Another 4 teams went home today, there was a injury time winner, a nail biting finish and two favourites that will meet in the Last 16, another great day in the World Cup. I managed to watch the full Ghana v Germany game, first half of England v Slovenia and the highlights of the other 2 games.

MY THOUGHTS

Overall a much better performance for England, Capello would hope there is more to come from his men, from what I saw in the first half they played the best football they have so far, there was 10-15 really good minutes around the time of the goal, but then towards the end of the first half they were reverting to the long ball again and this is what causing England problems cause they then sit back, from the highlights in the second half, Slovenia never troubled England properly till the last 2/3 minutes and no clear cut chances.

Disappointing performance from Slovenia, Birsa looked busy as did Kirm, the front two failed to connect, and Suler was caught out for Defoe’s goal, Radosavljevic was decent in the middle the player who does the dirty work in midfield, and Handanovic made some fantastic saves, especially the save from Rooney’s chance.

Losts of good performances from England, Defoe started sharp, Gerrard was better on the left this time, Rooney did ok but still not as sharp as the English would like, 3 players that stood out were the defensive pairing of Upson and Terry they were terrific, some last ditch tackles, hearts on the sleeve kind of stuff, without their passion Slovenia may have had some more chances. and James Milner was quality, playing some lovely teasing balls in the box, one for the goal, nice to see him return to form after his bad 30 minutes against the USA, he bounced back with style and should keep his place.

England through to the last 16 more on who they’ll face later.

MY THOUGHTS

Only seen the highlights of this one so impossible to comment on performances, but what can you say about this USA team, lost a goal against England after 3 minutes and came back, went 2-0 down against Slovenia and came back and now with a place in the last 16 beckoning it took to the 91 ^st minute and a never give up attitude for the US to advance, Donovan following in Altidore’s shot and he placed the rebound past M’Bolhi.

After the shocking decision to disallow the goal against Slovenia, when Dempsey’s goal was chalked off for offside in the first half maybe the Americans had it in their mind that it wasn’t to be their day, if they did think that it didn’t show it, Bradley charging forward from midfield, Dempsey and Donovan combining and I think they deserved the goal and to go through, although at Slovenia’s expense, they will hope to not have to wait to the 91 ^st minute for a goal the next game.

MY THOUGHTS

Really enjoyable game this, very open some really nice football, shocked it finished 1-0 with the amount of counter attacking football and near chances we saw, with Ghana needing at least a draw to go through, they really tried hard Annan who has really impressed me controlled the midfield always got time on the ball and very smart with the ball, Boateng and Asamoah were busy in midfield always trying to find space and nearly breached the German defence at times, Asamoah Gyan was the main man again and should have at least scored, great movement, great strength, great awareness, just lacked that composure upfront that they need as an attacking threat.

Germany continued their impressive attack minded football, always finding space, there was always movement off the ball, maybe lacked the danger of Klose up front, Lahm was a general tonight, clearing off the line, charging his team forward a true captains performance, Khedira and Schweinsteiger were sold and dealt well with Ghana’s threat caught out at times though, the defence still looks shaky to me and will come under sterner tests, however the attacking options will cause any team problems, with the wing play of Podolski and Muller accompanied with Mesut Ozil’s guile/skill and wisdom above his years, teams will be scared to play Germany and so they should.

Germany’s reward for winning the group will be a Last 16 tie with arch-rivals England, and what a game that could be.

MY THOUGHTS

The goals were played during the Germany game, and it looked a half decent game when Cahill opened the scoring, the 2 ^nd goal by Holman a nice bouncing 30 yard strike gave the Aussies hope and a goal in either game and they’d have been through, but the 2-1 defeat of Serbia eliminated both teams from the Group Stage, once Pantelic scored Serbia only need a goal to advance, and they had one ruled off for offside, anda  massive chance for Pantelic at the end where he could have done better, not many clips of Australia troubling the Serbians late on, so it was a good result for Ghana as they then qualify for a game against Greece

Ghana will face the Usa on Saturday for a place in the quarter finals, the winners play the winner of Uruguay v South Korea and one of these four smaller nations will advance to the Semi’s, gotta take one game at a time.

There is no doubt what the media over here will be focusing on in the papers tomorrow however there was 2 other games played today, one was a cracker and the other a shock result, really glad the World Cup has picked up the 2 ^nd stage of games have been really exciting.

MY THOUGHTS:

Lots of expectations on the German team today, after the impressive 4-0 win over Australia and the Serbian team had lots of questions against them after a poor performance against Ghana, so everyone could only foresee one result, and of course as this World Cup proved, things don’t always go according to plan, Germany were in control until Klose picked up his second yellow card, he was sent off and soon after Serbia hit on the break and scored, apart from the Penalty that Podolski scored Germany never really troubled the Serbians and the number of people backing Deutschland will have decreased rapidly.

Milos Krasic had a great game for Serbia, much like the player being tracked by Juventus and Man City, charging down the right-wing putting in dangerous crosses and he was just a constant threat to Babstuber and the German defence, Jovanovic was busy on the left and always showing a desire to get into the box, Zigic was disappointing, apart from the knock-down for the goal he did nothing, and showed no desire to go after the ball. Subotic and Vidic were pretty solid all of the game, apart from Vidic’s crazy moment when he raised his hands and touched the ball.

Serbia showed signs of life but they were more content in stopping Germany play than actually going on to dominate the game themselves, however unless Australia improve Serbia could have 6 points and no display of great football, worrying times for football.

The Germans started pretty well, the passing and moving was there, Ozil the conductor, with Muller and Podolski on the wings, but when Klose got sent off there was no spearhead to finish off the attack, I thought Muller worked really hard today, he never stopped running on the right wing, and tried as much as he can to bring Germany back level, he showed good pace and skill, but lacked support.

Apart from losing the game the one disappointing part for Germany was when Marin and Cacau came on, they added nothing to the German team, for the 20 minutes they were on no chances were created, this will worry Low and the German fans.

MY THOUGHTS:

What a game this was, probably the game of the tournament so far a talented Slovenian team that had a fantastic start but then spirit and commitment of the American team provided a great comeback and possibly deserved the victory which was stolen away by a poor referee decision.

Was impressed with Slovenia’s start much better than the game against Algeria, Ljubijankic caused trouble from the start not just in the air but his pace got in behind the US backline, Robert Koren had a very quiet match and it was up to Valter Birsa to step up to the plate, received the ball in the middle of the pitch turned it onto his left foot and curled a beautiful ball past Howard in net, a lovely goal and a great way to kick off the game, and they finished the half off superbly Novakovic slipped a ball through to Ljubijankic and he coolly placed the ball past Howard, Slovenia were on place to Qualify to the last 16, but the USA weren’t quite beat yet.

Bradley made 2 changes at half time bringing on Edu and Feilhaber and they couldn’t have gotten off to a better start with Donovan pushed upfront he latched onto the ball and raced toward the Slovenian goal and he smashed the ball past Handanovic, Donovan played much better on the frontline giving him more chance to be effective on the ball and caused more damage.

Coach Bradley’s son Michael played fantastically well, he was the driving force behind the US comeback and he got his deserved goal, charging forward from midfield and poking Altidore’s knock down past Handanovic, Altidore was a thorn in the Slovenians side, winning a lot of knockdowns, sometimes not using his power and speed as well as he could, but his aerial presence cause problems all game.

Now the US has to beat Algeria to have any chance of reaching the last 16, we know they can score goals but I have question marks over if they can keep a clean sheet.

MY THOUGHTS:

I’m going to start this the way most newspapers won’t Algeria impressed me tonight, great passing and moving a calm and controlled feeling to their game, if only they had a striker that could produce a great run or clinical finish.

Bougherra, Yahia and Halliche were imperial at the back any time an England player took a bad touch they were on it in a flash and stopped Rooney and co have any loose balls to punish them, Ryad Boudebouz was a surprise starter and the Sochaux midfielder played very well, his skill and ability shone through, first touch was brilliant and looks to have so much potential, Ziani and Belhadj ran themselves to the ground, Ziani was superb and was a shame he had to come off with an injury, apart from all Belhadj’s running it was a shame he couldn’t put a decent cross in.

After this performance Algeria will give USA a great game on Wednesday, and who knows a win and some goals could pull off a miracle and a place in the last 16.

A truly awful performance from England, not one player to pick out for a positive reason, no passion, no desire, no work ethic, one of the worst performances for heart and desire I’ve ever watched for an England team, I am the first person who wants them to fail, but usually they go down with a fight, Rooney one of the so called “best players in the world” was terrible, his first touch was garbage all game, never linking up with any of his teammates, Gerrard was asked to play on the left but he was continually found in the middle even on the right, leaving too much space on the opposite, I can’t believe England can play that bad again, and would expect them to play better on Wednesday.

Fabio Capello will receive lots of stick in the forthcoming days about his player selection, his tactics also his methods, I think Englands performances are to blame for part of the performance, but the players have to be to blame, Rooney’s attitude after the game was awful, those fans paid lots of money to travel to Cape Town etc to watch their team play and to have an attitude against them for voicing their concerns, Rooney should be ashamed of himself and should issue an apology, lots of things will have to change before Wednesday.

Two of the big guns played today and with mixed results, the big winner today was the Korea’s a great result against Greece, followed by Argentina’s slim 1 -0 victory over Nigeria, in a game that could have been 4-0 or 1-1, then England stepped up and failed to deliver the result their thousands of fans beleived was due to them, drawing 1-1 with the United States

SOUTH KOREA 2 GREECE 0

SOUTH KOREA: 18 Jung Sung-Ryong - 12 Lee Young-Pyo, 4 Cho Yong-Hyung, 14 Lee Jung-Soo, 22 Cha Du-Ri - 19 Yeom Ki-Hun, 17 Lee Chung-Yong, 8 Kim Jung-Woo, 16 Ki Sung-Yong, 7 Park Ji-Sung – 10 Park Cho Young
Subs - 5 Kim Nam-Il on for Ki Sung-Yueng (74mins), 11 Lee Seung-Yeoul on for Park Chu-Young (87mins), 13 Kim Jae-Sung on for Lee Chung-Yong (90+mins)

GREECE: 12 Tzorvas – 2 Seitaridis, 8 Papadopoulos, 6 Tziolis, 15 Torosidis – 11 Vyntra, 21 Katsouranis, 10 Karagounis – 7 Samaras, 9 Charisteas, 17 Gekas
Subs – 4 Patsatzoglou on for Karagounis (46mins), 14 Salpingidis on for Samaras (59mins), 20 Kapetanos on for Charisteas (61mins)

Goals - Lee Jung-Soo 7′ (1-0), Park Ji-Sung 52′ (2-0)

MY THOUGHTS:

An entertaining game to start the day, the impressive Koreans started very brightly, Ki whipped in a good free-kick after 7 minutes that missed everyone apart from the centre back Lee he appeared unmarked at the back post to make it 1-0, then the very busy Park Ji-Sung stole the ball in midfield and ran through to place the ball past Tzorvas and the Koreans held on after a bit of Greek pressure near the end, a great start to their tournament.

The centre backs for Korea Cho and Lee did very well against all the high balls the Greeks threw at them, Right Back Cha was tireless in running down the right flank troubled Torosidis all game until he was replaced, the Koreans controlled the midfield the trio of Park, Ki and Kim ran the show, Ki never lost the ball once, and Park was the spark of class the team needed, Bolton’s Lee was quiet on the wing, one player that was fantastic was Park Cho-Young he worked the Greek centre backs all game was superb in the air, the myth that Koreans are small is gone Ki, Yeom, Kim and Park are all 6 feet tall, and Park played even taller winning nearly every ball in the air.

Really enjoyed the Koreans style of football, nice one touch passing, pace and really just doing the simple things well, ineresting to see how they match up against the Nigerians.

The Greek team will need to step up increidbly fast if they want to progress in this tournament 16 years ago they left USA ’94 without scoring a goal, and you could see it happening again, tough games against Argentina and Nigeria could prove extremly tough, the tactics just didn’t work, 2 big men on the wings and not a lot of pace in midfield, Samaras and Charisteas were awful the game plan seemed to be long balls up to the front men, but I can’t remember them winning one ball, Gekas was a non entity, and Karagounis didn’t show the creativity he is known for.

The only life they showed is when Salpingidis and Patsatzoglou came on and they showed more creatvity down the left and maybe left a little bit of hope for Rehaggel for the next match, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was 3 or 4 changes for their next match, god knows they need it.

ARGENTINA 1 NIGERIA 0

ARGENTINA: 22 Romero – 17 Gutierrez, 2 Demichelis, 13 Samuel, 6 Heinze – 14 Mascherano, 8 Veron, 7 Di Maria – 11 Tevez, 10 Messi, 9 Higuain
Subs – 20 M.Rodriguez on for Veron (74mins), 19 D.Milito on for Higuain (79mins), 4 Burdisso on for Di Maria (85mins)

NIGERIA: 1 Enyeama – 17 Odiah, 2 Yobo, 6 Shittu, 3 Taiwo – 20 Etuhu, 15 Haruna, 14 Kaita, 19 Obasi – 19 Obinna, 8 Yakubu
Subs – 9 Martins on for Obinna (52mins), 11 Odemwingie on for Obasi (60mins), 12 Uche on for Taiwo (75mins)

Goals - Heinze 6′ (1-0)

MY THOUGHTS:

Not the scoreline the Argentines would have hoped for but 3 points is 3 points, this game could easily have been 3 or 4 nil, but as long as the game went on the Nigerians looked just as likely to pull out a equaliser, for Argentina there was some good performances but also signs they are not as strong as the fans would hope, Messi looked in the mood, picking up the ball in space and attacking the Nigerian defence, only 2 great saves from Enyeama stopped him opening his World Cup account, in this form though his time will come.

Mascherano and Veron were superb, controlling the game, breaking up everything that Nigeria tried to create, Veron showing his passing abilities are still at their peak, Di Maria did well when he got the ball but wasn’t used enough, just didn’t seem to get involved enough, Tevez and Messi linked up really well, and created quite a few chances for Higuain who surely on another day he would have put them away.

For as well as Argentinas attacking players played the defence seemed suspect, Gutierrez looks vulnerable his positioning needs to improve, Samuel and Demichelis could be troubled by attackers with pace and purpose, and Romero is yet to be tested.

Nigeria’s best player by far was Goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, pulled out about 4 fantastic saves, 2 top notch saves from Lionel Messi, in the first half Nigeria struggled to get going the inexperience of Haruna and Kaita got overrun with Argentinas 4-3-3 and the front 2 of Yakubu and Obinna were isolated, Lagerback made a great decision in the second half bringing on Peter Odemwingie and it changed Nigeria’s play completely adding pace and composure to the attack, after his performance I’m sure he will start the next game, sub Uche had a great chance to equalise but just went over the bar.

Nigeria need to start their next game better if they are going to make the second round, they have the tools to win, it’s just whether they put it together or not.

ENGLAND 1 U N I T E D S T A T E S 1

ENGLAND: 12 Green – 2 Johnson, 6 Terry, 20 King, 3 A.Cole – 7 Lennon, 8 Lampard, 4 Gerrard – 21 Heskey, 10 Rooney
Subs - 17 Wright-Phillips on for Milner (31mins), 18 Carragher on for King (46mins),  9 Crouch on for Heskey (79mins)

UNITED STATES: 1 Howard – 6 Cherundolo, 5 Onyewu, 15 DeMerit, 3 Bocanegra – 8 Dempsey, 4 Bradley, 13 Clark, 10 Donovan – 20 Findley, 17 Altidore
Subs – 14 Edso Buddle on for Findley (77mins), 11 Holden on for Altidore (86mins)

Goals – Gerrard 3′ (1-0 ENG), Dempsey 41′ (1-1 USA)

MY THOUGHTS:

The big game of the day, the two top teams in Group C battling out for the advantage in the group, England of course the favourites couldn’t have started out any better a great move between Rooney, Heskey into the captain Gerrard and he finished calmly past Howard, everyone including myself expected England to charge on after a great start, wasn’t the case though England stood back and let the US come onto them, Milner got caught out on the right a few times by Cherundolo and after receiveng an early yellow, Capello had no choice but to remove him, then the massive moment that changed the game Dempsey hit a speculative shot looked easy for Green to collect but somehow the ball spilled off Green’s arm and into the net.

Gerrard really steppd up for England, playing with the captain’s armband, charging forward at all times Gerrard’s good play seemed to keep Lampard quiet not his best game, surprisingly Emile Heskey was one of the other best players in the game, holding up the ball very well, had a couple of chances that he could have scored but over all he was pretty good, Lennon and Johnson were good down the right, both troubling the American team with their pace, and provided quite a few crosses that could have easily have counted.

Overall I am against all the negativity headed towards the England team, they created quite a few chances if I was an England fan, you’ve got to think on other day it could have been 3 or 4 and if they create the same against Algeria or Slovenia they will have no problems, Green’s place is looking shakey now, and King’s injury will see Upson come in, and maybe also the inclusion of Gareth Barry this might change the side too much, will be interesting come Friday.

The USA played very well at times, started off looking very nervous and the goal would not have helped their nerves, Clark fell asleep for the goal, however he and Bradley managed to play better throughout the game in the middle, Donovan was their best player playing some great balls in the box and creating some chances too, I was surprised that Robbie Findley started up front with Altidore, Buddle was the striker in form but Findley picked for his incredible pace, and at times he troubled the back line and nearly got inbehind a few times.

Cherundolo had a great first half, terrorising Milner till he got booked and had to come off, Wright-Phillips kept him busier in the 2nd half and pinned him back, Jozy Altidore had 2 great chances to score, one from a Donovan cross where he should have done better, only managing to glance a header past the post, then he beat Carragher for pace and only a great save from Rob Green which tipped the ball off the post kept the scores level.

A great point for the US they will fancy themselves to go on and win at least 1 of the other 2 games, and show more attacking prowess, however they will remeber the night they took a point of one of the favourites in Rustenberg.

Thought I’d post my thoughts on the big name teams trying to win the World Cup.

SPAIN - Most people’s favourites no doubt influenced by winning Euro 2008, very strong team, Villa and Torres upfront, Silva, Xavi, Iniesta in the middle, surprised that Marcos Senna wasn’t picked; he gave that defensive solidity to the midfield. The problem Spain could face is if players get suspended or injured, but they are surely a lock on for the Semi-Finals.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Although he won’t start I feel if JESUS NAVAS gets a chance he could terrify defences in South Africa, really good player, great impact player.

BRAZIL - “too defensive” “weak squad” I’ve heard those quotes load in the last week, sometimes from myself, although I don’t agree with Dunga’s selections or tactics, he is getting the job done. Robinho has been a better player for Brazil than club, Solid midfield, problem seems to be if his 4-4-2 doesn’t work there’s no Plan B, and the substitute strikers don’t strike fear the way Ronaldo does. They will advance through the Group Stage but Quarter Finals may be the furthest they will go.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Not a natural defender but MICHEL BASTOS seems to be Dunga’s pick for Brazil’s left back, superb for Lille in France last season, then moved to Lyon, played well in the League and Champions League, amazing left foot, very powerful shot, good crosser, could be a surprise in store for some teams.

ARGENTINA - All the talent to win the world cup but the management casts doubts over their chances, with players of Messi, Tevez, Higuain, Milito and Aguero, Argentina boost probably the most talented forward that will be in South Africa, Maradona has struggled to bring the best out of probably the best player in the world just now in Leo Messi, maybe the big stage will magnify his greatness, how do keep 5 talented forwards happy.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Everyone will concentrate on the forwards but I will be interested to see how NICOLAS OTAMENDI will perform in SA, great for Estudiantes can play at Right Back but more comfortable in the centre, capable of providing the defensive cover to help Argentina attack freely.

FRANCE - Never a team to underestimate, I will be very interested to see how they line up in their first match, Will Ribery be fit, surely Henry can’t start, Gignac has underperformed, maybe Cisse, he is the striker on form. Rumours that for the first time Domenech won’t play with 2 Defensive mids, Interesting reading, I can’t make a call on them, my thoughts are they will be great or rubbish, Quarter-Finals at least, if Ribery can perform like he does for Bayern they could do some damage.

PLAYER TO WATCH : I am not sure how well know YOAN GOURCUFF is outside of people who follow French football, he has played in the Champions League so people will know the name, but this guy is a superb football, He has magic in those boots, passing, dribbling, and he can score, probably the closest France will have to a Zidane, Yoan has the ability to pick teams apart, quality player.

GERMANY - As everyone always says, “never count out the Germans” I however think they will struggle this time, the top strikers aren’t as good as they used to be, the form strikers are Cacau and Muller and they are untested, no Ballack and other midfield injuries weakens them, I don’t think they will get past the Quarter-Finals, watch them win it all now.

PLAYER TO WATCH: With Ballack out the squad the responsibility will be on SAMI KHEDIRA to boss the midfield for Germany, a player with great potential who has come through the ranks of Stuttgart and shown leadership qualities for his club, a name people won’t know but come the end of the 2010 World Cup I would hope more people will.

ITALY - There has been very little talk of the Holders retaining their title, I don’t think one person I have asked/spoke to/read about, has picked the Italians, Solid midfield and defence, my question is Who is going to step up and put the ball in the net, Di Natale not proven at this level although a fantastic record for Udinese, Pazzini could be a star, Goals will be the problem

PLAYER TO WATCH: Very underrated in the UK but loved in Italy DANIELE DE ROSSI is a midfield powerhouse, can do everything, works tirelessly for his club and country, and he could be the force that drives Italy to the Semi Finals

HOLLAND – Always good to watch and will of course entertain, such a great attacking side, how do you fit – Van Persie, Kuyt, Robben, Sneijder, and van der Vaart in the same team, solid midfield anchors in de Jong and van Bommel, the one thing for me that will be their downfall is the defence, not up to the same standard as the front line, van der Wiel is exciting but untested at this level, and van Bronckhorst isn’t getting any older.

PLAYER TO WATCH: One player I really am excited to see is GREGORY VAN DER WIEL very talented Ajax right back, started at CB but van Basten changed him to a full back, has suspect behaviour issues, but he is one of the brightest talents in Dutch football

ENGLAND – Always hard for me to give an unbiased view being Scottish, I will try though, if Capello can get the best players playing at their potential, England could go all the way, however there is issues e.g.: can Gerrard and Lampard play effectively together, Glen Johnson is weak defensively, how can anyone justify a starting spot for Emile Heskey apart from that Rooney likes him, personally 4-5-1 suits them better, with Gerrard off Rooney, on their day they can beat anyone, once past the group stages they need 4 of those days, minimum will be the Semi-Finals

PLAYER TO WATCH: Although the left side has always been a problem for England the right-side has not, AARON LENNON is one of the most talented wingers in the EPL, superb pace, final ball is improving and with Rooney’s new found ability to head the ball, and this could cause endless problems to England’s opponents.

There we go 8 teams that will make up the majority of everyone’s favourites, I would be shocked if the winner was not one of those team, there will be a few shocks here and there as there always is, but surely one of the minnows can’t go all the way…..can they!

There is nothing that makes me love football more, than when you watch a player for the first time and think he’s gonna be great and 5-10 years later when he is you think back on when you first watched him, I love it.

The 2 examples that stick out for me are Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, ever since 1994 I have loved Brazil it was Romario and Bebeto that started the love affair and two Ronnies just increased my love of Samba football. I first saw Ronaldo playing in the Atlanta Olympics, funnily enough he had Ronaldinho on the back of his shirt, I had remembered seeing him celebrate the 94 World Cup but never played, then he stood out to me in Atalanta and we all know how good he became, only the greatest goal scorer in World Cup history.

Ronaldinho was a special find also, I was watching a youth tournament on Eurosport, I can’t remember what year or if it was u17 or 19, Brazil were playing and there was this little bald midfielder who was destroying their opponents then he got a Free Kick and bent it over the wall past the goalkeeper, on the back of his shirt he wore the #7 and his name was RONALDO that name made me take notice and he was superb, then years later when PSG signed the player we knew as Ronaldinho I looked at him and the face was unforgettable it was him.

Yesterday saw the final of the European U17 championships and England picked up the trophy beating Spain 2-1,I didn’t get a chance to see any of the game luckily I found a great article this morning, UEFA’s commitee have picked out 10 players to watch out for so I thought I would share it on here. These are names I will definitely be looking out for, I would hope you would too.

Jack Butland (goalkeeper, England)
On the bench for England’s first two wins, Butland replaced Samuel Johnstone for the Turkey encounter with his team through. The tall Birmingham City FC keeper’s performance was so impressive, he retained his place and aided England to victory as they held on to beat Spain 2-1 in the final.

Tiago Ferreira (defender, Portugal)
FC Porto’s Ferreira combined superbly in central defence with Tobias Figueiredo and Portugal conceded only three goals in the whole finals, two of them late on against Spain when Rui Bento’s side had to chase a big win. Being schooled by Bento, no mean defender himself, is an added plus.

Mattia Desole (defender, Switzerland)
Left-back Desole already has a reputation – FC Internazionale Milano signed him from Grasshopper-Club in June 2008 – and although injury-hit Switzerland struggled in three defeats, Desole looked the equal of his opponents having already featured in his nation’s fine defensive performance in the elite round.

Konstantinos Rougkalas (defender, Greece)
Up front, captain Dimitrios Diamantakos, the hero in qualifying, was dominant for Greece but they mainly impressed in defence, conceding only once against England and holding the Czech Republic 0-0. Olympiacos FC player Rougkalas was a solid presence in a well-drilled backline.

Tomáš Kalas (Czech Republic)
The Czech Republic too had an impressive defence. Although Filip Twardzik made a costly slip against Turkey, the Celtic FC centre-back bolstered his reputation while alongside him Kalas did a sterling job, though a red card against Greece ended his tournament early.

Taşkın Çalış (winger, Turkey)
There was plenty of focus on three-goal Turkey captain Artun Akçakin but he was aided in his task by VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach winger Taşkın. It was the No7′s clever deep corner that helped put Turkey briefly ahead against England and Taşkın also equalised in the semi-final with Spain, though his side were to lose 3-1.

Abdoulaye Doucouré (midfielder, France)
Turkey’s fellow beaten semi-finalists France had a talented team, including Yaya Sanogo up front and another tall player, Paul Pogba, in midfield. Stade Rennais FC’s Doucouré has a lower profile than that pair, but proved a real prospect, showing great skill and coolness to set up Pogba to give France hope in their semi-final loss to England.

Gerard (forward, Spain)
In Gerard and Jesé Rodríguez, Spain had two superb wingers lurking on the touchlines blessed with skill and pace. Of the two, the pick was FC Barcelona man Gerard, who scored twice in the group stage against Portugal, including one straight from a corner, and lit up the final with the opening goal and an array of tricks. England won but left-back Luke Garbutt will not forget Gerard in a hurry.

Connor Wickham (forward, England)
England had talent running through their team from Garbutt in defence to Conor Coady in midfield and Joshua McEachran supporting the attack. Up front they had a formidable pair, Arsenal FC striker Benik Afobe supporting the strapping Wickham, already a senior regular for Ipswich Town FC. He did not score in the group stage but two in the semi-final defeat of France and the winner against Spain – a piece of superb control and cool finishing –  capped a season to remember.

Paco (forward, Spain)
He drew a blank in the final but that was out of character. Paco’s six goals in the finals, a winner against France, a hat-trick to beat Switzerland and two in the semi-final dismissal of Turkey, left him three clear of anyone else in Liechtenstein. Including qualifying, the Valencia CF forward managed a tournament record 14.

So with only 2 games left in this year’s Premier League title race, I thought it would be an appropriate time to pick my 11 players for the Team of the Year, I already know it’s going to cause some discussion, which of course can only be a good thing.

Goalkeeper

Joe Hart

In-between the posts there can only be 1 man, played an outstanding role in his teams excellent and surprising season, on loan from Manchester City JOE HART has had a fantastic season, leading to most England fans to call for him to be the #1 in England’s World Cup campaign, Joe has been superb all season, excellent shot-stopping, reflex saves, very rarely showing any weakness, it will be a very interesting summer, Birmingham may have lost their chance to have him next season by not letting him return to City after Given’s injury.

Honourable Mentions: Shay Given, Heruelho Gomes, Brad Freidel, and Thomas Sorensen.

Left Back

Ashley Cole

This was a very tough choice, two players fighting for the title, one had a fantastic start of the season the other has made superb towards the end of the campaign, Ashley Cole and Patrice Evra have been fantastic for their clubs this year, Cole seeming to find his attacking instincts again charging forward but also showing a defensive presence also, Evra has recently been praised from Sir Alex himself applauding the Frenchman’s quality, very consistent this season but has excelled in recent games, the place in this team could easily go to either player however only one can be picked and I am going to choose Chelsea’s man ASHLEY COLE only an ankle injury has stopped his progress this season, I think Chelsea would be Champions already had he been fit.

Centre Backs

Thomas Vermaelen

So many players to choose from in this category, luckily I get to pick 2 from a long list. My first choice is THOMAS VERMAELEN the relatively unknown Belgian came to England with lots of question marks over the price-tag, his size, experience, this was all dismissed within the first few weeks of the season scoring goals, superb defending, after 2 months you wondered how Arsenal had ever competed without this man, his season has been slowed with Injuries however his performances have been enough to earn this spot.

Richard Dunne

Alongside him I have went for a experience player who swapped one Champions League chasing team for another, when he was pretty much made surplus to requirements at Eastland’s and snapped up by Martin O’Neill, RICHARD DUNNE has shown the Man City were wrong to let him go, and Aston Villa have been reaping the benefits, creating a strong partnership with James Collins they been the basis of Villas excellent season, unlucky not to be going to the World Cup, Dunne is maybe not as fast as he used to be, however still shows he is one of the better Centre Backs playing in this country.

Honourable Mentions: Roger Johnson, Scott Danns, Michael Dawson

Left Midfield

Florent Malouda

One player has stood out recently in this position and it has really made me happy, as a follower of French football FLORENT MALOUDA was a player I had seen do great things for Lyon in Ligue 1 and when he signed for Chelsea, I was bigging him up about his ability then unfortunately his first couple of seasons can only be described as Average at best, this season however he has finally shown the ability I knew he had, scoring and supply goals he has been a mainstay in Ancelotti’s team, terrorising defences for most of the season, I am very happy to see Florent perform well.

Central Midfield

James Milner

2 player with contrasting season, the first one has had his break out season, everyone knew of his abilities however this season JAMES MILNER has been superb, playing in a number of positions, left and right, but his play through the middle has been fantastic, one of the reasons for Villa’s great season, calls for James to be part of England’s squad increase every week maybe only his versatility will stop him gaining a starting berth.

Frank Lampard

Beside him I have put one of the most consistent Central Midfielders in the game, I am not always blown away by his ability but you cannot argue with 20 Premier League goals FRANK LAMPARD again has made his way onto the scorer’s table and for a midfielder his goal scoring is 2 ^nd to none, there are many Premier League strikers that would be happy to match his goal tally, although he doesn’t wear the armband, Frank is a captain for this team, and leads the charge for goals most games, I’m actually glad he can’t recreate this form for England.

Right Midfield

Antonio Valencia

When Ronaldo left Old Trafford everyone knew his boots would be really hard to fill however ANTONIO VALENCIA has in my opinion done a fantastic job in not filling his boots but stamping his own footprints on United’s team, fantastic pace and the ability to deliver a great ball into the box, Man U’s strikers and midfielders have capitalised on his strong points, people will look at his at times poor touch, or that he goes missing at times, however with Fergie as his coach Antonio will only improve, and if this seasons successes have anything to go by it is a scary prospect to think of an improved Valencia.

Honourable Mention: Aaron Lennon

Centre Forwards

Carlos Tevez

My Centre Forward pairing played together last year, and both of them I think would agree have had much better seasons apart, CARLOS TEVEZ has played out of his skin for Manchester City scoring so many important goals, and his work rate and passion for the game is infectious, although City paid an obscene amount for Carlos, I think he has been worth every penny for the club, big goals against Man United and Chelsea, and I think he can improve as well, maybe some big signings could complement Carlos very well.

WAYNE ROONEY will be in everyone’s team of the year, with Ronaldo gone, the boy wonder has stepped up and become a World Class player, he has always been very talented I always think he lacked consistency, now he is everything his team needs him to be, added a scoring touch with his head, more composure he has lead his team very well, a couple of niggling injuries will keep him out for the grandstand finish and maybe lose the Golden Boot, however Rooney definitely has had the Midas touch this year.

Manager of the Year

A Couple of names up for this award, Roy Hodgson was one, but most of his miracles have been in the Europa League, Martin O’Neill and Harry Redknapp for their pursuit of a Champions League place. And Alex McLeish for his wonderful season with Birmingham City

Carlo Ancelotti

However I am going to give this award to CARLO ANCELOTTI no one was quite sure what to expect from the Italian, no big signings like Mourinho and Scolari however he has guided Chelsea to top of the table, the most goals ever scored in the Premiership, brought the best out of Malouda and Anelka, had to deal with a lot on and off the field problems, an African Nations cup with some important players missing, and he has done this quite quietly, People may say he already has a strong team, however Grant and Scolari had the same team and couldn’t bring the best out in them, and I think Carlo has done a fantastic job.

Right Back

So you may have noticed that there is a position missing from the list, the Right Back, I just couldn’t decide who to pick, no one for me has excelled in this position, so I am going to leave it up to a vote. So please vote for who you think has been the best Right Back this year and I will add him to the team. (Poll can be found on the main page)

If you agree or more likely disagree with any of these choice, please let me know.

This morning I woke up with a smile on my face, for the first time in 7 years there are no English teams in the Champions League Semi-Finals, this means I don’t have to hear about how the Premier League is the greatest league in the world, far superior to any other league etc, Alex Ferguson blaming those “typical germans” for getting Rafael sent off, when it was Ribery a Frenchman and van Bommel a Dutchman who had approached the referee

Teams from Germany, Spain, Italy and France make up the 4 left in the competition, by English media standards surely this means now these 4 leagues are all better than the Premier League, of course it doesn’t, it is simply a great advert to how global the game of football has become. Personally I do enjoy the Premier League, but also in the same I Love La Liga, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, I just love football, and will watch any league available, of course in all these leagues, you will get games that bore you to death on the other hand games that will blow you away, there are people that I speak to on a regular basis who just decide that they don’t like a league and will never ever change their opinion of it, no matter what.

This type of opinion really gets to me, why be so narrow-minded, given the choice of watching Wigan v Burnley or Bayern Munich v Stuttgart, to me it would be the German match every time, and sometimes it could turn out to be a poor 1-1 draw or it could be a cracker, the same with every game you sit down to watch, I love watching top European football no matter what league or country it is from, this allows me to form opinions of players based over league, cup and international matches, not just 2 or 3 Champions League games against English opposition and then form a limited opinion.

The opinion that the Premier League is the greatest league in the world, is one that English people love to spout off about, 1 point I always make is, “What players at the peak of their game have moved to the Premier League?” and “How English is the Premier League?”

From last year’s Champions League semi-finals 3 of the teams were English but only 8 different English players started in both Legs, not a great amount from 3 of the top teams in England’s top Division.

9 French players played, 7 Spanish, 3 Brazilian, 3 Ivoirians and 2 Argentineans, in total 21 different nationalities were represented, and who was in charge of these so called “English teams” a Scotsman, a Frenchman and a Dutchman, and only Arsenal were owned by an English company.

Without boring everyone with stats as far as I am aware, most other big leagues have a majority of home based players in their squads have home grown coaches and are owned by men or companies from their own country, this so call domination of the European game by “English” teams to me is very diluted, and there are very little English things remaining of these teams, except where they play.

I don’t want this post to seem like an attack of the English game, I watch the Premiership every week and there are some fantastic players playing for some great teams, however I could never limit myself to English or even British football, I’d be missing out on some fantastic players, La Liga with Messi, Xavi, Ronaldo, Higuain and David Villa, Bundesliga with Franck Ribery, Robben, Toni Kroos, Torsten Frings, Stefan Kiessling, Serie A with Sneijder, Milito, Pato, Ronaldinho, Totti, and Cavani, Ligue 1 with Gourcuff, Chamakh, Bastos, Lisandro, Gervinho, Jelen I could go on and on.

People often ask being Scottish why do I bother with the World Cup, and all the players mentioned above are why, I have long come to terms with the fact that Scotland don’t have the players to make it on the International or Club stage, that does not however make my want to watch football any less, because there are hundreds of wonderful players worldwide that make it a joy to watch the beautiful game.

Really quick short post this morning.

Michael Owen it has been announced this morning is out for the rest of the season, after picking up another injury during the Carling Cup Final against Aston Villa, he pulled up in the first half and it was evident that he had pulled his hamstring. After the game Owen said that it didn’t feel that bad, and it shouldn’t keep him out for too long,  obviously now it has been diagnosed in a scan yesterday that the injury is bad enough to force him to miss the rest of the season.

My question is, does Michael call an end to his football career, he has been plagued by injuries most of his career:

2005
December 31 – Breaks metatarsal bone in defeat at Tottenham and is ruled out for ‘several months’.

2006
March 24 – Newcastle announce Owen requires surgery to tighten the screw inserted into his foot during the initial operation.  

April 29 – Makes Premiership return as a substitute against Birmingham but complains of pain afterwards and withdraws from the final game of the season.  

May 13 – Carried from the field suffering concussion after collision with team-mate Matty Pattison in game with Watford.  

June 20 – Injures knee in first minute of group game against Sweden in Cologne and is immediately replaced.  Ruled out for at least nine months and reports suggest he may miss the entire Premiership season to follow.  

2007
July 20 – After featuring in just the final three games of the previous campaign, Owen picks up a thigh injury in pre-season training which rules him out of the first game of the new season.  

September 17 – Owen is substituted early in the second half against Derby with a groin problem.  

September 23 – He is passed fit to line up against West Ham but again the same injury forces him off. Club confirm the striker will undergo further scans to determine extent of the problem.  

September 25 – Magpies boss Sam Allardyce reveals Owen has a 3cm tear in his abductor muscle which will sideline him for three weeks and rule him out of England’s two October Euro 2008 qualifiers. He adds Owen may also require a hernia operation.

November 16 – Suffers a thigh strain during the first half of his side’s 1-0 friendly win over Austria.

2009
January 28 – Ruled out for six weeks with a cracked ankle bone sustained in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester City.

March 5 – Ruled out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury

In the last 6 years Owen has only managed to pay 125 games, now someone like Frank Lampard in the same timescale has played about 315 games, that’s Lampard playing 3 games for every 1 that Owen plays, also how many of those games has Michael been 100% fit, you need games to get match sharpness back and get up to full speed, you could probably take the number of games played when he has been fit to around 70-75.

Now at the age of 30 the body will not recover as fast as it used to, and I think this lastest injury could take it’s toll on the former European Player of the Year, and there is no guarentee that he will be able to return for preseason training, which for a player in Michael’s situation is crucial to get up to speed and get his sharpness back, it is very hard to get match sharpness back during a season if you have been out, you need that pre-season time to get ready.

Now on the top right hand side of my site you will see I have set up a new section, where you can Vote on whether you think this is the end for Owen, I really look forward to seeing what everyones views are, so please let you vote count, I will leave the poll open for 2 weeks.

With most teams having about 10 or 11 games left, every point is crucial in the next few weeks, the title race in the Premier League has come down to 3 teams; Reigning Champions Manchester United, the early favourites Chelsea and Arsene Wenger’s underdogs Arsenal. Everyone of these teams since September has shown Championship credentials, Arsenal were ruled out at the start of the season by pretty much every pundit worth listening to, even talked down for 4 ^th place, they have proved all the doubters wrong, and this without main forward Robin van Persie out through injury.

Chelsea were most people’s early favourites some strong early showings away from home at Sunderland, Burnley and Fulham. Then without 4 of their players off playing in the African Cup of Nations in Angola, Chelsea managed to win all 9 points and score 12 goals in the process, not bad for a team meant to struggle without their main striker Didier Drogba.

Man United have had a very stop/start season, just when you think they have turned a corner and about to kick on, they lose or draw a game you don’t expect them too, would be interesting to see where in the league they’d be if Rooney wasn’t playing the best football of his life, a lot of defensive issues have also not helped their season.

Despite the ups and downs all 3 remain in the title chase and will be battling it out for the chance to lift the Premier League trophy. 10 games remain  for each team, let’s have a look at the run ins.

CHELSEA

West Ham (Home) , Blackburn (Away), Portsmouth (Away)
Aston Villa (Home) , Man United (Away), Bolton (Home)
Tottenham (Away), Stoke (Home) , Liverpool (Away)
Wigan (Home)

ARSENAL

Burnley (Home) , Hull City (Away), West Ham (Away)
Birmingham (Away), Wolves (Home) , Tottenham (Away)
Wigan (Away), Man City (Home) , Blackburn (Away)
Fulham (Home) ,

MAN UNITED

Wolves (Away), Fulham (Home) , Liverpool (Home)
Bolton (Away), Chelsea (Home) , Blackburn (Away)
Man City (Away), Tottenham (Home) , Sunderland (Away)
Stoke (Home)

On paper Arsenal’s run in looks easier, only Man City and Spurs to play from the higher placed teams, but they do have to play 3 teams fighting for survival and at this time of year those games can be harder than against the top teams, 4 home games out of the 10 games and trips to West Ham Birmingham and Blackburn won’t be easy, add to that the Derby match against Tottenham, I would predict that worst case scenario would see Arsenal pick up 22 more points.

Chelsea and Man United have a tougher run-in, Chelsea have trips to Old Trafford and Anfield which could see no points gained, tough trips to Portsmouth and Blackburn could provide slip ups, and Villa coming to Stamford Bridge could be a trick tie, again worst case Chelsea for me could pick up 22 points. For United away trips to Bolton, Blackburn and Sunderland then the Derby match at Eastlands against Man City will prove tough, then Home stands against Fulham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs the toughest of the run-in’s for me, I do think Man United are capable of amassing at least 21 points from the 10 games.

If that all went as I have predicted the final table would be as follows

1. Chelsea – 82 points
2. Man United – 82 points
3. Arsenal – 80 points

Of course one of the best things about the Premiership is that anything can happen, so I’m sure my point predictions will be different to what happens, I am convinced though that this title race will go down to the wire, as I said before Wayne Rooney is playing to football of his life so he will be spurring his team forward, Arsenal now are determined to win the league for Aarom Ramsey after his unfortunate leg-break and Chelsea will want to win take the title back to Stamford Bridge for the first time since Mourinho left Chelsea, another factor which could decide the fate of the title will be how the 3 teams do in the Champions League, Arsenal could easily go out to Porto, 2-1 down after the game in the Dragao, Chelsea also behind with the same score, Man United could face a tricky tie with Milan at Old Trafford, surely a reduced fixture list would help each team out, however the 3 teams will be fighting hard on both fronts, however could a Champions League run hamper the League success.

Arsenal could go on and win all the remaining games, and that would be enough to win the title, with Chelsea and Man United, the games against each other, and of course Liverpool will go a long way to deciding the location of the Premier League trophy.

No matter what happens, it’s going to be an exciting few months of football in England.