The Centre Circle

On the back of Didier Drogba missing out on the World Cup, another Premiership star has been ruled out. In just their first training session in Rustenburg, England’s captain Rio Ferdinand injured his knee in a collision with Emile Heskey and was rushed to hospital for an urgent scan. He left a couple of hours later on crutches and it has been reported that he too is now ruled out of the competition. This would have been his 4th World Cup appearance, however it is not to be. Michael Dawson of Spurs will now be hastily be called up, and will be on the next plane to Johannesburg.

This is the culmination of a frustrating season for Ferdinand who missed a lot of the last  Premiership season with a back complaint.

Didier Drogba has suffered a suspected broken arm in a pre tournament friendly against Japan and is almost certainly ruled out of the World Cup. The Ivory Coast striker left the field in the first half after 16 minutes clutching his left elbow after a seemingly innocent clash with Japan’s Tanaka. A worried Sven-Goren Eriksson later explained  "It's an elbow injury but we don't know how bad it is, we (are going) straight to the hospital. If it's serious, it's very worrying, he is our captain, one of the best strikers in the world."

In the game, the Ivory Coast won 2-0, Drogba scoring with a deflected free-kick just 3 minutes before he was injured. The win was rounded off with a headed goal from Kolo Toure.

I am an old fashioned person at heart. Maybe I am out of touch. I believe that if you make a pledge to someone or you make an agreement with a company, you should honour it. Suppose you find in life that there are better offers along the way, like being married and then seeing the leggy blonde who you went to school with moving in to the house across the street. You have a secret affair, then you move out lock stock and barrel, divorce your not so pretty but loyal spouse and you believe your dreams have come true. Then she dumps you for the hunk down the road, screws you for every penny you have and you end up on the street. Now I am not saying that Cesc Fabregas if he signs for Barcelona is not gonna succeed. He may well be a fabulous success, but the recent experiences of Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini should serve as a warning to the young Arsenal midfielder. The grass is not always greener on the other side and I can think of few instances of a player returning to his old club and playing with distinction.

I am very behind the stance being taken by Arsenal football club in this long running battle for the services of Fabregas. Quite legally when he was 16, Arsenal offered Cesc a professional contract and the young Catalan wanted to progress his career quicker than than Barcelona were able to offer. He made a brave decision to up sticks and come to London, and it was an inspired choice. Soon he found himself the youngest captain in the Premier League, the lynchpin of the Arsenal midfield and the work and care that Arsene Wenger and his coaches have lavished on Cesc over the past 7 years have turned all the potential he had on joining into the real article; a true world class midfielder with the world at his feet.

The mauling at the hands of Barcelona in the Champions League back in March I believe was a watershed moment, a real turning point in this story. Barcelona produced a sensational performance crushing Wenger’s team 4-1 in the Nou Camp. From the sidelines having being prevented by injury and also by suspension, I can imagine that Cecs’ head would have been turned at that moment. Maybe the tapping up started then also. Maybe that was the point that Cesc decided that his future lay with Guardiola and his version of fantasy football.

Moving the story onto today and we find claim and counter claim, Cesc is “under stress” out in South Africa preparing with his Spanish colleagues for the upcoming World Cup. Barcelona have tabled an official bid for the player of around £30 million and Arsenal in turn had rejected this opening gambit. Quite right too.They say that player power is king these days. The players can do exactly as they want, they can play where they want for extortionate money. Jean-Marc Bosman has a lot to answer for. The only defence clubs have these days is to secure players on long contacts so that should they want to, it will be extremely expensive for them to buy themselves out of a club. This is what Arsenal have done and Cesc freely signed up until 2015. So if Barcelona want “the one that got away”, they should pay top dollar to secure his services. Last season he scored 19 goals in 35 starts from midfield, a fantastic goals to game ratio which is better than majority of many top strikers in Europe. Add in all the assists and work he put in plus the fact that at just 23 he has the best years of his career ahead of him and I would start the bidding at a minimum of £45 million. The argument coming out from Barcelona that they developed him is rubbish. Deep down they know it too. Barcelona are not in the rudest of financial health themselves if the reports that they are £420 million in debt. I would find it most surprising if they were willing to up their initial bids much above £35 million.

Personally I think Wenger will fight tooth and nail to keep Fabregas & I wouldn’t be surprised if he stays at least one more season, or at least until Ramsey and Wilshire are ready to step up, however, if the two clubs do thrash out a deal, then I wonder which side will regret it more? I finally think that the penny has dropped with Wenger and Arsenal now seem to be very active in the initial transfer market for next season. Chamakh has arrived, Joe Cole may follow and there are rumours that the signing of a goalkeeper and one or two centre halves are in the pipeline. Out in Madrid, Jose Mourinho has arrived and it is clear that Real have set their sights on regaining the title in Spain. Mourinho rarely fails to deliver. Wouldn’t it be ironic as Cesc leaves, Arsenal finally deliver a title and Madrid relive their former glories.

West Ham United have made a move to sign Lyon striker Frederic Piquionne. The French striker who was originally born in Noumea, New Caledonia was on loan at relegated Portsmouth last season and impressed with his work-rate and desire in very difficult circumstances. With the former Portsmouth manager Avram Grant hotly tipped to take over the reigns at Upton Park in the near future, it seems not so surprising that Piquionne could be the first of many new arrivals in East London before the start of next season. West Ham has just had reported bid of £5 million for Yakubu at Everton rejected by David Moyes, so it seems the Hammers have turned their attention to the 31 year old.

In a related note, West Ham have  released Mexican striker Guillermo Franco whose contact expired in June. 

Wolfsburg's giant Bosnian striker is in talks with officials from Manchester City I understand. Speculation about the future of Dzeko had included potential moves to Man Utd Liverpool, AC Milan and Tottenham amongst others who need to offer a set fee of £34 million (40 million Euros) to secure a transfer, due to a time clause in his Wolfsburg contract which expires on Monday. It now appears than Manchester City are now favourites to sign the front man who scored 29 goals in all competitions last season. Steve McLaren the new Wolfsburg coach will be loathed to lose his star player, but as people know, when Man City come knocking with their unlimited store of cash, it is time to bargain hard and to start to look for an alternative.

If he signs with City, then it will throw fresh doubt onto the future of Emmanuel Adebayor (for whom Dzeko would be seen as a direct replacement), as it seems he has fallen out of favour at the Manchester club. Mancini was apparently not impressed with his effort in the closing weeks of last season, as they failed to secure a Champions League qualifying spot and had to settle for the Europa League.

It has been confirmed by Ghana and Chelsea officials that Michael Essien has failed to recover from his long standing knee injury, which prevented him from playing for his club during the last 4 months of the Premiership season. He sustained the injury in training for the African Nation’s cup back in January and now it has ruled him of the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa. This is a huge blow for the chances of Ghana who face Serbia in their first game on June 13th.

With Chelsea involved in the FA Cup and Arsenal not having a game Man Utd had an opportunity to claim top spot in the Barclays Premiership with a win. A bright afternoon in the North West saw a battle between an improving Blackburn side unbeaten at home since Jan 14th when they were defeated 0-1 by Aston Villa, and United licking their wounds after being eliminated from Europe in midweek.

The football was lively at Ewood Park at the start of the game but despite the energy, there were few real chances. Van De Sar made a comfortable save from a Chris Samba header after 8 minutes and after 25 minutes Paul Robinson at the other end blocked a fierce low drive from Valencia. Just after the half hour, Samba picked up an ankle injury and was replaced by Ryan Nelsen. Almost immediately, Nani’s decent effort from the left hand side curled narrowly wide. The best chance of the half came three minutes from the break. Robinson’s poor clearance out from goal found Berbatov who’s clever played in Valencia clear in on goal but the Blackburn goalkeeper redeemed himself making a great save with his legs. Frustration for Ferguson and his troops as referee Peter Walton blew his whistle for half time.

At the start of the second half, it looked as if Sam Allardyce  had geed his players up, as they were bossing the game and seemed to have more energy; unusual for Man Utd being the ones having to play on the break. Ferguson tried to freshen things up 55 mins as Giggs was substituted for Darren Gibson. Man Utd’s first chance of the second half came from a free kick 30 yards out but Nani’s effort sailed over the bar. A few minutes later, Berbatov had a shot blocked and the rebound came to Gibson on the edge of the box but his effort was a couple of yards wide. Finally United were waking from their Sunday afternoon slumber. Scholes’ wonderful ball found Gary Neville who played it back to Berbatov, but the ball seemed to get stuck under his feet and his shot was easily held by Robinson. The United pressure was heavy but Blackburn were defending doggedly and in numbers. Late on Ferdinand picked up a groin injury and Man Utd having used all their substitutes, one wondered if United if would struggle in the final minutes if Blackburn attacked him. Neville’s block from Nzonzi’s shot may have kept the game level, and when the same player’s effort dribbled past Blackburn’s right hand post, you knew it wasn’t going to be United’s day.

So both Chelsea and Arsenal will be delighted with this result, and Ferguson will have to pick up his team before next week’s crucial Manchester derby at Eastlands.

This tightly contested game in Florence ended all square; a blow to Inter’s title hopes and they may lose top spot in Serie A this Sunday when Roma take on Atlalanta. A win for Roma will lift them a point clear at the top.

Fiorentina took the lead in the 11th minute when Brazilian Keirrison neatly finished from a Gianluca Comotto centre. Inter dominated most of the possession but were unable to break through until the 75th minute when Maicon picked a ball from a Sneijder pass and his cross was guided home by Milito. Five minutes late, a carbon copy goal gave Inter the lead, this time substitute Mario Balotelli squared for Samuel Eto’o to finish. The lead unfortunately did not last more than a minute. From a corner, the ball was flicked by an Inter head and in the scramble the player to react first was Fiorentina’s Danish defender Kroldrup  who poked the ball home.

Extended highlights of the game below in Italian.

Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona

Barcelona tightened their grip on La Liga after this victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. They now sit 3 points clear at the top of the division with a slightly better goal difference. Yet again it was Lionel Messi who broke the deadlock starting and finishing a move from a free kick on the left hand side, with a little help from Xavi, who played him in with a lovely chipped pass.

Xavi created the second for Pedro who breaking through the Madrid defence opened his body before sweeping the ball past Casillas. Barcelona were never troubled, although Madrid have a late goal chalked off from Raul following a debatable handball.

Goal highlights below…

Man United – It is reported that United are unable to afford the £40 million asking price for David Villa because of the large debt that the club have and will only consider to buy him if the price is reduced (Guardian). Man Utd are also looking at James Milner of Aston Villa, the Lyon keeper Hugo Lloris and Karim Benzema at Real Madrid who signed for Real Madrid only last summer from Lyon is looking for more regular football which he may get at the Red Devils as they intensify their search for a striker (Mirror)

Juventus/Liverpool – Rafa Benitez will be given “significant” sums of money to rebuild the Juventus team if he becomes manager of the Old Lady this summer. Juventus are reported not to have interest in Torres, Mascherano or Gerrard as part of their rebuilding plans (Footylatest)

Man City – A couple of Manchester City rumours today. Depending on what newspaper you read, Man City are interested in signing Ivica Olic (Daily Mail) at Bayern Munich & Angel di Maria at Benfica (Mirror).

Arsenal – Marouane Chamakh will soon be signing a £12 million 4 yr deal with the Gunners (Various). It is reported Arsene Wenger has sent out scouts to look at Valencia’s David Silva (Footylatest). Robin Van Persie is also starting full training with Johan Djourou and Kieran Gibbs not far behind (Various). Speculation is that Stan Kroenke could soon made a takeover bid early in May, with a pot of cash entering his bank account on Monday as he is expected to sell his 40% share in the Los Angeles Rams American Football team (Independent)

Birmingham – Sebastian Larsson could be heading north. Both Sunderland and newly promoted Newcastle are interested in the Swedish midfielder – the reported asking price at around £2 million (Mirror)

Aston Villa – As well as the story for Milner (above), another one of their stars is causing interest from foreign shores. Barcelona it is said are looking into the possibility of signing Ashley Young, if a bid for Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery is rejected(imscouting.com)

Tottenham – Spurs are looking at 33 year old Guti at Real Madrid who may be available on a free transfer this summer (Daily Mail)

Chelsea – Sporting Lisbon are keen to recruit Chelsea goalkeeper Hilario, who has been dropped down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge to third choice (Daily Mail).

Burnley – Brian Laws could be sacked as Burnley manager if his team loses at Hull City this weekend (Various)

Looking ahead to this coming Saturday, instead of concentrating on the battle for the title, I thought I would look at the battle at the bottom and as crucial a game as there has been all season. Both Hull & Burney have really struggled in past weeks and themselves in the bottom three of the division, Burnley four points adrift of safety and Hull just one point. A win tomorrow for either team is absolutely crucial.

Both teams have changed their coaches in recent times and both new appointments raised eyebrows. Iain Dowie came into Hull recently on March 17th as a “Football Management Consultant” (whatever that is) and the current manager Phil Brown was put on gardening leave until the end of the season. So far he has had mixed success, the one notable win being two weeks ago when his Hull side convincingly beat Fulham 2-0. Dowie is known in footballing circles as a great motivator, and Adam Pearson, Hull’s chairman is hoping that these skills can inspire the Tigers to enough wins to ensure survival. Brian Laws at Burnley arrived on 17th January to replace Owen Coyle who moved to Bolton Wanderers. The club confirmed that the surprise choice Laws had been chosen after Deloitte and Touche had done a study into delivering success at Championship level compared to financial outlay. Sounds like they were trying to stay up on the cheap to me. Only thing is, in the Premiership experience has proven that unless you spend some considerable money, or you are some sort of managerial genius, you only go one way – down. Quite predictably, he has struggled to make an impact with only one win in 14 games and speculation is rife that defeat this weekend could see the end for Laws.

Last week Burnley were humiliated 6-1 at home to Manchester City with one of their substituted Burnley players Kevin McDonald watching the second half of the game down a local pub. Maybe he needed a stiff drink after the abysmal first half performance by his team. I understand manager Laws was not amused by his actions and he will not be considered for selection this week! Steven Caldwell returns after a 3 month absence with a groin problem and their only real doubt is defender Stephen Jordan with a knee injury.

Hull will hope that their midfield general George Boateng will be able to play after being carried off in last week’s loss to Stoke suffering from concussion. Stephen Hunt is also a doubt with a foot injury.

I expect home advantage to count tomorrow and for Hull to pick up all three points. Burnley’s away form all season has been truly dismal, no wins and just one draw in sixteen away games, conceding 47 goals at almost three a game, and I don’t see this trend changing. Hull have a little bit of quality and drive from the irrepressible Jimmy Bullard, and fantastic work-rate from Hunt and Boateng (if one or both are fit). Bullard when he has been available has proved head and shoulders Hull’s best player this year, and their home form has been surprisingly good – just one loss in 2010 and that was in the last minute to Arsenal. 

Almost certainly the loser of this particular contest will be relegated, the winner will give themselves an almighty chance of staying up; Hull may pull themselves out of the bottom three win a win. In truth, a draw in all truth is no good to either team. The scene is set at the KC stadium for a tense encounter, and those going may not expect to see an afternoon of quality football, however for sure there will be no shortage of fingernail biting tension.

Sir Alex Ferguson should have learnt from the Arsenal experience the week before. If you gamble on injured players, it rarely pays off. Wenger risked everything playing Fabregas and Gallas, and lost both player with re-occurrences of injuries past for the rest of the season. Sir Alex sent on Wayne Rooney from the start of the game and after 20 minutes the England forward was hobbling effectively a passenger until he limped off early in the second half. He also gambled on youth ahead of experience with Rafael playing for Gary Neville. The youngster was booked early for petulantly reacting to a Van Bommel foul and then was sent off for a second yellow for pulling back Ribery. Just like putting all your chips on red, and seeing the the little ball in the roulette wheel land on black.

United were cruising at 3-0 after 40 minutes and the game at that point should have been dead and buried. Gibson had put United ahead with a right foot shot from the edge of the box after just 3 minutes. Then Nani scored twice, the first a little flick from a Valencia cross to make it 2-0 after 7 minutes and his second and United’s third came via the same two players, Valencia to the Portuguese who finished high into the net.

Maybe United went to sleep for a minute and lost their concentration, and it was a vital slip. Muller headed on for Olic who finished from a tight angle past Van de Sar. The Germans were now within a goal of knocking United out and went into half time with renewed hope.

Early into the second half and Ribery showed his experience and Rafael his lack of it. Ribery seemed to be away on his way to goal but realising Rafael was challenging him on a yellow card almost waited for the young Brazilian to pull him to draw the foul. The young full back took the bait and referee Rizzoli had no option but to send him off. The Germans now had their tails up, even more so when Rooney was replaced by John O’Shea. The Old Trafford fans were trying to encourage their team and Nani nearly put the game safe when he broke clear but his effort was saved at his post by Butt. However, their worst fears were realised when a corner was played out directly to Arjen Robben on the edge of the box and his left foot volley crashed into the corner of the net. Try as they might, United were never going to pull back the tie with only 10 men, and the final whistle was met with wild celebrations from the 4000 visiting fans.

We wait to see what damage Wayne Rooney has sustained. The gamble on him may not have only cost United in the Champions League, it might just cost them a 19th league title too.

As for Bayern Munich, they move through to the semi-final where they will take on Lyon.

Man Utd 3-2 Bayern Munich (4-4)  - Bayern progress on the away goals rule.

Wayne Rooney has been selected to start against Bayern Munich tonight in what must be seen a bit of a gamble. Rooney, who was injured in the first leg in Munich, was expected to miss two to three weeks.

Either he has made a remarkable recovery, or Sir Alex Ferguson is taking a big risk with his star player; one he may think is necessary after the ineffectual performance of Dimitar Berbatov against Chelsea on Saturday. Full-back Rafael also comes in for Gary Neville who struggled against Chelsea at the weekend.

The whole country and all Manchester United fans will hope that Rooney has not returned too early.

The biggest game in club football comes up this weekend. El Classico, Real Madrid host Barcelona in the crunch game in La Liga, both teams separated by just one goal in goal difference in what has turned into a two horse race for the title. Valencia sit in third, a distant 21 points adrift! Real Madrid sit on top after an incredible run of 12 consecutive victories; their last defeat was on 16th January when they lost 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao. Since that day, Manuel Luis Pellegrini’s side has averaged around 3 goals per game, and the run may have saved the Real coach’s job, for now that is, after being dumped out of the Champion’s League by Lyon. The acid test comes this week at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and any defeat will just not be tolerated, especially the 6-2 mauling that Barcelona inflicted on Madrid last season in the same fixture.

In an attempt to close the yawning gap between the two deadly rivals, Real went on an unprecedented spending spree in the off-season, spending in excess of £200 million, Albiol, Kaka, Ronaldo, Benzema, Alonso & Arbeloa all joining and in the second half of the season it has appeared that the expensively assembled team has finally started to gel, at least in domestic competition. Funnily enough, the spearhead for Madrid’s charge up the league has not just been the “golden boy” Christiano Ronaldo (pictured above) but, also Argentinean striker Gonzalo Higuaín, who has plundered 24 goals so far this season. El Pipita has slowly been honing his skills over the past few years after signing from River Plate in 2006, no doubt learning a great deal from the senior member of the Real Madrid squad, Raul, and he has finally broke onto the scene to become one of the top strikers in La Liga.

Real’s striking ability has never been in doubt, but wether they have the defensive nous to cope with a Barcelona team who themselves are in rampant form is another matter entirely. Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Albiol and the rest of Madrid’s defensive unit will be tested to the full, it could be a busy night for them. If the likes of Diarra and Alonso can cut the supply to Messi and Bojan, then maybe Madrid have a chance to grab a famous and long overdue win against the Catalan side, but personally I doubt it.

After their super show on Tuesday night and despite the fact that Real will be going into the derby as the fresher side after not playing midweek, I still take Barcelona to do the double over Los Merengues after their narrow 1-0 win earlier in the season. My prediction, for what it is worth, is for a Barcelona 3-1 win, and for Messi & Co to continue their dominance of La Liga and Europe.

What do you think and predict will happen? Please make your comments below…

I will be straight up. Cut me in half and I bleed red and white, but sometimes you have to hold you hands up and admit that the better team won. Barcelona were magnificent over both the two legs. Not only that but tonight, I saw the performance of the best player I have seen in two decades. I am not old enough to have seen Pele live, I saw Diego Maradona cut England and then the rest of the world to ribbons, through gritted teeth in 1986. I enjoyed watching Zidane and Henry in their pomp, however Leo Messi in the form he is right now is truly imperious. As good as I have ever seen, and that is high praise indeed.

Back to the game for what it’s worth. Arsenal dared to dream after 10 minutes,  Diaby robbed Busquets in midfield and played in Walcott. He squared it to Bendtner who at the second attempt poked it home. Two minutes later, a wonder goal. The ball rebounded to Messi on the edge of the box from Silvestre and the little Argentinean lashed an unstoppable shot which flashed past Almunia like a tracer bullet. Stunning. The second goal was started and finished by the little genius. Messi played the ball out to Abidal who was marauding down the left. His cut back was half cleared by Vermaelen, but it fell to Pedro who played in Messi who lifted the ball over the Arsenal keeper.

Two soon became three. Vermaelen lost the ball in midfield and Keita headed the ball through to Messi who bore down on the Arsenal goal before sending a delicious chip over the stranded Almunia for a 21 minute hat-trick – actually (20 mins 56 secs). His fourth and the coup de grace came with a couple of minutes to go in the game. He picked the ball up 40 yards out from Xavi, skipped past Vermaelen, hit a shot that Almunia blocked then smashed the ball under the Arsenal keeper second time out. Game over and the Barcelona fans began to celebrate in reverence to their little hero.

Barcelona now face Mourinho’s Inter Milan in the Semi Final.

All goal highlights below – sorry it’s not in English… 

A full, very noisy crowd awaited both teams in the Luhzniki Stadium in Moscow as Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan travelled to Russia to play CSKA. The first chance of the contest came to Honda, CSKA’s bleach blond Japanese international although his well struck low drive flashed wide of Julio Cesar’s left hand post. Inter effectively killed the tie as a contest after just 5 mins, Wesley Schneider took a free kick from around 25 yards on the right hand side. He struck the ball below the jumping wall, wrong footing Akinfeev in the CSKA goal. CSKA would now have to score three times to go through, no chance against an Italian side managed by the master that is Jose Mourinho. After 22 mins following a good passing move, the ball found it’s way to Necid, who’s shot shaved the far post. Shchennikov than went on a darting run which was blocked off by the Inter defence but the ball fell to Mamaev who’s curling effort was easily taken by the keeper. At least CSKA were having a go and after 32 mins, a fast break from the Russians ended with Mamaev getting free on the left hand side but he scuffed his shot. Inter countered straight away and Melito was left one on one with the keeper but he couldn’t finish.

Early into the second half the contest was left meaningless as Odiah, who had already been booked in the first half, slid in way too late on Samuel Eto’o sending the Inter forward flying, and the French referee had no option but to brandish the obligatory red card. The game was meandering now to a inevitable conclusion. The Chilean Gonzalez had a couple of speculative efforts from range for the Russian team and Melito had Inter’s best chance; a second one on one with the CSKA keeper, but Akinfeev held his ground & made a good save. As easier game, Jose Mourinho’s men could never have asked for.

Inter progress to the semi final to face the winner of the Barcelona and Arsenal tie.

CSKA 0-1 Inter Milan (0-2)

Already 2-1 up on aggregate and with top players returning, Bayern Munich are a real threat to Sir Alex Ferguson and his team as the Munich side travel to Old Trafford for the Champions League 2nd leg. Despite going behind after just one minute to a Wayne Rooney goal last week in the Allianz Arena, Bayern dominated most of the rest of the game, and it was no surprise that the Germans turned the game around in dramatic style with goals from Ribery and Ivica Olic in stoppage time.

Whereas the Red Devils will be more than likely missing Wayne Rooney who has been so instrumental in the best that United have offered this season, the Bavarians will welcome back the often infuriating but sometimes brilliant Arjen Robben and their central midfield general Bastian Schweinsteiger who was suspended for the first leg.

Defending is not usually in the vocabulary of Louis Van Gaal and his team, and I think they will attack to try to grab an early away goal, especially as United looked very ineffective at the weekend against Chelsea. They are also very dangerous on the counter-attack away from home, proved by their stunning 4-1 win in Turin against Juventus in qualifying for the knock-out stages of this season’s Champions League. It is in wide areas that the Germans can hurt United, as they have true quality on both flanks. I think Robben and Ribery will severely test whoever Ferguson picks at fullback, be it Neville, Evra or the Da Silva twins. With either Olic or Miroslav Klose at centre forward, the Germans possess a genuine international proven goalscorer who will trouble Ferdinand and Vidic. They enter this game in good spirits having won at the weekend 2-1 away against Schalke 04, their nearest rivals for the Bundesliga.

United in contrast will need to radically improve after an insipid display on Saturday. Many people, including myself were unimpressed with Berbatov as Rooney’s replacement in the Chelsea defeat, and the team did not seem have the legs or energy to respond once they went behind. Maybe the aging legs of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville are “catching up” with them. Michael Carrick will most probably return to provide a steadying influence in midfield and Nani and Valencia will need to have effective games if United will have success in opening up the German defence.

I see a very tricky night ahead for Manchester United, this one could go to the wire, continue right into extra time and even to penalty kicks. If so, and if I was a United fan (which I’m not), I’d be worried. We all know that the Germans never lose in penalty shoot out.

For Arsene Wenger’s young and injury ravaged team, tonight will be surely it’s toughest test. Tonight Arsenal enter into the lion’s den in front of 100,000 Catalan fans who except nothing less than a ritual execution, the fate the often befalls teams that enter the cauldron that is the Nou Camp. Arsenal are bereft of some of their brightest talent, Fabregas, Arshavin, Song, Gallas, Van Persie and yet despite all the odds, I believe that the Gunners have a chance, albeit a small one, of pulling an amazing result out of the hat.

The football that Barcelona served up last week at the Emirates was spellbinding stuff, however, at the end of the night, they were guilty of the same type of complacency (or even naivety) that Arsenal teams of times past have been accused of. At 2-2 the tie is still finely balanced with the Blaugranes just the ascendancy due to their brace of away goals.

So why do I give Arsenal a chance? Over the years, Arsene Wenger’s team has played to a specific system and no matter which players are selected, they always seem to slot in to keep the machine ticking along. It is no coincidence that despite Arsenal losing a number of important players throughout the season, they have continued to score goals and win games with a relative amount of ease. I think that Samir Nasri will fill into Fabregas’ role with ease, with either Walcott, Eboue or Rosicky (if he is fit) fitting into the normal 4-3-3 shape.

Barcelona have their own problems especially in  central defence. Abidal will almost certainly return for Maxwell who had a torrid time against Theo Walcott. I suspect Gabriel Milito will come into central defence possibly alongside Marquez for the suspended pairing of Puyol and Pique. I expect Bojan Krkic to replace Ibrahimovic up front.

The second reason I give Arsenal a chance is that this time Arsenal will not be overawed by the task facing them. They know very well after the first leg that if you stand off Barcelona, they will kill you. Once they realised this last week, Barcelona were on the back foot for the last half an hour of the game. The Gunners have to score and with Barcelona’s weakness clearly in defence I think Wenger will go all out to do to Barcelona what Barcelona did to Arsenal.

Thirdly, pace and fitness. Once Arsenal brought on Walcott and upped the tempo, Barcelona looked very uneasy. As well as that, Arsenal have scored a ton of goals late on in games, and I thought that Barcelona began to fall off the pace the longer the game went on. Guardiola will know that the threat facing them can last the full 90 minutes, is young, and is hungry to cause an upset. I am convinced that Barcelona will not be able to top their performance last week; indeed I think they will find it much harder at home in front of their very demanding fans, especially if the game stays deadlocked going into the second half. I don’t underestimate the threat carried by Xavi & Messi, but I think the loss of Ibrahimovic who, by occupying defenders creates a lot of the space that Messi exploits, will be big miss for the home team.

I could be completely wrong, but I base my ideas on recent history. In away games against the European super powers of continental club football, Arsenal have had a superb record. Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Roma have all been humbled in their own stadia by Arsene Wenger and his team. I think Arsenal will score tonight, and if they get the first goal, it could be a very interesting night.

Howay the lads! Congratulations to the Toon! Newcastle are back in the Premiership after an absence of just one season. They were promoted after Nottingham Forest could only draw 0-0 with Cardiff City this afternoon. It means that there will be a party atmosphere tonight at St James Park where the Magpies entertain Sheffield United. It is also a vindication of the ability of much maligned Chris Hughton as a manager; not everyone’s first choice to lead the North East club after they so many problems last season and also a relief for controversial owner Mike Ashley who has a less than cordial relationship with the fans.

Just for the record Newcastle won 2-1 on the night. Richard Cresswell threatened to dampen the celebratory mood when the visitors took a 1-0 lead after 22 minutes, but a penalty from Peter Lovenkrands on the stroke of half time and a spectacular scissor-kick volley from Kevin Nolan 17 minutes from the end meant that Newcastle could go up in style with a victory.

Newcastle no doubt will be a welcome addition to the Premier league and it will be interesting to see how much the club spend in the summer to try and cement a permanent spot in the top flight for years to come.

How many fit players will there actually be for tomorrow's Barcelona v Arsenal clash at the Nou Camp? The latest victim of the injury plague that has hit both teams is Alex Song who reportedly complained about his knee yesterday in training. After a scan he was found to have an inflamed cartilage which will require at the very least a period of rest. “He is definitely out of the game in Barcelona” confirmed manager Arsene Wenger.

Song joins a lengthening injury list; Arshavin, Gallas, Fabregas and Van Persie are all important figures in the Arsenal squad who are either ruled out for the season or struggling to return before the end of it.

The Titanic was registered in Liverpool. It set off on it’s maiden voyage in 1912. The builders and owners said it was a mechanical marvel of the world, it was “unsinkable” they said, “nothing could go wrong”. We all know the rest of the tragic story.  

Benitez is as stubborn individual like the makers, the owners and the crew of the Titanic all those years ago. “We will make fourth spot” he said. We all know the story of Liverpool’s season since he uttered those words. The obstinacy of Benitez shines through all the time. You know it as soon as you see him interviewed. He will only ever answer the questions if they show him and his team in a good light, otherwise he stonewalls the interviewer. This stubbornness also extends to the field of play and to the people who work with him. On the pitch, he seems loathed to try things, to experiment. We all know of the weaknesses of his zonal marking system in defending corners and free kicks, yet he sticks rigidly to his way of defending. He always seems to play with two holding midfielders. Other managers know that the likelihood of threat to goal coming from a deep position is almost non-existent with Liverpool, there are rarely midfield runners going beyond the strikers and so the element of surprise is taken away and thus they are easier to defend against. Last season, Liverpool only got away with it as Alonso was master of threading a ball through the eye of a needle. Look back how many times he provided the killer pass to Torres or Gerrard for them to score? Alonso is now gone, and so much of the creativity of last year has also disappeared. On the rare occasions that Liverpool have actually attacked this year, the prime example being against Portsmouth and recently against Sunderland, when he did sacrifice his principles and Lucas and Aquilani were allowed to bomb forward, they destroyed the opposition in double quick time. Why hasn’t he gambled if this approach works? Because Benitez is afraid of defeat, too stubborn and obstinate to change his way of thinking in the pursuit of winning a football match, unless he knows the opposition is incredibly weak or out of form. People like this only learn to adapt one way; the hard way; when they have gone beyond the point of no return.

Let’s move forward to last weekend. As manager of any football club, from Sunday League division 6 on a muddy park pitch to the very pinnacle of the national game at Premier league level, what is the one task you face each week when your player cross the white line and enter the field of play? It is to organize and motivate your team to make sure it has the very best chance of winning the game. Liverpool at 1-1 desperately needed three points to give them even the slimmest chance of keeping up with Tottenham and Manchester City. So what did he do after 65 minutes? He substituted his top striker, possibly the best in the world, the only realistic hope that Liverpool had of getting a positive result out of the game and replaced him with David Ngog, who is, let’s be frank, still finding his feet in top level football. Why? The reason was that “I thought he was tired” was the incredulous reply. Why didn’t he take off a defensive midfielder and play with two strikers to go for the win? It is because Rafa Benitez is too stubborn to change his principles and too afraid to take a chance. I think that when Benitez substituted Fernando Torres against Birmingham yesterday, he failed in his obligations to the players, officials of Liverpool Football Club & to the thousands of fans that follow the Reds all over England and Europe. He may well have just held up the white flag and surrendered any hope his team had of getting three points, against one of the more miserly defences in the league. The look of disbelief and disappointment on Fernando Torres’ face and on that of Liverpool’s talisman Stephen Gerrard was plain to see.

Liverpool I fear this season and for the next couple of seasons, have now gone beyond that point of no return. I see no way back for them in their pursuit of Champions League football, and the resulting lack of finance for next season and in the future, as their star players leave for clubs chasing bigger dreams, will almost certainly, bring an age of mediocrity to a proud football club. A crisis of large magnitude is coming, the iceberg is appearing into view. For Gerrard, Mascherano and Torres, it may be time to man the lifeboats…

This is a topic for debate that I hope will grow as I think something needs to be done to kerb the amount of injuries that modern day players are suffering. I only decided to write on this subject after looking at the recent spate of injuries to top players recently. Just in the past week looking at the Barcelona v Arsenal game tomorrow, both team in the past couple of weeks have lost vital players to muscle injuries. Iniesta (thigh) and Ibrahimovic (Calf) for Barcelona, Gallas (Calf), Arshavin (Calf) and now Song (Knee) for the Gunners. Is it me, are do there seem to be more players suffering with groin strains, thigh strains, hamstring strains, calf, ankle, knee and achillies injuries then there ever were in years before?

I take you back to 2005 and the injury crisis that Newcastle United went through. I seem to remember that they had a spate of muscle injuries which afflicted amongst others Michael Owen. Having 6-7 players out with similar injuries, the then manager Graham Souness decided to relocate daily training from their state of the art multi million pound training pitches at Darsley Park to the site where the academy players trained. At Arsenal I know that the composition of the pitches at London Colney are exactly the same as that at the Emirates stadium. American football many years ago started to phase out artificial turf pitches because of the hardness, not only leg muscle injuries were affecting the top stars, but also impact injuries landing on hard surfaces after being tackled, despite all the padding they have in that sport.

Herein lies as I see it the problem. My theory, for what is worth is bases on the hardness of football pitches these days. Modern day pitches have a sand base, some of them also have water pumps and irrigation systems under them too so that excess moisture can be sucked out, or drains away very easily. As such on modern hi-tech pitches, there is very little give in the ground when you run on it. Combine this with the speed of the game today alongside a lack of give in the playing surfaces and the player’s body is being jarred all day, every day. All this wear and tear will eventually have a deteriorating effect and any minor problem will be magnified over a long period of time. I think we are starting to see the effects of this.

At the end of a long season, we are seeing a number of players being affected by injuries that could affect not only their club’s chances of picking up silverware, but also their country’s chances too in the upcoming World Cup. I have no way of knowing if I am even partially correct, but I think there should be some investigations made into these ideas, for no football fans that I know want to see the best players continually hampered by injuries. We want to see them performing their skills week in week out on the pitch. 

Any comments on this particular topic? I’d be interested to hear them…

At Goodison Park, West Ham, who desperately need to break their run of six defeats in a row, had to make a late change as Valron Behrami was injured in the warm-up and he was replaced by Junior Stanislas. The Hammers had the first chance of the game as Parker’s effort went wide. The hard working midfielder was then booked after 20 minutes, his 10th of the season meaning a two match ban beginning next week. Then Everton opened the scoring. Baines’ cross was not cleared by Spector and Cahill’s clever header was met by Diniyar Bilyaletdinov who nodded home. More misery and rank bad defending for West Ham. However, 35 mins referee Howard Webb awarded a penalty to West Ham, Carlton Cole, who played in by Scott Parker, was brought down by Distin. The Egyptian international Mido stepped up to take the spot kick, but his weak effort was saved at full stretch by Howard. Nothing seemed to be going right for the team in claret & blue. Then twice in two minutes two almost identical chances for Everton. Cahill passed to Bilyaletdinov who both times hit his shot over the bar from around 25 yards out. As half time approached, the Hammers goal was under severe pressure, but they survived to go into the break only one goal down.

Early into the second half and West Ham improved beyond recognition & Mark Noble was was terribly unlucky as he hit the crossbar with a looping effort. West Ham were now pressing forward, and from a corner a minute later, the ball fell to Manuel Da Costa, who somehow managed to poke home an equaliser. West Ham were now flying and a rapid break from Stanislas who’s slide-rule pass fed Carlton Cole who fired his low shot narrowly wide. Now it was Everton’s turn to shout for a penalty. As Louis Saha appeared to win the ball in the box, he was challenged by the West Ham goalscorer Da Costa, who brought the Everton forward down.  Despite vehement protestations from the Everton players, Howard Webb waved on play to the disgust of the Goodison Park crowd. The game was being played a frantic pace & West Ham were battling for their lives with Scott Parker outstanding as usual. Then calamity for the Hammers with just 10 minutes to go. Spector’s clearance was blocked and the ball found its way out to Leighton Baines who’s cross found Yakubu unmarked in the middle of the box and his header flew emphatically into the net. West Ham were down but not out. Almost immediately, they broke on the right hand side and a fabulous cross from Faubert found Ilan, the Brazilian substitute on for Mido,  who’s bullet diving header screamed into the net. What a finale and salvation for Zola’s men. Both teams were now straining for a late winner, but the whistle finally blew ending a pulsating second half.

West Ham now move one point clear of the bottom three. It’s going to be a tense, tense finish to the end of the season for the men from East London.

It was a sunny bright Easter Sunday at St Andrews where Birmingham entertained Liverpool. It appeared that both teams were too busy enjoying the sunshine as the action was very sluggish for the first half hour with hardly an attempt of note on or off target. Finally, both teams showed signs of life, Torres shooting high & wide & Maxi Rodriguez was very unlucky as his effort from Torres’ centre was touched onto the bar by Joe Hart. Then Reina misjudged a Birmingham corner and the ball deflected off McFadden’s shoulder onto the roof of the net.

Immediately at the start of the second half Liverpool took the lead, Gerrard received the ball from a corner, he cut back inside Bowyer and unleashed a shot past Hart into the far corner. However Birmingham have been a tough nut to crack this season and they soon levelled, through some non-existent Liverpool defending. McFadden’s cutback was met by an unmarked Ridgewell at the far post and he bundled the ball home. Then, to the disbelief from the Liverpool fans, Fernando Torres was replaced by Ngog to a chorus of boos from those from those who travelled down from Merseyside. Surely Benitez wasn’t holding Torres back for the upcoming Benfica game, was he? The action was now end to end as Torres’ replacement  headed narrowly past the post, then Bowyer volleyed wide when he should have done better. Minutes later, Ngog missed again, shooting wide from nine yards. Liverpool kept trying for a winner; a late effort from Gerrard didn’t dip enough to go in and Rodriguez’s volley whizzed over. Birmingham had the last chance of the match but Kevin Phillip’s shot was held by Pepe Reina. So only a draw for Liverpool, just not good enough for Benitez and his team in their forlorn chase for 4th place in the league.

At Craven Cottage there was another quiet start between Fulham & Wigan, although it was Wigan doing more of the pressing and it was the visitors who deservedly got the breakthrough after 35 minutes. Mario Melchiot’s cross was headed back by Moreno and Jason Scotland’s effort beat Schwartzer in the Fulham goal at the near post, his first ever Premiership goal after a difficult first season in the top division. Just before the half-time whistle Fulham nearly equalised, Damian Duff’s cross defected of Figueroa and Kirkland did well to keep the ball out of the net.

As at St Andrews, there was an early goal at the start of the second half. Gera nicked the ball off Scharner and his cross was met by substitute Okaka who’s shot found the Wigan net. Ten minutes later, Fulham completed a turnaround in the match as Brede Hangeland headed in off the post from six yards out from a Duff corner. At the other end Aaron Hughes conceded a corner From a Wigan corner Moses nodded narrowly over. It was to be their last realistic chance. Fulham had a late shout for a penalty when Dempsey went down in a challenge from Bramble, but the Fulham fans need not have worried that the referee Mark Clattenburg did not award one. The whistle soon went for the end of the game, and three points were in the bag for a Fulham side who continue to win against all comers at home.

Bad news for Barcelona, good news for Arsenal. Zlatan Ibrahimovic picked up a calf strain in the warm up for yesterday evening’s game versus Athletic Bilbao and it has been confirmed that the injury will rule him out of the second leg Champions League quarter final tie against  Arsenal on Tuesday night. Ibrahimovic, who was due to start Saturday night’s game, scored both goals at the Emirates Stadium last Wednesday and has been in fantastic form of late. He may also miss El Classico next weekend when Barcelona play their deadly rivals Real Madrid.

This is a big blow for Barcelona who may replace him for the Arsenal and Real Madrid games with Henry or maybe Bojan who scored twice tonight in place of the Swedish international. The other scorers were Jeffren and the inevitable goal from Messi in an easy 4-1 win over Athletic at the Camp Nou.

Goals from Saturday’s 4-1 win for Barcelona against Bilbao below – sorry they don’t have English commentary…

At the Emirates, Arsenal took early control but it was Wolves who had the best early chance, Michael Mancienne, on loan from Chelsea hitting a 25 yard drive which shaved the bar. Eduardo should have then scored as Arsenal responded, miss-kicking when in front of goal. In the second half Carl Henry was harshly red carded for a tackle on Rosicky. Arsenal pressed and pressed and in the dying moments the pressure exerted finally paid off. Substitute Nicklas Bendtner broke Wolves hearts scoring in the 94th minute with a diving header from a Sagna cross. A priceless goal in their pursuit of Chelsea and Man Utd, and the umpteenth time that Arsenal had scored in the last 10 minutes of the game this season. How important will this goal be come the end of the season? Arsenal now go to the Nou Camp in good spirits, and are just 3 points behind Chelsea.

There was a crazy game at Sunderland. The home team hit very early at The Stadium of Light with two Spurs old boys doing the damage. Frazier Campbell’s diving header was saved by Gomes after 30 seconds but Darren Bent buried the rebound against his old club. Then the north east club got a penalty. Walker handled after Gomes palmed out a Steed Malbranque shot and Darren Bent finished expertly from the spot to get his second. Then Sunderland got a second penalty, Campbell was brought down by Modric, but this time Bent couldn’t complete a first half hat-trick as Gomes made a great save. Into the second half and amazingly there was a third penalty given to Sunderland by referee Lee Mason. Palacios fouled Jordan Henderson and Gomes saved his second spot kick of the afternoon from Bent who was never destined to get a third. Sunderland then had a goal disallowed from Anton Ferdinand after Campbell apparently fouled Gomez. Spurs gave their fans hope when Peter Crouch pulled one back, nodding home from a Nico Kranjcar cross however Sunderland clinched their three points with a rasping volley from Bodo Zenden.

At Stoke, Ricardo Fuller kept up his good form from the previous week by latching onto a Kitson header and finishing expertly with the outside of his right boot. Stoke’s Liam Lawrence then wrapped up the points late in the second half, side-footing a neat finish. The game was marred was by a nasty head injury to Hull’s George Boateng who was taken off on a stretcher and onwards to hospital.

Aston Villa took the lead at the Reebok Stadium via a superb curling strike from Ashley Young. Slack defending allowed the Villa winger to place a shot into the top corner past a despairing Jaaskelainen. Hard though Bolton tried, they were unable to find an equaliser with Villa who took the three points and moved closer to Spurs at that time in fourth spot.

At Portsmouth, David Dunn for Blackburn went close in the first half when he struck a post. At the other end Jamie O’Hara’s header was cleared off the line by Gael Givet. Just before half-time Blackburn hit the post for a second time, Chris Samba this time the unlucky player. Portsmouth were hampered in the second half when Van den Borre was sent off for his second bookable offence but they held on for a 0-0 draw which preserves their Premiership status, for now…

At Turf Moor in the late game, Man City raced into an unassailable 3-0 after just seven minutes. First Adebayor chested down the ball when half cleared from a corner and lashed home, then Bellamy sped between two Burnley defenders and finished well. Tevez added the third who tapped home after Jensen was unable to handle an Adebayor shot. After 20 minutes, it was 4-0. Patrick Viera headed home after an Adam Johnson corner.  This was starting to look embarrassing and it got worse for sorry Burnley as Adebayor got his second and City’s fifth breaking the offside trap to finish sweetly. City made it six in the second half, Vincent Kompany, finishing with his head from a corner. By now the only thing threatening a thumping City win was the weather, the rain starting to form puddles on the pitch. After 71 minutes the Burnley fans finally had something to cheer as Steven Fletcher struck a consolation high into the net from the left hand side of the penalty area. The rest of the game fizzled out as Man City declared on six, a win that moves them up to fourth in the league.

Arsenal 1-0 Wolves

Sunderland 3-1 Tottenham

Stoke 2-0 Hull City

Bolton 0-1 Aston Villa

Portsmouth 0-0 Blackburn

Burnley 1-6 Man City

On the day when the boxing Heavyweight Championship of the World was due to be contested in Manchester and David Haye, the current holder paraded his championship belt on the pitch before the match, how appropriate that two of the Premiership’s biggest hitters met head to head at Old Trafford, trying to land a knock-out punch to their rival. Ferguson versus Ancelotti, Manchester United versus Chelsea, red versus blue; last week everyone was anticipating Rooney v Drogba but we were denied this particular sub-plot (50 goals on the season between them) as Rooney was injured and Drogba was left on the substitute bench, having not fully recovered from a recent knee problem, so it was left to those second on the bill Berbatov & Anelka to lead the line and to try to strike the winning blow.

Both teams lined up in similar fashion 4-3-3 and the early sparring saw a slightly sprightlier Chelsea team on the front foot against a more sluggish looking United who seemed not to have recovered from their mid-week trip to Munich. The only chances of note in the first 15 minutes were Joe Cole having a scuffed shot for Chelsea, and Patrice Evra breaking down the left & hitting a low shot that Cech handled easily. Then after 19 minutes, Chelsea struck first. Malouda on the left was allowed to run way too far without a serious challenge on him. On reaching the by-line, he pulled back the ball for Joe Cole to guide a sneaky back heel past Van de Sar in the United goal – only his second of the season. Five minutes later, Park was caught by Zhirkov on the edge of the box, but to the disappointment of the United players and fans, Mike Dean the referee (who has a history of giving penalties, 16 in 24 games this season!) waved away the appeals. The man in black it seemed was in a more lenient mood today, as minutes later Gary Neville appeared to blatantly barge over Anelka as he broke into the box – again no penalty was given. On the stroke of half time, Berbatov was cut down un-necessarily by Terry on the right of the box, but Giggs’ free kick only met a Chelsea head. As half time came, United trooped off clearly having been second best to face the wrath of Sir Alex, after not having had a threatening effort on the Cech goal in first 45 minutes.

The second half began and again Chelsea came out quicker, nearly breaking through early on. Joe Cole turned in midfield, and played a fabulous ball cutting through the United defence to the on-running Ferreira, who jabbed the ball past Van de Sar, but unfortunately for him, also past the far right hand post. The Old Trafford crowd were already starting to get restless, but their mood improved after Evra volley a couple of yards wide. The volume level was raised a touch more as Fletcher went on a run from central midfield, passing to Park who screwed his shot wide. United were now buoyed by this and Berbatov had two chances, heading narrowly wide from Giggs’ right wing cross, then minutes later heading over the bar from Neville’s centre. This was more like it and the pressure mounted, Chelsea at times desperately defending their own box, like a fighter pinned on the ropes. With 20 minutes to go Ancelotti pulled off Cole and Anelka with Kalou and Drogba, Ferguson responded by substituting Scholes for Marcheda. The decisions from both managers had immediate effect. Firstly, Chelsea having cleared their heads after surviving a United battering for 10 minutes made it 0-2; Kalou played a pass through to Drogba who finished emphatically controversially from an offside position. Minutes later, Nani jinked past a couple of Chelsea defenders and his cross-shot fell to Marcheda after Cech parried, making it 1-2. United desperately tried to fight back and as 90 minutes ticked up, Giggs played a lovely pass through to Berbatov who’s half volley couldn’t beat the Chelsea goalkeeper. However, Chelsea held on in injury time to deservedly rack up a huge victory.

United have lost five of their seven league games after playing in Europe and I think it is proof that they do not enough squad depth to cover, especially in attack. They now have to go away and recover before their next test in midweek versus Bayern Munich. How they could have done today with the extra punch of the injured Rooney up front.

Quotes from Ancelotti: "We wanted to be top after this match. It was hard but we played really well. Champions League matches take up a lot of energy and that is why we started the game so quick. We knew that if we played with a high intensity they could have some problems.Now we are the favourites, yes. That's normal when we are back at the top of the league. But nothing is decided. We have to stay composed, quiet and maintain focus in our game."

Quotes from Ferguson "What I can't understand is the linesman's directly in front of it. He has no-one near him and he gets it wrong. A game of that magnitude, you really need quality officials and we didn't get them today. It was a poor, poor performance. Five games left, they're two points ahead and four goals better than us - they're in the driving seat. Chelsea are favourites now, there's no question. I'm certain we'll respond but we could win the next five games and not win it."

Dunno what it is you know, some people find it so difficult to be happy. I’ve always had this impression, rightly or wrongly about Aston Villa fans. If at the start of the season you were to tell them that with around half a dozen games to go, their team would have made it to the Carling Cup final, got to Wembley again in the Semi Final of the FA Cup and be with in with a shot of making 4th place in the Premier League, I bet you 99% of them would have been utterly delighted to accept such a position to be in. Yet all I hear out of Villa fans is moan, moan ,moan, Martin O’Neill and the team are not making progress etc etc etc… Maybe it’s a result of all the short-term attitudes we have unfortunately got used to these days, with the insatiable drive for news from 24 hour sports news and talk radio looking for the latest angles in their reporting. Hey I hold my hands up! I wouldn’t have this blog if it wasn’t for all the reporting that goes on.

Anyway, Villa fans I urge you for a bit more patience. As the old saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and I personally think that Martin O’Neill and his admirable chairman Randy Lerner should be given a little more time for this young team to develop. This year, as Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor have found the going a little tougher (they will be back firing next season), James Milner has come to the fore, picking up the baton from the long since departed Gareth Barry. Milner has been nothing short of superb, and no wonder that no less than Sir Alex Ferguson has reportedly been showing some interest in the young Englishman, who should be a certainty to be on the plane to South Africa this summer. Fabian Delph is another one for the future who has been dipped in and out of the first team and next year I am sure he will have a more prominent role. Stephen Warnock has been a very shrewd signing, and James Collins and Richard Dunne in the main have been rocks in central defence, popping up with the odd vital goal. Apart from the 7-1 mauling against Chelsea last week, which I think was a freak result, there is still plenty to look forward to at Villa Park and as a neutral (as my team has been eliminated form the competition), I would love to see Villa get to the cup final and pick up the FA Cup, just to prove the doubters wrong. For all the hard work and patience that O’Neill & Lerner have shown, I personally think they deserve it.

As for the longer term, I believe Villa are one, maybe two signing away from being a real force to contend with. A top class striker to compliment Agbonlahor’s speed and maybe a creative midfielder who can open up teams and provide a balance to the counter-attacking threat and pace that Villa have in abundance.

Not good signs coming out of Upton Park. There seems to be an air of panic, the latest sign is the report that West Ham will attempt to sue Fulham for fielding a weakened team at Hull City last weekend. How laughable is this? There is no way that the Premiership will rise to the bait and no way that it could be held up, especially as West Ham themselves left out several key players in their 2-0 defeat at the Emirates stadium a fortnight ago. It smacks of a club in complete turmoil.

The team have lost six games on the spin, are playing with little coherence and with even less confidence and one of the last places you would want to visit would be Goodison Park this coming Saturday against an Everton side who has been in sparkling form in the last month.

The desperation is obviously coming from the top where the realisation that the gamble owners David Sullivan and David Gold took in buying out the original Icelandic owners maybe turning into just that – a huge gamble that could cost them a fortune. The stress has further been shown with the two top men split over support for Gianfranco Zola. Sullivan has been banned from the training ground after critical e-mails were circulated to all supporters who attended the Wolves game, whereas Gold when quizzed by the press after the latest defeat to Stoke showed staunch backing for the manager.

If ever a united front was needed, now is the time for the East London club. By the end of Easter they could be in the bottom three again and facing relegation in the face. I hope they survive, as West Ham are one of those clubs when on form are a joy to watch, however the brittleness of their current confidence makes me worry for their chances. 

As we go into the Easter period, Carlo Ancelotti probably can’t believe his luck just two weeks after things were looking so bleak for his prospects. The Fabregas and Rooney injuries have removed the two kingpins from Chelsea’s main rivals. They are still in the FA Cup and gearing up for the last seven games after plundering 12 goals in their last two games against Portsmouth and Aston Villa.

This Saturday Chelsea face a Rooney-less Manchester United in the crunch game of the Premiership so far. Rooney who has suffered minor ligament damage will most probably be out for a month or so, missing the Chelsea game, the Bayern Munich return leg next week and more than like the Manchester derby. Whereas United can more than likely survive his loss against lower teams, I think United will struggle to have a cutting edge against this weekend and I expect Chelsea to at least get a draw and I also expect them to drop points on their visit to Eastlands.

The other title aspirant Arsenal has also got major injury worries. Fabregas has fractured his leg in the epic 2-2 draw with Barcelona ruled out now for at least 6 weeks and Gallas also looks to have suffered a calf injury that may end his season early. Andre Arshavin too suffered a calf strain and despite a favourable run-in I fear that Arsenal may now just come up short in the end.

So advantage Ancelotti. The pressure is on him and his team as Abramovich will now expect no less than major silverware at the end of the season. What a turn around from just a fortnight ago? It’s time for him and his aging team to deliver. For many it may be their last chance.

Phew! I think I’ve just got my breath back after an amazing, special match. A game that had absolutely everything. Firstly hats off to both sides, firstly to Barcelona whose opening 20 minutes of football was as mesmerising an period of football as I think I have ever seen by any team at any time in my life. Simply stunning!! It could have been 5 or 6-0 without several stunning saves from Almunia. Wave after wave of attack rained down on a bewildered Arsenal rearguard. I have never seen an Arsenal side denied the ball so much and I think the Gunners just plain froze, just like rabbits in the headlights. Surely the dam was going to break as profligate Ibrahimovic, Xavi and Busquets missed chance after chance but goalless it remained. Xavi and Messi continued to weave pretty patterns, yet Arsenal could have taken an undeserved lead when Nasri’s curling effort flew narrowly wide. Arsenal’s task was made doubly difficult with calf injuries to both Arshavin and Gallas, both having to be substituted with Eboue and Denilson, and Fabregas was harshly booked for what seemed to me a perfectly timed sliding tackle, ruling him out of the second leg at the Camp Nou.

How it was scoreless at half-time nobody knew, but 30 seconds into the second half, before many of the Emirates faithful, had taken their seats (including Arsene Wenger), Barcelona caught Arsenal cold. A simple pass through to Ibrahimovic who glanced up to see Almunia charging off his line before sending a lovely chip floating over the stranded keeper into the net. On the hour, the magnificent Xavi sent a clever ball through a static Gunners defence for Ibrahimovic to smash home the second. Maybe it was arrogance or over confidence I don’t know, but The Catalans seemed to sit back a touch, maybe thinking the tie was done and dusted already, but it was to cost them dearly. Wenger threw on his last card and brought on Theo Walcott. The flying Englishman had an immediate impact terrorising Maxwell, and it was no surprise when Walcott sped past the aging central defender, latched onto a ball from Niklas Bentner and fired home a shot which Victor Valdes should have held. The tide had turned and Arsenal poured forward looking for an improbable second. With five minutes remaining it was Walcott again who reaching the by-line pulling back a cross to Bentner whose cushioned header fell for Fabregas. As he tried to strike home, a challenge from Puyol brought down the Arsenal number four, the referee pointed to the spot and then sent off the offender off for the foul, a touch harsh in my view. Taking responsibility into his own hands, Fabregas stepped up and buried the spot kick. It has now transpired that the Arsenal captain scored with a fractured leg and continued on hobbling until the final whistle. If anybody doubted him they shouldn’t now; here was an act of complete loyalty to the Arsenal cause which should be applauded. An example for the rest of the team how a captain should act in leading his troops in the heat of a battle.

So at half time in the tie, 2-2 and the outcome incredibly still in the balance. The cost of the night to both teams may be considerable. Fabregas is definitely out & Arsenal wait on injury news to Gallas and Arshavin, whereas Barcelona will have both central defenders missing for the return leg. The fact that Arsenal survived the battering that they did will I think in a strange way encourage them that they can go to Barcelona with some hope. They certainly have the speed up front to frighten Guardiola and his team and it will be interesting how Wenger decides to switch his team around. I would play the experienced Rosicky in central midfield (his natural position) Nasri on the left and Walcott on the right. I expect Campbell to come in place of Gallas. Barcelona though on their home patch remain clear favourites to progress.

I hope the second game can live up to the drama produced at the Emirates in game one. Monsieur Wenger promised us a masterpiece before match began. Guardiola, Wenger himself and all the players involved did not disappoint.