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 !.

RF - I stand corrected - my fault.

Apparently, you're spot on - the protection stops now so we could end up facing pool again.

Mind you they have a week to heat one ball up and freeze another for the opponents they want.

Man U taken apart......probably an accident, but like I said before their weakness is players running at their defence one on one with the ball, if they come up against the likes of Barcelona with Messi, etc... they will have to watch that and keep Barca's own defence on the backfoot to try and avoid this...anyway looks like the Gunners-Villa battle for 4th place has resumed....will be neck and neck until the end of the season by the look of things !.

Manchester Utd losing again....that doesn't happen very often.....when they are on top of their game the other teams have to watch out, but a few doubts are starting to set in....with Porto in mind they will have to watch their tricky players and not concede a goal at home, Sir Alex's team will have to be in tip-top form otherwise they could struggle if they go a goal down at home.....I bet Barcelona are cursing bumping into Bayern Munich, if there is one team that can beat them : it's Jurgen Klinsmann's outfit.....which brings me to the question ; Who will win the Champions League this year...I have not got a clue.....Arsenal-Liverpool final for a change....another all English encounter ?, strong possibility again !.

The media have gone into overdrive following 2 freak liverpool results.

At the end of the season it is virtually certain (imo) that the mancs will be parading the Premier League trophy.

In response to your, who will win the CL question - I too don't have a clue, but would write-off Porto's chances, and potentially the spaniards (the real ones - not the catalans). Beyond that its verging on a lottery/luck on the day etc etc

Predicting the FA Cup too seems to be difficult - 4 good teams, particularly given the fact that the opposition in each tie may well have higher priorities.

All good for the neutral

Found a little bit of time to comment here as we approach the busy qualifiers.....England take on Slovakia (friendly) and Ukraine....2 wins out of two ?.....the Scots have an impossible task.....a draw for them against the Dutch would be a mighty result, you never know with the Tartans..in easy games they seem to falter, and in "backs to the wall" games : they thrive !.

PS,I must congratulate the Irish rugby team in a tremendous grand slam.....well deserved as well !.

Good win for England,........I going to stick my neck out and say that apart from Wales (where the hell is that?), all the home sides and Eire will be in the world cup next year......so come on the Scots, pull yourselves together and grab some points, look at northern Ireland...and Eire....all of these sides can make it....what giant killers the Northern Ireland side are !, incredible.....nobody likes the trip to Windsor park !.

especially that useless polish goalkeeper......what a howler!

Well things are looking not too bad for our sides except for Wales (they always seem to blow it !), I wish Rooney would not put in those crazy tackles on players,...what gets into him ?, he goes in like a kamikaze !, Ireland caused quite a stir with that away draw to Italy...they are going to make it to the world cup finals next year !, anyway back to the club competitions now with the champions league quarter finals looming !.

wales are totally rubbish at football, do they ever beat anyone

You have to back a decade or so to find a few good scalps !.

san marino perhaps, lol.......isle of wight?

Well the northern clubs are in a bit of a pickle ! you could say...one champions league semi final is already on the cards with a Barcelona-Chelsea, the blues will need to score in the Nou camp....Barcelona look strong but so do Chelsea....what a clash that should be !? (can't see Liverpool coming back from that defeat....3 away goals needed...difficult !))......MU are going to have play a lot better than they did in the first leg....somehow I don't think that Porto can play any better and they might have missed the opportunity to bury the red devils....the likes of Rooney and co. can score out there...no doubt...that leaves the Gunners...and they are doing fine....who knows...could be their year at long last !?.

RF - Do agree that the write-off of the mancs by all and sundry is way too early.

No English club has won at Porto etc etc is the usual media nonsense - lets wait and see but I strongly suspect they'll still be in the competition this time next week

Yep !....should be a cracking game out in Porto....Man City did not play well.....at one time none of them wanted the ball.....passing it slowly around is not an option...you really have got to go for it in a game like that..they will have a job to overturn the 3-1 deficit !.

assuming manchester is still intact! mind u, its a craphole

3 clubs in the semis !...tremendous result !.....anything can happen now !, the Blues will need to score in Barcelona, that's for sure !,...the other semi will be like two big league games with the away goals being the difference, Man City have a tough job tonight....ManU had better be careful that they don't get ambushed by Everton this weekend in the cup !, Arsenal versus Chelsea....penalty kicks ?.

Not just 3 clubs in the semis, but 3 clubs in both semis with one notable exception.

Have you ever seen Gerard win the league ?

No....and I think that MU have that little advantage that might see them through in the league !, Man City out...not surprising.....they messed it up in the first leg....the big difference between the big four and the others is : when going forward the passing is not what it should be.....IT HAS TO BE PERFECT....and until they get those midfielders, forwards to understand that with training and their minds set to develop perfection in their play : they will not suceed in Europe nor will they compete with today's league leaders !.

From the bits of the game I saw, they seemed to give it a good go, albeit as you say some wayward passing/shooting

Got our semi tomorrow, and as usual with Arsenal, not too confident. Cech has been all at sea in the past few games, flapping against both Bolton and some 3rd rate team near Tranmere. Clearly confidence is the issue, but not sure whether this is a result of what he sees as a sweker defence than he's had in the past - he would never for example come running out to the corner of the box when other players were around to deal with.

Whilst I don't know the outcome of the fixture of interest to me - I feel I know the outcome of Sundays game - yet again Moyes to be an also ran