Euro 2012 - The Pain with Spain

Spain's late win enabled their defence of the trophy to continue at least for another 45 minutes. Having seen the opening game without a recognised striker, the Spanish got a point against Italy. They pasted Ireland with a striker, but that was hardly a shocker. So going into the final game against a strong Croatia who also need victory to ensure qualification, Del Bosque knew that it was a win that would see a passage to the quarter finals especially with Italy still in the frame to qualify. The Croatian's fought bravely but a second half goal from Jesus Nava secured top spot. Italy needed to win although even that may not have been enough had Spain and Croatia drawn 2-2 it would have been good night Azzuri, thankfully for Prandelli's men that was not to happen and a 2-0 win saw them take top spot and await the winners of Group D.

Spain to be honest will have to pull their socks up. Yes people will say they haven't lost and that's a fair point but they have played an Italian side that has been slow and a Republic of Ireland side that has been disappointing compared to previous. Hopefully they will recover from this and will be stronger.

There is a lot of talk that if England play Spain that England will lose. It could happen, but then we might as well go home now. We should look to Chelsea, no one gave them any chance against Barcelona. They proved them wrong. Why can't we prove the rest of  Europe wrong. A game lasts 90 minutes, we play to 90. We should not panic, not react like headless chickens, we must remain composed and take it to the opposition.

Walcott Welbeck Wonderful: young guns kill off Swedes

A delayed kick off for England saw England get the vital three points to take them on the verge of the knockout stages. After Andy Carroll's header had given Hodgson's side a first half lead, it looked like England would just need to defend and build. Of course we all know with England these things don't tend to be simple.

Both teams came out in the second half and it didnt take long for the Swedish to level. The equaliser didnt come with out its fortunes as a deflection saw Glen Johnson look like he may claw it off the line. The bounced off the post and in.

England found themselves 2-1 down as Olaf Mellberg headed home. Visions of Euro 92 may have started to come back to haunt England. Hodgson did what we all had hoped he'd do and in the 60th minute, the yet again disappointing James Milner ( why was he in the squad?) was replaced by Theo Walcott.

Walcott's introduction on the right mafe an immediate difference, he took players on, he looked comfortable and confident. In the 64th minute Stevie G's corner was cleared to just outside the penalty area and a sublime finish from the Gunner saw the game level.

A draw for England wouldnt necessarily have been a disaster, but it would have meant having to beat the Ukraine or face elimination. That event was taken out the equation when Walcott was involved again. He crossed the ball and found Welbeck who cheekily struck the winner with the back of his foot.

England have a good chance to get all three points on Tuesday against Ukraine. Despite flashes of good attacking, I dont see too much trouble. I can see Walcott starting together with Welbeck and Oxlade-Chamberlain. The hot pace of the youngsters could do some real damage against the Ukranian defence. The way the qualification for nations level on points is like, England could very well win having two shiny stickers and a club badge sticker. Should both England and France finish level I would assume given the draw, it may go down to the results against the others unless goal difference does count at some point. I imagine for England fans so long as the Three Lions qualify thats all that matters.

Harry to go? Di Matteo to stay

Over the last few days Harry Redknapp's future at Tottenham has appeared to be thrown into doubt. Despite his denials regarding resignation, talk is rife that there is no agreement getting close in regards Redknapp's new deal. It's reported that Chairman Daniel Levy is not happy about the way Spurs season went downhill as they took 4 wins in the final 13 games. This is clearly not acceptable for Spurs fans or I imagine the Chairman, who had hoped they would not have to worry about 4th spot Champions League worries. Spurs saw their North London rivals Arsenal pip them to third and Champions League football. It will also be interesting if this uncertainty and no Champions League football will lead to players leaving the Lane. 

One man who looks to be going nowhere is Roberto Di Matteo. The decision makers at Stamford Bridge look like they will be keeping the Champions League winning Italian for a little bit longer. It is an interesting one. Di Matteo was there with Andre Villas Boas whose disappointing run saw his departure from the Bridge. Minding that Di Matteo was a link and assistant manager, usually he would get the boot. Something  was different for the former Chelsea player, they seemed to enjoy playing for him (although John Terry seemed to enjoy directing behind RDM's back). With the new signings arriving at the Bridge, it will be interesting to see if the form continues into the new season.

Euro 2012 - England good start, Rusian fan trouble

Despite all the fears and worries regarding England's performance against the 'Mighty France'. The French seemed to get the rub of the green with several decisions 'missed' by the referee. The French attack also found themselves to long range shooting as the England defence held strong despite the Nasri goal that deceived his club team mate Joe Hart.The big issue from England was that the defence went to deep which inevitably lead to the goal. There were many positives and an all round decent performance and the debut of Oxlade-Chamberlain brings great promise not just for this competition but to England's future.So long as England management don't rush him too soon seeing how young he is, Oxlade-Chambers can become and England great.

Co hosts Ukraine got their campaign off to a win over Sweden. Not sure how many would have called this result but it gives hope to England when they face them this Friday. Former Chelsea man Andrei Shevchenko got both goals to put his side 2-1 up and an unbeaten start.

Russian fans continued to bring trouble to the championship. Following incidents at the opening game against the Czech Republic, Russian 'supporters' clashed with Polish 'supporters' before the game. Clashes lead to arrests and Uefa are going to investigate. It will be interesting to see what they do, I hope they come down tough, but whether they do, will be another matter.

Euro 2012 opener - More than we expected

When the opening game was decided as Poland v Greece, did anyone expect it to be anything other than 3 points for the joint hosts. Well 2 red cards and a missed penalty later and it indeed turned out to be a decent game. Poland took the lead after the Greek keeper Chalkias went awol and let Lewandowski in. It looked like it was game over just before half time, the Greeks found themselves rather harshly down to ten men after Papastathopoulos was adjudged to have held Obraniak, who appeared to have no more than lost his footing. A second yellow card saw the 2004 winners a man down a goal down and up against it. Well that was what we may have been thinking. An early substitution for Greece proved to be inspired as Salpingidis levelled the score. Greece seemed to be on the charge and it looked like they could get something from the game. Poland's Szczesny gave the Greeks an opportunity with a foolish tackle and giving himself an early bath and a one game suspension. Up stepped Karagounis with a chance to put the Greeks ahead but a dive to his left saw substitute goalkeeper save the penalty and keep it level. The save proved vital and the game finished as a draw.

Russia took on the Czech Republic in the other Group A game. The Russian's took the Czechs apart despite the good early start from the Czechs, the Russians were in control. For one Chelsea goalkeeper it would be a night to forget. A while since the big man conceded 4 goals in one game, whether it happens again who knows, but the man with the Champions League medal will be hoping that his national team mates can turn it round so he can have small hope of having a European Championship medal added to his collection.

Chelsea Blues - short guest blog post by Riz Hafiz

It's a good portent that a London club wins the Champions League when the city is hosting the Olympics. But any neutral big-ups are nullified, at a stroke, when you see the unedifying antics of John Terry..the most shameless, in your face footballer going. It shows he has no regret for what he has done while the case is impending.. it leaves a huge distaste in the mouth. Get to the back of the victory bus; it's called keeping a respectful, low profile. You could say Hodgson has picked him because of his clout; as is quite evident Terry is a force unto himself and the manager was afraid not to pick him.

Then there's Torres also undermining the win; he causes trouble wherever he goes. This wasn't the time to try and overshadow the moment; it wasn't about him. He was the option, albeit an expensive one, he wasn't going to dislodge focused Drogba.

When your hands are in the fate of others it can go against you as Tottenham found out. Having lost 5-1; the bigger the match the bigger the implosion, their destroyers in chief delivered that final blow. Arguably Spurs stopped playing as a team when it began to dawn on some individuals that it would indeed be another false dawn. The 5-2 against Arsenal was the seminal bad result and the team will break up.

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So it comes to an end

So another season comes to an end. Manchester City the noisy neighbours gatecrashed the party in style. They did it in Fergie time. Fergie might have been pleased had it been the other way round, but this time he had to watch his team do their bit and still find it not enough. By United's standards a season bereft of trophies is not something they enjoy. Manchester City looked dead and buried for the title even when Joey 'psychology' Barton opted to end the season in the most unsportsmanlike way. Frankly I cant imagine him playing until October if he does play again for QPR. City eventually picked up and the rest is as thee y say history.e

Arsenal stuck one in the eye over their North London rivals Tottenham. For most of the season the Gunners were playing catch up and it would seem that Champions League footy would be a no go. I don't know if Arsene had words with the media and planted the Harry for England campaign in the world, it seemed to upset the boys at White Hart Lane. Spurs suddenly self destructed which included a capitulation in the FA Cup semi final against Chelsea. It came down the last game and it was all to play for. West Brom nearly gave a great leaving present for Roy Hodgson and a gift for Spurs. Once again Spurs fans would be left wondering what may have been when the games came to an end.

Liverpool departed with Kenny Dalglish, 8th place a League Cup win and FA Cup runners up may have been good for other clubs, but not for Liverpool FC as Dalglish found out. The search for a new manager began and ever since various names have been linked and rejected but Roberto Martinez of Wigan and Andres Villas Boas formerly of Chelsea have now been connected in high regard. One thing that can be said of Kenny Dalglish for all his pitfalls and errors of judgement, is that he united a club that had not been so long from being on the brink of administration. The club had new owners and Roy Hodgson had been removed.after a start not seen at Anfield since the early 50s.

Chelsea had a bad start, the players blamed the manager and his way of doing things. Chelsea were out of the top 4 and having a bad run. This inability to take collective responsibility for their on field performances lead to the departure of yet another manager at Stamford Bridge. Despite progessing in the Champions League and FA Cup it wasnt enough and the Portuguese manager was gone. In came Chelsea legend Roberto Di Matteo as Interim manager. He got the players 'united' and the club moved on. They went on a run in the league before dropping points against Newcastle which would make the move towards 4th place more difficult. This would lead to one night in Munich which would make history.  They would be the first London club to win the Champions League not only that they would beat German opposition on penalties. They had a week or two before won the FA Cup at Wembley. 

Newcastle fans had something to be pleased about. They finished a respectable fifth narrowly missing out on fourth, which although wouldnt bring Champions League, it would be a decent placing under the leadership of Alan Pardew. Pardew of course a man derided on arrival to the club after the departure of Hughton in 2010. Having signed some players that would make a difference to the season, Pardew rightly received Manager of the Year award. Next season barring a crazy self destruction I would expect the Toon to continue marching upwards.

Tottenham's failure to get Champions League football next season could prove costly. Luca Modric is rumoured to want away and this could see the Modric to Chelsea saga raise its head again. Bale has been linked with a move away but to whom will be a question. Of course he may very well put his loyalty to the club and stay with Spurs and fight to get Champions League footy next season. We will have to wait and see.

Two players that will be definitely at different clubs are Didier Drogba and Owen Hargreaves. Drogba who had wanted two years and not the one year that Chelsea offered, could not have signed off his Chelsea career in a better way by winning the Champions League. The last few days saw him staying and going but it took himself to finally say that his Chelsea career was at an end. Love him or hate him, his skill and knack for scoring will be missed in the Premier League. It will now be upto others new signings or current player and whinging Fernando Torres, to carry on the mantle. 

Owen Hargreaves was released by Manchester City. It was always a risky signing for the former Man United player who was beset by injuries, so it was no surprise that his time at City has come to an end. Whether he continues or hangs up his boots is a matter for him. I guess we'll find out in time.