League season.  It took draconian measures to restore order to football stadiums in England, over two decades ago.  One can only hope that the same isn’t required for British society, as a whole.

So, in the hopes that cooler heads prevail….

There has been a lot of talk that the big four has expanded to a big six, including Tottenham and a resurgent Liverpool along with current powerhouses Manchester City, United, Chelsea and Arsenal.  Yet, to my mind, there has been a contraction.  Only three clubs, from where I sit, can be considered bona fide title contenders.  Another trio have an outside shot and three or four more may even be in the frame for Europe.  That is certainly far more quality than you’ll find in any other league, but there is still one less team hovering around that large piece of silverware with the pretty ribbons.

Here’s who I think rates, who doesn’t and why.

Sure Shots

Manchester United come into the new season with Sir Alex Ferguson taking a page from Arsene Wenger’s book.  Despite the hew and cry for the club to spend extravagantly on a creative midfielder, the consensus choice being Inter’s Wesley Sneijder, the Scot has refused to go over the top.  Instead, like his French counterpart, he has focused on recruiting youth.

Phil Jones has come in to add depth to the defence, with he and Chris Smalling the eventual heirs to Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.  Ferdinand will likely be rested frequently this season in an effort to extend his career, but Smalling has shown some ability on the outside, as well.  Ergo, in the meanwhile, he may provide some cover for Rafael and Patrice Evra, now that John O’Shea and Wes Brown have moved on.

Ashley Young has been signed from Aston Villa to give Fergie three options, along with Nani and Antonio Valencia, on the wings.  David de Gea is the man between the sticks, looking capable, if, at twenty-one, not as consistent as Edwin van der Sar.  Finally, Danny Welbeck is back from Sunderland, and has been impressive in the pre-season, making people forget Javier Hernandez, who is still recovering from concussion.

In the center of the pitch, the concerns over Scholes’absence may be unwarranted.  Tom Cleverley has stepped up his game this summer, suggesting that the club needn’t mortgage their future; it may have already arrived.

United may not be ready to topple Barcelona quite yet, but their current blend of experience and youth, across the board, indicates that the rest of Europe will still have to take a back seat.

Across town, Manchester City, have left themselves no outs.  Having spent — and spent again — to earn a Champions League berth and end a thirty-five year trophy drought with their FA Cup triumph in the spring, City went out and spent some more.  To be fair, splashing big on Sergio Kun Aguero was somewhat necessitated by captain Carlos Tevez’repeated insistence on leaving.  Yet, another FA (or League) Cup won’t do, this year.  Nor will a second consecutive Champions League qualification.  City’s spending and progress now demand that they win the league.

Can they do it, however?  Well, when your strike force includes Aguero, Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko and, for the moment, Tevez, it would seem a possibility.  When David Silva is pulling the strings and might still be joined by Samir Nasri, hope grows.  With Yaya Toure and Nigel De Jong outmuscling and disrupting opposing midfields, it becomes a serious possibility.  Finally, with a defensive core of international quality running eight deep, in front of England’s number one, it might be worth putting down a few bob, just in case.

What’s missing?  First, they haven’t done it yet and the first time is always the most difficult.  Second, they do have the enviable dilemma of being too deep at virtually every position.  Tevez is not the only unhappy camper in the crowded clubhouse.  When you look at the roster, there will be an entire side, week in and week out, not selected but arguably strong enough to challenge for the title.  That can create problems.  Nevertheless, they are the type of problems that Roberto Mancini — or any other manager — would love to have.

Chelsea‘s perceived needs, off-season strategies and signings have been remarkably similar to United’s.  Youngsters on loan (Daniel Sturridge, Gael Kakuta) have been recalled, others signed (Oriol Romeu, Romelu Lukaku) and the cries for a creative midfielder have gone unanswered due to excessive market valuations (and a stubborn Harry Redknapp).

On the other hand, their big hole in midfield was brought about by yet another injury to Michael Essien, while the blue shirted version of Scholes, Frank Lampard, isn’t ready to call it a day just yet.  Also, unlike United, the Blues new goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois (who has ironically replaced De Gea at Atletico Madrid), will have to wait a bit before taking over for Old Leatherhead, Petr Cech.  Finally, their new manager, while already steeped in trophies, is a young maverick rather than a legend in his own time.

With Luca Modric barred from his much desired move from White Hart Lane to Stamford Bridge, André Villas-Boas has been denied the trequartista he craves.  Yet, with a fortnight of the transfer window remaining, Roman Abramovich may still put pen to cheque — but even if he doesn’t, Chelsea can get by with the personnel in place, including Lampard, young Brazilian Ramires and homegrown sensation Josh MacEachran.

However, width is a problem.  Where United have splendid service in abundance, through Antonio Valencia, Nani and Ashley Young, Chelsea must try to fit square pegs Yossi Benayoun, Florent Malouda, Sturridge and Kakuta, into round holes.  As well, their defence, with an aging John Terry and want-away Alex, is not nearly as deep as either of their Manchester rivals.

If everything goes well for Chelsea, they are more than capable of reclaiming the title they lost to United last year.  However, if more injuries occur, Chelsea will soon find themselves holding off the next group of clubs for the final automatic Champions League place.

Dark Horses

Welcome to what may very well be Arsene Wenger’s final season at Arsenal.  The Frenchman has held the course despite six years of trophy-less football.  Gunners supporters, spoilt by Wenger’s past triumphs, most notably the exploits of the Invincibles, are growing increasingly restless.  That they have shown greater restraint than the general populace is commendable but the depths of their tolerance have been fully drained.  Excuses and rationale are no longer acceptable.  Now is the time to win.

Yet, it is now that Wenger has finally let Cesc Fabregas go to Barcelona and before he can shut the door again, Samir Nasri may dash off as well.  An already youthful side just became younger and now leaderless.    Wenger would like Thomas Vermaelen and Robin van Persie to step into that void, but neither has yet been able to remain healthy for a full season.

With the heart ripped out of the club, the manager would likely already be gone, despite his past record, were it not for the presence of Jack Wilshere.  The young Englishman has moved into the starting eleven for England, where Fabio Capello has touted him as a future captain.  He may soon be taking on that responsibility at the Emirates.  As well, Johan Djourou is a year older at the back, as is Kieran Gibbs.  Theo Walcott should be ready for an expanded role and Gervinho has come over from Lille to provide further width.  Welshman Aaron Ramsey is also healthy again, giving the club a veritable wealth of British first-teamers, for them, at three.

The two keys to the season will be whether or not Wenger can persuade Nasri to stay and if Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain can contribute immediately, reinforcing Wenger’s buy young and nurture policy.  Still, it’s difficult to see the Gunners doing more than challenging Chelsea for third, especially considering the early pressure of qualifying for the Champions League, with a difficult tie upcoming against Udinese.

Should he lose that match, the pressure on Wenger may become irresistible but the effort required to win may also take its toll in the stretch run of the season.

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs have a big advantage over the four clubs above them in my pecking order:  they don’t have to compete in Europe this season.  Of course, by insisting upon keeping Luka Modric, who is very keen on some evening football in the midweek, Harry Redknapp may have erased that advantage completely.

The outspoken gaffer has taken a stand in order to prevent a mass exodus, refusing to sell the Croat, but how will that hard line affect the chemistry in the clubhouse?  Harry’s amazing ability to juggle four International strikers has ended — inevitably — with a loud clatter.  All four are falling about, crying to be let go.  Peter Crouch has a suitor in Stoke, although, as with Modric (if on a smaller scale), money is an obstacle.  Robbie Keane, on the other hand, has less takers than Gordon Brown at a charity bachelor auction.  Roman Pavyluchenko and Jermaine Defoe, meanwhile, are too intrinsic to Harry’s plans for him to even consider offers.

Every position is well stocked; with Niko Kranjcar, Rafael van der Vaart, Jermaine Jenas, Wilson Palacios, Tom Huddlestone, Danny Rose and the pleasantly surprising Sandro complementing Modric in the centre of the pitch; Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale, Steven Pienaar and David Bentley man the wings;  the brittle Ledley King is supported by Michael Dawson, William Gallas, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Sebastien Bassong, Alan Hutton, Younes Kaboul, Vedran Corluka and Kyle Walker at the back; and Brad Friedel has arrived from Aston Villa should the butterfingered Huerelho Gomes slip again.

If the personable Redknapp can hold them all together, Spurs could be back in the Champions League in 2012.  The problem is that every time his best player picks up a paper or goes online, he sees a picture of the gaffer giving him the finger.

You know it’s a tough league when Liverpool, who have been more prolifically busy in the transfer window, in terms of both quality and quantity, than any other side, don’t rate better than the position they finished in last season:  sixth.  You would think that all that activity would have made them a much better squad and I believe it has.  The problem is that there is a massive gap between being the best of the rest, as they ultimately were last year, and a bona fide title contender.  

With the midfield completely revamped, it’s not even much of a concern that Steven Gerrard won’t be available until at least October.  Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing have all arrived to give Kenny Dalglish a selection migraine in the middle of the pitch, with the likes of Lucas Leiva, Alberto Aquilani, Dirk Kuyt, Raul Mereiles and Jay Spearing also in the mix.  Up front, as with everywhere else on the squad, there are any number of options, all centered around Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez, with Kuyt, Maxi Rodriguez and a healthy Gerrard also considerations.

The defence has been considerably strengthened by the recent addition of Newcastle left back Jose Enrique, allowing Glen Johnson to focus on the right side of the pitch and Martin Kelly to perhaps get some experience at centre back, spelling Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel.  Even in goal, where Pepe Reina is permanently installed, the club picked up some quality insurance in the form of erstwhile Roma keeper Doni.

Were it not for the time required to settle and become familiar with each other’s tendencies, I might put Liverpool a rung or two above their current position.  Certainly, if it comes together quickly, the Reds have the horses to race past Tottenham and Arsenal and draw neck and neck with old foes Chelsea.  If not, the Kop will just have to settle for a place in the Europa League.

Don’t Look Now, But…

If the pre-season ran until December and then the games which count finally began, Everton might be two-time defending Premier League champions under David Moyes.  Like jarheads at a Parris Island boot camp, the Toffees start off each season by digging a massive hole for themselves.

Yet, Moyes has quality at every position.  This season, there will be no African Cup of Nations or Asian Champions League to take players away.  There is Arsenal, however, doing their best to pry loose Phil Jagielka, as Man City did Joleon Lescott once upon a time, but Phil Neville still has it and Leighton Baines is only unlucky enough to be stuck behind Ashley Cole as the best English left back.  Seamus Coleman’s injury is another of those bad August omens for Moyes, however.

Ultimately, though, a midfield boasting one-time England hopeful Mikel Arteta, Marouane Fellaini and Jack Rodwell gives Everton the opportunity to take points everytime they take the pitch.  Imagine what this club could do if they got off to just an average start!

Bolton have three things holding them back:  a lack of funding to go out and sign a proven talent; a subsequent lack of depth; and a seemingly annual horror tackle which deprives them of American midfield prodigy Stuart Holden.   On the other hand, they have the coaching talents of Owen Coyle, which are sufficiently prodigious to cancel out two of the negatives.

The Scot’s motivational powers are unrivaled; it would almost be a crime to the rest of the Prem if he were put in charge of a club like City, United or Chelsea.  Still, Gary Cahill, Paul Robinson, Zat Knight, Martin Petrov, Nigel Reo-Coker and netminder Jussi Jaaskelainen are not a bad supporting cast for Holden.  Unfortunately, Korean Chung Yong-Lee’s own nightmare injury, at the end of July, was not the pre-season memory which Coyle wanted his side to take into the campaign.

If the club can stay relatively healthy, especially Holden (who currently is not), and the Scot can lay his hands on a goal scorer to replace Daniel Sturridge, the Wanderers will again be in the hunt for a Europa League slot.  Still, even if they do and Coyle can, the Trotters aren’t likely to bag their prize without some investment.

When compared with the Premier League elite, Fulham is a small club.  As such, they’d be hard pressed to find a better chairman than Mohamed al Fayed.  The former Harrod’s owner has provided the money to modernise and preserve the club’s longstanding home, Craven Cottage; he hires capable managers; buys them players when truly needed; and pays to keep them.  Despite Roy Hodgson leaving for Liverpool and Mark Hughes for pie in the sky, al Fayed has persevered.

Martin Jol is now the man in charge and the Egyptian has provided him with some new blood.  John Arne Riise has arrived from Rome to join his brother Bjorn Helge, providing the club with a dangerous threat from the left back position.  The club has a solid one-two punch in Bobby Zamora and Clint Dempsey; midfield reliability in Danny Murphy, Riise the younger, Damien Duff and Steve Sidwell; defensive stability in Aaron Hughes, Brede Hangeland, Carlos Salcido and, now, Riise the senior; and a world class goalkeeper in Mark Schwarzer, with a burgeoning international David Stockdale on loan to Ipswich, to give him playing time while the Aussie number one plays out the string.

Already a month into their Europa League campaign, their lack of depth will be challenged by involvement in four competitions, but make no mistake, this is a solid side.

Long ball specialists.  Cheap shot artists.  Ale house footballers.  Those are the labels Stoke City still live with, despite reaching the FA Cup final after giving Owen Coyle and Bolton a taste of their own silky smooth medicine.  Tony Pulis has patiently built on the solid defence, slowly adding more and more flair, as the base solidifies.

Kenwyne Jones, Jon Walters and Ricardo Fuller provide the goals.  Matthew Etherington has left the punting behind and is now almost a sure thing on the left.   Jermaine Pennant, as long as he is provided with valet service, will bring some imagination to the midfield, to complement the long throws of Rory Delap.  That unique advantage may be further augmented, if the Potters can come to terms with Tottenham regarding beanpole striker Peter Crouch.

Captain Ryan Shawcross, Matthew Upson and suddenly opportunistic goalscorer Robert Huth patrol the back.  Pulis is hoping that Jonathan Woodgate’s drawn out injury spell is finally done, so that he can provide further support for his two capable keepers, Asmir Begovic and Thomas Sorensen.

Look for the Potters to push a little further up the Premier League table, squeaking into the top ten in 2011-12.

Engines Idling

Sunderland picked up Wes Brown and John O’Shea from Man United to add some depth to the midfield and defence, as well as a bit of a winning culture.  So, why am I pegging Sunderland to slip back into the bottom half of the table in the new campaign?

Two reasons.

One, inexperience (Conor Wickham), chronic injury (Frazier Campbell) and character issues (Stéphane Sessègnon) in attack.  Asamoah Gyan was a great signing for the Mackems last year, but he can’t do it alone.

Two.  Steve Bruce is just too nice, especially when Man United fixtures roll around.  If some of predecessor and fellow United alumnus Roy Keane’s irascibility would rub off, other clubs might think twice when the Black Cats cross their path.  Until then, however….

One can, coincidentally, say two things about Sunderland rivals Newcastle as well.  Owner Mike Ashley certainly knows how to turn a profit and the club has replaced Arsenal as the favoured English destination for French footballers.

The impending sale of disaffected left back Jose Enrique to Liverpool recoups the investment in the latest Gallic window dressing at St. James Park, United cast-off Gabriel Obertan.  That makes seven French players on Alan Pardew’s roster, including Paris born Senegalese star Demba Ba, but not fluent francophone Cheick Tiote of the Ivory Coast.

Yet, while croissants may have been added to the player’s table at Newcastle’s Darsley Park training complex, the stream of quality players departing is not so easily addressed.  Enrique has tweeted his way out of the club but Joey Barton hasn’t been so lucky — not for lack of effort.  On the other hand, when your captain, coming off the best season of his young career (Kevin Nolan is still only twenty-nine) agrees to join a relegated club, it indicates there are problems behind the scenes.

Unfortunately for the Toon Army, Mike Ashley is in this for the long haul.  He and Derek Llambias have become adept at identifying young talent, improving upon it and selling at a surplus.  The club, barring a rash of injuries, has a competent coach and sufficient talent to hover in the middle of the table, staying up, but robbing their support of any and all hope for a bit of glory.

Modest.  In one word, that is West Brom manager Roy Hodgson.  Modesty can often be misinterpreted as lack of ambition, which is one reason he failed at Liverpool.  The Reds are a club that have a tradition of carrying the game to people.  Hodgson succeeds by taking the opposite approach.  It worked well at Fulham and it rescued the Baggies, who under Roberto di Matteo, were playing a style with which the Kop could identify.

WBA Chairman Jeremy Peace made the conscious decision to change the club’s style, which under Di Matteo and Tony Mowbray had seen them bouncing up and down between the Prem and the Championship.  Hodgson’s staid approach will achieve top flight stability; it just won’t take the Baggies anywhere but mid-table in the immediate future.

Hodgson has a prolific scorer in Peter Odemwingie but he has moved to provide cover in the form of Reading man Shane Long.  Last season, captain Chris Brunt was the most prolific assist man (10) of whom you have never heard in the Premier League, and West Brom, despite their adjusted priorities, should not want for goals.  At the back, Ben Foster has arrived on loan from troubled Birmingham.  He is a definite upgrade on Marton Fulop, and, under Hodgson, may soon find Fabio Capello pressuring him to reconsider his international sabbatical.

As well, the club has been convinced by Owen Hargreaves’fitness tapes and have tabled an offer to the injury-hexed midfielder.  His healthy presence, if prolonged, may push the club into the top half of the table but, if you’re a Baggies fan,  don’t hold your breath.

The big question surrounding Alex McLeish is when he will take the Celtic job?   Having shown the willingness to jump from Birmingham to Aston Villa, upsetting all of Glasgow by crossing to the other side of the Old Firm seems the next logical step for the Scot.  For the moment, however, he is looking at his new squad and wondering, even without Ashley Young and Stewart Downing, what he might have done in 2010-11, had he been this blessed?

Charles N’Zogbia, over from Wigan, and Marc Albrighton, out of the Villa youth set-up, will make the departures of Young and Downing seem like well-timed, profitable business and, thus, Darren Bent and Gaby Agbonlahor should thrive in front of goal.  There are questions at the back, however, as Richard Dunne and James Collins, already slow, did not get any quicker over the summer.  As well, Shay Given will need to shake off the rust, after sitting on the Man City bench for so long.

Trust is the three hundred pound gorilla in the Villa clubhouse.  The fans don’t have any for McLeish, which begs the question, will the players?  Further, will McLeish himself be able to trust Stephen Ireland’s talent to overcome his dysfunctionality and will the new manager put the same trust in youngsters Barry Bannan and Eric Lichaj that Gerrard Houllier did?  At the moment, I don’t trust in any of that happening all too quickly.  Which is why I see such a talent-laden team remaining mired in mediocrity, despite the manager’s Carling Cup stunner last season.

In London, Neil Warnock has the full trust of the QPR clubhouse.  The problem is that the ownership of F1 bosses Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore doesn’t engender the same confidence.  Despite the lack of funding from above, with Blackpool’s DJ Campbell the only investment, at £2 million, the outspoken Warnock has gone about his business, signing Jay Bothroyd from Cardiff, and Danny Gabbidon and Kieron Dyer from West Ham (the latter by way of Ipswich), all on free transfers.  Somehow, the club has also managed to hold onto talented midfielder Adel Taraabt, despite interest from new money side Paris Saint-Germain.

That Warnock will have to compete with the rest of the Premier League on the cheap doesn’t bode well for future success but the current circumstances provide an environment in which the crafty Warnock can instill and exploit an Us v The World mentality in his squad.  In the short run, I’m betting that it will be just enough to lift them above the relegation fray.

Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

Blackburn‘s new owners, Venky’s, have taken a lot of stick since becoming part of the Premier League family and some people out there, afflicted with severe doses of PC, have taken exception.  The fact of the matter, however, is that no one really cares where the new Rovers supremos call home or how they made their fortune.  They hear it because they’ve thus far proved to be inept.

What else do you call it  when one executive, in India, says the club intend to become a top side, then another in the UK says, no, they’ll be happy to stay mid-table?  Next, someone pipes up that they’ve hired a consultant to identify, negotiate with and sign new players, starting with Ronaldinho, no less, with that whopper followed by someone else saying, don’t be silly, there’s no need to buy when you can just “outsource” from other clubs.  Hot on the heels of that piece of wisdom, the group let it be known that Mr. Sam — Big Sam Allardyce to you and me — would have the last say on all transfers.  A week later, Mr. Sam is in the booth for Sky instead of the dugout for Blackburn, very much to his surprise.

Now, Steve Kean is in charge and the club — safely mid-table and starting to gel when Big Sam was informed that he was just taking up space — is breathing easier after falling into the midst of a relegation battle and managing to pull themselves out at the last minute.

There’s little to suggest, however, that in his first full season, if he survives it, Kean will help the club progress.  Highly touted young defender Phil Jones has been sold on to Manchester United after some acrimonious hard-balling, which could very well hurt the club’s ability to do business down the road.  (Now, I realise that I’ve criticised Steve Bruce for kowtowing to the champions and Venky’s for getting in their face, but there is a middle ground between the two extremes.)   Envious of Jones, Chris Samba, the former captain, is as desperate as Kevin Nolan to leave his club and El Hadji Diouf has earned his way out by not showing up — but the club has signed David Goodwillie, who had charges of sexual assault dismissed for lack of evidence in Scotland, although leaked details of the case forced his departure.

To call the situation at Ewood Park anything other than a mess would be a kindness.  Look for the club to hover just above the drop zone for the better part of the season.

Roberto Martinez has managed to keep Hugo Rodallega, a quality goal scorer, at Wigan, and provide him a strong partner in Irishman Conor Sammon.  Unfortunately, the man most responsible for getting the ball into the opponent’s box, Charles N’Zogbia, is now wearing Claret and Blue.

The club has taken on the dogged determination of chairman Dave Whelan and plays the open attacking style favoured by classy manager Martinez, but WFC correspondent Daniel Doran may be right:  with too much quality leaving and insufficient coming in, it may finally be Wigan’s year to go back down.

On the other hand, I think that there’s enough stubborness and imagination in the tank for the Latics to stick around for another season.

Well then, What about Norwich?  Can they stay up?

Can Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones, passionate and inspiring as they are, even come close to competing financially with the likes of John Henry, the Glazers, Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour?  Can a squad whose only three players not from the UK or Ireland are an American, a Canadian and Belgian Ritchie de Laet, on loan from Man United, go toe to toe with even Manchester City’s reserve side?  Can Kyle Naughton, buried on the bench at Tottenham, hold off the likes of Andy Carroll, Chicharito or, on a slow day, Fernando Torres? Can James Vaughn make a difference here despite not doing so anywhere else, other than to coax Tony Pulis out of his towel and into a decent imitation of Zinedine Zidane?

Oh, wait.  That was James Beattie.  Ignore that one.  Answer this one instead.  Can Paul Lambert fight off male pattern baldness, graying hair and relegation all at the same time?

Didn’t think so.

I like Mick McCarthy’s dry sense of humour and his pragmatism.  Unfortunately, I don’t like Wolves‘ chances of avoiding the drop.  Like Norwich, there are just too many questions without answers.

Mick does have some quality with which to work, though.  Matt Jarvis is a bit of alright.  The three Steph/vens, Fletcher, Ward & Hunt, share some chemistry, as well as given names.  Ultimate poacher Kevin Doyle likely still has a few opportune goals in him, too.

On the other hand, one has to ask if former captain Karl Henry can find his way back from the dark side, after the first months of 2010-11 saw him approach Nigel de Jong status?  Then there’s the hyphen twins, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Ethan Ebanks-Landell.  What’s up with that?  I’m not certain, but it might be another expensive violation of the FA’s arcane squad rules.

The most pressing issue for the Wanderers, though, is can they take points against lower half sides?  They had better, because this time around it’s unlikely that they’ll steal six wins and three draws, more than half their points last year, from clubs in the top half of the table.

Aaaand  – Thud.

Brendan Rogers and Swansea were the surprise of the Championship playoffs.  Fellow Cwms Cardiff, with marquee names Jay Bothroyd and Craig Bellamy in the side, were pegged to make the jump to the top flight.  Instead, it’s their more anonymous rivals who are here.

Former Villa prodigy Luke Moore will get another crack at the Premier League, after sputtering out at West Brom.  A loan spell at Derby, with four goals in thirteen matches, suggested that his issues might be remedied by a move, but just three strikes in fifteen appearances for the Swans last season doesn’t bode well.  Danny Graham, who has come over from Watford, will be the main threat, then, and Wayne Routledge, from the St. James Park Clearing House is touted to provide a bit of width.

There are two weeks left in the transfer window and, while burnt by Marco Senna’s use of them as a decoy to secure a contract with Villareal, the Welsh side need to find a strong, experienced player to galvanise the side, or the Swans will be flying south all too soon.

We have just seen an extremely long transfer saga involving Chelsea come to an end.   No, I’m not talking about Luka Modric, but Romelu Lukaku, the eighteen year old ‘second coming’of Didier Drogba who, after a year of rumours, will be  signing with Chelsea for a reported fee of anywhere from £11 to £20 million.

With such a large number of strikers on the books, how will Chelsea manager André Villas-Boas fit Lukaku into a forward line with players such as Drogba, Fernando Torres, Nicholas Anelka, Daniel Sturridge, Florent Malouda, and Salomon Kalou?

Surely, both investment and proven service will drive his selection.  Torres, with his £50 million transfer fee, or Drogba, long the talisman for Chelsea, will be starting in the middle of the 4-3-3 that Chelsea are expected to field under Villas-Boas, but that is where Lukaku is most effective.

It doesn’t seem that he will be deployed on either side of the lone striker, with Sturridge and Anelka on the right and Malouda and Kalou on the left, providing ample quality and depth for those two positions in Chelsea’s lineup.

Having said that, Lukaku, himself, says that he is willing to bide his time and eventually break into the first team.  This year, the Belgian youngster will probably not find himself as the main man in Chelsea’s attack, but with Anelka and Drogba’s contracts running out very soon, he may be in the starting eleven next season.

While identifying Drogba’s replacement before he moves on or retires was pro-active thinking at its best, the signing fails to address the immediate weaknesses in Chelsea’s squad.

I’ve discussed Chelsea’s lack of a creative midfielder here, here and here, so I’ll talk about another need at the Bridge:  quick wingers.

Ages ago — as measured in Abramovich time — when Jose Mourinho was still manager at the club, Chelsea were lucky enough to call on players such as Arjen Robben, Damien Duff, and Shaun Wright-Phillips to provide speed and flair from out wide.

Right now Chelsea’s only real wingers are the frustratingly inconsistent Malouda and Kalou, who hasn’t really lived up to his potential.   It is possible that Sturridge will be deployed outside throughout the season, although he proved at Bolton that he was more effective when front and center.  Further, the selling of Yuri Zhirkov, whom I personally thought was very unlucky in his spell with the Blues, means that Chelsea need to address the issue of depth on the flanks.

Since the final whistle was blown on Chelsea’s campaign in May, the club has been linked with a number of players who might add some quality in this area.  Neymar, Juan Mata, Samir Nasri, Eljero Elia, and Alvero Pereria have all had their names thrown about.  With the transfer window closing in a couple of weeks, the rumour mill is still grinding out grist regarding Chelsea and a wide man.  Whether it is actually a priority within the Stamford Bridge hierarchy and, if so, just who they have settled upon, are both mysteries, although Elia’s recent statement that Juventus wasn’t a sufficiently large club to attract him, at least hints at his ambition.  Does it foretell interest from the Blues, however?

That it might not, is probable, as there are more advanced options available, both talent-wise and with regard to maturity.

Having been linked with Chelsea for the best part of two years, Neymar would be the favourite but for an extremely high release clause which Chelsea seem reluctant to trigger.  It’s difficult to blame them, really, as everything the youngster has said indicates a strong desire to move to Real Madrid.  He may come to Chelsea for a short time, but would it be long enough to justify a £45 million outlay?  Neymar does have amazing potential, which might make the answer to that question a resounding yes, but his occasional fits of piqué, one of which has seen a very good coach sacked, might give Villas-boas pause.

Mata and Nasri would also be ideal signings for Chelsea, but Chelsea’s lack of interest to this point can hardly have flattered either.   Would one of them be willing to come to the Bridge after being linked with other clubs more than the Blues?

Nasri, at least, may want to follow Cesc Fabregas out the door, over at crosstown rivals Arsenal.  Yet, he may also decide that Cesc’s departure is his opportunity to step to the fore.

Pereria, being a left back/midfield player, would, at best, be a stop-gap measure and Chelsea already have players capable of holding down the fort until the real deal arrives.  Thus, with Sturridge apparently earmarked for the right side of the three-man attack, Villas-Boas may choose to employ eager youngster Gael Kakuta, rather than splashing the cash on a wide player.  If he doesn’t prove up to the task… well, the club has shown a willingness to spend big in the winter window.

In any event, while the issue hasn’t been in the forefront of the club’s activities this summer, their choices going forward at the wide position, may well prove key to the Blues’title aspirations.

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Following Chelsea’s chief executive Ron Gourlay’s announcement that the Blues will sign at least two more players in the next ten days, many have been speculating as to whom Chelsea will actually buy.

With Barcelona youngster Oriol Romeu’s imminent arrival, it appears likely that Chelsea will buy a creative midfielder and/or possibly the highly talented Romelu Lukaku.  Throughout the off-season, Chelsea have been constantly linked with three creative midfielders, Luka Modric, Joao Moutinho, and Javier Pastore. With each player commanding a hefty transfer fee, Chelsea have had to decide which player they will sign to inject some needed creativity into the squad, and that player seems to be the one who has been touted as Argentina’s future number ten, Javier Pastore of Palermo.

It has been reported that Pastore’s transfer from the Rosaneri to Chelsea may be completed soon, for a fee rumored to be anywhere from £30-39 million.  With first choice Modric having been denied a move by London neighbours Tottenham, it now seems that Andres Villas-Boas has valued the Argentine over fellow Portuguese Moutinho.  What can ‘El Flaco’(the Skinny One) bring to an ageing Chelsea?

A tall, skillful, elegant player, similar to the Kaka of AC Milan, Pastore is capable of operating as an advanced midfielder, a wide midfielder or a second striker.  After starring for Huracan in Argentina and Palermo in Italy, Pastore has earned the chance to play for a top European club and test his ability against the world’s best.

Seventeen goals and eleven assists over two seasons for Palermo show that he can get on the scoresheet but his ability to play a pass sets him apart from others in his position.  Although he has the flair and skills, Pastore’s biggest strength is his distribution, in particular his short passing and ability to read defenders to create opportunities for his teammates.  The man himself admits that he prefers to pull the strings rather than finish.

“I like passing more than dribbling, and assisting more than scoring.”

Should he arrive at Stamford Bridge, this attitude may prove key to restoring Fernando Torres to his best form, as some have pointed to the lack of creativity and service Torres is receiving from the Chelsea midfield as the reason the Spaniard has continued to struggle since his record-breaking transfer from Liverpool, last January.

With Frank Lampard thirty-three and Michael Essien’s knees apparently in their seventies, Pastore may find himself as the primary offensive midfielder at Chelsea, if not immediately, then not long after his arrival.

At twenty-two, Pastore’s potential recruitment, along with Lukaku, and the deals done for Romeu and nineteen-year-old Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois, prove that the club has decided to inject youth into a squad that is amongst the oldest in the Premier League.  Combined with players such as Josh McEachran, Ramires, David Luiz, John Obi Mikel, Nathaniel Chalobah, Gael Kakuta, Patrick Van Aanholt, Ryan Bertrand, and Daniel Sturridge, Pastore and the rest of this signing class could form the Chelsea team for the next five to ten years.

In fact,  Pastore, Romeu,  McEachran, Ramires, and Mikel, if allowed to play together for several years could develop into a precise, fluid unit reminiscent of the current Barcelona corps.   If he can show the patience required, Roman Abramovich may finally have the combination of attractive and dominant football he has craved since beginning his Chelsea project..

If Villas-Boas does move Pastore into the attacking midfielder’s role, the pressing question will be what becomes of loyal Blues man Lampard?  While he is not as artful as Pastore, the England stalwart did create the second highest amount of goals in the Premier League, last season.  Something will have to give.

Pastore’s near £40 million price-tag may make his a potentially risky transfer but his age and performance to date, especially considering the manic stewardship of Palermo Chairman Maurizio Zamparini, suggest that he is not only physically prepared for life at Stamford Bridge but mentally, as well.   Despite his youth, he piloted the Rosaneri to the Coppa d’Italia Final and an eighth place finish in Serie A, with Zamparini offering unsolicited weekly announcements regarding his transfer status and valuation, injuries to talismanic club captain Fabricio Miccoli, which kept the striker out for a significant portion of the season, and the firing and re-hiring of coach Delio Rossi.  At least at Chelsea, he won’t have to do all that whilst wearing a pink shirt.

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Chelsea have just played their last pre-season game, against Portsmouth, before they jet off to Asia for one of those now routine tours where they will play matches against a mixture of local and international teams, train in front of a massive number of fans for whom this may literally be a once in a lifetime experience, go ‘sightseeing’for the benefit of advancing the Chelsea brand and mingle with local celebrities and dignitaries.

Along the way, Andres Villas-Boas will decide on just who will fit into his final squad and, from what remains wanting, draw up a shopping list for the final weeks of the transfer market.  One of the pressing issues is whether to keep England Under 21 International Daniel Sturridge, loan him out again, or possibly even sell him.  His ultimate decision may provide a clue as to how much weight Roman Abramovich has placed on developing a younger squad as opposed to the importance of winning now.

A successful loan spell at Bolton last year, where Sturridge scored eight goals in twelve games, led to many believing he will be a vital cog in Chelsea’s quest for silverware in the upcoming season.  With players such as Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka ageing, and Fernando Torres misfiring since he joined the club, that line of thought has gained traction.

Despite the good form and goal scoring ability Sturridge showed while at Bolton, turning heads around the country, Villas-Boas hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Sturridge spending more time out on loan.

“This is one of the decisions we have to take. Daniel is a very, very interesting player with a tremendous future. The individual is highly regarded by myself. I have 15 days in Asia to make the best decision and I need those four games to continue to assess.”

With several Premier League clubs ready to sign Sturridge on loan, some fans are wondering if Villas-Boas and Chelsea should permit it, when it is clear that he can play at the highest level if given the chance.

If Sturridge is kept for the upcoming season and is given regular first team starts, it will be like a new signing for Chelsea.   His spell at Bolton has transformed the youngster into a man.  With Owen Coyle trusting him to start, he thrived.   Under Carlo Ancelotti, the fifteen minute cameos in mop-up situations lessened both his impact and development.  If Chelsea are to get the best out of Sturridge this season, he must be starting, not just for his individual performances, but also for the team’s benefit.  If Villas-Boas is not willing to make that commitment to the youngster, it would be better to loan or sell him outright, rather than letting him waste away on the bench again.

It is widely believed that Chelsea will line up in Villas-Boas’ preferred 4-3-3 formation.  Two of Chelsea’s targets for the winger/wide forward positions, Neymar and Alexis Sánchez, both suited for that set-up, look certain to move to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively, or stay at their current clubs.   Sturridge’s versatility, he can play on either wing or as a central forward, makes him a more than suitable, not to mention cheaper, alternative to the South American stars.

Villas-Boas has already identified this, starting Sturridge on the right of Fernando Torres for the game against Portsmouth.

Although being out wide isn’t his preferred position, Sturridge can use his pace and skill to get to the byline if he is on the left or cut in, with the ball on his preferred left foot, reminiscent of Arjen Robben, if he is deployed on the right.

His explosive style of play may even prove key to forging a partnership between Drogba and Torres.  Sturridge’s pace would create width, drawing some of the defensive pressure away from the older pair, who both like to camp in front of the six-yard box.

Sturridge’s nationality also makes him an important player at Chelsea.  In fact, his status as one of the few ‘homegrown’ English players at Stamford Bridge adds to his value and should negate a sale, with not only the current squad rules to consider but the rumoured 6+5 legislation expected from UEFA.

After pursuing Sturridge for many years after he burst on the scene at Manchester City, then finally acquiring him for less than £10 million, it seems strange that Chelsea would even consider selling, regardless of the prime rate being set on young English players in the current market.  With the potential to be an integral part of Chelsea’s new English core, Sturridge can be a star for years to come.  All the club needs is the confidence to use him.

On a quick side note, it was a great surprise to see former Chelsea youngster Sam Hutchinson play 45 minutes in a friendly for the reserves against Crawley Town after he had retired at the start of last season due to a series of serious knee injuries. While the club has said that Hutchinson was stepping in due to a shortage of numbers, hopefully this might be the start of a remarkable comeback for a player touted as a future captain of the club.

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Would you invest €45 million in a skinny little kid, barely twenty years old, who, if he shaved off his ridiculously large mohawk would probably drop ten percent of his total body weight?   Would you want to sign someone already so spoilt and self-centered that he argued on the pitch at a critical juncture in a match, with a well-respected coach, because that coach had designated another player to take a penalty kick?  Would you happily fork out that much cash after this self-promoting teenager expressed no remorse that said coach was sacked soon after?

If that kid is Neymar, and you watched him completely dominate Scotland in an impressive exhibition of footballing skill at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, you’d begin to think about it.  And after he has just led his side to the Copa Libertadores title, scoring the winning goal in the second half of the second leg, after Santos and Peñarol had played out one hundred and thirty-six minutes of scoreless football, you’d be thinking that you’d sell that private island in the Caribbean you use to get away from it all to bring the future of the game to Europe and make him so wealthy that Prince Harry would become his personal helicopter pilot.

Of course, now you’d have to get in line behind Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City and Anzi Makhachkala.  That’s right, no less than five clubs have agreed to meet Santos’valuation of their prime asset, should they be the fortunate ones able to sweet-talk the young prodigy into coming to Europe ahead of the 2014 World Cup.  That won’t be an easy task.  Neymar’s agent, Wagner Ribeiro has let it be known it isn’t necessarily a given that his client will sign with any of the quintet of suitors.

“These clubs can come and make their offers, but if he wants to stay at Santos then he’ll say no and stay at Santos. It’s not a good time for him to leave.  The 2014 World Cup is coming and the eyes of the world will be on Brazil. If he stays, and wins the Club World Cup, the Olympics and maybe the World Cup, he will become an idol and can go to Europe having done it all.  Right now, he lives close to his family and friends in the city he loves and is at a club that is right for him. There’s no reason for him to go now. I think he’ll stay.”

For those of you who play poker, this is what is known as a tough call.   Every fibre of your being tells you that Ribeiro is bluffing.  Not only will all of the interested parties match and exceed any wage packet Santos could offer to keep him, they’ll eclipse it.   As well, Europe is where the action is.  All the best players are there.  The Premier League and La Liga are extensively covered in every corner of the globe.   Santos just can’t offer the attention, adoration and prestige that Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Man City can.  Ribeiro’s client may be idolised in his homeland, respected and revered across all of South America, in fact, but his past actions suggest that the worship of an entire continent isn’t enough to assuage his massive ego; for Neymar, the world may not even be sufficient.  How could he refuse to sign for at least one of these sides?

Yet, he has already been persuaded once, only a year ago, by erstwhile Real and City star Robinho and the immortal Pele, to stay in Sao Paolo State and continue to develop his game.  Maybe the kid does have the patience to completely conquer his homeland, adding Olympic Gold and a World Cup victory replete with Golden Ball to his Libertadores crown, before challenging new frontiers.  That seed of doubt is what makes it a good bluff, because in order to see his hand, one of these clubs is going to have to throw a lot more than the €45 million ante into the pot.

Who will win?  It’s difficult to say but I think it’s a fair guess that two of the players will fold early.

The first will be Barcelona.  My gut tells me that they’re not really interested in the Brazilian.  Their financial woes are well publicised now and the price just to be in the hand matches their announced transfer budget for the year.  As well, they have already committed a healthy chunk of that budget to Udinese winger Alexis Sánchez.

Barça president Sandro Rosell has wavered between acknowledging a respect for the imminent UEFA Financial Fair Play rules and suggesting that a few player sales and a borrowing against next season’s budget might be possible.  With regard to the former, newly arrived David Villa has been shouting from the rooftops that he doesn’t wish to emulate Zlatan Ibrahimovic and reluctantly exit the Camp Nou after only one season.   Yet, that is the Barcelona method.  Outsiders are treated as family while at the club but in the end they are merely guests; with rare exception, it is only graduates of La Masia who know they will always have a home in Catalonia.

Neymar isn’t likely to be such an exception,  with past antics reminiscent of another Brazilian, Ronaldhino, who quickly wore out his welcome with the Blaugrana.   No, Barcelona’s interest is merely a feint to drive up the price for rivals Real Madrid.

Anzi Makhachkala will also throw in their cards quickly.  They are newcomers to the high stakes table and Neymar is simply out of their league.  Their billionaire owner, Suleiman Kerimov, may have the funds to make it happen but the club doesn’t have the infrastructure to recoup the investment.  It’s back to FFP again.  If they go into the red to sign the Selecáo wunderkind, they likely won’t be granted a UEFA license, keeping them out of the lucrative Champions League.

From Neymar’s perspective, Anzi would, at best, be a lateral move.  A frigidly cold lateral move, at that.  Just as Brazil hopes that their brightest star stays within their constellation until the 2014 World Cup, Russia is looking to heighten its profile ahead of the 2018 edition.  Much has been made of Roberto Carlos’presence at Anzi, with some speculation that the club captain may influence the youngster into joining him.  Yet, considering that the legendary left back has already been the target of racial abuse on at least two occasions during his short stay in the Motherland, the second time causing him to abandon the pitch, he would have to possess very little self-respect to convince a rich and talented but still naïve young man to endure the same treatment.

So, in the late stages of the hand, it will come down to three players:  Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea.  All three will be attractive to the youngster.

Madrid are a legendary club, especially in Latin America.  They are on the ascendance under one of the greatest coaches in the game, rising to challenge Barcelona.  The Meringue’s style may not be as open as Barcelona’s but if Neymar signs to play at the Santiago Bernabeu, he will be heralded as the final piece in the puzzle.  The challenge of restoring Europe’s greatest champions to their former glory would surely appeal to him, as would the accolades he would receive for bringing it to pass.  The other players in this game would have to go all in to distract the ambitious Brazilian from that temptation.

City haven’t been in the big game much longer than Anzi but it’s been long enough to accumulate a huge chip stack.  If it weren’t for the fact that Michel Platini is the pit boss at the UEFA Grand, money would be no object.  Still, thanks to Sheikh Mansour, Roberto Mancini has been able to stockpile so much talent that he can afford to lose a few hands in order to win the big one.  Players like Roque Santa Cruz and Emmanuel Adebayor, who would be leading the line at all but the most elite of clubs, are just throw-away chips at the Eastlands.  All in is a possibility for the Citizens but there are two pressing questions when the subject is Neymar donning sky blue:

1. Will the conservative Italian manager be willing to put up with what is essentially Mario Balotelli.v2 when v1 is still in-house and
2. Will the young Brazilian be concerned that all that star power in the City clubhouse will dim his own wattage?

Then there’s Chelsea.  They went in for the youngster last season, only for Pele and Robinho to outdraw them on the river.  As well, Santos club president Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro, was unhappy that the Blues contacted Neymar’s representatives directly in their failed negotiation.  This time, however, they have respected the club and asked permission from the outset, somewhat mollifying the aggrieved chairman.

The Stamford Bridge outfit thus have the advantage of already knowing the player and his people.  As well, their current situation may be the most attractive to the youngster.  The club is looking to rebuild on the fly, with veterans like Frank Lampard and John Terry in the sunset of their careers and familiar faces such as David Luiz, Ramires and Alex waiting to welcome him.  Even better, new manager Andres Villas-Boas is already talking up a more open style for the club.  With rumours that Didier Drogba may be headed for a reunion with Jose Mourinho at the Santiago Bernabeu, Neymar may be a perfect fit for the next generation of Chelsea Blues.

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People tend to look at life from an occupational perspective.  Plumbers, for instance, are wary of what might clog up the works in their daily lives, while finished carpenters try to smooth over the rough edges.  As a writer, I see foreshadowing and irony in everything.

Exhibit number one:  today, my ISP crashed.  Once the initial panic was over and I decided that I could survive the four to six hours before restoration of service, I adapted and overcame.  No, I didn’t learn how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together or build a log cabin out of earth and wood – why did Chuck Berry pop into my head just then? –  that would have been too much work.  Instead, I went off-line and watched one of my backlogged movies and then had a bit of lunch.  That’s what I call roughing it.

The movie was The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.  I know, I know, it’s a cheesy update of the Disney classic but any film with Nicolas Cage and Alfred Molina in it can’t be that bad.  As well, Jerry Bruckheimer films are usually easy to watch.  So, it was an entertaining, if predictable flick.

When the geeky apprentice had saved the world, won the girl and brought the boss back to life, and I had scarfed down a bowl of chili and a litre of coke, I came back to discover that I was once again connected to the world.  Of course the big headline on my monitor was that Andres Villas-Boas had accepted the Chelsea job.

Now, Sr. Villas-Boas may take an exception to being likened to a geeky apprentice but he does have the same problems that Jay Baruchel’s character had in the movie and that the less than well-known performer himself had in working with a star like Nicolas Cage.  Namely, how do you either a) step out from under such a huge shadow or b) create a bright light entirely of your own making?

At Barcelona, Jose Mourinho worked under first Sir Bobby Robson and then Louis “Party Animal” van Gaal.  The Portuguese, however, went his own way, rather than following in his mentors’footsteps.  It certainly allowed him to carve out his own identity, although no one was likely to confuse him with either Sir Bobby or the pugnacious Dutchman.  Villas-Boas likely chose to go back to Porto when he parted ways with the Special One for the same reason as his boss had; Portugal was home and where better to start out on your own?

Unfortunately for Villas-Boas, the choice was an open invitation for the world to compare him to his former teacher.  He is Portuguese.  Mourinho is Portuguese.  They are both short and like to dress fashionably.  He has led Porto to a Europa League title.  For Jose, it was the Champions League.  Now, his next step is Chelsea and Roman Abramovich, as it was for Mourinho.  As well, he is likely to bring Falcao with him and possibly Joao Moutinho or one or two others, just as Mourinho was followed to the Bridge by Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira.  About the only significant difference between the two is that the Real Madrid boss has salt-and-pepper hair while the new Chelsea man’s coif is light brown with a touch of ginger.

Villas-Boas will tell you that his style is also very different from Mourinho’s and that he has often disagreed with some of the older man’s choices but, hey, he was the boss.  Fair enough, but even if he applies his own special magic now that he’s on his own, by travelling the same career path as Mourinho, he will find it extremely difficult to prove that he is a sorcerer in his own right.

Just as his Europa League crown was held up next to Mourinho’s maiden Champions’League title and found to be a flattering imitation, any success he has at Chelsea will likely result in the same comparisons being made.

“Awww, isn’t that cute?  He’s just like Jose was at that age!”

Yet, having chosen to accept the Porto job, it is now too late to turn back.  Therefore, one can’t fault him for going on to Chelsea.  If anything, he should be admired for taking on the most difficult challenge.

Now, however, there are only two ways by which he can prove that he is no Mourinho.  The first will be easiest,  although very unpleasant.  He can fail utterly and retreat with his tail between his legs.  The second path to freedom will be much more difficult, and unless fortune intervenes, may never occur.  He can succeed at Chelsea, all the while enduring the endless comparisons to the Special One, until such time as the Football Gods choose to take pity and draw him opposite his old boss in a Champions League Final.  If he can then guide the Blues to victory over Mourinho and (presumably) Real Madrid, the spell will be broken and he will finally be his own man.

All I can say, is good luck with that.

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This is the Yearbook section where we will likely be accused of being Man United fans.  For Dale OD, who won’t appear in this chapter, and Jude Ellery, who will, that is unashamedly the case.  As for the rest of us, not so much.

The truth behind the façade is simply that United have a history of either developing their own or raiding other clubs for young talent and developing them into, except when it comes to Barcelona, world beaters.  The recent list of such players is headed by Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham but also includes Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, the Neville Brothers (Gary & Phil, not Aaron et al) from Carrington and Nani, Antonio Valencia, Giuseppe Rossi and Gerard Pique from elsewhere.

The next class is already beginning to reach full enrollment.  Chris Smalling and Phil Jones now look set to inherit the center back pairing from Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.  That won’t  happen for another season or two, so they won’t earn more than passing mention here.  Still, there are one or two notables who are being touted to turn heads at Old Trafford in the coming year.  Those we will run the rule over, although we promise to add a few players from other clubs, just to keep up appearances.

Enjoy.

David de Gea @ Manchester United — We might as well delve into all the Man United speculation right off the bat, as there has been plenty of it since the Champions League defeat.  Ryan Giggs, exposed for tired legs in that game, his alleged philandering, rather than mere age, a possible explanation, has gone into hiding.  Paul Scholes has retired.  Darren Fletcher has a mysterious virus.  Michael Carrick and Anderson haven’t stepped into the void with any authority and Park Ji-Sung doesn’t have the necessary communications skills to lead by anything other than example, at which, to be fair, he has excelled.  Yet, the need for some fresh blood in the middle of the pitch remains a secondary concern for Sir Alex Ferguson until he secures the successor to Edwin van der Sar between the sticks.

The allegedly £20 million purchase of Phil Jones from Blackburn will yield no fruit if the right man is not behind the nineteen-year-old when he takes his first turn in a red strip.  As well, while Jones and Smalling continue to develop their skills, Ferdinand and, to a lesser degree, Vidic’s will erode.  It’s crucial to United’s continued dominance in the Premier League that someone is there to bar the door when the inevitable slip-ups occur.

The deal hasn’t been finalised as yet but, by all accounts, de Gea is Fergie’s preferred choice.   He, too, is young, at just twenty, but the Atletico Madrid keeper is already a medalist, with his Europa League title of two seasons ago.  It can also be argued that, in a horrible season for the Rojiblancos, his play at the back was as important, if not more-so, to the success they did have than the contributions at the opposite end from Sergio Kun Aguero.  De Gea has continued to impress, with a stellar performance against England in the ongoing U21 Euros, robbed of victory with two minutes remaining by a Danny Welbeck desperation goal.

Welbeck is, like Jones and Smalling, another whose time to make an impact has not yet come, although he will likely be the second option off the bench if he is not loaned out for another season, to reap the benefits of steady playing time.

De Gea, however, once signed will be thrown into the deep end and, as ends go, the Stretford is nearly bottomless.  The young Spaniard will have to prove that he can take charge immediately and marshal a title defence in the toughest league there is. If de Gea cannot stay afloat from the outset, it could very well sink a promising career.  So then, the question is, will the impact of David de Gea’s signing by Man United be felt more acutely by the fans or by the man himself?

Pedro @ Barcelona — With Lionel Messi and David Villa ahead of him in the Blaugrana pecking order, just how is young Pedro supposed to make an impact at the Nou Camp?  Well, he’s not going to supplant Little Leo, that’s for certain.  Villa might be another matter, though.  The World Cup hero did put in eighteen goals as Lego-Man’s new sidekick last season.  Yet in even more of a supporting role, Pedro added thirteen and made his intent for 2011-12 clear by opening the scoring in the Champions League final at Wembley.

Another telling factor is that when Messi took a few knocks in the spring, Villa’s form dried up.  He was making a living from the freedom created by Messi’s distracting presence.  When Villa became the focal point for defences, it suddenly wasn’t so easy to find the target.  Much the same occurred in the World Cup, where Fernando Torres’reputation afforded the ex-Valencia threat some extra time and space.

If you think I’m disparaging Villa’s talent, I’m not.  He is a very capable striker and fits into Pep Guardiola’s scheme better than his predecessor, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. You have to ask why, though, is Pep so keen on signing Giuseppe Rossi, who won’t be happy on the bench, if Villa is all he’s cracked up to be?

Should Rossi arrive, it will put a dent in Pedro’s hopes for more playing time; yet, it’s far from a done deal.  On the other hand, if Rossi does sign and manages to supplant Villa in the first half of the season, it wouldn’t be surprising, with the imminent onset of Financial Fair play, to see Villa moved in the winter window, perhaps even re-uniting with former Valencia partner David Silva at Man City.

After all, at Barcelona, mercenaries are welcomed, typically for short visits, but loyalty and accommodation is reserved for La Masia graduates.  After six years of toiling in the reserves, Pedro’s contributions in 2010-11 should have him next in line for a permanent place in the world’s best starting eleven.

Steven Defour @ Man United (Jude Ellery) – Steven Defour to United, for £22m. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  If you’re a United supporter or secretly wish you were, you’ve heard the tale of how Fergie sent Defour get well wishes when he broke his foot in 2009.  The foot has healed and the twenty-three-year-old has continued on as captain of Standard Liege.   Now, with rumours of him coming to Old Trafford having been replaced by blockbuster innuendo regarding Wesley Sneijder, it is time for Sir Alex to consummate the courtship.

Defour is younger than the Dutchman, less expensive and well-known but is every bit his match as a leader.  Fergie is not looking for short-term fixes.  He is building the next great Manchester dynasty and the Belgian, à la Eric Cantona, will be at the heart of it.

I think I might have even spied an ‘AF 4 SD’ mural chalked on the sidewalk outside Old Trafford yesterday.  yesterday. What’s that?  No, it wasn‘t AF has STDs’.  Haters!

Jamie Ness @ Rangers (Scott Johnston) — The coming SPL season could be a really big one for Jamie Ness at Rangers. At twenty, he has been unlucky with injuries, true, but with a full pre-season under his belt, he could be ready to become a first team regular at Ibrox.

Ness made his debut last season, displaying composure beyond his years.  He keeps the ball in a way that reminds me of a young Barry Ferguson. As well, he can close opponents down and play the holding role to great effect, putting Maurice Edu’s position in the Gers squad under threat. Even better, he has a cannon for a left foot, a rarity in any league. If you have any doubts regarding his ability, I refer you to his wonderful goal against Celtic in the Scottish Cup on the 6th of February!

If Ness can escape from the looming injury cloud which has darkened his early career, there is no reason he cannot also become a first choice Scottish International. He recently made his under-21 debut and will only develop a better chemistry, with some familiar faces in the new Ibrox senior dressing room, namely Kyle Hutton, Gregg Wylde and John Fleck, also ready to cement their places in the top team.

New Rangers boss Ally McCoist has already identified Jamie’s potential and, hoping to transform the youngster into an integral member of his squad, he rewarded the midfielder a new two year contract extension, keeping the Ayrshire lad at Ibrox until 2015. There will be many new faces wearing blue this season but the young Jamie Ness will hope to stay fit and remain in the fore of his new boss’first team plans.

Romelu Lukaku @ Chelsea (Tapesh Patel – At Anderlecht, Lukaku has developed a healthy rivalry with Standard Liege and Steven Defour.  While the midfielder has quietly slipped off the continental radar, the big striker has emerged as a rising stock in a class of talented Belgian international players.  He has been linked with just about every club conceivable and dubbed as the second coming of Didier Drogba.  Over time, the 6′ 3″ teenager will only flesh out his long frame which, with his already dangerous movement and pace, doesn’t bode well for Premier League defenders.

Although he has played down the gossip without exactly quashing it altogether, by announcing that his current priorities are his final exams and getting back to training with Anderlecht, his most likely move is to Stamford Bridge, where Drogba himself might offer a few pointers on how to properly dismantle defenders.  But who would he replace? Drogba? Torres? Anelka? All of them? This is the conundrum facing the incoming Chelsea manager.

Having now dominated the Belgian league with 31 goals in two seasons, Blues fans are hoping that he has set his sights on a move to England. His stats suggest that he would make an excellent partner for Daniel Sturridge, with the young pair hastening the departure of the expensive, aging stars blocking their way.

Whether it’s Guus Hiddink, Andres Villas-Boas or a complete dark horse who assumes the reins at Chelsea, they’d be a fool not to want this young talent in their squad.

Libor Kozak @ Lazio ( Shaun Best) – No-one will argue that Lazio have managed to pull off a coup with the signing of 33-year-old front man Miroslav Klose.  It’s the kind of high-profile signing that Eagles fans were used to seeing in the ’90s, during the Sergio Cragnotti era.  With Klose now added to a frontline that includes Mauro Zarate, Giuseppe Sculli, Sergio Floccari and Tommaso Rocchi, what will become of young Czech prodigy Libor Kozak?

The 22 year-old, 6”4 inch target man was signed in 2008 from minnows SFC Opava and, after a failed loan spell at Brescia, his Serie A future looked bleak.

However, while Zarate was having his latest temper tantrum at the turn of the year, sitting out three matches for an end-of-game tirade against Bologna which concluded with the diminutive Argentine hurling the ball at an opponent, Kozak took his chance and enjoyed a purple patch.

A fortnight after contributing the winning goal against Sampdoria, Kozak bagged a brace to defeat Fiorentina. Coincidentally, the Viola just happened to be the club against which Kozak opened his Lazio account back in September.  Despite contributing just two more goals, Kozak has still shown enough to prove he belongs on the big stage. While Eagles coach Edy Reja adopted the “Chicharito” approach, calling on the big man from the bench, Czech Republic manager Michal Bilek was impressed enough to make a personal scouting trip, which in turn led to a maiden international call-up.

Due to his build and aerial threat, comparisons have already been made with former Czech legends Jan Koller and Tomas Skuhravy, along with Tottenham’s Peter Crouch. Spurs coach Harry Redknapp has reportedly has already sent scouts to watch Kozak.

While Kozak has some large shoes to fill, the bigger question now remains whether he is happy to remain a bit part player?  If his ambitions can match his size, then the sky could be the limit for Libor Kozak.

Raphael Varane @ Man United (Andrew Gibney) – The 18-year-old defender, who spent the season with now relegated French club RC Lens, will likely move to Manchester United, followed by a possible loan deal to a Ligue 1 side.  He’s another strapping lad, also 6′ 3″, and of Martiniquais descent.

While he isn’t prepared to break into United’s senior squad quite yet, write down his name on a bit a paper.  By the time he’s 20, everyone will know who he is. If you can’t wait a couple of years, here is something I wrote on the Gib Football Show back in April.

You might wonder why we haven’t nominated your favourite young star, be it Aaron Ramsey, who might be ready to tread the path blazed by Gareth Bale – and wouldn’t that be something:  a Gunner following the lead of a Tottenham man? – Michael Mancienne, starting anew again at Hamburg with the full confidence of former Chelsea youth supervisor Frank Arnesen, yet another United prospect in Tom Cleverly or someone else entirely.  The simple answer is that this post is already long enough to be nominated for a Nibbie.  The truth is that we probably never considered them.

Then again, that’s what the comments section is for!

On Thursday, keep an eye out for the ninth installment in WFC’s 2010-11 UEFA Year Book:  High-Profile Boss Most Likely To Remain Unemployed At Season’s Start.

In the meantime, you can read the previous chapters in the UEFA Yearbook by clicking on the links below.

1. Most Memorable Moments
2. Most Forgettable Moments
3. Player Not Named Messi Or Ronaldo Most Likely To Win Ballon d’Or
4. Club Most Likely to Win the 2012 Champions League
5. Club Most Likely To Spend Big Over The Summer
6. Player Most Likely To Make A Big Splash In The Summer Window
7. Manager Most Likely To Accept A High Profile Position

Enjoy!

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2010-11

Last season, there were some fairly obvious selections from which to choose in this category. In fact, their stories formed an interesting exercise in six degrees of separation.

First and foremost, there was Jose Mourinho taking over at Real Madrid.  While the Copa del Rey is not a massive achievement by the Special One’s standards, it’s difficult to argue that he didn’t make more of an impact on Europe than any other manager at a new club.  At the beginning of the season, Los Blancos took it on the chin in a 5-0 defeat against Barcelona at the Camp Nou.  After a quick start, coupled with the Catalan’s loss to lowly Hercules, the humiliating defeat burst the Madridista’s bubble and taught them exactly how much work had to be done.  To Mourinho’s credit – and discredit - the four-game series towards season’s end proved that they might still be second best but had made up significant ground.

Mourinho, of course, had left Internazionale after making them five-time defending Serie A champions, Coppa d’Italia winners and Champions League holders in his second season with the Nerazzurri.  When he left for Madrid, his old Premier League nemesis, Rafa Benitez, came along and changed all that.  Famously announcing that he would teach the treble holders to play football, he proceeded to mire them in mid-table and see them humiliated by Gareth Bale and Spurs.  During his short reign, the club was unable to either score or defend.  When he finally won the Club World Cup over African champions TP Mazembe and haughtily demanded money to spend on players to improve the club, Massimo Moratti decided that enough was enough and brought in former AC Milan boss Leonardo.

At Liverpool, Benitez was replaced by the humble and gentlemanly Roy Hodgson.  The former Fulham boss was unable to cope with the expectations of the Kop, who wanted an aggressive, entertaining squad.  Hodgson had led the Cottagers to the Europa League final by playing a cautious, reserved style, which he tried to implement at Anfield.  It didn’t suit the players, the fans or the media and soon enough – well, not for some – Woy was out and Kenny Dalglish in.  Dalglish led the club back to the threshold of Europe, making him perhaps the most successful manager of a new club in the Premier League for 2010-11.  Ironically, Hodgson would likely finish runner-up for that honour, as he was picked up by West Brom, finding a club more receptive to his philosophy.  Under him, the Baggies surged up from the drop zone to finish in eleventh, best of the three newly promoted clubs.

Outside of that daisy chain were one or two other success stories.  Massimiliano Allegri made the leap from Cagliari to AC Milan and promptly delivered the club its first Scudetto in seven years.  In Amsterdam, Frank de Boer took over for Martin Jol and led Ajax, who also hadn’t won their league since 2003-04, to the Eredivisie crown.  Then, of course, there was the comprehensive dominance of Porto, who won the Portuguese league by twenty-one points under Andres Villas-Boas.  Like his former boss, Jose Mourinho, to which he is too-often compared, Villas-Boas converted league dominance into a treble haul, by claiming the Portuguese Cup and winning the Europa League.

So, whoever steps up in the coming season will have some ways to go to match the best performances of 2010-11.  The questions are, who is the most likely to actually do it and where?

2011-12

Sam Allardyce — Okay, it’s stretching it to call a relegated side which will be competing in the Championship next season and is owned by a pair of porn merchants and their corporate dominatrix a high-profile side.  West Ham are, however, a big club.  Had they put as much effort into team building as they did securing the Olympic Stadium as the Iron’s new home, the Davids Sullivan and Gold, along with Karren Brady might still be in the Premier League as we speak.  Yet, the very spectre of the Olympic venue becoming home to a second tier side heaps added pressure on the club to return to the top flight immediately.

Enter Big Sam.  It’s fair to say that the former Blackburn boss was handed a raw deal by the Venky’s chicken purveyors who took over the Lancashire squad.  He had Rovers comfortably in the middle of the table and looking like they might push a little higher.  Instead, the new owners opted for attractive football and Steve Kean, who dragged the side into the thick of the Premier League’s most heated relegation battle ever and – just barely - back.

Under Allardyce, the Hammers will have to be refitted.  With four England Internationals, in Robert Green, Matthew Upson, Carlton Cole and especially Scott Parker, all likely to protect their Three Lions places by transferring to top flight clubs, it will be an entirely new-look squad which will be expected to dominate the Championship.  That will be a tough ask for any side, considering that Alex McLeish and Ian Holloway will be looking to pull off the same feat with Birmingham and Blackpool, respectively, and clubs such as the ever-present Cardiff and resurgent Leeds will also have something to say in the matter.

Luis Enrique — Okay, so you’re the Barcelona B coach and you’ve got players like Bojan Krkic, Jeffren Suarez, Maxwell, Adriano and Jonathan Soriano all aching to play for the first team.  When you move on to Roma, rather than waiting for Pep Guardiola not to roll over another one-year contract, it would seem that you have a convenient pipeline to bring along some decent talent with you.  Bojan and Soriano, at least, have indicated that they would like to follow their coach across the Med to the Eternal City.

With a new American owner, Lega Calcio’s first foreign top flight chairman, eager to impress in his debut season and a brashly confident young manager making some impressive boasts regarding his intent to bring tick-a-tack to offensively starved catenaccio fans, the potential is there for either spectacular success or epic failure.  Which it will be remains to be seen.

Jupp Heynckes –  Red-faced Osram, as Heynckes has been dubbed by Bundesliga fans, has been around the block several times.  He has brought lowly Tenerife into the UEFA cup, accomplished what Jose Mourinho is still attempting, by ending a thirty-two year European Cup drought for Real Madrid, and won the Intertoto Cup with Schalke.  As well, he is not the type to burn bridges, having returned for second spells at Borussia Mönchengladbach and Athletic Bilbao, with this stint as Bayern coach his third, including the caretaker shift in the wake of Juergen Klinsmann’s sacking.

Heynckes will be expected to immediately add to his two Bundesliga crowns with the Rekordmeister and why not?  Bayern have an embarrassment of riches and are adding to them, signing Energie Cottbus’ twenty-five-goal man Nils Petersen, Genoa midfielder Rafinha and Germany number one Manuel Neuer.

If Osram can’t manage the task it will be Club President Uli Hoeness who is red-faced, after repeatedly stating his regrets for sacking Heynckes in the ugly aftermath of the club offloading its expensive talent in the last season of the diminutive coach’s first term.

The Chelsea Hot Seat

Andres Villas-Boas (by Jude Ellery) – How do you say it? Voller? Villa? Viagra? However, it’s pronounced, like everyone else in Europe, Roman Abramovich will see him as the new Jose Mourinho, and, having bitched off the old one like an excess call girl at a yacht party, he’ll sign him up to take over from Carlo Ancelotti.   And, worse than Mourinho, he’ll saddle him with not one but two injury prone superstars, in Fernando Torres and my pick from Sunday’s mega-transfer edition, Kaka.  The question is can a young manager come in and teach a bunch of spoilt veterans to dance to a new tune?  If not then look for …

Guus Hiddink — Whenever a Chelsea manager is sacked or it seems imminent, which pretty much means first thing every morning, Guus Hiddink is the man pipped to take over.  The only problem is that the Dutchman is as reluctant to take the post as you or I would be to be shot out of a cannon – put your hand down, I’m not talking to you, Jude.  It’s no wonder, either, when you look at the experiences of Avram Grant, Phil Scolari and Carlo Ancelotti.  Cannon fodder, indeed.

Once again, the Dutchman’s ‘friend’, Roman Abramovich, is wheedling him into taking the job and, as always, Guus is trying to find a way to turn him down gently, which, while difficult to do, is the only way to say no to Russian billionaires with shady pasts.

Yet, if Hiddink is finally made an offer that he can’t refuse, he’ll at least have a loaded deck, Kaka or no Kaka.  His first challenge will be to restore Fernando Torres’passion for the game, and if he does, find playing time for Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Daniel Sturridge.  Beyond that, he’ll have to consider that both John Terry and Frank Lampard are slowing down and their leadership, more importantly than their talent, will need to be replaced.  Finally, he’ll need to keep in contact with the fringe teams who qualify for the Euros as, if things don’t go exactly to plan, he may have plenty of time on his hands come spring.

Avram Grant (Andrew Gibney) – There will be at least one established Premier League team which will have a slow start to the season.   They will go five or six games without a win and sack their manager. Coming in his place will be the relegation specialist himself – Avram Grant. Of course his record will be scrutinised but it will be the Chelsea success which will lure another hopeful fool.  And, of course, the team he manages will go down and again everyone will question why on earth anyone ever employs him? It happened in 2009 with Pompey and in 2010 with West Ham.  Whoever it is in 2012 doesn’t matter, it will be a case of rinse, lather, repeat.

The Usual Suspects —  As well as Grant, there are a handful of other names which will be circulated for vacancies in both the Premier League and the Championship.  Chris Hughton did unexpectedly well in bringing Newcastle back up with ease and was continuing his good work before he was unceremoniously dumped.  He remains my nomination to step in for Davey Jones at Cardiff.

Roy Keane is also looking for work, after the highlight of his turn with Ipswich Town was persuading FIFA to ban the snood.  Another Irishman, Martin O’Neill, is being a good little girl and saving himself for just the right job.  Gordon Strachan, Roberto di Matteo and even David O’Leary are also still available, plus there is the inevitable Sven watch, even though the former England boss seems fully committed to Leicester.

Who will assume the reins at Aston Villa remains a mystery, though.  Thus far, CEO Paul Faulkner and Chairman Randy Lerner have been unimpressed by the likes of Mark Hughes and Steve McLaren.  On the other hand big names from abroad, such as Louis van Gaal and Carlo Ancelotti haven’t even been mooted.  It would seem that Lerner wants someone on the cheap.

With that in mind, there is one unusual suspect who may have just entered the frame…

Bryan Robson – Could the former United captain be up for the Villa post after his self-imposed exile in Thailand ended badly?

Like Avram Grant at Chelsea, Robson had a great start to his managerial career, winning Middlesbrough the then Division One title and promotion into the Premier League.  Also like the Israeli, every job since has been a disaster.  With Grant, there was no money at Pompey and very little at West Ham but the manager was at least lauded for his pragmatism, acceptance of responsibility and innate class.  Robson, on the other hand called out both his players and the fans repeatedly in the media, burning bridges with frustrated chairmen at every stop.

Robson’s record as a player for both club and country make him a household name, however.  Thus, desperate clubs will always consider him, gaining some publicity from his notoriety and hoping that he can rediscover the formula which worked so well at Boro.  The timing of his resignation from Thailand may be, like Mark Hughes, ‘coincidental’but don’t be surprised if he pops up in Claret and Blue this summer.

The Cavalry — Both Italy and Spain are famous for being impatient with their managers.  Palermo’s Maurizio Zamparini even fired and rehired Delio Rossi during the just completed campaign, that despite the club maintaining a firm position in the top half of the table.  Yet, with idealistic young managers installed at Roma (Luis Enrique) and Juventus (Antonio Conte), both subject to high expectations and Michael Laudrup at Real Mallorca needing to improve on his seventeenth-place freshman season, there will be several of the old guard ready to step in to pick up the pieces in mid-season, should the need arise.

In Italy, those names include Delio Rossi and former Roma and Juve bosses Claudio Ranieri and Luigi del Neri.  As well, if Leonardo gets off to a poor start in his first full season, Massimo Moratti may pick up the phone and beg either Louis van Gaal or Carlo Ancelotti to cut their sabbatical short.

In Spain, Gregorio Manzano keeps qualifying clubs for the Europa League and getting sacked for his efforts.  Sooner or later, he’s bound to find a grateful club, one would hope.  Another name that might turn up, if the club in question has any potential, is Rafa Benitez.   The combustible Spaniard has had enough time to realise that he needs to start all over to restore any major club’s interest in him.

It could be worse, though.  Rafa could be exiled to the managerial desert, coaching in the Emirates against the likes of Tony Adams and Diego Maradona.

On Tuesday, keep an eye out for the eighth installment in WFC’s 2010-11 UEFA Year Book:  Young Player Most Likely To Impress At A Big Club.

In the meantime, you can read the previous chapters in the UEFA Yearbook by clicking on the links below.

1. Most Memorable Moments
2. Most Forgettable Moments
3. Player Not Named Messi Or Ronaldo Most Likely To Win Ballon d’Or
4. Club Most Likely to Win the 2012 Champions League
5. Club Most Likely To Spend Big Over The Summer
6. Player Most Likely To Make A Big Splash In The Summer Window

Enjoy!

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Big Ro and Manny may be the last of the Big Time Spenders, when it comes to player transfers.  That’s because Mickey Blue Eyes has laid down the law.  Okay, okay, so Michel Platini has brown eyes. Geez, you can’t get away with anything, anymore.

That is the point behind this chapter of the UEFA Yearbook, however.  UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules will likely kill off the mega-transfer deal and this is the last window where teams will be able to spend big.  So, expect the summer to be full of big name transfers.

At the writing, Liverpool had already coughed up £20 million plus David Ngog for Sunderland’s Jordan Henderson, Manchester United were strongly linked to Blackburn’s Phil Jones, allegedly for £16 million and Bayern Munich spent most of the spring negotiating an €18 million deal with Schalke for Manuel Neuer.  As well, Miroslav Klose has moved to Lazio on a free transfer and Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler will be heading from Udinese to Napoli, after a €20 million fee was agreed by the clubs.

Why will this be the last free-spending window?  After all, UEFA has no say in the business of individual leagues.  Technically, teams can invest as they see fit.

The catch is that, beginning in the 2013-14 season, a club’s balance sheet will have to virtually free of loss in order to receive a license to play in Europe.  In 2018, no team with a negative profit will be permitted to play in the Champions or Europa Leagues.  Up until now, as Real Mallorca discovered to their regret, administration was the only thing that could keep you out of Europe.  Eligibility for 2013-14, though, will be determined by a club’s 2011-12 and 2012-13 balance sheets and a losing record won’t do.  So, if any manager is desperate for a player, this is the last chance to get him before the long arm of the law bars the way.

Extravagant Chairmen are going to have to find something else to throw at their problems.

The idea behind the initiative is not only to promote fiscal responsibility but to close the gap between big and small clubs, making the continental competitions all the more difficult and unpredictable.  If a Roman Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour want a marquee player in the future, they’ll have to carefully consider how much they’re willing to spend.  If they bid too high, they might not earn the revenues to cover the cost and, thus, would be denied a license to compete in the Champions or Europa League for the coming season.  Meanwhile, if a smaller club, such as Palermo, would like to hold on to an eagerly sought after player, say Javier Pastore, they can set a price which will truly discourage any interested buyers.   Of course, Maurizio Zamparini has been doing that, loudly, every week for the entire 2010-11 season, so maybe the Rosanero were a poor example.

Critics of Platini’s legislation complain that the big clubs, with larger stadiums and far more lucrative sponsorships will still be able to outspend their lesser cousins and subsequently be permanently locked into the top spots.  As well, there is the Bosman rule to consider.  If a player wants to move, he can refuse to play and the club may be forced to accept the best offer they can get.   The rich will get richer and the poor will rue the day they supported Mickey Brown Eyes’candidacy.

So, which clubs will be getting in their last licks this summer?  The cracked WFC staff is here with a short list of the most likely suspects.

Internazionale

Simply put, Massimo Moratti will not be happy with finishing eight points behind his noisy neighbours AC Milan.  After struggling for decades to get the upper hand on the Rossoneri and Juventus, a five-year run at the top of Serie A, replete with a Champions League title, actually seems too short a time to the proud Inter President.

I predict millions of Euros being handed to the manager, who it appears will be Leonardo – the Coppa d’Italia seemingly enough to warrant his being given a full season in charge.   Nothing less than a Scudetto will be acceptable in 2011-12, however.

As with Chelsea, Inter’s Mourinho leftovers are getting older, especially on the back line, although thirty-seven-year-old Javier Zanetti looks fit enough to outlast Ryan Giggs.  Maicon, while just 29, was badly exposed by Gareth Bale, and then Robinho and Antonio Cassano in the past campaign.  The health of Lucio and Walter Samuel, both thirty-three, are question marks and Marco Materazzi, thirty-seven, will surely not be sitting at the end of the bench, dreaming up new pranks, for yet another season.

There is also the question of whether they’ll be able to keep mid-field wizard Wesley Sneijder from Manchester United’s clutches.  If they don’t, the attack-minded Leonardo will be desperate to fill the gap immediately.

Knowing the shenanigans that go on in Italy, Inter will find a way around the Fair Play rules, but to be ‘fair’does anyone actually understand them? That will be Moratti’s excuse anyway. – Andrew Gibney

Olympique Lyonnais

Looking at the Ligue 1 table, Lyon haven’t had that bad a season. However, another campaign devoid of trophies has definitely annoyed chairman Jean-Michel Aulas, even if he won’t openly admit it.  If you think Massimo Moratti is greedy for not being satisfied by a five-year run, Les Gones’seven-year French dynasty positively spoilt their chairman.  This means that departures (and arrivals) this summer are all but certain.

Manager Claude Puel, who has already stated that he may move, could be the first to go, after a poor three-year record with the former champions. If he is sacked, he may be followed through the exit door by some of his unhappy stars, such as Michel Bastos, who is linked with a move to Serie A.

This may add to the existing holes in the squad but, luckily for OL supporters, Aulas’deep pockets don’t seem to have any. Lisandro Lopez, Yoann Gourcuff and Bastos himself have all commanded sizeable fees in recent years, so I’d back a similar, likely more intense, raid of opposing Ligue 1 clubs by Aulas in the coming weeks. – Tapesh Patel

I’ll start by admitting I don’t really know what the FIFA Fair Play Initiative is, or whether that’s even its proper title. Nor do I have any desire to find out. As me mum’s