Inter v Chelsea, Ramsey, England

Tonight in the Champions League we see the return of the 'Special One' Jose Mourinho to Stamford Bridge, with a 2-1 first leg lead for his Inter side. The first leg was a little cagey (as first legs tend to be) but I was generally impressed with Inter Milan, something I wouldn't have said last year or the year before. I heard a lot of folks claiming that Chelsea deserved at least a draw from the game but I put that down to the typical warped view that the British press have when it comes to European games. From the back they have a class goalkeeper, up there with Gigi and Iker for me, the best right back in the world, solid old boys in Lucio and Samuel and their captain Zanetti has played something near a million games of football. In the middle I've always loved Cambiasso, Stankovic is a really good player, but the jewel in the crown has got to be Sneijder. Why o' why Real Madrid felt the need to let him go is beyond me - sure they had Kaka and Ronaldo coming in but this guy is good enough to be competing with them for sure. He ran things in the first leg, Chelsea will have to make sure he's well shackled tonight if they want to progress. As for the lads up top, Eto'o is a class act who will always be able to nick a goal, Milito may not have a big profile over here but I really like the look of him, Pandev is a creative and hard working lad brought in from Lazio, and then there's the new kid on the block Mario Balotelli. The Ghanaian born Italian is the new enigma in Italian football, he shows touches (and goals, just ask Rubin Kazan) of brilliance followed by angry tantrums and poor discipline. Unfortunately the 19 year old prodigy hasn't travelled with the squad to London, I just hope that Lippi takes a punt on him in the summer. With that Inter love in out of the way lets look at the game. I really do believe that Inter will go through tonight, it could turn out to be a long old evening - I'll go 2-1 Chelsea, into extra time and Inter grab the crucial goal for a 2-2 draw on the night. Chelsea are strong at home but I just fancy Jose to pull something out of the bag and cause a bit of an upset. I've always said that at this stage of a tie, the away side have 90 minutes (or maybe 120) to score an away goal, and the home side have none. With unproven Ross Turnbull in goal I have to fancy Inter of getting at least one. I watched Jose's press conference yesterday and he was back on great form, slipping seamlessly between English, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. There will be no running down the touchline antics from him tomorrow if they win, he has a lot of respect for his old club and their fans, I just hope Arsenal get them in the next round and batter him. Forza Internazionale!

'One Aaron Ramsey' and 'Do it for Aaron' were just some of the banners I saw at the Arsenal v Porto game last week, fantastic support for our Welsh Cesc Fabregas. Ramsey was really having a good season, the boss had set him a target of 20 appearances at the off, and he had already made 29 scoring 4 goals, before an all too familiar night at Stoke. He was breaking into the first team picture with some really good performances, not the kind that you can judge from a Match of the Day but when you watch the 90 minutes of your team on a regular basis you can see who is doing the business and who isn't. Although still raw and capable of giving the ball away, he has a great eye for a pass, can chip in with the odd goal and isn't afraid of taking a shot once and a while. He was having another good game at Stoke when he suffered a horrific double leg break following a challenge with Ryan Shawcross. The scenes were sickeningly familiar, Aaron in massive pain, his leg hanging at an awful angle, players signalling furiously to the bench, others just shaking their heads and walking around in disbelief. Sky were not showing replays of the tackle but it was no surprise to see Shawcross sent off, he's just broken some one's leg. With some 3/4 weeks to reflect on what happened, here's my 2 cents. Clearly Shawcross didn't intend to break Ramsey's leg, there was no lunge or stamping motion, he's going in to get the ball and unfortunately Ramsey's leg is planted. We saw from Shawcross' reaction as he left the pitch how upset he was. He does though go in with terrific pace and aggression (he's a big guy) and without much control or skill in his tackle, for that he can be accused of being reckless. As the boss has pointed out, a great tackle is as pleasurable to watch as a great strike of cutting through ball, it's a skill in itself. The incident has highlighted some bigger questions than just broken legs though. It comes back to this phrase and state of mind that 'Arsenal don't like it up 'em.' Obviously Pulis hasn't gone to his team and said 'go break his fucking leg,' but you can be sure the dressing room have been told to 'get stuck in' and 'let them know you're there' and 'hit him the first 5 minutes' and so on. We all love the physical side of the British game, it's what sets us apart from the jessie's in Spain and Italy, but this mindset and philosophy to get stuck in can breed the over aggression that caused the serious injuries to Ramsey, Eduardo and Diaby. I have no real problem with Shawcross to be honest, despite some less than clean tackles on Adebayor and Frannie Jeffers that have been brought up since the Ramsey incident - he seems very sorry for what happened, as he should be. However, all we heard for the next few days was 'he's not that kind of player' and what a lovely lad little Ryan Shawcross is, and how fantastic and smashing the other England lads had been with him while on international duty. 'Ryan Shawcross hasn't got a bad bone in his body,' well Aaron Ramsey has 2 bad bones now. But imagine for a moment that Ramsey had just got fouled in that incident, yellow card for Shawcross and the game goes on. Another Delap throw in gets nodded in by Fuller and Stoke win that game 2-1, what would the headlines be the next day? 'Arsenal didn't fancy it,' or 'they weren't up for it' or 'couldn't handle Stoke's physical game.' We've heard all these sorts of things after games with Bolton, Hull, Blackburn etc, and we've now suffered a double leg break, a leg break with open ankle dislocation and a broken ankle. That's where Wenger is right when he says he doesn't believe in coincidences. Eduardo hasn't been the same player since, Diaby is doing well but both players' bodies are still recovering from the trauma they've been through. Little calf tweaks and hamstring pulls are regular for both lads, the body isn't used to the amount of hard work you're asking it to do after 6 months sat on your arse. So we can only wish Aaron a speedy and problem free recovery, he's a young lad so he should be back on his feet soon enough and itching to kick a football again. Let's win it for the boy.

Finally, this is my 16th March 2010 England squad. I did this a few months ago and I'll do another one just before the Capello 30-man provisional squad, and then make my final 23 before he picks his, see how good of a manager I would be. This presumes that all the players are fit and that Wayne Bridge doesn't make a U-turn on his exile decision.

Keepers: Green (1), James, Hart
Defenders: Terry, Ferdinand, Johnson, A.Cole, Brown, Baines, Upson, Lescott
Midfielders: Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Walcott, J.Cole, Carrick, Milner, Lennon
Forwards: Rooney, Heskey, Defoe, Crouch

Keepers: No big surprises here, Hart has made that 3rd spot a cert with some excellent performances for B'ham this season, if anyone is vulnerable it's James for me.
Defenders: Assuming Cole is fit, if not then Warnock is a candidate, Capello might try and beg Bridge, but we have other options in Barry, Lescott and Milner there. Brown will go despite how uninspiring he is, let's just hope Johnson gets fit for fuck sake. I'd rather leave Lescott behind and bring Downing/Young but I think Fabio will err on the side of caution and bring the extra defender.
Midfielders: I'm always gonna take my boy Theo, plus he can double up as the 5th striker if we need him there, Joe Cole is worth the gamble for me, he hasn't set the world alight this season but he's a great player, Milner is a shoe-in and Lennon's early season form has convinced me he's the man to replace Becks.
Forwards: Pick themselves really. If the boss does some juggling in Def/Mid to make room for the extra striker I'd probably take Carlton Cole. Take her easy.