UEFA Champions League Groups

There is only 1 match left in the group stages, and though several question marks remain, most of the big boys have assured themselves of advancement to the round of 16.  Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Arsenal, and Barcelona are through as group winners.  That's 5 spots.  AC Milan have also qualified.  No surprises there.

Group A looked difficult from the outset, and despite Villareal's performance, has lived up to its billing.  Napoli play Villareal in Spain, and while it is no sure thing, the Italians seem likely to get at least a point there.  That means, in order to advance in their first Champions League appearance, Manchester City have to defeat high-flying Bayern Munich.  The game is in Manchester, and already-qualified Bayern may rest some players, but the Blues are still behind the 8 ball at this point.  It may be Europa League for them.

Bolton's Goal-scoring Prowess...

...may once again be dependent upon Nicolas Anelka.

No, the Frenchman will not be returning to the Reebok, but where he plays next year will have a big affect on who is up front for the Wanderers.  If Anelka stays at Chelsea, that could well mean that Daniel Sturridge is available on loan for another season.  As we all know, Owen Coyle would love to have the young striker back at Middlebrook Leisure Center.

However, if one or more from Anelka, Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, Florent Malouda, and Salomon Kalou decides to move on, Sturridge will probably feature in Chelsea's first team next season.  If this scenario sounds familiar, that is because we went through the same thing with Jack Wilshire and Arsenal last season.

I think Daniel Sturridge is an outstanding player, and I want the absolute best for him and his career, I just hope that best involves a 25-goal season for the Wanderers in 2011-2012.

Chelsea - 1 Bolton - 0

Chelsea had a spell of about five minutes in the second half of this match where they really looked a threat. They scored their goal, had an effort cleared off the line, and forced a good save out of Jussi Jaaskelainen.  Other than that, they looked a lot like Arsenal at their absolute worst.  Loads of possession, but no cutting edge, no chances created, no evidence of even the desire to score a goal.

Bolton on the other hand, looked fairly good, especially during the first half.  One of the TV analysts even argued that Wanderers had created the better chances.  A lot of this was down to Fabrice Muamba and Stuart Holden (Pictured, Below).  Chelsea's three-man midfield of Michael Essien, Ramires, and Frank Lampard is probably worth £60 million, and they were dominated by the two central men in the Bolton midfield.

Muamba and Holden covered more ground than the Chelsea three, snuffed out any threats they made, and created some chances at the other end.  Just an epic, box-to-box performance, from two players under 25 who cost a combined £5 million.  Both have recently signed contract extensions, and neither has shown any desire to leave Bolton.

Champions League Thoughts

Partizan Belgrade and Arsenal played a very strange match.  Three penalties, two missed, as well as some strange goals, and other questionable challenges, all added to Arsenal's usual reluctance to punish inferior teams.  The big question for Arsenal, other than why didn't Wenger buy a better keeper this summer;  Was Gael Clichy rested with Chelsea coming on Sunday, or has he been dropped for Kieran Gibbs (pictured, right)?

Ajax looked good, as I thought they would.  They didn't have enough to turn over Real Madrid in Madrid, but AC Milan have no answer for the young legs and silky skills of the Amsterdam lads. Milan were extremely lucky to hold on for a point, it should have been 4-0.  I really think Ajax kept Martin Jol and kept their World Cup stars because they think they are good enough to make a serious run in Europe this season.  Can they win the Champions League?  Probably not.  If they go out in the group stage will they sell their five best players in January?  Probably.  But if I am one of the big clubs, I do not want to see Ajax in the round of sixteen.

Chelsea v Bolton Wanderers

The Wanderers make the long journey down to London Tuesday, and the chances of them coming back in a good mood seem slim. Chelsea are at the top of the league, 1 point clear of Manchester United and 3 points ahead of Arsenal, and judging by their current form they have no intention of relinquishing that position. Bolton, on the other hand, have lost 3 in a row and only remain 5 points clear of the relegation zone because of other club's terrible form.

If I were Owen Coyle, I would use this match to experiment a bit. Bolton have not scored in (I believe) 8 of their last 11 league matches. It is time to try something new. We are likely to get anything from this match, so why not go for it. Put on a show, attack, attack, attack, and see what happens. To be fair, the problem has not been creating chances really, but putting the chances created on target. Here are some suggestions;

Attack wide with the fullbacks: Chelsea play very narrow through the midfield, and this is an area where they can be exploited, but Paul Robinson cannot be involved. I would play Gretar Steinnson at right-back and Sam Ricketts at left-back. They can both get forward, and there will be space to put balls into the box.

Ivan Klasnic. He is the only forward that we have who makes you feel like he is going to score every time he touches the ball. I think he could play off Elmander quite well, but Coyle, much like his predecessors, would sooner drink hot piss than drop Kevin Davies, so that will not happen, but I can live with Klasnic and Davies up top.

Move Jack Wilshere inside. Everyone keeps saying he will move inside eventually, just do it now. It worked when we did it with Stuart Holden, and I think Wilshere is a similar player. He will see more of the ball, and it will allow us to get some legitimate pace wide in the person of Vladimir Weiss. It is a very young, very attacking midfield, but I like it. Why not give it a try, we have nothing to lose.

Super Sunday every week

I've got my hot cuppa, I've got my beans on toast, and I am ready to watch Chelsea play Arsenal in what the English media is billing as a title decider. The fact that after today each club will have 14 more league matches to play doesn't fit into the narrative, so is being dutifully ignored.

I believe this is a symptom of a larger change in the Premier League, which many have yet to notice or appreciate. This change is that the talent gap has closed, not between the top and the bottom, where it is still a gulf, but between the top and the middle. Gone are the days when Arsenal can complete a season without losing a match, or Chelsea can lose only 1 match on their way to 92 points.

The big teams are dropping points this season, and I believe their are 2 reasons for this.

First, as I mentioned above, clubs such as Manchester City, Aston Villa, Tottenham, and even Everton have improved. Maybe not to the point where they are going to challenge for the title, not this year anyway, but to the point where they can take points off the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea far more frequently than they could 3 or 4 years ago.

Far more interesting is the second reason for this trend. This centers around the bottom of the table club's reaction to the strengthening of many formerly mid-table teams. In past years, a relegation threatened club expected little to no points from 8 matches against the so-called Big Four. The manager would put 10 men behind the ball in the away match and hope not to get embarrassed. And the home match wasn't very different, with the best case scenario often being a single point. This left another 30 matches from which to achieve the 40 or so points needed to stay up.

With the improvement of the other clubs I mentioned, managers of clubs such as Hull, Wigan, Bolton, Sunderland, etc., had a decision to make. They had to decide if they were able to sacrifice even more games, put even more importance on the matches against fellow strugglers. Some, such as McCarthy, Megson, Hart, chose this route. But many others went in the other direction. They decided to abandon the tactic of sacrificing matches, to actually try and win every game their club played. And it has completely changed the look of the league.

A lot more goals are being scored, a lot more end-to-end football is being played, and a lot more points are being dropped by the members of the big four. In fact, I would wager that Manchester United has seen more clubs play two strikers against them so far this season than in the previous 2 seasons combined. Now this tactic doesn't always work, we have seen some struggling clubs try to attack the big sides and get embarrassed 4-1, 5-0, 6-2, even 9-1 on 1 occasion.

Personally, I like this change. This newfound ambition can only be good for a league that had become all too predictable the last few years.

Champions of Europe

Congratulations to Manchester United.  It was a good performance, and overall a good game.  I still get irritated by the tactics though.  Surely Ferguson and Grant know more about football than I do, after all they are professional managers and I am sitting in a pub in Honolulu, but do they really have to be that defensive.  

Chelsea and Manchester United must have 500 millon pounds worth of players in their respective squads, including such attacking luminaries as Drogba, Ronaldo, Rooney, Joe Cole, Tevez, Anelka, Nani, Kalou, and several more.  Sometimes I just found myself yelling at the screen, "For christ's sake, go and try to win the match!"

As a Bolton supporter, I can only dream about having such attacking options, so it just drives me nuts to see teams with the resources to build such a squad not use it.  

Until this summer that is, when Megson will spend 30 million pounds and buy a strike force that will lead us to glory.

Champions League Final Set

It will be Chelsea and Manchester United fighting for the Champions League title in Moscow on May 21st.  This all English final, the first in Champions League history, features two teams who are also fighting each other for their domestic league title.  Chelsea just beat United last weekend in a thrilling match at Stamford Bridge in west London, and it will be interesting to see if this affects the players' mindset when they meet up in Russia.  

Last season, Manchester United won the league title, and then the two teams met in the FA Cup final.  Chelsea won that dire and forgettable match.  Hopefully the meeting in Moscow will be a much more exciting affair.

If I had to make a prediction at this point, I would take Chelsea to win it.  The players just now seem to be coming together under manager Avram Grant.  They played their best game of the season against United last Saturday, and looked good against Liverpool Wednesday night, particularly in extra time.  They won't win the domestic title because of United's superior goal difference, but I look for them to win the trophy they really want in Moscow.  

One more thought, once his club have captured Europe's biggest club trophy, will billionaire owner  Roman Abramovich lose interest, and eventually sell the club?