England vs Europe

Well, as I write this post, there is only three English teams left in European competitions, so here's a little round up of us Brits against the rest...

Of course everyone knows by now of Arsenal's glorified but overall fruitless win against Bayern Munich last night, if they played like that in the first leg they would probably still be in the competition but as it is, that was the end of any English club competing for the champions league so lets move on.

The Europa league fixtures were played tonight and in one of the most exciting fixtures Inter Milan went about repairing that 3-0 loss to Spurs. In a thrilling match Inter went 3-0 up to take it to extra time only for that man Adebayor to come along with a goal made for the born and bred poacher, it ended 4-1 with Tottenham through on away goals.

Newcastle also left it late with pretty much the last move of the match Cisse popping up to connect with a fine cross to head them through against the Russian money men of Anzhi Makhachkala. So two of the three teams in England through leaving just Chelsea to battle it out against Stauer Bucharest.

After suffering to a 1-0 defeat in Romania, the blues had it all to do, but much like at the weekend in Manchester, they had a poor first half followed by an inspired second, with Torres, no that's not a mistake, scoring the winner for Chelsea to hold on to a 3-1 win.

As much as it gets slated as a smaller European competition, in my opinion, the Europa league can yield just as much excitement as its big brother. So as we head into the quarter finals, expect some good football and a good chance for all three English clubs to go all the way!

The rules of the game

In light of the 'controversial' red card in the Manchester United - Real Madrid game, I thought I'd do a post on my view footballs rules and regulations in this particular area. Now, for me, Nani's red card was definitely the correct decision (and of course I'll be accused of biased and United fans will disagree), for one, it was regarded as dangerous play - which seems reasonable as Nani has, albeit inadvertently, studded another player in the ribs! The counter argument is that he was not looking at the player and there was no intent... So what, it is still dangerous play, I could shoot someone without looking, or intending to cause major harm, it doesn't change the fact that I've gone and blown somebodies head off does it? Okay, so maybe that was a poor analogy but you get the point, Nani still put another player at risk of serious injury.

At this point you would usually get many a united fan hurling abuse and possibly pointing to the fact that a yellow card would have been suitable and that the ref has just ruined a major European cup tie. Well, first of all, maybe a yellow would have sufficed, I wouldn't have been surprised if got either yellow or red. However, to say it ruined the game, as I have heard many a commentator exclaim, is in my opinion, complete rubbish. Let's look at one perfect example of how that statement is ridiculous; Barcelona v Chelsea 2012 champions league semi-final second leg, Chelsea go down to ten men deservedly after Terry made the mistake of kneeing another player in the back for no reason, did this ruin the game... No.

The game remained tense and exciting, ending up in that memorable Torres equaliser to seal the blues aggregate victory or the even more memorable Gary Neville score-gasm. It was plain to see that Chelsea parked the proverbial bus while Barcelona squandered a few chances and at no point did anyone say the red card ruined the game.

So why should this be said about Manchester United? Clearly because they lost, in my eyes it was still very competitive, United had a number of big chances and definitely piled the pressure on Madrid. It is clear to me that matches in many cases have been made even the more exciting with a dismissal in my eyes; red cards change games but never ruin the contest.

The best league in the world

Something that is often a point of argument amongst many football fans is the question; who has the best league in the world?

Now clearly I'm going to be slightly biased, I am English after all, but how should we really measure this idea in the first place? Well, some people say that it should be down to competitiveness of the league title, but what leagues boast the most diverse range of title winners in what most would call the top five leagues in Europe...

The Bundesliga are joint top with Ligue 1 with 5 different winners in the last 10 years, next is our Premier league with 4, and at the bottom is Serie A and La Liga both with 3.

So maybe not what people would expect or want, and many would say that we need to judge it on the quality of players not just the fluctuation of the winners. This is where it becomes a bit more difficult, of course the two best players in the world (do I even have to name them) come from La Liga, and arguably Falcao is up there with them but then again the quality is not really spread across the league and it is at this point where, in my opinion, the premier league comes into its own.

Across all the teams in the league there are always outstanding players, think about QPR, bottom of the league yet have Julio Cesar and Loic Remy both high profile players with much pedigree. Now try naming top players from teams near the bottom of the other leagues, nope me neither and this spread of brilliance is what I believe puts our league a notch above the rest, we get the whole package every week - quality, competition, rivalry, and overall watchability.

This is why, in my eyes, the premiership truly is the best league in the world - broadcasting in over 200 countries to over 600 million  people worldwide - Not bad at all.

Champions League

Well it's back. The biggest club competition on in the world and with it come some of the most exciting match ups for some time, so lets take a look at the biggest matches in the knock out stages:

Celtic - Juventus

Celtic clearly the underdogs, I'll certainly be cheering them on but it's going to be difficult against this supreme Juventus side who are still reigning Italy with comfort and style. If Celtic want to get through they will have to play out of their skins in both legs, and it's vital that they nick a win at home.

My prediction: Celtic 1 - 0 Juventus

Real Madrid - Manchester United

Alex Ferguson meets 'the special one' once again but this time at Madrid. Only one outcome in his particular leg for me, even if Mourinho is having some troubled times, Ronaldo is in imperious form and I fully expect him to bag at least one against his former club. The tie will hinge on the game at Old Trafford as to whether United can qualify but in my eyes Madrid will be too strong.

My prediction: Real Madrid 3 - 1 Manchester United

Arsenal - Bayern Munich 

After losing out last year Munich are back for some redemption and in my opinion Arsenal do not have the squad to get them through, this said, it can depend what mood the Londoners turn up in, if they have a good day this tie may be closer than we think.

My prediction: Arsenal 1 - 1 Bayern Munich

Barcelona - AC Milan

Milan aren't having the best time of it lately but with Balotelli on the pitch there's always a chance for fireworks. However, Barcelona with the league seemingly in their grasp, it looks as though this leg can only go one way, one thing you can bet on though is a Messi goal as the best player in the world i looking more and more like the best ever.

My prediction: Barcelona 4 - 2 AC Milan

Controversy of the week

Just a small post on the big story in football at the moment, on Wednesday night a pretty standard league cup tie between Chelsea and Swansea dived into controversy as Chelsea's Eden Hazard seemed to kick a ball boy and was subsequently red carded. There has been much debate over the incident and a lot of terrible articles in papers such as the daily mail (one of my most hated papers, I advise anyone not to read it's awfully biased and unintelligently proposed 'news' stories), in my view both parties are at fault. First; Hazard is a professional and a role model to young footballers, so his reaction and the kick was wrong on his part, however, the ball boy Charlie Morgan is also no angel, he actively wasted time by lying on the ball something which is neither his job or advisable in any situation and any player with an ounce of passion would want to get the ball back as quickly as possible in the circumstances. Hazard and the boy should face punishment, but the fact that hours earlier Morgan tweeted that he was going to waste time just adds fuel to the fire, in my opinion he should be banned from being the ball boy and probably more, however, as the son of one of the directors at Swansea football club (yes, the plot thickens) he probably will get away unscathed except for the ridiculous amount of mentions on his twitter and the internet hate he will most likely receive from a number of twitter users for his pathetic attempt to make the injury look a lot worse than it really was..

It was however, very refreshing to see many a professional footballer come out publicly in defence of Hazard. It's nice to see a bit of empathy once in a while and the likes of Michael Owen and Luke Shaw, the current left back at Southampton, understand that Hazard simply just wanted the ball as one particular camera angle clearly shows. 

This event may not seem to be too significant on the world of football, but it could see the end of ball boys all together which would be a great shame. I think it would be a wise decision to cap the age of ball boys to around 14, to stop this kind of incident and in the hope that those less privileged than Morgan get the opportunity be in his position. Finally, both player and ball boy have apologised to each other and shaken hands, and football may swiftly move on.

More than just a game.

"It's only a game"; a comment that plagues those who do not enjoy or revel in sport, a comment which I believe is unfair and made with little understanding. Think of the things you love the most, it could be music or films, maybe theme parks or any activity that gives you a buzz - the spine tingling, almost chilling, adrenaline pumping buzz. For me, this comes from sport. 

Not everyones cup of tea, I get that, but to say that it has little meaning is far from the truth in my eyes. Not once have I been to a football, rugby, or cricket game that lacked passion and pride. Of course this has both positive and negative connotations - no one likes to see hooligans fighting, i'm not condoning that sought of ridiculous violence but surely people have got to see what it really means, especially in this, one of the greatest years of sport I have ever witnessed. 

One example is the olympics, an international event which made me proud to be British. We hosted the greatest games of our time - a monumental achievement, and one that made me truly realise what sport is capable of. As I stood in my front room cheering the likes of Mo Farah and Bradley Wiggins, I looked around to see three generations of family on their feet screaming at the Tv - not something likely to happen during an episode on Eastenders, even if Phil Mitchell did just throw another ludicrous punch across the pub. 

Sport is something that can bring a whole nation to tears, be it in triumph or despair, it causes arguments and rivalries but creates joy and wonderful memories. There are moments awe, silence and wonder. Moments of brilliant primal elation and these are the moments that I savour the most - they don't come around often, so when they do make sure you take a second to think about that line "It's only a game". In those moments, sport is not merely a game, it's an incomparable power, an unstoppable force, forgive the cliche but it's a genuine emotional roller coaster. 

I have a good relationship with my older sibling, but a hug between us is a rare sight (understandable since I am 18 and he 20, usually arguing or annoying each other), so when we do 'embrace' it is a clear indication for me that sport is more that a game, the most recent time this has happened was 19th of May 2012, hint - we are both big Chelsea fans.

These are a couple of the moments I had the pleasure to see in my fairly short life time so far, and I can guarantee that as long as you're not a stone hearted, life loathing individual, then you will find some sort of joy in at least one of them:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19228975

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19084161

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18914449

My EPL team

(Attack)

Robin Van Persie (Manchester United) - Even more so than last season, Van Persie has shown he is one of the worlds on form strikers with goals from anywhere he can produce moments of glorious football as well as having the ability to be simply in the right place at the right time. His finish is second to none in the Premiership at the moment. 

Luis Suarez (Liverpool) - A player that is both loved and hated, but for me the little Uruguayan is a top class player. He can leave defenders behind with skill and pace as well as being able to finish. He works hard and uses that south American flair to shift and glide towards goal, Liverpool's most important player at the moment and with a bit more quality around him he could get better.

Demba Ba (Chelsea) - I tipped him to move to Arsenal, instead Chelsea got their first, and what a player they have bought. Strong in the air with some brilliant hold up play to boot, the first half of the season with Newcastle saw him score a host of goals and it looks like it could continue at Chelsea. 

That's my team of the Premier league so far, obviously there are many more contenders but these are the players that really stand out to me at the moment!