This week saw Jose Mourinho pull out another tactical masterclass when defeating Barcelona to reach the Champions League Final with Inter Milan. The scenes of celebration at the end of the game and comments made by Jose would have endeared him closer to the Real Madrid fans, Mourinho said after the “ I respect Barca and and I’ll never forget what the club gave me in the four years I was here, but something has been created around me that is hard to make positive, It is clear that I will end my career without having coached Barca.” Looking at Jose’s CV the one thing missing from it is a League title from Spain, he has mentioned before he wants to be the first ever coach to have won titles in England, Italy and Spain (and not forgetting the two domestic titles he won in Portugal).

So where next for the special one? Its looks highly unlikely that Mourinho will be staying at Inter Milan, if Inter manage to win the treble this year it would be a great way to bow out of Italy. The rumour mill has been going crazy about Jose coming back to England in the summer with Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea all touted as possible destinations for Jose. Personally I think that Jose would like to win a la liga title before coming back to England and I will be backing Mourinho to be Real Madrid manager at the start of next season at Evens with skybet. Real Madrid will more than likely continue their tradition of a new manager each year and dump Pelligrini in the summer paving the way for Jose, this looks nailed on to me. The pecking order for the Real Madrid boss at the start of next season according to Skybet is Jose Mourinho (Evens) Rafa Benitez (4/1) Pelligrini (5/1) and Capello (13/2)

So it’s time to bet like men and get the money on Jose Mourinho to be Madrid’s galatico signing in the summer.

Has this season been the worst ever for quality and consistency, I think so. I haven’t known a season which has been so unpredictable, there has been more twists and turns in the title race this year than I care to remember. Arsenal looked like strong contenders and this was despite losing to Chelsea and Man Utd home and away. Alex Ferguson ruled out Manchester United for the title after drawing at Blackburn recently  but then Chelsea losing to Spurs put Man United back in with a shout. Chelsea have put 7 goals past three different teams this season in Sunderland, Aston Villa and Stoke yet I have not been that impressed with Chelsea this season, they don’t excite me and play very rigid.

Over in Manchester and Wayne Rooney has been single handedly carrying United through the season, without Rooney who knows where United would be sitting in the league this season. Arsenals performance at Wigan the other week just about sums up this season for me, crazy. Wigan would probably have been relegated if it wasn’t for victories against Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal this season!! The relegated teams this year have been oh so bad, I haven’t know three worse teams in the Premier League for years and much to West Ham’s delight (who find themselves safe on a shocking 34 points). Hull have been showing relegation form for 18 months now, while Burnley admitted relegation back in December when appointing Brian Laws to take over from Owen Coyle and financially ruined Portsmouth had no chance after the 9 point deduction but yet still find themselves in the FA Cup Final!?!

The so called big four even underperformed in the Champions League this year with Liverpool limping out in the group stages, Chelsea being outdone by Inter Milan, Man Utd blowing a winning position against the Germans Bayern Munich and Arsenal being torn apart by the rampant Barcalona. Where do the English clubs go from here in the Champions League? It was certaintly a humbling experience for the English clubs this year in Europe’s top competition.

Of course there has been some success stories this season – Spurs, Villa, Birmingham and Fulham all deserve a mention as teams who have performed above their expectations. I would actually rate Spurs as probably the team of the season so far for me and their performance against Chelsea last week was immense and they should have won 4-0! Spurs currently lead the race for 4th place and Champions League football next season which would be a fitting tribute to Harry Redknapp’s team although the way the season has gone so far it wouldn’t surprise me if there is another twist yet.

Europa League Semi Final Preview

Liverpool take on Athletico Madrid this week in the semi finals of the Europa League without main man Fernando Torres, as it was announced on Sunday night that Torres would have surgery on a torn cartilage in his right knee – therefore ending his season with Liverpool. So, I would like to eat some humble pie in regards to my previous comments about Torres, Benitez and injuries!

Back to the Europa League and Athletico Madrid who have been having a pretty bad season but still find themselves on the verge of a Cup double. Amazingly Athletico have played 12 games in Europe this season and have only won once!! Yet they find themselves in a European semi-final, their record in the Champions League reads played 6 won 0 drawn 3 lost 3 – which saw them drop into the Europa League. Where their only victory was away at Galatasary winning 2-1 (they drew the home leg 1-1 and went through 3-2 on agg). Next up was Sporting Lisbon and then Valencia, both ties they won on away goals 2-2.

In contrast to this we have Fulham in the other semi final who have played a staggering 16 games to reach this stage (winning 10 of them!) and have undoubtedly been the story of the season in the Europa League, the immense result in beating Juventus 4-1 at home was superb and I really hope to see an all English final. Comparing the two teams Fulham and Athletico Madrid it makes me wonder, is it fair that the losers in the Champions League to be dropped into the Europa League? Personally, I think it’s a joke and makes a mockery of the competition – I don’t see how poor performance should be rewarded? There is more chance of getting a Malteser through a sieve than Uefa changing the rules to make the “Europa League” more credible.

Of course I will be cheering on Liverpool but I can’t help but feel some embarrassment in playing in the Europe League, not because of the standard or status of the competition but the route in which we got there.

This was an old joke doing the rounds amongst Everton fans back in 2005 when Everton finished in 4th place above Liverpool, the blue noses referred to Liverpools manager as Rafael Beneath-Us, which is quite a good play on words for Evertonians! Now the same could be said this season, infact it looks like 6 teams could be saying that about Liverpool come the end of the season.

Liverpools lacklustre draw against Fulham on Sunday just proved where Benitez’s priorities lie, Torres was “injured” although it looks like he will be back this week. I prefer to think that Rafa was just resting him for the Europe League semi final against Athletico Madrid, what was even stranger was Torres’s recent substitution against Birmingham with 30 minutes left with the score at 1-1. Everyone, including Steven Gerrard was bemused at this piece of management from Rafa – taking off your star striker when you need a goal? Still, who am I to argue when Rafa has won more European Cups than I have.

I still believe that as a Liverpool fan that the club will be OK next season and we will move forward, I mean we haven’t always finished in the top four every year and it gives you a kick up the arse and reminds you how competitive football is and as a fan thats why we love the game, which cant be said of Benitez right now.

Ok, the title of this blog is from a betting perspective and not my switching of alliance. For those of you looking to make some money on this years World Cup should avoid England like the plague, the price on England is always a false price in my opinion. Lots of patriotic money is lumped on England during the run up to the World Cup pushing the price down quicker than John Terrys trousers at a team mates house.

Another problem with England is the state of their back line, looks take a look at Englands defence. Ashley Cole – injured for 3 months, race to be fit for World Cup. Rio Ferdinand – not been playing consistently this season, regular back problems. John Terry – where do we start?? Lots of personal problems and not to mention lack of form for Chelsea this season who have been shipping goals for fun. Glen Johnson – been injured for majority of this season and while a great threat attacking somewhat questionable defensively. David James – confidence must be low after a terrible season with Portsmouth, also prone to the odd howler. Then the backups consist of Leighton Baines, Stephen Warnock, James Milner, Michael Dawson, Phil Jagelkia etc All of which lack top class experience, this is very worrying for England as soon as they face one of the Worlds top teams they will surely be found out.

My alternative from a betting perspective is Ghana, they have been performing wonderfully with their young side (don’t forget experienced heads like Michael Essien) finishing runners up at the last African nations cup and winning the latest U20’s World Cup. Ghana are widely available at a staggering 80/1!! Compared to Englands 5/1 – I know where I would rather put my money. Another up side is that once the hosts South Africa limp out of the tournament the home support could quickly switch to Ghana. They are grouped with Australia, Serbia and Germany so it’s a very winnable group, Germany aside Ghana should see off Serbia and Australia.

Of course I will be supporting England whole heartedly this summer but my head
tells me another 4 years of hurt await.

Read Mark’s brilliant blog

A lot has been said in the media this weekend about England captain John Terry, new revelations about his private life came out this weekend which involved a team mates ex girlfriend. It looks like John Terry has been going behind his wife’s back and sleeping with Wayne Bridges ex girlfriend which probably happens a lot in the real world but being England captain pushes a bigger spotlight onto the story.

In all of this I feel sorry for John Terry’s wife but some the reaction towards this story has been ridiculous, why should John Terry no longer captain his country because of this story? Does it make him any less able to play football and lead his country? Of course not, they maybe some ructions within the England camp but im sure this wont effect England’s chances at the World Cup.

It’s not great timing for John Terry as this is the 4th high profile news story relating to John, first up was his Mum stealing £800 worth of food/clothes, then his dad selling coke to a NOTW reporter after that followed the story that John was taking cash for tours around Stamford Bridge and now this. Terry has been a tabloids writers dream and I feel sorry for him in some cases, I mean he has no control over what kind of people his parents and the other two stories just proves that underneath the fame and fortune that we are all human and make mistakes.

So I say we should give John some slack and not get carried away with the media, but i’m sure the visiting fans at the Bridge will remind him constantly of the mistakes he has made.

Read Mike’s brilliant blog

I was shocked to see that Algeria had beaten tournament favorites Ivory Coast in the African Nations Cup, this result will have been a major positive for England as it highlights the danger of Algeria. I’m sure Fabio Capello would have been watching this game closely and would have learnt a lot from it.

It’s been a case of “what if?” for me lately; I was looking at backing Martin Kaymer for the Golf and Ghana outright for the ACON before a ball was kicked (I was so impressed by the Ghana U20’s in the recent U20’s World Cup) but I backed neither. I think I’m too impatient for these kind of bets, waiting 4 days for the golf to finish and a few weeks for the Ghana bet – I prefer to see an outcome the same day I need to learn to trust my instinct and apply more patience. I know 4 days isn’t a lot but its much longer than a 6f race at Kempton!

I like the look of West Ham to beat Portsmouth tomorrow, Portsmouth are in a mess and struggling to find a side to put together. I read they may only name 3 subs! I somehow doubt that but this news coupled with West Hams recent performance at Villa Park and the new takeover I expect more positive results for the hammers. Back West Ham 1-0 correct score at 9.4 and West Ham to win at a stonking 3.10 both on Betfair.

Check out Mark’s blog