Bad news Arsenal fans, even your best striker doubts you can win the league

Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor has today admitted he can't see Arsenal winning the Premier League this season if they perform like they did against Tottenham on Wednesday. The Gunners conceded two very late goals against their North London rivals Spurs to draw the game 4-4 leaving everyone at the club feeling sick as parrots.
The 24-year old said : "To be champions in this way? You can never be a champion ... There is a lot of disappointment. We are down at the moment because we did everything to get the three points and we ended up with one ... We feel very sorry for ourselves that the things are not going the right way ... It was one of the most difficult games in my life because I cannot understand that after 90 minutes we were leading 4-2 - I don't know how we finished with a draw.
Arsenal also threw away silly points against lesser opposition earlier in the season, most notably the shock 2-1 home defeat by Premier League new boys Hull City. The Gunners now travel to Stoke City on Saturday where a defeat would almost certainly put to bed their chances of winning the title this season.
Personally I am a little bit surprised to see Adebayor come out with these statements. Following such a shock result, a player should be coming out and saying that the side can recover from such a result or not to worry we can still challenge for the league. But hey, at least he is saying what he really feels and I like that in a footballer, however I don't know whether or not these comments will have a positive or negative effect on the players come Saturday.

It's official, Beckham will join Milan in January

After weeks of speculation, it has been confirmed this evening that David Beckham will join AC Milan on January 7. The England international will spend two months on loan with the Serie A giants in order to try and maintain his place in Fabio Cappelo's plans for the national team.
The LA Galaxy midfielder was keen to leave the MLS club on a short-term loan deal in order to keep his place in the England team. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star currently has 107 caps under his belt, one behind Bobby Moore who lies in second place behind Peter Shilton.
The 33-year old now gives Milan boss Carlo Anceolotti another option in midfield and will certainly add to the array of talent currently on show at the San Siro. LA Galaxy had to cancel a friendly game with Australian side Queensland Roar earlier this week because they could not guarantee that Beckham would be able to play.
Personally I hope Beckham does really well in Milan. He was and still is a terrific footballer who many of Europe's elite would love to have in their squad's. I am sure Cappelo is delighted that Beckham has made the move because it would of looked wrong for him to keep picking him if he wasn't playing any football over the winter.

One thing we learned about Spurs under Redknapp last night was

That they are real fighters now Ramos has left. At 4-2 even the most ardent Spurs fan would of said OK we are going to lose but hey there are a lot of positives to take from the result. But Tottenham are different under new manager Harry Redknapp. They are now a side who never say never and it is that attitude which I think will see them suddenly rise up the Premier League table.
Under Juande Ramos Spurs could of easily went on to lose 6-2 to Arsenal, but the spirit the Spurs players showed in the last five minutes was terrific. In particular David Bentley. Since joining from Blackburn in the summer, Bentley has struggled to show any kind of form but suddenly in the last two games, with Redknapp in charge he looks a different player altogether.
He didn't stop running for the whole 90 minutes and if he keeps that kind of form up he will certainly become a first team regular in the England squad. I feel now it is essential for Spurs to keep that kind of form up for the rest of the season, starting with Liverpool at the weekend and they could easily finish top ten

Ferguson trying his best to convince £32 million striker to join United

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has today admitted he has held talks with United's Argentine striker Carlos Tevez in a bid to keep him at the club. Tevez' two-year loan deal at the club is set to expire at the end of this season and so far United have been reluctant to cough up the £32 million needed to make the deal permanent.
Following the arrival of Dimitar Berbatov, Tevez has found it hard to keep his place in United's starting eleven which has led to speculation that he may leave Old Trafford once the January transfer window opens. Both Real Madrid and Manchester City have been linked with the player in recent weeks, however as of now neither club have made their interest known.
Ferguson told The Guardian this in relation to the matter : "I sat down with him only last week to stress that our faith in him is absolute and, that he remains a top player in the eyes of myself, the players and supporters .... It's just that three players won't fit into two positions and my job is to balance the team .... Carlos understands this and I have explained that when the season really hots up we will need everyone."
It is clear that Ferguson is getting worried that he may not be able to sign Tevez on a permanent deal. I would not be one bit surprised to see Tevez leave the Premier League and Champions League Champions this winter. I personally feel Tevez is without doubt one of the best strikers currently playing in Europe and I am sure he does not want to be sitting on the bench every week waiting for his chance. If he is to leave United, a move to Real Madrid is a real possibility however he may want to stay in England and join money-bags Man City.

Ronaldo, Torres, Fabregas and Drogba all included in Wolrd Player of the Year shortlist

Ten Premier League players have been included in the short-list for FIFA's World Player of the Year award. The list is made up of 23 players from all around the world that will eventually be whittled down to just three in December.
The winner will be decided by national team captains and coaches and the winner of the award will be announced at a ceremony in Zurich in January. Cristiano Ronaldo is the hot favourite to take the award after he was recently awarded with the FIFPro world player of the year.
AC Milan's Kaka won the award last year with Real Madrid's Fabio Cannavaro winning it the year before. In total, 20 European players have been nominated along with 3 South Americans and 3 Africans. Here is the list in full :
Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo), Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Andrei Arshavin (Russia), Michael Ballack (Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Deco (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Steven Gerrard (England), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
Andres Iniesta (Spain), Kaka (Brazil), Frank Lampard (England), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Franck Ribery (France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), John Terry (England), Fernando Torres (Spain), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).

Maradona to manage Argentina, first up, Scotland

Diego Maradona is tonight on the verge of becoming the manager of the Argentinian national team, according to Carlos Bilardo who led the country to World Cup glory back in 1986. Maradona is a legend in Argentina and this news will no doubt be met with joyous scenes in the country.
Bilardo, who is to become the director of football for the national team once Maradona's appointment is confirmed, was quoted as saying : "Diego will be the next coach of the national team,"
Could you imagine Maradona leading Argentina to World Cup glory in South Africa in 2010. I certainly wouldn't bet against it. It will be fascinating to see how he handles managing such a great bunch a players, who just two months ago won gold at the Olympics. His first game is likely to come in Scotland next month when the sides meet for a friendly.

Adams the wrong choice for Pompey

Portsmouth have today appointed Tony Adams as their new manager following the departure of Harry Redknapp to Tottenham last week. Adams was of course Redknapp's assistant at Fratton Park so it was an obvious choice for Pompey to install Adams as the new manager, but personally I feel it is the wrong decision.
This is Adams' second spell as a first team manager, his first coming at League Two side Wycombe Wanderers. During his spell at Adams Park he had a win percentage of just 22%, spending just over a year at the club. The former England captain handed in his resignation in November 2003, which was accepted.
Adams joined Portsmouth in June 2006, becoming Redknapp's assistant and remained in that position until this afternoon. The 42-year old has admitted he has taken a risk in accepting the opportunity to manage the Premier League side and in my view it won't be long until he is on his way out the exit door at the club.
Just look at the likes of Sammy Lee and Chris Hutchings. Bolton parted company with Sam Allardyce two seasons ago and immediately gave assistant manager Sammy Lee the job. He only won one game in his short spell at the club which ended just six months after his appointment. When Paul Jewell left Wigan, Chris Hutchings was given the job and he did just as bad as Lee, lasting just six months at the JJB Stadium.
I feel the price of 14/1 from Paddy Power on Tony Adams to be the next Premier League manager to be sacked or leave his post is a very decent bet because if Pompey are to go four or five weeks without a win, suddenly pressure starts to build on Adams from the fans and the board and the sack is inevitable.

Redknapp opens the door for former Spurs and Pompey midfielder

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has opened the door for Tim Sherwood to return to White Hart Lane after five years away from the club. Sherwood, 39, has been offered a role in Redknapp's new coaching staff at the North London club, however he is currently considering his options.
Sherwood, who currently works as a pundit on Setanta Sports, had this to say about the offer : "I'm due to speak to Harry but I have a lot of things to consider ... It's a great opportunity - there must be a queue a mile long for that job." Sherwood left Spurs in 2003 to join Redknapp at Pompey and now five years on, Redknapp has made him a totally different offer.
Redknapp has been quoted as saying : "Tim's knowledge of the game is tremendous and he tells it as it is. He's terrific in the dressing room ... He's got a big future in the game if he takes that gamble." Sherwood has expressed a desire to return to Spurs but he doesn't know if he could give it "One million percent of my time".
I really think this could be a superb move for Spurs if Sherwood does in the end join. Sherwood would provide great Premier League experience for Spurs, with the former England international having captained Blackburn to the title back in 1995. Overall I feel it would be a great move for both parties and lets hope a deal happens.