Is Messi really that good?

Champions League Result 6th April 2010: Barca 4: Arsenal 1

Last night Arsenal were absolutely battered by a team that Wenger readily admitted is "better than us [Arsenal] and that has the best player in the world". He described Messi as "unstoppable" and "the only player who can change direction at such a pace."

As well as all the accolades from players and commentators alike, there is little argument that Messi's form for Barca this year has been outstanding. Having already hit three hat-tricks in Barca colours in 2010, he upped his game even further against Arsenal and scored four goals in a match for the first time in his career. However Messi refused to bask in his own personal glory and praised the rest of his team.

So given his unquestionable talent and a penchant for modesty and teamwork, is this 22 year old Argentinian the perfect player? Some critics point out than in 18 matches for Argentina, Messi has only managed 4 goals, although those close to the South American game say this is due to weaknesses in the squad as a whole. Gooners currently licking their wounds might point out that he failed to score at the Emirates last week, which is certainly true. These points aside, after tonight's performance, is there a manager in the world who wouldn't pick Messi?

There is no doubt that Messi is an all-time great and fantastic for the neutral to watch. However even a player of his quality needs a good team around him to really shine. Just to rub salt in the Gooner wounds, their all time top scorer and darling of North London, Thierry Henry, didn't even get off the bench in this encounter. That's how strong Barca is.

Arsenal v Barcelona champions league 2010

Is this quarter final the game where the gooners lay to rest the miserable champions league 2006? Playing against his former club Thierry Henry will no doubt know better than anyone how formidable a Wenger side can be in Europe, especially now that they have more physicality in their game this season.

On paper, Barcelona's first 11 is immense and made Manchester United look quite ordinary last season. However, when Arsenal's flowing football kicks in to some of these Champions League this team exhibits world class qualities that can lead to a quick succession of goals. Sol Campbell has helped their back line no end but they still have a bit of uncertainty between the sticks with Almunia. This was illustrated against Birmingham City this weekend with a bit of a howler, where we saw Kevin Philips bagging his 250th goal of his football career...but lets be fair a decent Prem 'keeper would have saved it.

Away at the Nou camp? I can see Barcelona getting an advantage in this 1st leg - maybe 1 goal.

FA Cup 2010 Latest Spurs 3 Fulham 1 24/10/2010

FA Cup Result 24th March 2010 Latest Tottenham 3 Fulham 1

A game of two halves this evening in the sixth round FA Cup replay London Derby at White Hart Lane. An incredible bounce back by home team Tottenham Hotspur as they turned a 1 nil half time deficit in to a 3-1.

This was a great FA Cup night for Spurs. 4 goals, plenty of stress and drama but ultimately bags of talent on show from the home team. And yes, I am a lily white!

With many ex-Spurs players in the visiting team, there was irony in Bobby Zamora's cool, left-footed stroke past Tottenham goalkeeper Gomes. The way that Zamora found the space and executed the through ball speaks volumes about his form and the development that Roy Hodgson has orchestrated at the Cottage.

This evening, I thought Danny Murphy demonstrated the reason why he has the captaincy for Fulham. Industrious but attacking, Murphy helped win the midfield battle in the first half and overall Fulham managed to mute Tottenham Hotspur who have displayed great form this season.

Harry Redknapp put David Bentley and Tommy Huddlestone to begin the second half to galvanise the midfield effort of the home team. The impact was instant, as David Bentley swung in a Beckham like free kick that all defenders, forwards and most importantly the Fulham 'keeper Richard Schwarzer all missed watching it bounce directly into the net.

Spurs grabbed hold of the game, with pure aggressive attacking football. Between Bentley, Modric, Gudjonhson and Pavlyuchenko Tottenham had too much fire power for Fulham in the second half.

Roman Pavlyuchenko scored the second, enjoying such a maginificent run of form and proving to absolutely everyone that he is a major asset to Tottenham Hotspur. On loan forward Eidur Gudjonhson then finished off a superb passing move, scoring his second goal for Tottenham...Harry wants Gudjonhson permanently and he has proven what he can deliver. Sheringham like link up play and classic striker goals.

Pompey next for Tottenham - as Spurs great Jimmy Greaves would say 'its a funny old game'.

Arsenal 2 West Ham 0 20/03/2010 Barclays Premier League

Arsenal 2 West Ham 0 20th March 2010 Premier League

Arsenal looked to set this latest Premier League weekend's pace with a 2-0 win over London rivals West Ham United, putting them top for at least the next 20 hours or so.

For the first 30 minutes, the Gunners showed us their dominance up front. It took less than 5 minutes for the home team to take the lead with Denilson strike from just outside the area. The was not a great deal more excitement for the majority of the first half except for perhaps Diamanti and Campbell going in the book, but in the 44th minute the visitors had plenty to shout about when Vermaelen was controversially sent off for a challenge on Guillermo Franco in the box. However despite scoring in the previous 2 encounters between the London rivals, Almunia denied Diamanti his third time lucky. Gooners would say it was a great save, Hammers would point to the fact Almunia was a long way off his line. 1:0 to the home team at half time.

In the second half the Hammers tried their best to make their extra man work for them, but to no avail. Just after 80 minutes a hand ball by ex gunner Matthew Upson handed a penalty to the Arsenal, which Fabregas converted with ease. This galvanised the Wenger boys, who threatened a third for the remainder of the match. However going after 90 minutes top of the premiership is surely result enough for the Gooners. But will they able to play this convincingly against Barcelona??

Premier League 20th March 2010 latest fixtures

Premier League 20th March 2010 latest fixtures and lunchtime result

Lunchtime match 20th March 2010 (12:45pm)
Aston Villa 2 Wolverhampton 2 PREMIER LEAGUE RESULT

3 o'clockers
Everton v Bolton, Goodison Park 3pm
Portsmouth v Hull, Fratton Park 3pm
Stoke v Tottenham, Brittania Stadium 3pm
Sunderland v Birmingham, Stadium of Light 2pm
Wigan v Burnley, JJB Stadium 15:00

Evening match
Arsenal v West Ham, Emirates Stadium 5.30pm

Champions League 16th March 2010 2nd leg Chelsea 1 Inter 3 (aggregate 1-3) JOSE'S INTER GO THROUGH

Chelsea 0 Inter Milan 1 (agg. 1-3) Inter Milan progress past the first UEFA Champions League knock out stage

Jose Mourinho revisited his old stomping ground at Stamford Bridge in the 2nd Leg tie, going into the match leading 2-1 after the 1st leg at the San Siro.

The special one had a standing ovation from the Stamford Bridge faithful - Mourinho looked touched but then it was down to business in this knock out Champions League match. After winning 5 trophies in his time at the Bridge, there are still numerous Chelsea fans that would have him back - and who could blame them.

Mourinho's side defended with great strength in the first half, with great blocks preventing shots from Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka (42 minutes) from clawing the home side back into the tie. Lucio and Samuel were dynamite in central defence, keeping Drogba under control more than any other.

Eto'o also had a chance in the 35th minute, missing from close range after John Terry had narrowly missed a defensive header.

Although the first half was goal less, Chelsea could have been 1 up easily, after being denied 2 penalty shouts from corner kick action - Ivanovic and Drogba were both uprooted. I would have given them both.

Chelsea kicked off the second half, seemingly drifting more into a 4-4-2 formation with Anelka joining Drogba as well as Malouda assuming an advanced left midfield position. Inter contained them well initially, looking to soak up the home team possession and hit them on the break where possible. Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka piled on the pressure on to Lucio and Samuel - a fantastic offensive-defensive dual to witness.

In the 50th minute, Eto'o had a half chance but didn't manage to get a shot away. Then, within one minute Malouda pulled the trigger on target which was saved for a corner. After the corner, Inter conceded a free kick, taken by Drogba who narrowly missed with his characteristic side foot free kick technique. This was a great spell of this tie, with Chelsea dominating the play as they did just prior to the half time break. Inter worked incredibly hard to stifle the Chelsea midfield and attack - a real gutsy display.

Inter's left footed star Pandev had a great run and shot from a top quality Wesley Sneijder pass but carried the ball a bit too far, allowing Zhirkov a chance to get a foot in.

Joe Cole came on in the 61st minute with Ballack substituted to alter the balance of the Chelsea midfield. favouring even more aggressive attacking action. At this point you could see how when Inter did break down the Chelsea possession that they could exploit space in Chelsea's defensive areas as they endeavoured to push on. Inter Milan did push on more in the second half, causing Chelsea problems down the flanks with Mikon and Pandev. Wesley Sneijder started to to boss the midfield play with some great passing and the possession battle started to tip towards the visitors.

Yuri Zhirkov was substituted for Salomon Kalou in the 72nd minute as Carlo started to feel the pressure of this great tie. Kalou had an instant impact, combining with Drogba and Anelka well to no end result but it applied the right level of pressure to give the home team added belief that they could capitalise one of the numerous chances that they were generating.

In the 77th minute Sneijder played a superb first time ball, releasing Mikon who was narrowly offside.

In the 78th minute Sneijder's tried again, this time with his left foot to put Eto'o in on goal. Cameroon international Eto'o drilled it into the bottom corner - Alex played the former Barcelona striker onside to put Inter Milan 3-1 up on aggregate. Inter deserved the goal, working hard in defence but also taking the game to Chelsea with some exciting pass and move football.

In the last ten minutes, Chelsea started to make their play extremely direct, desperate to stay in the Champions LEague.,

In the 85 minute, Mourinho substituted Sneijder for Mariga, making his Champions League debut. Wesley Sneijder for me was easily man of the match, giving a true number 10 midfield maestro play.

Confusingly, Didier Drogba was then sent off for tangling with Thiago Motta in the penalty box. There wasn't a definitive view on Sky Sports but I thought that it looked pretty harsh on Drogba.

Inter played 'keep ball' towards the end, completing a slick, classy away performance knocking out Mourinho's old club making it sting even more for Ancelotti's side.

Materazzi came on for Thiago Motta in the 91st minute, as the special one employed an old technigue of soaking up a few more unwanted moments of footballing action.

Eto'o could have had a second late on, Inter retained possession, frustrating Chelsea and securing
their place in the next Champions League round.

Tottenham 3 Blackburn 1 13th March 2010 Premier League result

13/03/2010 Spurs 3 Blackburn Rovers 1 Barclays Premiership result

Today's lunchtime Premier League match was at White Hart Lane as Big Sam's Blackburn Rovers took on Harry Redknapp's Spurs who are battling fiercely for that fourth position in the league. OK so as a keen Football Blogger I do self indulge content wise - Spurs are my team. However this was a game with lots of goal mouth incident, tough refereeing calls for Howard Webb to make and 4 goals - it could have so easily been more.

Blackburn Rovers, captained by Chris Samba set a defensive stall out but unfortunately lost ex Tottenham Hotspur 'keeper Paul Robinson after the first 15 mins with a calf injury.

Blackburn remained resilient and managed a handful of attacking breaks, namely David Dunn who clashed with Corluka after a great run - this was a tough call for the ref but without my Spurs scarf on, I think that he did get this one correct - I think Dunn fouled Corluka.

On the stroke of half time, Jermaine Defoe poached a goal in typical goal scorer fashion, tapping in from close range as Corluka Had headed the Modric corner goal wards.

Roman Pavlyuchenko scored the other 2, sandwiching a late goal from captain Chris Samba.

"It's a great win for us," said Harry Redknapp on the Tottenham Hotspur website. "You get a feelings about games and driving to the stadium this morning, I just felt it was going to be difficult day for us against Blackburn because they are so strong.

"We watched re-runs of their match against Liverpool and they gave them a lot of problems so to pick up the three points was great for us.

Chelsea 2 Manchester City 4 28th February 2010

Chelsea 2 Man City 4 Premier League result 28/02/2010

Manchester City took 3 points away from Stamford Bridge today in over 17 years, with a riveting 6 goal match taking Man City into fourth position.

It was unfortunate that this exciting game had an element of tension with the well publicised John Terry and Wayne Brudge friendship bust up. In the team meeting prior to the match kick off, Wayne Bridge did no shake John Terry's outstretched hand which then led to the Chelsea fans booing Bridge for the entire match. All typical pantomime stuff really - Wayne Bridge was a perfect professional about the whole occasion and showed that he has match sharpness after his knee injury. England calls, Mr Bridge - we need you!

At the end of the match, Sky Sports congratulated Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy on their goal scoring and away victory. Inevitably they asked about how things had been in the Man City in relation to the Wayne Bridge - John Terry bust up. "You guys (the media) make a lot more of it you know (the fall-out between Terry and Bridge). I know what JT is like and nothing surprises me about it, so I'm not going to comment on that. I think everybody in football knows what the guy is like, but that's off the field. "On it he's an outstanding player. He's a great captain for Chelsea. It's always going to be difficult when you play him and his team."

The last bit of friction was Tevez and John Terry squaring up chest to chest with the referee jumping promptly in to prevent any unsavoury scenes.

The first 40 minutes of this match was dominated by Chelsea, Manchester City had Carlos Tevez back in a lone striker role with a defensive travelling strategy under new boss Roberto Mancini. To be honest, the play was dull so when Frank Lampard took his chance with international class written all over it the neutral football fan benefited almost instantly.

Manchester City managed to equalise with a pivotal moment in the game with Tevez battling on his own against Terry and Carvalho, then managing somehow to scrape a shot past Petr Cech's understudy Henrique Hilario just before half time. Hilario will be criticised for this goal and his performance in general today.

In the second half, Man City had more possession and better quality attacking moves. It was Craig Bellamy that got City's second with a sprint down the left hand flank, dribbling directly at the Chelsea full back and then shooting across Hilario who seemed to get his angles a bit wrong.

Chelsea had Ballack sent off after Carlos Tevez had converted a spot kick where Belleti fouled Gareth Barry from behind clumsily in the penalty box. This period of time killed it for the home team.

Wright-Philips came on towards the end, hit Chelsea on the break to square to Bellamy to make it 1-4. Chelsea lost a second player to a red card late on, finishing the last 5 minutes off with 9 men. Chelsea got a penalty late on which Frank Lampard converted but this was Team Bridge's day, pushing Man City into a Champions League spot in the Barclays Premier League.

As for England, we really need Wayne Bridge - hopefully the emotional hurt that he has heals a little before the World Cup because I want to see this lad play...he's brilliant! John Terry has definitely had a dip in form, looks like he might have lost concentration (understandably) and perhaps a yard of pace. Poor old Capello!

Has Bridge made the right decision to quit England?

World Cup News 25/02/10 Wayne Bridge rules himself out of the World Cup Squad dor 2010

In an announcement made today through his lawyers, Wayne Bridge stated his intention to withdraw from the national squad as his position had become "untenable and potentially divisive". No doubt Bridge has had a difficult few weeks since his ex-fiancee's affair with the former England captain John Terry has become tabloid fodder and it is sad to see a talented player rule himself out of such a prestigious tournament for such reasons.

There is no doubt that Wayne Bridge is a good player, although his international career and his time at Man City have not quite fulfilled the promise of his performances at Chelsea. However although Ashley Cole is a doubt for South Africa with his injured ankle (thankfully his extra-marital activities do not appear to have been with team mates' partners) Capello does still have options at left back, including Everton's Leighton Baines and Villa's Stephen Warnock.

My worries however are that Bridge's actions suggest there have already been damaging repercussions to Terry's behaviour in the England camp. After 44 years without a win, the pressure on Team England is immense and none of the players or serious fans would welcome media speculation about whether Team Bridge were playing well with Team Terry. Barring injury Terry will definitely be on the plane to South Africa, so hopefully the rest of the squad can draw a line under "Terrygate" and focus on bringing back the World Cup. Wayne Bridge deserves our sympathy and now at least he can be confident now that any failure of the England squad to perform will not be laid at his door.

Should John Terry stay as England captain?

For those of you living in a cave, it was revealed this weekend that John Terry has been bonking the ex girflriend of Wayne Bridge, who is also the mother of Wayne's child. Some are saying that this act of betrayal will so undermine respect for John Terry within the England squad, Terry has to surrender his captaincy. Others argue that this is a private matter, which has absolutely no bearing on Terry's professional life. It is certainly a topic that will run and run in the countdown to South Africa.

My view is that although Wayne Bridge can be none too pleased at the revelations, if as reported his relationshop with his ex was well and truly over before her affair with Terry kicked off, Terry's acts, although a betrayal of his wife (for which she deservedly should red card him if she sees fit) but not a betrayal of his team mate. Bridge's concerns for his son are understandable, but Terry did do his best to gag the media. I do not want to see England lose a captain because of Wayne Bridge's hurt pride. If every footballer who had an affair was demoted, the conference would be full of world class talent.