A good long weekend of football just passed before a well needed break for some players. I will talk a little about current affairs in international football a little later on, but let’s start with the greatest “international” league in the world! Where to start … ah, I think Chelsea’s result deserves some attention. A draw at home with Everton. Oh dear … but what a goal by Everton. Up in the air, bicycle kick… and Cudicini didn’t stand a chance! Still, a draw isn’t bad, and keeps them in the top 4.

Manchester United got a good result, with that diving bugger Ronaldo on form again. He’s such a prick though. Still, hope the Mancs enjoyed their run at the top of the table for all of 24 hours. I have mentioned before how I have a friend who just presses all my buttons by saying “top of the table” … my feelings remain the same after this weekend. Please mate, do us all a favour and shut it. And Sir Alex can shut up in my opinion too. Bloody hell mate, the best team ever? Let’s see!

The City/Portsmouth game promised to be a good one, but I did suspect a draw, so I made Fabregas captain instead of Elano in Fantasy Football. And sure enough, it was 0-0. Still, Manchester City stays in 3rd.

Liverpool got two last minute goals to beat Fulham, but still stay at 5th. So, to the Monday game.

Arsenal were now 3 points behind Man United, but with two games to play. Reading have been playing well and there were a lot of people thinking it would be hard for the Gunners to get three points at the Madjeski. I was confident, though, they could produce a good display and secure the points. The target would be to win by 2 goals to remain top of the table. 3-1 ensured they did. They played fantastic football, really a pleasure to watch. Good to see Adebayor scoring again and putting in a fantastic performance. The goal was a little stupid I think and you can tell Almunia lacks experience to be number 1. Remains an issue eh? Back four were OK, but our midfield was spectacular. At first, we were a little slow, and weren’t taking advantage of Hleb and Rosicky’s speed. They picked it up eventually and produced some stunning attacks, Adebayor being unlucky to hit the post and have a goal disallowed for offside. So, top of the table again, and still with a game in hand.

We get a break from Premier League for FIFA dates. There are Euro 2008 and World Cup qualifying matches. There has been a lot in the news about England and how qualification is out of our hands. McClaren has stated that the fans cannot judge him on a result that isn’t in his control (Russia vs. Israel). Well mate … if you hadn’t completely buggered up your tactics in the draw against Macedonia at home, the loss in Russia, the loss in Croatia and the draw in Israel, we probably wouldn’t be in this position. The only way to go through is for Israel to get a point at home against Russia. I cannot see that happening, not the way Russia are playing. And don’t forget who is the primary sponsor of Israeli’s football league … you guessed it, Roman. Combine this with the fact he’s offered the Russian team a 100,000 Pound bonus if they win, to eliminate England. Right. So no Euro Cup for the Three Lions. Hopefully this will wake the FA up and they will consequently fire McClaren. I mean, what did he do before taking over England? Oh, that’s right. He lead Middlesborough to a bottom half position in the Premier League. He did manage to reach the UEFA Cup finals (thanks to amazing last minute turnarounds), but got stuffed something like 6-3 by Sevilla.

There are a lot of issues out there with the actual players too. I mean, they played like shit. So, the diminishing numbers of English players in Premier League teams seems to be causing concern for certain people, to the point where some want limits on foreign players allowed on the field. Even Gerrard agrees! Does he not realize that Liverpool would be given a blow if this rule comes out. And so will Arsenal. I think that if enough facilities are given to develop young talent (Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United known to have some of the best academies on the world), good English players will come up the ranks. I am also a firm believer that having some of the best players in the world playing in a league, will drive the local talent to improve. Let’s see what happens though …

So then, keep an eye out this weekend for international results, especially Israel/Russia. England play a friendly on Friday, and then play Croatia next week.

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