Barrie's View

Germany Start World Cup Off with Convincing Victory

2010-06-13T21:19:00.002+01:00

Any doubts that you had over Germany coming into this tournament were put to bed with their performance in their 4-0 victory over Australia this evening.

Despite Philipp Lahm having to block a shot off the line in the opening minutes, Lukas Podolski fired Germany into the lead inside 8 minutes and there was no looking back afterwards. Just before the goal, I backed Germany in-play.

Podolski's strike partner, Miroslav Klose added to their goal tally as the partnership up front, when he headed in his 11th World Cup in a World Cup; his 7th with his head. The Polish-born duo had 6 domestic league goals between them last season but continue where they left off in 2006.

Tim Cahill received a red card from a tackle from behind. Harsh in my opinion, even if Bastian Schweinsteiger's ankle got crushed in the process. No attempt to play the ball, but he pulled out of the challenge.

Thomas Muller rolled in a third and Cacau became the quickest German substitute to score in a World Cup as he made it 4-0.

As I wrote in my Group D preview, expecting big things from Thomas Muller and Mesut Ozil in this World Cup, neither disappointed. Ozil put in a man of the match performance and Muller came close to matching him. Ozil's vision and passing ability were both on display in this match. Muller had run taking on players and putting good balls into the box. It was his cut back that Podolski smashed home for Germany's opener. Marko Marin made a late substitute appearance and didn't have time or enough possession on the ball to impress, but look out for him in future matches. He is a good dribbler who's not afraid to take players on.

Germany's odds have already been cut from 14/1 to 10/1 to win the World Cup. While not wanting to jump on a bandwagon having only played one game, but if there's no such thing as peaking too early when it comes to Germany, then they are genuine contenders.

Germany's defence was hardly tested this evening, but they dealt with set pieces admirably. Perhaps Serbia can give the Germany defence a real test on Friday.

Earlier today, Slovenia were fortunate to beat 10 man Algeria 1-0, when Robert Koren's shot crept under goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi. And Ghana beat 10 man Serbia 1-0 thanks to Asamoah Gyan's late penalty.

England: Is It 2006 All Over Again?

2010-06-13T12:54:00.001+01:00

Less than 4 minutes into England's first 2010 World Cup match, all was going well. Emile Heskey played in Steven Gerrard and all of a sudden the nation was ecstatic.

After that, England were anything but convincing and it was the USA who were getting closer and closer, notably beating England's defence in the air several times. And what happened 5 minutes before half time will be remembered and replayed for eternity. Rob Green's horrendous error gifting Fulham's Clint Dempsey and USA an equaliser.

Emile Heskey and Shuan Wright-Phillips had one-on-one's in the second half, but other than that, Tim Howard was not tested. Rob Green was fortunate to deny Jozy Altidore in the second half as the USA came the closest to stealing al 3 points. It was a flat, dismal performance from England, who playing like this aren't going very far at all in 2010. But we will improve, right?

Back in 2006

A David Beckham free kick flicked into his own net by Carlos Gamarra after just 3 minutes lead England to a 1-0 victory over Paraguay in their opening game. That was followed up by a second poor performance, struggling to beat the weak Trinidad and Tobago. Qualification was already assured before England conceded their first goals of the tournament in a 2-2 draw with Sweden to top Group B.

A favourable draw matched England with Ecuador in the second round and a David Beckham free kick that no one connected with was the only game. England through to the quarter finals despite not impressing once. Progressing further than Spain, the Netherlands, Mexico and several other countries who must have been kicking themselves. England were then eliminated on penalties to Portugal in the quarter finals.

On paper, 2006 looked good. Not a single defeat, and only Sweden scoring against England. But the team's performance was terrible and we were very lucky to get as far as we did.

Based on the opening game, I can see the same thing happening again. And as soon as we come up against a good nation, we're going out of the tournament. England don't do victories over the big nations.

Rafael Nadal Defeats Robin Soderling to Take Fifth French Title

2010-06-06T16:34:00.002+01:00

Rafael Nadal raced away with today's French Open final, defeating last year's nemesis Robin Soderling in straight sets, 6-4 6-2 6-4.

The Spaniard, who didn't drop a set throughout the tournament for the second time in his career faced break points early in each of the three sets. After saving them, sometimes in style with points that made you wonder if you were hallucinating, Nadal went on to break Soderling in each set on his way to an inevitable victory.

Undefeated on clay once again all season, Rafael Nadal returns to number 1 in the rankings, ending Roger Federer's overall 285 weeks as world number 1, one week short of match Pete Sampras' record.

The Spaniard now has a chance to extend his lead at the top of the rankings having missed the whole of the grass court season last year through injury. Rafael Nadal's grass season starts this week at Queen's before Wimbledon on June 21st.

Our tennis betting tipster correctly predicted a victory for Rafael Nadal today, as he had been backing him throughout the tournament. I myself took Nadal in-play with the best odds available at 1/3.

Francesca Schiavone Wins the French Open

2010-06-05T18:05:00.002+01:00

17th seed, Francesca Schiavone caused a big upset in defeating favourite Samantha Stosur in the final of this year's French Open final, becoming the first Italian female to win a Grand Slam final.

Both players started well on serve, but it was the Italian's single-handed backhand that was causing Samantha Stosur problems, with the Australian's serve not having the devastating effect it had on Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic in previous rounds.

The 29-year old Italian was edging the opening eight games, but it wasn't until Samantha Stosur was serving at 4-4 in the opening set that there was a break. Following that, Schiavone was able to fight back from 0-30 to serve out the opening set.

Samantha Stosur made a good start to the second set, starting with a few forehand winners that had helped her reached her first Grand Slam final. The Australian broke her Italian opponent early in the second set and raced into a 4-1 lead. However, there remained little difference between the number of winners she was producing compared to the number of errors. Her serve didn't have its desired effect in this match, and her forehand winners were not as prominent as in her previous three matches that saw her eliminate Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic.

Francesca Schiavone deserves credit for the number of serves she returned in play. Her biggest threat was at the net, where the Italian always looked like winning the point, and won 93% at the net, compared to Stosur's 61%. Despite a successful doubles player and former world number 1 in that event, Stosur doesn't look comfortable at the net when she approached.

Francesca Schiavone has played very well this week, but her performance in today's final was undoubtedly the best of the two weeks, and the biggest achievement of her career.

Bookmakers Expecting Goals from England at World Cup

2010-06-01T23:10:00.002+01:00

There's not been too much optimism as far as I can tell regarding England's chances of a successful summer in South Africa.

Criticism over squad selection, criticism over player's determination and after England's latest two friendlies, criticism over the performances.

Despite this, the bookmakers are expecting a successful World Cup campaign from England. Or at least that's what their odds are showing.

England have been pegged back to equal third favourites today, with Argentina joining the Three Lions at 7/1. Diego Maradona certainly has a lot of talent at his disposal that have many punters backing him to lift the trophy as both captain and coach. However, his tactical decisions, choices and general eccentricity leave doubts in my mind as to whether Argentina will lift the World Cup for a third time.

England are 1/3 favourites to win Group C, as they come up against USA, Algeria and Slovenia. This I cannot debate, with only consecutive lacklustre performances the only reason why England should not win this group. The United States are beatable, Algeria are a bit of an unknown package, so I'm not ruling them out entirely. Slovenia beat Russia in the playoffs to reach the finals, but England were comfortable 2-1 winners in a friendly in September last year that suggests to me 3 points should not be a tough deal here, provided they are required from the final group stage game.

England, 1/16 to reach the second round. Once that has been complete, a second round match would see England pitted against either Germany, Serbia, Ghana or Australia. The bookmakers apparently don't fear either of these nations as England are 1/2 to reach the quarter final! Perennial quarter finalists, will Fabio Capello be able to live up to what should be regarded as minimum expectations?

If so, and if he go one stage better, the bookmakers are still offering only 6/5 on England to reach the semi final at the 2010 World Cup!

The odds that stand out the most to me are the overs/unders with the majority of bookmakers setting the mark at 9.5. Looking at England's record in previous World Cup's, the only time England scored more than 8 they went on to win the competition (need I remind you which year?). With Wayne Rooney's lack of goals recently, Emile Heskey's lack of goals period, and Frank Lampard's missed penalties; can we really expect to see England knock in 10 or more goals this summer? I have my doubts. England scored 6 en route to the quarter finals in 2006.

Yesterday we published the official Premiership Tips World Cup Preview.

Svetlana Kuznetsova Hangs on to French Open Defence

2010-05-26T18:56:00.000+01:00

Svetlana Kuznetsova had to save 4 match points in set two to overcome Andrea Petkovic in her second round match today.

The defending champion was outpowered in the opening two sets, with the world number 41 hitting some great ground stokes and generally winning most of the rallies.

Andrea Petkovic won the opening set 6-4 before a rain delay that last over an hour. Nerves didn't kick in after play resumed as the German continued to smash Svetlana Kuznetsova around the court.

Crucially, at 5-3 40-0 in the second set, Petkovic clearly tightened up. Firstly her serve went from her, and secondly her forehand wasn't delivering as they had been up to this point in the match. Four missed match point opportunities before Kuznetsova levelled the second set. The Russian went on to win the next two games to level up the match.

Andrea Petkovic didn't play her best tennis in the final set, coinciding with the increase confidence and belief in Svetlana Kuznetsova's own game saw the Russian take control of the final set until it came to serving out the match. She was broken herself at that point, but won the match on Petkovic's following serve and progressing into round three, 4-6 7-5 6-4.

Kuznetsova meets Maria Kirilenko in round three.

Seeds Venus Williams, Francesca Schiavone, Aravane Rezai, Nadia Petrova, Dominika Cibulkova and Alexandra Dulgheru all enjoyed victories today.

In the men's draw, seeds Roger Federer, Robin Soderling, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marin Cilic, Mikhail Youzhny and Albert Montanes all enjoyed victories today, while seed number 32 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was defeated in four sets by Thiemo De Bakker.

Justine Henin Safely Through to Second Round

2010-05-25T11:39:00.000+01:00

The 22nd seed and four-time winner of Roland Garros, Justine Henin made a comfortable start to her French Open Grand Slam by defeating Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova in the opening match on the Philippe Chatrier court.

Both players held serve in their opening three service games and it was the Belgian who took the early advantage in the first set when she broke in game 7. Henin would see out the opening set and break in the opening game of set 2.

It wasn't all straightforward for the favourite after that as Pironkova would take 3 straight games to lead 3-2 and then force three straight break points on Henin's serve. From that point the Belgian, who hasn't dropped a set here since a fourth round match with Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2005, was in command of the tie.

Justine Henin would face another break point in game 8, but after holding it for a 5-3 lead, she would go on to break her opponent and win the match, 6-4 6-3 in just under an hour and a half.

Tsvetana Pironkova played some wonderful forehand winners in this match, but they were too few and far between to seriously challenge Justine Henin. Henin's backhand was magnificent at times, putting in a solid performance. A few slice winners were a joy to watch.

Justine Henin progresses into round two to face either Klara Zakopalova or Katarina Srebotnik in the second round.

Andy Murray Comes From 2 Sets Down to Beat Gasquet Again

2010-05-24T18:44:00.000+01:00

Andy Murray came from 2 sets and a break down in his opening round match against crowd favourite Richard Gasquet for a stunning 4-6 6-7 6-4 6-2 6-1.

Roll back two years and Andy Murray came back from two sets down to beat Richard Gasquet in the fourth round of Wimbledon. Back then, Andy Murray was comfortably beaten by Rafael Nadal in the quarter final.

In a tight opening set which saw limited break point opportunities for either player, it wasn't until game 10 before either player took the initiative. A poor service from Andy Murray at 4-5 saw Richard Gasquet take the first set.

The French player, who was suspended for three months last summer found his form prior to this tournament when he won the Nice Open, upsetting Fernando Verdasco in the final on Saturday. From early as the second set in this match he didn't look capable of going the distance. However he was pulling out a string of great backhand winners as he kept the pressure up on Andy Murray. It was a backhand from Murray into the net that saw Gasquet take the second set, 7-5 in a tie-break.

Progression was looking ominous at this point for Britain's number 1, and it looked despairing when his shot went into the tramlines on break point in game 5.

Momentum would soon shift as Andy Murray broke back immediately, his first break of the match, over two and a half hours in. After holding, Andy Murray broke again and was serving at 5-3 to take the set. At this point, Murray's service game would go beneath him and he handed Gasquet a chance to get back into the set. At 4-5, Gasquet failed to hold onto serve for the third consecutive attempt and Andy Murray had the upper hand going into the fourth set.

From this point onwards, Andy Murray didn't have too many struggles, but for needing to save a break point at 1-1 in the deciding set. After that, he ran away with the match.

Clearly last week's run in Nice affected Richard Gasquet who looked tired early in this match. Andy Murray had taken the whole week off after losing in the quarter finals of Madrid to David Ferrer. A five set opening round match isn't ideal, but he should have less problems in round two against Juan Ignacio Chela. Lifting his first Grand Slam isn't going to happen this time in Paris, but there are plenty of world ranking points to defend having reached the quarter finals of Roland Garros last year. His first serve percentage needs to improve if he wants to make that realistic; something that he has struggled with on clay this season.

Seeds, Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych, John Isner, Stanislas Wawrinka and Marcos Baghdatis all had comfortable straight sets victories today, while Novak Djokovic, Fernando Gonzalez and Gael Monfils all game through in four. Two seeds, Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez were eliminated, by Viktor Troicki and Julian Reister respectively.

In the women's draw, seeds Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Dementieva, Agnieszka Radwanska, Li Na, Francesca Schiavone, Lucie Safarova, Alisa Kleybanova, Alexandra Dulgheru and Kateryna Bondarenko all enjoyed victories, as did 2008 winner, Ana Ivanovic.

Svetlana Kuznetsova Safely Through to Round Two

2010-05-23T11:27:00.000+01:00

Women's defending champion at the French Open, Svetlana Kuznetsova recovered from a slow start to comfortably progress into round two.

Her opponent, Romania's Sorana Cirstea made a quick start to the match, leading 3-0 in the opening set with Kuznetsova making a handful of errors. The Russian got herself into the match shortly after, taking 6 consecutive games to take the opening set.

After that, Cirstea was short of ideas but for ambitious, low-percentage shot attempts that she wasn't pulling off. Sorana Cirstea has certainly become erratic since twelve months ago when she reached the quarter final in Paris. Today, she did not want to rally with the defending champion and allowed the Russian to dismantle her.

What had the potential on paper to be a difficult opening match, Svetlana Kuznetsova didn't look comfortable to begin with but had problems moving into round two in the end, a 6-3 6-1 winner. She enters this tournament as seventh favourite and will need to find some form that was lacking coming into this competition if she wants to defend her title.

Svetlana Kuznetsova will meet either Elena Vesnina or Andrea Petkovic in round two.

Inter Milan Complete Treble with Champions League Trophy

2010-05-22T21:36:00.000+01:00

Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan won the first Champions League final to be played on a Saturday this evening, with a 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabeu.

After early pressure from Inter Milan, Bayern Munich took control of the first half in terms of possession, but failed to test Julio Cesar in the Inter Milan goal. It took 35 minutes to see what Jose Mourinho's teams do so well, as they soaked up the pressure and scored on the counter attack; Diego Milito lifting the ball over Hans-Jorg Butt in the Munich goal.

Both teams started the second half brightly, but it was Inter Milan who took the ascendancy with a smart run and finish from Diego Milito in the 70th minute to put the game beyond the Germans.

Diego Milito, the scorer of the only goal in Inter Milan's Coppa Italia final victory, and the goalscorer on the final day of the season in their 1-0 victory at Siena that saw them lift the Serie A title. He completed the hat trick with his brace this evening. His place in Diego Maradona's 23 man World Cup squad is still to be confirmed. Milito also scored valuable goals in the quarter and semi finals against Chelsea and Barcelona respectively.

In winning the Champions League, Inter Milan become the sixth team to complete the treble; winning the domestic league and cup as well as the Champions League. Barcelona were the fifth to do so, last season, joining the elite list that consists of Celtic, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United.

Jose Mourinho has now won the league and Champions League with two of his last three teams; FC Porto the first. He failed to win the Champions League during his time at Chelsea. He is expected to join Real Madrid in the near future as he aims to become the first manager to win the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga.

Maria Sharapova Wins Strasbourg Open

2010-05-22T14:23:00.000+01:00

Maria Sharapova picked up her second WTA tour title of the season with a 7-5 6-1 victory over Kristina Barrois in the Internationaux de Strasbourg final today.

The Russian made a slow start, but turned the match on its head towards the end of the first set, winning 5 of the remaining 6 games as her inexperienced opponent failed to close out the first set. The second was comfortable for the former world number 1 as she raced away in what turned out to be a dominant display.

Kristina Barrois, playing in her first title played well at the start of the match, but failed to see out the first set, missing two easy points when serving for the set. After she dropped her service game at 5-4 it seemed inevitable that the Russian was going to be lifting the trophy at the end of the day. That's precisely what she did before playing down her chances at Roland Garros this week.

Maria Sharapova's toughest match this week and best performance came in the semi final, where she came from a set down to defeat Anabel Medina Garrigues. She came into the final as clear favourite.

The former Wimbledon, US and Australian Open Grand Slam champion hasn't played in many tournaments this season and is unlikely to be challenging for the French Open over the next fortnight. She enters as a 66/1 outsider to claim the only Grand Slam missing from her collection. Sharapova faces Ksenia Pervak in round 1.

Rafael Nadal set to Rule Roland Garros

2010-05-22T13:50:00.002+01:00

Rafael Nadal has hit form at the right time prior to the start of the French Open on Sunday. The world number 2 is 15-0 on clay this season, winning all 3 ATP 1000 events as his winning streak looks to continue at Roland Garros when he aims to bring back the crown.

Roger Federer won last year's French Open title, defeating Robin Soderling in straight sets in last years final. Nadal had been eliminated in round 4 by the Swede, with his knee problems and fatigue being the main contributing factor. The Spaniard never won another title all year as Roger Federer went on to claim Wimbledon and restore his world number 1 spot where he remains today.

With points on offer here for Rafael Nadal and several at Wimbledon where he did not compete last year, the Spaniard could soon be back on top of the pile. He's dropped just 2 sets from his fifteen matches so far; one in each of his victories over Ernests Gulbis and Nicolas Almagro. While he remains healthy, there is no one that can beat Rafael Nadal in five set matches on clay playing like this. His odds reflect this, as 2/5 favourite to win his fifth Roland Garros title.

Rafael Nadal could potentially face Fernando Verdasco or Nicolas Almagro in the quarter final, David Ferrer or Novak Djokovic in the semi final and Roger Federer in the final. Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer are both playing well on clay currently, but taking three sets off the king doesn't look like happening. Roger Federer has won just two of twelve matches against Rafael Nadal on clay and losing all three previous French Open finals to the Spaniard.

Be sure to check out our French Open tennis betting tips this week.

Rafael Nadal Wins Madrid Masters

2010-05-16T19:57:00.001+01:00

Rafael Nadal overcame his nemesis in the final of the Madrid Masters ATP 1000 event this evening. After a sluggish and high error prone start from both players, Rafael Nadal took the upper hand in the first set as Roger Federer failed to break back.

The world number 1 came out second best in this match despite producing more winners (34 to 27) than his Spanish counterpart. For Rafael Nadal, he was able to starve off most of Federer's break point opportunities in the opening set.

Both players were comfortable in reaching the final, despite both dropping sets in their semi finals. This was the dream finale as many tennis fans and writers like to call it. This was also the first time Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have met since the final here 12 months ago.

Rafael Nadal through away a 2-game lead in the second set, but took it into a tie break. Roger Federer had leads of 2-0 and 4-2 in the tie break, but it was the Spaniard who would fight back and take the tie break 7-5, and the match.

In winning Madrid for the second time, Rafael Nadal is the first player to win three consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in one calendar year, having previously won in Rome and Monte Carlo. This is also a record-breaking 18th 1000 point event title on clay, one more than Andre Agassi. This is his 28th ATP title on clay.

Rafael Nadal will move up to world number 2 in the rankings tomorrow when they are released. Roger Federer remains at world number 1.

Rafael Nadal is odds-on favourite to win this year's French Open.

In the women's final earlier today, Aravane Rezai defeated Venus Williams 6-2 7-5 for her first WTA tour title of the year. Our expert was 2/2 with his tennis betting tips today.

Milito Fires Inter Milan to Serie A Title

2010-05-16T15:55:00.001+01:00

Diego Milito scored the only goal at Siena this afternoon, 12 minutes into the second half as Inter Milan claimed their fifth straight and eighteenth overall Serie A title.

Despite letting Roma back into the title race in the second half of the campaign, and then allowing i Giallorossi to top Serie A after 34 games, Inter Milan have been the best team in Italy this season.

Roma will look at a poor start to the season and then suffering a home defeat at the hands of Sampdoria, despite dominating the first half in that game as reasons for finishing second this season.

Inter Milan, coached by Jose Mourinho have now completed the domestic double, having won the Coppa Italia against Roma in the final 11 days ago. Next Saturday they face Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League as they look to become only the sixth team to complete such a feat. Barcelona became the fifth team to do so only last season.

Jose Mourinho has now won Serie A in both of his two seasons in charge of the Italian side. He had previously won back-to-back Premier League titles with Chelsea and before that, consecutive Portuguese Liga titles with FC Porto. Mourinho has won 6 league titles in the last 8 years.

Andy Murray Safely Through to Madrid Quarter Finals

2010-05-13T20:05:00.000+01:00

World number 4 Andy Murray safely progressed into the quarter finals of the Madrid Masters this evening with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Romania's Victor Hanescu.

The first four games were very competitive, with Andy Murray needing to save two break points on his second service game. Once Murray broke mid way through the opening set there was no way back for the world number 38.

Andy Murray had the better of the baseline rallies as he took the final 4 games of the first set in 10 minutes. Victor Hanescu's main attempts to get Andy Murray out of his rhythm were to pull off drop shots. Unfortunately for him Murray recognised them coming as the match went on, and Hanescu was failing to make them over the net the further the match went on.

After making just 44% of his first serves in his first match, Andy Murray increased his percentage to 58% this evening, firing 4 aces against his 6'6” opponent.

On Wednesday Andy Murray had few problems in defeating Juan Ignacio Chela in his opening match in Madrid after a poor start to his clay court season. This result sees the British number 1 record back-to-back victories on clay for the first time this season. In his final tournament before the French Open, Andy will know he needs to beat top opposition if he is to live up to his to match last year's quarter final performance.

Andy Murray will face either David Ferrer or Marin Cilic in the quarter final in Madrid.

In Hindsight: Manchester United Should Have Kept Diego Forlan

2010-05-13T19:55:00.000+01:00

Having scored a brace in the Atletico Madrid's Europa League final victory over Fulham on Wednesday night, Manchester United fans can only look back at what may have been.

A season where the Red Devils had only a Carling Cup to show for after their season fell apart in less than a week when they were eliminated from the Champions League by Bayern Munich and beaten at home by Chelsea in the Premier League. An unfit Wayne Rooney played less than an hour versus Bayern and did not partake against Chelsea. United had a lack of fire-power without him, with Dimitar Berbatov failing to live up to his £30,750,000 price tag.

Over eight years ago, Sir Alex Ferguson invested £7,000,000 in Diego Forlan, signing from Argentine side Independiente. He had a torrid start to life at Old Trafford, going eight months, 26 games without a goal. 27th time lucky came from the penalty spot against Maccabi Haifa in a Champions League match. Even after that he continued to struggle to find the net, finishing his United career with just 17 goals in 98 games before his two and a half year spell ended with him moving to Villarreal.

Manchester United fans have some fond memories of the Uruguayan; most notably a second half brace in a 2-1 victory at Anfield and a stunning injury time volley winner against Chelsea a month later as Manchester United went on to win the Premier League that season (2002/03).

Diego Forlan was never going to overtake Ruud van Nistelrooy from the top of the league pecking order, but with injury-prone Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Louis Saha at the club. In hindsight, one more season for Forlan and he may well have turned into a regular Premier League goalscorer.

All hopes of Forlan getting another season in the Premier League banished when he was sold to Villarreal at the start of the 2004/05 season. 10 days later showed that Ferguson was making room for another striker as they would sign 18-year old prodigy, Wayne Rooney.

Ruud van Nistelrooy would miss most of that season due to injury and stay just one more year before moving on to Real Madrid. Louis Saha would never get a full season of games for Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer played just 22 games in the four seasons after Forlan left. There was room for Forlan on the squad list.

It's easy to say this nearly six years after. But Forlan was entering his mid-20's at the time of his departure. He had began to show his knack for important goals and he always gave his best on the pitch. The Premier League is harsh, especially at the top. Taking too long for the Spanish-speaking Uruguayan to settle onto foreign land proved his downfall.

For Diego Forlan however, he's proven a hot shot in La Liga, scoring 54 times in 106 league appearances for Villarreal and is currently at 66 league goals in 102 appearances for Atletico Madrid. He scored all 3 of Madrid's goals in their Europa League semi final elimination of Liverpool before bragging a brace as they went on to lift the trophy at the expense of Fulham. A hero in Spain, we can only think of what could have been if he was given time at Old Trafford...

Chelsea: Where the Premier League Title was Won

2010-05-09T17:54:00.003+01:00

Chelsea's 8-0 thrashing of 10-man Wigan today confirmed they won the Premier League title for the third time in six seasons. They finished 1 point ahead of Manchester United.

Carlo Ancelotti becomes the third manager to win the Premier League in his first full season, after Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho. Chelsea become the first team to win the Premier League title under two different managers and the first team to score over 100 goals in the league's 18 year history. Their +71 goal difference is also a Premier League record.

Manchester United were made to rue a terrible start to April, when they were eliminated at the Quarter final stage of the Champions League to Bayern Munich and then beaten at home in the Premier League by Chelsea.

Manchester United were without Wayne Rooney for the game against Chelsea and it proved to be the big difference maker as United rarely tested the Chelsea defence without him. The Blues are deserved champions, being the first team to do the double over Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool in a single Premier League season.

Despite losing at Tottenham, Chelsea were always in the driving seat. Three comfortable victories and clean sheets since Ashley Cole returned from injury. A 7-0 victory over Stoke City, a 2-0 victory at Liverpool and finished the season on top with an 8-0 thrashing of Wigan that saw Ashley Cole score the final goal of Chelsea's Premier League season.

Wigan Athletic's fifth trip to London this season has now seen them concede 26 goals and picking up 0 points. Survival was the key for them this season and they have done that, finishing 16th despite having the worst goal difference in the league. Didier Drogba scored his first hat trick of the season to clinch the Golden Boot. Despite being away with Ivory Coast at the start of the year in the African Cup of Nations, he finished above Wayne Rooney by 3 goals with the United striker struggling for fitness at the end of the season.

Arsenal wrapped up third spot with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Fulham, while rivals Tottenham blew a 2-0 lead at Burnley to lose 4-2. They finish in fourth and will enter the Champions League at the qualifying stage next season.

Carlo Ancelotti and Chelsea play Portsmouth next weekend in the FA Cup final as they look to do the double in the Italian's first season in charge.

Credit to Steve McClaren

2010-05-04T18:03:00.002+01:00

After an horrendous performance as England manager that saw his national side eliminated at the qualifying stage of Euro 2008, Steve McClaren has won over some admirers this season. Still on many people's minds is that infamous rainy night at Wembley where Steve McClaren watched on from the sideline under his umbrella as Croatia beat England 3-2 in what was to be the former Middlesbrough manager's last game in charge of the national team.

Roll on nearly 2.5 years and the former Derby County and Manchester United assistant manager guided FC Twente to the Dutch Eredivisie title on Sunday, for the first time in their 45 year history. He's done it with a team of lesser-known players and two Chelsea loanees. His team had to fight off an Ajax side who won their last 14 league games and scored 106 goals in 34 games, compared to Twente's 63.

Steve McClaren joins an elite list of former England manager's to have success abroad in Europe. The list previously only consisted of Sir Bobby Robson and Terry Venables. Robson, who took England to the semi finals of the World Cup in 1990 went on to win the Dutch Eredivisie back-to-back with PSV Eindhoven in 1991 and 1992 and the same in Portugal with Sporting Lisbon in 1995 and 1996. Despite failing to win La Liga with Barcelona in the late 90's, he won the Copa del Rey and European Cup Winners Cup in 1997. Venables won La Liga with Barcelona in 1985, 11 years before taking England to the semi finals of Euro 96, who, like Robson's side were eliminated on penalties by Germany.

Steve McClaren has already been linked with moves to both Hamburg and Wolfsburg in Germany, and is currently favourite to be the next permanent manager at West Ham. Having been heavily criticised for his poor tactical and selection decisions as England manager, he took himself out of the limelight by managing a team abroad and has guided them to unexpected success.

As assistant manager to Jim Smith at Derby County in the mid-nineties, he helped guide the Rams to Premier League promotion in his first season and later helped lead the team to top half finish in 1998. Shortly after his departure to Manchester United, Derby would decline and drop out of the Premier League. In his first season at Manchester United in 1998/99 as assistant to Alex Ferguson, they would win the treble (Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League). A feat Manchester United haven't achieved since.

McClaren left his role as assistant manager and took on his first managerial job at Middlesbrough for the start of the 2001/02 season. During this time, he became assistant to Sven-Goran Eriksson with England. In his five year stay at Boro, his side were a constant mid-table team, but for finishing 7th in 2005 and qualifying for the UEFA Cup. The season before his side won the League Cup. The following season, McClaren guided Middlesbrough to a surprise final in the UEFA Cup, losing the final 4-0 to Sevilla in his final game. After that, he took charge of the England national team after Sam Allardyce was overlooked and media claims hurting Harry Redknapp's chances.

Speaking of the media, now is a good time to shame the Telegraph, who misspelt Steve McClaren's name in the headline of one of their articles yesterday.

Andy Murray Bounces Back with Victory in Rome

2010-04-27T21:04:00.003+01:00

Following three consecutive losses for Britain's number 1, Andy Murray recorded his first victory of the clay court season in Rome this season, defeating Italy's Andreas Seppi 6-2 6-4.

Andy Murray had previously been eliminated in his opening matches at both the Sony Ericsson Open and Monte Carlo events, to Mardy Fish and Philipp Kohlschreiber respectively. He had lost he previous three matches without taking a single set and dropped to world number 5.

Looking to rebound, Andy Murray made a flying start in the last singles match on centre court today, breaking Andreas Seppi to love in the opening game. Followed up by a comfortable hold on his own serve. Murray's second service game of the match would see him face a pair of break points for which he overcame for a hold. He would not face break points on his serve again throughout the match.

Andy Murray showed signs of old as he chased every ball down, asking questions of his opponent every time. Added with some great backhands to win rallies as Murray had Seppi's number all game. One weapon that was still lacking in Andy Murray's game today was his serve as he only managed 1st serve percentage of 53%. Of those 1st serves he did land, he won 90% of the points. Andreas Seppi's poor return game hurt him here. Murray did produce 11 aces and 3 double faults. Overall, Seppi did not play well, not putting pressure or trying to take advantage's poor form coming into this match.

Andy Murray will have a day's rest before his third round tie against either David Ferrer or Potito Starace who play their second round match tomorrow. Our tennis betting expert correctly picked both Andy Murray (he said take his 4/11 odds as prices like that don't come around often!) and Nicolas Almagro today who both safely progressed.

Andy Murray was 20/1 to win this competition yesterday. His odds have now dropped to 12/1 after this performance, added with Roger Federer's surprise elimination at the hands of Ernests Gulbis today. Rafael Nadal remains the odds-on favourite.

Hull City Heading for the Drop

2010-04-21T22:11:00.006+01:00

Coming into tonight's game 3 points behind West Ham United, the team directly above the drop, Hull City put in a flat performance against Aston Villa the KC Stadium.

Poor defending culminated in Aston Villa's opening goal when Hull City failed to clear the ball which ended with Paul McShane's clearance into the back of John Carew falling into the path of Gabriel Agbonlahor. Still with work to do at an angle, Agbonlahor coolly bent the ball past Matt Duke into the top corner after 13 minutes.

Aston Villa started the game brightly but their possession lead to few chances before Hull came into the game half way through the first half. Hull City and Kevin Kilbane in particular were kicking themselves in the first half when they missed a hattrick of opportunities in a matter of seconds, firstly with Brad Friedel making a double save and ending with Kevin Kilbane's effort from six yards hitting James Collins on the goal line and bouncing onto the roof of the net.

Hull City failed to create any real chances in the game after as Aston Villa defending soundly. With Richard Dunne and James Collins at the centre of their defence; two defenders who enjoy defending, Hull City didn't have enough quality to cause problems.

Matt Duke sparred Paul McShane's blushes when the goalkeeper narrowly beat John Carew to the ball following a risky back pass from the half way line. Eventually Aston Villa doubled their lead when George Boateng brought down James Milner in the penalty area with quarter of an hour of normal time remaining. Milner picked himself up to score the second goal that pushes Aston Villa into 6th position, 3 points behind Manchester City in the battle for the final Champions League place.

Following this result, Hull City are heading back to the Championship along with Burnley and Portsmouth. With 3 games remaining they are effectively 4 points behind West Ham, despite a 3 point difference, they are also 21 goals behind the Hammers. The Tigers host Sunderland this weekend in a must-win game before travelling to Wigan on a Monday night and hosting Liverpool in their final game of the season. West Ham host Wigan this weekend, travel to Fulham and host Champions League-chasing Manchester City on the final day.

The appointment of Iain Dowie ruled out Hull City's chances of avoiding relegation in my opinion. The timing of Phil Brown's “gardening leave” in mid-March was crazy to say the least. Dowie's influence hasn't had a positive influence as he continued the Brown trend of playing 1 striker at home. He never took a gamble in both the weekend's draw at Birmingham or tonight's game by throwing extra striker's on. Thus his team are in the position they are in.

Jimmy Bullard hasn't been the player he was in the few appearances he was able to make under Phil Brown either. Perhaps with most of his goals coming from set pieces he was receiving more credit than was due, but he was doing more under Phil Brown than he has done in the last few games when they've desperately needed goals and performances.

Hull City are playing like a team knowing they're on the way down. A lack of effort and heart in their performances haven't helped. Iain Dowie looks destined for a Premier League hat trick; being relegated as manager of Crystal Palace, assistant at Newcastle last season and as 'Football Management Consultant' with Hull this season. He was also relegated as a player with Crystal Palace in 1994/95.

Where Has It Gone Wrong for Arsene Wenger's Arsenal?

2010-04-19T23:46:00.003+01:00

It's nearly six seasons ago that Arsenal done the unthinkable and went the whole of the Premier League season undefeated on their way to a third league title under Arsene Wenger.

That successful squad included Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires and Ashley Cole. Arsenal have not come close to winning the league in six attempts since.

The following season saw Chelsea's dominance under Jose Mourinho. A defeat at Old Trafford with the Wayne Rooney penalty incident ended Arsene Wenger's sides long, unbeaten run. That started a poor run of form which Arsenal would drift too far behind Chelsea, despite finishing the season as runners up. Arsenal haven't finished second since and this season will mark only their second finish in the top 3 in the past five seasons.

Where has it gone wrong?

From the invincible's to the inexperienced. Arsenal's side lacks the level of experience and quality they had five or six seasons ago. When Arsenal became the first team to lose a Premier League game from a 2-0 lead in the 80th minute on Sunday, they had an average age of 25 which was boosted by Sol Campbell and Mikael Silvestre's centre back partnership in for the injured William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen. Injuries have been a major blow for Arsenal this season. Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Andrei Arshavin and William Gallas are just some of the many injuries and long-term injuries Arsenal have had disrupting the fluency in the Arsenal team this season.

Defeat could have been avoided if the inexperienced Lukasz Fabianski had have got down quicker to make a save on Ben Watson's goal and later not dropped the ball onto Titus Bramble's head for Wigan's equaliser. At that point they had fallen apart. Arsene Wenger put it down to discipline. That problem could have been erased with more experience in the centre of midfield instead of Craig Eastmond, who was making only his second start in the Premier League, and alongside him, Abou Diaby.

Consistency

The biggest problem this Arsenal side face is consistency. Andrei Arshavin, Nicklas Bendtner, Gael Clichy, Abou Diaby, Emmanuel Eboue, Eduardo, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Bacary Sagna, Alex Song, Theo Walcott. There's enough players to field a first team there. They've all put in some excellent performances for Arsenal in the past. But unlike what Manchester United players churn out season after season, these Arsenal players fail to play well on a consistent basis. They will not win another title or even another trophy until they can fix this issue.

One thing they need to do to fix this is build a spine of consistent and good players through the team. They currently have Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie who can do that, if they stay healthy and if Arsenal can keep hold of both players over the summer. One urgent requirement is a solid goalkeeper. Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City and even Liverpool all have those. Arsenal need to bring in someone who can match that. Manuel Almunia simply isn't good enough. In defence, with William Gallas' fitness issues, finding another top defender to partner Thomas Vermaelen should be a summer priority. The rest of the centre backs on the squad list are simply ageing or not good enough to compete for a Premier League title.

The physical side

Successful Arsenal sides in the past under Arsene Wenger had the likes of Sol Campbell, Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva in. Players who weren't afraid to get stuck in and win the ball/knock opposition off of it. As was demonstrated when they played Chelsea this season, they lack the physical game to compete with some sides. When Wenger looks for a new centre back, perhaps a new partner in midfield for Cesc Fabregas and someone up front for Robin van Persie who should look for players with physical presence to bolster up the team.

The competition

With Manchester City's spending power that included stealing both Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure from Arsenal last summer, they will be looking to improve the squad further this summer, especially if they qualify for the Champions League, and with a new manager in charge from the one they had at the start of the season. Tottenham and Aston Villa are also good sides who are looking to compete with Arsenal. The Gunners cannot afford to rely on their current batch of youngsters to come good next season. They need to bring in a few solid signings if they want to make a serious push for the Premier League and Champions League next season.

Let's not forget that both Chelsea and Manchester United have underperformed this season and will likely make a few top signings in the summer to make sure they come back stronger after the World Cup.

Ruthless Rafa Shows No Compassion in Monte Carlo Final

2010-04-18T15:00:00.001+01:00

Rafael Nadal was in fine form this afternoon as he run out a comfortable winner over friend and fellow compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters.

The world number 3 got off to a flying start by breaking Fernando Verdasco's opening serve to love before holding his own. Rafael Nadal raced away to win the opening set 6-0 which included winning 13/18 points on his opponent's serve and facing no break points.

Fernando Verdasco won his first game at the start of the second set but that was the only competitive part of the final as he was unable to cope with Nadal after that, as he took 6 straight games on course to a 6-0 6-1 victory. All 5 of Fernando Verdasco's break point opportunities came in the sixth game of the second set, including a winner in one of the point of the tournaments. But failing to take any typified this match as back-to-back points against Nadal were hard to come by.

Rafael Nadal had been playing well all week but he saved his best for this final as he won his record sixth straight Monte Carlo Masters title. His first title since Rome in May last year. He is back to his best, judging him by this tournament. Excellent forehand shots and freely moving around the court as he prepares to win back his French Open title in a few weeks times.

Our tennis betting expert tipped Rafael Nadal to win in two sets and won't be surprised by this performance and result off the back of his near-perfect Monte Carlo Tips this week (only 1 wrong).

Paul Scholes Goal Gives Manchester City Stoppage Time Blues

2010-04-17T16:33:00.001+01:00

Paul Scholes scored a dramatic winner in the final seconds of stoppage time as Manchester United completed the double over Manchester City with a 1-0 victory today.

This is the third time Manchester City have lost in stoppage time to their rivals this season. City were defeated at Old Trafford back in September thanks to Michael Owen's controversial 96th minute winner. And Wayne Rooney scored a stoppage time winner in January as Manchester United eliminated their city rivals in the Carling Cup at the semi final stage.

The early kickoff in the Premier League was a scrappy affair, not living up to all the pre-match hype. I myself was expecting goals, but Roberto Mancini didn't set out to do so. Despite Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy all starting, the service to them was limited. The long ball game never worked for them in this game and Adam Johnson failed to produce much on the wing.

Carlo Tevez came the closest for the home side in the first half with a free kick well heading towards the top corner plucked out of the air by Edwin van der Sar. Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs both spurned chances towards the end of a dull first half.

Wayne Rooney never seemed 100% as he didn't test Shay Given at all today. The game appeared to be headed for a goalless draw when Rooney was taken off for the under pressure Dimitar Berbatov with quarter of an hour remaining. 10 minutes before, Roberto Mancini had set out his intentions by taking off Adam Johnson for Patrick Vieira. Sir Alex Ferguson had attacking intentions at least when bringing Nani on for Darron Gibson and Gabriel Obertan on for Antonio Valencia in the second half.

Shaun Wright-Phillips got a 15 minute run out and was City's brightest spark down the right wing, forcing referee Martin Atkinson to take Patrice Evra's name in the book with an intentional foul. But it was Evra who setup the winner with a cross from the left wing onto the head of an unmarked Paul Scholes. Dimitar Berbatov started the move.

This game showed the difference in class between Sir Alex Ferguson, Roberto Mancini, Manchester United and City. Ferguson was brave to go for the 3 points and it paid off. Mancini, once again happy to settle with what he had at 0-0 was made to pay for not attacking a Rio Ferdinand-less Manchester United defence.

Manchester United fans may feel they are back in the title race, 1 point behind Chelsea, who play their game in hand at 5.30 this evening at White Hart Lane. Unfortunately for United, Tottenham are playing their 3rd game in a week, which comes after 120 minutes in a disappointing FA Cup semi final defeat to Portsmouth and a joyous 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Wednesday night. How much energy has been taken out of Spurs, especially the midweek victory? One thing that will give Spurs energy is being 1 point behind Manchester City coming into this game as they chase 4th spot.

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2010-04-14T18:39:00.002+01:00

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Pressure Grows on John Terry and Chelsea

2010-02-28T11:15:00.003Z

Chelsea were handed a surprise 4-2 home defeat at the hands of Manchester City, days after their 2-1 Champions League defeat in Italy. Not only are their odds of doing the treble increased, their chances of succeeding are slipping.

All attention before the game was on the Wayne Bridge-John Terry saga which saw Bridge refusing to shake Terry's hand pre-kickoff. While Bridge put in a solid performance, John Terry continued to stumble again today. Firstly some miscommunication with John Obi Mikel for the opening Manchester City goal. Later a completely mistimed tackle and a confrontation with Carlos Tevez. The former England captain has made big errors in each of his last 4 games now, which has seen Chelsea lose 3 of them. He's not the commanding and reliable captain centre back he use to be.

Chelsea dominated the first half and broke through on 41 minutes with Frank Lampard slotting home. Expecting Chelsea to run out comfortable winners at this point, Mikel's crazy header under no pressure at the half way line gave Carlos Tevez possession as he weaved in and out of Terry and Ricardo Carvalho before his scuffed effort rolled past and out-of-position Hilario.

The Portuguese stopper, in for the injured Petr Cech was also at fault with some bad positioning for City's second goal as Craig Bellamy raced onto a long ball down the left wing when Branislav Ivanovic was caught out of possession, and although appearing to dribble the ball too wide of goal he managed to get the right angle on the ball and fire City ahead.

Chelsea were crumbling and things were made worse 15 minutes from time when Juliano Belletti's clumsy challenge from behind on Gareth Barry saw him sent off and a penalty awarded against the Blues. Tevez powered it home and celebrated with Wayne Bridge, who the City team were clearly sticking up for and playing for in this one. As well as playing for themselves and the team obviously.

Michael Ballack's needless tackle from behind on Tevez saw him receive a second yellow ahead of Craig Bellamy adding a fourth before Frank Lampard converted a consolation penalty for the league leaders.

Fortunately for Chelsea, despite a couple of suspensions adding to the big losses of Michael Essien and Ashley Cole, they have two domestic games that they should find their form in ahead of their Champions League tie with Inter Milan. Inter Milan are evens to qualify from that tie, with a 2-1 lead from the first leg if that tempts anyone.

The Premier League title race is still in Chelsea's hands, albeit with only a 1 point lead over Manchester United and 3 over Arsenal. They have a few favourable fixtures until the end of the month where they need to take maximum points from as they will be expected. One thing for sure is this is going to be a very exciting run in and we can expect a few more twists in the tale!