In some fans’ and pundits’ opinion, Manchester City appears to be the team best equipped to challenge Chelsea for the Premier League title. But last Saturday 2-1 defeat at Wolves showed that despite all the talent there are evidently a few holes that need to be filled in.  First credit must be given to Wolves who were outstanding and fully deserved their victory – coming back from a goal down after a soft penalty decision against (Richard Sterman) on David Silva, slotted away coolly by Abebayor.  I am on the side of the fence that believes Wolves play very good football and have been mislabelled as a physical football team.

Manchester City has two major concerns, in midfield and upfront.

Case 1: midfield: for all the talent it possesses, the three-man midfield last Saturday of Barry, Milner and Ya-Ya Toare were simply leaving full-backs Micah Richards & Jerome Boateng exposed again.  Two direct and talented wingers in the in-form – Matt Jarvis and Stephen Hunt – led in wide areas to provide service to Edwards and Doyle. Proof of that were both of Wolves’ goals as first Jarvis and then Hunt had enough time and space to have tea and biscuits before providing the delivery.

Case 2: Attack: This is where City are still to find the right partnership. Without Tevez, City look lightweight upfront without a real striker with the predatory instincts that he possesses.  Abebayor will have his moments of brilliance but more often than not frustrates, as with Balotelli; he is finding his feet and fitness and requires time to establish himself in the Premier League after his Jekyll (first half) and Hyde (second half) performance. Abebayor and Balotelli were not on the same wavelength for the match, running into same areas and not appearing to show a partnership together, City’s can only hope that Tevez’s return is speedy as otherwise this minor dip in form could have disastrous concequences.

I would like to see City play with two natural wingers (in Milner and Johnson), with Silva playing in the ‘hole’ behind Tevez (or at present Adebayor) to provide them better balance in wide areas and protection for the exposed areas at full backs – especially on the left, a position where City have employed 8 different team members already this season.

With some fine-tuning in midfield and upfront – something that will surely be corrected in the January transfer window – City will prove to be a side to challenge for the title, but they still have plenty to learn.

With less than 3 months to go until England’s first group game against the U.S.A on June 12th in the World Cup and one particular pair of positions are causing more problems than anyone envisaged. At full strength, the English full-backs picked themselves with Ashley Cole easily making a case for being the best left back in world football and Glen Johnson’s continual growth as a player. Now with Cole recovering from a broken ankle and Johnson returning gradually from injury, question marks have been raised.

This has indeed opened the door to one or two players that may have considered the chance to get to the World Cup firmly shut. The additional withdrawl of Wayne Bridge from international duty has left Fabio Capello with a quandary. Can he risk hoping Cole recovers in time or simply go with the two main replacements for the position Stephen Warnock and Leighton Baines.

Baines certainly seemed to get a leg up with his starting place in the friendly against Egypt, with Warnock left on the bench. The addition of Gareth Barry as a player who could play there could see that Capello may only take Baines and a half fit Cole, hoping he can recover his fitness toward the tail end of the season. It isn’t unfeasible to see such a situation but that could leave England weak if Barry were to suffer injury or suspension.

Taking Baines and Warnock, for me makes more sense. Warnock, has been impressing ever since he left Liverpool for regular football. His inclusion as an England squad player is long overdue in my opinion. He’s tough but fair, a great ball winner, can ping passes and is flexible in his ability to play not only as a full back, but a left winger and a defensive midfielder.

Baines whilst not as flexible, is certainly no slouch, his bombing runs down Everton’s left flank over the last couple of seasons stands testament to that and he’s a smashing dead ball player. For me, if Capello was looking for a player to fit easier in to the role that Ashley Cole fills for England, Baines is more that type of player Capello likes. Unless Cole stages a miracle recovery, I’d be taking Baines and Warnock. Poor old Nicky Shorey must be thinking what if…..

The opposite flank has seen the worries subside with Johnson’s return but he’s struggled with those annoying niggling injuries recently and with Liverpool having a mixed season in the best possible sense, we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed that he doesn’t break down again. Though for all his lovely play going forward, he is still prone to defensive lapses and seemingly switches off still.

That’s not to say the positive doesn’t outweighs the negative, but it’s still a concern. At 25, he really needs to be ironing these errors out of his game but he still can cause more problems than he creates opportunities for the opposition. Fully fit, he’s got the number 2 shirt. My main concern is with the back up for Johnson and the problems an injury could cause.

I’m sorry, but I’ve never rated Wes Brown at all. Yes, I know he plays for Manchester United, Yes I know he’s got 23 caps for England but I just don’t rate him. No pace, consistently caught in possession and dreadful with the ball at his feet, I would be terrified if Brown was our reserve right back. I know he can fill in at centre half, but I don’t rate him there either and he has to be the most average player to have achieved the level of success he has.

Yet, I see salvation on the horizon but I’ll get to that shortly. Micah Richards, who burst on to the scene so memorably for Manchester City as a teenager has had his issues. As with most bright young things, a dip in form is inevitable and for Richards, it unfortunately coincided with Manchester City’s new found wealth. To his credit, he’s dug in and fought his way back in to the Manchester City first team. I have to say I was very impressed with him when he came on the scene, he has masses of potential and is still young.

Ironically, it was his transfer that began the fall out between Mourinho and Abramovich when the chairman refused to meet City’s £20 million valuation. The rest is history but I think this World Cup may be too soon for Richards and I would turn to one of English football’s most consistent and criminally underated players of the last 20 years. Gary Neville.

Now, for me, Neville has never been given the credit he deserves at all for his country. The 10 year relationship that he built with his best friend Beckham playing in front of him for club and country was astounding at it’s best. Both players instinctively knew were the other would be and that type of telepathic understanding of each others game is so rare in the modern game. Recently returning to fitness and at 35 years old, it would certainly be his last hurrah but Cafu played for Brazil until he was 36, so why not. Neville was easily one of the 3 best right-backs in the world alongside Salgado and Cafu.

So maybe a couple of surprises and two differing situations leads me to the following choices then:

If Ashley Cole amazes everyone, and I hope he does I’d take Cole, Baines, Johnson and Neville. If not my four fullbacks would be Baines, Warnock, Johnson and Neville. What do you think? Who would you choose as Fabio’s four full backs?

It was not the start that England’s Under 21 side wanted, but it could have been a whole lot worse after today’s close shave against a Finland side full of surprises. By finding themselves in the toughest of the two groups with Spain and Germany, this was the game that Stuart Pearce would have targeted as a must win match. With a side full of Premiership regulars including Micah Richards, Theo Walcott, Lee Catermole and captained by West Ham’s prodigious midfielder David Noble, this is a squad that great things are expected of.

The Finns certainly made sure that no-one in the camp will forget this clash in a hurry as England were fortunate to escape will 3 points. England looked shocked and reverted to type by simply humping the ball forward and hoping for the best. With Walcott and Agbonlahor in the side, pace is a weapon the Under 21′s can utilise but they’ll need a different perspective to get past the other two sides. It’s so frustrating when you see such talented players revert to type and the dreaded long ball game.

The fact they were playing side that were taller all through the side, especially the impressive striker Sadik, made the long ball a waste of the ball. Sadik was impressive throughout the game and he caused the back four of Cranie, Mancienne, Richards and Gibbs problems all game. The Young Lions had been on the back foot from the kick off and were extremely fortunate to take the lead through Cattermole’s drive but they were caught out when Mancienne was correctly shown a red card for a professional foul after a mix up between the Chelsea prospect and Joe Hart in the England goal.

Former Southampton youngster Tim Sparv made no mistake from the resulting penalty and it looked like the writing was on the wall for Stuart Pearce’s boys but they hung on until half time. Walcott who had another disappointing 45 minutes was replaced by Frazier Campbell and amazingly England took the lead when Micah Richards powered the ball home from a corner. After that, it was a case of desperate defending with Martin Cranie, the Portsmouth prospect, superb after being moved to centre back after the sending off. Finland probably deserved the win, so must be feeling so low after losing this game in Hamlstad.

For a side brimming with so much top level experience it was a strange display. Maybe it was nerves, perhaps they were over confident but England were lacking any real drive and quality in possession. Noble tried his best in midfield, but once they went a man down it was all hands to the pump. Cranie though can be delighted with his performance as he seemed to be everywhere in defence, breaking up moves, throwing himself at the ball and tackling back consistently well.

Pearce was candid and honest after the game, saying that it was nowhere near good enough but he’ll be happy to escape with the three points. Yet he must be frustrated with some of the players who started the game whose reputations certainly preceded them to Sweden for this tournament. He’ll certainly need to get the players going for Thursday’s clash against the favourites Spain, a repeat performance could see England humbled in Gothenburg

Jose Mourinho fell out with Roman Abrahamovic over him, Martin Jol tried twice to sign him for Tottenham and Barcelona were even watching him but those admiring glances and failed bids seem a long way off now. When he first burst in to the Premier League back in 2006, I was blown away by the lad’s power and pace, especially for an 18 year old full back and I thought to myself, that’s England’s number 2 for the next 10 years then. His swearing faux pas on BBC 1 added to appeal of young man at the beginning of what looked like a long and successful career ahead of him.

Yet, here we are 3 seasons later, and whilst it must be great playing for the richest club in the world, there are no more big bids coming in for Micah Richards. He now keeps getting linked with moves away from Manchester City, but not to Chelsea or Barcelona any more or he’s being used as a makeweight in an attempted deal as City look to bring in defensive reinforcements.His form was criticised several times last season and he found it tough going in City’s back line along with Richard Dunne.

Is it simply another case of a young talent who’s got too much too soon and simply is more interested in being out on the town or is he too tied up with the new prerequisite for Premiership footballers, a fashion label, MR. Certainly, Richards has been caught up in one tabloid scandal which certainly didn’t go down well with Fabio Capello. By not picking him for Englands last two games and leaving him the Under 21 squad whilst returning Gary Neville to the squad is a damming indictment of Richards current form.

Interestingly, I think you could possibly draw a comparison between Micah Richards and England’s new first choice right back, Glen Johnson. Johnson was another “next big thing” when he broke through at West Ham United and joined Chelsea, but Mourinho cut his losses and sold him on to Portsmouth after a loan spell which included being arrested for trying to steal a toilet set and some taps. At that time, you could suggest that Johnson was a young player who’d completely lost touch with football too.

That seemed to be the watershed for Johnson and he knuckled down in a big way and last season he was tremendous flying down the right wing for Pompey. Ironically, now Chelsea want to re-sign him for 3 times the value they sold him for. His performances for England recently have been fantastic, apart from a wobbly opening 20 minutes against Kazakhstan and he scored the Premiership goal of the season at Fratton Park last November with a belting 35 yard volley.

Richards needs to find himself again and whilst he’s only 20, football is littered with so many players who were Under 21 regulars but simply couldn’t push on to become England regulars, such as Francis Jeffers, David Prutton and Chris Vinnicombe. Richards is still young enough and certainly has the natural talent to make sure he doesn’t follow that particular trio down the football ladder but he needs to start working hard again. His manager at Under 21 level could tell him a tale or two about hard work, especially pulling yourself up from non-league football to a World Cup semi-final in 7 years.

Richards has shown the potential, now he needs to get back to concentrating on football rather than being a celebrity.

This is not the worst team in the Premier League.  It is the least valuable.  This team would incite the masses with talent, with name recognition and with expense.  They would then fail pathetically.  This team could be composed entirely of Newcastle players, but we thought we’d include a few others to keep things interesting.

Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal): Doubled his salary this season.  Halved his work rate and effectiveness.

Michael Owen (Newcastle): No longer an elite player, no leadership value, paid like someone with both.

Damien Duff (Newcastle): Expensive, complacent and ineffectual, Duff is a perfect emblem for Newcastle’s season.

Joey Barton (Newcastle): He makes £60,000 per week.  No description needed.

Deco (Chelsea): Barcelona – better when he left.  Chelsea – better when he stopped playing.

David Bentley (Tottenham): Once tipped to start for England, can’t even start for Tottenham.  Spurs won eight out of eleven league games he did not play.

Gareth Bale (Tottenham): Spurs still have not won a Premier League match he has appeared in.

Micah Richards (Manchester City): Has regressed rather than progressed, a testament to Capello’s insight.

Gary Neville (Manchester United): Waste of a squad position.

Andrea Dossena (Liverpool): One reason Rafa Benitez should have to work for his transfer funds.

Craig Gordon (Sunderland): Sunderland allowed 113 goals the past two seasons.  Not all Gordon’s fault, but you would expect more impact, given his transfer fee.

 Micah Richards wins the Christmas stupidity award.

It took seven weeks, but we find out tonight that Micah Richards was arrested over a December 24th attack outside a Hale nightclub.  It is alleged that Richards attacked an eighteen year old male. In something that Mark Hughes has had some practice with, he’s already coming out in support of his defender.

With all the money these players make, with the big houses these people have, why is it they feel like they need to go out. Nightclubs are a recipie for trouble and when players can have all they need at home, take advantage of it. Look I understand players are as human as I am. But they have to be just a little bit more responsible when it comes to their actions. Their stupidity will end up on the back pages, ours won’t.

Other Stories
Aston Villa won’t make any complaints over the Andrei Arshavin transfer. I’m glad to hear that. The other 19 clubs didn’t say anything either at today’s Premier League meeting.

Three weeks looks to be the amount of time Gerrard will miss with his hamstring injury. Hopefully Gerrard will be available for at least the second leg of the Real Madrid tie.

Joe Kinnear will not be dealing with his contract as long as Newcastle are in a relegation fight. Smart man, because I’m sure he knows if they go down, he won’t be needing to bother with a new contract.

Charles N’Zogbia keeps saying that he found it difficult to work with Joe Kinnear and that’s why he wanted out. I wonder what will happen once Steve Bruce gets tough with him?

I don’t think Lucas’s apology will help him after Wednesday night.

Sylvain Distin doesn’t seem to have the right attitude about Portsmouth’s chances at staying up.

Now Michel Platini wants to get into the whole transfer window debate…oh goody.

And finally, while Manchester United are still in for the quadruple, Sir Alex Ferguson is realistic about his team’s chances for silverware.

So Andrei Arshavin is starting to make loud noises about his future, and it doesn’t look like playing in Russia is a part of it.  He’s telling Zenit St. Petersburg that if he has to, he’ll buy out his contract (this is the only link that is currently available, the Telegraph also reported the same this morning, before updating their story) in order to move. We’re also seeing rumblings that he’s already in London seeing the Arsenal sights, while the negotiations begin over the transfer fee. While 20 million seems a bit much for someone who is more or less demanding to be sold, I don’t blame Zenit for this ploy to start, knowing they will settle for less to just be rid of a headache.

I don’t know what to make of this whole situation. On the one hand, Arsene Wenger needs someone in the absence of Cesc Fabregas while on the other, what does Wenger do once Fabregas is back. Knowing this, Zenit should hold Arsenal over the coals to get what they feel is right for a player under contract to them. The other thing that I wonder about is does Arshavin become surplus requirements to the Arsenal squad once Fabregas does come back? If that happens, how long before Arsenal are dealing with the same antics that got him in the first place.

The other story that has caught my interest is are we starting to see the sell off at West Ham United?  We all know about the alleged financial difficulties West Ham’s owner are having, and we also know about the comments from Zola about selling the surplus. My question to that is, are Calum Davenport and Matthew Etherington really surplus requirements to West Ham United’s squad? The proposed seven million those two will bring doesn’t seem like the right valuation. Then add Scott Parker to that mix that looks to be a 12 million pound transfer to Manchester City makes me wonder if West Ham United are trying to gut their squad. But at the same time, there is talk about bringing in Savio Nsereko. Being an under 19 makes me think he’s probably another year from really cracking the starting 11 on a consistent basis.

I understand Zola wants to keep his core of Craig Bellamy, Matthew Upson and Scott Parker together, and really only one of those three look to be on the chopping block.  I also understand that West Ham do have surplus that they do need to get rid of. I just wonder if the balance they are looking for is the balance that is going to be needed going into the future.

Other Stories
Jermain Defoe is back at Tottenham and as goes with the tried and tested ‘It’s great to be back‘ line. So if Harry Redknapp goes to another club, how long will it be before Defoe follows along?

Micah Richards is hitting back at those who claim he is fat and unfit. I think the only thing unfit is his mind with regards to field positioning.

Look who’s trying to be officer of the peace with Carlos Tevez and Manchester United…the third party interest.

It’s been nice knowing you Dean Windass, who looks to finally be leaving Hull City. I do feel for him, as the man who scored the goal that got Hull City into the Premier League is making a hasty exit back to the lower leagues.

Luis Felipe Scolari has lost his mind if he thinks that Florent Malouda holds the key in their Sunday clash against Manchester United.

Watching Manchester City yesterday left me in no doubt as to the scale of the issues currently affecting Mark Hughes team and the dreadful run of form they currently find themselves in. With 4 wins, 1 draw and 7 defeats so far in the Premier League, the optimism that greeted the signing of Robinho on August 31st has quickly evaporated, leaving City with something of a deadline day hangover that doesn’t seem to be clearing up anytime soon. For all Robinho’s hype and pomp, his speed and dead ball ability, he’s left the City team overloaded with attacking flair but little work-rate, a side desperate to charge forward at every possible opportunity with little thought as to the consequences of what may happen if they lose the ball. Starting yesterdays game alongside Robinho were Vassell, Wright-Phillips, Ireland and Benjani, giving City a quintet of attacking potential and that leads us to the issue at hand. Charging back to pressurise opponents is something that is obviously missing from the current City lineup and it’s beginning to show in abundance. The ironic thing in all this is that I’ve seen it all before with my team and it didn’t work then either.

Ossie Ardiles’ Tottenham team that started the 1994-1995 season had another attacking quintet that on paper oozed quality, Klinsmann, Sheringham, Barmby, Dumitrescu and Anderton. All international players, all great footballers, but it left the Spurs team top heavy and easy to pull apart. Ardiles only lasted 12 games of the 1994-95 season, fired after winning 5, drawing 2 and losing 5 and witnessing an amazing 45 goals in those 12 games. If you add in the 17 goals in 3 League Cup games, you get an incredible average of just over 4 goals a game. Entertainment by the bucket load, but unfortunately it usually benefited the opposition and Tottenham had to change tact, bringing in Gerry Francis and a more pragmatic tactical mixture.

Manchester City are currently working on the same principle of using 5 attacking players, a defensive midfielder and a back four, with full backs pushing up to fill the gaps in midfieldwhich are left when the wingers charge forward. It then leaves them open to quick counter attacks on both flanks, leaving the centre halves exposed and vulnerable, putting pressure on them and eventually leading to mistakes. When you’ve got everyone bombing forward with the ball, it’s brilliant. When they lose it with no end product, it becomes a different story.

I saw comparisons with Real Madrid’s Galactico side last week which made me chuckle no end, no offence to Manchester City and their dedicated and loyal fans but can you really compare the current City quintet with Raul, Ronaldo, Figo, Zidane and Beckham? Even with players of that ilk, the trophies dried up for Madrid because they were so top heavy and never replaced the underrated player who was the essentially fulcrum of the side, Claude Makelele. Now if players of that calibre can’t play 4-1-5 especially after Makelele left, it becomes blinding obvious that City need to be pragmatic and play a more restrained version of the beautiful game because some players look as if they’ve lost all the confidence they had and the tactics are increasing this burden on the team. Confidence is a fragile thing at the best of times, some people can seem Kevlar coated and deflect any criticism or set back and continue forward but another key component of Manchester City’s recent Premiership side looks deflated and defeated, his confidence shattered and broken.

Richard Dunne cut a dispirited and disillusioned figure yesterday, as he has in recent weeks. Since the Liverpool defeat, when City threw away 2 goal lead, the 4 time winner of Manchester City’s fans player of the year and club captain looks shattered. 2 own goals and a red card in recent matches hasn’t helped his state of mind and the tactics are pulling the relationship he had with Micah Richards to pieces.  Dunne has been a rock for Manchester City over recent seasons and to see his demeanour is not a pleasant thing to see.

Mark Hughes blamed the weather for both of City’s red cards yesterday, but the referee was left in no doubt about both of them. They were stupid challenges and the players involved paid the price, the same as Assou-Ekoto, with the justified retribution from the officials. I understand Hughes stance of defending his players but tactically, City are all over the place and Dunne and Richards are the casualties of too much flair and not enough work, being left constantly exposed and unsupported.

Richards was one of England’s brightest prospects two years ago, now his potential seems unfulfilled, out of the England squad and in a leaky defence with a side on the slide. With both centre backs consistently exposed to the counter attack, teams are making the pairing look ordinary and brittle, passing their way around them with ease.

Thankfully, Hughes has received the backing of chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak today after reports began to circulate on Friday that the owners had lined up a replacement for him. Labelling the reports “rubbish” and stated that he was personally committed to him and Hughes would have money to spend once the January transfer window opens in 52 days time. Mubarak continues to support his manager in public and Hughes certainly deserves the backing of the chairman after only 4 months in the job. With some fans calling for his head already, Hughes needs his players to deliver in Sundays televised clash with Hull City at the KC Stadium to get things back in perspective at Eastlands.