Owen off to Barcodeland!

The more I look at Real Madrid, the more convinced I am that there could be no other club as foolish as they are. If they had a good sense of judgment, they wouldn't let allow Owen, who scored 16 goals for them last season, most of them coming off the bench, leave. But then they made a good profit out of Barcodeland Newcastle's misery of not having a good striker.

Real is club driven by politics and there is no rational motive behind any actions. Raul would be guaranteed a start even if he is in the worst of form just beacuse he's considered to be a legend and it so happens he's the captain too. But ever since he was made the captain, he struggled to find form and it would be best for Spain for leave him on the bench during the World Cup qualifiers if he's still short of form.

Owen must be a relieved man. Though he didn't get his wish of moving to Liverpool fulfilled, a place in the starting eleven is guaranteed, which is very important considering it's the year before the World Cup. England coach Erikson must also be relieved to see his main striker get to play adequate football.

Owen is still young at 25 and it is incredible to think that he's yet to reach his peak. He's just 17 short of Bobby Charlton's all time record of 49 goals for England. I guess he'll be within a touching distance of the record by the end of next year's World Cup.

As I understand, the following are the criteria for a player to play at Real Madrid...
understand that good form is no guarantee for a place in the starting XI

cant play football that well but then popular enough to sell many t-shirts in Asia and America

no hesitation to warm the bench

Perhaps, Real sold Owen because they weren't selling enough of his jerseys!

José José!

Have you ever hated a person so much that ultimately you feel some sort of admiration towards a person? I hated Mourinho at first for his outspoken nature, stubborness and arrogance. But then eventually, I have started to admire him because of his intelligence and candidness. And of course, he looks a bit like my uncle in appearance.

Mourinho has one of the toughest jobs around in football. He has to win trophies - major ones, and that too in a consistent manner. He has Roman Abromovich breathing down his neck and is under the scrutiny of the press and the media more than any other manager.

Though he tries to be honest, more often than not, he shoots off his mouth and often gets into trouble for that, but I do like some of the comments he makes. Take this one for example where he defends his squad rotation policy by stating -

"If you have at home one Bentley and one Aston Martin, if you go all everyday in the Bentley and leave the Aston Martin in the garage you are a bit stupid"

His criticism of Tottenham's ultra-defensive approach after a 0-0 draw between the two clubs -

"They brought the bus and they left the bus in front of the goal"

He did a tremendous job at his previous club Porto where he won the league, Cup and against all odds, the Champions League. He arrived in Engalnd with a reputation to keep up and he did well in his first season by bringing the league title to Chelsea after a gap of 50 years.

The English media often waits for the oportunity to bring down a person and Mourinho too wasn't helping much with his arrogant attitude towards the F.A., referees and other managers. What helped Chelsea last season was Mourinho fighting to protect his players. The players never complained about anything and even if a bad decision went against them, Mourinho would be there to protest against that. I feel this helped that team perform better without losing concentration over petty issues which they knew the manager would take care.

Mourinho is still very young and has achieved a lot in his managerial career and has said that his ambition is to coach the Portugal national team in the near future, which I hope he does 'cos Portugal is one of the national teams that I like and I remember being very crestfallen when they lost to Greece in the Euro finals last year.

But I do hate him sometimes when he makes comments that have actually destroyed the referee's reputation and in the case of Anders Frisk, the referee quit officiating when Mourinho accused him of talking to Barca coach Rijkaard during the half-time break of last season's Champions League encounter between the two clubs.

Morinho does have tricky situation at Chelsea where he has to keep all the players in good humour by letting them play regularly. With Chelsea's expensive players unwilling to warm the bench and criticising Mourinho's rotation policy in public, the gaffer has a tough year ahead of him.

I will continue to admire him but I doubt if I can ever stop trying to hate him. For all his efforts in winning the league title and even if he is successful in retaining it this season, the media and the public will always try to undermine his achievements by stating money does buy success, after all!

'Sou' in 'mess'!

It looks like there will be no end to Newcastle United's manager Graeme Souness' woes this summer. After releasing Bellamy and Kluivert, he tried in vain to bring in new strikers to the club. Anelka, Luque, Owen, Johnson, Crouch were among the many United tried to lure to St.James' Park but met with no success.

The new EPL season could not have started on a worse note for Newcastle. Away losses to Arsenal and Bolton and a home draw with West Ham leave them languishing at the bottom half of the table with just a solitary point in 3 games. And the fact is that they don't even have Europe to look forward to this season.

Souness took over Newcastle from Sir Bobby Robson after leaving Blackburn and from then on he would have wished he had stayed at Blackburn itself. He had to contend with constant squabbles within the team and just when everyone thought Newcastle were starting to do well, they bowed out of the FA Cup losing to ManUtd at the semis and the on-field fight between Bowyer and Dyer was the ultimate humiliation for the club.

He did manage to bring in midfield duo Scott Parker and Emre to the club during the summer but since then, there has been no success for the club either on the pitch or in the transfer window. The latest buzz is that Newcastle has agreed a fee for Owen with Real Madrid but the chance of Owen going to Newcastle seems low with Owen wanting just a loan move but Newcastle are adamant on a transfer.

I bet Souness would be the first manager to get fired this season and the club better do that fast and arrest the decline of the club or else face a big humiliation again this year by finishing at the bottom half of the table. Also, the chance that they would be in a relegation battle doesn't seem too farfetched either!

All over the Park!

Sir Alex Ferguson has made some big blunders in the transfer window, bringing in players like Djemba-Djemba, Keberson. Expensive buys like Veron and Forlan flattered to deceive and struggled in the Premiership but are doing well in other leagues. So, it was inevident that the signing of Korean Ji-Sung Park was treated with skepticism by the ManUtd loyals.

Park, who can play either as a winger or in the midfield played a crucial role in PSV Eidhoven's double last year when they won the League title and the Cup and nearly made it to the Champions League Finals.

Park has developed into a wonderful player, full of energy and enthusiasm on the pitch (I can't quite hear that enough from the ManUtd players these days).I have been watching him closely in the first 2 Premiership games this season and he has played a huge role in ManUtd's successful start to this season's campaign.

Park was literally all over the park and his surge forward at great speed has been a nightmare for defenders. He missed a great chance to score on debut against Everton when he mis-kicked the ball from Neville's cross. In the match against Villa, only a great fingertip save from Sorensen stopped Park from opening his account for ManUtd.

He could be a very useful player this season when ManUtd try to attack from the middle of the pitch but again as anyone, he does have some shortcomings. He does not work along the flanks and prefers to come through the centre of midfield. He is not a great crosser of the ball and sometimes gives away possession cheaply. But then, I have been watching him just a couple of matches.

It will still take a few more games for him to completely win over the ManUtd loyals and I hope he has the same impact on ManUtd as he had in his former club and completely put to rest the accusations that he was bought just to sell a few more t-shirts in Asia.

Million Pound Baby!

When some football clubs are struggling to come up with money to buy a decent player, there are others like Chelsea who are on the constant lookout for any good player who much ever the price tag may be. Chelsea touched a new high yesterday in the game against Arsenal when Mourinho made sustitutions worth 70-Milion Pounds.

Drogba (24 million pounds) came in for Crespo at half-time and soon Essien (26 million) and SWPhillips (20 million) came in for Gudjohnsen and Robben. In stark contrast were the substitutions of Aresenal - 2 million pound Van Persie and Flamini for Ljunberg (injury) and Fabregas respectively.

The arrival of Essien and SWP did not have too much impact on the game because Chelsea's goal was from a lucky shin touch from Drogba off a Terry (or was it Lampard?) free-kick. But it was fun to watch the tussle between compatriots Ashley Cole and SWP along the wing.

Arsenal did put up a good fight but Chelsea's flaws upfront were more than covered up by its excellent defending. Chelsea has been struggling to find the net in the first 2 games and though Mourinho would be pleased by the 3 points, he would be a bit skeptical about Chelsea's attacking front.

Meanwhile ManUtd put up a good display against Aston Villa and would be pleased with their performance though not with the scoreline of 1-0. Rafa Benitez would be a worried man after Liverpool won 1-0 at home against lowly Sunderland, courtesy of a free-kick by Alonso. Defoe once again stars for Tottenham as they defeated Boro 2-0.

Barcelona and Inter won their respective Supercups, with Barca winning 4-2 on aggregate (but lost 2-1 at home) and Veron scoring the winner for Inter in a 96th minute extra-time strike.
Lots of midweek EPL matches to look forward to including the Champions League 2nd Leg fixtures!

Football Legends - Johan Cruyff

Ever heard the phrase "total football"?

Put simply, it means all 10 outfield players in a team are comfortable in any position. So if a defender wants to go on a mazy run towards goal, a midfielder will fill in for him at the back - and stay there.

It may sound crazy, but it was a style of play that made Holland the greatest side of the 1970s. The brains behind it all was the Dutch captain and Ajax star player - Johan Cruyff.

With two fabulous feet and mesmeric ball skills, Cruyff was at the heart of everything Holland did - literally. All 15 of their goals in the 1974 World Cup either started or ended with the captain.

Cruyff was mainly an attacking midfielder, but he popped up all over the pitch, conducting some of the most stunning football ever seen. The Dutch passed the ball so well that opponents sometimes spent minutes without getting a touch!

Cruyff's finest moment was in a group match against Sweden. With a defender niggling him on the touchline, Cruyff's left foot flicked the ball back behind his own right leg. The hapless full-back tackled at thin air and ran off in the wrong direction - looking very confused! The "Cruyff turn" was born. As far as we know, he's the only player to have a trick named after him!

Not for the first time, the hosts West Germany spoiled the party - by narrowly beating the Dutch in the final. But Cruyff's place in history was assured - as the game's first true total footballer.

Verdict: A pioneer off the pitch and a magician on it. The best player never to win a World Cup.

Courtesy: BBC

Wily José!

I was rather surprised by the Chelsea line-up last week against Wigan and the Charity Community Shield match earlier against Arsenal. Gallas, who was second choice behind Carvalho the entire last season suddenly replaced Carvalho in the lineup and now Carvalho is ranting about Mourinho keeping him on the bench.

It was then I realized Mourinho's intentions. Towards the end of last season Gallas was threatening to leave Chelsea if they did not play him in his preferred central defending position. Clubs like Barcelona and Liverpool were waiting to capture the defender and Mourinho did not want to lose him. Of course, Mourinho prefers only quality players on the bench too.

José Mourinho is a shrewd manager. By keeping Gallas in the starting eleven, he has put an end to all talk about Gallas leaving for another club at least for the moment. With not even two weeks left for the summer transfer window to close, Mourinho will successfully fend off suitors for Gallas and I bet once that happens, Gallas will get back to warming his ass on the bench.

But this time around, with so many top players in his squad he will find it hard to please everyone. Especially with the World Cup coming next year, the players would want to play almost every game and being on the bench for a long period would definitely harm their international career. Perhaps, it's time players like Joe Cole, Gallas, Huth, and Johnson moved on to a different club.

End of the Essien Saga!

The Essien saga which has been dragging on ever since the transfer window opened, has finally come to an end with Lyon accepting Chelsea's 27 million pound offer.

Essien is now a happy man and moves on to the club he had always wanted play for, ever since he trained at Old Trafford many years back but was attracted to Chelsea's rich tradition(??) and colourful history. Surely he must be kidding!

After Roman Abromovic spent more than 200 million dollars to bring in players, Chelsea played amazing football last season. Money speaks after all. Chelsea fans may point out that clubs like ManUtd and Real Madrid too spend large amounts of money on players. Yes, they do. But I have noticed that these clubs usually make one expensive buy every summer and that is just peanuts compared to what Chelsea have been spending for the past 3 years.

Drogba for 24 million pounds, Ferreira for more than 10 and Del Horno for eight?? I will have to painfully agree with Arsenal manager Wenger on this issue. The value of a player increases multiple times if Chelsea is interested in him. Essien and SWPhillips are the most recent examples.

SWP should not have gone for more than 15 million pounds. But at least, he is a proven player in the Premiership unlike Essien who is not. Essien played really well it seems in the French League and only when ManUtd became interested in him did other teams like Chelsea and Arsenal too noticed him. But is it possible for Essien to adapt to the Premiership? I remember he did not play too well in the Champions League quarter finals last season when they lost against PSV Eidhoven.

Essien is neither much of a defending midfielder like Makelele nor an attacking player like Lampard but I hear he is an excellent box-to-box player. At 22, he is young and energetic and will have a lot to offer to the Chelsea team but I believe I will see him on the bench more than often. Let's see if he is or isn't just an expensive Djemba-Djemba!

EPL - The Season Openers!

The new EPL season has started and the top teams will not be too pleased about the performance, especially the reigning champions Chelsea. Mourinho was fuming at the way Chelsea won with just 30 seconds to go in the injury time, from a superb left-footed strike from substitute Crespo.

Wigan Athletic played its first premiership match against Chelsea and must have been proud at the way it fought Chelsea. They easily had the better chances, played much better football and defied all the 0-5 thrashing the football pundits had predicted and nearly won the game in injury time, the miss by Johansson proving to be too costly for them.

ManUtd had a tough game away at Everton. Ronaldo was left out due to an injury and Park made his debut in the left wing and played well but will be ruing his bad miss from a long cross from Neville. Ruud was once again among the goals and a defender's error presented Rooney with his first goal against his old club. ManUtd will be pleased with the result but not much with their performance. Not much creativity in the midfield and sorely missed Ronaldo in the right wing. Roy Keane, Scholes and Fletcher will have to much better if ManUtd have to beat the other top teams.

Arsenal were lucky to score the penalty in the 80th minute against Newcastle Utd who were playing with 10 men after Jenas got an undeserving send-off (it has been revoked to a yellow card after the refree admitted his error seeing the replays). Arsenal looks a pale shadow of the team that went unbeaten in the league two seasons back.

Liverpool flattered to deceive and could only manage a goalless draw away at Boro, Gerrard being the main culprit losing out on many goalscoring chances. Liverpool has to play with 2 strikers upfront if they have to create more goalscoring chances.

I feel Tottenham is the team to watch out for this season. They have a very good team with the best striking options, a good midfield which has been strengthened with the arrival of one of Europe's finest midfielders Edgar Davids.

Their defence too looks good with skipper and English defender Ledley King. Though I did not see its match against Portsmouth ( it was not telecast on ESPN), I saw the goals scored and Defoe is one of the upcoming strikers in England. He is going to start England's friendly tonight with Denmark and the next World Cup qualifier against Wales in place of Owen, who would be silently praying Defoe doesn't score goals and take his place in the England team.

Best goal: Crespo against Wigan

Best save: Van der Saar reflex blocking save Cahill's powerful header

Best match: Newcomers West Ham thrashing ex-champions Blackburn 3-1

Worst match: 0-0 draw played out by Birmingham-Fulham

Worst play: Dickov's red card for a two-footed rash challenge on a West Ham player

Worst Mistake: The referee's red card to Newcastle's Jenas

Fatal Error: Yobo gifting ManUtd's second goal and Rooney's first against his former club

Men Who Matter!

As the Premiership starts tomorrow, here are the men who I think will matter the most this season...

Jose Mourinho - Because he can get any player he wants and his club spends any amount of money to get the player he wants.

Thierry Henry - consistently scores 20 plus goals a season and is now the captain after Viera left for Juventus.

Wayne Rooney - expected to contribute more than 20 goals this season and form an effective strike partnership with Ruud.

Steven Gerrard - The Liverpool captain has already scored 7 goals in 4 qualifying matches. The coach expects him to lead the title assault in EPL.

John Terry - He was by far the best defender last season and scored some crucial goals too in Europe. Being the captain, he leads by example.

Rafa Benitez - The shrewd Spanish coach has made some good signings for Liverpool and his looking to take his squad to Premiership glory.

Football - A Man's Game?

Whatever happened to all the MEN in football? A goal causes team-mates to pin down the scorer to the ground and kiss him all over! Moreover, the scorer seems to relish such an act and responds with hugs!

I watched the Community Shield match between League Champions Chelsea and FA Cup 'Heroes' Arsenal. Drogba opened the scoring for the Blues when he chested down a long ball from Horny, sorry, Horno, shrugged off the challenge from Arse defender Sanderos, and hit the ball hard past the fissure between the goalpost and the outstretched hands of the advancing goalkeeper Lehmann.

The goal resulted in wild celebrations near the goal-line, Chelsea players running their hands all over Drogba, who seemed to have enjoyed it all. Well, why wouldn't he when his girlfriend is in Ivory Coast waiting eagerly for the next meal to arrive by air.

In the second half, the Arse defenders seemed to struggle against Drogba's pace and as the hole in the defence seemed to expand a lot more, and the the open goal beckoning him, Drogba tugged and wrenched the Arse defenders and took them down with him but quick to clamber back to his feet, hit the ball hard enough as it plunged into the empty net.

A similar celebration ensued and this time even the bench players joined the fun and I am sure I noticed some of the voyeuristic spectators in the front row seats casting lustful looks at the feting players.

Arsenal were not to be left behind and players quickly closed around youngster Fabregas as he scored a goal to cut the deficit. Henry tried to motivate other players by hugging and kissing Fabregas. Arsenal never looked like scoring after that, maybe out of fear of Henry's strong eagerness to laud the goal scorer.

Chelsea never let Arsenal to break down their defense even as both the teams made a string of substitutions in their quest to try out something different and finally the game ended 2-1 in favour of the Blues.

The worst part was yet to come as players from both teams went around hugging each other. Terry went around hugging his team-mates and he reserved some special treatment for Crespo, kissing him on the cheek and giving him a tight embrace. I fear that would drive Crespo out of England more than anything else.

After the presentation, the champagne was flowing and the Chelsea players danced around completely drenched and did not mind at all getting wet. And finally about Henry and Ashley Cole. Fyi, Ashley is not a girl but a leftback in Arsenal's team who would have rather preferred to be in Chelsea licking Roman's ass!

It was most disturbing to see one hand of Henry probing his shorts and his other wrapped around Ashley Cole. Unmindful of the loss, Henry was in a buoyant mood but the same could not be said of Cole who seemed to be afraid his girlfriend might appear anytime and clobber him.

Aussies 'Bothum'ped!

This year's Ashes is gonna be a real close one. England managed to beat the Aussies by 2 runs after being in a comfortable position before the last day and almost managed to make a fool of themselves by nearly allowing the tail-enders to snatch an improbable victory. But it is games like these which still retains my dwindling interest in cricket.

The second test will be considered one of the best ever test matches. With McGrath ruled out due to injury, England played really well in their first innings and then managed to bowl out the Aussies and lead by more than 100 runs. But then, the English batsmen struggled to score runs and it was left to Flintoff to demolish the Aussie attack with sixers in the company of tail-enders.

Set with a target of 282, Australia did not start well and half their batsmen were out even before the score reached 100. Harmison produced a great slower ball to bowl Clarke out on the last ball of the third day and left the Aussies stuttering at 8 wickets down with a 107 runs left to win.

Boycott's mother should have been enough to bowl out the tail and ensure an easy English victory but England nearly managed to pull off an upset defeat on themselves. The bowlers would have to blamed for not sticking to an offside line and hoping for a nick. But they tried to bowl to the body of the batsmen resulting in lots of runs.

With 60 runs left to win, England were given a lifeline when Warne, not knowing where the stumps were hit against them on the backfoot. Apparently, he forgets lots of other things too...like the fact that he is married.

But the final wicket produced the Aussies' best partnership of the innings, the Aussies once again proving their resolute nature and never-say-die spirit. Brett Lee continued to play on even after getting a painful blow on his hand from a fierce Flintoff ball.

Finally, with just 3 runs to wins, Kasprowicz nicked one from Harmison to the keeper who produced a good catch to save England the blushes. The five test series now stands levelled at 1-1.

As always, the English media has started hailing Flintoff as the 'new Botham' for his man-of-the-match performance. The next three tests should produce more memorable moments and only time will tell if Flintoff can do a 'Botham' and win back the Ashes for England!

Countdown To The New Season 7: Team - Real Madrid

The 9-times Champions of Europe have been going through a barren spell for the past 2 years with no trophies and their ageing galacticos don't help either. The only truly galactico last season was their goalkeeper Iker Casillas who was outstanding and Real must thank him for covering up their defensive frailties.

Real President Fiorentino Perez started the "galactico" trend by bringing in superstars like Zidane, Figo and followed it up with Ronaldo and Bechkam. Initially it did work with Zidane's magic at the Champions LEague finals against Leverkusen setting up their 9th European victory and they followed it up with a strong performance in their league too (I don't remember if they won).

In the 2002-03 season, Real Madrid managed to scrape their way to the league crown after their challenger Real Sociedad lost on the final day after leading for almost the entire season. But it was heartbreak for them in Europe as they lost to Juventus in the semifinals. Since then, they never went past the quarterfinals.

And, in the last 2 years, they have failed to win a trophy and their galactico policy is being blamed for their poor performance. I feel this policy is ridiculous and probably the cause of their lacklustre performances in recent times. A team of superstars will never workout. Ego clashes and lack of team spirit never helps a team and having seen Real play last season, I doubt it if they can succeed in Europe this season. They did play well towards the end of the season only because Zidane was injured and unfit to play.

Zidane might have won the World Player of the Year Award thrice but his magic on the ball is now on the wane. I have never seen him play more badly than he played against Barcelona in their home leg last season. He never could keep possession of the ball and his playmaking skills were rather subdued. As Geoffrey Boycott would say - "Even my grandmom would have done better". Luckily for Real, Barca's defensive nightmare that day resulted in a 4-2 win.

This season, Real has bought 2 Brazilian strikers - Robinho and Baptista, though the latter will play in midfield, I suppose. It was not proper on Real's part to keep Owen warming the bench when he was the one consistently providing the goals. A late surge of goals from Ronaldo towards the end of the season was too late to ensure the crown and Real finished 2nd behind Barcelona.

Owen is sure to follow in the footsteps of Figo and will leave Real with the arrival of more strikers. Now that, Real has sold misfit defender Samuel to Inter, will be looking to buy a defender and I am sure their eyes are on Rio Ferdinand who is yet to extend his contract with Man Utd.

Raul, the club captain has been disappointing the last 2 seasons and one of the main reasons for Real's failure. And letting go of Samuel Eto'o to rivals Barcelona was one of the most terrible mistakes and it came back to haunt them when Eto'o scored against Real and finished 2nd in the goalscoring charts behind Villareal's Diego Forlan.

Real would do well if they release Roberto Carlos, Zidane and Raul and form a team and not just a squad of superstars. They can take a cue from Chelsea and sign promising youngsters and develop them, instead of going for the big names. They have signed on two Latin American youngsters but I doubt it if they would get first team football when Zidane, Gravesen and Beckham are around.

I guess their team would be like this...

Casillas

Salgado Helguera Pavon Carlos

Beckham Gravesen Baptista Zidane

Robinho Ronaldo

Countdown To The New Season 6: Team - Liverpool

The Reds from the Meyerside did surprise everyone when they managed to beat Europe's elite teams and Chelsea on their way to European glory for the fifth time (or is it fourth?). They did play extremely well and their managed to overcome their inadequacies in their own league.

A team that lost to relegated Crystal Palace in EPL beating ex-champions Juventus and AC Milan in Europe showed that the manager Rafa Benitez knows the European teams well having coached Valencia to UEFA Cup glory the previous season, but remained clueless about the EPL teams. He has made a lot of signings this summer, about 6, and is expected to sign 2 more - a right winger and a central defender. The new goalkeeper Reina is considered to be one among the very best.

The defence does look vulnerable at times with Hyppia lacking pace and Rafa would do well to sign a good partner for the the exceptional Carragher, who was by far the Kop's player of the season. The midfield looks solid with a few new players to the squad - Zenden, Sissoko, Gonzales are expected to do well this season and as always, a lot of burden is on the captain Steven Gerrard, who looks to overcome his nightmare period when he looked set to move to Chelsea but finally decided to stay, by scoring 7 goals in 4 Champion's League qualifiers.

Rafa has added a new dimension to his attack by signing Crouch from Southampton. Cisse has recovered from his injury and is scoring goals. Morientes has been a bit disappointing ever since he came to Liverpool from Real Madrid. He is a superb player and is menacing in attack and very good in the air and I feel he will regain his form once he starts more games. It was foolhardy on Real's part not to have played him when he had been voted best striker by UEFA the season before when he took Monaco to the finals of the Champions League.

Liverpool's chances of repeating their European heroics is very bleak just because many top European teams will try to make for last season's failure. I expect Liverpool to do well in EPL this season and perhaps they could be in the top three but I can't see them winning it. Rafa has a very good ans zealous squad at his disposal and has a tough job in his hands to convert it into a champion team.

The expected line-up...

Reina

Finnan Carragher Hyppia Riise

Garcia Alonso Gerrard Zenden

Morientes Cisse

Countdown To The New Season 5: Team - Arsenal

Arsenal are known to play a free flowing kind of football and very different from the way ManUtd or Chelsea attach from the flanks. Though this looks very attractive and helped them to go on a 49-match unbeaten run 2 seasons back, nevertheless, it has not been able to make them succeed in Europe.

The loss of captain Patrick Viera to Juventus has shocked the team. An inspirational figure who played at Highbury for about 9 years, his commanding presence would be sorely missed, but in a way I feel it is good for Arsenal for he had become less effective for the past 2 seasons. Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger is looking to replace Viera by using the young Fabregas and Flamini in tandem and he may just make one more signing for the midfield.

The fact that Ljunberg has signed a new contract would be a consolation and Pires too should sign one in a few weeks. Alexander Hleb, a new signing is set to be Edu's successor in the midfield and Gilberto is another good player who would want to challenge for a spot in the midfield.

The defense looks good and it is amazing to see young Sanderos keeping out experienced campaigner Campbell in the central defence partnering Toure. Arsenal should have sold left-back Ashley Cole before he made a U-turn and decided to stay with the club, especially when they have a good backup in Clichy. He could have easily gone for over 15 million pounds and there is always a club like Real Madrid, if not Chelsea, to pay that much money.

There are not so many options for Wenger on the attacking front. Henry consistently scores 20 plus goals a season and if he is injured, the burden would be very heavy on Reyes to provide the goals. Bergkamp has still not been given a contract extension but I guess he would be given that in a few weeks time. And I am bemused that Wenger has kept faith in blundering goalkeeper Lehmann.

The formation should be something like this.

Lehmann

Lauren Toure Sanderos Cole

Ljunberg Gilberto Hleb Pires

Henry Reyes

As for their chances this season, they will definitely not win the league and I feel there is a possibility that they finish outside the top four in EPL and they can forget about conquering Europe!

Dada, Race and Records!

India lost its first match under new coach Greg Chappell in the triangular cricket series in Sri Lanka against the home team. But the real bad news was Saurav's ban has been reduced and he could play the games following the match against the West Indies, which by the way, India managed to win.

It was saddening to watch a weakened West Indies team without many of the main players including Lara, Sarwan, Gayle who stayed away due to personal sponsorship issue. India did struggle, as always, but Captain Dravid once again came to the rescue and saved the blushes for India. With Saurav back in the team for the next match, I am sure India will get back to what it is best at doing - losing!

It was another Indian though who stole the headlines from Dravid. Yes! Narain Karthikeyan finished a respectable 12th ahead of his team-mate and a Minardi car. Kimi Raikkonen won the race, with his bad luck not only coming to an end but was transferred to Alonso who finished outside the points scoring positions. I could actually see a faint smile from Kimi when he stepped onto the podium! The Schumacher brothers finished 2nd and 3rd, the elder one just managing to finish ahead of the younger one. Good to see Ferrari on the podium again.

The latest buzz is that Barichello would move to Bar-Honda next season with Jenson Button moving to BMW-Williams. Sauber's Felippe Massa is a strong candidate to fill the vacant position at Ferrari. That means if Narain performs well in the remaining races and impresses Peter Sauber, he may just get a chance to race with Sauber! The Sauber team has been the launching pad for many talented racers who then moved on to bigger teams, Kimi being one among them.

One more thing that's a common happening is the tumbling of world records in many sports. Really, breaking world records is getting as common as Mourinho blasting the FA or Ganguly flopping in cricket matches.

Russia's Isinbayeva broke her own world record in women's pole vault for the 16th and 17th time and is fast closing in on pole vault legend Sergei Bubka's record of 30+ world record breaks. Talk about breaking a world record's record!

In the world swimming championships at the US, almost all world records were broken in different categories. Piersol, Hackett are among the record breakers whom I know of. Another Olympic champion Michael Phelps, as always, bagged a bag of medals, mostly gold i guess.

Well, as an Indian it hurts a lot to see just a lone Indian grab a medal at the Olympics when small countries like Ethiopia gets a few. Hmmm...some things never quite change - be it, India struggling to get an Olympic medal or Dada struggling to make runs!