Premier League Predictions

We only have the eight Premier League fixtures this weekend as a result of the League Cup final between Manchester City and Sunderland, so the Manchester derby has been postponed until later in the month, as has Sunderland vs. West Brom.

Everton vs. West Ham

Well didn’t The Toffees get unlucky at Stamford Bridge last week? As a fan there is nothing worse than conceding a game in the last minute, so for the players it must be shattering. They can take heart with being back at home though, despite the fact they are coming up against a very stubborn West Ham.

The Hammers’ upturn in form continued last week as they came back from a goal down to beat Southampton 3-1, and a win at Goodison Park would make it a staggering five wins in a row. I don’t need to go into the whole ‘see what happens when you back the manager’ thing again do I?

Everton will be without Phil Jagielka, but will have Romelu Lukaku back, while West Ham have Andy Carroll available again after his controversial suspension, so it could be a more physical match than Roberto Martinez would hope to play, and West Ham could just nick it…

Prediction: Everton 1-2 West Ham.

Fulham vs. Chelsea

I’ve found out that my colloquial way of calling this the ‘King’s Road’ derby is incorrect, although I imagine people always got the gist of what I meant…

It has always been Chelsea who had a reputation for hiring and firing, but perhaps it is an area thing with Fulham changing manager twice, whereas Chelsea have made it past October without Roman Abramovich getting the axe out; rightly so given that The Blues, The Ponies, or whatever are top of the table.

A complete contrast to Fulham then who are rock bottom.

David Moyes and England have again kept Chelsea out of the press, despite their ‘tactics’ in the Champions League match with Galatasaray, when Terry picked the ball up on the pitch resulting in a quick Galatasaray throw in that resulted in a goal being disallowed. Rightly so to be honest.

But now back to business for Jose, and what should be three points for his side, which could open them up a gap at the top, temporarily at least, with City not playing and Arsenal facing a testing trip to Stoke (where Chelsea lost 3-2).

Prediction: Fulham 0-3 Chelsea.

Hull vs. Newcastle

Hull have very much been a surprise package this season, and are just 10 points off the magical 40-point mark so all credit to Steve Bruce, which has been Alan Pardew’s angle.

Newcastle looked to be on course for a good season, but then came the bad form and the sale of Yohan Cabaye, and the injury to Loic Remy, and Mike Ashley deciding that £250million would tempt him to sell the club. Basically they find themselves in a bit of turmoil.

Like Chelsea, they won last weekend at the last minute against Aston Villa through Remy, but that could only be temporary celebration as Hull will be a tougher opponent.

Having reached 40 points, The Magpies aren’t going down, but they need to secure their position in the upper reaches of the club before the summer so they can sign the likes of Remy permanently and fill the void left by Cabaye.

Prediction: Hull 3-0 Newcastle.

Stoke vs. Arsenal

The weekend Aaron Ramsey could return from his latest injury could be at the place he suffered that horrific leg break a few years ago. I remember that match, and the hushed tone mutterings after the Arsenal fans had finished booing Shawcross off the pitch. It wasn’t pleasant.

But since before that, there has always been a rivalry between the clubs after Wenger’s comments about Stoke being a rugby team, hence our songs against The Gunners has always been more akin to Twickenham than Wembley with Jerusalem and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot being belted out in place of Delilah..

Quite surprisingly and against the odds Stoke pushed Arsenal at The Emirates earlier in the season, and ironically it was them who scored from three set pieces, while The Potters scored from open play. 3-1 was a very unjust result given the performance, but at The Brit will be a different story…

Prediction: Stoke 2-1 Arsenal.

Southampton vs. Liverpool

Liverpool, for all their attacking prowess, are worrying defensively and I agree that it is their defence that will keep them from winning the title. For Swansea to score 3 at Anfield.. Need I continue?

Southampton will hope to take advantage of that defensive frailty, and do the double over The Reds following their 1-0 win at Anfield in September. It would cap off a good week for the club, during which they have also had four players called up to the England side; Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Jay Rodriguez and a first call for Luke Shaw, who was pictured in tears of joy. Well deserved too…

This match could be very open and it’s possible there could be a few goals, but I think Saints will pick themselves up after a slight slump recently.

Prediction: Southampton 3-2 Liverpool.

Aston Villa vs. Norwich

If there’s ever a match that can be labelled ‘dull’, I think it’s likely to be this one.. Both can’t seem to score, don’t play particularly attractive football, and are in the weird position of ‘not going down, but not going up either’.

The focus of the match will be Paul Lambert; what abuse is he likely to get from the travelling Canaries support for leaving them nearly two years ago.

Norwich picked up a surprise win against Tottenham last week, and will be hoping that is their kick-start for the rest of the season, while Villa’s last minute loss at Newcastle was more gloom for Lambert.

The teams are locked on points with Villa ahead on goal difference, that is exactly how I expect it to remain…

Prediction: Aston Villa 0-0 Norwich

Swansea vs. Crystal Palace

The Swans bowed out of the Europa League on Thursday in Napoli, so Gary Monk can now concentrate on keeping them up, and that needs to start on Sunday by continuing the threatening, flowing football they played against Liverpool against Palace.

The Eagles lost to United last weekend, and I’m not sure they are going to get anything from Swansea because The Swans have done alright in their games against lower league opposition after Europa League nights.

Pulis has done a good job, but Palace, like Stoke, aren’t particularly impressive on the road in true Pulis style…

Predictions: Swansea 2-0 Crystal Palace.

Tottenham vs. Cardiff City

Both teams got embarrassed last weekend, Spurs at Norwich and Cardiff at home against Hull, so certainly from the home side we can expect a response; we saw it on Thursday night against Dnipro…

I don’t know what to make of Cardiff. They did well for a while after Solskjaer took over, but the honeymoon period is over and he is now struggling to get a performance out of his team, which is worrying for them with time running out.

I’m intrigued that Michael Dawson and Danny Rose haven’t been called up for England, perhaps Rose more than Dawson although we have plenty of options at left back.. Dawson, at 30, is probably out of Roy Hodgson’s future plans, hence it is Cardiff’s Caulker and Smalling who are being considered.

This will be a first return to White Hart Lane for Caulker since his summer move, but if Cardiff are relegated I can’t see him staying in the Welsh capital, he is too good for The Championship.

Prediction: Tottenham 2-0 Cardiff.

League Cup final: Manchester City vs. Sunderland

Sunderland have done extremely well to reach the final, and have seen a massive turnaround since Gus Poyet took over from Di Canio. It hasn’t got any easier for them in the Cup either with their run including scalps over Chelsea and Manchester United already. They will hope to add City to that list.

Stoke vs. Manchester City, FA Cup Final 2011
Can City be victorious at Wembley again?

The Citizens capitulated in their last Wembley appearance to a late Ben Watson goal, and conceded the FA Cup to Wigan, leading us to the repeated story of Dave Whelan’s personal FA Cup heart break..

This season though they are still strictly speaking in line for a quadruple, but I can’t see them overturning Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the Champions League. That leaves the domestic triple in hand though, and a win on Sunday could give them the confidence to go on and do that.

Sunderland had their own capitulation at Arsenal last weekend, but will be up for the fight on Sunday. Ultimately thought I think City will have too much for them.

Prediction: Manchester City 3-1 Sunderland.

England 30-man Squad versus Denmark announced

I didn’t realise the squad was announced so late today, I thought it was a morning announcement, but hey ho, they kept us waiting; built up the suspense, and…….

-all respect at this point that it was correctly announced following Sir Tom Finney's funeral-

4 goalkeepers? At least we’ll know two of the bench warmers in Brazil, who won’t even be needed for that because it will be so hot…

Just two (and a half) centre backs, which I guess is fair enough; Cahill and Jagielka are the partnership unless one - or both - gets injured, so this is just a trial for the back up.

Goodness know why out of 12 midfielders he needs seven central midfielders, and why he’s called Jermain Defoe over from Toronto for a game he probably won’t feature in I don’t know…

PHOTO: Taken from the 2011 FA Cup final, by myself

It’s easy to criticise Hodgson’s squad decisions, and in my honest opinion I think there is no point in playing just the one friendly, so there isn’t much point in thinking too much about it, but if 22 of Hodgson’s 23 players in mind are in there it will be a nervous day when the actually squads are announced.

This will probably seem like an attack on Manchester United, but I can’t see what Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverley and Michael Carrick are doing there. They might be good at times, but Cleverley and Smalling this season have been not far off woeful, whereas Carrick I don’t think will feature and is along for the ride.

The basis for this game has got to be for Hodgson to see who is up to the task of pulling an England shirt on and performing; step forward Jordan Henderson, Steven Caulker, Andros Townsend, Adam Lallana, Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge and Jay Rodriguez.

All have had outstanding seasons thus far, or performances for England over the last several months, and this is the decider to see who can earn themselves a place on the plane:

Steven Caulker - England are short of centre-backs, apparently, but Caulker has impressed and show maturity since jointing Cardiff and it is good to see him playing regularly. I can’t see him staying with Cardiff if they get relegated; he is Premier League quality and perhaps a future England regular alongside Phil Jones at centre back.

Jordan Henderson - People wrote him off when he first joined Liverpool, but Brendan Rodgers has shown his faith in the midfielder and he has flourished this season. Liverpool’s formation draws comparisons with England, so perhaps he will slot nicely in around his teammates Gerrard, Sturridge, and Sterling.

Andros Townsend - Hailed a hero after an emphatic England debut, but we’ve seen it plenty of times before that it can get to players. Injury has hampered him and he hasn’t featured regularly for Spurs since, but this is his opportunity to show Hodgson that he is worth a gamble in place of Theo Walcott.

Adam Lallana - Same as Townsend, he impressed on his debut, but needs a bit more pitch time to convince me that he can transfer his club form to the international stage.

Raheem Sterling - He was given an opportunity before, but fell off the rails. Since though, Rodgers has nurtured him and he has a re-found confidence. I’m not overly keen on him because of his antics which won Liverpool a game at Stoke, but I would be more than happy for him to prove me wrong.

Daniel Sturridge - Perhaps among the most in-form players in Europe at the moment, Sturridge has seized his chance at Liverpool and is almost unstoppable. But his performances for England last time didn’t match his club form, so he too needs to convince us.

Jay Rodriguez - On less of a scale than Sturridge, Rodriguez has done well, but it will take something really special, a flawless end of the season, and even injury to fellow strikers - God forbid - for him to become number one. But all he can give is his best; what’s the worst that it could do for him?

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is another who needs to catch Hodgson’s eye, but he has always performed well for England, and I would hope the manager has noted that and The Ox is already in his plans…

I read an interesting article by Jonathan Liew of The Telegraph earlier about how to weight a tournament squad, which reads along the lines of “you need attacking options, not defensive security”. 

With that in mind we can already see that by looking at the breakdown of 4 GKs, 3 LBs, 7 CMs, and 6 FWDs it is obvious what Hodgson hopes to get out of this match…

He has to be considerate about it, but realistically Ashley Cole will be playing his last World Cup, so morally can he leave one of England’s greatest servants out with the difference between himself and Leighton Baines so tight? The same is true for Jermain Defoe, Frank Lampard, and the hero that is our captain Stevie G.

While the latter is a dead cert to be the first name on the plane, I think the others need to fight for their swan song at a major tournament instead of in a friendly or qualifier as a mark of respect. This is their audition, and unfortunately for them it is likely to be from the sidelines.

I would be surprised if any of them were left out in the summer, but their appearances are likely to be decided by injuries and England’s need for experience in the closing stages of games as substitutions, rather than starting players.

What to watch out for

1 - The four way battle: Ross Barkley vs Jack Wilshere vs Adam Lallana vs Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

In the 4-3-3 I expect Hodgson to go with (or 4-1-2-3 for the OCD-ers), there is space for two attacking midfielders. One of those could be Gerrard too, just to make the battle even more intense, although The Ox has a trump card with his ability to play on the wing.

2 - Chris Smalling vs Steven Caulker

Who will be the bench warmer assuming Cahill and Jagielka stay fit? I imagine they will play a half each at CB, although like The Ox, Smalling can slot in at FB if required, although I can’t say I’d be comfortable with him there… There is also the question of how Jones fits into Hodgson’s plans; a CB or CDM?

3 - Jordan Henderson vs Michael Carrick vs Frank Lampard

It is almost inevitable that Hodgson will at some point use 4-2-3-1 to see a game out (perhaps even as the great Mike Bassett cited, 4-4-f****** 2), so who is the trusted player who can start and last 90 minutes, or come in as the solid pair of legs to support the team in the closing stages? Youth could win this one, I feel…

                              
Full Squad

Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Celtic), Ben Foster (West Brom), Joe Hart (Manchester City), John Ruddy (Norwich City).

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Cardiff City), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur).

Midfielders: Ross Barkley (Everton), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Southampton), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).

Forwards: Jermain Defoe (Toronto FC), Rickie Lambert (Southampton), Jay Rodriguez (Southampton), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Danny Welbeck (Manchester United).

Euro 2016: finally the new start for England?

WITH the World Cup just around the corner, UEFA have made the draw for Euro 2016, and realistically there is no reason on this earth why England shouldn't qualify for the tournament unless we suddenly decide to appoint Steve McLaren again (just kidding. Even he should qualify!).

In a group containing Switzerland, Estonia, San Marino (surprise surprise), Slovenia and Lithuania, and two automatic qualifying positions with a third play-off position, there really are no excuses for not qualifying against some of Europe's 'whipping' boys. 

It's probably fair to say Switzerland won't be an easy game, with the likes of Shaqiri, Derdiyok, Inler and Von Bergen among their ranks, but luckily Hodgson will know what to expect for the away leg having managed the Swiss. 

San Marino we know plenty about having faced them in the recent World Cup qualifiers and convincingly won both legs 5-0 at Wembley and 8-0 at the Stadio Olimpico di Seravalle. The U-21s even have it as a formality having won 9-0 in November 2013.

Slovenia were one of our group opponents during that summer of 2010, and we won 1-0 to qualify from the group, although the score line didn't reflect the dominance of the Three Lions, mainly thanks to Handanovic in the Slovenian net... With the squad we now have, they shouldn't make it so difficult for us.

Then Estonia and Lithuania? They aren't teams that I can think of any players off the top of my head, although it is always a cardinal sin in football to underestimate, and like with penalties, England sometimes make hard work of games against the unknowns..

All in all, it looks like we've got the 'easy' group when you consider who we could have got, and there are no nasty derbies with the other home nations.. 

Sir Alf Ramsey's 1966 World Cup
team remains the only major honour
England have won...

Maybe it's the sort of break England need to build up some confidence leading to a potentially successful tournament because these are the sort of games that haven't often required the outgoing heads of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Phil Jagielka and Ashley Cole: they are a chance for the new generation to make their statement and announce their arrival.

Personally, I can imagine a team along the lines of this: Hart; Walker, Jones, Cahill, Shaw; Henderson, Wilshere, Barkley; Walcott, Rooney, Sturridge. Added with players like Lallana, Rodriguez, Sterling, Bamford and Butland on the bench, the future may not be as doom and gloom as some fear...

Chelsea vs. Everton

Chelsea have had nearly a week now to put their FA Cup exit at Manchester City out of their minds, and it has been a pretty quiet week as things go at Cobham with not much press surrounding The Blues due to Man City and Arsenal’s exploits in the Champions League, and the mess that has become of their SW neighbours Fulham.

And I think that will have done them the world of good ahead of a testing visit from Everton. The Toffees beat Chelsea 1-0 at Goodison Park in September, but since then I think Mourinho has found his best team, and this trip to Stamford Bridge will be a lot different..

A win here would put them in a great position ahead of their trip to ‘Hell’ in mid-week.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-0 Everton.

Arsenal vs. Sunderland 

The Gunners were unlucky to lose against Bayern, or perhaps to put it better they didn’t deserve to lose based on the actual game, which was the opening 36 minutes.

While there are lots of questions now surrounding Mesut Özil and his effort, it has almost been ignored the outstanding efforts of the English youngsters in the game; Messers Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere and Gibbs (for the time he was on the pitch). All of them got stuck in, and Bayern were pegged back in the opening stages which certainly took me by surprise.

It is also worth noting that I think Yaya Sanogo didn’t do too badly either, and the criticisms of him are pretty absurd; why not give him a chance?

This is probably a good fixture for Arsenal though because although they will never admit it, Sunderland will have next weekend’s League Cup final on their minds, and will be conscious of avoiding injury so wont be overly willing to get stuck in.

Luckily for them, it seems unlikely that the teams around them will be getting maximum points this weekend, and I doubt they would expect three points from The Emirates anyway.

Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 Sunderland.

Cardiff vs. Hull

Hull have dealt themselves an un-necessary hand by drawing with Brighton in the FA Cup on Monday, and they will now have to play again this coming Monday, so like with Sunderland, they will possibly have half an eye on that replay, but for them the league should take priority.

They have lacked consistency, and if anything the Cup is now a distraction from what should be a run of winnable games against their rivals, Cardiff being one of them. 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has chosen to focus on the league, evident by his weakened team selection in the Cup against Wigan, so he needs to back that up with a win on Saturday and in their next home game against Fulham in a couple of weeks.

But unfortunately for Cardiff, Steve Bruce should have Long and Jelavic back after they were cup-tied against Brighton, and they have looked promising.

Prediction: Cardiff 1-2 Hull.

Man City vs. Stoke

A tale of two City’s, and the pattern has always been a struggle at The Britannia, then sweep them away at The Etihad. And so it probably will be again despite a tough game against Barcelona in mid-week and the League Cup final next weekend because Stoke’s away record isn’t far short of awful.

The Potters have had nine days off and a trip to Dubai for some warm weather training after a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Swansea last time out, nevertheless I think we will see a resurgence from Pellegrini’s side to silence the doubters (as much as it pains me to say it!).

Stoke will be without Oussama Assaidi for a few weeks after the winger damaged his knee in Dubai, so I may as well tell you now that all City need to do is stop Charlie Adam.

Prediction: Man City 3-0 Stoke.

West Brom vs. Fulham

Two teams down the bottom. Two teams who have both lost faith with their managers, the latter it’s not even worth explaining it’s that odd, complex and simply mystifying.

The Baggies’ form has hardly improved since Pepe Mel took over from Steve Clarke, and the draw against Chelsea was more lack of concentration and clinical finishing from Mourinho’s side than West Brom improvement. Quite lucky.

The same can be said of Fulham; Rene Meulensteen couldn’t improve them anymore than Martin Jol, and he has now been replaced by Felix Magath, who comes with a strict reputation that some players have complained is too much like a ‘dictatorship’, so this could be interesting..

Both teams are struggling on the pitch, and off it in Fulham’s case. I think home support will see Mel record his first victory, but I can’t see this being a classic.

Prediction: West Brom 1-0 Fulham.

West Ham vs. Southampton

West Ham have done things the right way by backing their manager, and guess what? It’s paid off! 

I know Sam Allardyce has more Premier League pedigree than Clarke, Jol, Meulensteen, Laudrup et al, which he has built up through proving himself, something managers don’t seem to get these days because of the new, foreign owners coming in expecting instant results.

It is almost ironic that this week of weeks sees one of the only recent successful managerial changes come against the club who decided to back the manager through the bad.

I was outraged when I read Nigel Adkins had been sacked, but Mauricio Pochettino has actually come in and done a better job than the good job Adkins was doing, utilising young English talent too, and I think Southampton fans have forgiven Nicola Cortese.

This has the makings to be a good match; The Hammers have come good since their embarrassing League Cup defeat to Man City, with a 0-0 draw at Chelsea, and three consecutive 2-0 wins against the teams around them. Did you know they have kept the most amount of clean sheets in the Premier League this season (13)?

Prediction: West Ham 2-1 Southampton.

Crystal Palace vs. Man United

There will be plenty of eyes on Selhurst Park, most of them eagerly waiting to see if United will slip up again after a slightly improved performance against Arsenal.

But going to Palace is something different than going to The Emirates, and they will face a tough trip like they did to Stoke a few weeks ago; smaller pitch, hostile atmosphere, and a 110% committed team.

I always liked Tony Pulis, but he never seemed to be evolving Stoke, so it is ever so slightly annoying that he has gone into Palace, stabilised them, and given them a pretty decent attacking threat by signing Joe Ledley and Tom Ince, who both hit the ground running against West Brom.

Both teams have had a good chunk of time off, so both will be fresh. Whether that means Palace will shut the door on United, or if United might finally click having spent some time together on the training ground, we shall see…

Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-2 Man United.

Liverpool vs. Swansea

Brendan Rodgers entertains his former club Swansea with an in-form Liverpool side against what is likely to be a tired Swansea team after their 0-0 draw with Napoli on Thursday night.

Michael Laudrup is another manager who has lost his job after his ‘laissez-faire’ approach was seen as him being uninterested, and club captain Gary Monk has taken over managerial duties.

Unlike most mid-table clubs who feature in the Europa League, The Swans haven’t lost all of their matches after a European tie midweek (P8 W2 D3 L3), but of those, the losses have come against teams in the top half.

Liverpool are on a good run, and are playing well against everyone in their path; they were even the better side in the Cup loss at Arsenal and would have won if not for poor finishing.

In other words, expect a home win.

Prediction: Liverpool 4-0 Swansea.

Newcastle vs. Aston Villa

Of all the managers, Alan Pardew has to be the most complicated. Newcastle have gone from the Championship, to doing well in the Premier League, to Europe, to a relegation battle, and in this season doing really well to losing the last three on the bounce heavily.

His agent did well to secure him a long contract because no matter what, I can’t see someone even as stupid as Mike Ashley paying that off..

Villa are another peculiar side too in that their away form is better than their home form, something I just cannot work out, among many others..

Prediction: Newcastle 0-0 Aston Villa

Norwich vs. Tottenham

Despite their 1-0 loss to Dnipro, I think it’s still valid to say Spurs made it through their trip to Ukraine because of the unrest there at the moment…

But bar that, the 5-1 loss to Man City, and the 2-0 Cup loss to Arsenal, they have certainly improved under Tim Sherwood, and it’s disappointing there is still so much talk about who will come in during the summer; it will be good to see an English manager doing well at a top English team, and his values on youth are promising too.

I’m confident they will turn the Europa League tie round at White Hart Lane, so he will have to balance carefully winning the Europa League and finishing in the top four, because both are quite probable possibilities.

Norwich, meanwhile, are still facing their own battle against relegation. The funny thing about Chris Hughton is that he always seems to pull out a win when he needs one, but that is more likely to be at Villa next weekend than at home against Spurs this weekend.

Prediction: Norwich 0-2 Tottenham.

I was angry last night.

For 36 minutes, we watched what was shaping up to be one of the best games I have seen this season, and Arsenal’s swagger was evident to see as they pinged the ball around with confidence; making easy work of a Bayern Munich team that is 16 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.

But then came the card. The red card.

At that point, had Mesut Özil scored Arsenal’s penalty, the game might not have been so drastically changed, but at 0-0 and down to 10-men against the Champions of Europe, Arsenal had no chance.

There is no denying it wasn’t a red card; Szczesny has made *some* contact with Robben, and he’s achieved a distinction in his degree for Performing Arts. But again, I think the rules need amendment.

Jamie Carragher alluded to it on Sky Sports after the game, surely a penalty is enough punishment for such a soft foul, and he is correct.. But it is not a viable change to the rules because there is a 50/50 chance of scoring or missing - the latter of which Alaba did - so there would be a lot of unrest around the teams, especially if they went on to lose, the player who caused the foul went on to score the winner.. You can think of the reasons yourself.

So I’ll come back to a previous idea I’ve mooted; the sin-bin. Other sports make use of it well; rugby union and league, hockey, water polo.. To get sent off permanently in those games, an action has to be not far off a criminal action, otherwise they are given a few minutes to cool off, during which time the opposition have to make the most of their advantage.

Last night was a perfect example of where a sin-bin would have worked, because as Jamie Redknapp then called it, it was a ‘training exercise’ for Bayern; Arsenal, who are usually possession masters, had 12% in the second half. Now is that fair given the softness of the foul? Not at all.

It would have been a different story had Szczesny gone straight through Robben, but you could see he stopped but it was too late, and although I obviously can’t condone it, he was probably entitled to make the gesture he did…

On a lighter note, we saw Fabianski play well on the weekend, and I think he did well last night given the circumstances; when does a substitute goalkeeper ever expect to play? Toni Kroos’ opening goal was something special, I’m not sure many keepers would have kept that out, and Müller’s header, he perhaps could have positioned himself better, but at the same time, Laurent Koscielny’s attempt at heroics backfired slightly and he was caught out of position. 

The rules of the game aren’t going to be changed anytime soon, especially with Mr. Blatter in charge, but when we have a proper leader of FIFA, then changes to improve the game might start to filter in, and it will become a lot less controversial and - as is the case here - damaging, because big world spectacles won’t be ruined.

Is there anyway we can fast-track Jerome Champagne in before the election in June 2015?

Mourinho masterclass? Poorly planned Pellegrini? Brazil-bound John Terry...

Manchester City 0, Chelsea 1.

Who would have thought that, given the ‘machine’ label that has been branded onto City for their ruthlessness at The Etihad, where they have a 100% record this season, and haven’t drawn a blank since 2010?

But where was the downfall for City? Was it, as many people have made out, the brilliance of The Special One, Jose Mourinho? Or did Manuel Pellegrini just get it wrong?

Well just to be awkward (but true!), it’s a bit of both… 

The ‘park the bus’ theory was rattled around in the build-up after Mourinho’s (incorrect) comments regarding West Ham’s ‘19th century football’, and all the critics and media put the pressure on him because that it almost what he did when Chelsea went to Old Trafford and The Emirates.

But Mourinho is too clever for that, and I think he knew exactly what the media would make of his comments, therefore by making them he may in some way have tried to plant a seed in the Man City camp that they should pile wave upon wave on the Chelsea guard… 

Which is exactly what they did, allowing Mourinho’s nous to take effect and Chelsea made a fool of City’s defence; ripping them to parts at times. But was all this a gamble, which was actually helped by Pellegrini’s unexpected team selection? I think so.

Had Fernandinho not been injured, I think Chelsea would have been more defensive and wouldn’t have been able to fleet forward so willingly; Pellegrini may have shot himself in the foot by choosing to play the slow and reckless Martin Demichelis as a replacement.

Now I don’t like making personal attacks, and this isn’t particularly an attack, but my honestly held opinion is that Demichelis is not Premier League quality, as a centre back of defensive midfielder. He may well have played there during his spell with Bayern Munich, but that was when he was younger, fitter, quicker and stronger; at the prime old age of 33 there was going to be absolutely no chance of him being successful in a role that demanded pace and stamina.

So where was Jack Rodwell? Where was Javi Garcia? Both are a lot younger and fitter than Demichelis, and both are more suitable for that role in place of Fernandinho. There may even be an argument that they are more accustomed to the English game (perhaps Rodwell more than Garcia), but it will remain a mystery why the wrong part was used in the machine by ‘The Engineer’.

Part 2 - defence

Another talking point to come from the game though, which is also intriguing, is just how good Chelsea’s defence was in dealing with the threat posed by Alvaro Negredo, Edin Dzeko, David Silva and Stevan Jovetic. And who’s at the core, a pair of good old English centre backs, Messers Cahill and Terry.

For me, Gary Cahill is one of the most under-rated players in the game in a position that rarely gets credit, yet when something goes wrong is the first port of call for the blame wagon. As an under-study to Terry, and having been exposed to Europe’s elite in the Champions League, he has become perhaps one of the best defenders in the league, and that is no exaggeration.

He is solid, honest, committed and hard-working, and that is the sort of ethic that gets you places, and I’m talking about England here. He has been involved in all of Roy Hodgson’s plans thus far, and I imagine he will be one of the first few names on the squad list for Brazil in the summer. The obvious question is, who will partner him?

Step forward (again) John Terry. 

(Please don’t click off at this point, just boo and heckle for a minute, then continue reading).

Most England fans will agree, the national defence has been a bit of a shambles since JT’s retirement.

Most fans of the game should also agree that racial abuse is not tolerated in this society, day or age.

Most fans will agree that Terry’s leadership qualities are almost second to none, and that we could not get a more passionate rock in the heart of the team, save perhaps Stevie G.

And most fans who follow the Premier League will agree that the partnership between Terry and Cahill is strong… So on that basis, why shouldn’t Hodgson be picking up the phone and trying to tempt our best centre back to help?

The media. Our scrutinising nature would mean that instead of focusing on the World Cup, all the press surrounding England would be about Terry and his past exploits. It would be far from helpful, and I don’t doubt it is a massive concern for Hodgson, particularly given the pressure the FA and anti-racism groups will be putting on him to leave the veteran behind.

But I’m not a racist, nor do I condone racism, and I am sure Terry regrets it; it must hurt him not to be able to play for his country, and some will say ‘well that’s punishment for what he did’, which is fair enough… But come on people, do you REALLY, HONESTLY think he meant it? Of course he didn’t! 

It’s time we grew up and thought realistically; football is about form. It wouldn’t surprise me if Cahill and Terry finish the season as part of the best central defensive partnership in the league, therefore to take them as they are would surely give us a chance, however slim, in Brazil? 

No disrespect to Phil Jagielka, who is also an outstanding defender, but the consistency the pairing would bring, coupled with the ability to lead and organise from Terry, might just give us that solidity, hope and belief we need to get out of a tough group, as well as an experienced head.

If we’re lucky, we might even get another one of these moments:

But hopefully not one of these: