The aftermath of a fascinating Premier League weekend

What an astounding weekend of Premier League action it really has been, showing and proving to the world that the Premier League is by far the best league in the world. The competitiveness of all the teams in managing to compete with the top teams in the league is incredible.

THE WEEKEND WINNERS

SOUTHAMPTON - You have to mention this team, currently lying 3rd in the Premier League after 11 games and a mere 3 points behind the leaders is an astounding achievement. They are becoming consistent, exciting to watch, well organised and the rise of some of the younger English players has been fantastic to see. Players like James Ward-Prowse and Luke Shaw rising to through the ranks and not to mention the newly England trio of Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez who have been fantastic. A lot of people including myself heavily questioned the decision to sack Nigel Atkins and appoint Mauricio Pochettino, but he has proved everyone wrong. Whether Southampton can maintain their start is another thing, but it is great to see this team in action this year.

MANCHESTER UNITED - A hard working performance against a lacklustre Arsenal side and the benefit of the poor results of Man City, Chelsea and Tottenham put United fully back in contention. The form of Rooney and Van Persie will be key to the success of the team this year and they are very reliant on these 2. However, if they play with the fight and passion of Sundays game then they will be in with a shout of regaining their title.

SUNDERLAND - Huge win for Gus Poyet's side against Manchester City. They will need to play with that fight more often this year if they are going to survive the drop and there is a lot of work for Poyet to do on the training ground, but that result will certainly have given the fans more hope.

NORWICH - Huge 3 points for the Canaries and more importantly for the future of Chris Houghton. A home defeat against West Ham would have potentially meant curtains for Houghton and when they went behind I'm sure many thought the same, but they came back strong. They need to make a big push and get on a run after the International break to move them clear of the drop zone.

CONTROVERSIAL POINTS

It was not the best weekend for referees, but none more so than Andre Marriner. That decision in favour of Chelsea to award them a last second penalty was one of the most disgraceful decisions I have ever seen. He should not be let off lightly. The speed at which he gave the penalty for a coming together was shocking. No thought went into it at all, and I feel there should be an explanation as to why it was given. We need to hear referees speak out and explain decisions at times. West Brom battled hard at Stamford Bridge and deserved the 3 points, but time and again the bigger teams seem to get the decisions especially at home games. It's not good enough anymore. Maybe technology is the answer, or maybe stricter standards for referees is needed.

The last second penalty brigade didn't end there and we saw it happen again at Swansea on Sunday, that gifted a point to Stoke City. This decision is more difficult, as I can see why the referee gave it for handball due to the player leaning towards the ball. However, he had a player directly in front of him and nobody seemed to appeal for the decision which is always a sure fire sign it wasn't a penalty. Swansea have been struggling with the demands of Europa League football and their Premier League form has dipped since last season, so 3 points here would of been valuable. Again I would like to have seen the referee come out and explain the decision, as in my opinion I thought it was very poor.

These decisions can cost jobs and something needs to be done about it. The demands of the Premier League are so extreme now a days, and the pace at which games are played at doesn't help referees and I feel they need more support. But they should be culpable for their actions.

ARSENAL UPDATE

Being an Arsenal fan it was very hard to watch the game Sunday, as it was a very very disappointing performance by the team, especially after the great run of form we have been on. Social media circles have been giving lots of stick to Arsenal for the defeat and in particular Ozil and Ramsey received a lot of stick too. Yes both were poor. Yes Arsenal were not fantastic. YET...we lost the game by a single goal and a goal from a corner. The second half we created a lot of chances and had opportunities to equalise. In previous years this would not have happened. United were not the same team as last year. They didn't have their usual cutting edge, or fluidity we come to expect from the Red Devils. I wasn't amazingly optimistic going into the game for some reason, but knowing we had a cushion at the top meant a slip up wasn't the end of the world, even more so after this weekends events.

The fact the game was so tight at Old Trafford certainly showed the improvements in the Arsenal side this year. We played poorly and our best players this season didn't show up, yet we only lost 1 vs. 0. That to me shows huge improvements and gives me plenty of optimism for the rest of the season and believe we really will compete for the title this year.

2013/2014 Who will win the Premier League

This will now be kept regularly up to date and when my new laptop arrives the whole page will be jazzed up for the 21st century as it is very out of date to say the least.

Anyways...What a start to the Premier League it has been with big results against the big teams for Cardiff - beating Man City and Aston Villa beating City and Arsenal away. United struggling, Spurs getting thumped at home by West Ham and Southampton beating Liverpool at Anfield too. Thats to name but a few. But these results are the big reasons why the fans love the Premier League so much. On any day, any team could beat any other, which is something that is not seen in other leagues around the World.

8 games in and the title could go anywhere in my opinion. Its Arsenal that have impressed people the most and the signing of a certain Mr Ozil seems to have given the side a huge lift in confidence! The rise of Aaron Ramsey has been nothing short of incredible and gives that new signing to the Arsenal squad as he is a completely different player to previous years where fans have constantly been critical of his performances. The football they have played this year and the battling characteristics to grind out results have been lacking for years at the Emirates, but maybe this is a big turn. I still feel they need to add some depth to their squad particularly up top, but I feel they could be there or there abouts. A tricky 6 games awaits them though and I feel that we will know more about their prospects after that.

Man City for me are the team to beat. Yes they slipped up in a couple of games but in both they were absolutely dominant and I expect with Pelligrini and the players all adjusting to work together they will soon find that regular cohesion and be a force to reckon with this year. The strength of their squad is a big key factor.

Chelsea will not be far behind. Mourinho back in the realm and leading his troops as Mourinho does. Always makes his teams hard to beat, sets them up in an extremely organised way and has a knack of grinding out results from poor performances. A strong squad puts them in a strong position to mount a challenge on all levels this year.

Manchester United on the other hand are struggling and find themselves quite a way behind already into the early part of the season. The importance of Sir Alex Ferguson has been proven (if people struggled before hand) and with David Moyes now in charge the team will take some time to adapt to a new style and a new man holding the reigns. The summer was very unsuccessful for United in terms of signings and only a deadline day deal for Fellani happened. A good solid signing, yet a player lacking the creativity which United so badly need. I feel they will come strong as the season continues and if Van Persie and Rooney stay fit I believe anything could happen. Signings needed in January otherwise the title will be easily taken from them.

Spurs have been the team that has impressed me a lot this year and they made some big transfers in the summer to cover for the loss of Bale. However the best signing of all has to be bringing back Andros Townsend from the countless clubs he has been loaned out too. Villas Boas has unearthed a gem here and in many ways has got some that brings you around 60%-70% of what bale did which would of been more than anyone could of imagined. The strength in their squad is fantastic and if they can continue to gel together there is no reason why Spurs won't be too far behind this year. A top 4 finish is certainly not out of the question.

Finally Liverpool. I have huge amounts of respect for the owners for giving Brendon Rodgers time, something that seems to be forgotten about in football. He has developed the team into playing some exciting football and Rodgers has also brought out the best in Daniel Sturridge who seems to be returning the faith shown by the manager with his performances on the pitch. Liverpool defensively may struggle at times and their squad does feel a little light to mount a title challenge, but a top 4 finish could be in their sights this year. With no European distractions expect a strong season ahead for the Reds.


If you have any comments on this please do not hesitate to contact me and I would love to have a discussion. If you have anything you would like me to discuss then I am also happy to write about that too.

Many Thanks

James

Spain boring??? Are people watching the same game???

Spain have now wrote themselves in the history books for winning 3 major titles in a row, an incredible feat considering the true toughness of football now a days. Not only that, they have played a form of football that has blown away supporters in true brilliance and has often been mentioned as the right way to play the game. For some reason people are now going back on their words about Spain and that word "Boring" has been mentioned. I have never in my life heard such nonsense, well apart from every single Joey Barton tweet on twitter.

To be called boring for playing with no strikers is a ridiculous excuse as well. They did play a striker, they playerd Fabregas as the forward and had a ridiculous amount of support from the rest of the team going forward. Constant forward runs were executed by many of the team, notably seen in the final with David Silvas goal supporting Fabregas and Jordi Alba's goal. This goal I have to mention as one of the best goals you will ever see. What I mean by that is the overall build up to it. Spain refusing to kick the ball long, something so many teams do when their being closed down at the back. They stuck to their guns and played the ball around at the back to ensure they gave someone a bit more time. That was their keeper, Casilias, who proved that he was just as good on the ball and picked out a great ball up field. The goal came from all this and Xavi's pass to release Alba was nothing short of perfection. The right way of playing the game.

As a football coach myself, I never ever encourage any of the kids I coach to kick the ball long. I constantly encourage short passing and moving to get down the field as its impossible to play against. Quick passing and movement is very difficult to play against, as we have seen with so few teams been able to come close to matching Spain's standard of football. Why are people even contemplating criticising this? They are truly playing the beautiful game, even without the ball. Their work rates and stamina are fantastic and they work even harder without the ball than they do in possession. They have this young mentality of wanting to keep the ball so much that when they lose it they all go hunting to ensure they get it back in possession. The more possession a team has, the more they control the game and ultimately tire out the opposition. Believe me, chasing the ball for 90 minutes is not fun one little bit. Yes, there have been a few teams who have had success against this, but I mean few, and even those teams have rode their luck immensely.

Throughout this tournament I have backed Spain. They were certainly not playing to their usual fluid selves during the championship and deservedly were criticised for this (not for being boring), but they still found themselves in the Final of the European Championship. A team that conceeded 1 goal throughout the entire tournament. This is always a sign of a great team. Reminds me of the England rugby team in 2003, where they only started to play well in the Semi Finals, but they were in the semi finals playing sub standard.

Now Spain always had a few gears to progress through and they certainly showed that in the final. An incredible performance from in my opinion the greatest International team that has graced this planet. The scary thing is that in 2 years time I can see them doing it all over again, and part of me wants to see it too. No chance their football is boring one little bit. A joy to watch and a joy to be around during this time to be able to witness this.

(Someone pointed out to me today that Sergio Busquets - not one of Spains superstars as such, but a valuable member of the first team squad - had won 2 European Championships, 1 World Cup, 3 Liga Titles, 2 Champions Leagues, 2 Super Cups, 2 World Club Championships, 2 Coppa Del Ray's - he is just 23 years of age! - absolutely astonishing)

England pay the penalty

It's so so disppointing that seemingly Championship after Championship we get knocked out on penalties. Is it a curse? Is it nerves? Is it a lack of footballing ability to score from 12 yards? I have no idea. But could anyone who really knows the game of football believe that England deserved to go through? I don't think so. We were simply second best to everything. Outplayed by a superior passing team. Out worked by a hard working team, and we were very fortunate to even have been given the chance of going through with a penalty shoot out. Italy deserved it. Those that know me, will know how much i hate losing and the fact I often blame outside influences. But today is not one of those cases.

England's expectations going into this tournament were at an all time low. We were relaxed as we were not expecting miracles from this team. Those expectations were exceeded when they ualified as group winners, undefeated and seemingly looking like they could grind out the right results come the knock out stage. The avoidance of Spain was another bonus and expectations rose at this point knowing a game against the italians awaited. I believed we could get through, however scrappy the game got.

THE GAME ITSELF

The first 15 minutes were more exciting than the whole 90 minutes in the Spain vs. France game. Chances either end, but seeing England miss theirs just didn't settle well with me. I always thought we would need an early goal to stand a chance in this game, but we couldn't get it. Italy controlled the game from then on and Pirlo was absolutely class throughout. His ball possession and passing was a joy to behold and he's 33 years old! From the middle of the 2nd half, bar the odd moments, this game was heading to penalties.

THE PLAYERS

The selection of Milner again was defensive from the off and he continued to have his uninfluential tournament for England, offering just a bit of hard work but no creativity to the team. Walcott probably should have been in from the start, though when he did come on, England could not keep the ball enough to get him into the game.

The back 5 did themselves proud once more, with John Terry for me being the stand out England player on the day. For me, Glen Johnson switches off all too often and I am very critical of him I must admit. Sometimes very sloppy in possession too, but did OK today.

Gerrard was again excellent, though looked very tired in the 2nd half. Parker struggled somewhat against the numbers in midfield of the Italians. He also showed where his game struggles as he was very poor in possession and got dispossessed a lot. But he can be very proud of a very positive tournament none the less. Ashley Young was disappointing again, I think more so because we expect better from him, although still inexperienced on the International stage.

Rooney again failed to deliver at a Championships. He was undoubtably England's worst player against Italy. Looked off the pace, tired, his touch was poor and he struggled immensely to hold up the ball, something England missed until Carroll's inclusion. There was an arguement that the Welbeck Carroll partnership should have been given more of a chance, and Rooney's 2 performances highlighted this. I know he got an extended holiday after the season and maybe that was too long as his sharpness was definitely far shorter than many in the squad.
Welbeck is one player, along with Carroll who can hold their heads high. They both did a great job for a team who lost out on possession in every game of the tournament. They worked hard, chased balls down and held the ball up well throughout.

THE MANAGER

Pretty faultless performance by Roy Hodgson, considering how short a period of time he was in charge of the team. Made crucial changes at important times, no better than the inclusion of Walcott against Sweden. Not scared to make those changes either and stuck by key selections, including John Terry, who certainly paid Hodgson back with solid performances. Set a weak England team up to ensure they were difficult to break down. Brought in good quality coaches including Gary neville who I thought influenced the team harmony immesely and helped bring the group of players close together. There was no infighting, no tabloid stories, no dramas, and it was great that this was the case.
He set every player a job to do and he should be proud of his performance.


OVERALL

Although I am disappointed that we couldn't progress, I am fairly satisfied by the teams overall performance. Undefeated is no mean feat at International level and that is an achievement in itself. Going into the tournament with low expectations and coming out disappointed to be exiting at the quarter finals stage is quite a nice feeling. It was good to see the players playing with a lot of heart and fight and also seeing a manager on the sidelines kicking every single ball, was a feeling that hasnt been felt for a long long time. The passion was back, which as supporters is what you want to see from your team. Players seemed delighted to be representing their country and wanted to fight for the three lions. A big improvement from 2 years ago.

A change I am certain will happen and Hodgson should look to continue to draft younger players into the squad. The inclusion of a fit again Jack Wilshire who outplayed the Barcelona midfield just over a year ago, will help to bolster the energy and creativity in the centre of the park. Andy Carroll and Danny Welbeck to continue to progress and Walcott to become more consistant will help improve the balance of the squad. The emmergence of "the OX" will help to develop his wonderful talent as well.

The future looks bright and thats where we need to start looking now.

England So Far So Good

I love football tournaments and big Championships like this is no different. Teams have been competing hard and i have been pleased with the competitiveness of the nations so far, bar unfortunately Ireland who seem to have been torn apart somewhat. The other groups however have been very close and the gamnes have been exciting and competitive which as a viewer we want to see.

As for England, well after the build up and the low expectations of fans, many still venting a huge amount of frustration at the team, we have done surprisingly well. In my opinion anyway. 4 points from the first 2 games, more than what most would of predicted before the tournament began. Hodgson settling in nicely, the squad playing with a lot more heart than 2 years a go, and their seems to be a team strategy that every player knows exactly their role in the team.

FRANCE 1 1 draw

Tough opener for any team, especially for an England team without Rooney and a host of injuries to key players like Lampard, Wilshire and Barry. People forget that france are on the longest unbeaten run out of any International team in world football. They are a class act, on the up and tipped by many as a potential winner of the Euros.

4 5 1 against a tough French team was sensible and the first 30 minutes were fantastic. Poor after conceeding the goal, sat back far too much trying to protect their lead until half time, which was an error. But England scrapped and we knew it wasn't going to be the prettiest football, but it was effective none the less to ensure we didn't lose the game. People can criticise the manager and the players for the performance, but tournament football is very different and no one can deny that the way England played frustrated the French team.
A point, in my opinion, a very good start to the campaign.

SWEDEN 3 2 win

What a game! Considering many still believe England are playing unattractive football, no one can deny they were exciting against the Swedes, all beit by a lot of their own undoing. But 3 points none the less.

The game started with the change of Carrol for the Ox, one which I thought was a good move, as sweden are suceptible to headed goals even with their vast height throughout their team. a 4 4 2, not seen for a long while, but was a bold positive decision by Hodgson. Perfect start with the Carrol towering header and dominant first half display where we controlled the game and looked very comfortable, apart from when Ibrahimovich got on the ball.

2nd half though Glen Johnson falls asleep and doesn't push out with the rest of the team and then the whole defence falls asleep to allow a free header and a deficit. BUT positive immediate change by Hodgson again bringing on the inspired Theo Walcott for the rather lacklustre Milner. Changed the game very quickly back in favour of England and finished off with some lovely work to feed the sublime finish of Welbeck. Goal of the tournament contender no doubt.

I have read so much criticism by the display of England, and I don't get it. Criticise when they lose, no problem. But we have won! We have 4 points, are still in the tournament and have a great chance of progressing. There are improvements certainly, but that was a good win against a difficult Swedish side who as we all know have a good record against us.


I am not saying we will win it or getting above myself anymore than taking it game by game. Keep on doing that and you never know. immediate aim, get out of the group and then the Quarter Finals, Semis, you just never know what might happen.


Onwards and upwards and a big game on Tuesday. Get behind the team. Get behind Hodgson. COME ON ENGLAND

England's Euro 2012 Build Up - The Fiasco

The build up to a major tournament is always scupperred with media reports, trouble and strife within the England camp. This tournament, with a new manager at the helm, has been no different. Injuries have blighted the squad, with Lampard, Barry and Cahill now all set to miss the tournament, but it's the replacements and the available/unavailable players that seems to be the biggest story in the build up.

First of all let me start by saying how anyone can make themselves unavailable for selection for their country is beyond me. It is a sad state of affairs when money has taken over the absolute pride of representing your country. Players who insist they are unavailable as they are not first choice is purely disgraceful. Wheres the work ethic been lost to? Where is the fight? Where is the desire to be the best you can be? When did it all start to go wrong? Many questions that I continually ask myself and find myself lost for words.

This time around we have players refusing to be on the back up list for the squad? This is for your country, and to me it shows a sign of complete arrogance for them to believe they are above other players. Micah Richards refused to be a back up, in my opinion should never play again for England. Maybe he should of been called into the main squad? That is down to the managers selection and unfortunately the right back spot is very competitive right now and he has no guarantees to play, or why should he. Another one is Michael Carrick. Yes there is talk that he is nursing an achillis injury, that Alex Ferguson said he needs rest on. But Carrick himself said he would go to the Euros if he was guaranteed to start every game! He's Michael Carrick, not Lionel Messi! What right does anyone have to demand that? If your injured, pull out of the situation. But he is not injured. He said he would go if he started every game. Does that sound like a player who is injured? Again, in my opinion he should never play for England again.

From players who don't want to play for their country to players who do, but have been showed so much disrespect its a disgrace. Rio Ferdinand. Overlooked for the original squad, which in all fairness to Roy Hodgson was down to his decision. He took into account the fact that he may struggle to play 3 games a week and you could argue for and against the decision. He spoke about the fact that he spoke to Alex Ferguson about the player and used that as a reason to not select him, which showed a big sign of weakness straight away. Then there was this overshadowing John Terry racial case against Ferdinands brother, Anton. Surely the FA have told Hodgson that they don't want both players there and I am certain the manager is worried about the harmony of the squad. Again in my opinion a sign of weakness, to not be able to deal with the situation.
Then the injuries started to mount up. Experienced players like Lampard and Barry were both ruled out. Players who are nearing the end of their playing careers. One mention of Ferdinand was made that England wanted to build for the future. I never like hearing that, because surely you want to build from tournament to tournament and put your BEST possible team out at a major tournament that gives you a chance of winning it. There are only 2 tournaments in 2 years!
Cahill, a center back, ruled out and his replacement is a Liverpool RIGHT BACK who has only just made his debut and barely played for his club all season. Picked over the former England captian, with a host of experience who played all of the last 16 Premier League games for Manchester United, a team with a great defensive record this season and a team who lost the league title on goal difference. If Hodgson, as he has always stated wanted to pick his best team, then he is lying to us all. There is no way right now that Kelly is better than Ferdinand. There is no case for him to be picked over Ferdinand. The FA have a lot of questions to answer for, but we will never ever hear the truth. The John Terry case is a huge part of this, it has to be.

I wanted to finish on more of a high note. Well, a way of eating my words. I was very annoyed when Jordan Henderson was called up to the squad as I do not rate him one tiny little bit. I do not think he is good enough to wear the England shirt. However, this lad has showed the desire to play for his country, by not pulling out of the back up list, by continuing to work hard and to take his chance. One thing I know that if he gets a chance to play in the Euros at all, that he will give his all and try extremely hard, one thing us England fans love to see. We didn;t see much of that in South Africa, so some young Lion Heart is good for the team. I eat my words on that. He is showing the disgraced players, especially Carrick, that he is not afraid of hard work.


I am certain knowing the England teams dramas, that there will be more to come in the next 5 weeks of the tournament. Let me now your comments

What an Unpredictable Premier League season

What a season that was in the Premier League! By far the most exciting season for many years. So much at stake and so much going down to the wire and the last game of the season. The Championship, European places and Relegation all coming down to the final games and as we all saw, the final seconds. A truly amazing season that like many fans, I feel so happy to have witnessed it all.

First off though I thought it was time I review the final league positions to my pre season predictions. I wish I could lie and edit my league predictions, but I won't and I was so far off it was untrue!!! Have a see for yourselves:

FINAL LEAGUE TABLE (MY PREDICTIONS)

1. Manchester City.....(Manchester United)
2. Manchester United...(Chelsea)
3. Arsenal.............(Manchester City)
4. Tottenham...........(Arsenal)
5. Newcastle...........(Liverpool)
6. Chelsea.............(Tottenham)
7. Everton.............(Sunderland)
8. Liverpool...........(Everton)
9. Fulham..............(Fulham)
10. West Brom...........(Bolton)
11. Swansea.............(Stoke)
12. Norwich.............(West Brom)
13. Sunderland..........(Aston Villa)
14. Stoke...............(Blackburn)
15. Wigan...............(Wolves)
16. Aston Villa.........(Newcastle)
17. QPR.................(QPR)
18. Bolton..............(Swansea)
19. Blackburn...........(Wigan)
20. Wolves..............(Norwich)

I only got 2 matching positions, that of Fulham in 9th and QPR in 17th. Pre season I truly believed that my preictions were going to come very close, but the performances of the promoted teams, especially Swansea and Norwich really helped transform this years premier league. This is shown in the relegation of 3 established Premier League teams going down and no promoted teams suffering the drop.

One of the other notable errors was Newcastle United. I really thought they would struggle this year, as did so many fans and pundits, but they surprised everyone and had a fantastic season to finish 5th. This to me completely justifies Alan Pardew winning the Manager of the Year award. Not a manager I particularly like too much, but he has certainly turned my opinions with some shrewd business this season with the acquisition of Cabaye, Tiote, Ba and Cisse.

The top of the table I did not believe Manchester City were ready to win the league due to their participation in the Champions League. It takes so much out of teams to compete on all fronts. What happened was City dropped out at the group stages of the Champions League and concentrated on the league and their fantastic squad held up well. I was impressed with how quickly Mancini has built the City team up to win the Premier League. It shows that he really is a high quality manager.

Chelsea were the big surprise in the league, ultimately down to an ageing squad and the managerial issues in my opinion. It just didnt work for AVB unfortunately, probably due to the established stars in the team and the age of those stars too. Too much player power. Plus, he is still a very inexperienced manager and the pressures of the Premier League are extreme. Though Chelsea had great cup runs, winning the FA Cup and have the Champions League final to look forward too, which is an incredible achievement.

The race for the Champions League places went down to the wire too. So many teams had control of that position it seemed, but couldn't cross the finish line. Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle and Tottenham were all competing this season. Arsenal seemed dead and buried at the start, but Robin Van Persie kept them in touching distance all season and the gunners will all be thankful for his achievements this year (I certainly am). Tottenham unfortunately are lacking some no how at the top of the Premier League. They have a good manager, a great team, but their are very few players who have been near the top of the league. Only Gallas and Adebayor spring to mind. More experienced quality players are needed for Spurs to push that bit further next season.


Overall what an incredible season! A review of this incredible season could go on and on. The failings of Liverpool, the relegation of Bolton and Blackburn specifically. Just shocks throughout the season. But for me, its been truly fantastic. The promoted teams have added so much quality to the league, that I cannot wait until next season!!!!

The King is Back - An Inspirational Story

If there ever were a script in football that you could say was from a Hollywood movie then this surely has to be up there as one of the greatest of all time. Thierry Henry, Arsenal's leading scorer of all time and arguably the greatest ever player for the club, re-signing with the Gunners at the age of 34 years old, then scoring the winner in the FA Cup in front of 60,000 at the Emirates Stadium. Its a dreamland, its a fairy tale, it is just well and truly a great moment and one that will be remembered for a long long time. It is what dreams are made of and one reason why we love the sport so much.



Signed by Arsene Wenger for a 2 month loan deal to act as cover for Robin Van Persie and to provide the Dutch superstar with a bit of relief. In reality the thinking was to try and give the rest of the Arsenal strike force a proverbial kick up the backside. Having someone like Henry around a club can only be positive, whether talking to young players, helping out other strikers or just having his presence will go a long way for the team. Who would of thought he would return to former glories and set the Emirates alight with some old magic that many believed he would never get back.

What a glorious finish it was and just pure and simply, Henryesq. The classically perfect first touch and then the traditional opened up body and slotting the ball into the far corner with his right boot. It's a thing of beauty in the game and one perfected by such an inspirational player in the game. How Arsenal have missed him, and how the whole premier League have missed such an inspiring individual both on and off the field.


Many will believe it is all a bit over dramatic, as at the end of the day it was a home game in the FA Cup 3rd round against a struggling Championship side like Leeds United, one which Arsenal should of cruised through. But we should embrace just a truly magical moment in the game, that makes us all stand up and believe in the beautiful game.

Suarez and Liverpool shoot themselves in the foot

The race row finally came to an abrupt end as so many people in football were extremely pleased about. The outcome I'm sure would have disappointed so many in the game that these issues still arise between players and in the football environment in general. However, some will see the outcome and an 8 game ban as good justice for the use of racist language. Others will see the ban as harsh and I am certain that plenty more will see the ban as too lenient. Whatever your view, it is essential that if issues arise that the people involved are dealt with severely.

That age old saying "innocent until proven guilty" certainly should be the case in all matters. The problem is that Liverpool took an incredible risk when they brought out the t shirts for the players to wear in support of Suarez, a risk that if found guilty could backfire immensely....which as we know is precisely what happened.



It is understandable for an employer to stand by an employee when facing outside disciplinary problems, but the level of this support should be very minimal. The reason being is that it accentuates the risk of the employer's name being brought into the incident with the employee if a guilty verdict is found. And this is exactly what happened in the Suarez case. Now Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, the squad and the club as a whole have fallen into the racism row in a negative way. They did not need to publicly speak out, they did not need to wear the needless t-shirts either. This in my opinion was making a mockery out of the whole affair. We are talking about Racism, something that should not be in today's society in anyway, shape or form. It is something that has caused huge issues worldwide and is not wanted in our game. Liverpool should have just said it is out of our hands now and that they would deal with the matter when the verdict is read out.


Liverpool will be regretting the mistakes I'm sure made when the guilty verdict was read out. What amazed me the most about it all was Suarez coming out and explaining what he said and how it has no connotations back in his homeland of Uruguay. He plead not guilty, though by speaking out and admitting using the word "negro" he has just shot himself in the foot and brought his club down with it. These are his employers who should have been educating him on all issues in his new society if he needed it (which he clearly does). All in all, both Suarez and Liverpool have come out of this extremely badly and both have a lot of work to do in order to rebuild the relationships with the footballing world.

Newcastle's slender squad in more than one way

After having a terrific start to the season, Newcastle United are steadily starting to fall off the rails. After a tough run of games which brought them 1 point in 9 against Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea, they went to Carrow Road Saturday with an injury hit squad, especially at the heart of the defence. When playing against a very physical side like Norwich, you need commanding center backs at the heart of your team who are going to win the ball and be strong against the likes of Grant Holt and Steve Morrison. With Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor both on the sidelines (the later of which unfortunate to be ruled out for the entire season), the Magpies had to have a make shift center back partnership of Danny Simpson and James Perch.

Paul Lambert got his tactics spot on seeing the slim lined defence partnership and ensured Norwich kept on getting crosses in the box, which was a very successful tactic to play. It certainly paid off with all 4 goals coming from crosses into the box in a 4 vs. 2 win for the Canaries. Newcastle were lacking a strong physical presence in their team, which opened them up to the airial attack of Norwich.

Newcastle without their early season formidable defensive partnership and also missing players in the middle of the park including Cheik Tiote and Danny Guthrie, were starting to suffer from a lack of strength in depth. This is something that Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal have consistently been able to create in-order to finish in the top 4 season after season. The premier league season can be brutal on the players, especially with the addition of cup and European football. Good quality squad players are not easy to come by, as all players want to be playing week in week out and managers have a very difficult task trying to keep everyone happy within a club. But the development of quality younger players is always a good way of solving that problem and could be the answer for Newcastle in the long term. In the short term however, they will certainly need some investment into their squad in the January transfer window, to build up a stronger squad to try and stick around at the top part of the table.

If the investment is made I believe that it will be a guaranteed top 10 finish for Newcastle United.

Referees like Marmite, you either love them or hate them

The age old debate about referee's in the game of football continues after this weekends Premier League action and the number of controversial decisions given. You either love them or hate them and unfortunately for the referee's in action this weekend, the majority of people are thinking the later right now. They have a very difficult job to do in a sport that just gets faster and faster and in my opinion they are in desperate need for help, I just wish we would hear from them to make the plea.



The main referee at the center of the most controversial decision of the weekend is Mike Dean. He failed to send David Luiz off for bringing down Demba Ba in Chelsea's game against Newcastle on the weekend. A decision that completely changed and affected the outcome of the game. This was one of the most blatant decisions I have seen in recent times, a decision that the referee actually made, as he gave the foul, but failed to send off Luis. To Mike Dean's credit, he has come out after the game spoke to Alan Pardew and apologised for getting the decision wrong. This is something that I admire so much and only wish more referees do this after the games to explain their decision. In my opinion it will help solve the anger and anguish towards referees from fan's players and managers. As a football fan, I accept that they are human being's and like everyone they too can make mistakes. The question is, is this acceptable in the current game of football?

What has outraged Newcastle United and fan's of the game is a decision made at White Hart Lane on the same day, where referee Stuart Atwell sent off Gary Cahill for bringing down Scott Parker just 10 yards into the Bolton half and by the touch line. Perceived to be a goal scoring opportunity, one which another referee on the same day failed to make that decision on a foul by the last man on the edge of the penalty area. Inconsistency. The main annoyance of referees in the game of football. A game that causes managers to lose their jobs, for players to be dropped out of teams and for clubs to lose millions of pounds. Which answers my question previously that it is not acceptable. So the next question asks, how can we get more of these decisions right?



Is video technology the answer? Well it could well have changed the World Cup Game as you can see above, and it would certainly help clear up obvious wrong decisions in the game. My problem with it is solely the debatable decisions in the game. There are so many opinions from one to another on crucial decisions and I do not believe with video technology that it can always decide once and for all the correct decision. With far too much simulation in the game, players are making it very difficult for referee's to make the right decision. But again the problem is, how can you tell from one challenge to another whether a player has dived or not as it is not always that simple. In my opinion there are too many question marks over its usage to be incorporated into the game. Goal line technology, yes. But that is all that I believe should be in the game.

Other opinions raised on the issue have been to add another referee on the field of play. This is something that I am intrigued about if done correctly could help to improve the positioning of referees throughout the game.

The referee's must be fed up of being scrutinised and surely would benefit some assistance with decisions during the game. I would love to hear their opinions and what they believe, if anything, could help them make more correct decisions. But if we found the right method, and all decisions were correct, what would we be debating after games? What would manager's moan and complain about after the game? And what would newspapers write about? It could take a lot of the tension, the excitement and the sheer joy of talking about the game out of football. Only time will tell if it eventually gets implemented in the game In the mean time, the referees are still going to be loved by so many and loathed by many more.

Did AVB inherit an ageing deterioting team or is he to blame for Chelsea's poor form?

Andre Villas Boas has been talked about a lot in the press in recent weeks and more so after Chelsea's 2 vs. 1 defeat at home to Liverpool. They are already questioning his position as manager of a team he has been in charge of for just 12 Premier League games! Can a manager have such a negative affect on a top team like this? A young manager who performed very well in his previous year at Porto with a glowing reputation in the game. I don't believe he is to blame.



AVB inherited a team on the decline in my opinion. A team that has been greatly affected by the non stop chopping and changing of managers in the past few years. A team that has been built successfully on a fantastic talented spine of the team in Cech, Terry, Lampard and Drogba, the later 3 are all on a rapid decline as they reach the end of their careers. Players like these need support from a new breed, something that doesn't seem to be happening too much at Chelsea. Instead they are opting to buy players in and midfielders such as Mikel, Ramires and Meireles are not of the quality of the previous crop. The Fernando Torres situation is continuing to bring the team down. A player bought for £50 million with Premier League experience is a shadow of his former self and continually struggles to find the net in the Blue colors. Defensively David Luiz has been bought in to support the experience of John Terry, but he too has struggled immensely, proving to many he is not really a natural centre back.

This is only the half of it, as Ashley Cole is in poor form at left back and the other full back Bosingwa has struggled a lot this year, leaving centre back, Ivanovic to fill the gap, something he is not exactly 100% comfortable with. I have mentioned positions all over the pitch that are a current problem for Chelsea, so how is this down to new manager AVB?

Yes he picks the side, yes he picks the formation and yes he instructs how he wants his team to play. But it is ultimately down to the players on the park who are not performing to their potential. Maybe Chelsea are in a similar position to that of Arsenal at the start of the season, in a stage of transition. I believe this is certainly true for Chelsea and it is at this stage the chairman, Roman Abramovich, needs to give a manager time for the rebuilding process. This does not happen over night, but if done correctly, like Manchester City, it can be very successful.

Only time will tell, but I believe AVB should be given a chance to rebuild the ageing Cheslea team. The players for me need to take the majority of the brunt of the recent poor performances and rectify this throughout their next games. The only thing standing in the way is whether Abromovich has got the patience to stick with AVB, something he hasn't shown much of in the past.

SAY NO TO RACISM AND SAY YES TO BLATTER OUT

It is shocking to realise that in 2011 and the way our world is, that racism is still a big problem around the world, let alone in the sporting environment on the football pitch. But it is. We have the investigation into the alleged racist offences by John Terry and Luis Suarez taking place by the FA and the police in this country, one which if found guilty should bring about huge punishments. For John Terry it could seriously mean no more England career with the FA very keen to clamp down on racism. However, innocent until proven guilty certainly exists and I would not make any comments until that's the case, unlike that of FIFA president Sepp Blatter.



The man is the head of FIFA, the world governing body for football and he's put his ageing foot in it again. Sepp Blatter has been in charge of FIFA since 1998. He has made gaff after gaff including stating that in the women's game the players should wear tighter fitted jerseys, and that during the World Cup in Qatar where homosexuality is illegal, he stated that homosexuals should refrain from any contact during this time. And now this one, the biggest gaff of them all:

"Racist language on the field is like foul play and foul language. It happens in the heat of the moment on the football pitch and should be settled after the game with a handshake."

Words cannot describe how disgraceful these comments are. It is yet another sign of a man who's beliefs are out of date to the current state of the world. This is not the man that should be leading the charge against racism, as he claims to be doing. This is not the man that should be in charge of leading the fight to get more young people into the sport no matter what social or racial background their from. This is not the man that has the capabilities to take this sport forward. Simple.



Blatter has been explaining that he has been miss quoted, which is impossible because these comments were made straight out of the horses mouth. He claims that he is strongly against racism, that he led the fight against racism across the world, even using the fact he awarded the 2010 world cup to South Africa as part of his protest. None of these points go to explaining why he believes using racist language on the football field is acceptable.

These comments made could have a devastating affect on the football world from the lowest level up, and we could see issues sore across the world. Too prevent this devastating affect on the game, Sepp Blatter needs to be a man and hand his resignation in. We need to have somebody in charge of football with the beliefs of someone in touch with the 21st century.

GET BLATTER OUT

Why are the games with the top teams in the Premier League so Open?

What a start to the Premier League season we have seen so far. Goals galore, incredible football being played and a huge amount of drama too. But none more so than in the games with the top teams this term, something that has differed greatly from previous years. Gone are the days of the tight, tense affairs between the teams roaming the top of the Premier League. Welcome the attacking style and flair of the best teams in the league, battling it out for 90 minutes. But the question on so many people's lips is, why are these games so open now?

There could be a lot of reasons why and I have heard a lot been said already from journalists around the country. More attacking players in teams, better attacking quality in teams, poor defensive performances are all reasons that have been mentioned and all of which are valid. In my view though the main reason is that teams are so desperate to win these games and to make a statement to the rest of the league, that they put a large emphasis on attacking football. The battle for the Premier League and the Champions League places are more competitive than ever, and teams want to ensure that they not only beat their rivals, but induce a level of humiliation on them by concentrating on beating them heavily.



The first of which we saw at Old Trafford with Manchester United's 8 vs. 2 humiliation of Arsenal. This was certainly not a tight affair and Arsenal earlier on had a lot of chances to get very quickly back into the game, including a penalty miss by Robin Van Persie. There was so much open attacking play from both teams, but especially United, who were not satisfied with defending a lead, but wanted to attack throughout the 90 minutes. They inflicted a defeat on Arsenal that left the Gunners confidence trounced for future games and it showed.



It didn't end with that game though, last week we saw Manchester City offer Arsenal some payback on Manchester United, by beating them 6 vs. 1. Nobody would of predicted this, but Manchester City's quality and attacking football certainly played a big part. Both teams went all out for the win, playing a very open form of football to ensure they won the game, rather than having the mentality of ensuring they didn't lose, which is a very different mind set. City were never satisfied with 3 goals and continued to attack, running riot at the end of the game.



Yesterday's game summed it up more than any other, Chelsea 3 vs. 5 Arsenal. The game had so much attacking prowess on show by both teams not performing very well defensively. But the main reason the game was so open again was pure and simple down to their want to win the game. Both teams were not afraid of losing the game or keeping things tight at the back to protect their leads. We saw that as both teams lost the lead during the game and they continued to look to go forward throughout. There were plenty of chances for both teams and at the end of the day it was Arsenal who took their chances. On another day it would have been Chelsea that came out on top.


I hope we continue to see these games between the top teams, as for fan's it becomes much more exciting than the close defensive 1 vs. 0 score lines that we have been used to in previous years.

No Relegation would destroy the English game

When I first heard this idea come to press, I thought it was a joke at the start, then started to hear more and more rumours about it and realised that this seriously could come to fruition. Money holds the key and the power in sport as we all are quickly realising, but that does not mean we as football fans and lovers of the beautiful game would accept that. This includes the players of all the teams in England who will be greatly affected by this change, if it ever happens of course.

The damage to the English game and the national team would be catastrophic, and that is no exaggeration at all. What happens to the rest of the teams in England? Well, the Championship would be the top league and teams winning that league or coming second would go no further. It would be a disaster for the competitive nature of the Football League, as currently teams are desperate for Premier League football for a number of reasons. The financial rewards for getting to the Premier League are huge. The fan's are desperate to see their team compete at the top level and success at a club brings about more support as well. The players want to play at the highest possible level and all strive to compete in the Premier League, currently the best league in the world.

The affect on the National Team would be huge, as the Premier League turning into a franchised league would attract players from around the world, thus limiting the amount of opportunities for young English players to shine. This would reduce the quality of talent in the National team and the competitive mind set within the team as well.

But let's break down the reasons for this discussed change, and that is the power of the foreign owners in the Premier League. There are currently 13 foreign owners in charge of Premier League clubs and they can start powering their influence on the Premier League. The one thing these owners all have in common is money. They want have invested a lot of money in each of the clubs they have taken control of and they want to ensure they don't lose any of this money by suffering the fate of relegation. Understandable. But that is not how it works, and that is not how we pride ourselves on our fantastic professional leagues in England.

As much as fan's love the excitement of the chase for the Premier League title, often the most exciting moment is the battle against relegation and the play off final in the Championship. We love seeing the drama, the celebration and even the despair when clubs stay up or slip down a division to the Championship.

This is our league and please do not let these foreign owners rip it apart.

5 leagues all within the Premier League

The Premier League is still quite clearly in my opinion the best and the toughest league in World Football. But within this special league are 5 individual leagues, with teams vying to come out of the season on top of.

1. To win the Premier League
This season there seems to be just 3 teams competing for the Premier League title with serious ambitions on winning it. Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City are already showing the consistency in performance to win the league this year and at such an early stage in the season too. For the competitive nature of the League, I hope that more teams come into the race, but this season that looks highly unlikely.

2. To claim the 4Th Champions League Place
There is now a gap appearing between the teams at the top of the table and the teams chasing 4Th place. Last season that gap certainly wasn't there, but with the demise o the Arsenal team this year, it has started to appear. But what that has done is make the race for 4Th wide open and highly competitive. Tottenham seem to be leading this race, with Liverpool chasing behind them and I'm sure (and hope) Arsenal will sort themselves out and start getting closer to these 2 teams.

3. The Race for (7Th) and the potential for Europa League Football
This could be the most competitive chase of the season in my opinion with a gulf of teams fighting it out for a high top half finish. Teams like Fulham, Aston Villa, Stoke City, Everton and on their early season form, Newcastle, could be fighting it out between them for the top half finishes. These teams year on year certainly want to chase down the league above (4Th place), but I believe this year they maybe quite short of the mark.

4. The Top of the Bottom Half of the table
This is the league for teams to be able to claim they were no where near relegation from the Premier League and to feel good about finishing mid table. This can be a huge achievement for many teams after a gruelling season. But this I believe will be decided late on, as this season there seems to be a lot of teams who could quite easily go down to the Championship. Teams like Sunderland and usually Bolton (although an unimpressive start to the season could change their season expectations) will certainly have a minimum aim to reach this point in the table.

5. The fight against Relegation
This season, even more so than last year, the most competitive league within the Premier League. There are numerous teams throughout the season who will be taking points off each other throughout and it will certainly go down to the wire. All promoted clubs will be working hard to achieve Premier League survival (QPR, Norwich and Swansea), plus there are a lot of established sides struggling to ignite their season this term. That includes the current bottom 3 Bolton, Blackburn and Wigan, also in the mix will be West Brom and Wolves.

With teams desperate to finish higher than pre season expectations, and with Premier League survival on so many teams minds, this all adds to making the league extremely competitive throughout the table. These 5 league titles will be very tight to predict for so many and there is a long season ahead before we get to see the outcome.

Tevez, Tantrums and damn right treachery

There were so many titles than sprung to mind when preparing this post, but I thought treachery was a perfect word to add to the situation. Harsh word? Maybe. Relevant to what happened this week? You bet. The definition of "treachery" is Betrayal of trust; deceptive action or nature. We saw this and much more this week from the most disrespectful football player I can ever think of that has graced our presence in the beautiful game.

If I went into work and prepared for a shift doing my TV presenting and turned round to my producer and said, "I don't want to present today, and I am not going to come on air", what do you believe would happen to me? Sacked in a second. If anyone turns up and refuses to do their job, they will most likely be sacked and rightly so in whatever situation. Why should footballers be treated any differently? This is a pathetic excuse of a man who gets paid an astronomical £200,000 a week! It beggars belief still, how much football players get paid to do a job that people all over the world pay so much money to try and participate in. But when the supporters watch a player give his all for his club and country, it makes it all worth it. When they watch Tevez refuse to come off the bench and play for his team, his employers, and a team that supporters pay so much of their hard earned money to watch, it is absolutely disgraceful.

I recently was told that I shouldn't ever play football again, something that I wept about and continue to worry about as I cannot imagine not being able to play the game I love. This is socially with friends. Not in the best competition in World Football, the Champions League, against one of the best teams in world football, Bayern Munich in front of 65,000 people in the impressive Allianz Arena. How can anyone who has respect for himself, his friends, his work colleagues and employers refuse to play in that situation? People make so many huge sacrifices to their lives to be able to make it to a high level in the game. What tevez has done is disrespected every single person working so hard to play the game, and to make a living from the game.


Manchester City should set a precedence to the World of Football by sacking him and throwing him out of the club. I believe FIFA need to act also and send out a harsh punishment and ban him from our game for a period of time, to let anyone else know that this behaviour is not tolerated within our game. Footballers are, whether they like it or not, role models to the young, which is a small price to pay for the money they earn from the game. Many would say it isn't even a price to play to be looked up to by millions around the world. Act now, or these belated ego's will wreck our game.

Stoke love them or hate them, they are an effective unit

When I was in my very early teen years, I played for a team, Doddinghurst Olympics, who were by far the best footballing team in our area at that time. We passed the ball around, kept the ball on the ground as much as possible and we were privileged to have a great amount of speed throughout the team. We never really won anything though, however we were always extremely close season after season. But the area we struggled the most was in the height and strength department. Whether it was something in the water from my village or what, we were never ever the biggest team and 99 times out a 100 we were the smallest team on the pitch. Often this didn't make a difference, until we were put up against a tough tackling, strong, tall team and we always let things slip. These teams that always had the upper hand against us are the Stoke City of our local leagues.

Stoke City have been built since winning promotion to the Premier League on being a tough tackling, strong, tall unit of players, from the back 4 throughout to the forwards. These tactics include playing the long ball and of course those long throws. Tony Pulis has been the pinnacle of this creation and by employing these tactics he has turned Stoke City into a solidified Premier League club, something all promoted teams aim to do. But do you agree with the way they play the game? This is a big question on so many people's lips and it often divides opinion down the middle. On one side, are they playing outside the rules of the game? No. Is this football you would teach your kids to play? No.



There have been times where Stoke have taken this aggressive game playing too far, and none other than the Ryan Shawcross tackle on Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey (as seen above). Ramsey was out for almost a year with a broken leg following this shocking challenge. This is the risk of Stoke's aggressive tactics. We are not talking about bumps and bruises, but about players careers and livelihoods. However, what are the referees doing to clamp down on this? Are they handing out the correct punishments? Are Stoke the only team to deploy these tactics? Well, again there are many divided views on this, but Blackburn Rovers and Bolton under Sam Alladyce were criticised heavily for this in the past. Referees are giving out warranted yellow and red cards for bad tackles by any players in the game. My view on their aggressive nature is that as long as we don't see a repeat of tackles like that on Aaron Ramsey, then as long as they keep inside the rules of the game then why can't they play that way. As a fan, that can get quite exciting watching tough challenging games with a bit of an aggressive nature.



This is my main problem with Stokes tactics and my problem does not just sit with the football club, but also with the officials. The time taken setting up for a long throw is ridiculous. If a normal player stood on the touch line with the ball behind his back for the same amount of time as Rory Delap takes for a throw on, the official would give the player a yellow card for time wasting. I have no doubt about this. But why are they not cracking down on this? It seems so obvious to everybody watching it, but it hasn't seemed to have warranted a discussion by the referee's board. This is something I feel very strongly about. Spectators don't pay their money to watch one play dry a ball with a towel and his shirt for 10 - 15 seconds, walk about and steady himself for another 10-15 seconds, before eventually throwing the ball into the box. You are taking so much time out of game this way.

As regards Mr Pulis and his long throw tactics, would he teach his kids to play football this way? No chance. It is not a good advert for the game of football for children to emulate in my opinion. Also, Rory Delap, a Premier League first team player? I would love to hear the honest truth that if he did not have this consistently incredible long throw, would he be anywhere near the Stoke City starting line up? I believe not.



Until the referee's start cutting down the time it takes Stoke to take long throws, then they will continue to use the extra height in their team to their advantage. With the addition of Peter Crouch to their ranks and their incredibly big back 4, I am certain Tony Pulis will continue to play the game this way. I just hope he can control the aggression of his players so that it doesn't boil over to anymore incidents like what we saw in the Aaron Ramsey case.

Why playing away in Europe is so tough?

I'm sure so many people often wonder why teams in the Champions League struggle so much away from home. We saw Manchester United, last season's beaten finalists, struggle in Benfica and draw the game 1 all. Arsenal really struggled in Dortmund, Madrid won just 1 nil away to Dinamo Zagreb. Lyon couldn't win away and nor could Valencia achieve an away victory and these are top teams in European football.

I believe the intensity of playing in a completely different atmosphere is the main reason for this. The unfamiliarity, the obscurity of these challenging away games make it very difficult for teams to pick up points away from home. The unfamiliar styles of football make a big difference too, as teams playing in the same leagues know each other inside and out, but in Europe it's a different story.

The travelling to these venues doesn't help the situation either, as you incorporate a touch of jet lag, the inconvenience of travel and players staying in unfamiliar environments.

The referee's are also a big factor in the Champions League games and can often influence the outcomes in games. I believe you see more of the referees buckle under the pressure of an intimidating atmosphere and favour home teams. Who could blame them at times? The atmospheres being created in Dortmund on Tuesday night and the barrage of noise teams are put under when they travel to Turkey, as an example, is astronomical.

These are just a number of factors that I believe affect teams playing away from home in Europe. It brings about a completely different game, but a game that also is very exciting for the fan's. The fan's love European nights and the different styles of football that is seen across a week in Europe is fascinating.

The biggest mistake of the season yet?

Tottenham decided after Rafael Van Der Vaart injured his hamstring against Manchester United that the midfielder will be out for a minimum of 2 months. They took the decision, away from the players knowledge, to leave him out of the Europa League squad list. Much to Tottenham's surprise, Van Der Vaart has recovered from the injury in super quick time and is available for selection in Sundays game against Liverpool. How a Premier League club could make that mistake with a player is beyond me, and even more shockingly, with a player of the calibre of Rafael Van Der Vaart.

He along with Modric were their shining stars last season and Tottenham play to go through Van Der Vaart and rely on his goals, his passing and his dead ball ability. He is very influential for the team, with great leadership qualities that are vital when competing in domestic and European games. For the fan's to accept that one of their best players is not available for Europe due to this reasoning will be very hard to take. I can imagine a huge amount of frustration will be apparent and a lot of questions will need to be answered by Harry Redknapp.

But is it a reflection on the attitude of some English clubs to the Europa League? Does Harry see it as protecting a vital player to their team? Maybe he wants him fighting fit for the teams bid to get back into the top 4?

Tottenham fan's would love to hear your opinions on the matter.