On Joe Cole: What his move to Liverpool means for the Reds, for himself, and for English football

Before I start breaking down what I think of Joe Cole's move from Chelsea to Liverpool, I think it will help if I give a bit of a background on Cole.

Joe Cole is now 28 years old. He has spent his career in the English Premier League playing mainly for Chelsea, unfortunately, that career was rife with injuries. Cole came into the EPL as one of the most hyped players since Lampard. And by all accounts, he is capable of delivering. Cole's potential is pretty massive, he's got all kinds of skill and the pace to go with it, along with a traditional fighting spirit you would expect of an English national.

At the World Cup, Cole seemed to be one of the brighter points of a dismal English side when he got his chance to play. The problem for Cole has always been staying fit, a scourge of many other potential greats, most recently Fernando Torres.

Now, I'm going to break down what I think of this move.

I have no idea why Liverpool did this. They just spent so many resources keeping attacking midfielder Steven Gerrard at Liverpool and acquiring natural wide midfielder Maxi Rodriguez from Atletico Madrid. And they've still got Dirk Kuyt in the starting line-up. Really the only reason I can think of that they would do this is to replace Yossi Benayoun, whom is on is way to Chelsea, so I guess it was what we in America would refer to as a "trade."

But there are other reasons why I don't like this for the Reds. Chief among these reasons is the fact that they've added a player who is infamous for being injury prone to a club side already absolutely devastated by injuries with Torres' fitness again in question after he hurt himself again in the World Cup Final.

It is being said that Joe Cole made this transition because he was promised playing time by new Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson. But with the condition that Liverpool is in right now, who's to say how long Hodgson may last as the manager? And even if he was, would you have any difficulty working him in with new signing Rodriguez in the mix? Or even Liverpool stalwart Lucas in the middle? I think not.

This is a major major gamble for me from manager Hodgson, but I do like it for one big reason: Cole is English. Liverpool for me was a club in the EPL that you could particularly pick on for not fielding English national players, so for that, I think this is a good move.

I wish Cole the best of luck, because he without doubt deserves it, but I don't have the highest hopes for this one.

On Argentina: What their 5-0 route of Canada tells us about their chances

For some reason, I have become very interested in the South American side. It's probably because I've watched their five strikers (count 'em, five) playing on major European clubs. But it could also be because they are extremely fun to watch, as they proved in their 5-0 route of Canada. This approach seems to run counter to Portugal's approach when they drew Cape Verde Islands (the 117th ranked team in the world) 0-0. Portugal treated their game as a scrimmage, Argentina treated theirs as a showcase. I wonder which team is more confident now? You also have to admire the differences between Argentina manager Maradona's approach and Portuguese manager Quieroz. While Quieroz is laying the burden daily on his team of winning it all and claiming that they are the best team in the world, Maradona is praising his athletes and, at one point during the Canada match, tearing up in joy at the sight of his player's skill.

There are other things that we learned watching the match though, and I thought I'd weigh in on what I think they are.

1. Everyone is in form. This is a problem that many other sides, mostly European ones, are facing, but it doesn't seem to be a problem at all for the Argentines. When you can score 5 goals on a team that certainly isn't a push-over, something is going very well. Maxi Rodriguez is sure to have Liverpool fans salivating, as he looks to be in absolutely top condition (he scored that first goal in the video, from that crazy angle on the right line of the box). I don't care how much Quieroz wants to say that he's happy with how Portugal played against Cape Verde, they should have been able to score. And don't even get me started on an English side that has won their friendlies because of opposing own goals and penalty kicks.

I was also very pleased that 21 year old Sergio "Kun" Aguero was able to get a goal.

2. Midfielders are going to be a part of the action. This was a concern that I had about the side going into the World Cup, that their star studded forwards would be the only ball production going on, but it seems that midfielders, like Rodriguez, are ready and willing to commit themselves to the team and add a few goals to show it.

3. They are a selfless bunch of guys. I think another concern about Argentina was that their players, who are mostly superstars, might play selfishly and because of that would miss plenty of opportunities on goal. But watching that video, you can see Tevez, Higuian, and Rodriguez making sefless passes to their teammates so that they can get the goals. It seems like Maradona has done a great job of establishing almost a feeling of familial connection on the team. As you can see in the video, after every goal they are all congratulating one another, and, later on in the game, laughing at the ridiculousness of how easy this is for them.

This victory served not only as a showcase of the talent of Argentina, but also helped the team gain extremely important confidence in themselves and one another. They will surely be a force to be reckoned with, and will be able to advance handly into later rounds of the tournament.