Well, now that’s done, let’s get to the good stuff, shall we? Manchester City won the league in emphatic fashion on Sunday, though their loyal fans had to wait until stoppage time against a side fighting relegation to celebrate. And celebrate they did. Supporters swarmed the pitch, with players unable to hide their delight at finally toppling their cross-town neighbors, ending 50 years of hurt. But the methodical Roberto Mancini was wasting no time. On to the next season, preparation for pre-season, and a few difficult decisions await him. To make his load easier, I’ve helped him by making a list of players to waste money on this summer. The Italian desperately needs to replace Roque Santa Cruz and David “We Signed Him on a Risk-Free Loan” Pizzaro, and I have better things to do, but here goes nothing. Feel free to help Mancini as well by swearing me out in the comments section below. I want everyone to feel included.

I am also methodical, though I am neither Italian, nor a recipient of a seven figure pay check. I’ve divided the areas Mancini needs to address into areas of the pitch, which is a novel idea, and I expect many to follow suit. Here it goes.

Goalkeepers:

Joe Hart, the colorful youth product of Shrewsbury Town, has a firm grasp on the number 1 spot at the Etihad Stadium, as well as the other grounds his side travels to next season. Ever since his impressive loan spell at Birmingham City, Hart has been first choice for club and country, and none of that should change. His backup, the impressively-named Costel Pantillimon, has looked solid in cup matches, and seems content deputizing for Hart when necessary. Surely an improvement on Martin Fulop.

Defenders:

In the full back areas, no purchases are necessary. Micah Richards rediscovered the form that saw him break into the England side at 19, while his deputy, Pablo Zabaleta, was solid backup. At left back, Clichy justified his low price tag in defence, while Kolarov’s cup cameos were just as productive.

At center back, Stefan Savic, though earning me extra points for alliteration, serves very little purpose in the City squad other than being a royal screw-up. That is often mitigated by the fact that Vincent Kompany was voted Player of the Year by the FA, Kolo Toure is really intimidating, and Joleon Lescott is left-footed, British, and thuggy, therefore deserves a spot in any team. However, with Lescott nearly costing City the league on Sunday, Toure never looking like the same player since his malaria infection in 2004, and Kompany the only mainstay, Mancini should look elsewhere for reinforcements at the back. But where?

Giorgio Chiellini, the Italian international, has had a phenomenal season, leading Juventus to an unbeaten season and filling in at left back when needed. He is the first name on the team sheet, and traditionally has dominated encounters with top strikers such as Ibrahimovic and Cavani. With fellow Italians Mancini and Balotelli already at City, the next season may be the opportunity for Giorgio Chiellini to announce himself to the rest of the world, which is the sporting equivalent of England. Giorgio Chiellini may have the opportunity to show English fans he is a good player. That’s what I was trying to say.

However, he is settled at Juventus, having just won Serie A legitimately for the first time. Where else to look?

Sunny Spain is where Alberto Botia plays for Sporting Gijon, and evidence points to him being a good signing for the Citizens. The Barcelona youth product has had an impressive few seasons at the heart of his club’s defense since Gijon’s promotion in 2008, which has sparked interest from none other than his former club. Next season, Sporting will be in the second tier of Spanish football, and Botia will not want to be among them. It is counterintuitive- a reinforcement at the Etihad Stadium on the cheap- but it might just work. Chances are he’s better than Stefan Savic.

Other options lie in Udinese’s Moroccan center back Mehdi Benatia, whose name is fun to say and has been linked with Manchester United, Shakhtar’s Yaroslav Rakitsky, and Stephane M’Bia of Marseille.

Midfielders:

Undoubtedly, Manchester City’s midfield with Nasri, Silva, De Jong, Yaya Toure, Barry, Milner and er, Owen Hargreaves is the best in the country. To add to the riches, City possess a promising lad in the youth team by the name of Michael Johnson, who based on his performances on loan at Leicester City, merits a shot at first-team football. Joking aside, City could do with an extra midfielder, not least because Bobby doesn’t have enough of them to defend a 2-0 lead against Fulham.

A backup for the destructive Yaya Toure could go a long way. Who? A French-African midfielder fits the bill and City could do far worse than Moussa Sissoko. The French international is only 22, but has made close to 200 appearances for Toulouse. He has plenty of experience, being one of the goody-goodies who didn’t fall out with Raymond Domenech in South Africa. Sissoko has been linked to Manchester City in the past, though a €30 million price tag was enough to dilute interest. However, the opportunity to work with Yaya Toure, and a shot at Champions League glory may be too much for the young Frenchman to turn down this time around. He was first used a holding player, but is now mainly used further forward. Sound familiar?

I’m required to list other options, though if Manchester City want something, they’ll get it. They’ll just go and grab it. Oh, Eden Hazard- who shares a Christian name with Dzeko- has gone and added heat to the race for his signature by revealing he will sign for one, and only one, Manchester side this summer. Metaphorically, he could walk into any team in the world, and City would be glad to have the opportunity to open that door for him. Metaphorically. But that’s still a saga, and it is oh so suspenseful. Expect whipped cream to be involved, and it will be in abundance if Hazard plays behind Balotelli and Tevez in an attacking trident. Three big personalities right there.

If a move for Sissoko doesn’t work out, alternatives include Stephane M’Bia, equally adept as a defender, and Esteban Cambiasso. If Hazard becomes a red, breaking the bank for Mario Goetze or Lavezzi would be an adequate answer… breaking the bank, who am I kidding?

Strikers:

This is the most controversial area, and it makes me want to add a pun in reference to Balotelli and scoring, but I’ve said too much already. The signing of Aguero last summer added one of the world’s top forwards to a side already possessing Dzeko, Balotelli, and Tevez. However, with Dzeko being Dzeko, Balotelli not running out of crazy things to do, and Tevez pursuing an alternative career in golf, Kun Aguero was the only reliable forward for the duration of the season. And while they all came together in the end- Tevez making up with Mancini, Dzeko not being rubbish, and Balotelli putting his bad-boy act on hold- there is a good chance that past problems will plague City again. I’d love to go ahead and be blunt, actually. City does not have enough strikers. They need more. Must obey…

John Guidetti, young and Swedish, was absolutely electric on loan at Feyenoord, scoring a lot and impressing many in 6 months. His tally of 20 goals in 23 games merits a chance of first team football at the Etihad Stadium, and it would prove many doubters wrong if a multi-million pound signing and a youth team product were the first-choice strike partnership for the Premier League champions. Of course, that is the case currently for Manchester United: Danny Welbeck came back from a loan spell at Sunderland to replace Javier Hernandez in the starting 11. Guidetti may just be next season’s Welbeck.

Other options include David Villa, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo, Cavani, Andy Carroll (?), Falcao, Neymar, Messi, Eto’o, Jesus Christ, and the emotion “fear”. Might as well.

Am I missing anything? Ah, yes.

The Manager:

No changes necessary here.

Manchester City’s new home shirt for the 2012-13 season will be sky blue with black trim, according to a new leaked photo of the Premier League champions shirt.

Three weeks ago, we revealed what the Manchester City home jersey would look like, and the new leaked image (shown above) is an even better close-up of what the shirt will look like.

The new Manchester City home shirt for next season will feature a black collar, and black Manchester City crest, Umbro logo and sponsor name. This will be the last time that Manchester City will be wearing an Umbro shirt fot the next year, as Nike has signed on to be the official kit supplier beginning with the 2013-14 season.

What do you think of Manchester City’s new home shirt? As with most Umbro designs, it’s clean, elegant and distinguished. It’s a definite thumbs up from me. What do you think? Share your opinions in the comments section below.

Actor and comedian Tom Arnold will appear in a segment during this Saturday’s UEFA Champions League Final on FOX, the free-to-air network.

Arnold will be traveling to Munich to watch the final between Chelsea and Bayern Munich. Presumably Arnold will appear in a segment that will include highlights from his journey to Munich, and some of the interesting moments on the way to, and around the stadium.

Tom Arnold was the host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period for four years, and is best known for his role in the TV show, Roseanne, as well as his appearance in the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie True Lies.

On Twitter, Arnold was asked whether he was doing this project for FOX as part of a science experiment or because he watches soccer. Arnold replied, “A bit of both.”

Arnold is a certainly a sports fanatic. The move by FOX is an obvious attempt to try to win over some of the mainstream sports fans out there who are not hardcore soccer fans, to bring them into the broadcast and hopefully to win them over.

For FOX’s coverage of the UEFA Champions League Final last year, FOX brought in NFL athlete Michael Strahan to describe the differences between “football” and “futbol.” It was an obvious attempt to provide a Soccer For Dummies guide to new viewers that fell flat on its face. My hope this year is that Arnold will be able to bridge the gap by providing an irreverent but insightful segment about his travels to Munich, together with some hard hitting soccer analysis from Eric Wynalda. We can only hope, right?

The FA today announced the 23-man England squad for Euro 2012.

The 23-man squad for Poland-Ukraine is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Robert Green (West Ham United), John Ruddy (Norwich)

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), John Terry (Chelsea)

Midfielders: Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Stewart Downing (Liverpool), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Scott Parker (Tottenham Hotspur), Ashley Young (Manchester United), James Milner (Manchester City)

Strikers: Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Danny Welbeck (Manchester United), Andy Carroll (Liverpool)

Standby list: Jack Butland (Birmingham), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea)

What’s your opinion about Michael Carrick and Peter Crouch being omitted? And what about Roy Hodgson’s decision to include Stewart Downing, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott?

Based on the above named squad, Hodgson has made all of the right decisions. It’s a strong England squad and I’m particularly impressed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been included. He’ll certainly be the X Factor for England if he gets a chance to play on the wing. His speed and skill will frustrate opponents.

I’m disappointed that there’s no room for Grant Holt in the squad, but who would you replace him with? Andy Carroll, while not at the top of his form, is a threat in the air for England, so I wouldn’t remove him. And Defoe, Rooney and Welbeck are proven England international players.

Based on the above England squad, who would you pick for the starting line-up against France at Euro 2012? Here’s my selection:

Hart

Jones – Cahill – Terry – Cole

Walcott – Parker – Gerrard – Barry – Young

Welbeck

What’s your starting 11?

There’s been quite a bit of backlash from the Brits this season in regards to their growing frustrations with the pundits on BBC’s Match Of The Day. Personally, I love the show and find that it’s one of the best review shows out there. It’s certainly not perfect, but if you can find a way to watch it, I definitely think you’ll be impressed.

An example of Match Of The Day’s class can be seen in this lovely review of the 2011-12 Premier League season.

Is it better than the Sky Sports Premier League season review montage? What do you think? Share your opinions in the comments section below.

Fulham’s Clint Dempsey has been added to the roster of world soccer stars scheduled to play in a Miami exhibition in late June, according to The World Masters Of Soccer website.

Dempsey, the only US international ever to score 50 goals in the Premier League, will join fellow Premier League stars Didier Drogba and Luis Suarez, as well as former Premier League footballers Javier Mascherano (ex-Liverpool), Diego Forlan (ex-Manchester United), Carlos Bocanegra (ex-Fulham) and Jozy Altidore (ex-Hull City).

In addition to an all-star Premier League line-up, other world stars will play in the friendly game such as Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Dani Alves (Barcelona), Falcao (Atletico Madrid), Diego Milito (Inter Milan), Antonio Cassano (AC Milan), Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Diego Lugano (Paris Saint-Germain), Ariel Ortega (All Boys), Edinson Cavani (Napoli), Gabriel Milito (Independiente), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli), Alessandro Nesta (formerly with AC Milan), Marco Materazzi (formerly with Inter Milan), Lucio (Inter Milan) and others.

Tickets for the June 23rd exhibition game at Sun Life Stadium in Miami went on sale today. Ticket prices start at $25.

More details about the game can be found here and here.

So Roy Hodgson will be naming his preliminary squad for this summer’s Euro 2012 tournament tomorrow at 8am ET/1pm BST. Here’s a comprehensive list of all the likely players considered, as well as who I think should be in the final 23 man squad for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine:

Goalkeepers:

Three keepers have to be named, and there’s no debate as to who will be between the posts against France on June 11 (barring injury). After Joe Hart, the rest are really a rather mediocre bunch, but I would take John Ruddy and Ben Foster, with Foster as second choice and Ruddy third choice. However, with Foster refusing to come out of international retirement, a surprise but suitable replacement — to give him experience — would be Jack Butland.

These are three keepers with relatively little international experience, but I don’t see the value in naming either Robert Green or Scott Carson, whose minimal experience is tempered by the fact that they both made high-profile blunders in big matches for England in the past, and currently aren’t goalkeeping at the top levels in Europe anyway.

GK(3): Hart (Manchester City), Ruddy (Norwich City), Butland (Birmingham).

Defenders:

An interesting dilemma here. Generally the standard is to name eight defenders, so each of the four positions has a backup. To me, the fullbacks are fairly easy to name, and will be the strength of England’s defense. The central defenders, on the other hand, are up in the air. So let’s get the fullbacks out of the way: Ashley Cole, Leighton Baines, Glen Johnson and Phil Jones. Cole is still one of the premier left backs in the world. Baines is an excellent back-up, as well as a great set-piece taker, and could be very useful as a substitute should there be any danger of a penalty shootout should England make the knockout stages. On the right side, Johnson and Jones should be safe bets for England given the news that Kyle Walker and Micah Richards have been ruled out.

As for the central defenders, a few words on the John Terry situation. He was relieved of his captaincy (for the second time) on the 3rd of February, following the allegations he racially abused Anton Ferdinand of QPR. He will stand trial for using racist language in July, after the tournament has ended. Unfortunately, Rio’s body seems to be failing him the last couple years, and hasn’t been nearly the dominant force he has been in the past. Terry, on the other hand, especially since Roberto di Matteo took over as Chelsea manager, has been excellent. So while he won’t win any popularity contests, John Terry should be named to the squad. Starting alongside him should be Joleon Lescott, an unheralded star for Manchester City this season, despite his major gaffe over the weekend against QPR. First backup should be Phil Jagielka of Everton, always solid and dependable. Lastly I would name Gary Cahill. However he’s struggled with fitness since joining Chelsea in January.

DF(8): Cole (Chelsea), Baines (Everton), Johnson (Liverpool), Jones (Manchester United), Terry (Chelsea), Lescott (Manchester City), Jagielka (Everton), Cahill (Chelsea)

Central Midfielders:

Many have been calling for a youth movement in midfield for a couple of years, disappointed with the results of England squads led for most of the last ten years by Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. The two brightest prospects to assume their roles are Jack Wilshere and Tom Cleverley. However one is out injured and the other is just back, and not match fit. But what if the answer is using players who were always there, yet have never gotten a proper chance as a member of the starting eleven? Michael Carrick, now 30 years old, and with only 22 caps to his name, is a perfect example. He’s had a great season, and deserves a shot (finally) as an England starter. Gareth Barry has continued to be a cog in Manchester City’s midfield despite the amount of superstar players they continue to bring in, and should start alongside Carrick. Frank Lampard still has a role to play, though. Frozen out much of the time by Andre Villas-Boas, Lampard has shown he’s never forgotten where the goal is in the second half of the season. He deserves a place in the starting eleven as well, sitting in front of Carrick and Barry. As for reserve central midfielders, Scott Parker and James Milner fit the bill. Milner can cover across all midfield positions, while Parker has been excellent for the last two seasons, and should go to Poland/Ukraine if fit. However, since I believe he won’t be fully fit, Gerrard should be included. Paul Scholes, despite recent rumblings that he would be open to a return, should stay home. At 37 years old and retired from international football for eight years, it just doesn’t make sense.

CM(5): Carrick (Manchester United), Barry (Manchester City), Lampard (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool), Milner (Manchester City)

Wing Attackers/Strikers:

For the wing/striking spots, versatility is required. You may have noticed I only named five players to cover the three central midfield spots, and have seven left to name for the front three spots. This is for two good reasons: One, Wayne Rooney is out suspended for the first two matches; Two, the central midfield spots are a relative strength compared to all of the question marks up front, where there are no easy decisions. Rooney obviously is on the plane. For wide attacking options, Adam Johnson, Ashley Young, Aaron Lennon, and Daniel Sturridge should all be named. Johnson and Lennon are the best examples of pure wingers England have, with Lennon having the best England pedigree, having performed well whenever called upon. Ashley Young has played solidly enough in his first season with Manchester United, while Sturridge is needed as one of the few England players who consistently scores coming off a main striker.

For target men, I would name Andy Carroll. Crouch is not a player anyone gets excited about, yet he always scores goals for England. He’s actually been better for Stoke this season than either of his previous two years with Tottenham. However, reports coming out of England say that he’s not in the squad. Carroll, on the other hand, makes it solely based on how he’s played in just he last couple of weeks. He finally looks like he’s getting back to his Newcastle form, and while certainly not good enough to be a starter, is better than the other options available.

Just like at the World Cup two years ago, the glaring omission here is Theo Walcott. I just don’t see how one can include him over the four wide players I mentioned. He is also just coming back from a month out from injury (he played most of the second half as a sub over the weekend). But Walcott’s inconsistencies unfortunately overshadow any brief brilliant displays he has. Hopefully this time Nike doesn’t use him for any commercial spots leading up to the tournament!

Another omission is Arsenal’s other young attacker, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. While one for the future, the fact is, he’s still only scored in one Premier League match. Too soon for him. As for other strikers in the running, Bobby Zamora would have made it over Carroll based on his Fulham form, but has only scored two goals for QPR since his move in January. Jermain Defoe would be another option, but just isn’t versatile enough to fit in, and there isn’t space for such a limited player. Danny Welbeck is the one player I might consider replacing Carroll with, but seems to me to fit well in the Manchester United system, and can’t necessarily be counted upon to lead the line with players he doesn’t know. Without Rooney for two matches, bringing Welbeck is too much of a risk. Darren Bent, though out for three months, has said he’ll be ready in June when the tournament starts. Bent might be in consideration only when in good goal scoring form, but much like Defoe, he provides little else. You’re not holding a spot open for an un-match fit Darren Bent.

AM/ST (7): Rooney (Manchester United), Johnson (Manchester City), Young (Manchester United), Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), Sturridge (Chelsea), Welbeck (Manchester United), Carroll (Liverpool)

So there you have it. Looking at the 23-man squad, there’s not much there to get overly exited about, as it looks relatively similar to the team England brought to South Africa two years ago. But if Hodgson picks the right formation and players in it, I think there’s a slight chance England can pull off a few surprises.

What do you think?

With the appointment of the experienced Roy Hodgson as the newest manager of the Three Lions, there is hope that England can make a run at this year’s European Championship. After all the controversy and negative media attention that makes the English squad seem more like a sideshow rather than an actual football team, a great run through the European Championship would alleviate concerns over whether Hodgson can thrive under the most pressure he’ll ever endure.

With Hodgson’s impending announcement of the squad tomorrow, many questions need to be addressed in defense, midfield and up front. What makes matters worse is that the British squad will have to go up against two foes who they’ve struggled against mightily. They first face France who they haven’t beaten since the days of Alan Shearer in 1997. After that, they’ll face a tough match with Sweden who has always been a thorn in England’s side (before their most recent victory last November, England had not defeated the Swedes in twelve matches since 1968).

Who plays up front is undoubtedly one of England’s biggest concerns after Wayne Rooney’s two game suspension. While Rooney has often struggled to score and keep his composure on the international stage. He is still far and away the best striker England has to offer. Darren Bent surprisingly, has been possibly deemed fit enough to partake in the Euro after initial expectations that he would be inactive due to rupturing ankle ligaments in February. While everyone knows that he’s England’s second best striker, whether he’ll be in proper shape and form for this summer is up in the air. Trying to replace Rooney and possibly Bent in the first upcoming games will be no easy feat as Hodgson could potentially face a devastating fallout from an early exit in the tournament if England slips up.

With that, lets assess the pros and cons of England’s other strikers in line to stand in for Rooney and possibly Bent in Euro 2012:

Danny Welbeck

Pros: After a successful loan stint with Sunderland, the 21 year old Manchester native had a fantastic first season with the Red Devils. While Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez struggled to find his form and Dimitar Berbatov fell out of favor, Welbeck stepped up on the big stage in his first full season and played fantastically at times. His physicality in possessing the ball and link up play with United’s line up made him a mandatory selection in Sir Alex Ferguson’s starting eleven. His swiftness allowed him to fit in perfectly with United’s aggressive, up-tempo style and he developed a great rapport with Rooney up front. He also scored in crucial games throughout the season against the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal (twice), Tottenham, Everton and other formidable foes. The rising striker, who was nominated for PFA Young Player of the Year in 2012, is acclimated with playing for his country after playing for both the under-21 and senior level squads.

Cons: His inexperience with playing in major international tournaments could definitely bring on serious drawbacks. The most frustrating aspect of Welbeck’s first full season was his struggles in goal scoring as he blew many chances throughout the season. In 30 Premier League games, he scored nine goals which shows that while he does know how to produce up front, his goal scoring may not be clinical enough for him to warrant a starting spot for England. While Welbeck’s abilities still need to progress as he matures into a star striker, it might be too soon to rely on him as a starting striker against elite defenders in Europe.

Daniel Sturridge         

Pros: Along with Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge was another English youngster who impressed many in his first full season at Stamford Bridge. After scoring eight goals in only twelve appearances on loan at Bolton Wanderers in the previous season, Sturridge continued his fine form under Chelsea in the first half of the season. Sturridge, who was one of the few players who actually benefitted from playing for Andre Villas-Boas, scored nine goals before January thanks to his quick pace and strong finishing skills. Sturridge has also played for England against Sweden and won a man of the match award for his excellent performance against the Netherlands.

Cons: There are two major concerns with throwing the inexperienced Sturridge into a “baptism of fire” at Euro 2012. First, after impressing everyone up until January, Sturridge became inconsistent in the second half of the season and lost a lot of playing time under interim coach Roberto Di Matteo. As a young player, he will experience his fair share of highs and lows as he matures into hopefully a fine striker. The other evident issue is Sturridge’s selfishness when trying to score. Although his passing abilities are solid, Sturridge’s pursuit for personal glory has turned him into a one man show at times which will make him unpopular with coaches and teammates. In order for the young Englishman’s game to grow, he truly has to become more of a team player.

Andy Carroll           

Pros: Love him or hate him, Andy Carroll has shown that he can produce on the big stage against some of the best teams in the Premier League. His strength and height make him excel at heading in goals which could prove quite valuable against smaller European defenders. Along with deceptively decent shooting skills, the 23 year old can be quite disruptive in the box which could spark England to success especially if he could head in aerial crosses from a talented winger like Ashley Young. Carroll has also shown good character by cleaning up his off-field issues and can galvanize a team to success as he almost single-handedly inspired Liverpool to come back in the FA Cup Final. After playing well at the end of the season, maybe it’s time for Hodgson to see if he could carry his enthused form into the Euro?

Cons: As the most expensive British footballer ever, it would be quite an understatement to say that he has failed to live up to his lofty expectations. After paying 35 million pounds for his signature, Carroll has returned the favor with a paltry four goals and two assists in the Premier League this season. Although it isn’t completely his fault (he hasn’t exactly been able to receive great ball service from the likes Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and a chronically injured Steven Gerrard), Carroll has bore the brunt of the blame because his style has made Liverpool appear way too conventional and unimaginative when creating chances. Although he has played better recently, his overall form for the whole season dictates that he just isn’t cut out for England duties yet.

Jermain Defoe       

Pros: Jermain Defoe has made a career out of being a quality poacher as he has shown that he has natural instincts for scoring on both the domestic and international levels. When it comes to getting a quick goal, England may not have anyone better than Defoe as his speed allows him to get behind and away from defenders. He is an experienced, clinical scorer with excellent finishing abilities both from distance and up close in the box. He is a fantastic addition off the bench that England has utilized before as he has scored in a third of his games on the international level (15 goals in 46 appearances).

Cons: In all of Defoe’s 46 appearances for England, he has never once played a full game as he has always been substituted into or out of matches. In other words, if Defoe isn’t scoring or creating chances, he really doesn’t offer anything else on the field. Defoe has long been criticized for not being able to keep possession or hold the ball up to link with others. Defoe is also an older version of Sturridge in that he’s a ball hog which simply isn’t conducive with England’s consistent ability to score. Also, besides a brace against the Netherlands in a friendly in 2009, Defoe has only scored against inferior opponents like Poland, Andorra, Kazakhstan, Trinidad and Tobago, Slovenia and Bulgaria. Overall, Defoe has never really shined against elite opponents and his capabilities may be too limited for England this summer.

Peter Crouch  

Pros: The well-traveled 6’7” behemoth has successfully left his mark in England through his obvious heading abilities and surprisingly first-rate dribbling considering his height. Crouch is a remarkable mix of styles as he is both physically imposing but can also show great technical skill (If it wasn’t for Papiss Demba Cisse, his goal against Manchester City would be the best of the season). He has proven to be difficult to deal with on the international level as he has scored 22 goals in 42 appearances including against France, Croatia, and Mexico. Overall, Crouch is an experienced player who knows that this is likely his last chance to play in a meaningful international competition (and who wouldn’t want to see him do the robot one more time?).

Cons: Crouch simply has never really been a clinical scorer who can really take over games. His size makes him rather slow and referees will always watch him closely for fouls due to his reputation. In terms of scoring, after producing eleven goals in twelve appearances in 2006, he has found the back of the net eleven times in 26 appearances over the subsequent four years. While that isn’t terrible, it may indicate that an older, slower Crouch may struggle against young, fast European defenders.

Grant Holt

Pros: Grant Holt has proven the critics wrong this season by showing that he can score goals at the highest level in England, netting 15 goals in the 2011-12 Premier League season for Norwich City. The gifted striker is clinical in front of goal, and reminds me of an Alan Shearer near his prime. Holt is strong in the air, has a good aerial presence and gets into good positions for Norwich to score goals. Most importantly, he’s calm, cool and collected under pressure when he has a chance to score in front of goal.

Cons: Holt has a few things against him. He’s never played for England, so to expect him to jump from the Premier League into an England team at a major international tournament is, perhaps, too much to ask. He’s also older — 31, so he’s at the tail end of his footballing career. I’m not sure whether Hodgson would select a player who may be retiring in a few years especially when he could select a younger striker instead who will have more a longer international career ahead of him.

Conclusion                

Hodgson will have to make a difficult choice in selecting three other strikers to join Rooney in Eastern Europe this summer. In my mind, the best choices are Danny Welbeck because of his great link-up play and partnership with Rooney, Sturridge because of his great speed and finishing abilities, and Crouch because he offers something unique as he will be difficult to mark.  With issues from the back and in midfield, Hodgson better hope that someone besides Rooney or Bent can really step up this summer.

A new photo has been leaked on the Internet of what appears to be Arsenal’s new away shirt for the 2012-13 season.

Whether it is or not, we’ll have to wait a few weeks or more to find out. But the purple and black hoops certainly make this shirt design quite different than anything that we typically see in the Premier League. It’s certainly more attractive than the Freddy Krueger design that has been floating around.

Could this be Arsenal’s new away shirt? I think it’s more likely that this one will be the one instead of the Freddy Krueger-inspired one.

What do you think? Share your opinions about the new Arsenal away shirt in the comments section below.

On the final day of the 2012-13 Premier League season, the incredible match between Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers on ESPN2 was viewed by a US audience of 600,000 people according to Nielsen.

The Sunday, May 13 broadcast between 9:30am-12:15pm ET scored a 0.5 household coverage rating, and was watched in 467,000 households by 600,000 viewers.

The live Premier League match was also shown live on ESPN Deportes, where the telecast had a 3.1 Hispanic households coverage rating, and was watched by 189,000 viewers.

The above numbers are very promising for ESPN considering that the games were shown on a Sunday morning (typically a quieter time of the week due to Americans going to church, etc). Plus, there were nine other Premier League matches shown live across several FOX TV and Internet properties. And many people may have been watching the game on ESPN3 instead of ESPN2.

TV ratings from the FOX properties have not yet been made available, but as soon as we hear from FOX, we’ll post them on this site.