On England: My reactions to their 4-0 Euro victory over Bulgaria

For those who don't know, the World Cup is not all there is to international football. No, each continent has their own tournament amongst their nations, and foremost among those, as one might imagine, is the Euro. The Euro happens once every four years, just like the World Cup. Qualifying began yesterday, and here are my notes on England's 4-0 route of Bulgaria.

In Wembley Stadium on Friday, Fabio Capello showed all of his critics what he can really do as a manager. For the most part, the 4-0 thrashing of Bulgaria was quite impressive, but a couple of things are still worrying me.

First, lets look at the positives in this extremely impressive victory:

1. Rooney: playing well, still might not be himself. It really got a lot harder to not be a fan of Wayne Rooney after his performances recently, especially for the English national team. Roo knows that he isn't in scoring form, so he's been selflessly setting up teammates for goal after goal.

Defoe (pictured above) came out, as he should have, today to thank his strike partner for his hat-trick success yesterday, saying that he couldn't have done it without Roo. We'll get to how good Defoe was later, but the point is important. Rooney set up Defoe perfectly several times, with balls flipped over hapless Bulgarian defenders, clinically weighted through balls, and clever play all over the field.

Roo has also done a great job dropping back into the midfield to help distribute play to the attacking players. This was always one of his major strengths as a striker, and he seems to have gotten at least that part of his game all the way back.

As for his drive, how could you say it isn't there? Roo will always give everything he has, chase down any defender that comes within ten feet of him, blow defenders to the ground when he's on the ball. He's just a tryer, and for that reason I've never understood his mixed reception by English fans. With that said, it seemed like the Wembley faithful were very much behind their star man, so that's good.

2. Wide players: creative, fast, hard-working.

A problem for the English national team in the world cup was a lack of any players out wide. Somehow, there was simply no width to the English attack, and Aaron Lennon and others like him weren't able to get it done for the Three Lions. This was a cause for major concern, as delivery from out wide is key for a side that has players like Crouch at their disposal.

But, yesterday, the guns were out on display. James Milner, in particular, was an absolute work horse. Chasing down every ball, providing a great creative touch, and bringing a lot of width to play, Milner looked exceptional at Wembley.

Walcott is still struggling to play the right ball consistently, but he looked promising, particularly with his lethal speed.

Coming in at the 73rd minute, Manchester City's Adam Johnson was the high point of Capello's strategy in this match. Johnson was quick, thoughtful, and full of explosive energy. His goal cemented the win for England and was a low, driven ball at the near post. A perfect winger goal for what was a perfect day for the wingers of the Three Lions.

3. Jermain Defoe: Oh yeah, he's really good. As promised, let's look at Jermain Defoe, without question the man of the match in this game and his three goals. Defoe proved today why he is, was, and always has been a top class striker. He is the only English striker with the giddyup to get in behind defenders and he showed that skill quite well in the match. It helps when Rooney, who has great vision, is feeding you the ball with every run you make.

Defoe is also a top class finisher, and showed this skill quite well as well. If Defoe had a bad run of form last season, then he is certainly in the twilight of his career this season. His presence alongside Rooney makes England an almost definite shoe-in to qualify for Euro 2012.

4. Other notes: Gerrard seems to be struggling a bit, giving the ball away quite a lot. However, he looks more and more comfortable in central midfield and gets better and better every time I see him in his new niche.

Central defenders: two new faces. Jagielka and Michael Dawson are two of the up and coming stars in English football, and both of whom were starting on friday. Unfortunately, Dawson suffered a ligament injury in this game and will be out for six to eight weeks.

Ashley Cole: answering for his mistakes. Ashley Cole was a notable absentee in terms of form in South Africa a few months back, but he's clearly back in top form for his country and club. His speed, defensive abilities, and passing skills were on display and he proved how vital he is to the Three Lions attack with his brutal overlapping runs coming out of right fullback.

Joe Hart is a beast. It seems that all of the goalkeeping questions have been answered for England with Joe Hart. His reaction time, size, skill with his feet, and jumping ability all are top class. He will probably be England's number one for quite a while.

Now for the bad things. There aren't many, but they are worth mentioning.

1. Glen Johnson doesn't really know how to play football. Johnson is arguably one of the best athletes in the world. His stamina, strength, and speed are all there. But something about Johnson has always been a little off, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Some of the balls he plays are absolutely head-scratching. His clearances are never consistently safe. He doesn't seem to be on the same page with the rest of the players around him. His defensive abilities have always been suspect. These are the main critiques of Johnson, and they're as old as his career, but that's because he doesn't seem to be getting any better.

2. Still questions in the back. In defense for England, there were numerous miscommunications that could have cost goals, and it's been that way for a while now. These guys just don't seem to be on the same page half the time.

And the speed in defense just isn't there. This has always been a problem for England, and they've always combatted it by keeping a razor thin offside trap, but they need to be careful when they play sprightly, quick teams like Germany or Holland.

3. Gareth Barry is a sissy.

Barry is a secure, strong player to have in the center of the field. But my complaint of him will always be the same: he's a pansy who has no quality in the final third. Barry's only strategy in the final third is to seek contact and take a dive. He did it at least three in this game that I could see. He has no offensive lethality whatsoever, and just should stop taking the ball into the danger area.

All in all, it was an impressive display from the Three Lions in their debut Euro game, and I am optimistic for the future of English football.

Other news from Euro qualifying: France loses 1-0 to Belarus, Klaas Jan-Huntelaar gets a hat trick for Holland, Spain, Germany, and Italy win, Scotland ties Lithuania.

Thanks for reading!

On the Premier League: Match Day number two.

Match day number two in the Barclays Premier League was full of goals and full of excitement. I'll be giving you my impressions of the major clubs, as well as my reactions from some great games today.

Without further ado, let's see how the Gunners faired today:

1. Arsenal 6-0 Blackpool.

Blackpool found themselves in Emirates Stadium today after defeating Roberto Martinez's Wigan Athletic 4-0 last week. This was the first victory for Blackpool in top flight English football since 1973.

However, Blackpool were brusquely shaken from their dream today with a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Arsene Wenger's ailing Arsenal side.

The man of the match today, quite obviously, was Theo Walcott. Walcott got a hat trick today and each goal was well deserved. He showed off his blazing pace and finally demonstrated that he can strike the ball with his left foot. This was a big match for Walcott, who has fallen out of favor with the Emirate faithful in recent years. But he showed today exactly what it is that makes him a special player in top flight football.

But Walcott would have never been able to get some of these goals were it not for the marvelous and tireless efforts of Tomas Rosicky, who was the orchestrator of nearly every Arsenal attack and was breathtaking on the ball.

Indeed, the one touch football was on display in a big way for the Gunners, as Rosicky, Chamakh, Diaby, Wilshere, and Ashravin passed circles around the hapless Blackpool defenders.

Speaking of those players, let's evaluate their performances. Jack Wilshere, the promising young English starlet, was impressive today. He was all over the field and had a great work rate. Abou Diaby was, as he was last week, untouchable on the ball and was monumental in linking play. He also ended up with a well deserved, well finished goal. Andrei Ashravin continued to not impress me today, with a relatively timid performance. He mishandled a number of balls and really didn't seem like his old self. He got a goal from a penalty which left Blackpool with only 10 men, but other than that, the Russian looked rusty. Marouane Chamakh, until finally connecting with his head on a cross to get the sixth goal, was miserable. Mishandling balls left and right and an absolutely comical miss on an open goal made the Frenchman look a little ridiculous. Hopefully he'll find his form before too long.

Cesc Fabregas finally made an appearence late on in the game, but still didn't seem to be totally fit. Robin Van Persie also came in and continued to fail to live up to expectations. Both looked flat footed and out of shape. But, they have Arsene Wenger coaching them, so these things, you'd think, will change soon.

In the back the Gunners were rock solid, particularly the returning Alex Song who chased down every ball and cleared his lines without fail.

2. Chelsea 6-0 Wigan Athletic

Not to be outdone, Chelsea also put half a dozen on their opponent, the woeful Wigan managed by Roberto Martinez.

Of particular note were the Chelsea center backs Alex and John Terry, who extinguished any hope that Wigan had in the match throughout. Florent Malouda got his third of the season to start the scoring, but that was the only goal in the first half. In the second act though, Chelsea piled on the goals, with two for Nicolas Anelka, two for Salomon Kalou, and Yossi Benayoun finished off Wigan soundly.

3. Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Stoke City

Both goals in the match for Spurs were scored by Gareth Bale, the young talented Welshman. His first goal was hilarious, bouncing off his head, unbenownest to him, into the goal in a fray in the 18 yard box.

His second, however, was sublime. A cross from Aaron Lennon found Bale on the left flank. Then Bale swung with his left foot, catching the ball beautifully and sending it on it's way to the upper 90.

Tottenham were helped greatly by this win in their hopeful quest to stay in the top four, and also gain some confidence ahead of their Champions League bout with Young Boys, whom they trail 3-2 in the aggregrate.

Other news: West Ham lose again 3-1 to Bolton at home with Upson starting the scoring with an own goal, West Brom debut boy Peter Odemwingie (signed two days ago) gets the only goal in their match against Sunderland providing a welcome victory after their thrashing at the hands of Chelsea, Everton continue to disappoint drawing 1-1 with Wolves, Birmingham surprised Blackburn with a come from behind 2-1 victory.

That's all from me today, stay tuned tomorrow from comments on MANCHESTER UNITED's second match against Fulham, on at 11 AM on the Fox Soccer Channel.

On Bayern Munich: Notes from their classic opening game against VFL Wolfsburg.

German giants Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg faced off today in the opening match of the world's top scoring football league: the Bundesliga. And all of the bells and whistles were clanging and clattering. In my feed from an Italian television station, I saw the opening ceremonies. These consisted of children in giant plastic balls running around the field in Bayern and Wolfsburg jerseys. It was amusing, as German culture often is.

But now, to the match. This was a tale of two halves, as some football matches turn out to be. I will first break down the major events of the game, then get more in depth:

In the first half, Bayern totally dominated possession. I believe the tally was 72% to 28%, which is absurd.

Bayern wasted no time getting on the scoreline, as in the 8th minute clever one-touch interplay between youngsters Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller (the World Cup's Golden Boot winner) generated the first goal. Muller's finish was clinical and left Wolfsburg's Swiss keeper Diego Benaglio flat-footed in disbelief. It seemed that the world would be in for another Bundesliga season dominated by the boys in red and white stripes from Munich.

Other than this, no real chances were generated in the first half, as Bayern knocked the ball around looking for a way through.

The second half found Wolfsburg very much on the front foot, mostly because of a substitution of midfielders Tolga Cigerci for Zvjezdan Misimovic. I personally don't know why Misimovic wasn't starting, as I consider the Bosnian to be an absolute artist with the football at his feet. But here I was saying I'd save the analysis for afterwards.

Anyway, Wolfsburg generated two great chances, the first for Mario Manzukic, whose effort agonizingly hit the post. The second came from Edin Dzeko, who forced a great save from Bayern keeper Jorg Butt with an extremely impressive driven shot that menacingly dipped halfway on it's way to the upper 90.

The corner that followed would produce the equalizer, as Dzeko rose unchallenged, flicking the ball into the top right corner.

From here, things quieted down again, as Bayern once again dominated the game. Bayern soon changed out an all but absent Miroslav Klose for Mario Gomez, and switched in Danijel Pranjic for Kroos.

It looked as if the game would finish level, and Wolfsburg seemed happy to let it do so. But, in the 91st minute, Franck Ribery whipped in a cross that looked too far, something that plagued him all night. But sliding in on the back post was the man of the match (not arguable), Bastian Schweinsteiger (pictured above), who got a touch on the ball, slotting it into the goal. Jubiliation for Bayern, who were playing in front of a lively and bursting to the seams Allianz Arena, and dejection for Wolfsburg followed.

And now for the analysis, first for Bayern:

First we'll start off with the bad stuff. The problem for Bayern in this game is a problem they struggled all last season with. Of course, they still won a double and got to the final of the Champions League, so I guess "struggle" isn't really the right word. But at any rate, the fact is, Klose barely touched the ball in this game. He looked to be totally lost and just didn't seem to be a part of the gameplan to begin with. However, he wasn't helped by Ribery, who, I think, had a less than great game, until the last minute of course. Every ball he played in was over everyone's head, and he seemed to have no pace at all with the ball. He just didn't look lethal in any respect.

Even when Klose was taken out for Gomez nothing was happening up top for Bayern. The one striker that I think really fits in this team is Ivica Olic, who was unavailable for this game. Here's why: he's fast, can pass well, and works well in structured environments. Klose and Gomez are good for teams that rely on a defense-counter system, so they can stand on one end of the field, get into the box when their team has the ball before anyone else can get back, and out muscle the one man on them and head it in. All of Klose's 14 goals for Germany were made inside of the penalty box. He needs good service, and that's not how Bayern works.

Let me explain further with this game as an example, Bayern work best when their talented wingers: Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, and Thomas Muller, cut inside, or when they're working the ball through the middle with Schweinstager and Van Bommel.

One more bad thing and then I'll tell you why Bayern are incredible: defending set pieces. In almost every set piece today Bayern were outboxed and outjumped by Edin Dzeko. That's how they conceded the only goal for Wolfsburg, but Dzeko had plenty of other opportunities to convert from these situations. I think Bayern really missed Argentine giant Martin Demichelis inside. Demichelis didn't play because he was basically the reason why Argentina were eliminated in the World Cup, and why Bayern lost the Champions League final against Inter. And all of the fans hate him. Hate him or love him, the guy's big and he's good at set pieces. It's a give and take, really. Quid pro quo.

Now, good things, starting with the best: Bastian Schweinsteiger. Schweiny is a general on the football pitch. It's the only way to describe his ability to organize his side and play exactly the right pass every single time. Not to mention his rare-but-genius runs into the box, the penultimate one being the one that won Bayern this particular game. Schweiny is the Scholes of the Bundesliga, he dictates the game almost single-handedly. He also has the work ethic of two men and will take an inhumane beating for the good of the cause. But of course he always gets up, cuz Schweiny ain't no bitch. Bayern fans must feel assured in knowing that their brightest star is still shining, selflessly, in the Allianz Arena.

Also in midfield today was Mark Van Bommel, who was good. It's hard to really say anything else, because he was just adequate. He did exactly what he had to do, no more, no less. He took a shot at one point that sailed ten yards over the cross bar and I saw him mouth "That's not me." You have to admire his honesty.

I also got a chance to see Toni Kroos today, who was very impressive. The most impressive thing about this new German starlet was his ability to link play between the midfield and the attackers. It was this ability that resulted in Muller's goal. Kroos has pretty good field vision, and also plays with a great speed that gives Bayern a certain lethality in the final third. I look forward to seeing this young man progress, and perhaps even become a 90 minute fixture for them. The Italian commentators seemed to be relishing in the fact that Kroos and the Italian word for cross are quite similar sounding, as they said his name and then that word in quick succession whenever he crossed the ball. It was humorous.

Pranjic coming off the bench and replacing Kroos was also quite good. He's a similar player to Kroos, but just has that bit of experience that I think manager Louis Van Gaal thought would be enough to give Bayern the edge.

Let's move up to the attacking players before we go back. Ribery, despite his game winning cross, I didn't think was very impressive in this game. Most times he was the one who would have generated the chances for Bayern, but he lacked any quality in the final third today to generate those chances until that final minute. As I said earlier, each ball was pretty well over the heads of the Bayern hopefuls in the box, and his shots were tame to say the least. Benaglio sort of flopped on each of them as they rolled toward him, almost mockingly. When Bayern's attacks ended, it was often because of a misplaced ball or a selfish play by the aging Frenchman.

On the other side Muller was phenomenal. Other than his goal, Muller flew around the pitch with the same ease that he showcased in the World Cup. He and Kroos also seem to be on the same wavelength, which I think will be an extremely interesting connection to watch throughout the season. Muller was also the only one making a valiant effort to get the ball in to Klose or Gomez. The problem is that both of them make such nebulous, truly worthless runs in the box, that Muller would often look, and then try and take it himself, knowing that he would just give it away if he tried. I believe that the Italian commentators were saying that Manchester United have interest in Muller, because every time he got the ball they mentioned the club. I hope that doesn't happen. Even though I'm a Man U fan, Muller belongs in Germany and he belongs at this club. I hope he stays.

I won't talk about the strikers, I've already chewed them out enough.

To the back. As I mentioned, Demichelis was out of this match, as Van Gaal preferred another German youngster Holger Badstuber. Badstuber was impressive today. He stormed out of the back and was the starting point of some of Bayern's more promising attacks. He had a few lapses in defense, but overall had a solid debut.

Daniel Van Buyten appeared as usual alongside Badstuber and also had a good game. He hardly wasted a ball and was often where Wolfsburg attacks ended. The Dzeko goal was his fault, I'm pretty sure, but forgive and forget I suppose.

Philipp Lahm was a little less impressive today, not making as many of his infamous overlapping runs out of the back. He was solid in defense, but the usual flare from him wasn't quite there.

Perhaps the most interesting performance was from debut boy Diego Contento. Despite his name, this young man (20) was born in Germany and I personally think he could be the future left back for Germany. I also don't particularly like Boateng, but that's another story for a different day. Young Diego was the fullback on display for Bayern, making a number of audacious and successful runs from the back. He seemed to be everywhere for Bayern. I look forward to the double pronged fullback attack from Lahm and Contento this year.

In goal, Butt was solid, as to be expected. He stopped a shot with his foot, tipped over a howler from Dzeko that would have surely scored, and had good distribution, despite one terrible giveaway.

On to Wolfsburg, which will be more brief:

Midfield: Brazilian Josue and Algerian jackass Karim Ziani (remember him?) were reduced to Van Bommel and Schweinsteiger's tackling dummies. They might as well have been spectators.

Misimovic, when he came in for the second half, was the high point. His passing was brilliant, his moves were slick. His finishing however, would cost Wolfsburg the match.

Cicero was committed almost entirely to defense, which he actually performed valiantly.

Conspiculously absent was star Thomas Kahlenberg. I don't know where he was, maybe he's hurt or something.

Attack: Edin Dzeko is one of the hottest players in the world. He will not stop scoring this year, I promise. His header was sublime and the shot that Butt tipped over I don't think would have been stopped by any other Bundesliga keeper.

Mandzukic was a workhorse and did the work that Josue and Ziani shamelessly didn't do. I'm not sure why Brazilian Grafite didn't start for him. Speaking of Grafite, he came on for like five minutes and did nothing. In case you were wondering.

Defense: Andrea Barzagli was the dominant performance, who was probably the one thing keeping Muller from a brace.

Slovakian Simon Kjaer was also quite good, and played a major part in rendering Klose and then Gomez useless.

Riether and Schafer were the other two, and I honestly barely learned their names.

I've already talked a lot about Benaglio, who was decent. Sucks for him that they lost.

These are all of my reactions from today's match. I'm sure you have some thoughts. You don't need an account to comment, you can be anonymous.

Stay tuned tomorrow for match day number two from the Premier League.

On Mario Balotelli: His debut goal for Manchester City and why I still hate him. (And other news)

Mario Balotelli (pictured above, being a dick). This young man (now 20) made his debut at Inter Milan, which means he has won a treble. He has continually been praised as one of the top up and coming talents this side of Mesut Ozil. At Inter, Mario gained a reputation for being a complacent, cocky, ill mannered player. Not a lot has changed.

At one point in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Barcelona, Inter manager Jose Mourinho didn't think Mario was defending adequately. He yelled at Mario to do better at closing down on the ball. Balotelli stepped off the pitch and refused to play the last minute of the game. So the kid has a bad attitude. And, frankly, I don't think he's particularly great.

This summer when Manchester City began their temptation of the young Ghanaian, Balotelli said that he would accept no less than 180,000 dollars a week and full image rights. Now I'm not sure how much Man City felated that offer, but to offer some perspective, Robinho is currently the highest paid player in the world at 150k a week. Robinho, incidentally, also plays at Moneybags City. At any rate, Balotelli was signed at City for a reported fee of 24 mil, which is relatively high, but not Ronaldo high.

Those are the bad things about Balotelli, here are the good things: He's got a big body that he knows how to use, he's got impeccable balance, has a pretty decent shot, and has skills on the ball as well. This is also a pretty smart signing by City, since Shaun Wright-Phillips isn't getting any younger and is probably no longer a 90 minute player.

Now, as for this late winner that Balotelli scored, I have to say that I'm much more impressed with the play of Emmanuel Adebayor. It's late in the day, and he's still able to get the ball, take it to the byline, and whip in a ball that hits Balotelli in stride. Really, all Mario had to do was be in the right place, fight off the Timisoara defender, and swing his foot. But, a wise man once said a goal is a goal is a goal. One of my rising favorite players, Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez of Man U recently scored a goal by bouncing it off his face, so I'm not really one to talk.

But let's really break this goal down. First of all, City had to dip into their bench against FC Timisoara in the first leg of the Europa League. If that's not evidence of how wrecked this team is, I don't know what is. But, maybe Super Mario has found his home amongst the egotistical jackasses at Man City. First among them being Roberto Mancini.

That's all I've got on Mario, on to other news.

1. William Gallas has moved to Tottenham. This is massive news, I think. This means that Sebastien Bassong may never get to play again, because Spurs now have Ledley King, Michael Dawson, and Gallas. This move is also huge because it's stolen a key defensive man away from Arsenal. Arsenal also just lost Samir Nasri for a month to knee surgery.

Furthermore, King's knee will no longer be the most closely watched three major ligaments in London, because they know that even if he goes down, Gallas will be there. Which brings up the next point, I don't think Gallas will start for this team. I think Redknapp still has great confidence in King and Dawson in the middle, and they are actually one of my favorite pairings in the Premier League. Mostly because they're both actually English.

Anyway, I think Gallas is one of the physically strongest players in football, and he's got a firey temper. Because of that, I think Redknapp will want to play him and King together when he can, since King's cool collected approach will offset the raging Frenchman.

2. Liverpool slip by Trabzonspor. Because of how strange the team's name is that played the Reds, we're going to refer to them as "Trabbles." Awesome. Anyway, the only goal in this game was scored by Ryan Babel in injury time of the first half. Which is a big lift for the Reds because Babel is a long time fan favorite and getting him a goal is never a bad thing. Also, it's his last goal for the Reds, as he was linked with a move to Wolfsburg earlier this week.

However, the major story from this game was Joe Cole missing a penalty. Cole took the penalty because Gerrard wasn't there, but I doubt Roy will give him the opportunity again. This is yet another major setback for Cole after his dismal first game ended 45 early because of a red card. However, it was his great pass that put Babel in on goal, so perhaps the Englishman is breaking into his stride. And you have to applaud Cole's comments afterward, which were that he wasn't going to dwell on it. Hopefully Joe's time at Anfield will get better.

New signing Christian Poulsen apparently had a great game, getting a few chances and passing quite well.

That's all I've got for now, stay tuned tomorrow for comments on Bayern Munich's first game against Wolfsburg.

On Tottenham Hotspur: Evaluating their 3-2 defeat in the Champions League against Young Boys.

First, some background: Tottenham Hotspur have never made it to the Champions League in their club's history. Harry Redknapp accomplished this for the first time for the club this season. But, there's a catch, they had to play one qualifier to get into the group stage. Shouldn't be a problem, right? They just have to get by Swiss club Young Boys. Wrong.

Today: In the 28th minute, Spurs find themselves down 3 goals in Bern. Let's look at why this happened:

1. No Ledley King. Ledley King is the usual captain of Spurs and the central defender who starts alongside countryman Michael Dawson. However, King has a bad knee, and the Young Boys' stadium is Astroturf. So manager Harry Redknapp decided to play it safe and not play him. A great move, I think. But, King is usually the one on the team after they get scored on to calm everyone down and get back to business as usual. With him not there, Dawson was the captain. And he took it upon himself to yell at Benoit Assou-Ekoto and King fill-in Sebastien Bassong. Which they may have deserved, but the effect was spooked defenders and more goals for Young Boys.

But let's talk about the defenders for a moment. Benoit Assou-Ekoto, I guess, used all of his "good" in the match against Manchester City. He got straight up beat in one breakaway that led to a Young Boys' goal, and really couldn't even complete a pass. Bassong saved himself with that goal, because the other two goals were completely his fault. Sub-par marking and a complete ineptness with the ball at his feet were his big fallouts. Dawson looked just as bad in the first half, but he really pulled it together in the second half and looked like his old self. Vedran Corluka actually got forward pretty well in attack and didn't have a half bad game. Other than though, a poor defensive effort from Spurs.

All this to say, Spurs will be happy to get King back on the field at White Heart Lane next week.

2. No Huddlestone in starting line-up. I'm convinced that Spurs are frozen stiff without Tom Huddlestone. The 6'3'' hulk dominates play when he's on the field, and they clearly struggled without him in the starting line-up. I know why he wasn't there though, he plays so damn hard that asking him to come back after playing on Saturday is just too much. However, he did come in for Assou-Ekoto in the 35th minute, and things went better for Spurs from there.

3. Poor performance from Modric. I don't know what Croatian Luka Modric is doing before games these days, but he looks less like the "maestro" he's reported to be and more like a stoner. He really doesn't do anything and gave the ball away multiple times. The testiment to how bad he was was that Redknapp replaced him for Niko Kranjar at the break, who had a great game. I think that Modric at his best is a definite need for this team, but when he's off, he's really off.

Also in midfield, Wilson Palacios didn't look like he had a clue all game. He was giving the ball away left and right, and just didn't seem to know where to position himself on the field. Maybe Redknapp will consider using Jermaine Jenas next match.

4. Astroturf. English boys like grass better. Nuff said.

5. Strikers. Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavyluchenko (before his 83' goal) were struggling, big time. Defoe couldn't get on the end of anything and looked like he had bricks attached to his cleets his touch was so poor. Pavy just kept diving for fouls and was basically worthless. It wasn't until Robbie Keane came on that things really started clicking. He's so good at linking play between the midfield and attack and he did that so effectively late on in this match. It was his pass that put Roman on his way to his thunderous goal. Crouch needed to be rested in this match, and probably wouldn't have done well in this match anyway because of the Astro and the lack of Aaron Lennon. Which brings me to my next point.

6. No Lennon. Aaron Lennon is a speedy little bastard, and he's got pretty great service too. Any side would miss his pace, and this was a team that was constantly struggling to find a final ball. When they found one, such as Gareth Bale's service from the left, things seemd to be going well. But on the other side, Corluka and Dos Santos just couldn't quite get it right. Lennon will be a welcomed return next week at White Heart Lane.

This is what I think went wrong in Berne today, hopefully things will go better next week for Spurs. The good news is, they got two away goals. So really all they have to do is win by at least one next week at White Heart Lane to win in the aggregate score and advance to their club's first Champions League tournament.

On Manchester United: How good their 3-0 victory was today.

It took about 20 minutes, but by the time Manchester had settled in against what proved to be the lesser United (Newcastle), it was easy pickings at Old Trafford. There was a lot to see and take in today for the Red Devils, but here are my main impressions.

1. Old dogs still have plenty of tricks.

Paul Scholes (pictured above) and Ryan Giggs are the old wise men of United at this point. And they proved today that they are still a formidable force in the Premier League and that they will continue to be leaders of the team.

Scholes dictated the entire game. His long balls over the top of the hapless Magpie defense found Nani, Valencia, Berbatov, and so on. Scholes had to be man of the match today just because of his sheer ability to read and influence the flow of play. He was involved in each of United's goals with his vital running off the ball, and, of course, his work with the ball at his feet.

Ryan Giggs entered play at the 70th minute to record his 19th consecutive season in the Premier League. The 37 year old is still clearly in top form though, as it took him a short fifteen minutes to score. A beautiful Scholes ball across the 18 found Giggs at the edge of the area on the left hand side. Then, in one masterful moment, Giggs one-timed it with his left foot. The finish was top class and glided into the side netting, with Newcastle Harper completely off-guard.

Giggs wasn't done though, and continued to display his mastery of the game with incredible one touch play and great field vision.

These two grizzled warriors are well into their twilight years, but that hasn't stopped them delivering at the highest level in a big way for United.

2. Strikers: questions answered, still more raised.

A major concern for Man U this year is who is going to be the top goal scorer. With Rooney still without a goal since May, and Berbatov still trying to prove himself, it's an important question.

Berbatov helped eliminate some doubt by scoring the opening goal for United. The finish was superb, as Berbatov glided it in his trademark fashion across the face of the goal and into it's cheek, so to speak. But he would struggle from here, but sometimes it was good struggling. A number of times, Berbatov was clearly attempting to set up his strike partner, whether it was Rooney or Javier Hernandez. But when it was the wrong kind of struggling, it was ugly. Berbatov's problem, for me, has been his continued obsession with being an artist. Berb always complicated finishes, often going for the ultimate finesse, the ball that just barely squeeks into the goal. It's beautiful, but, as we saw today, it can be embarassing when you look less beautiful and more like a jackass. But I am still a big Berb supporter and I think things can only get better for him from here, as long as he gets at least 20 goals.

Wayne Rooney. The revered best striker in England. Power, speed, aggression, intensity. These are the things that we have heard about the Red Devils' number 10. But what else do we see? We see inconsistency, a lack of ability to perform at the international level. So what does his performance today tell us? I think it's all positive. Roo has remained completely selfless, setting up workhorse Darren Fletcher for a rare goal, and setting up others on numerous occassions. His finishing today, it's true, was a little less than adequate. But he wants so badly to succeed, and he's still brimming with desire and that competetitive fire. Hopefully Rooney will be back in scoring form within the next couple of weeks, and today's performance was a good start. The next step will be getting his confidence back.

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez makes debut, does well. Despite slipping and falling in the box, and mishandling a back heel pass, the Mexican looked good on his debut. Though he didn't have a good shot on frame, Chicharito looked great in the build-up play in the final third, and was barely caught offside on a breakaway chance. I expect very bright things from "The Little Pea" in the future.

3. Out wide: the strength of the United attack.

On the receiving end of those Scholes' balls, Luis Valencia, Nani, Patrice Evra, and John O'shea looked great for United out wide. Valencia was the weak link among them, but he made up for it with great hustle and good build-up play. His problem was getting the final ball into Rooney. Nani, however, looked absolutely magical. His cross led to the Fletcher goal, and quite a few were just barely off. Both of the wingers had a great work rate and overall looked great. From the fullback position, Evra and O'Shea did a great job pushing forward and getting involved in play. When these two are up, watch for the goals to rain in.

4. Defending like mad dogs.

The way to tell if a team has got what it takes to finish in top three in the Premier League is if they can complete more than five passes in the final third in Old Trafford against United. The defense, led by Nemanja Vidic, did a great job getting the ball back and distribution was top class as well.

The only question mark for me was Johnny Evans. He's an ambitious fellow, but his clearances had me scratching my head occassionally. He didn't seem to mark as well, particularly in the air. All I'm saying is, it'll be nice to have Ferdinand back when he's fit.

Van Der Sar was perfect today, as usual. Great distribution, makes saves look easy, still one of the best keepers in the Premier League.

These are my major notes from the game today. What did you think?

Other news: Mark Shwarzer looks to be on his way to Arsenal, Scott Parker likely to sign 5 year deal for West Ham, Middlesborough keeper Brad Jones on move to Anfield, AC Milan show interest in Pompey's Kevin-Prince Boateng, in demand defender David Luis gets 40 million price tag at Benfica, questions raised over legality of Chelsea's approach of Brazilian starlet Neymar.

On Liverpool vs Arsenal: Thoughts on a classic Premier League match.

Red cards, own goals, drama, injuries, physical confrontations, this match had it all. It's a little absurd that a match could get this good this early in the season, but I suppose that's just what happens when the Gunners roll into Anfield.

What I thought I'd do since this match ended level at 1-1 was unfold the positives and the negatives for both sides. So without further ado, let's begin:

Liverpool.

Positives: David Ngog looks to be a decent option up top while Torres gets his form back. While Ngog is prone to making ridiculous mental errors, and occassionally seems to completely zone out on the pitch, it's obvious that he's a very gifted player. His finish to add Liverpools only goal on the scorline was absolutely montrous. The angle was so tight, and the ball was driven in with such power that Almunia was no match. Ngog also showed his abilities in the air, which I always liked about him. He times headers suprisingly well, and has a knack for flicking on headers into the nylon.

Jovanovic is well liked, and playing hard. Milan Jovanovic made his Premier League debut for the Reds today, and quickly gained a following in the sixth minute. You see, Milan was driving down the center of the pitch and youngster Jack Wilshere was bugging him, so Milan put one of his brawny Eastern European arms out and threw the Englishmen to the ground. The crowd roared in approval. Jova seemed to take a cue from Anfield hero Gerrard, hurrying to every ball and giving his best effort throughout the match. His exit in the 78th minute to make way for Maxi Rodriguez was met with a standing ovation. There may be a new Serbian in the Premier League, other than United's Nemanja Vidic.

Gerrard: still the best player on the pitch. The Red faithful were a little disenfranchised with their golden boy last season, but "Stevie G" (pictured above) will always lace up and give it his all, you can bet the house on that. Gerrard, the captain of the Reds, simply has to be one of your favorite players. Completely selfless, chases down every ball with a never-say-die attitude, a rare combo of grace and power that only comes around once every couple of generations. Gerrard proved today that he will always wear the Reds kit with pride and that he isn't going away until they drag him off the pitch.

Glen Johnson proves his worth. Glen Johnson, coming off a dismal performance for England at the World Cup, proved just how valuable he is to his club side today with great service and great skill on the ball. His sallying forth from the right back position has proved to be invaluable to Liverpool's game, and is what earned them their goal. Any doubts about his value to the club were put to the sword today.

Kuyt is still a workhorse. Dirk Kuyt is another reason to respect Liverpool. The man's work rate is absolutely incredible, and his service is always spot on. The Dutch sage showed that he is no pushover, and won't be replaced by Maxi Rodriguez anytime soon out on the wing for the Reds.

Carragher and Skrtel. Both of these men, long time Red Jamie Carragher and Slovakian maniac Martin Skrtel, defended like mad men today. They were a nightmare for Chamakh on his debut, and rendered Van Persie's substitution into the game absolutely worthless. Liverpool will get a big boost from having a solid center two in these two men.

Mascherano got a good exit. So all of the signs point to a move to Real Madrid for defensive midfielder Mascherano. He went out in style today with a great, physical performance that is his trademark. His substitution late on was also met with a standing o, which he appreciated.

Negatives: Torres still seems out of form. It was all Fernando Torres could do to make it down the pitch with the ball, it seemed. His explosive pace, his lightning quick feet, still just don't seem to be there. It was good to see the Spaniard out on the pitch, and a clever cross toward the death of the match proved that he is still one of the most creative players around, I just still have doubts about his fitness.

Cole's red card. Joe Cole made his Premier League debut today for the Reds. He seemed to be absolutely worthless, despite one incredibly impressive back heel flick. His job was to link the midfield play and the attackers, but he was absolutely dismal in that respect. He really just crowded Gerrard and went down the pitch too early most of the time. And then, the kicker. In the 44th minute, Cole made a dangerous challenge on Laurent Koscielny, taking out one of his legs with both of his own, got a red card, and was sent off. Not exactly the best way to make your debut, especially when people have been talking about how you could be better than Messi all week.

Reina's own goal. I feel genuinely bad for this one. Jose Reina played an absolutely flawless game, he dealt with every corner, stopped a venomous strike from Rosicky, and just looked to be in top form. Until the last minutes of play. A cross came in, and Reina came out to deal with it. Chamakh got it away, and the ball bounced, quite unfortunately, into Reina's own goal off his hands. A tragic end to a hard fought game.

Arsenal.

Postives: Jack Wilshere looked good. English youngster Wilshere made his debut for the Gunners today, and seemed to do a great job. He took every opportunity he could and was really impressive in defense.

Subsitutions were vital. Theo Walcott and Rosicky provided the only real chance the Gunners had at coming back. Rosicky had perhaps the best chance in the game, a lethal strike that was tipped over by Reina in the 86th minute. Walcott looked daft occasionally, but for the most part got good service and looked more sound on the ball than last season.

Diaby and Nasri. These two men, who may not have started were it not for an Arsenal injury crisis, looked well in form and were important parts of the match for Arsenal. Diaby was untouchable on the ball and did well to hold play back while other players got in postion around the goal. Nasri did basically everything, shooting, passing, defending, set pieces, and performed pretty well, I thought.

Negatives: Laurent Koscielny. The most recent transfer in for the Gunners, Laurent's contribution to this game was two yellow cards (equals red) and going to sleep to allow Ngog's goal. Furthermore, his suspension puts more pressure on Arsenal's wounded defense. Wenger's looking pretty thin back there.

Ashravin out of form. I love Andrei Ashravin, but he looked pitifully out of shape and out of sorts in this game. His passes never seemed to be weighted correctly and he wasn't getting any pace at all out of his legs. Hopefully the Russian will be able to snap out of it for the Gunners' next match.

Chamakh was less than impressive. Marouane Chamakh, perhaps Arsene Wenger's most promising addition to the Arsenal side, was pretty absent in his debut today. He lost the ball in the box on a number of occassions and didn't seem to be in sync with the other players. Perhaps more time is needed for Chamakh to get used to Premier League game speed, so I suppose we'll have to see.

Van Persie did nothing. He was only on for a half an hour, but Robin Van Persie did effectively nothing for the Gunners with his brief time on the pitch, touching the ball maybe twice.

These are my thoughts on today's match. Have some of your own?

ALSO: Manchester United premieres tomorrow in their match against Newcastle United on ESPN 2 at 2:55 PM.