Champions League 10/11 Group Stage Review

The group stage of the champions league has been concluded with absolutely no major surprises occurring with all the heavyweights progressing to the round of 16. It has been an entertaining round with a total of 276 goals scored; the most since 2002/2003.

Here is a review of all the groups along with my pre-tournament predictions:

Group A

Prediction: 1. Inter, 2. Werder Bremen, 3. Tottenham, 4. FC Twente

Final Standing

1) Tottenham.. 11pts

2) Inter.. 10pts

3) Werder Bremen.. 6pts

4) FC Twente.. 5pts

This group turned out to be one of the most exciting groups with plenty goals being scored and Tottenham surprised us somewhat by finishing above defending champions Inter and in the process setting a new record for number of goals scored by a debutant in the group stages. Tottenham have been tipped by some to have a good run in the tournament but I have my doubts about that. Questions have now been raised as to whether Inter will be able to respectably attempt defend their title.

Group B

Prediction: 1. Lyon, 2. Schalke, 3. Benfica, 4. Hapoel Tel Aviv

Final Standing

1) Schalke.. 13pts

2) Lyon.. 10pts

3) Benfica.. 6pts

4) Hapoel Tel Aviv.. 5pts

No real surprise here with both Lyon and Schalke progressing. These are two teams that the big guns wouldn't mind facing in the next round.

Group C

Prediction: 1. Manchester United, 2. Valencia, 3. Rangers, 4. Bursaspor

Final Standing

1) Manchester United.. 14pts

2) Valencia.. 11pts

3) Rangers.. 6pts

4) Bursaspor.. 1pt

Group C finished as expected. Despite Manchester United scoring very few goals, they finished the group strongly and came very close to setting a clean sheet record. Valencia qualified fairly comfortably in the end but were given a slight challenge by Rangers midway the group stage.

Group D

Prediction: 1. Barcelona, 2. Panathinaikos, 3. Rubin Kazan, 4. FC Kopenhavn

Final Standing

1) Barcelona.. 14pts

2) FC Kopenhavn.. 10pts

3) Rubin Kazan.. 6pts

4) Panathanaikos.. 2pts

Pre-tournament favourites Barcelona faced little resistance in this group and the final standing was virtually already decided. I personally predicted that Panathanaikos would have made it to the next round, however it turns out that they wont even make it to the Europa League.

Group E

Prediction: 1. Bayern Munich, 2. Roma, 3. Basel, 4. Cluj

Final Standing

1) Bayern Munich.. 15pts

2) Roma.. 10pts

3) Basel.. 6pts

4) Cluj.. 4pts

This group finished exactly as predicted, and despite Bayern's poor domestic form this swason, they finished five points clear of second place Roma in the end and qualified weeks in advance.

Group F

Prediction:

1. Chelsea, 2. Marseille, 3. Spartak Moscow, 4. Zilina

Final Standing

1) Chelsea.. 15pts

2) Marseille.. 12pts

3) Spartak Moscow.. 9pts

4) Zilina.. 0pts

Another group that finished as expected. Chelsea fell just short of finishing the group stage with a 100% record when they lost their final game away at Marseille. Before the tournament Chelsea were tipped to be serious challengers for the cup, but at the present moment appear to be rather unsure of themselves especially away from home. They will definitely be hoping they can get back to their best by next February.

Group G

Prediction:

1. Real Madrid, 2. A.C Milan, 3. Ajax, 4. Auxerre

Final Standing

1) Real Madrid.. 16pts

2) A.C Milan.. 8pts

3) Ajax.. 7pts

4) Auxerre.. 3pts

Real Madrid were the only team along with Barcelona and Manchester United to finish the group stage undefeated. Not only that, but they finished with the best goal difference, the most points and with the largest point margin between first and second place. They appear to be serious challengers and will be a force to be reckoned with in the knockout stages. A.C Milan were second best and only just that.

Group H

Prediction:

1. Arsenal, 2. Shakhtar Donetsk, 3. Braga, 4. Partizan

Final Standing

1) Shakhtar Donetsk.. 15pts

2) Arsenal.. 12pts

3) Braga.. 9pts

4) Partizan.. 0pts

Probably the only real surprise of the whole group stage as Arsenal were expected to top this group with ease, especially with how they started the tournament by defeating their opponents convincingly after their first three games. In the end it turned out to be more of a battle with their qualification secured late in their final game.

Round Of 16

The round of 16 draw will be made in Nyon on 17 December.

The group winners will be away in the round of 16 first legs on 15/16 and 22/23 February and at home in the return matches on 8/9 and 15/16 March. No team can play a club from their group or any side from the same association.

Hughton Out, Pardew In

Even though there was speculation, it was quite shocking to me when news broke that Chris Hughton was sacked as manager at Newcastle United. The football world would agree that Hughton did very well last season, leading the club right back into the Premier League by winning the Coca Cola Championship with relative ease, and was also doing fairly well this season. Hughton rightly deserved the opportunity to prove himself at the top level of English football, but once again we have witnessed a manager being sacked prematurely as a result of the impatience of club owners.

Newcastle's standing in the Premier League at the point of Haughton's sacking was 12th position with 19 points (only 5 of 21 promoted clubs to the premier league have achieved 19 points after 12 games), but apparently the Newcastle board was not satisfied. A statement coming out of the club - "the board feels that an individual with more managerial experience is needed to take the club forward".

Today we learn that Newcastle has hired Alan Pardew (if you ask me, a nonsensical decision based on their reasons for sacking Hughton) - with his only Premier League experience being that as manager of West Ham during the 05/06 season in which the club finished 9th and he was eventually sacked early in the 06/07 season after a poor run of results.

No doubt about it, the Magpies heirachy have taken a big gamble, and it is even a greater gamble with the fact that Pardew has signed a 5 year contract with the club.

At the beginning of the season most predictions would probably place Newcastle in a respectable mid-table position come the end of the season. My expectation still remain the same.

Mourinho Rigs Uefa's Disciplinary System ?

European giants Real Madrid on Matchday 5 secured top spot in Group G and qualification to the knockout stages of the Uefa Champions League with one game to spare after drubbing Ajax 4-0 at the Amsterdam Arena. The main topic of discussion after the game however was about the dismissals of both Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos late in the game by Scottish referee Craig Thomson.

The first sending off occurred in the 87th minute (Real Madrid leading 4-0) when Xabi Alonso kept running back and forth before taking a free kick which resulted in the referee issuing a second yellow card to the player after he was booked earlier in the game. The second sending off occurred after 90 minutes in added time when Sergio Ramos delayed the goal kick by first adjusting his socks, then began running back and forth just as Alonso did. The referee had no choice and was required by law to send off both players for time wasting.

It was obvious that Real Madrid were not being seriously pressed by the opposition players as the outcome of the game was virtually decided and thus these delays at the dying moments of the game did seem puzzling, which now leads to questions being raised as to whether or not these dismissals were planned by the coaching staff.

According to competition rules, a player is suspended for the next competition match after three cautions in three different matches. Both players were on two yellow cards prior to being sent off and would be on a yellow card watch for the upcoming games had they ended the match on the field. However, the case now is that they will both miss a pointless game against Auxerre and will now be free from concern about any immediate suspension for the round of 16 games.

In his post-match interview Mourinho claimed that he was unhappy with the sending offs and that his team were in control of the game therefore deeming the dismissals unnecessary. Then again, what do you expect him to say ?

United Finally Win Away

That long awaited victory on the road for Manchester United in the Barclays Premier League has finally come with a 2-1 Victory over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium today. Javier Hernandez registered a fine double, bagging a goal in either half to ensure that the Red Devils secured all three points.

This has been United's 5th away game of the season and once again it would've appeared that they were heading for their fourth straight draw after surrendering their lead late in the second half after leading 1 - 0 for most of the game.

Sir Alex will be hoping that this apparent 'away curse' has finally been broken and that that the team will now regain its confidence on the road after this result. It is also interesting to note that United are still unbeaten in all competitions so far this year.

Rooney Commits Future to United

Great news for anybody supporting Manchester United. Wayne Rooney has signed a contract committing his future to the club for the next five years.

In the first place it was absolutely shocking to hear that Wayne wanted to leave and now to hear that he has made sudden U-turn all in the space of a week makes this even more amazing.

Credit must be given to Sir Alex for how he handled the whole situation. He was determined put the whole situation to bed as soon as possible and get on with the more important matters of the club.

Wayne has already apologized to the manager and his team mates and its now time for him to start performing at the level that we all know he can. Hopefully the fans will all get behind him, as doing otherwise will be of no benefit to Wayne or Manchester United.

I've been hearing talk that the events of this week were staged and was some kind of a stunt, but again that's just speculation. I'm only surprised that a contract was signed as quickly as it was; which may just be an indication that this was not all about money as contract negotiations of such a nature generally take a hell of a time to sort out.

This whole development regarding Wayne's possible departure may not exactly have been a bad thought and might have done the club some good in the end. This may just be a wake up call for the Glaziers in more ways than one and might have also be a wake up call for the current squad of players at the club who may now may feel that there is a point to prove on the pitch.

Looking forward to the game on Sunday against Stoke !

Well Said Fergie

Sir Alex Ferguson's thoughts in his post match press conference, after Manchester United's 1 - 0 victory over Bursaspor in the Champions League, regarding Wayne Rooney's reasons for wanting to leave the club:

"To maintain the success at any football club is not a certainty, i.e. I always believe a four year cycle is probably the most you can achieve in terms of success. Very few teams can create more than that four year cycle. Last season we almost did it, we were one point short of winning the league for a record fourth time.

"We realised that to maintain that high consistency of being there challenging we had to inject youth into the club and we’ve been doing it for the last three or four years. We realised some years ago that Giggs, Scholes and Neville were never going to last forever and our policy is therefore to develop players within the club. We had a player that once said to me Rooney and Ronaldo weren’t good enough. Can you believe that? He actually said they weren’t good enough and he wasn’t prepared to wait until they were. That’s what happens, that’s the problem with potential – people don’t identify potential, they’re very poor at it. I’ve identified it all my life within young people – I know potential, I know how it can be developed and I know how to have faith in it - young people surprise you when you give them an opportunity. And that’s what this club is about. So when you see Manchester United at the moment with all these young players, you can’t see Manchester United three years ahead because you’re not thinking about that.

"We will invest in players when the time is right. This summer wasn’t the right time as far as I was concerned; there was no value for me. There was one player who we would have liked to have got but he chose another club. I don’t think he ever wanted to come to England anyway. Some players don’t want to leave their country, it’s a fact of life, some players are happy in their own country. Some players are happy to leave and Manchester United is always a big attraction for any player. If they don’t want to leave their country then we forget about it.

"In terms of the future of Manchester United there are a lot of things in my favour – history, the respect we have from people – if I told you how many agents phone my secretary every week about players who would love to play for us - and I don’t just mean run of the mill players, I’m talking about players at almost every club in the world - it would amaze you. It’s because this club still has that fantastic romance and respect from everyone.

"Sometimes you look in a field and you see a cow and you think it’s a better cow than the one you’ve got in your own field. It’s a fact. But it never really works out that way. It’s probably the same cow which is only as good as your own cow. We have to deal with that – some players like to think that it’s a better world somewhere else, it never really works like that.

"As I said, three Premier League titles in a row is fantastic and we were within one point of a record fourth. It didn’t happen for us and we didn’t like that and we want to do something about it. We’ll be okay – I’ve got every confidence in that. We have a structure at the club which is good, we have the right staff, the right manager, the right chief executive, he’s a brilliant man. There’s nothing wrong with Manchester United, not a thing wrong with it. So we’ll carry on."

What Rooney May Have Forgotten

Well it took just 24 hours for Rooney to respond after Sir Alex Ferguson had revealed the surprising news on Tuesday that the player wanted to leave the club.

Rooney issued the following statement:

"I met with David Gill last week and he did not give me any of the assurances I was seeking about the squad. I then told him I would not be signing a new contract.

"I was interested to hear what Sir Alex had to say yesterday and surprised by some of it. It is absolutely true as he said, that my agent and I have had a number of meetings with the club about a new contract. During those meetings in August I asked for assurances about the continued ability of the club to attract top players in the world."

Somehow I find it somewhat difficult to grasp what Rooney is really trying to imply with this statement. He's talking about Manchester United under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson who has a proven track record of rebuilding teams for over two decades now. Clearly, it would appear, that Wayne has forgotten the challenges that Manchester United were facing when he initially joined the club !

When Rooney first came to Manchester United in 2004, Manchester United had just lost the title to an Arsenal team that went undefeated over the entire 2003/2004 season. During that summer of 2004 English football welcomed Jose Mourinho who then joined Chelsea under the Ownership of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovic. With Mourinho at the helm and with Abramovic's millions, Chelsea went on to win back to back Premier League titles in 2004/2005 and 2005/2006.

This left Manchester United now without a trophy for three full seasons. During this barren period, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, David Beckham, Juan Sebastian Veron and Fabien Barthez were all sold, Laurent Blanc had retired and influential captain Roy Keane had left. These were all key players who were involved with Manchester United winning the Premier League title three times in four seasons, including the FA Cup and the League Cup all between 1999 to 2003.

In the background however, players such as John O'Shea, Darren Fletcher, Gerard Pique, Kieran Richardson and Guiseppe Rossi were youngsters that began to emerge from the youth ranks.

Cristiano Ronaldo was signed from total obscurity in 2003 and Wayne Rooney as a young emerging talent in 2004. The Glaziers eventually took control of the club in 2005 and Edwin Van der Sar, Alan Smith, Gabriel Heinze and Evra all joined the club during this time as well.

Interestingly, none of these players signed during this period were considered "top players". During this

time we were told that a dynasty had fallen - it was the beginning of the end, and that Alex Ferguson had lost the plot and should retire. What if the stars such as Scholes and Giggs had decided to leave the team during that time then ?

Well needless to say, the critics had been proven wrong and Manchester United with this group of unproven players had gone on to dominate the English League and Europe between seasons 2006-2009 and lost the league by just a single point last season. In total, Wayne Rooney has won three (3) Premier League titles, two (2) League Cup titles, two (2) Community Sheild titles, one (1) Champions League title and one (1) FIFA World Club Cup title. A total of nine winners' medals in six years.

So what is Wayne Rooney now talking about ?

Arsenal have been unable to win the Premiership since the invincibles in 2004 and have not won a single trophy since the FA Cup in 2005. Liverpool have been trying to regain the Premier League title for over twenty years now, and Chelsea, even though they have won recent titles are still unable to successfully dominate the English League like Manchester United has done.

To say United has no ambition and to suggest that the club is on the way down is totally unwarranted. Even with the Glaziers in control and with the massive debts which they have laden on the club, the future on pitch looks bright with Sir Alex Ferguson in charge.

Is This Goodbye Wayne ?

Just how did this story come about ? At the end of last season if anybody even hinted that Wayne Rooney would've been considering his future at Manchester United after just three months into the new campaign I would never believe it.

Lets trace back....

The media circus surrounding Rooney began earlier this summer during the World Cup where Rooney and the England team as whole had a poor showing at the tournament. Manchester United fans however were far less interested in those performances and were more concerned about him avoiding injury so that he could carry on from where he left off last season in the red shirt.

For some reason however, even after this season had started, Rooney still wasn't finding his form. Still, most Man United supporters should not have been too perturbed, as this was characteristic of Wayne Rooney ever since he joined the club - there was always a part of his season where he would have a quiet spell. The only difference now is that the limelight is totally on him and there is no Ruud Van Nistelrooy or Ronaldo to shoulder the burden. To make matters worse, in addition to his poor start to the season, allegations about his private life came out in the media in late September which brought about even more unwanted media attention.

At this point Sir Alex tried his best to protect the player by using injury as an excuse for dropping him from the team, only for Rooney to come out and contradict Ferguson about his injury. This scenario was now fuel for outrageous media stories and we were all led to believe that there was a rift between boss and player until Sir Alex revealed in his pre-match interview today that he has had absolutely no arguments with Rooney and there was no falling out. Not only that, but the shocking revelation that Rooney had actually intimated that he wanted to leave the club as early as August 14th. This was all before allegations about his private life and also before his poor form this season. This makes the whole story now even more complicated as we are now left to wonder what could have happened between the end of last season and early this summer that would cause him to be considering his future at the club. We are all totally bemused.

However, as Sir Alex has stated, he is still leaving the door open for him to reconsider which I believe most United fans will agree with. There is no doubt about his quality and he will eventually find his form, but if he still insists on going then its best we sell him as early as possible during the January transfer window. There is no point keeping a player who no longer wants to play for the club and as we all know... No player is greater than Manchester United Football Club.

Now that the news of Rooney's likely departure has surfaced, there have been some reports of possible destinations during the January transfer window. If he should leave I don't believe Ferguson should necessarily try to replace him with another striker as there are already enough at the club, but should possibly replace him with a creative/goalscoring midfielder and press forward with rebuilding the team as we have done several times before.

Possible Deals:

Manchester City

It seemed absurd at first, but I could live with him moving to City. They are willing to pay silly money for players and we would have no problem taking their money. I just don't see how he would fit into Mancini's plans.

Chelsea

This option is by no means far-fetched at all as Chelsea's attacking duo of Anelka and Drogba is aging. Abramovic would also be more than able to finance such a deal.

Tottenham

I just dont see a move to Spurs materializing as this would be a downward step, but it was reported that Harry Redknapp would be interested in signing him. A straight swap for both Modric and Bale and I believe most Man United would have no problem. But this option just doesn't seem feasible.

Real Madrid

Serious contenders in my opinion, but one still has to wonder how Rooney would fit into Mourinho's current plan. Some are suggesting that a swap deal with Benzema is possible but I am totally against such a move. I would rather see a swap deal with Kaka (even though he turned down the chance to move to England last season). Seems unlikely unless he's forced out.

Barcelona

Barcelona has been mentioned but I don't believe a move to the Catalan club could ever materialize anytime in the near future: 1) Barcelona currently has no money 2) They are saving to buy Cesc.

Inter Milan

I'm not sure if Inter would be able to afford him either. A swap deal with Sneijder however ? That would definitely be a good deal.

"The Hand of Niemeyer"

When I first saw this I couldn't help but laugh. Hertha Berlin defender Peter Niemeyer was caught on camera touching referee Bibiana Steinhaus in a somewhat inappropriate manner during a German Bundesliga match between Hertha Berlin and Alemannia on Monday. Niemeyer after the game indicated that he was actually attempting to pat the ref on her shoulder, however he failed to look where he his hand was aiming which resulted in him brushing her chest.

Interestingly, Bibiana Steinhaus is the first professional female German referee.

Relevance of the Carling Cup

The results of the third round of Carling Cup 2010/2011 have been quite surprising with so many upsets happening at this early stage. The biggest shock being Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City all knocked out in their first game. This once again raises the perennial question by some as to why this competition still exists as England is the only major European football association that has two domestic cup competitions with the Carling Cup traditionally being the tournament that gets the least attention.

Arsene Wenger is one manager who has received much criticism for his approach to the tournament as he sees the competition as an opportunity to blood his youngsters and give them some match experience; a policy which he has stuck with for several seasons despite Arsenal being trophyless since 2005. This approach prompted Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp to taunt Wenger in his pre-match press conference with his comments suggesting fans would prefer to watch their team win a trophy than to watch promising youngsters gain experience. It would appear that Wenger took his advice by naming a squad that surprised most as it included the likes of Arshavin, Nasri, Chamakh, Eboue, Koscielny and Rosicky who all participated in the action. The match ended with Arsenal winning 4-1 and it will be interesting to see Wenger's approach in the upcoming round.

Chelsea also came up against premiership opposition and were shocked by Newcastle at Stamford Bridge. The Chelsea team, as expected, was missing key players including Drogba et.al, but so was Newcastle who left their regular starters on the bench.

Liverpool's defeat was most surprising however as no one would have expected Northampton to defeat a Liverpool team which included players such as Ngog (current leading goalscorer) , Babel, Lucas, Agger and Jovanovic.

Interestingly it has been Manchester United (double defending champions) who fielded the least experienced team in terms of minutes played in the premier league this season, however they didn't have much difficulty in defeating Scunthorpe United 5-2 to progress to the next round. The practice of fielding youngsters with some experience players is somewhat a gamble, but by gauging opposition correctly and by selecting the right balance of players top teams can still be successful as Sir Alex Ferguson has proven over the past couple seasons, and even Jose Mourinho during his time at Chelsea. It is also interesting to note that the winners of the tournament over the last six seasons are Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United (current in top four of the premiership).

With that being said, the Carling Cup is still relevant in my opinion and despite the upsets that have already occurred this season, I am predicting that a strong premiership team will eventually be crowned champions come March 2011.

The Private Lives of Football Players

The private lives of professional athletes have absolutely nothing to do with their profession, but this story has been making shock waves in the media over the past weekend. Newspaper reports in England is that Wayne Rooney had been cheating on his wife Coleen with a prostitute during the time that she was pregnant with their son. We have read similar such stories with John Terry, Ashley Cole, Peter Crouch and even Tiger Woods this year.

This story has come out at the worst possible time for Wayne as he was just re-gaining his best form after having a mediocre World Cup in South Africa. He is set to play in the European Championship qualifier against Switzerland on Tuesday and England coach Fabio Capello is confident that he is in the right frame of mind to represent England. It will be interesting to see Sir Alex Ferguson's approach to the whole situation, but one wouldn't expect Fergie to handle the situation any different than how Capello has.

I for one am not overly concerned about footballer's lifestyles off the pitch. As long as Rooney continues to perform well for England and Manchester United, then that's all that will matter to the true football fan.

Season 2010/2011 Underway !

Finally, my weekends have now been fully revived. Season 2010/2011 is now officially in full swing as all the European domestic leagues have resumed much to my delight.

The English Premier League is in its third week and is already taking a familiar shape with Chelsea, Arsenal & Manchester United already occupying the top three positions. There were no real suprises in the scores for the top clubs except for the defeats to Tottenham and Manchester City.

The Spanish Primera Liga kicked off on Saturday with Valencia v Racing Santander, however Spain's top two teams were that ones that drew most attention with Barcelona opening their campaign with an easy 3-0 victory over Malaga, while Real Madrid, with Mourinho on his debut as head coach, were frustrated at the Iberostar Stadium as they were held to a goaless draw with Mallorca; made worse by the injury to Cristiano Ronaldo that will rule him out for several weeks.

The Italian Serie A was under way as well with the most exciting match being AC Milan v Lecce which Milan won is style with a 4-0 scoreline at the San Siro, much to the delight of their new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic who was spotted in the stands during the game. The blue side of Milan will not be as happy however as Inter, with Rafa Benitez taking charge of his first League game, were held to a goaless draw by Bologna.

The leagues now come to a break as International football is scheduled for this weekend.

Time Up for Ballack ?

When news broke that Michael Ballack was ruled out of the World Cup in South Africa due to an ankle injury, it left German supporters very disappointed and concerned about their team's chances.

The German team however, led by temporary captain Philip Lahm, exceeded expectations with their performances including memorable defeats over England and Argentina and eventually finished third in the tournament with young players such as Khederia, Muller and Ozil performing beyond their years in the midfield.

Ballack's absence during the World Cup appeared to be a non-factor and at one stage, stand in captain Lahm made comments in an interview stating that he desired to keep the armband even after the tournament. At this point, it was now apparent that both Ballack's position in the national team his captaincy was under threat. He was however adamant about his position and was confident that he would retain the armband once he returned to full fitness.

"For me, the matter is clear - I am the captain of Germany and intend to take on the role again when I am fit. I can't wait to lead Germany into Euro 2012 qualifiers and make a success of it."

Well we are at that stage now and the Euro 2012 qualifiers are upon us. Joachim Low has announced his squad with the news that Michael Ballack has once again been left out; this time not due to injury, but as a result of the coach's decision.

"Michael is on a good road back after three months out with his injury and everyone is satisfied with his recovery.

"It is now important now for him to find his top form with Leverkusen." said Low.

Rediscover his top form ? I find Low's reasoning rather peculiar. Ballack has fully recovered from his ankle injury and has been playing for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga's opening games and Low surely cannot be expecting "top form" at the beginning of the season.

Now with Ballack absent once again, Lahm is expected retain the captaincy in next month’s qualifiers against Belgium and Azerbaijan.

The question is still remains however. Will Michael Ballack be recalled to the National team and will he regain the captaincy ?

Only time will tell.

Arsene Wenger's Never Ending Nightmare

We have heard it before and now we're hearing it again. It has become all too predictable now. Arsene Wenger once again has begun his moaning on the eve of a clash with a bottom half premiership team.

Earlier this week Wenger made several comments about Stoke's performance against Tottenham last weekend, criticizing Tony Pulis' team by comparing their approach to that of a rugby match.

"I saw some pictures last Sunday; you cannot say any more it is football, it is rugby on the goalkeepers [more] than football.

"The referees cannot go on and accept that.

"When you see how [Stoke defender Ryan] Shawcross kicked [Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho] Gomes, how [Robert] Huth pushed Gomes in the goal, you cannot say that is football any more.

"If the referees allow that you cannot accept that because that has nothing to do with the game.

Wenger's bellyaching is in light of the fact that Arsenal will be traveling to Ewood Park to face Sam Allardyce's Rovers this weekend. If we can recall, the last time Arsenal went to Ewood Park they were beaten 2-1 after Blackburn scored both their goals from corners by crowding the goalkeeper. Rovers boss Allardyce admitted his team had targeted Fabianski but insisted that they did so within the rules.

"We know that the weakness for Arsenal is balls in the box and we did that positively," said Allardyce.

"We have seen that under pressure Fabianski's handling is sometimes suspect.

"We felt that the more balls we put in, the deeper Arsenal would go and the more bodies Fabianski would then have to go through."

Well kudos to Big Sam for spotting his opponent's weakness and exploting it. It is also interesting to note that last season Blackburn lost only three times in the league last season in front of their own supporters and were undefeated againts teams such as Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool who all dropped points at Ewood Park. The difference however is that we have not heard any other manager complaing about the "anti-football" tactics of Blackburn or by any other premier league team.

It is an undeniable fact that Blackburn will probably never be able to outplay the likes of Arsenal by playing free flowing possession football, as they do not have players that are as technically gifted. Therefore managers will obviously try new ways of countering their opponents' technical prowess (within the laws of the game). Football tactics have been evolving over the years which has resulted in the sport moving from a very attacking sport to a more defensive one. This evolution however, has not resulted in the quality of the sport being diminished, but has in fact made it more competitive.

For me this is a part of what makes football the beautiful game; not to say that the tactics devised by teams like Stoke and Blackburn are beautiful, as personally i am not a fan of it, but it is the fact that we are seeing these smaller teams recording upsets against the heavyweights, like we witnessed Blackburn pull off against the traditional top four in the premiership last season.

Wenger should continue to focus on correcting his team's defensive frailties and sign a stable goalkeeper who will perform consistently week in week out. Until then he can have only himself to blame for Arsenal's continued under performance.

This upcoming match promises to be very interesting.

UEFA Champions League 2010/2011 Group Stage Draw

It was only just in May this year that we witnessed Jose Mourinho an his Inter Milan team lift the European Champions League trophy, after a fiercely contested final with Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabéu. Three months has elapsed and Europe's most prestigious club competition is back again and now in its 56th season with the final of this years edition to culminate at the spiritual home of world football at the Wembley Stadium in London on May 28, 2011.

The preliminary knock-out phase has only just been concluded, which decided the eight (8) remaining teams to complete the list of thirty-two (32) teams which will participate in this season's competition.

These are the eight (8) Groups for the UEFA Champions League Season 2010/2011:

Group A

Inter (Italy)

Werder Bremen (Germany)

Tottenham (England)

FC Twente (Netherlands)

Arguably the toughest group of this stage with the defending champions Inter fully aware that there won't be any easy games in this group. Inter will have to be at their best consistently to secure qualification as the likes of Werder Bremen and Tottenham can be considered serious challengers for the top two spots. Dutch champions Twente will be least likely to progress from this group, but by no means is it suggested that the results in this group will be straightforward. One would however still expect Inter to qualify for the knockout round.

Prediction: 1. Inter, 2. Werder Bremen, 3. Tottenham, 4. FC Twente

Group B

Lyon (France)

Benfica (Portugal)

Schalke (Germany)

Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel)

Last year's semi-finalists Lyon, are clear favourites to finish on top of this group with Schalke and Portuguese Champions Benfica battling it out for second place. Hapoel Tel Aviv, most would expect, should not seriously pose much of a threat in this group.

Group C

Manchester United (England)

Valencia (Spain)

Rangers (Scotland)

Bursaspor (Turkey)

This group would appear to be a fairly competitive one in which Manchester United, who have appeared in two finals over the past three seasons, will face their toughest challenge from either Valencia or Rangers. Turkish champions Bursaspor are unlikely to cause any serious problems but it will be interesting to see how Valencia cope this season without Villa and Silva who both have been their most influential players over past couple seasons. Rangers will no doubt believe that they have a strong case for challenging for that second place position.

Prediction: 1. Manchester United, 2. Valencia, 3. Rangers, 4. Bursaspor

Group D

Barcelona (Spain)

Panathinaikos (Greece)

Copenhagen (Denmark)

Rubin Kazan (Russia)

Once again, the draw has been kind to European heavyweights Barcelona who should encounter very little resistance in their pursuit to progress to the knockout stages. Barcelona will however be reminded of Rubin Kazan's shock victory over them at the Camp Nou in the group stages last season. Greece champions Panathinaikos will be looking to secure second position but will face stiff competition from Rubin Kazan who should at least cop that third place spot for the Europa League.

Prediciton: 1. Barcelona, 2. Panathinaikos, 3. Rubin Kazan, 4. Copenhagen

Group E

Bayern Munich (Germany)

Roma (Italy)

Basel (Switzerland)

Cluj (Romania)

Last year's finalists Bayern Munich are clear favourites to progress from this group with Roma the only team to pose any serious challenge for them. Basel and Cluj are expected to battle it out for that third place position.

Prediction: 1. Bayern Munich, 2. Roma, 3. Basel, 4. Cluj

Group F

Chelsea (England)

Marseille (France)

Spartak Moscow (Russia)

Zilina (Slovakia)

Chelsea will once again be attempting to win Europe's most coveted prize once again this season. This is a prize which has eluded Ranieri, Mourinho, Grant, Scolari/Hiddink and Ancelloti, all who have failed to deliver that trophy which owner Roman Abramovich had set his sights on when he took over the club in 2003. Chelsea should however qualify easily, with current French champions Marsielle (the first winners of the modern Champions League) expected to qualify with along them. Spartak Moscow and debutants Zilina should realistically be concentrating on securing enough points to make it to the Europa League.

Group G

AC Milan (Italy)

Real Madrid (Spain)

Ajax (Netherlands)

Auxerre (France)

Without any shadow of a doubt Group G will be dubbed by most as the group of death in this year's competition, with Milan, Madrid and Ajax having won the competition a total of seven (7) times between them since the competition was revamped in season 1992/1993. AC Milan and Real Madrid for the second season in a row will be meeting at the group stage with Jose Mourinho's team looking to repeat their feat in the group stage last season by finishing on top, despite not being able to beat AC Milan either home or away. On paper Ajax and Auxerre are contending for third spot in this group, however they should not be completely written off as they both have the potential of grinding shock results and stand an outside chance of progressing to the next round.

Group H

Arsenal (England)

Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)

Braga (Portugal)

Partizan (Serbia)

Arsenal are expected to qualify from this group without much problems, with their toughest match likely to be that trip to Ukraine to face Shakhtar, who were Europa League Champions only a year ago. Braga and Partizan recorded upsets to progress to this stage of the competition, however it would be highly unlikely for either of them to advance to the knockout stages.

Prediction: 1. Arsenal, 2. Shakhtar Donetsk, 3. Braga, 4. Partizan

Matchday 1 Kicks off on September 14/15, 2010.