Brilliant Barcelona and Magnificent Messi Humble Manchester United and Ronaldo

A victory for football? Without a doubt.

Barcelona, inspired by the sublime Lionel Messi beat Manchester United 2-0 in the Champions League Final in Rome tonight. But in truth they gave the English Premier League Champions a real lesson in football.

What Next For Aston Villa? Can Martin O'Neill Improve On 6th Place?

Despite Aston Villa finishing sixth, and going for almost two months without a win. This season was a massively successful one for Midland team and their manager, Martin O'Neill.

What Next For Liverpool? Who Needs To Come In, And Who Needs To Leave?

Liverpool FC have just had their best ever finish to a Premiership season. Coming in a close second to Manchester United, the team from Anfield have finally made that small step that seems a mile, to challenge for the title. Now, comes the hard part, winning the title...

How to Deal With Trolls

From time to time with certain articles, you're bound to find the odd troll or two. Sometimes they'll uncloak on one of your own pieces, sometimes you're able to sit back and watch the fireworks. Whatever the case, here's a method for dealing with them.

For the uninitiated, a troll is a person whose sole purpose is to get a rise from you by leaving comments on articles that are incendiary and designed to provoke a response.

Arsene Wenger "Interested" in Real Madrid, Ireland's NAMA Look on

As Arsenal and Arsene Wenger celebrate 13 years together as a happily married couple, it finally appears as if Le Prof is ready to enter divorce proceedings and leave for Real Madrid.

Meanwhile in Ireland, the National Assets Management Agency, could be heading for a showdown with the Arsenal board...

Manchester City's New Jersey Blunder: Sponsored by United!

Apparently Manchester City have released pictures of what next season's jersey is going to look like. It's the usual sky blue. A nice jersey. Nothing really stands out as being spectacular, until you get to the sponsor.

Where To Next for Carlos Tevez? Liverpool? Madrid? Barca? Inter? City? Stay?

As Manchester United wrapped up their 18th league title and their 11th under Alex Ferguson, a fore-lorn Carlos Tevez waved to the crowd, as if saying goodbye, after he was once again singled out by the Scot and substituted.

Tevez, looked at the fourth official's substitution board, and on seeing the dreaded number 32 being held up, he shrugged his shoulders and turned and waved to the Old Trafford crowd, who amazingly booed their managers decision to take the Argentinian off.

Where to Next for Arsenal? Will the Gunners Ever Challenge Again?

Arsenal have suffered another humiliating loss at home.

After Tuesday's debacle against Manchester United, Chelsea inflicted further damage to the fragile minds of Arsene Wenger's Gunners with a comprehensive 4-1 defeat.

The question now on most Gooner's minds now is, where do we go from here?

Before the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Manchester United, Arsenal were the form team in the league.

But two abject performances against their bitter rivals seems to have shredded their fragile confidence, and now the manner of the defeat against Chelsea has just compounded matters.

But where to point the finger of blame?

As always there will be a number of places to start.

1. Arsene Wenger

Le Prof has been with the club for 12 years now. The first eight were glorious. Four League titles and three FA Cups, including two doubles had confirmed the Frenchman as the club's best manager in decades, certainly since Bertie Mee.

But the last four seasons have left the trophy cabinets at the Emirates vacant. Is the manager to blame?

The buck always stops with the manager, so Wenger must take his fair share of the blame; after all he did take some of the credit for the glory, did he not?

This season has seen Wenger make some strange decisions. The oddest of formations away to Sunderland, poor substitutions in the last 15 minutes in the 4-4 draw with Spurs, the defensive set up in the FA Cup against Chelsea...

These are just a few of Wenger's bad decision making this season, but equally he has overseen the team qualify for the semi finals of two major cups, comeback from the dead to draw 4-4 with Liverpool and beat Manchester United in probably the best footballing match this season.

There's also the widely publicised fact that his contract will run out soon. And although he has as recently as last week turned down Bayern Munich, many Gooners feel he'll end up at the helm there later rather than sooner.

Maybe Wenger's problem is that he does like confrontations where his authority could be questioned. Senior players have always been allowed to leave, and have only ever been replaced with youth. And Wenger has never gone to the board demanding a huge transfer purse.

Time to toughen up and get money from the board to sign senior players...

2. The Board

Wenger has never spent money.

Arsenal are one of the richest clubs in the world, have the fourth highest wage bill in the EPL, and have a stadium that can hold upward of 70,000.

So money coming in is not the factor.

Over his 12 years in charge, Wenger has spent roughly £220 million, so money has been available-ish.

The board have always worried about Wenger spending big. Francis Jeffers and Antonio Reyes were both unmitigated disasters while players like Robert Pires, Patrick Viera, and Emmanuel Petit have all been huge successes.

There's no getting away from it, though. The board have been stingy. Xabi Alonso had agreed terms last year, but the board wouldn't budge from £13m when Liverpool wanted £15m. Flamini wanted £60k a week, the board offered £50k.

Ashley Cole wanted £60k, when the board offered £50k, he went halfway and offered £55k, the board wouldn't budge.

So add the stingy board to an unpushy manager and you get players leaving who shouldn't and a lack of proven players not coming in.

3. The current squad

There is little doubt that the current squad is short on the right materials to challenge for the league.

The sheer lack of a physical presence in the team is easy to point out. One stat that jumps out at you is the average height of the current squad. It's 5-foot-9. The average height of the invincibles was 6-foot-2. You do the math.

There is also a real lack of guile in the team. If Fabregas or Arshavin don't play, there is little or no imagination. Walcott tears down the wing like it's a tunnel, van Persie flutes around thinking he's Bergkamp and Song and Denilson just don't have it.

Add these inadequacies to the lack of bite and determination to the team and you have a squad threatening to fall out of the top four.

But that will only happen if City spend £300m, Aston Villa treble their wage bill, and Spurs finally get the car started...

4. The Fans

Yes the fans. They too must take a little bit of the blame. Half the stadium leaving with almost half an hour to go over the last two matches sends out it's own message.

Of course, the fans have paid good money and are entitled to vote with their feet, but it does make a team who are low on confidence get ever lower.

The booing that echoes around after poor performances will eventually take it's toll on the weaker members of the squad, and there is a growing section of "Wenger out."

One things this section of fans should realise, is that success is not guaranteed. And that the four seasons without a trophy we have at the moment could grow to six or seven seasons if a new manager is brought in.

5. The Carling Cup

Too often has Wenger disregarded England's second cup. Using it as a training ground for younger players, the Gunners have never won the cup during the Frenchman's reign.

Now is the time to take it seriously. When Brian Clough took over at Nottingham Forest, the second cup of the day was an absolute joke, a mishmash of a competition with English and Scottish teams.

No one took it seriously.

Except Clough.

He puts that Cup win down as the start of all things great about the early days of Forest, and the Anglo Scottish Cup win was the springboard that propelled his team to a league title and two European Cups.

You see, it was the first silverware his players had ever won. And then they wanted more.

Think about it. Your career at the top level lasts what, 10 years if you're lucky. That's only 40 trophies that you can win. By Wenger disregarding the League Cup, that total is down to 30. Take the league away for the moment, as well as the Champions League which Arsenal have never won and you're left with the FA Cup.

Players want to win trophies. They don't care what it looks like, or whether it's supposedly inferior. It's a professional trophy. It means something.

Then when they get the taste in their mouth, they'll want more...

6. The lack of Leadership

Every team has a leader on the pitch, great sides have many. Just look at Liverpool and you have Gerrard and Carragher. Chelsea have Lampard and Terry. United have Vidic, Ferdinand, Giggs, Rooney, and Scholes.

Who do Arsenal have that you would consider a leader of men?

These are just some of the major problems that Arsenal have to endure at the moment. It will be interesting to see if any of these change for the better in the Summer.

If not, next season could be tougher than this one...

Tottenham Hotspur's Wilson Palacios' Brother Murdered By Kidnappers in Honduras

Bill Shankly once said “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.”

It's something he eventually became quite ashamed with, and after the recent death of Wilson Palacios' brother, football can be seen for what it really is for many, a simple distraction.

Rafael Benitez Sets Out His Stall to Challenge Manchester Utd Next Year

Rafael Benitez has indicated that Liverpool are now poised to challenge Manchester United's dominance for the Premier League over the coming seasons.

With Liverpool enjoying their best season in some time as they breathe down Manchester United's neck in the final run in, the Reds manager now feels the time is right to launch a concentrated attack on the title.

James McCarthy Scoops the SPL Young Player Award, Next Stop the EPL?

James McCarthy's growing reputation as the best teenage player in Britain received another huge endorsement this week when he picked up the SPL's Young Player of the Year 2009 award.

The hottest midfield prospect around has earned huge plaudits this season with the maturity of his performances in a team that have flirted with relegation this season.

West Ham Hammered by UEFA: No Licence Means No European Football

With the season winding down and West Ham on the verge of making the new Europa League, the Hammers have received the devastating news from UEFA that they will not be allowed to compete in Europe unless they acquire a UEFA Licence.

Under UEFA law, a club will only obtain the licence to compete in European football if they meet certain financial requirements, and as of writing this article, West Ham have yet to fulfill their obligations.

Rafael Benitez, Arsene Wenger, Alex Ferguson: Their Transfer History

There have been many debates surrounding who has the best transfer record, Rafa or Fergie?

It's not an easy question to answer, there are many elements to consider. Trophies, time spent at the club, progress of the player, and the club. With that in mind I went back to 1986 to review Fergies track record in the transfer market.

Then after completing that, we'll compare his record over the last five years with Rafa's. And then just for good measure we'll throw in Wenger's record for good measure too...

Pride and Prejudice: The Champions League 2009 Semi-Final Stories

UEFA and football fans everywhere were the real winners of Barcelona's clash with Chelsea last night. And we now have a potential match of the ages to look forward to, United vs Barca, Ronaldo vs Messi, Puyol vs Rooney, Eto'o vs Vidic.

KPMG Warn That Liverpool Could Become the Next Leeds

Just like a sudden sharp pain down your left arm on a cold Tuesday night, Liverpool's supporters were blindsided by financial auditors KPMG's latest findings into their club.

Arsenal's 11-Minute Self-Destruction Sees Manchester United March On to Rome

Two goals in the opening 11 minutes ended Arsenal's slim hopes of going to the Champions League Final in Rome this year. Ji-Sung Park and a Cristiano Ronaldo free kick effectively handed the tie to Manchester United, who had come into the game with a slender 1-0 lead, after their near total domination over the Gunners in the first leg.

Cristiano Ronaldo then added a second goal to leave an unassailable 3-0 lead on the night after a superb United counter attack from an Arsenal corner. (0-4 agg)

United Pressure Liverpool, Joey Barton Strikes Again and Bye Bye Baggies

Newcastle's Joey Barton feigning innocence after his vicious assault on Xabi Alonso yesterday, the 3-0 loss effectively makes next week's match against Middlesbrough a cup tie. Elsewhere United put Liverpool under pressure for the first time in a while and the race for the Europa League heated up.

Ricky Hatton's Career Hangs By a Thread After Manny Pacquiao Knockout

Ricky Hatton suffered a devastating second-round knockout in his world title fight against Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas last night. The title fight for the IBO light welterweight belt was ended after Hatton was brutally dispatched by the champions lightning strikes.

With the fight just beginning to warm, Hatton was floored by a right from no-where to hit the deck for the first time in the round, after getting up and seemingly surviving Pacquiao's barrage, the fight was ended by a crushing left that had Hatton counted out with only one second remaining in the round.

The defeat, only the second of Hatton's 47 fight career now leaves his future in the ring in the balance. At 30, there are not too many options left for the Hitman, and as he lies in his bed this morning considering last nights devastation at one of the best boxers in the world, he must also consider what he has left to offer the sport.