Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Sports World

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Johnson's men need a tough test from France Posted: 22 Feb 2011 07:50 AM PST Saturday's match with France is a vital fixture for England, not only as we are looking to move one step closer to the championship and an overdue Grand Slam, but in the sense that France will provide one of the strongest tests we come up against before the World Cup in September. Martin Johnson will certainly have one eye on the grand slam title challenge and one eye on September as he watches his team line up on Saturday. The amount of testing fixtures between now and September are few and far between, and so, although England will be looking for victory in the short term, they will also be hoping that a strong France team turn up and produce a solid performance which will add great value England's preparations for the World Cup. It could be fair to say that there have been greater developments in the England squad this season than there has been in the last 3 or 4 seasons. The performances have been very encouraging, with the team producing an ambitious, fluid, entertaining brand of rugby. They have been certainly tested at times and produced errors, but this just goes to show how quickly they are learning and how essential a stern test is and anyone following the goalwire livescore should remember this. If France set out to perform and win this Saturday, rather than simply arriving in body and leaving their heart at the French boarder like 2 years ago, then England will have the opportunity to add to their development and also discover if their brand of Rugby they have been producing can withstand the power and pace of a French outfit. The recent goalwire livescores suggest it should be a close game. In an ideal world, If France put England on the back foot and Johnsons men come out with a win, this would certainly give the squad a huge confidence boost and give maturity to the young players who currently driving the team. Such a turnout would stand us in good stead for New Zealand in September.

Can Torres and Drogba work well together? Posted: 22 Feb 2011 04:28 AM PST Although the Blues will have surely thought this through before they decided to spend £50 million on Fernando Torres, those of us outside of the Chelsea FC set-up are still trying to work out whether or not Torres and Didier Drogba really can play together or whether the Blues have instead bought the Spaniard as a direct replacement for the talented but aging Ivorian. With the Blues not really being entirely successful so far at accommodating the two together, and with the Chelsea team having had to be entirely reorganised so that it can accommodate Torres, questions surrounding the wisdom of the purchase have of course started to gather momentum. However, with Torres out of form for almost the entire season, it is perhaps unfair to judge him for the poor start he has managed so far at Chelsea and Betfair Football fans should remember this. Should Torres return to form, then surely the combination of him and Drogba would be more than capable of causing massive problems for defences both in the Premier League and in Europe as they combine with Drogba playing the role of the big man, and Torres playing the role of the man who gets on the end of any knockdowns. The Premier League betting odds suggest they should score plenty of goals next season. However, should the Blues fail to show that they are indeed capable of incorporating such a hugely gifted individual into their side, then it will not bode well for the future of a club that is desperate not to slip from the top ranks of European football, or for the club's manager Carlo Ancelotti, who is already under increasing amounts of pressure to show that he can be the man who ensures that next season is not as disappointing as this year has been for the Blues.

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