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 !.

Good morning all>

Dilyou took the words right out of my mouth with the CFC/Drogba remark.Joeunfortunately you watch football with blinkers onmost players cheatincluding West Ham players! the root of the problem is in the punishment they receive for committing the offences if caught?most Managers will back their players whilst being questioned by the mediayou would be naive to think otherwiseyou quote Di Caniowas that the same Di Canio who pushed referee Paul Alcock to the ground during a match and received an eleven game ban?
Wenger is not my herodont like Arsenaldont support Arsenalequally I dont believe lucky teams win the doubleor lucky teams go through a season without getting beatenWenger never pays big bucks on playersand usually makes a profit when off-loadingyour example of honesty and integrity when mentioning Sir Alexis not a good example.
Arsene Wenger was instrumental in choosingGreat Ormond Street Children's Hospital as their Charity of the Season for 2009/2010.and aims to raise 500,000 to help the hospital build a new lung function unit for childrenJoeI respect your viewas I do all football fansbut the problem will not be solved until vital decisions are made with the aid of video evidence and by a small panel of professionalsa amateur referee...that in most instances has never played the gamewill never be the answer!

Joelet me take you back to 19 August 2007...When Florent Malouda flung himself into the air like some kind of flailing seagull and fooled sorry-excuse-for-a-ref Rob Styles he could have shaped the entire season
Mourinho could have made a difference All he had to do was hold his hand up... criticise his player and maybe then help to turn the tide against these cheats. Liverpool were rightly incensed when they were robbed of three points by the actions Rafa Benitez and Steven Gerrard were scathing in their post-match commentsthe chosen one backed his player

ManU beaten at home last night......this has to be Chelsea or Arsenal's year in the Champions league......good to see Defoe getting 5 goals...let's have some more of that...and with the national side...

RF - Hope you are right but like any cup competition its a lottery and Man U are one of the ticket holders

Arsenal out of the carling cup (League cup).....not surprised...one day brilliant, one day not so good.....England seeded for the world cup draws...very good that....I'm surprised that Argentina are seeded and France are not.....hand balls aside they did play in the last world cup final....How much do you bet that we get either them or Portugal in our group ?...1 chance in 4 for that...

And Chelsea as well....Villa set for glory this year ?.

The world cup draw could go like this : England, France or Portugal, Chile, and USA......now that would be the group of death as they call it...or it could be : England, Slovenia, Algeria and Honduras.....that would be a good draw, not easy but a very good one.....

This is FIFA's favoured formula according to the press :- World Cup, current world rankings and performances in the previous two finals would see Germany, Brazil, Italy, Spain, England, France and Argentina seeded in that order along with hosts South Africa.
The rest of the draw would then proceed with no other seeds, but ensuring that no more than two European teams are in any of the eight groups, and no more than one country from South America, Africa and Asia in any group. After the elite trans-continental pot one, all the other European nations would be in pot two, African and South American teams in pot three, with Asian and North American sides in pot four.
Nowthis might be my cynical view of FIFAbut that aint much of a drawplacement would be a better descriptionI am all for producing a better competitionbut FIFA make me cringe with their portrayal as being democratic and fairthere past improprieties very clearly violate everything they pretend to stand for

Holland are seeded and France are not.....if we do get through, it's how the draw pans out in the second round like : winners of one group against second of another...you wouldn't want to be pitched against a group in the second round (with Brazil and France) or (Portugal) in the other group that we would bump into, that would be tough, so apart from the first round, a quick look at the way to the quarter finals is a must.....I sometimes think that the lottery is rigged, I just hope that tomorrow's draw isn't.

Wouldn't worry about the draw too much rf as England will make it difficult for themselves whoever they get , struggle through to the knock out stages before getting knocked out by a lesser team on pens.

That's cheered me up no end, thanks...

lol , it happens everytime and is about as close as you can get to a sure fire bet behind Wales never qualifying.

I hope Joe Cole will be fit and playing...a rare player that creates space....

He's fine when England are dominating a match.

RF.Joe Cole without doubt has a natural talenthe reminds me of Gazza in many wayswhat frustrates me about him is the % of times he gives the ball awayI dont count wide ball crosseswhich is a calculated play or even defensive clearancesbig punt up field when under pressure?but the amount of time he gives the ball away when there is an option within yards frustrates meI dont mind flair players that take on last defenders when the opportunity presents itselfbut he does not seem to be able to weigh up the risk factor in situationsif I was his managerhe would have a perforated ear drum

joe cole...overrated english player....he is like a less skillfull version of david ginola with a less gay haircut

you take rooney out of the england team and they will struggle

Brazil versus Spain in the Final for me with England going out in the quarters as usual.

don think i will ever see scotland at a world cup final i am afraid...our game is dying..we are the new wales

The Spanish might bump into Brazil before the final....in the quarter or the semis finals....just depends on how the draw pans out....

I believe one of the major factors in any team performing well is the shape and discipline of the playersa blunt spear formation 4-4-2 that continually follow the ball in shape and at pace in a offensive position the back four should be up on the halfway linewith a minimum 3 to 2 coverand possibly releasing one defender the two forwards on the last defenderready to make their runsmidfield for options to create and divertthe opposition with the same shape and discipline should cancel if this is performed equally then simply the best team will winsimples!! if not?the most disciplined will winthe two best examples in our league are Man Utd. and Arsenalthey keep shape with pacethey very rarely leave holes for opposition to exploitbut when they doas was shown when United played Besiktasthe very best can get stuffedok they had a few young lads inbut WelbeckObertanGibson are highly ratedand it was not quality that beat Unitedbut diciplinethey were clearly the better teambut gave the opposition little respectand got what they deservedAlex was quite on cameraI think training could have been different
Trigwhat you need is a class Managernot easy for Scotland to attractbut you need to break the Bank!
Kinda agree with you on Brazil and Spainbut Spain have been known to bottle it on many occasionsEngland have a small shoutand are clear 3rd favs.

Note that the media are already hyping us into the semis - when will these muppets (and all those idiotic readers that buy this trash) ever learn ?

Let's win our group first....well I got 2 out of 3 with my so-called easy group....the USA might be difficult but I would expect England to win the group if they are in tip-top form, the Germans will not want to bump into us : that's for sure. I'm not sure that the Brazilians will win their group, there could be a situation where Ivory Coast clock up quite a few points and in their last match against North Korea, even with yellow cards and such : they get all 3 points which could leave Portugal and the Brazilians battling it out, the 5 times winners might need a win in the last game to go top and the Portugese needing a win to get second place....so how about a goal from Ronaldo with 5mn remaining and....it could end up with Brazil in second place to one of the others....underestimate "La Cote d'Ivoire" at your peril : they might top the group. Brazil are overrated....in the game against England : our problem was that nobody got in front of the shots on goal, now with a full England side, (That's if we make it that far) no way are the likes of Gerrard and sorts going to allow 20 yarders flying in without blocking them. One or two big boys won't top their groups : possibly France, Germany,or even the Cariocas (I think that's thier nickname)......all in all : England have a great chance to do something great next summer !. I bet France might opt for a different route to the quarters, tough group theirs...Mexico and Uruguay will be tricky and South Africa are playing at home.