Segun Oluwaniyi

If you are hoping for a rapid exit for Mali or Senegal, you should pray that they avoid the groups headed by Equitorial Guinea and Gabon. They are both in pot 3, so there is a possibility they could be placed with Ghana/CIV and another good team like Tunisia. Both are some of the continent's most massive underachievers, so nothing would surprise me.

Traditional powers like Nigeria, three time defending champion Egypt, Cameroon, and South Africa failed to qualify. I really don't have any idea who might do well.

Carroll as well. Outside of Viduka, all of them did actually play quite well for a portion of the season.

Gervinho has been fairly gash thus far. He was very good in preseason before being Bartoned in his first match. By the time he returned from his ban Arsenal had lost to two of their rivals by a combined 10-2 and were firmly in freefall and crisis. Combining this with the experience of moving to a new country, league, and team and you can forgive a player for underachieving. I've seen both of them play on the same stage and there was no question in my mind who was of higher quality.

Leroy Lita combines strength and pace, this does not make him a great player in this league. Gervinho is just a much better footballer than Maiga and that is the extent of the comparison in my opinion.

We can use one when we dispose of Simpson.

Why does Barton talk so much? Are the public this interested in the opinions of adequately skilled English midfielders on relegation-bound teams? The opinions of Stilyan Petrov, John Obi Mikel, and Wilson Palacios aren't filling the papers, either. He complains about being under constant scrutiny, but he could probably end this by not talking so much. He is an irrelevant player in all honesty.

Ben Arfa should just come in for Obertan or stay on the bench as an impact player. We have two strikers on form, and one wing player who is contributing very little offnsively or defensively. I thought he looked vulnerable in the middle, personally. It would be typically English to through a #10 on the wing, but I really believe it is the best option right now.

Was not overly impressed yesterday tbh, but that is just a function of what I expect from him. Thought he was sloppy at times in the first half with his control and distribution. Improved in the second along with everyone. His tackling and tracking back was crucial throughout, though. The man's combative and aggressive style of midfield play brings something we've really been lacking for years.

Cabaye is much more of an attacking force than Busquets. He is just a good, combative, creative central midfielder. Busquets is really just a holding midfielder who hangs around the centre of the pitch and fills in for attacking defenders.

This will only be the case if we leave them exposed. Between Jonas and Tiote, they should receive a good amount of help. I really wish we could play 4-3-3 to free Tiote into doing more tracking back in midfield.

I don't mind the current set up of the Champions League at all. The competition is currently somewhat tedious because of the massive gap the English teams, Spanish teams, Milan, and Munich have formed on the rest of Europe. Removing some of these teams from the competition would only devalue it, imo. Reseeding the FA cup would not change the vast distortion in quality and finanaces at the top levl of English football, either.

We should definitely inconvenience all of the players and officials to satisfy one irreleveant Scandinavian person.

How is it a terrible rule? I just dislike it. It doesn't reward your cumulative efforts over the group stages like goal difference does. I don't feel sympathy for us in 2006 or South Africa now, though. They've been set against inferior teams and have failed because of their own underperformance, disorganisation, and infighting.

It is the same rule that prevented us from going to the World Cup on 2006. The rule is terrible, but it has been in place for some time now.

You cannot understand how bad on the nerves it is to watch your team waste chance after chance after chance on a terrible stream that is continually stopping in the most crucial match of the year.

But tonight was a good result though, eh BABA? What the hell does this have to do with anything that I have said?

A draw (that qualifies you for the championships) away against the second best team in your group is a fantastic result. Any excuse to criticise Capello, I suppose. He's done the job and now the country can focus on their eternal goal.

Because they drew 2-2? You really are such a plonker. So England should be proud that they couldn't beat a team of minnows after being 2-0 up and cruising? And you're calling ME a plonker? Montenegro are not minnows. They did just as well in the last Euro as England. Really, they are a decent side and it is a tough environment to play in,

Just a friendly? Can't think of anything they would be qualifying for.

The only players in our team who are superior to their Spurs counterparts are Coloccini and Krul. Tiote is roughly equivalent given his shaky form this season and towards the end of the last. The idea that Ben Arfa is anywhere near Van der Vaart is laughable.

It is October 6. Many of these players arrived at the end of August. There is no reason for this article to exist. It is an affront to literature and displays a complete lack of creativity.

Beckham would never warrant a position on the pitch for either of these clubs. He should go to Stoke or Leicester City. A level at which he may still be somewhat competitive.

Teams 11 positions below us in the table generally will not loan us players. I think Ba is at least equivalent to Chamakh anyway.

King and Ekotto average? yes ok mate. I don't think much of King at this point tbh. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. He is overrated because of his exceedingly rare appearances and the poor nature of the other options. Walker and Ekotto are nice players, but we can certainly put them under pressure.