BATTLE OF BRITAIN....THE SEQUEL

It was Chelsea`s destiny to overcome Valencia and set up a chance to exact revenge on their conqueror's from two years ago, but Liverpool Football Club will not fear the Stamford Bridge outfit, and may even relish the opportunity.

As i sat and watched the Valencia-Chelsea game, i knew as soon as Chelsea scored the equalizer it was not a matter of `if´ Chelsea went on to win, it was just when and how they would overcome Valencia. When the draw for the Quarter-finals was made and Liverpool Fc and Chelsea Fc had been given a chance to reenact their semi-final from two years ago, nothing was going to get in the way, even Chelsea having to play many peoples favourites for the cup, Valencia.

Chelsea deserve credit for their fightback, after the game at Stamford bridge and that away goal it was going to be an uphill struggle travelling to Estadio Mestalla, and after going a goal down to former Liverpool player Morientes`s strike a lot of teams would have been dead and buried but Chelsea found the reserves to fight back and get that all important second away goal.

Liverpool's entry into the reenactment was simpler, they had to beat PSV, an inferior team depleted by injuries, it was all over after the first leg, Liverpool simply destroyed PSV in Eindhoven, and in the return leg simply went through the motions resting players, trying to not pick up injuries or cards, it was all a formality.

Both managers, Liverpool`s and Chelsea`s claim that the other team has the advantage, Jose Mourhinho claiming that Liverpool are only playing in one competition so that all their efforts will be concentrated on the Champions League, and meanwhile Rafa Benitez saying that with Chelsea`s outlay of money over the past few years on players for their squad they have the resources to play for a multitude of competitions at this late stage in the season. Both claims are valid, everyone that can read knows how much money Chelsea have spent over the last couple of years, and even if we sometimes think they have overpaid, they still have a huge squad of world class players, so the playing too many competitive games excuse does not wash. Liverpool fc will rest players but not many because the Anfield team still need results to guarantee a chance of champions league football next year, so both claims by the opposing managers really cancel each other out.

Chelsea i think have accumulated one advantage over their foes that has not been spoken about yet. When Liverpool won the Champions League two years ago they came through insurmountable odds, the game against Olympiacos is one obvious example where against the odds they needed goals but got them, that psychological win drummed into the players that its not over till its over and nothing is impossible, the same mentality they held onto against Chelsea and Ac Milan that year, and we all seen the results of that. And now Chelsea`s fightback against Valencia will have instilled that same confidence that led Liverpool to glory in Istanbul.
But one big black mark on Chelsea`s hope is the man that got them this far,Michael Essien missing for the first leg is a huge loss, he has been the driving force behind the team this year and will be really missed.

For all Chelsea´s millions they can still only put eleven men on the pitch at one time, and this is where the problem of Liverpool`s lack of funds is deleted by the intelligence of their manager.
Under Rafa Benitez Liverpool have built a squad of players, where maybe twelve or thirteen are truly top competitors, the rest being fill gap players or up and comings. The league table never lies, and it is true Man Utd and Chelsea have the best squads in The Premiership. Liverpool have not had the squad that is capable of sustaining a challenge for what is still the`Holy Grail´for all Liverpool fans, The Premiership.
But what Benitez has done is built a team that when he puts his best eleven on the pitch can compete with anyone in the world, perfect for cup competitions but with his, so far limited funds unable to compete in the weekly grind of the league.

Both teams are pretty equal, but Liverpool will overcome Chelsea because in Benitez they have the most tactically astute manager in football today, you only have to listen to the constant one way war of words from Mourhinho to know that the special one is worried about not being so special any more, Jose is worried because he knows that Rafa has out thought him in the past and this is now a much better Liverpool team then the one that left John Terry weeping on the Anfield turf the last time these two met at this stage and the Chelsea team of then was more superior..

And there is one more huge incentive for Liverpool to overcome the Chelsea challenge, a dream for all Liverpool fans, this is where Man Utd come into the story, nothing in this world would give Liverpool fans across the globe better pleasure than beating their oldest foes in the greatest club showcase of all.

THE MYSTERY THAT IS MASCHERANO, AND BLOWING BUBBLES

Not playing and then selling Mascherano could go down as one of the biggest mistakes in Premiership history and makes it easy to see why West Ham find themselves in a relation battle with decisions like that.

Mascherano was totally frozen out at West Ham first by Alan Pardew and then by Alan Curbishley, how have these two seemingly intelligent managers deemed him not good enough to play for West Ham and maybe this is one reason for their clubs demise. I could have understood him been frozen out if he was sloppy in training or just was not putting the effort in but after getting clearance to play for Liverpool football club, Benitez played him on his first opportunity four days later to make his debut against Sheffield United, so Benitez must have thought he was fit enough to play.
A lot more happened at West Ham than we know, Pardew had two players brought into the squad that he knew absolutely nothing about, the fact that the two players spoke no English did not help.
Mascherano was already a bystander when Curbishley arrived so the trend continued from there, but it is no excuse for a team in a relegation battle to exclude a player with Mascherano`s talents.

Since Mascherano has arrived at Liverpool we have seen what a truly world class player he actually is, and more mockingly for West Ham the type of player he is. Mascherano is one hundred percent fitted to the Premiership, his dogged tackling and never say never attitude is perfect for the English game and a team in a relegation battle like West Ham sure could use a player like him, so why is he not still championing West Hams cause.

One little insight this week was given by Rafa Benitez, when asked about why Mascherano had done so well at Liverpool Rafa replied that at Liverpool it is easier for Mascherano because of all the Spanish speaking staff, if this is true,how unprofessional of West Ham for letting one the best players to pass through their club for years and not have given him a fair chance because they could not go out of their way to solve the problem.

Since Mascherano has moved to Liverpool i have started to think something i never thought i would.....selling Sissoko.
Sissoko has been a great servant for the club but unfortunately his passing seems to getting worse and worse, there is not many better ball winners in the prem but with Momo, soon as he wins the ball he passes it straight back to the opposition, Mascherano is very different when he wins the ball, he has the Gerrard or Alonso ability to play that incisive pass to start an attack and he is aware of where his team mates are at all times. I thought that Sissoko been dropped for the last few games might have been a wake up call to him, but his passing was as bad as ever against Reading and with both Mascherano and Sissoko playing in the same game it was the perfect opportunity to compare both players, and it was not good for Sissoko. Mascherano`s tackling was better timed and his distribution of the ball was miles ahead.
Sissoko is still young and under Benitez`s guidance will improve but Barcelona want Sissoko, we want Eto´o, if the situation arose that Sissoko`s departure to the Nou Camp would put us in pole position to capture the signature of Eto`o then for the good of the team, Liverpool Fc would be willing to part ways with Sissoko.

All this comes about because Rafa seen in Mascerano what two West Ham managers did not see in the Argentinian and what a huge loss it is for West Ham and if they do go down this year people will point at this as an indication of how badly the club has been run.

COULD ROMANS RUBLES ACTUALLY BE GOOD FOR THE GAME?

Roman Abramovich`s riches have forever changed the game in England, could it be possible that this is actually a good thing not just for Chelsea but also the other big three, Liverpool Fc, Arsenal and Man Utd.

My view has always been that with the introduction of the Russians money has ruined the Premiership, the crazy sums of money payed for players they need, and worst of all the crazy money that has been paid for players they don't need, talented players like Shaun Wright Phillips who has completed just 2 full 90 minute games in the Premiership so far this season, Wayne bridge is another talent wasting away at Chelsea, which is also hurting the national team.
It would be easy to blame the players, by saying that they know what they are getting into when they sign for Chelsea and are just after the money, but we do not know what has been said to these players by Mourhinho or their agents when the transfers are happening, perhaps they are been told that they are going to be playing regularly but then arrive only to find themselves warming the bench.

These are some of the negatives (only some, but there are more) but there has been one big positive after the introduction of the Chelski millions, all the other teams have had to rise to the new challenge. Chelsea raised the bar and the other big three have had to follow suite, and the results are there to be seen. Liverpool won the Champions League two years ago Arsenal were in the final last year and this year we have three teams from the Premiership in the quarter finals, a huge improvement on the pre-roman years.

Man Utd are a shining example of this, last summer they bought Michael Carrick for 18.6 million, it was a crazy price to pay for a run of the mill midfielder but Man Utd needed him to compete against Chelsea so they gave in to Spurs ransom price and now they are reaping the rewards.
In years past they would have laughed of that asking price and waited for someone else at a later date because they might have been able to do without Carrick for another season but such is the pressure that the Chelski millions put on the other clubs that there is no waiting for tomorrow, teams have to invest more every season to compete with Romans Rubles.

For years English football fans have missed out on watching the cream of the worlds best players playing in the Premiership, the likes of Kaka, Ronaldinho or Messi, all these players deemed the Premiership not the place to be but all that is changing now in a large part to Romans Rubles. Samuel Eto`o is one of the most wanted players on the planet and he has already hinted that Liverpool Football Club is his next preferred destination, and others will follow to the Premiership.

Man utd, Liverpool Fc and probably Arsenal next have combated the Chelski millions by getting foreign (American) investors, but they are not the only ones to gain by this new trend, Spurs payed for a lot of good players with the Carrick money, and its the same for the smaller teams, transfer fees will be higher and still the bigger clubs will buy players that have proven themselves in the Premiership as a first option.

With the increased tv money next year and the money spilling over from the bigger clubs to the smaller clubs expect the Premiership to go from strength to strength and as much as i hate Roman`s Ruble`s, it has had this one beneficial side effect, and it should return us to the days when the English teams dominated Europe and finally we should see the worlds finest plying their trade in England.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN RAFA HAS MONEY TO SPEND?

Liverpool Football Club recorded an emphatic win over PSV and showed they are the team to beat in Europe this year, but the premiership is still the holy grail for all Liverpool fans.

Liverpool Fc are reaching their peak at just the right time and have been made the bookies favourites to lift the cup for the sixth time. Benitez`s tactical superiority is showing as the comp goes on, the tactics used in the elimination of Barcelona was breathtaking and the demolition of PSV the current champions and leaders of the dutch league was comprehensive, some people may say that Liverpool deserve little credit for the PSV win because the dutch played so bad, but PSV started out with eleven men behind the ball, a tactic that Liverpool would have had problems with in previous years, but Liverpool attacked got their goal and then PSV had to come forward and then Liverpool exploited the space and simply destroyed the Dutch champions, it was a tactical battle won by Benitez over Liverpool`s and Man utd conqueror last year and Arsene Wenger this year, the long time tormentor of English football Ronald Koeman.

But even if Liverpool do lift the champions league cup this year, it will be a huge addition to the Liverpool trophy cabinet but it is still not the trophy that all Liverpool fans across the globe yearn for.

The premiership is the only cup that has eluded Liverpool, and there has been piles of pressure applied to every manager that has attempted to bring it to Anfield, Souness, Evans and Houlier have all come close but just not got there.

Benitez is a different kettle of fish, he has proved that on his limited funds he can bring together a squad capable of winning the champions league and other cup comps, and there we see the problem, you really only need a starting eleven to win a cup game but to win a league you need a squad of great players. After the introduction of Romans Rubles the game has changed forever in England, no longer is it good enough to have a starting 11 of great players, Chelski have upped the standard by having twenty plus players of international standard and been able to introduce star players with fresh legs when needs be through out the league season when players get tired(but thankfully they have not had a manager capable of repeating the feat in Europe) and because chelski have done this the other teams must follow suite to stay in the race, Man Utd have been able to do this but Liverpool and Arsenal have so far been left behind.
Benitez is on the verge of been given the transfer funds to compete with the big boys, with this money he should be able to buy a squad capable of winning the Premiership.

Today Samuel Eto said he love`s Liverpool and this is a very big step forward for the club, to get the best players no matter what money you offer, the club has to match the players ambitions and now Liverpool is seen as a team on the up throughout Europe, and with Rafa`s summer transfer funds we should at last be able to bring in the quality players to fill a full squad of players capable of winning the holy grail.

LIVERPOOL 4 ARSENAL 1, ARSENE LOSING THE PLOT?

Arsene Wenger has proven to be one of the most shrewdest managers to have graced the English game, but his current Arsenal side are in a total shambles as shown by their recent Anfield exploits.

A lot was made of Liverpool`s two cup exits handed out by Arsenal earlier in the year, but Liverpool ripped Arsenal apart at Anfield and showed that when it comes to the games that matter Arsenal dont come close to the Merseyside men, and remember this was Arsenals most important game left in the season, a chance to cement third place in the league.

As Liverpool's new owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett looked on, they must be thanking their lucky stars for inheriting one the very best managers in world football today. Rafa Benitez with the midweek game with PSV in mind rested some key players so it was a below strenght Liverpool that took to the field against Arsenal. But even without his full firepower on display the tactical battle between the two managers was fully reflected in the score. Arsenal were totally outgunned by Liverpool`s midfield and simply could not deal with Crouch, not only his three goals but his overall play, it was probably the beanpole strikers finest game for the club so far.

It was a great performance by Liverpool but the scoreline does not tell it all, this was close to the easiest three points Liverpool have picked up at Anfield all season.
Wenger has some serious work to do to turn his young guns into a team capable of winning anything.

Wenger has to be admired for building the teams he has over the years on a shoestring budget compared to that of Man Utd or Chelsea`s, his capture of Anelka for 500,000 pounds and resale two or three years later for 22 million is surely the greatest bit of business by a premiership manager so far.
Wenger has built a team of youngsters for the future which is the best way to compete against Chelski`s rubles, but his problem is the team is too inexperienced and that is starting to show in the results now.
Alan Hansen once famously said of Man Utd, you cant win anything with youngsters and he was proven very wrong, but that was a team that included the experience of Roy Keane and Peter Schmeichel, that is where Wenger`s team is missing out, with Henry sidelined there is no real experienced leader to help the younger players out. Wengers second problem is he wants to play beautiful attractive attacking football, as all teams do, but most teams try and find the balance between attractive football and winning games. Wenger seems to be more focused on the team playing nice rather than picking up the three points

During the Liverpool takeover Wenger stated that if he was offered 100 million to buy new players he would refuse it, grand words for sure and im sure every neutral would love to see a team built from little money overcome the megabucks that is Chelski and Man Utd, but it just does not work like that anymore, Romans Rubles have changed the game forever and Wenger should be demanding more cash for players to challenge the top clubs and if you think about how much cash his dealings have brought into the club coffers over the years, it should not be a problem.
Wenger is a very idealistic manager and once again he has to be admired for trying to play entertaining football and for trying to beat the money clubs by his shrewd dealings, but there comes a point when it must be asked is his idealistic approach doing more harm than good to Arsenal football club.

STOP THE ROT, DROP OVERRATED LAMPARD NOW !

Its official, England under Steve McLaren are a shambles. England produced another below par performance again against Israel, and one that a lot of people were expecting. McLaren has to be big enough like he was with the Beckham situation and drop Frank Lampard.

Only three players can walk away from Tel Aviv with any sort of credit for there displays Aaron Lennon, Owen Hargreaves and Steven Gerrard were involved in all that was good about Englands performance.

From day one i thought the English FA made a huge mistake in appointing McLaren to the post and sadly he is proving me right. This is a man who learned a lot from Sven-Goran Erikkson and that alone taints his managerial credentials. Remember all the talk a few years back of the `GOLDEN GENERATION´ of footballers that were to lead England to glory, well this is that team of players and right now they should be reaching the pinnacle of their careers but crazy mismanagement all the way from the head of the FA down to McLaren are ensuring that this generation of English footballers will pass like countless before them and never win anything at international level.
McLaren will not be fired because its not the English FA`s way of doing things half way through a Euro qualifying campaign and to be honest no great manager would touch the poison chaliced job right now.

McLaren has made two monumental mistakes since taking over the hot seat and they both involve Steven Gerrard, number one was not making him captain, John Terry is a good captain for club and country, but Gerrard is better... much better. No player in the world can rouse and drive his troops on and lead by example like Gerrard, no one can take the game by the scruff of the neck and turn things around when things are not going to plan, and if you do not believe me, hop over to Milan and ask the AC superstars to explain the reasons for that second half in Istanbul, and he does this week in week out at his club Liverpool Fc.

The other mistake is wasting Gerrards talents by playing him on the right, he can play there as he does for Liverpool, but the Liverpool situation is different they have Alonso in the centre who is more than capable of replicating Gerrards defence splitting passes, and Gerrard also has more of a free role where he can come inside to do the damage, but even still at his club most fans would prefer to see him always in the middle.
McLaren`s reluctance to play Gerrard in the centre stems from the fact that he wants to play his 11 most talented footballers in every game, which all managers should do but this is leading England to try and force square pegs into round holes, i was all for trying to fit Lampard and Gerrard into the same team but it has been obvious for a long time now that this is not working..the results prove that.

So something has to be changed someone has to get the chop, and it can only be one man, Lampard has to go, he is a good player for Chelsea but has never set the international scene alight, he is the most overrated player playing in world football today and he is a major obstacle in Englands quest for glory.

All these media stories about Europes top clubs chasing his signature are just that....stories. The likes of Barcelona know he wont move from Chelsea and they dont want him,and a player with Lampard`s ability would add nothing to their team, he simply is not up to that standard of football, he looks good at Chelsea simply because he is surrounded by great players.
With Lampard out of the way England can play Gerrard and Hargreaves in the middle, Gerrard driving forward and Hargreaves protecting behind him is a recipe for success
Lennon can then play in his natural position on the right of midfield. England are blessed with great defensive players so it only leaves the left of midfield and up front. Downing should be given a fair go on the left and Crouch and Owen `when fit´ are the perfect foil for Rooney. So there is hope for England if the right decisions are made at the management level.

In Gerrard England posses probably the best player in the world for driving his team on and turning a lacklustre performance as we seen in Tel Aviv into a resounding three points win, if Gerrard is released and allowed to do what he can do then England can once again become a team to be feared but i think McLaren lacks the wisdom and bravery to make Gerrard the emphasis of the English team, instead expect to see him try and force square pegs into round holes for the remainder of his tenure as England boss.

CHELSEA, MAN UTD HEARTACHE AS LIVERPOOL WALK ON.

The Champions league draw has thrown up the possibility of revenge on a grand scale, Liverpool`s path to glory may be crossed by three teams who have more reasons to beat Liverpool than just winning the cup.


Rafa Benitez will not take the PSV Eindhoven and Koeman threat lightly, even though Liverpool beat them in the group phase, Koeman was the man who masterminded Liverpool`s and Man Utd`s downfall in the competition last season and has just dispatched Arsenal.
But Benitez and Liverpool are aware of the Koeman led PSV danger and should over two legs get over this first hurdle and make their way to the semi`s.

Then this is where the Liverpool path to glory gets a little interesting. Chelsea have been handed the toughest draw of the English teams in the quarter finals, if they overcome Valencia then in all probability we will have a rerun of the semi-final from two years ago. How sweet revenge this would be for Jose Mourhinho and his men if they were able to turn around the result of two seasons ago. Liverpool knocking them out of the competition then, is probably the most painful event for Chelsea`s players and fans since Mourhinho took over, so we can expect a fired up Chelsea team and all Chelsea fans demanding revenge.
But Benitez will not fear Chelsea, this is a much better Liverpool team than the team that knocked Chelsea out two years ago and the Chelsea team back then was better than their current squad of players, and the 2-0 win at Anfield last January in the Prem will have given great confidence to Rafa`s men. And in Benitez Liverpool possess one of the greatest tacticians in the game today and over two legs his team as proved against Barcelona can beat anyone. So Liverpool should overcome the Chelsea challenge and march on to the final.

In the other side of the draw we have Man Utd paired against AS Roma, not an easy draw as Roma have played some very good football on their way here. If Man Utd get through this test then they face either AC Milan or Bayern Munich, i expect Milan to come through this test as Bayern of today are a shadow of a side compared to the the once great giants of European football.
So then we should have an AC Milan, Man Utd semi-final. On current form Man Utd will beat Milan, Milan like Bayern before them just are not the force they once were. Roma are the better of the two Italian teams that Man Utd face on their way to the final but Italian Football has taken a nosedive recently so we should expect Man Utd to come through these two tests unscathed.

So this leaves us with a Liverool Fc v Manchester United final, a mouth watering prospect for sure, but which of these teams will lift the trophy in Athens. Man Utd were played off the field in last months Anfield clash but weathered the storm and scored in the dying minutes to walk away with the 3 points, but Liverpool have nothing else to play for now, the champions league is their season and if they dominate Man Utd like they did at Anfield, luck wont be on the Manchurians side again, so i cant see anything but a Liverpool win.

The biggest threat to this Liverpool path to glory probably comes from Benitez`s old team Valencia, they are very good defensively and with David Villa, deadly in attack, Chelsea could do Liverpool a huge favour by knocking them out of the comp at this stage.
It would be to Liverpool`s advantage if PSV were the last foreign team they meet this season because Liverpool are more than capable of turning over Chelsea and Man Utd, and we may even get to see what all Pool fans all over the globe will remember forever, a weeping Gary Neville as he sits on the turf in Athens as Gerrard lifts the greatest club prize of all, again.

LIVERPOOL v MAN UTD ONLY A SIDESHOW

It was a cruel result for Liverpool Football Club on Saturday. Liverpool would have been better sending out a second string team but Rafa Benitez had no choice and did the right thing by sending out his strongest team as all Liverpool supporters would have demanded.
But in reality Saturdays game was no more than a sideshow to Tuesdays main event. The Premiership is over for Liverpool Fc, we cant win it and we will probably finish in the top four, so now our only real chance of getting something out of this season is the Champions League.

The Barcelona tie is far from over, and i see Barcelona`s loss at the weekend to Seville more reasons to be wary of Barca. Liverpool will be coming up against `the wounded dog syndrome´. Whatever Liverpool`s problems are Barca`s are ten time`s worse.

Being knocked out of the Champions League by Liverpool does not figure in the expectations at the Catalan giants , and losing top spot in La Liga over the weekend puts further pressure on them, so eventually someone is going to get the backlash from the fallen giants of world football, i just hope its not us. But as always the twelfth man that is the Kop should help us along.
Tuesday has the potential to engrave itself in the Liverpool history books as one of the great European football nights at Anfield.

There could also be the added bonus if we get through this tie of a possible meet up with Man Utd later on in the comp.....and i think most Liverpool fans would gladly accept last Saturdays loss if it meant knocking them out of the Champions League.

WHAT A WEEK FOR LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB

Its been a great week for Liverpool, we have encountered another one of those Roley Poly Brazilians, a Dutch manager losing the plot, an English manager losing the plot a lunatic Sheffield defender and nearly met a big fat ego from Cameroon.

Two great wins against, first of all the current champions of Europe in their own backyard, and then on Saturday overcoming the usual European hangover to totally mow down the Blades. Liverpool have had more trouble than their main contenders in England adjusting to the premiership after midweek euro clashes, and Sheffield Utd are not the type of team you want after a tactical battle in Europe.

Rafa Benitez made seven changes for Saturdays game at Anfield bringing in a lot of game hungry squad players eagar to impress and win a starting place on a more regular basis, and maybe this is a good option against these battler teams whose main objective is not to be relegated and survive another season so they can strenghten their club on the wealth of the Premiership.
Neil Warnock was incensed by the referees decision to give Liverpool a penalty following a foul by Rob Kozluk on Gerrard for holding in the penalty box, what made this such a stupid foul is that 20 seconds before the referee had warned Kozluk about the same thing and when play resumed stupid Kozluk stood one metre in front of the ref and ignored the refs advice and committed the exact same foul again, Gerrard made the most of it but who would not capitalize on such stupidity. How Warnock can complain about his player been penalised for such stupidity is beyond me.
The most interesting decision made by Benitez this week is his handling of Javier Mascherano, the Argentine was on the bench at the Nou Camp and made his full debut against Shefield Utd, even though he has only just moved to Anfield and had only played one game for his former club West Ham since his move at the start of the season. Benitez is showing amazing faith in a player who has had virtually no playing time in the last six months. The reason for this is because Benitez knows he has a truly world class player on his hands and for whatever reason has had his confidence knocked for six by West Hams reluctance to give him a chance. Benitez has tried to regain some of Mascherano`s confidence by instantly including him in the squad for the Barca game and at the Sheffield game gave him his first start. In the game itself Mascherano in the first half was a spectator whose only contribution to the game was to quickly take a free kick only to belt it against an opposing player with no Liverpool teammate in sight, it was a clear sign of a player with zero confidence trying to impress, but he did improve in the second half and showed some nice touches and probably will return to the player he showed us that he can be at the last world cup, but Rafa has a lot of work to do.

And then there was that little matter of the game at the Nou Camp, Liverpool Fc once again overcame the odds to create another historical European night for the Anfield club but that is exactly what it is, one night, this tie is only half over.
And Barcelona are more capable than any other team in the world of overturning the decifet from the first game.
Barcelona have had a much harder time from the media, with the latest reports saying that Ronaldhino has followed his compatriot Ronaldo into a need to spend a week or two at fatcamp. Funny how the media has suddenly noticed that he is fat just as Barca are having a bad time. What is it with Brazilians and paella.
But Barcelona will be a totally different animal when they face Liverpool at Anfield.
Rijkaard has handled the Samuel Eto'o saga poorly, this whole thing should have been sorted out before the Liverpool game and away from the media glare.
Samuel Eto'o has been included in the Barca squad for this weekends La Liga game so it looks like Frank Rijkaard has forgiven his big ego striker, and a Barca team with
Eto'o trying to prove a point is a Barca team to be wary of. If you also look at the way the Barcelona players have rallied around their Roley poly Brazilian play maker then it shows exactly what Liverpool will be up against at Anfield.

Despite Liverpool having to battle the fat Brazilian and the ego that is Eto'o, the scoreline cushion from the first leg should be enough to see us through, after all this is Fortress Anfield as Man Utd are about to find out next Saturday

LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB V BARCELONA

Barcelona against Liverpool is always a mouth watering prospect, and with Barca`s present internal feud its even more-so. I don't buy into most media outlets predictions that the present in-fighting amongst Barcelona`s top stars somehow gives Liverpool football club a major advantage. It could just have the opposite effect.

Wednesday night at the Nou Camp Pitts 2 of the best players on the planet against each other Ronaldinho v Gerrard, but that has become a sideshow with the current Barca problems.
Samuel Eto'o is a diva, and his little tantrum this week has illustrated why the club is always bigger than one players ego. This whole episode of stupidity came from Frank Rijkaard telling Eto´o that he would play the last 25 mins in a game against Racing Santander. If Rijkaard actually guaranteed Eto'o 25 mins of football in that game then he is in the wrong, as with war, football`s best laid plans are thrown out the window when the first ball is kicked, and after that its up to the manager to react to the circumstances of the game.
If Barcelona needed a defender with 25 mins to go, surly the team gaining 3 points out weighs Eto'os personal ego to play. He was asked to come on in the last few minutes, but refused.
This has started a tit for tat between Eto'o, Rijkaard and Ronaldinho in the spanish media initiated by Eto'o but sadly for Barca their manager and star player have joined in and not done the most sensible thing by trying to sort the off-field problems within the club away from the glare of the media.

A lot of media outlets have made heavy of these Barca problems and said there is not a better time to play the catalan giants, but i disagree.

Some one has to get the backlash eventually from the Barca problems and it is most likely to come in one of the bigger games and they don't come much bigger than Wednesday nights game, imagine Ronaldinho and co`s motivation before the Liverpool clash, the chance to show the world that they are a united squad of players, i expect a more fired up Barcelona than we would have seen before their recent problems surfaced. So maybe the advantage is in Barcalona`s favour.

Mind games and who has what advantage aside it should be a very interesting game, Rafa Benitez has a great record against the Catalans and the spine of the team that knocked Barcelona out 2 years ago will be starting the game on Wednesday so Liverpool will not fear or become over awed by Ronaldinho and co.

Rafa Benitez is experienced enough to see all this, so i expect a Liverpool fc team to walk out on the Nou Camp on Wednesday night ready and fully prepared to do battle.

Liverpool fc have had the the opposite sort of week than their opponents, a much needed break in the sun in Portugal after their 2 bad results in the last 2 weeks and it was badly needed to try to find out why the magnificent run of results before the Everton game was halted and figure out how to return to winning ways.

Despite Barceona`s off-field problems, Liverpool face the best football team in Europe, Rijkaard has chopped and changed his side this year but still they lead the spanish league and are still the favourites to win the champions league and this is what Rafa must drum into his players over the next few days. Liverpool perform better as the underdogs so Rafa must convince his players that they have an uphill struggle.

As this tie is over 2 legs the away goals rule is so important, if Liverpool are to continue in this competition a goal from the scousers on Wednesday is so important. Even though Anfield has become a fort we really don't want Barca coming there on a nil nil draw from the first game meaning their goals are worth more than ours.

And it will be interesting to see Gerrard and Ronaldinho, in my opinion the 2 greatest footballers in the world today but for very different reasons, Ronaldinho for his individual breathtaking skill, and Gerrard for his no-nonsense tackling, passing shooting and cajoling his team onwards. It will be interesting to see which man has the biggest influence over the 2 legs.

In Rafa we trust, and in this we must trust him more than normal, because he has turned over the Catalans more than most.

Why Liverpool's Academy system has been a failure

What is better, bags of money or a youth team brought up through the ranks together playing as a complete unit. Could the Chelsea team of last year have beaten the Giggs, Beckham, Scholes, and Neville Neville`s 2 sons Gary and Phil when they were at their best?

With all the fanfare over the Liverpool takeover Rafa Benitiz`s January transfers and especially his emphasis on youth has been overlooked by nearly all, but they could prove to be as important as the takeover itself.

I remember reading Alan Hansens biography years ago, in one story he told how he and Kenny Dalglish watched an evening game of football and arrived back at King Kenny`s house at about 1 o clock in the morning, but instead of going to bed Dalglish searched frantically through his hundreds of channels until he found a live game of football to watch, it was only a non-event south American game, but to Dalglish it was like a drug fix. Hansen then decided that he could not devote so much of his life to football management so instead decided to go for the easier path, the football pundit.

This brings us back to Rafa Benitez, i believe that all managers lead somewhat similar lives to Dalglish to a certain degree. In the explosion that is today's global media it is possible for Rafa and his fellow managers to monitor football at nearly all levels globally. So they see young players and if they see some talents that impress them they can monitor the progress of that player from an early age up until there is a possibility of giving a trial or making a move for the player before he hits the headlines and becomes less of a bargain.

I believe that all good managers monitor young players in some way like this before sending in their scouts to have a second opinion.

Managers knowledge of these young players is like a personal wealth, they can spend a little when they move to a new club, but also save a little by not introducing the younger players till they know that they will be staying at that club for a long period.


Rafa has strengthened the main squad from day one but has also been even more active in the Liverpool youth set-up showing that when he signed on for the Anfield job he was in it for the long haul.
Paul Anderson, Gabriel Paletta, Miki Roque, Nabil El Zhar, Besian Idrizaj, Godwin Antwi and Jack Hobbs have all bee previously added to the youth set-up.

But this January transfer window Rafa has gone all out to show how important he see`s the role of youngsters trying to make the breakthrough into the first team and create competition.
This last transfer window he bought 6 players, Alvaro Arbeloa, Daniele Padelli, Jordy Brouwer, Emiliano Insua, Francisco Manuel Duran and Ronald Huth most of whom are teenagers.
He also got Astrit Ajdarevic a 16 year old swede who has impressed so much that the Academy has broken from the norm by singling out the young striker out for special praise.

But the fact that Rafa has had to bring in so many young guns illustrates how badly the Liverpool Academy is failing, any football institution that did not see Wayne Rooney`s potential and rejected him in a trial should be questioned, and like Rafa and Houlier before him, both have found themselves at loggerheads with Steve Heighway the academy director , so its probably a good thing that Heighway will be stepping aside in May so that Rafa can bring in his own men and give his own young imports and the new generation of trainees a better chance of making the breakthrough to the big time.

Rafa has had experience in the Real Madrid youth teams, so i would hope that the new Liverpool board would give him more of a say in the running of the academy after the departure of Heighway. After all the young players are aspiring to play in Rafa`s team so why not let Rafa have a hand in teaching them his ways at an early age.

Benitez has shown his intentions already to build a youth team for the future and i think even with the expected windfall from our American owners i still expect and hope that we will be building our youth team, but now maybe we will be able to compete with Arsenal for the bigger money young guns.
I have faith in Benitez`s decisions so i think we will see some of his youth imports playing alongside Gerrard and the new stars the new money will bring in.

LIVERPOOL FC, BACK IN THE BIG GAME

After a very prolonged 3 years in which Rick Parry has been trying to pitch the history and the future of Liverpool Fc, around the globe to possible investors has come to an end today. But is it the right move?

American tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks have finally sealed the deal that will give Rafa a war chest to truly be able to compete for the title instead of been expected to pull of a miracle to outdo the manyoo and chelskis milions.

I was very annoyed when the DIC deal fell through and i was very hard on the board and the one bidder that was left, George Gillett. What was really annoying me about his bid was that there was talks of a groundshare option with Everton and my first reaction was if the new chairman cares so little about what the fans think already at this stage, then what does the future hold and this cant be very good news for Liverpool Football Club.
I said at the time i would apologise if new facts come too light, so here i am apologizing and eating my hat.

The new duo in charge George Gillett and Tom Hicks had there first press conferences today and you really cant make much out from these pre-organized soundbites, its not so much what they say its more a case of what they may not talk about and leave us in doubt about there intentions.

But for me today they said all the right words, killing speculation on our worst fears, first of all mentioning that they may be lynched for even considering a groundshare option, for saying that the money that was used to buy the club was not borrowed against the value of the club and that he sat down with the most important man at Liverpool, Rafa Benitez and said that he expects future transfer plans from Rafa, so it seems he already knows Rafa is the man to lead us to glory.

The simple fact is these 2 Americans business is running sporting clubs, they know the future of football is in getting people to pay to watch, be it live games, sky or the foreseen money spinner of the future, the Internet. And they have been in the world of sports long enough to relies that the club has to be successful on the pitch before it can successful be off the pitch.
So after a lot of apprehension when the DIC deal broke down and the Gillet deal seemed the only deal on the table, the way the yanks have communicated so fast to quell the fears of Liverpool fans has been impressive.
So David Moores I apologise, you really seem to have found a good deal to secure the future of Liverpool Football Club.

LIVERPOOL BOARD, HANG YOUR HEADS IN SHAME

As a lifetime long Liverpool fan i find it hard to comprehend the level of incompetency that exists in the clubs boardroom today. Their lack of big business experience is sadly resulting in todays biggest sporting story...even though its the last day of the transfer window.

I apologise for everything i say below if new information comes to light, as if the DIC bid had some very bad unknown details or the new Gillet deal has some unbelievably good benefits, if not this is how i see what has happened to our dream of a Liverpool Football Club able to challenge as a true world giant.

Liverpool Fc finds itself in the position it is in now because of the clubs board, past and present members.
From the start of the premiership our players have not let us down as much as our board, they have been the weak link.
Man utd came good at the around the same time as the start of the Prem league, but even then because of Liverpool's recent domination of the league, Liverpool was more well known throughout the globe and was therefore much more marketable.
But our board sat on their hands as they watched their fiercest rivals become the global leaders in football economics. Man utd expanded their stadium every season, eventually meaning they were earning 1 million a more than us on every home game, that's 19 million a year on prem games alone, a new Van Nistelroy every year for free.

Man Utd`s blueprint should have been copied by a board with with wisdom and courage ,but sadly our board had neither.

So today David Moores and Rick Parry have manoeuvred Liverpool away from being bought by DIC, a consortium that was willing to write off debts, buy new players and most importantly build a new independent stadium that would guarantee the future of the club even if it changed hands afterwards.
But instead of that our board has managed too mess that up and instead, in the Gillet deal we get a ground share option with Everton at the most because a new ground is not in the deal, only a debate about a new ground.

In my first blog post when the DIC deal came to light i begged the Liverpool board not to f##k it up and even in my last article on Sportingo i was already thanking David Moores because i thought he would do the right thing and ignore the Gillet bid and carry on with DIC.
How long can we hope to keep hold of key people with big ambitions at the club, such as Steven Gerrard and Rafa Benitez, if they start to see the board, do not match their own ambitions.

As i have said before if new facts about the two deals come to light i apologise, but if the media are correct then Moores and Parry have shown total business incompetence by using Gillet to hardball DIC for more cash, and should resign.

And they have killed the hopes and dreams of all Liverpool fans from across the globe with their total misunderstanding of the business world, so the only way forward for this club is with new leadership.
So tonight, if this really is the outcome of the takeover saga and Liverpool are left with only Gillet as a buyer then the board should hang their heads in shame.

GILLET BAD NEWS FOR LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB

David Moores can do one last great favour for the club he loves before he hands over the reins, and it could prove the most important of all the decisions the Moores family has made over the decades they have ruled the Merseyside club.

George Gillett has muddied the waters at this late hour for a Liverpool takeover by tabling a bid even though it seems destined to fail....i hope.
The biggest reasons i hope it fails, it seems to be in some ways to resemble the manyoo Glazer marriage, a rich American trying to buy a major english football club but seeming to be underfunded to do it the right way.
He does not seem to have the money or is unwilling to invest in a new independent stadium for Liverpool Fc

We need to get out of debt and build a new stadium, no one is arguing with that fact, but the Gillet proposal has one shocking hole in it, the fact that he wants to even consider a ground share option with our neighbours Everton shows that he does not care or does not know what the supporters of this famous club think about ground sharing with their bitter enemies.

No Liverpool supporters i know would ever be willing to ground share with the blue half of mersey for a number of reasons, one being why would we help them by giving them an easy fix to there money problems by financing a stadium and becoming one more threat in the league because believe me Everton would fill that stadium and bankroll a rejuvenation of their club. Even though it would be very good for Everton their fans are probably not too keen either on an idea of a shared stadia.

The DIC bid is a bid that includes cancelling the debt of the club but the most important part of the deal is the new independent Liverpool Football Clubs stadium which will in itself guarantee the future of the club. In this bid there is no hint of a lack of funds or penny pinching unlike the rich americans offer.

In my view the Gillet bid is bad news for Liverpool but it could be good in one way, if it makes DIC realize that Liverpool Football Club is a prized asset and it may hurry up the deal a maybe even release some cash for this current transfer window.

But hats off to David Moores if he turns away (the more money for him deal) that Gillet is offering and goes for the (better for the club but less money for him) deal that DIC is offering, i know its seems a small amount of the money when we are talking so many millions, but there is not many chairman who would take a couple of million pounds less to ensure that the company that they left behind was in safe hands.
I am congratulating David Moores already, before any deal has gone through, because i know he will not worry about his personal wealth and even if it means losing a couple of million he wil do whats best for the club.

LIVERPOOL 2 CHELSEA 0

Today has shown how far Liverpool Football Club has come under Rafa Benitez tenure, as it easily discarded a fired up Chelsea team despartly fighting to save their managers career at their club.

Dirk Kuyt was in a class of his own today as he got the break through goal and was a constant thorn in Chelsea`side and even found time to do some decent defending in the same game.

Benitez experimented last weekend with a 3 pronged attack, Kuyt, Bellamy and Crouch against Watford. This set the stage for todays game, although we did not start with 3 strikers today what we learned last weekend is that Liverpool Fc given the chance are a very good team playing attacking football.
We started the game with a great tempo and a full on, get the ball forward mentality, the very thing Liverpool detractors have been saying about us for years... maybe they were right because we look really formidable attacking and having confidence that our defence can do there job.

Dirk Kuyt today showed what a world class player he really is, he has the strenght of a centre back and that helped him today as he regained his balance under pressure to brilliantly put the first goal away and leave old helmet head Cech no chance

In a lot of my previous writings i have been very critical of Pennant, and rightly so but today he at last showed a glimpse into the reason Wenger payed a record price for a 16 year old, he has a lot to do to convince me that he is a long term answer to our right wing problems but i was very impressed today before his wonder goal with his willingness to cut inside and run at players. Sadly after his goal he seemed to be happy with his contribution and was more happy to pass the ball than run at the chelski defence, but once and if he gets the confidence to believe in his own talent he could be very hard to leave out of the starting 11.

What a great day for Liverpool Football Club and it really shows how the team has gone forward under Benitez, because today we were playing against the most expensively assembled football team in history, and we made them look like Scunthorpe...sorry no disrespect meant to you Scunthorpe fans, after all i am comparing you to the current premiership champions.

LIVERPOOL V CHELSEA , ARE WE GOING TO FACE A CHELSEA BACKLASH

Two of the most sought after managers in European football come head to head on Saturday. Both are under varying degrees of pressure from their board or owner and
this single game could change the face of the premiership in years to come.

The game on Saturday is make or break for Chelsea`s flamboyant manager, a loss to Liverpool Fc may not be the final nail on his coffin but it is one more nail in the lid.

This is a question mark over Chelsea rather than Liverpool, Benitez had his judgement questioned by some quarters following Liverpool`s poor exit in both domestic cups at the hands of Arsenal but a win on Saturday may open up a gateway to second place in the prem.
But i think the board realise what the vast majority of Liverpool fans already know, that Rafa is the right man to lead us forward and even if it is not this season, we are getting better all the time that Rafa is in charge.


On the chelsea side of things things are not so clear, we have massive amounts of rumours, probably most untrue but there is definitely a lot of unrest between Roman and Jose.
The British media has been softening up on Jose in the last couple of days by trying to imply that Roman has been the man picking some of the players that chelsea have bought in the last few seasons.
To me this excuse does not let Jose off the hook, think about it, if Jose bought all these players for overpriced prices that are not good enough to play for the club, that is his bad judgement.... But if he let Roman buy these players then you have to question what does Jose want from football. Any manager worth his salt would walk from a club when the owner went out on his own, buying players for the club, which may be the case. Imagine the Liverpool board telling Bill Shankly that they were handling transfers from now on.....love to be a fly on the wall for that one.

Jose has a great reputation in European football and could walk into a number of top jobs if he did not like what Roman has been doing for the last seasons..so why does he stay.
I think one or two reasons,(1) The money...... (2)its probably one of the easiest managers jobs in world football, you buy all the best players in the world let them play, win titles.. only problem is when things go wrong, you have got so lazy you dont know how to manage anymore.

Also rumours have come out of the bridge that the Chelsea players want to back Jose and make some sort of protest against his sacking, the sad thing for Liverpool is that in reality the only way these players can make a point for their beleaguered manager is on the pitch, so i expect a full on Chelsea assault on Saturday with every Chelsea player giving 110% for their fallen leader. We could not be playing Chelsea at a worse time.
But putting Chelsea`s eagerness to save their manager aside , they are dealing with the most in-form prem team of the moment so this really could be a momentous battle.....But as most pre-envisioned huge games go, there is so much pressure on the players that the games are not so entertaining to the neutral but to every Liverpool and Chelsea fan this could be their game of the season,the pressure is such.

So back to one of my opening comments, that Saturdays game could change the face of the prem for years to come, if Chelsea lose or draw against Liverpool i think they will not win the league so that may mean the end of Jose`s reign in England and as much as i dont like the guy he does make it more interesting and would be missed just for the his entertainment value.
Going to be an incredible battle on Saturday and even though i expect a fully fired up Chelsea team, Anfield is a daunting place now for all visiting teams and i expect Liverpool to be 3 points nearer to Chelsea on Sunday.

LIVERPOOL TAKEOVER VERY CLOSE

Liverpool Football Club today announced that the takeover bid by Dubai Investment Capital was very near to being finalised. The timing of this could be very important for the clubs ability to mount a serious league title challenge for next season.
The squad as it stands today is not a million miles away from being able to give Man utd and Chelsea a run for their money.
Why the timing is so important is because we very badly need some players in some key positions and in reality if we are going to be a threat to the other contenders for the league next season it would be a massive advantage to be able to bring these players in now in the January transfer window.
Liverpool have been a transition club from the day Gerard Houlier took over, right up to the present day Benitez era, we have been playing catch up in all these years to Man utd and Chelsea.
Every year we have had to improve our squad with a lot of players coming in each summer and it has cost us dearly. Each season we have had to get a lot of players to settle in all at once. And it shows in our season stats we are a team that starts the first half of the season badly and finish the second half strongly. Ok this is not our only reason for poor starts, inferior players that our budget forced us to buy had a hand in it.
Next season could be very different, the premiership is the hardest league in the world and probably the hardest to get used to, so if we can our new signings get accustomed to life in the prem this season by the start of next season we should have a very strong team that is capable to get of to a running start.
Defence is very good as Carragher and co have got real stingy in giving goals away, but we still have the problem that has haunted us for the last couple of seasons, putting the ball in the oppositions net.
Even though we have the majority of possession in most games including against the bigger teams we lack the creativity and the natural goal finishing instincts of a young Robbie Fowler at his prime.
Up front Dirk Kuyt is the closest we have to a 20 prem goals a season man, but i think he is having to play a little out of position further back trying to create chances for other players. The Bolton came was a perfect example, he set up the 2 first goals from a position between midfield and the forward line. Kuyt can do this but as he showed in that same game when the game loosened up and we could afford him to go further forward he scored the third and he is deadly once he gets a sniff of a goal. But we also need a striker who is more selfish and is only concerned with putting the ball in the back of the net.
But the main positions we need to fill are the wings, we really need world class quality there, at the moment we have Pennant who can send in an amazing amount of crosses in a game, but sadly most of them bad and he seems very unwilling to cut into the centre and run at defences Gonzalez on the other side seems very lightweight for the prem, but he is going through our normal problem, settling in time. Maybe he will settle in but as the months go on it seems more unlikely.
But the main problem with these 2 players is they really dont offer the attacking creativity that we are lacking. A fit Harry Kewell would be a very interesting prospect but Liverpool cannot afford to gamble on his fitness, so we must buy 2 world class wingers and if we can get them now, next season could be a whole new ballgame for Liverpool Football club.

RAFA WAS RIGHT!

Lets face it the league cup is the ultimate mickey mouse cup, played on a Saturday celebrated by the tabloids on the Sunday and Monday and all but forgotten on the Tuesday
Rafa Benitez has taken a lot of stick over the last week over his team selection, in last Mondays league cup defeat to Arsenal. I was disappointed too when i seen the starting 11, i was disgusted that Steven Gerrard was playing.
The league cup for most, apart from the top teams is still something worth winning, but Arsene Wenger got it right when he started to play his reserves in the league cup and the next season the other top teams followed suite. It is a great competition for the top teams with big squads to blood their younger squad members into first team football. It can also be useful to put players in the shop window that you would not usually risk playing....this has backfired spectacularly for Liverpool in Dudeks case... that was a shocking goalkeeping display
But Rafa got this one nearly right, Gerrard should have been rested but apart from that he was right to rest his main players. We had just played Aresenal on the Saturday and the game, 2 days later takes a lot out of players and because it was the mickey mouse cup why tire out our squad in a cup that even if we we went the whole way does not really mean so much....3 prem points are more valuable.
I have been a little disappointed over the last week not by the media, i expect it from them, but from so called Liverpool supporters that have started to question Rafa`s wisdom. It is right that a football manager is held to account by the supporters of his club but its a bit sad when our own supporters start to criticize Rafa when we have known from the start that he believes in resting his players by either rotating or not wasting energy on a mickey mouse cup and it has brought us success.
Things were different in the good old days when Liverpool were winning the milk cup, but nowadays with the champions league been so demanding and so many games and so much money to play for clubs cannot waste their time and energy and best players on small domestic cups.
Gerrard looked a bit jaded in todays game against Watford, could that be anything to do with last weekends exploits, i just hope he recovers for next weekends chelskis game, because chelski are well rested and so are we thanks to Rafa`s forward thinking.
Rafa was right!

MOURINHO, BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

An awful lot of speculation in the media in recent days claims that Jose `the special one´ Mourinho may be given the boot from chelski.
At first glance i thought how great this would be, because i do not think there has been a more annoying little twat involved with english football. But if you actually sit back and think about this for a minute Jose has done all the other clubs a huge favour.
He has had endless resources at his fingertips and he has spectacularly wasted an incredible amount of money. Just think back through the last 3 premiership games where he complained about the injuries that were causing his team to drop points, they drew to Reading Fulham and Aston Villa, now chelski had a minimum of 60 million worth of players sitting on the bench for all these games, more money than were spent on the teams and in Readings case there total squad.
So the question has to be asked if you lose one defender to injury and have that amount of money sitting on the bench can you really complain about injuries or should you be questioning the players you have bought for your squad. Last summer they sold Gallas ( huge mistake by his russian master) to get Ashley(i love money) Cole and also sold Robert Huth. Why was Eidur Gudjohnsen sold and why was Damien Duff sold because chelski are surely a lesser team since their departure.
Now any manager worth his salt with the money the special one has had should have been reinforcing his weakest area (defence) even before his russian master sold Gallas, but instead he spent his summer romancing Ballack because Jose seen the german as the final piece in his quest for total world domination....thats worked out pretty good.
So the rest of the premiership are much better off with Jose at the helm.
Consider what would happen if a Wenger or Benitez had been in charge of chelski and had that amount of money to spend...chelski would be miles ahead in the prem and in Europe.
But also remember this, Roman already has Jose`s replacement on his payroll, Guss Hiddink is currently manager of the Russian national team but been bankrolled by Roman Abromovich, so not only is roman`s rubles lining up ready replacements for chelskis players, but the new manager is already waiting in the wings just a plane ride away.
So Jose do us all a big favour and stay just where you are.....

BENITEZ V WENGER

This FA cup game could be very good for all the right reasons, two of the top four big names in English football meeting in the oldest cup competion in the world. But what makes this football occasion a little bit special is the fact that these two teams and supporters have very little animosity towards each other. First of all i think we have finally got over the Michael Thomas goal we even signed the man.
Arsenal are a hard team to hate (manure im with u till u lose supporters, and i am also prone to the odd prawn sandwich) and to the newest kids on the block Chelsea fc (dont really know what football is but my company got a tax deduction on a season ticket for me, but its a bit unruly nothing really like a good game of rugger played with some chums).
But Arsenal have a lot of similarities to Liverpool, both managers are underfunded compared to the 2 top twat teams, ok we still cant fund a Theo Walcott type transfer 5 million rising to 12.5 million on a kid, but both managers are trying to compete with the crazy money of chelski by scouring the globe for the best young talent to have a real chance of building for the future.
Whereas Alex has based his buys on whatever the tabloids say, and the special one took whatever his Russian master bought him, Wenger has been by far the best in the English game for spotting and nurturing talent, but Rafa`s young gun buys should be starting to break into the first team next year and then we can really compare the 2 managers on their talent spotting.
I hope its a good game because the fans deserve it, for too long we have been preoccupied with chelskis money and manure arrogance and ignorance, would be nice to finally after a long time.....enjoy the game of football between 2 great teams with 2 non arrogant non ignorant managers....for once lets just sit back and enjoy the sight of 2 great teams playing football