It would seem that not only Spurs ate something dodgy on the weekend - Sven Goran Erikson must also have been taking mind altering drugs.


Genius or Fucking Mental?
Now given his track record, (by and large) and the intense pressure he's been under, he deserves some respect, but has he finally cracked?

Whatever possessed him to choose a squad with so much inconsistency is truly mind blowing and barring the unlikely event that England actually do well in the competition, he is going to be raked over the coals for his decisions well into the 22nd Century.


I feel sorry for Shaun Wright-Phillips mainly - he played well against Uruguay, helping to save the game and an embarrasing result. He has created well from the wing, although admittedly has not found his scoring touch this season. And contrary to most press coverage he has started 15 games for Chelsea this season and come on as sub in 24 other games.


England's squad is made up of 3 goalkeepers, 7 defenders, 9 midfielders and 4 forwards, with Rooney very unlikely to take any part in the World Cup and Owen still not playing.
Why do we not have Defoe or Bent (the Premiership's top-scoring Englishman) in the squad, and Wright-Phillips with his speed would have caused mayhem.

England look like they are going to have to rely on good defence and should start practicing penalties as they will need them if they get past Paraguay and Sweden - even Trinidad must fancy their chances of a 0-0 draw.



Interesting Point

A mate of mine has always said that whatever the tournament, England should always have Matt Le Tissier on the bench. Why? Because he's got the greatest penalty record in football, scoring 49 of the 50 penalties he took during his career (click here for more info). Considering how often England end up on penalties..... :)





Chelsea in The World Cup


Well being a Chelsea fan there are ten teams with seventeen of Chelsea's 23 player squad likely to take place in the World Cup. So even if England do not do well there are other teams we can take some interest in.


Chelsea players likely to take part in World Cup are:

Persons missing out are Cudicini (Italy), Carlton Cole (England U21), Wright Phillips, Pidgely (England), Duff (Ireland), Diarra (France U21), Gudjohnson (Iceland).


Anyway I will still be cheering England on and hoping that Rooney gets fit, Walcott suprises us all and does a Pele, that Lampard and Gerrard somehow get it right together and score a goal a game between them.


Dreaming is what can make football great - ask Greece, Porto, Liverpool or Arsenal - miracles can happen.

Chelsea's reserves strolled to a one nil defeat at the expense of Newcastle United.


The Match
Black Puddings and Meat pies with the Welsh Sheep shagging society earned a place in the UEFA cup with a soft touch goal from yet another free kick. Come on Cudicini you are supposed to try and dive to save the ball not look gormlessly on as the ball goes into the back of the net (like you did against Liverpool).


Eight changes to the team that drubbed Man United at the weekend allowed prospective buyers to look at the fringe players available for sale this summer at bargain prices - that is, a lot less than we paid for them. Unfortunately Birmingham were relegated so we can't offload to them any more - maybe Reading, Fulham and hey hasn't Portsmouth got some crook with a wad of money ready to spend.


The Transfer Market


Which bring us to the meat & veg of the summer - the transfer market. If you believe the papers, then Chelsea have already lined up replacements for more than half their squad at a cost of about $250m. We have Ashley Cole, Ballack, Shevshenko, Imbramhovic, Eto, Chavez all coming to Stamford Bridger and that is before anybody shines at the World Cup 2006 in Germany this summer.


Going the other way are Crespo, Carlton Cole, Gallas, Johnson, Geremi, Del Horno, Gudjohnsen amongst others - if you believe the papers, that is.


Then there is the 'Conspiracy Theory' which is beginning bubble which depends on a delicate set of events and probably hinges on Thierry Henry ending up at Barcelona. This would trigger Eto'o to Chelsea, Lampard to Barcelona, Ballack to Chelsea and Von Bommell to Bayern.


I'd like to see Eto'o at Chelsea - he is a 25 goal a year forward - but I would hate lose Lampard to get him - just get some more rubles and kopecks out.

THE CONSPIRACY THIERRY

Oh yes, back to the game - we woz wobbed - should have had three second half penalties.


Newcastle to take on Chelsea Reserves at the weekend - now with 90 minutes match practice under their belt we'll win 2-1.

Shearer to come on in the last fifteen minutes to say goodbye to the adoring Geordies, Mourinho to make five changes to the team that lost to the Black Pudding Sheep shaggers and Wright-Phillips to score his first goal for Chelsea.

Chelsea 3 Man Utd 0 - dream ending to another succesful chapter in Chelsea's history.


No one could not have written a better script with back to back championships won at home at the expense of our main Premiership rivals Man United with a convincing 3-0 drubbing. Chelsea played well from the start and were rewarded with a fifth minute goal from unmarked Gallas from the first corner of the game. During the remainder of a pulsating first half Chelsea looked sharper, controlled the ball and looked most likely to score - even though Rooney probably created and squandered the best chance of the half.


Half Time 1-0


In the second half Man United came at Chelsea and were made to pay dearly as Chelsea's counter offensive attack cut the red devils defence to ribbons time and again. Joe Cole scored a brilliant individual goal after 60 minutes showing why he will be such a key member of England's team in the forthcoming World Cup, dribbling past three Man U defenders before cooly slotting home past Van Der Sar. Like the man says, "genius".
In the 73rd minute Cole again was a link in another slick Chelsea move surgically disecting the Man U midfield and defence with pin-point passing. Cole then teased the defenders with a cross-field run before finding Carvahlo unmarked on the far edge of the box who fired a piledriver into the back of the net.


Click here to see the goals on You Tube


Full Time 3-0


The crowd was magnificent at Stamford Bridge and the celebrations were great - John Terry, who played most of the match from a injury picked up from Wayne Rooney's over-the-top challenge in the first half, lifted the Premiership trophy to the biggest roar of the day. He showed why he has become a legend and has such respect from his peers around the game. It was also touching to see that some of the millionaires had tears of joy and how much the win means to them as well.


It was sad to see Rooney go down after he landed akwardly trying to keep on his feet in his normal "never say die" attitude. I can only hope that it is a painful sprain that will clear up quickly as Rooney has been on fire recently with some magnificent performances and he is key to England's chances of winning the world cup.


Elsewhere it was good to see wins for Yeovil (2-1 at Huddersfield) which will keep them safe from relegation with just one game to play. As you may be aware Paul Terry (John's brother) plays for Yeovil - and its good to see the West country team doing well in the first division after years of giant killing as non-leaguers and now in only their third season in the Football League. In fact they are the only non-league team to have a subbuteo kit made for them due to their giant killing exploits over the years!




It was also good to see that reserve team captain Danny Hollands, (right) who has been on loan to Torquay United since January, looks as though he has helped steer Torquay to safety with a shock 2-1 away win at top of the league Carlisle.
I watched the Torquay v Birmingham FA Cup game earlier this season and Torquay almost snatched the win. I can see Birmingham struggling next year in the Championship.



Anyway - I think I'll be supporting Middlesboro in the UEFA cup final, West Ham in th FA Cup and Barcelona in the Champions League.

The Premiership Top Ten

Games Remaining


Chelsea

Man U

Liverpool

Why I'm Crapping Myself


If Man U beat us by 8 and then beat Middlesborough and Charlton and we lose to Blackburn and Newcastle, they'll take the title on goal difference.......