Some fantastic matchups await fans in Austria and Vienna next summer, after the group stages for Euro 2008 were drawn in Switzerland today. The groups are as follows:

Group A: Switzerland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Turkey

Group B: Austria, Croatia, Germany, Poland

Group C: Netherlands, Italy, Romania, France

Group D: Greece, Sweden, Spain, Russia

That's some fantastic competition, and although all the groups are tough, Group C will easily be the Group of Death for the tournament.

Group A is interesting with hosts Switzerland joined by the more attack minded Czechs, Portugal and Turkey. The Swiss didn't concede at single goal at last year's World Cup, and their young side will have matured even more now. The Czechs unfortunately suffer from a reliance on the ageing Jan Koller that has been ingrained into their playing style over the years, and the creative burden falls almost entirely on the injury prone Tomas Rosicky. Portugal will be as strong as ever, with clubmates Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani providing attacking wizardry, Deco pulling the strings, and Carvalho, Ferreira, Meira and Miguel provide class and experience at the back. Unfortunately their strikeforce is still suspect - Nuno Gomes is over the hill, and Hugo Almeida is still unproven. As for Turkey, well they will be as unpredictable as ever. They did well at Euro 2000, then finished 3rd at the Korea-Japan 2002, and then failed to qualify for either Portugal 2004 or Germany 2006. Temperamental but gifted, they boast an array of German-based (and German-born!) talent in the Altintop brothers, Nuri Sahin, and Yildiray Basturk. Then there's Nihat (Villareal), Emre (Newcastle) and Tuncay Sanli (Middlesborough). The living legend Hakan Sukur is still soldiering on (37 years old, 112 caps, 51 goal), and Besiktas defender Gokhan Zan is one of Europe's brightest young stoppers. Russia-based striker Hasan Kabze might just have a surprise impact. The Swiss-Turkey match is likely to be bad-tempered and exciting - they fought during the Germany 2006 Qualifiers, after the Swiss knocked out the Turks.

My picks: Portugal and Turkey. Portugal have too much talent and experience. The Czechs no longer have enough quality. The Swiss lack goalscoring ability. The Turks have a huge collection of imaginative, dangerous attackers, and if they click they will cause problems.

Group B will have Germany joined by neighbours Austria and Poland, and nearby Croatia (well, Europe isn't all that big anyways). Austria are severely short of any real talent, and despite the home backing, they're likely to fall short. Croatia have become an excellent unit, with depth in every position. Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar are fantastic midfielders, and Arsenal striker Eduardo should be settled, fit and in-form by the time the tournament starts. Germany are stalwarts as ever, with Joachim Loew continuing the good work he started en route to Germany 2006. They have a batch of new talents, many of them with question marks over their heads, and a lot will depend on the fitness of Michael Ballack and how quickly the goalkeeping situation is resolved - if Lehmann continues to be on the bench for Arsenal, and Hildebrand continues to start for Valencia, then the latter will be Number 1. Poland qualified very easily, but are an ageing side that lack any genuinely top-class players. However they work well as a unit, and Rasiak and Zurawski work well together up front. 'Keeper Boruc is underrated, and could be one of the best at Euro 2008. This group should see a lot of intense matchups because of the presence of the hosts, and the regional/political rivalries of some of the countries, and the Germany-Croatia encounter will be a fascinating tactical matchup.

My picks: Germany and Croatia. The Germans will cruise through, and Croatia will be too classy and clever for the rest. The Poles might ruffle a few feathers, but will not cause any real surprises. Austria will be happy to get a draw or two.

Group C is going to be the highlight of the early part of the tournament, and sees two pairs of qualifying opponents rematched. The Netherlands have a lot to prove after repeated failures at major tournaments since Euro 2000 was played on their home soil. They have superbly talented players, but too many egos, and poor temperament. Van Persie, Robben and Van Nistelrooy make up a deadly attacking trio, with Van der Vaart, Seedorf and the amazing Sneijder providing the ammunition. The Dutch have one of the most talented squads in the world, but doubts remain over their defensive ability. Italy are Italy, and will always be tough. There are no new names or faces, although Totti has retired from Internationals. Gilardino is in much better form for his club now, and should provide more of a presence. Toni is banging in the goals in Germany. Apart from Pirlo, Italia don't have much creativity, but that's never been their strong suit, and they will always grind out results and get important goals. Romania are a talented but fragile team. They beat the Netherlands in qualifying, and they have a magician in Steaua playmaker Dica. They can also call on Fiorentina attacker Adrian Mutu, and Inter's Cristian Chivu, one of the world's finest defenders. They have a squad full of good technicians, many of whom ply their trade across Europe's top leagues. Finally, France will want to continue their post-Zidane resurgence. They have their old collection of big names like Henry, Trezeguet, Vieira, Thuram and Makelele, but they will be looking to the younger Franck Ribery for creative inspiration now. Ribery's former colleague at Marseille, Samir Nasri, and the two other French-Arab youngsters Hatem Ben Arfa and Karm Benzema (both from Lyon) are capable of sublime attacking magic. Much will depend on Domenech's willingness to give the new faces a chance. In Gregory Coupet, Mickael Laundreau, Sebastien Frey and Ulrich Rame, they have a varied but error-prone set of 'keepers. Apart from the obvious France-Italy and Holland-Romania grudge matches, every game in this group will be fantastic. The Italy-Holland games will be a fantastic battle of wits, tactics and skill.

My picks: Netherlands and France. The Dutch kids will finally come good. France are formidable, and already beat Italy in qualifying. Romania are too inexperienced and fragile. Italy have gotten away with having easy groups in past tournaments (not to mention "friendly" referees), but they will struggle in this mix.

Group D is unlikely to throw up too many surprises. Reigning champions Greece are still coached by German tactical magician "King" Otto Rehhagel, but are unlikely to be able to repeat the surprises of the last tournament. They have an ageing squad, with a sparse amount of attacking talent, and an unproven collection of strikers. But you can never say never. Sweden have always had a tradition of achieving results with average, workmanlike squads with a few gifted players. Previously with Dahlin, Brolin, and Larsson, and now with Ljungberg and Ibrahimovic, they benefit from a solid coaching setup, and a great understanding in the squad of how to play and compete. John Elmander is a very talented young striker who could have an impact. Not much can be said about Spain that hasn't already been said. Traditional flops at the major tournaments, but always blessed with world class players, they will arrive at Euro 2008 with Fabregas, Torres, Alonso, Casillas, Ramos, Puyol and so many other brilliant players in every position. Russia just managed to sneak through after finishing poorly. Hiddink is a great tactician, but with a harmful ego. Kerzhakov is their main attacking threat, and young 'keeper Igor Akinfeev is one of the best in the world, but he might not be fit for the tournament. The Spain-Sweden game is another rematch from the qualifiers and will be the highlight.

My picks: Spain and Sweden. The Spanish will get through the group stage easily enough, whether they can have the impact they should on the rest of the tournament remains to be seen. Sweden might have a few problems, but they will be able to get results. Greece are clever and can take points off the bigger teams, but are one-dimensional. Russia will be lost in the mix. 

Stay tuned during the tournament of course, for all kinds of updates from OleOle - videos, podcasts, blogs, news and more. We might even have a few contests running beforehand for you, and don't forget about our Tickets & Travel section, which will have some great deals to let you watch some great games.

Liverpool kept their dreams alive with a somewhat fortuitous 4-1 over Porto yesterday. The scoreline was very flattering to Rafa Benitez's men, but they won't complain as they are still in with a chance to go through.  They must now go and win in Marseilles, in what is a very tight group. All 4 teams are still in with a chance of going through, with Porto on 8 points, Marseille and Liverpool on 7, and Beskitas on 6. It won't be an easy task though, as Marseille have already gone to Anfield and taken 3 points, and all they need is a draw to progress.

The other two British teams with clouds hanging over their qualification hopes are Glasgow rivals Rangers and Celtic. Celtic are away to AC Milan, although the Italians are already qualified, and Celtic need just a draw to progress, so we might well see a stalemate. Even if they lost, Shakhtar would still need to overcome Benfica to have a chance, and that won't be easy since Benfica will want a place in the UEFA cup.

Rangers have a slightly more high pressure situation. They play Lyon in what is basically a direct contest for the second spot. Rangers need a draw to advance, and Lyon need to win. It is probably going to be an epic encounter, and the press will not doubt be bringing up the France vs Scotland allusions from the recently concluded Euro 2008 qualifiers. Rangers will be disappointed though by their performance versus Stuttgart, losing 3-2 late on after being 2-1 up.

Well, if everything goes correctly for the three Brit sides, the knockout stage of the Champions League might just see an astonishing 6 out of the 16 teams come from Britain.

The 8 teams qualified thus far are: Chelsea, AC Milan, Barcelona, Manchester United, Roma, Inter Milan, Sevilla and Arsenal.

My picks for the remaining eight are: Porto, Marseille, Schalke, Real Madrid, Olympiakos, Celtic, Rangers and Fenerbhace.

Spare a thought for the once great Dynamo Kyiv, who have 0 points, and for Valencia... they're not even in contention for a UEFA Cup spot at the moment.

In a recent interview, Alex Ferguson said that it was his duty to produce English players, because nobody else was going to. Whether he intended it that way or not, the media interpreted it as a pop at Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, and probably a bit at Liverpool as well.

Of course, this all comes on the back of England's defeat to Croatia, and their generally bad football over the last year, and how all this is somehow the fault of foreign players coming in, and how clubs like Arsenal and Liverpool don't produce enough English players. Of course clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea are hailed for having "English souls" and whatever else, but that's really a lot of crap. It's easy for the two richest clubs in the country to go out and spend 10-20m on an English player and then claim that they have homegrown players. It's also nonsense.

So I thought i'd take a look at the two clubs named as the big "saviours" of English football, and see just exactly how many English international players they've "produced".

From the England squads, Manchester United have Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Owen Hargreaves, Rio Ferdinand and Ben Foster. Which is fine I suppose, it's nice to have 7 England internationals, and I guess Alex Ferguson can be proud of that. But when it's used as stick to beat other clubs and managers with, then it becomes very, very unfair, because how much did these players cost?

Well, Rooney cost £27 million, Carrick cost £18m, Hargreaves cost £17m, and Ferdinand cost £33m. Ben Foster was a £1 million buy from Stoke, and ONLY two players - Gary Neville and Wes Brown - are from United's "famed" youth setup. Well, that's a total cost of £96 million! It's easy to brag about your "English core" when you're filthy rich isn't it!

And Chelsea? Well they have Ashley Cole, Wayne Bridge, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Shaun-Wright Pillips. Once again, errr... well done for having all these Englishman in the squad, but again, how many have Chelsea produced? Just one - John Terry. As for the rest? Ashley Cole cost about £17 million (£5m + William Gallas), Wayne Bridge cost £7m, Frank Lampard cost £11m, Joe Cole cost £7m and Shaun Wright-Phillips cost £21m. Total cost: £63 million.

Chelsea and Manchester United spend more on their beloved English players than most clubs (Arsenal included) do in 2 or 3 seasons on ALL their players. And how many can you say are worth it? Is Owen Hargreaves really worth £17m when Mathieu Flamini cost £1m? Is Rio Ferdinand really worth £33m when Kolo Toure cost £750,000? Is Wayne Bridge worth £7m when Patrice Evra was only £4.5m? And Michael Carrick £18m when the far superior Xabi Alonso was only £11m? There's a reason that clubs look abroad for players, and it's not because they dislike English players or want to harm English football, it's because the prices and hype that surrounded even a moderately talented English player are ludicrously high, and clubs other than Chelsea and Manchester United can't really throw the money around.

In any case, we've seen that between them, Chelsea and Manchester United presently have only three club-produced England internationals in their squads. So why don't we look at the recent England squads, and the number of players that have been club-produced by the "Big Four", and when they won their first caps:

Manchester United: Gary Neville (1995), David Beckham (1996), Phil Neville (1996), Wes Brown (1999)
Arsenal: Ashley Cole (March 2001), David Bentley (September 2007)
Liverpool: Steven Gerrard (2000), Michael Owen (1998)
Chelsea: John Terry (June 2003)

OK, so Manchester United have the most home-produced players of those 4, but the most recent cap of them all was Wes Brown in 1998, and he's not even that important. They're basically still living off the reputation of their much vaunted "Golden Generation", but the fact is that United have not produced a decent English player in years and years, and their present crop are decidedly ageing and average at the ages of 32, 31, 32 and 28.

And I'd like to follow that up by asking you which club from the "Big Four" has produced the most number of players to be capped in this decade? Well the answer to that, funnily enough, is Arsenal! Two is not a large number, but it's certainly more than Manchester United have given to English football in the last 7 years. And if you look at the recent England youth squads, you will find that it's Arsenal who are producing the most talented young English players, and in good numbers as well. Surely this can only be because of their foreign manager, and all the incredibly talented foreign players that are there in training and on the field?

Incidentally the two clubs that have contributed the most to recent English squads are Leeds and West Ham. Leeds - Aaron Lennon, Paul Robinson, Alan Smith, Scott Carson, and Jonathan Woodgate
West Ham - Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Frank Lampard and Jermain Defoe (although the latter was schooled mostly at Charlton)

Thank you Croatia, for bringing down to earth the most over-hyped national team on the planet. Exemplified by the hype that Soccernet loves to throw out:

Blackburn fans will be delighted with the news that Christopher Samba has signed a new 5 year deal to stay at Ewood Park. The gigantic Congolese centre-back has given a series of consistently outstanding performances following his introduction to the Premiership, and is now a vital part of Mark Hughes' defensive unit.

Although born in France, Samba chose to represent his ancestral home of the Republic of Congo. He made his entry into professional football at Sedan, a club that boasts a good recent history of talented Africans, such as Henri Camara, Modeste M'Bami and Salif Diao. His promise was recognised by German giants Hertha Berlin, and he moved there as a 20 year old.

However, he struggled to break into the Hertha team, clocking up just 20 appearances in 3 years. He learnt a lot in his time at the German club, but as a perennial backup, he was not getting the experience he needed to progress.

Then, Mark Hughes got word from his scouts about Samba, and he was invited to Lancashire for a trial. 5 days were enough to convince Hughes of his potential and ability, and he signed a 3 and a half year deal, costing Blackburn a bargain sum of £400,000.

Initially, he seemed like one of those big lumps that managers like to play in the middle of defence - standing at 1.94 metres tall, he looked to be the kind of player that would be relied on to win headers, kick lumps of out forwards, and contribute with the odd goal from corners and free-kicks.Well, he has done all that, but he's also done so much more.

The most striking thing about him, is that for a guy of his size and build, his pace and athleticism are remarkable. A leggy character, he faced several tests last season against the likes of Thierry Henry, Craig Bellamy and Emmanuel Adebayor, and he demonstrated a fantastic combination of strength, power and pace to win those duels. He seldom loses a header, and he's increasingly been showing some good skill on the ball, and a good range of passing.

Not just good in individual clashes, he's also a vital part of the Blackburn defence. His performances put Lucas Neill in the shade last season, and this year he has acted as the defensive lynchpin, acting as more aggressive ball-winning centre-half alongside the more measured talents of Ryan Nelsen, Stephane Henchoz and Andre Ooijer.

He's also proved to be a very useful attacking option. Whilst his obvious asset is as a target in the box to try and score from set-pieces and corners, he's also managed to become a very intelligent decoy, and shown great awareness in his runs and flick-ons for teammates. With David Bentley and Morten Gamst Pedersen able to deliver dead balls with pinpoint accuracy, Blackburn have made set plays a huge part of their game, and Samba has been a big part of their efficacy in this regard.

Ultimately how much recognition he gets will depend on how well Blackburn do as a club, and Mark Hughes has had them improving every year. However if at some point they start to stagnate, don't be surprised to see one of the "Big Four" step in and move for Samba, because he's a top class defender.

Despite taking an early lead through a Wayne Rooney stunner, England succumbed 2-1 away in Russia, once again putting their qualification hopes in doubt.

The English media once again had a case of premature ejaculation after the Israel game, and things were brought quite heavily down to earth today.

However, the English will be aggrieved at the way Russia equalised. Wayne Rooney clearly comitted a professional foul, tugging the shirt of the player who had stolen in on the left to race onto a throughball, but he seemed to have done so well outside the box. However the momentum of both players was carrying them forward, and they both flew to the ground in the penalty area. I would say that it was clearly NOT a penalty, and it definitely looked worse than it was. Rooney though can have no complaint over his yellow card.

This all happened during a sustained period of Russian pressure. In the first half England had been the dominant force. coming to terms with the difficult conditions, and playing intelligently and commitedly. Then Michael Owen won a header, flicking the ball onto Rooney, who controlled it on his chest before thumping a powerful, dipping volley over the Russian keeper's head. The defender nearest to him seemed to be convinced that it was a handball, but the replays confirmed that it was his chest.

The game was cat-and-mousey, but it all changed in the second half. With about 30 minutes left, the ineffective Alexandr Kerzhakov was taken off for Roman Pavlutjenko, and it was the latter who scored both goals.

First came the "penalty" in the 69th minute, which was at the start of a period of sustained Russian pressure. And the Russians kept swarming the English goal. They surged forward, switching the ball around at pace, and making very, very good use of the wide players (as Hiddink loves to do). They never forced the play, they never thumped in tons of speculative crosses, instead they concentrated on keeping possession around the England penalty area. Their passing and movement gave time for the midfielders and fullbacks to run up and join the attack, and when they finally did cross or pass the ball, it seemed almost like a post set-piece scramble in the England box.

4 minutes after their equaliser, Russia had the lead. They passed, and waited, and passed and waited, and didn't rush their shooting chances, even though several of them could have made speculative shots. Eventually Robinson had to save, and since the box was loaded with Russian players, one of them managed to break free and react first to the rebound. Once again it was Pavlutjenko, poking the ball past a lumbering Robinson, and static defence.

So that's it, 2-1 to Russia. They are just two points behind England (23) now, with a game in hand. The next two fixtures are difficult: Israel vs Russia, and England vs. Croatia. Let's see what happens.

When young Yoann Gourcuff left Stade Rennais for Milan, he was supposed to be the next big thing. There had been concrete interest from Arsenal and Lyon for a year, and it didn't take a particularly gifted talent-spotter to see that the boy had promise. Likened to Robert Pires, Youri Djorkaeff and Zinedine Zidane, Gourcuff is a technically supreme midfielder, able to see the game and manipulate the ball like few others. To add to that, he is tall and considerably strong (hence the comparison to Zizou), and able to work as a more conventional central midfielder in addition to his obvious abilities as an attacking one.

He emerged through the excellent youth setup at Rennes, but was lured away by the allure of Milanello, the San Siro, and all the dreams that come with. Arriving as one of Europe's most talented young midfielders (and NOT a raw one at that), the idea was that he would slot into the fluid, unpredictable Milan midfield - able to substitute for Seedorf, for Pirlo, and even for Kaka, with the eventual hope being that he might end up as consistently brilliant as the Brazilian.

But of course AC Milan being AC Milan, nothing went as planned.

After a promising start, Gourcuff found no playing time, and this season he has seen even less. The arrival of Emerson in the summer meant that central midfield was now more congested. Add to this the hype of Brazilian superkid Pato (who will arrive in January), and the odd return of Ibrahim Ba, and one wonders what Gourcuff is still doing there. The Pato situation is quite unfortunate, because in all the hype, people have forgotten that Gourcuff too is a "wonderkid" (albeit a slightly older one).

The French youngster has understandably become frustrated, and spoke out about how he wanted more playing time. This drew a reaction from the AC Milan supremo Adriano Galliani, and his quotes are quite ludicrous in places. I've higlighted a few of the choice bits:

"Gourcuff is partly right when he says that he hoped he would get more playing time, because that's what he agreed on with our coach last summer. But that was before we got the chance to sign Emerson, even though we had told Gourcuff we would buy no one in midfield to allow him more playing time.

However, Gourcuff has to understand he is lucky to be playing in the team that has won the most trophies in the world, and if he is really that good he should be able to break through into the side, even if now we have one more midfielder.

Nevertheless, I can understand his situation and I didn't get angry about what he said."

Well Adriano, you shouldn't get angry about what he said, he should be getting angry about what you and Ancelotti said! If it was agreed that he would get more playing time, and that no more midfielders would be signed, then why should he be content? What difference does it make to Gourcuff that Milan have won so many trophies if he's not getting any games, and unable to contribute to the team or improve as a player?

It's quite ridiculous stuff, and one would hope that Gourcuff just leaves. I'm sure Arsene Wenger would still be interested - he has a good record of rescuing talented French youngsters from their misery in Italy (see Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry). In fact, this situation is so similar to the Vieira one, it's uncanny. The Gunners legend arrived in much the same way as Gourcuff - one of the most talented young midfielders in France, who had only just had a season or two of establishing himself with his club (Cannes). When he arrived in Milan, chances were few, and he found his path to the first team blocked by expensive, more experienced players. Wenger rescued him from the reserves, and the rest, as they say, is history.

So don't rule out Arsenal making a move. Wenger is a keen admirer of his talents, and with Rosicky constantly injured, and a replacement for Robert Pires still to be found, it just might happen. And if not the Gunners, well previous suitors Lyon, as well as Ajax, Valencia, and many others are all still keeping an eye on him.

After years and years of being shunted around from position to position - a compromise between trying to help his beloved Aston Villa's threadbare squad, and trying to work out the best way to break into the England side - Gareth Barry seems to have finally found some stability and recognition. An essential figure in England's "renaissance" (well, with regards to the Euro 2008 qualifiers at least), Barry looks to have established himself as Steven Gerrard's partner in central midfield. He was excellent in their 3-0 win over Estonia today, but of course the true test will come in midweek, when they play Russia away on the infamous "plastic pitch". But over 3 games, it's been a case of so-far-so-good for the affable Villa man, and today he was picked ahead of Frank Lampard.

His case has been helped by a few factors of course - both Owen Hargreaves and Lampard have had injury problems, and Martin O'Neill's success with the Villa side has helped him boost his profile. But there's also the fact that the general public have finally noticed that Frank Lampard is overrated and fat. And that apart from running a whole lot, making square passes, and talking in a funny accent, Owen Hargreaves doesn't offer much else.

Barry on the other hand has a calming effect in midfield. He's disciplined, tidy, and has that oh-so-rare quality of being both English and left-footed. It's improved the balance of the midfield, and allowed Steven Gerrard to get forward and do what he does best - be brilliant. Of course I'm not suggesting that this has suddenly solved England's problems, but it has given them some clarity in the short-term. They need to focus on qualifying, and they have the system to do it now, especially because they aren't be facing any teams of real quality. Once they come up against Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, and so on, they will need to have a better philosophy in place than "Give the ball to Stevie".

Anyhow, back to Barry!

Now 26, he broke into the England squad at the age of 19. It was the Kevin Keegan era, and he played on the left of a back three. He was the much vaunted, left-footed, ball-playing centreback that England had apparently been crying out for so many years. At Villa he had broken through as a centre-half, and it was in that role that he had impressed Keegan, who decided to fit him into his system in a way that would allow some freedom and options to pass and distribute. His full debut came against France, and after the game the plaudits poured in - the new Stuart Pearce, Paolo Maldini, blah, blah, blah. The English media didn't disappoint, throwing up it's usual elixir of superlatives and hyperbole. Although in truth, Barry had played very impressively.

And that was more or less the end of that. Kevin Keegan's Three-At-The-Back turned out to be rubbish, and was on it's way, and then Kevin Keegan turned out to be rubbish, and he was on his way. In came the bog standard back four, and with Barry primarily being a centre-back, he found no way into the team ahead of Adams, Keown, Ferdinand, Woodgate and so on.

Valiantly, he began to play as a left-back for his club, both out of necessity and a wish to further himself with England, who had been crying out for a decent LEFT-FOOTED left-back for years, but instead had to make do with Phil Neville basically not really doing anything apart from running up and down, being ugly and giving away penalties. Unfortunately for Barry, this was around the time that Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge both emerged, and that was really the end of his left-back story.

Fast forward a few more seasons, and our friend Gareth has now pushed on up into mid-field. Although struggling at first, he raises and adapts his game, and though he's not the quickest or most skillful player, he does a fantastic job of understanding what is needed in the wide positions, and does very efficient, very good work. Now if England had a paucity of decent-left backs, then they had (and still have) an absolute vacuum of left-sided midfielders. Under Sven Goran Eriksson's reign as manager, they used Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Owen Hargreaves, Wayne Rooney, Joe Cole, Trevor Sinclair, Danny Murphy, Darius Vassell, Phil Neville, and yes, EVEN Emile Heskey in that role. Apart from Joe Cole in flashes, and Wayne Rooney because of his obvious talents, none ever really looked any good, and so surely the left-footed Barry would get a look in. His crosses would be appreciated by the likes of Crouch, Heskey and Rooney. His natural left-footedness and width would have added balance to the midfield, and made things less congested in the centre, and his defensive nous would have allowed Ashley Cole to rampage forward like he did for Arsenal. But inexplicably, Barry never got a chance.

Ever the good pro, he never once complained. Not when he was left out as a centreback, not when he was left out as a left back, and not when he was left out as a left midfielder. He never complained when he was shunted around from position to position at Villa, and despite his talent and ability, he never once wavered in his commitment to them. And somehow throughout all of this, he managed to play well too. Sparkling in rare patches, he mostly drew attention with his shocking consistency. He almost never had a bad game, and almost always had a good game. He was not a matchwinner on most days that he played, but always pitched in with hardwork and his fair share of assists, and added goals to his game as well.

Finally, under Martin O'Neill last year, it seemed like Barry had given up on England. To add to this, he had started to play in the centre of midfield, sitting tidily in front of the back four, passing the ball around, and the arrival of Nigel Reo-Coker this past summer only served to cement this as his permanent position under O'Neill. Barry as ever didn't object, did his job, and did it well. And herein lies the great irony in all of this; if England were overloaded with centre-halves when Barry was making the breakthrough as a 19 year old, then they are now doubly overloaded with central midfielders - Hargreaves, Gerrard, Lampard, Parker, Carrick, Reo-Coker, Jenas, and so on. But somehow, despite being consistently overlooked by England when they needed him most, he has now made the breakthrough in a position where they need him the least. Well, "need" of course is open to interpetation.

It's sad that in 7 years he has only accumulated 13 caps for his country, when he should have had at least 30. But hopefully now we can finally say that he's arrived, and that people are taking notice of him and his ability. McLaren has been wearing a quite unsightly grin of late, to go with his amazing redness and thinning gingerness, and Barry has been a big part of that. Good luck Gareth!

When Sven Goran Eriksson's Manchester City announced that they would be signing the Brazilian Elano, most thought of him as being a gamble - an undoubtedly talented player, but one who would be expected to struggle, and take time to adapt to the Premiership (as many Latin Americans do). His dalliances with injuries, and slightish frame were also factors for doubters, as was the fact that he was basically untested at the top level apart from some apperances for the Brazilian national team.

Well, the outcome so far has been quite spectacular. Right from the start of the season, Elano has been the focal point of City's attacking play, and a big part of everything good that they're doing. He was instrumental in setting up their first goal of the season, and currently leads the Premier League's assist charts with 5 assists (tied with Cesc Fabregas). He's also scored 3 goals, and as a result, Man City have been flying - they're currently third in the league, 3 points behind leaders Arsenal, and just 1 behind bitter rival Man United (but with a game in hand).

Elano's story is an interesting one. Born in Iracemápolis, São Paulo, he joined Santos, and was an instrumental part of their title winning sides, although very much an unfeted player. Whilst Robinho, Diego, Ricardinho and Alex stole the limelight, Elano went about doing his work efficiently, achieving a reputation as a talented goalscoring midfielder with 32 goals in 3 years. Whilst his more "illustrious" teammates took off to Real Madrid and Porto, Elano saw a good opportunity to further his career at Shakhtar Donetsk, one of the many newly-rich clubs in Eastern Europe, that played in the Champions League, and where he wouldn't be too homesick with a host of other Brazilians around him. Although he struggled at first, he worked his way into the team, and became the first Ukraine-based player to be called up to the Brazil national squad when Dunga took charge. Elano started off very brightly, scoring against Argentina at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. He has since been a fixture in the Brazil squad, although not always in the first XI.

Elano's excellence as a player has a lot to do with his versatility and intelligence, as well as his willingness to work hard. While he is not Gennaro Gattuso (thankfully), he doesn't shirk his share of the work, and is more than happy to put in tackles, and stand up to them as well. Most Man City/Premiership fans might only have seen him operating on the right or in a free role, but I had the chance to watch him train and play up-close at this year's Copa America, and he's perfectly capable of playing on the left, in the middle or in a wing-back or full-back role. Had Maicon not managed to recover from a shoulder injury at the Copa, then it's very likely that Elano would have deputised. And nevermind his passing, movement. intelligence and workrate, he is also a very, very good finisher. In training, he would slot the ball crisply past the keeper almost 9 times out of 10, producing exactly the kind of finish that the situation demanded. Man City have signed the "complete" attacking midfielder.

No one should get too carried away though - the English winter still awaits (although Elano is more than well prepared for this after his sojourn in the Ukraine), but there is also the surprise factor that is still working in his favour; once opponents get to know him better, they will start to target him, and people like Robbie Savage, Lee Bowyer, and Frank Lampard are more than happy to "strategically" kick lumps out of certain key players.

Elano is lucky to have a manager of Sven's intelligence. One of the reasons that the team has gelled well, and that the new recruits have settled in almost immediately, is that Sven knows how to arrange teams to maximise their strengths, and minimise their weaknesses. He's well educated with the English game, and the first thing he did was to pair Michael Johnson and Dietmarr Hamann together in central midfield. Both of them are fighters, good defensive midfielders, and organisers and passers. When there's a fight to be had in the middle of the park, they take care of it, and when going forward, they keep it simple and basically give Elano a platform on which to showcase his talent, which he has done in abundance.

Back in May, when Chelsea failed to beat Arsenal at Ashburton Grove, thereby handing the title to Manchester United, Arsenal fans took great delight in singing "Sacked in the summer, you're getting sacked in the summer" to the hyperactive Jose Mourinho. Bordering on obnoxiousness as always, the Portuguese manager had charged on the field at full-time, gesturing wildly to the crowd and trying to be the focus of attention.

Although that little interchange amused many, tellingly not a lot of eyebrows were raised - Mourinho was clearly not too happy with how things were being run at Chelsea, and Chelsea were allegedly not too happy with the style of football played under Mourinho, and his unwillingness to be pushed around by their collection of suits - Kenyon, Buck, Abramovich and Zahavi, of which only the latter can have some claim to being a "football man".

Add to that the appointment of Avram Grant from Portsmouth as Director of Football (not to mention the arrival of Frank Arnesen many months earlier to oversee the scouting and talent acquisition) and Chelsea clearly seemed to be building the sort of system that makes a manager's wishes irrelevant. In someways they have jumped from being small to "big" in a very short span of time, and without really having the structure to match. They have hurriedly tried to cobble together a "structure" at the club, and this smells of an insecurity towards the age-old foundations established at powerhouses like AC Milan, Barcelona, and closer-to-home... Arsenal and Manchester United.

I don't think Abramovich liked the fact that Chelsea were reliant for success on Mourinho, especially with the disagreements over playing style and the arrival of certain personnel (Shevchenko, Ballack, Wright-Phillips), and so he decided to establish a "continental-style" structure that would oversee everything to do with the sporting aspects of the club other than the actual coaching, tactics and and operations of the first-team. Any manager arriving in the future would have to work within these constraints, but Mourinho had been there before it all, and was the man responsible for delivering Chelsea's first meaningful silverware in 50 years, so it was never going to work well.

Mourinho may not have played terrific football, or thrilled many (or any), but he had a talent for figuring out how to win or draw football matches. I can't remember any games where they every looked out of a tie, and their resilience and solidity were incredible. You can't hire a manager to win you titles, and when he wins you titles, start telling him how to do his job.

So out goes one of the brightest young managers in Europe, the only surprise being that it was a month into the season instead of before it. Whoever comes in now will have a difficult task, because they can't afford to let performances flag. Avram Grant has stepped up to the mantle for now, but two of the names being bandied about are Fabio Capello and Guus Hiddink. Capello seems unlikely, given his fondness for signing Italians wherever he goes (and the fact that the transfer window doesn't reopen for some months), and when you factor in the Russian connection, and his friendship with Abramovich, Hiddink is not the unlikeliest candidate in the world. Harry Redknapp is a less-likely figure, but another shrewd operator, and someone who likes to play exciting football.