I love Matchday 2 because the games are real.
Everything is up for grabs, so everybody’s trying.
Clearly, Arsenal should beat Olympiakos comfortably.They’re not as good as Udinese or Dortmund.
The Greek champions will have solid teamwork, at least, and pride. Their league is a low standard and Olympiakos generally sign has-beens like Rivaldo, guys who are well past their prime but can still do a bit.
They have centreback Olof Mellberg in their ranks.
The Swede is 34, played for Aston Villa for seven years, and was captain of Sweden in the 2002 World Cup, where he hurt Freddie Ljungberg with a rough tackle in a practice game. Feisty Fred then punched the defender and their fight was well publicised.
Bayern Munich won\’t be as nervous as Man City in the Allianz tonight.
That might be the most interesting contest of the week. City will want to make their mark in Europe\’s glamour competition, as Spurs did last season against Inter, Milan and Real Madrid.
The two best teams in a Group are often happy to draw with each other.
Carlos Tevez, a rugged ball-holding striker, may come back, as City will want to be able to play around the Bayern penalty area and that’s hard if you don\’t have the ball.
Tenacious Tevez has been a one-man army for Manchester City in the past, as we all know. But does his style, wanting short passes to feet, and dribbling with tiny touches, really suit sparky playmaker David Silva, who looks for runners and plays them in? I wonder.
City will need a few of Yaya Toure’s long, fast runs to open up the Germans tonight.
Rooney and Hernandez are out for Manchester United, who host Basel, so that could be a low-scoring affair.
Nani or Ashley Young could be the matchwinner from the bench.
Valencia v Chelsea might be tense and fascinating tomorrow.
Fernando Torres has admitted for the first time that he’s had a big confidence problem since his £50m transfer from Liverpool. But he thinks he\’s finding his form again and Valencia will have a familiar ambience.
I always thought it was in Torres\’s head, not his groin.
Players’ heads are a huge problem these days. They are so famous and rich that their heads are a bigger problem than they\’ve ever been in the entire history of the world\’s greatest game.
Bolton\’s Gary Cahill wanted to join Arsenal and play in the Champions League.
The deal was done, apparently, but the board wouldn’t cough up the required transfer fee, according to Tony Adams’s mate Steve Jacobs, who was on talkSport yesterday, I’m told.
Who knows the truth? As my Dad used to say : Believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see.
But Arsenal is the defender’s preferred destination.
Come last Thursday, Cahill was unwell.
That\’s all we were told. I thought that was weird. Gary wasn\’t feeling well on Thursday or Friday or Saturday, so he didn\’t play for Bolton at the Emirates and they lost 3-0 without him.
I reckon Gary will watch Arsenal v Olympiakos. He wants to play against Bayern and Barcelona and Milan and all those big teams that Bolton never play.
Watching the Champions League, Gary will start to feel well again. He probably thinks : I feel OK now because I\’ll be playing in big games next season.