A Football Report

By Dominic Vieira, writing from Portugal

It’s the one million dollar question; who will stay and who will go. 7 names have to be removed from the England squad. On Tuesday all the doubts will be answered as Fabio Capello announces England’s 23 man squad for the World Cup. Some players are almost certain to depart but be prepared for surprises.

The first three players who are almost definitely going to be axed are Scott Parker, Michael Dawson and Stephen Warnock. The trio did not play in either of England’s friendlies against Mexico or Japan. There was no room for Tottenahm’s Dawson as he was up against 4 quality centre backs and Jamie Carragher. Even though he will watch the competition from his sofa, it has been a great experience for him.

Aston Villa’s Warnock was only named in the provisional squad due to Ashley Cole’s fitness. Leighton Baines who was seen as the second choice did not disappoint Capello against Mexico, plus he has more offensive characteristics than Warnock.

The next player to be crossed out is Tom Huddlestone. Despite the Spurs man possessing an amazing passing ability and a killer shot, he is competing against the top midfielders of the Premier League. However, if Gareth Barry does not recover in time Huddlestone could still catch the plane to Africa. Scott Parker wasn’t given time to shine and therefore was clearly not going to make it. Also, many pundits are tipping Michael Carrick to be axed who is not in the best of form. 

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Vicente Del Bosque probably had the easiest job in the world when choosing his initial strike force. Torres and Villa are two of the best on the planet, and make up the best front two at the World Cup. But, there is a problem. As highlighted by Torres’ vast problems this season, neither is indestructible.

In fact, it’s very likely that one of La Furia first choice forwards won’t make it through the tournament unhindered. Spain needs cover, and the question is, who should this be?

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By Eric Beard

In what Arsene Wenger described as “the most disappointing loss of the season”, Arsenal let a 2-0 lead slip with just ten minutes left to play in regulation and ended up losing 3-2 to Wigan. With another major goalkeeper gaff from Fabianski on the second goal, it is clear that Wenger needs to strengthen his squad in a few areas. Sure, the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, and Andrey Arshavin are going nowhere, but it has been reported that the Arsenal gaffer will be given a £45m transfer budget, which apparently is more money than Carlo Ancelotti will have with Chelsea to spend.

Already believed to have secured Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh’s services on a free transfer this summer, Arsenal will finally have enough money to splash on a major signing. Chamakh’s teammate at Bordeaux Yoann Gourcuff has been rumoured to be on Wenger’s transfer list, and the French midfielder has been in scintillating form this season. Other rumoured targets on Wenger’s list are Benfica’s Angel Di Maria and David Luiz, Birmingham keeper Joe Hart, Paris Saint Germain playmaker Stéphane Sessegnon,  Torino’s wonderkid Angelo Ogbonna, and then of course Mario Balotelli and Felipe Melo. £45m is not enough to buy all of these targets obviously, probably just three or four (maybe even five).

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There’s not much you can do to describe a world-class strike. Everything is present: skill, technique, finesse, power, and of course a bit of luck. Well 19-year-old Danny Rose of Tottenham scored his first goal for the White Hart Lane faithful to help push the Spurs closer to a 4th place finish by defeating Arsenal 2-1 (and Spurs beat Chelsea yesterday by the same score at White Hart Lane). Rose hit a superb 30 yard, left-footed first-time volley that rocketed past Manuel Almunia to give Tottenham the lead, and then the team in white never looked back. Inter Milan, who lost their lead in Serie A after tying Fiorentina 2-2 last weekend, were given a huge boost from Maicon, who scored the goal of his life to down rivals Juventus at the San Siro. Stuck at nil-nil in the 75th minute, Maicon unleashed a bit of Brazilian magic to give the Nerazzuri the incredibly important lead as he juggled the ball a few times then unleashing a vicious right-footed volley in the back of Juve’s net. Samuel Eto’o, a proven goalscorer for Inter, admitted that Maicon’s strike was easily the goal of the season for Inter. 

Inter would go on to win the game 2-0, putting a lot of pressure on fellow title challengers Roma to keep pace. Tottenham, after two invaluable wins over their “bigger” London rivals, are above Manchester City in the Premier League table, and are sitting two points clear in 4th. The strikes are shown below, so you decide, which golasso was the best?

They say form is temporary, class is permanent. While I’m not going to go as far as to say that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is no longer a world-class player, he certainly is, I think we can all agree that he hasn’t been in the best form lately. In fact, he has been no where near as good as we all expect from Barcelona’s replacement for Samuel Eto’o. Above is footage of Ibra wasting chance after chance in a recent game against Real Zaragoza; can you really tell me this is the same Zlatan that won Inter Milan the Scudetto last year?    

Anyway, the Sweden international suffered a calf injury whilst warming-up for Saturday’s Primera Division clash with Athletic Bilbao and, after being replaced in the line-up by Bojan Krkic, underwent initial tests this evening. Bojan went on to score two goals against Atletico Bilbao (Barça won 4-1, highlights after the jump). I know that Ibra scored two goals against Arsenal, but I think it is fair to say that he wasted another half-dozen golden chances in the first half at the Emirates.

Confidence is necessary for a player to succeed at the highest levels, and I really think the Swede needs to take some time to regain faith in himself. So while Ibra will merely be a spectator when Barça welcome Arsenal to the Nou Camp, either Thierry Henry or Bojan will replace him and play the prominent role in attack. Is that really a bad thing for Barcelona? I, for one, think this is the best thing that the Blaugrana could ask for.

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Chelsea must have enjoyed watching mid-week football, as their two Premier League title challengers, Arsenal and Manchester United, came out of their European matches with their respective most important players (Cesc Fabregas and Wayne Rooney) injured. I loved watching the drama unfold every minute throughout the Arsenal-Barça match at the Emirates, a 2-2 result is something the Gunners should be very proud of! It could have been 10-2 if it were not for the heroic goalkeeping from Manuel Almunia. I don’t think I can do justice to the match with a concise recap, but essentially Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas scored goals late in the second half after Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a brace in the second half as well. But the match had so much more to it then that. Barcelona had twelve shots in the first half-hour of the match, and despite being out-possessed 65%-35% Arsenal managed to fight back to draw Pep Guardiola’s European Champions. Carlos Puyol was red carded for kicking Cesc Fabregas, giving away the penalty that led to Cesc’s equalizer in the process. Cesc injured himself while converting the penalty, and the early rumours are that the Spaniard may have actually broken his leg. Anyway, I could talk all day about the beautiful game played by the masters of beautiful football, but I’ll post the highlights below so you can see the drama that unfolded over the 90 minutes in North London.

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By Dominic Vieira

He’s a fighter, a team player, and an extremely potent goal scorer. Since the mega sale of goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid, a huge pressure and responsibility fell upon Wayne Rooney. He has responded to the high expectations in terrific form along with many, many goals. In 27 league appearances, he has hit the back of the net 23 times and is currently leading the European Golden Boat Award. This is clearly Wayne Rooney’s best season and it is nowhere near completion, there is still a lot more to come from him. He is extremely focused and consistent each week; now the big challenge is to maintain his superb form. To be considered the best in the world a player needs to do two things: be consistent and win.

This season Wayne Rooney has been the driving force of Manchester United and has played a vital role in their League Cup victory and the 7-2 (aggregate) beating United just gave to Milan. Now the real challenges lie ahead: winning a Premier League title and the getting to the Champions League Final in Madrid. The World Cup is not far away and Wayne Rooney will do everything he can to make England crowned World Champions. If England is to have a chance, Rooney must play at the top of his game. Rooney has yet to be awarded a prestigious best player award, but with the level his game is at right now and the numerous goals he has been scoring, it won’t take long. However, he is not an individual player and winning these types of awards or not doesn’t affect him.

Rooney has simply been unstoppable this season. He is no longer the kid on the block with a bad temper, and he has worked hard to become a goal scoring forward, a team player, and most importantly, a professional leader. Any defence that plays against Rooney will have a lot to fear because he is unpredictable and can score in many different ways.

What do you think about Wayne Rooney’s season? Who do you think is the best forward/player in the world right now? (highlights of Rooney at his very best are embedded after the jump)

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Even though Real Madrid put on a show against Villarreal with a 6-2 victory at the Bernabeu, it seems that there were 11 great individuals playing together, rather than a team. Already up 5-2, a penalty was awarded to the home side, sparking an uncomfortable dialogue between Cristiano Ronaldo, who had already scored a goal, and Xabi Alonso. The brief conversation, is translated below (courtesy of Spanish Football & Sports).

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While some are more likely than others, there are a few players that are barely on the radar to make it to the biggest party in football. From traumatizing injuries (Charlie Davies/Salvador Cabañas) to a resurgence in form (Ronaldinho), these guys would certainly add a spark of universal viewing pleasure. I’ve highlighted a few long-shots to make it to South Africa in the poll, but feel free to state whomever you please! I want to see Zizou convince FIFA to let him play for Algeria, but don’t we all have dreams?