Thought I'd start a football blog, we might keep this going until 2010.....England doing well....did not see the match or even the goals....I'd like Michael owen back in the squad though....and I think Peter Crouch would make a very good substitute...remember against Argentina in Geneva a few years ago....with Michael Owen and some very good movements on and off the ball...they caused havoc.....did see Scotland's missed chance....that could be very costly losing those 2 points !.

Portsmouth blew it !, as I thought they would, really can't see them getting back into Europe next season, I don't like singling out players, but what do people see in Defoe ?, out of 10 goal chances : he might score once !.

Apart from being a great Hollywood actor ?, (not the same person possibly) ?!.

There was definitively a penalty at the end of "Platoon", the "ref" from the helicopter blew the whistle but too late !.

Further to my previous posts ; I've just thought of a joke : What's the difference between an actor and a footballer ?, answer = An actor can have a couple of great performances and a hundred duds and be remembered as a great performer !, a footballer can have just a few important bad games and loads of good not so crucial ones and go down in history as a failure !.

2nd possible answer = there isn't any !, they've both been arrested !.........going a bit off track from the soccer here !, anyway Liverpool seem to be doing quite well this year, another 3 points yesterday !, might be their year at long last !.

RF.I don't like singling out players, but what do people see in Defoe

I must disagree 100% with that viewI have followed Defoe for many years and believe he is the best goal scorer England have gotI include Rooney Walcott and Owenif you watch him play off the ball his movement wrong footing last defenders is unbelievable he turns quicker than anybodyand needs the minimum back lift to produce power and accuracy with his striking of the ballArguably Englands best ever under 21 strikerand working around players like Kanoute and Di Canio helped him to learn the mechanics of being a top strikerI can remember the impact he had at Bourmouth on loan at a very young ageand believe me West Ham new what they owned but could not keep himwhen he joined Spurs his first season produced 22goals.2006/07 he scored 18 times from 29 starts
Personally I believe the two best Managers in English football that understand a players ability in their role is Arsene Wenger and Harry Redknapp in that orderand as a West Ham supporter it hurts to admit thatboth managers along with Ferguson and Mourinho made approaches to sign Defoewith Redknapp succeeding
I will make a prediction.Redknapp will try and sign him once again.and only him from Portsmouthwe will see.
RF watch him for 90 minutesIMHO there is none better up front!!!

Well....!, I shall keep an eye on him !,....from what I've seen he keeps on missing goal scoring chances, England need some new forwards because if Rooney or Owen gets injured just before the next world cup, who are we going to depend on ?, we are sadly missing a Lineker nowadays.

RF.I think you have mentioned two valuable pointsfrom what I've seen he keeps on missing goal scoring chances.
The top strikers in the World miss goal scoring chances including Ronaldo open goal the other week from a few yards outIMHO two attributes make a great striker1st Defoe gets a lot of chancesfar more than most because of his movement and speed reaction in any given circumstance.this is down to him alone!!!.2nd percentage of executionDefoes is almost as good as the very bestbut if we refer back to the first point he creates a lot more chances than most
If you were to put him in a Liverpool team instead of Robbie Keanewho does miss chances [wont last long at Anfield] .he would be an England regular first choicehe has played in the Spurs team that condensed their play into small units and he never received early ballsat Portsmouth under Redknapp he was released far more earlier and you could see the differencePortsmouth have since slowed their style up and opposition defenders are having more time to get into position.far more difficult for a forward there is only one way Pompey are going to go Im afraid.

He has to improve..... !, and Pompey look like they will be fighting for survival soon, hope not for them !, they do have Crouch who seems to keep on getting on the score sheet now and again !.

On Defoe missing loads of chances reminds me of Luther Blisset of Watford, he could have missed chances for England..and Of course he did -):

Bottom line was that he scored lots of goals which is what really counts in the end.

What I don't like is the "overcelebrating" that occurs after a goal is scored at times, example : when Beckham scored on penalty against Argentina in the world cup 2002 (he nearly missed it by the way); you would have thought that they had won the world cup never mind just a goal in the first round; the England players and come to that all the premiership must keep their feet on the ground with clear heads and keep concentration a priority, a pat on the back and back in defence ready for the opposition not : waves to the crowd (I hate that) and jumping over fences like deer on the loose !.

Good results last night in Europe, but Chelsea look like a misfiring 12 cylinder engined car, brilliant at times but flawed.....I would not want to bump into Liverpool in the draws, and there are some big boys in the second row !.

MU and Liverpool top of their groups, Chelsea and the Gunners second !, MU : 3 times winners, Liverpool : 5 times winners !, southern clubs lacking something ?.

Yes - luck in the final.

I think it was "Franz Beckenbauer", the great german defender that said whan asked about how lucky they were in various finals : "it's funny, that the more I train the luckier I seem to be !", (I think it was him) well !, based on that : let's hope that the Blues and the Gunners get some extra shooting practice in, as both missed some terrible chances in previous champions league finals !.

Portsmouth lost yesterday and guess who missed loads of chances ?, J. Defoe, he is sharp but misses the target everytime, to be a top forward : you have to net, needs shooting practice on the turn !, apart from that the top 4 drew !, lucky Arsenal !, they risk been left behind soon.

You may revise that opinion post this weekend, when hopefully Arsene's boys put a few past the scousers.

Manchester won their semi of the world club competition with ease you might say, but as much as they are wonderful in attack, the defense looks uneasy apart fom Van der Sar who is tremendous, the problem is that the midfielders go to sleep and the defenders then struggle to fend off fast forwards running at them, (Manu's weakness) so if they go behind in the final, they could struggle to get back on level terms if the Ecuadorans are able to defend, (remember Sao Paolo against Liverpool, though it has to be said the ref that night was a bad joke!)(Deportivo Liga must be good to be in the final, no doubt). The Red Devils, to my thinking must score first on sunday morning, then the cup could be theirs but they must not get cocky and slow up through the game otherwise it will be curtains !, and I hope Gary Neville does not have one of his days off and makes some blunders !, unfortunately his mistakes have been very costly in the past.

Well, we have the draws for the European club competitions coming up......should be some cracking games next year !.

One for old times sake Jose.