Greetings folks! My country is dressed with the colours of the rainbow this festive season as there seem to be fireworks in the sky, and on the field. Pun unintended.

This is my first article in close to a month courtesy a deadly mosquito bite that almost cost me my life. But glory be, here I am to
lay down my views and such on the world’s most popular sport (off the bed).

The season is 2 months old now – Half way from the next transfer window opening - and the time seems ripe to judge who made the right buys, who spent a lot on another failure, and who is ruing the departure of a former player.

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Fans following Premiership clubs other than Chelsea are usually quite indignant of any suggestions that Chelsea can teach their team a lesson or two about football.

I’m guessing it’s the same with Barcelona and La Liga fans - I figure I would be pissed too, but let’s not allow personal grudges to hinder our clubs in their quest for greatness, shall we?

Here are a few aspects of football that both Barcelona and Chelsea have excelled in and that other teams could learn from.

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A preview of the key matches on Matchday 4 that will determine who qualifies to the second round.

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On the back of a dissapointing defeat to the old enemy last time out in the league, Liverpool’s return to Anfield saw a dominant win against Martin O’Neill’s unbeaten Villa. Has it really happened?

Have Liverpool turned the corner?

I think so.

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Newcastle wasted an excellent chance to move clear of the relegation zone when they could only draw 0-0 with a poor Charlton side on Saturday after dominating the game. Unfortunately possession does not win games, goals do - and Newcastle had one of those days where they just couldn’t beg, steal or borrow a goal.

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Since I missed the whole of last week (and I’ll pretend you guys missed me too), here’s a quick look at the more ‘interesting’ stories from days just gone by.

Warning - this is a long post.

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We seem to have so many players that appear world class in the England team yet we haven’t won anything since 1966. Why is that?

The reason is not hard to see even though it may be uncomfortable for us to admit.

When games come up that really matter - like the Portugal game during the world cup, or the recent game against Croatia in the European championship - the stage seems just too big for the players and they fold like shrinking violets.

I would suggest we don’t call players like Gerrard, Lampard, Ferdinand, Terry or others “world class” until they deliver on the big stage - preferably for England - and they haven’t done that yet.

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….by playing like United, of course!

While my fellow Manchester United fans celebrate Rooney’s return to form and United’s return to the top of the table (that goal difference (+18 right now) is going to come in handy one day), I want to take this moment to focus on the lessons we can all learn from today’s match at The Reebok.

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Holidays, a massive backlog of ‘little stuff’ that ‘has to be done’, Carling Cup football and a couple of other reasons mean that I’ve decided to take a few days off from blogging here and at BlogFC.

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When the 5-time European champions are outmuscled by Darren Fletcher, you know there’s a serious problem.

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Fabio Capello knows the importance of this game - with Madrid already behind in the league and looking less and less likely to be able to catch up, Capello knows that the result of this game will have a big bearing on how his, and Madrid’s, season turns out.

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2 hours to go before kickoff, and I’m itching for the game to get started.

As a fan you want your team to win every match, but there a few key battles every year that you always relish just a little bit more than the rest.

Manchester United vs Liverpool doesn’t have the same shine any more for the neutrals as Manchester United vs Arsenal or Manchester United vs Chelsea, but speaking strictly on the basis of pride, tradition and pre-season predictions, Liverpool are one side I’ve really wanted United to beat this time around.

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Back with another edition of the Soccerlens Roundup - Henry as a 19-year kid, more West Ham takeover talks, the wrath of Arsenal fans, the low-key El Classico and a look at the weekend’s matches as well.

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A scrambled 79th minute goal by Antione Sibierski was enough to give Newcastle a crucial victory over Fenebahce on Thursday night at St. James’ Park in front of a disappointing crowd of only 30,000.

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Hey guys…

Wasn’t able to blog about the Chelsea v Barca game (fantastic play by Mourinho and his boys) and I know this is a tad bit late, but here are a few of the top goals (even one that wasn’t allowed) scored on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Teams

• Chelsea
• Arsenal
• Manchester United
• Real Madrid
• AC Milan

Enjoy while I go reply to the Arsenal fans over at BlogFC

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Taking a breather from the Champions League, here’s an interesting bit of news:

“Phil Bardsley’s time at Rangers could be over after a bust-up in training with manager Paul Le Guen.

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It is indicative of Chelsea’s ill reputation that Jose Mourinho’s just concerns about Petr Cech were scorned and his comments on Stephen Hunt criticised and vilified in the media.

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There were constant reminders before the match that Manchester United should take this contest semi-seriously, if not pay full attention to it.

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Manchester United go into this match with one eye on their Sunday clash with Liverpool. Copenhagen are no mugs (as Benfica and Celtic have found out) but playing at Old Trafford, with United back in good form, it’s quite likely that we will motor through in second gear and keep the players fresh for Sunday.

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Real Madrid and Manchester United share a couple of very interesting records in the Champions League.

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Arguably the biggest match of the group stages (bigger than Inter and Bayern, bigger than Madrid and Lyon). Enough has been written about the rivalry between the two sides, so I’ll focus on the key issues that will have an impact on the match result.

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Fixture list, previews and predictions for all 16 matches being played today and tomorrow.

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Another home game, another loss, and another woeful performance from the Newcastle defense just about sums up Newcastle’s season so far - very frustrating and worrying.

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If you haven’t heard so far, Petr Cech’s injury, which needed immediate surgery for a depressed skull fracture, means that the Chelsea first-choice goalkeeper will be out of action for a long time.

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Ronaldo and Neville injured, Giggs not fit, United playing 4-5-1, away at the JJB Stadium, a Wigan side looking to turn their season around…not the best of omens for a team looking to win the Premiership title.

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Update: The videos in this post were uploaded on YouTube, and they were ‘removed’ by YouTube because of a DMCA complaint made by the FA Premier League. More details can be found here.

Mourinho compared Hunt’s ‘challenge’ on Cech to Ben Thatcher’s elbow - an over-reaction, but seeing Hunt make no effort to jump over Cech and instead slide in knee-down into Cech’s head was sickening and smacked of crazy recklessness, if not deliberate foul play.

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I’m writing the match report (yes, I did end up watching after all), but I thought that I should put up the goal videos at least.

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A quick look at the news today:

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There’s a lot of debate going on about what England and McClaren should do to turn things around.

England have not become ‘bad’ all of a sudden. This was a stale team that was rejuvenated in 1998 and 2000 by Michael Owen, carried in 2002 by David Beckham, rejuvenated again in 2004 by Rooney and Lampard, carried in 2006 by Gerrard and Beckham.

In short, this bunch of ’super-talented’ players have always relied on a handful of stars to bail them out of trouble when the going gets tough. That’s the key bit - when it gets tough. Against Andorra and Greece and Jamaica England were happy to put in 15 goals, but when it came to scoring against Macedonia we managed just 1 in 2 games.

Something is drastically wrong, and not with the playing staff.

A few ideas on what’s gone wrong:

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Much has been made about the impact of the international break on Arsenal’s players and how Watford are fresher. Myles thinks that the game will be a little bit more even. It’s predictable journalistic drivel, that’s what.

One of two things will happen:

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