“Fact Or Fiction” is a series that will be run every Friday. In this series, an assertion will be made regarding an impacting topic in the Premier League. EPL Talk writers Matt Hackenmiller and Earl Reed each offer their views on whether the statement is “Fact or Fiction.”

Fact or Fiction: Juan Mata is now Chelsea’s most important player.

MH: Fact.  There are a few reasons for this.  First, his tempo and pace has caused havoc for opposing backlines.  Chelsea currently has no other player that offers these skills.  Secondly, Mata has provided width to an attack that has run centrally through Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba for so long.  Lastly, and probably most importantly for Chelsea fans, Mata’s creativity has rejuvenated fellow Spaniard, Fernando Torres.  Ever since Mata has joined the club, Torres has looked like he has regained his Athletic Madrid form.  It will be interesting to see how Mata holds up over the course of his first season in England.  But if he continues to find himself in the starting eleven for Chelsea, there could be more hardware heading to Stamford Bridge.

ER: Fiction. At this point, Chelsea has a pretty formidable attack, and it can come from many talented players. In my mind, the one area that can be overlooked is their defending. So for me, I think Petr Cech is as important as any player on their squad. You look at the early fixtures of this season, and the two matches where Cech was injured, there was a lot of unease for Chelsea supporters. Hilario was not particularly effective in matches against West Bromwich and Norwich City, and allowed those two teams to hang around until the latter portions of the match. The offense ended up bailing him out in those matches, but the great thing is that Cech is a stabilizing force who allows the team to be more aggressive, knowing that they have a top-class keeper to hold the fort. While Mata may be a strong catalyst for the attack, Cech’s presence is even more important to Chelsea’s success.

What do you think, is it fact or fiction that Juan Mata is now Chelsea’s most important player?

Merry Christmas one and all and welcome to Gameweek 19. Blackpool Vs Liverpool faces a late pitch inspection, otherwise it looks set to be a full line up over the festivities. There will be plenty of action to enjoy as you tuck into your Turkey sandwiches and polish of the last of the sherry.

Tottenham travel to Villa Park in Sunday’s late game, playmaker Rafael Van Der Vaart(8.2) may not be relishing the holiday fixtures but he is back to full fitness and sure to feature. The Dutchman has been hugely influential all season and Harry Redknapp will be delighted to have him back as Spurs look to keep up with the pack. Robbie Keane is destined for the exit door at White Hart Lane in January. The frontman is currently available for a cut-price 4.8 million. Provided he switches to another Premier League side that could be one hell of a deal.

It’s all gone a bit wrong for the Villa since their draw with Man Utd. If Emile Heskey(5.5) can regain his early season promise it could turn the tide for Gerrard Houllier’s men. Winger Stuart Downing(7.1) has also been a bright spot in a so far lacklustre season, the wingers influence could be even more crucial with fellow winger Ashley Young likely to sit this one out with a knee injury.

Chelsea have an excellent record against Arsenal so their trip to the Emirates could be a perfect opportunity to get their season back on track. Didier Drogba(12.5) probably can’t wait for Monday night, the obscenely gifted cry-baby has put 13 goals past the gunners in 13 matches.  The Blues also welcome back the very sorely missed Frank Lampard(12.6) to their starting line up. It is sure to be a keenly contested game that could provide a few goals. Arsenals twinkled toed Samir Nasri(8.4) could well be staking a claim for player of the season and it’s no surprise that he is currently in 32.5% of Fantasy League Teams. If you want to add a bit of Arsenal flair to your squad but are on a tight budget then you can always treat yourself to star of the future Jack Wilshere. The midfielder has picked up some serious game time this season, he will undoubtedly add to his current points total of 35 as his confidence grows and is yours for a cool 4.9 million.

Gameweek 20 will be upon us in a blink of an eye so that’s your lot for this week. If you feel like joining in the fun then join the EPL League by visiting: http://fantasy.premierleaguem.com/ the code you need to join is 13413-5300

Kalou missed a sitter to pile on the misery at Chelsea

The problems at Chelsea continue to mount as a draw in the North East allowed Manchester United to overhaul the champions at the top of the table for the first time this season.

With an important month in the title race about to begin injuries, backroom drama and poor performances have left confidence shattered at a club that has only collected four points from a possible fifteen.

Injuries and Suspensions With all the problems around the club it would be easy to forget that Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Alex and Didier Drogba have either been unavailable or not fully fit over the last month or so.

This constitutes the spine of the first team and it is clear that with the loss of Deco, Joe Cole, Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Ballack the depth is not what it needs to be for the club to overcome injury blights unaffected.

Ray Wilkins Nobody truly knows what happened and the reasoning behind the decision to axe a winning back room figure, but it will clearly have drained morale and it must be a contributing factor to recent results.

With the next month or so crucial for the first time in over a year Chelsea look vulnerable something that was unthinkable just a few months ago, when the Blues raced out of the blocks with six wins in a row. Significant changes in luck around injuries and the defining moments in games are required if Chelsea are to remain in the title race come January.

Brought to you by eChelseaFC

Another weekend in the Premier League brings another mouth watering clash as London big boys Arsenal and Chelsea meet at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. A Chelsea win would see the Champions go seven points clear of Arsenal in the first week of October, a comfortable distance early on. While the two teams stand in third and first respectively, the tantalizing early season test for Arsenal away from home could prove daunting.

While Arsenal have played some fine football through the first few weeks of the season, they’ll hope last weekend’s shock home loss to West Brom won’t set the tone for the encounter, a much tougher test. Arsenal rebounded midweek with a 3-1 win away to Partizan Belgrade in the Champions League, hoping momentum from the match will carry over to the league.

Chelsea too are coming off of a loss in the league, like Arsenal, their first of the season. As Chelsea rebounded also in the Champions League v Marseille, they’ll want nothing but three points to prove their strength, having lost their first real test of the season last weekend. Vulnerability is a dish best not served.

Although it’s debatable that Carlo Ancelotti got his formation and tactics wrong at Eastlands last gameweek, Chelsea’s impotence at creating numerous clear cut chances in the match may have been a direct result of Manchester City’s competence. While the 4-3-3- that blitzed everything in its path through the first five weeks was missing Frank Lampard, and while Lampard looks set to miss Sunday’s match as well, Chelsea remain favorites in the league because of their experience and ability to score goals.

Chelsea gained all six points on offer last year with a combined 5-0 scoreline. While neither team has changed enough over the summer to warrant a major turn in the likely outcome, the addition of Marouane Chamakh up front for Arsenal will look to test John Terry and Alex in the air. The emerging talent of Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere, should he play a part, makes him one to watch.

The Chelsea starting XI, minus last week, embodies a fluid attack. Through Florent Malouda, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka as a forward three, they’ll look to press Arsenal high up the pitch and test a back four who conceded three goals last league match against a newly promoted side. Chelsea’s midfield will likely be made up of Mikel, Essien and possibly Yuri Zhirkov in to replace Ramires who looked off the place at Eastlands.

Zhirkov seems to have had a tough time settling into life as a Chelsea player and gaining regular first team football. He’s battled fitness and form over the last year, but he’s a decent enough left winger (who can also play left back), skilled and quick. Chelsea’s back line of Cole, Terry, Alex and Ivanovic (Cech in goal) has been incredibly solid this year conceding only two goals in six league matches.

Arsenal will have to meet Chelsea still without some key players. Theo Walcott, Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner will all miss with injury, while the in form Samir Nasri, Chamakh and Jack Wilshere will lead the attack. Defending against Chelsea’s capable attack will prove most challenging for Arsenal’s back line of Bacary Sagna, Sebastien Squillaci, Laurent Koscielny and Gael Clichy. Arsenal have let in seven goals this campaign to Chelsea’s two. The up and down Alex Song, Abou Diaby and Andrei Arshavin could occupy the remaining midfield and attacking roles.

The one glaring question that remains for Arsenal is goalkeeper. Besides saving a Chris Brunt penalty last weekend, Manuel Almunia had an outright stinker as he was directly responsible for a few goals. Lukasz Fabianski replaced Almunia during midweek with a fine performance having also saved a penalty. Time will tell whether or not Arsene Wenger will drop Almunia for the game v Chelsea, while if it’s not this weekend, it should be soon. Yet many Arsenal fans still debate that there’s a viable replacement currently at Arsenal that can do the job. Surely the North London side approaches January with the intent of securing another top keeper. Almunia’s form cost Arsenal at least a point in the game against West Brom, the kind of home matches they need to win if they’re to challenge for the title.

That form and those errors simply aren’t good enough for a top Premier League side who has realistic ambitions of capturing silverware. However, we’ve known this for some time. What we haven’t yet figured out is why Arsenal, specifically Wenger, elects to stick with Almunia while points slip away.

While both teams look to recover from a loss in the league last time out, the stage is set for a dramatic showdown on Sunday. On current form and results, Chelsea should be favored. Their ability to attack, both down the left and down the center through multiple avenues make them dangerous in possession and on the counter. As previously stated, or until they start leaking goals, they boast the best defense in the league.

To overlook Arsenal would be slightly silly. Arsenal, more than ever, are a team looking to prove themselves, win silverware and shed this tag they have of a team with no heart or the ability to get stuck in when it counts. Sunday’s match has the potential to be a coming out for Arsenal players like Marouane Chamakh, Jack Wilshere and the furthering of Samir Nasri’s evolution as a Premier League-caliber footballer.

Arsenal and Chelsea fans, feel free to leave your predictions, picks for starting XI’s and potential star performers in the comments section below.

After a hectic start to the Premier League season attentions now turn to England who face two crucial games in five days that will set a trend for Fabio Capello’s next two years in charge of England.

Before the World Cup Fabio Capello could do no wrong. He was seen as the saviour of English football for turning around our fortunes after the disaster that was Steve McClaren’s tenure.  Capello guided England to a near faultless qualification for South Africa that included a stunning 4-1 victory in Zagreb.

All was set for England to mount a challenge for the biggest prize in football. But since the turn of the year things have slowly started to go wrong for England. First there was the John Terry saga; there were then injuries to the likes of David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand before a woefully disappointing World Cup in South Africa.

The pressure was mounting on Capello and only a Steven Gerrard brace rescued the Three Lions from an embarrassing defeat against Hungary. But still England fans are unsure whether Capello is the man to take the side forward.

This makes the games against Bulgaria and Switzerland absolutely vital to Capello. Football fans are fickle and two positive results may just be the catalyst for the positive feeling to return amongst England fans. But anything less than six points and all confidence will be lost in Capello.

But if England fans are demanding six points Capello has got two very tricky games in which to deliver them. Bulgaria will be like most teams that come to Wembley and up their game accordingly, so England shouldn’t take this game lightly. Switzerland on the other hand will pose a very stern test for Capello’s side and their win over Spain at the World Cup shows just how dangerous they can be.

With England missing the likes of Terry and Frank Lampard, and Wayne Rooney desperately short of form the task of six points becomes a whole lot harder. However Capello has managed to pick England up once before and if he could do it again this week it may just be the end of a rocky few months.

I am fully aware that I am late to the why-England-were-eliminated-party here, but as I’ve pored over the litany of explanations on the web, I’ve found that there is an unfair discrepancy of player blame vs. manager blame.

Sure, the England stars appeared lackadaisical and short on ideas, but these are the same players that excel for their clubs under different systems than England’s, so blaming them can only go so far.

Somehow, Capello has failed to get the most out of his players, and that rests with the manager.

1.) Formation Was it written somewhere in his contract that Capello must employ the traditional English 4-4-2 in order to manage the national team?

As has been exhaustively written, Steven Gerrard is a waste playing in an unorthodox left-side midfielder position. When England was steamrolling through a relatively easy qualifying group, everything was rosy. But forcing arguably your country’s best midfielder out of position simply to conform to an outdated formation is naive at best, criminal at worst.

Rather than marginalize Gerrard’s talents, Capello should have built a system that showcases his abilities. Gerrard’s unique (at least for the English team) versatility has always been his downfall for the national team, yet one would think that since the FA shells out £6 million a year on the Italian “genius”, he would be able to figure out one simple notion: cater your formation to your best players, not the opposite and marginalize them.

It amazes me that fans and blog-writers can figure out that the system employed in South Africa should have seen Gerrard somewhere in the middle, yet Capello only did so when his God-send Gareth Barry was out injured (more on that later). The sad part is there are a multitude of ways in which to do execute this:

Standard formation for top Premier League teams, replacing outdated 4-4-2 formation.

The above is just one example formation that Capello should have used in this tournament, but shockingly this was never fully implemented on a large scale by Capello nor his predecessor Sven-Goran Eriksson. In it, Lampard and Gerrard are utilized in formations for which they excel at club level (yes I know Gerrard had an off season this last campaign, but that could be attributed to injury and Rafa Benitez using him where? You guessed it, on the flank).

This is the primary system that Chelsea employed in the glory years of Mourinho, and the formation that Carlo Ancelotti reverted too after testing a midfield diamond. Manchester United has used it to great effect, with Sir Alex Ferguson realizing he lacked a second world-class striker to complement Rooney. Rooney went on to score 34 goals this past year for United, so it is hardly inconceivable that he would shine under such a system for England.

Because Capello was convinced that a Lampard-Gerrard central midfield pairing would not work (which barely anyone contests), Gareth Barry was always going to be in the starting XI as a holding player screening the back four. So why not allow both Lampard AND Gerrard to operate in their familiar positions?

For Lampard, the above system puts him right where he operates for Chelsea, allowing him freedom to attack the box with Barry behind, and positions Gerrard closer to Rooney where he needs to be because those two are the best England have on the ball. Gerrard could serve as a second striker in most attacking situations knowing that Lampard would carry out more defensive duties to help Barry if necessary.

Perhaps I am naive (also not inconceivable!), but does this not seem a formation that would get the best out of all the players on the field? It puts Joe Cole, Aaron Lennon, Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney in comfortable positions that mirror their club responsibilities

2.) Personnel

Heskey, Heskey, Heskey. I still am not convinced starting the big battering ram was a wise choice, and it would be hard to continue to argue such after this tournament. Short tournament campaigns like the World Cup require goals to win, and Heskey simply wastes a spot.

It is shocking to me that Capello would take a nomad footballer in the doldrums of his career and put him in the biggest show on Earth. Does he seriously think Emile Heskey is good enough to make his squad, let alone configure how he would use Wayne Rooney, England’s great hope, based on Heskey? It is complete crap. No one can sit there and look me in the face and say that Peter Crouch could not do as well as Heskey in opening up space for Rooney. Crouch provides more options than Heskey. He drops deep to open up space, he can play as a target man late in matches, and, oh wait, he actually scores goals (21 goals in 38 England matches to be exact)!

But Capello’s worst personnel decision was leaving Joe Cole to rot on the bench. England have almost no technically gifted footballers other than Cole, and Capello’s asinine decision to start an inexperienced (yet promising) James Milner over Joe Cole is indefensible. Why start yet another strong, direct type of player when pretty much the whole team is comprised of such guys? Cole brings much needed guile, style and creativity that, like John Terry famously pointed out, is one of few Englishmen that can actually open up defenses. Cole was the player of the 2006 World Cup for England, and was completely misjudged and misused by a stubborn and incorrect Fabio Capello.

3.) Man Management

While Sven-Goran Eriksson gave England the Baden-Baden WAG fiasco, Capello gave England boredom and a misplaced authoritarianism. Capello must have forgotten he is no longer a club coach, and while his attempts at Mussolini-esque autocratic rule throughout qualifying (where he sees the players once every so often) were met with enthusiasm by the British press, such attempts failed him once he had England for over a month where personalities can clash.

Granted, John Terry’s attempted “coup” was ill-advised, but it underscored the feelings of many England players at his managerial style. It highlighted that there was a major chasm between players and management, and perhaps severe lack of communication. The blame must rest with the manager for not having the full faith and confidence of the players. There was a lack of unity in the team, and while the players should never go blameless for such disharmony, the manager should be pointed at for not getting his messages across.

At the end of the day, the aforementioned three reasons are enough for Capello to be fired by the FA. He didn’t do his job. In fact, he did worse than the much-maligned Eriksson, who took his team to the quarterfinals in every major competition.

Capello comes off as a stubborn disciplinarian whose tactical acumen (at least at international level) was grossly overrated. While the players could have and should have played with more confidence and clarity, much of England’s failure was down to poor planning and poor managerial execution of solid game plans. In the Germany match, Capello played into their hands. He should have matched their formation with a similar one like above, and should have had Gerrard in a central role (where he excelled against the USA) throughout the tournament.

In the high-stakes world of international tournaments, if you underachieve as Capello has (especially at his exorbitant salary), you should get the sack. Perhaps it is time for England to go back to an English manager.

It is almost as if the FA concede that England are not good enough to win a World Cup without a foreign, tactical “genius.” Well, a Swede and an Italian have gotten them nowhere. Maybe it’s time to go back to square one.

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Sunday’s refereeing blunders, following the many glaring group stage errors, have reignited a debate over changing the sport’s rules. Some favor video replay, some favor an additional referee who would only monitor each goal area, while others would prefer a sensor-system for goals similar to that used in hockey. Of all the ideas, the addition of another referee seems to have the most realistic chance as it has already been implemented on an experimental basis in competitions like this past season’s Europa League.

In one of the most incredible moments in World Cup history, England were robbed a legitimate goal that would have leveled the score v Germany and created an entirely different second half for the surging English.

After going down by 2 well scored goals by Germany, England were able to get themselves back into the game through a Matthew Upson header. The momentum was definitely shifting in favor of England and Frank Lampard was then able to chip the German keeper Manuel Neuer with a stunning shot that hit the cross bar and went in.

Sure to be one of the goals of the tournament, Lampard’s clear goal was not given by the ref or the linesman who seemed to be in a good position to award the goal. A well organized Germany went on to thrash England 4-1 with a few well executed counter attacks while England continued to commit players forward.

England was cheated of a blatant Frank Lampard goal Sunday against Germany when the Chelsea midfielder’s shot hit the crossbar, bounced 2-3 feet inside the goal and back out of the goal. But incredibly, the referee decided that it wasn’t a goal which allowed Germany to go into half-time 2-1 ahead.

This is a blatant example of how FIFA needs to add video technology to aid referees and assistant referees.

For England to be cheated in this manner is an outrage and absolutely horrible. In 2010, FIFA should be using the latest in technology to ensure that decisions are handled correctly. The travesty of all of this is that the referee can only call when he and his assistant referees can see. We, at home, with the aid of TV replays can see much more which puts us an unfair advantage over the referees who are not able to see the replays.

I don’t blame the officials. I blame FIFA for putting referees into a very difficult position. It’s almost impossible for the referees to “win.” The referees will almost always lose, as do we the soccer fans.

At the end of the day, soccer should be fair. Fair decisions rather than teams being penalized by poor decisions by referees who are handicapped by not having access to video technology.

For a number of months there has been a debate on this site about how good the English team really is.  Most have claimed that this version of the Three Lions represented a golden generation of players finally coming to the pinnacle of their skills and ready to challenge for the most valued trophy on earth.  Others took a decidedly dimmer view.  For those, the real England was the team that failed to qualify for Euro ’08, failed to impress in friendlies against quality opposition, and shuffled managers as if a different cook could turn chicken droppings into Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Two games into Engalnd’s World Cup campaign, that debate looks largely settled.  England may still qualify out of the group stages, but even if they beat Slovenia on Wednesday, few hold out much hope of them progressing much further.

So what is it that makes some of these players so effective on their Premiership team and so stolid on the English National team?

Most critically, on their club team, they are surrounded by better players.  All these great English players rarely partner with other English players on their club teams.  Instead, they are usually paired with an outstanding player who would sooner eat their shin guard than a plate of fish and chips.  Frank Lampard plays with the outstanding Michael Essien of Ghana.  The same goes for John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho and for Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov (and before him, Cristiano Ronaldo). 

This impact can clearly be seen in the case of Steven Gerrard.  In England, it is settled law that Gerrard is one of the most ferocious, driven midfielders in the game.  However, that law became settled when he was paired with Xavi Alonso, a tremendously hard working and efficient box-to-box dynamo.  When Alonso went to Real Madrid last year and was not replaced with anything of similar quality, all of the sudden Gerrard looked very ordinary.  The empty space that Gerrard used to barrel into now was closed down.  Gerrard struggled to make an impact all year and, despite his armband, is struggling in a very similar fashion in Africa.

Gerrard without Alonso, Lampard without Essien, and Rooney without anyone is what you are getting in this World Cup.

And yet, on their club teams, these English players are treated as Gods by the media.  The English media creates its own reality.  In the Fleet Street press, Oasis is the next Beatles, Sienna Miller is the next Katherine Hepburn and David Beckham is the next George Best.  Pumping up their celebrities to impossible acclaim (and then deflating them to figures of scorn) is the business model that sells newspapers.  In that light, it is not at all surprising that a decent player like Rooney, Gerrard or Terry is presented as the undisputed star of their team, handed all the armbands, and allowed to lift all the trophies.  From this side of the Atlantic, it is a little easier to be more objective and see how virtually all of the top teams in England are carried by the imported players, but for the English fans, it takes a mightily objective person to be so calculating.

So, what now for England?  The players left the field yesterday in Capetown to a chorus of jeers.  After a long English season, they are now in a tired place where they cannot to read a newspaper, do an interview or watch a sports show without seeing their own ridicule.  Psychologically, the temptation to bid this messy affair a warm goodbye and spend the next three weeks on a beach waiting for the new season to being must be very enticing.  Whether the players have the stomach to pick themselves up, beat Slovenia and continue forward against this emotional and physical onslaught will be a revealing test.  They may have the bottle to fashion that type of victory on Wednesday.

But what they no longer have is the myth of greatness.  This “greatest team in a generation,” is not anything close.    Instead , they are nothing more than a mid-level European team, and it will take a monumental reversal to indicate otherwise.