Top Drog Is Back

Chelsea Football Club announced today that striker Didier Drogba would return to the club on a one-year contract.  He left the club a legend, providing fans with memories they will never forget after the dramatic Champions League winning penalty he scored in May 2012. His return will be greeted by fans who are likely to be delighted at the return of a hero in a summer which has seen farewells to two of their most crucial players of the past decade - Frank Lampard and Ashely Cole.  

However, the return of Drogba will raise further question marks over the futures of Fernando Torres and Romelu Lukaku. 

Firstly, I would like to point out that I believe this is a good move for Chelsea and for Drogba himself.  He brings a wealth of experience to the team, has a strong character and is a natural winner.  For Didier, it is an opportunity to have one last go at the Premier League and to return to a club which he himself has claimed feels like home.  It is a move which for the club, offers relatively minimal risk.  It is a one-year contract and rumors suggest they may be a potential coaching role at the club from next season for Drogba.  Mourinho also will be pleased with the move as he feels he can count on Drogba when it matters, and Drogba is a player who understands how Mourinho operates and he can help get the manager's ideas over to the side. But, as stated previously, this move will surely mean an end to the Chelsea careers of either Torres or Lukaku.

Doubts have existed over both strikers for some time now and the arrival of Diego Costa earlier in the summer from Atletico Madrid for £32million only served to fuel suggestions that there would be a shake-up of attacking options at the club this summer.  Demba Ba has already moved on to Besiktas for £8million and the arrival of Drogba must move either Torres or Lukaku closer to the exit door.  Torres has been linked with a move away from the club for many months now with a loan move to Inter Milan or a return to his beloved Atletico Madrid on the horizon.  In relation to Lukaku, Chelsea know they have many suitors with Everton keen to have him back after his highly successful loan spell last season and Wolfsburg also believed to be linked to a £20million move for the striker.

I believe that most Chelsea fans would agree that of the two strikers, Torres is the one which makes most sense to offload.  The fans have been incredibly patient with him and have always supported him during his difficult times as he has failed to live up to his reputation and price tag after his £50million move from Liverpool.  But now surely it is time that he must move on - both for the club, but also for his own benefit. He is also now 30 and the club may take the view that the time is right for him to move on and rebuild himself at a new club.  

However, questions have existed all last season over the relationship between Jose Mourinho and Lukaku. Rumors from various newspapers and online media sources have suggested that Mourinho doesn't fancy him in his team, however there is very few facts to really substantiate that opinion.

Therefore, the question exists as to how Chelsea will approach the issue and who they would prefer to sell. By selling Torres, the club can not only clear high wages off the books but also offer Lukaku the chance to develop and gain experience in the first team learning for a season training side by side with his idol Drogba.  

However, as a club Chelsea are now taking the Financial Fair Play (FFP) ruling seriously and are trying to make decisions which take into account the business side of the club along with the playing side.  With this in mind, Mourinho may decide to cash in on Lukaku who could easily cost any club over the £20million mark. This would be substantially more than they could ever hope to receive for an ageing, under performing Torres.

Essentially, this is a decision to be made by Jose Mourinho and he must ask himself tow key questions: Does he believe he can get Torres back to any kind of form? (Probably Not), and does he view Romelu Lukaku as a player who will be a key part of his team in the coming years?

My opinion is that if the choice has to be made, it must be Torres that is sold.  Lukaku has proven during his loan spells at West Brom and Everton that he is ready for a chance, an opportunity to show what he can do at Chelsea and time has ran out on Torres.  It has been sad to see how bereft of confidence he has become and how completely out of form he is that perhaps a new club and new surroundings can reignite him.  

Can Arsenal Build?

A reported 250,000 people lining the streets, flags and banners as far as the eye could see cheering on their team, and a group of players all suffering from severe hangovers.  This was the scene through the Borough of Islington yesterday as Arsene Wenger and his team celebrated their FA Cup triumph with an open top bus parade.  Extra-time victory over Hull City provided the first silverware for the club in almost nine years - an extraordinary length of time considering the history of success the club has been used to down the years.  Now, talk has begun about this being the great turning point for Arsenal, to finally push on from their nine long trophy-less years and use this as a platform to build upon.  However surely the fans and the club must realise that despite the great achievement that is winning the FA Cup there is a point to be argued that victory has done nothing more than paper over the cracks.

This is not about making a case to say Arsenal did not deserve to win the FA Cup, they won difficult games against both Merseyside clubs - Liverpool and Everton, on their way to the trophy.  But they struggled poorly in the semi-final against Wigan Athletic of the Championship, having to rely on penalties and then gave Hull City a two goal head start in the Final.  They failed to beat either of these clubs over ninety minutes and that is disappointing for a club such as Arsenal.  If you step back from the emotion of winning the Cup and the relief which Arsenal fans must be feeling, this has still not been a strong season for the club.  After failing to come close to winning the title after leading for so much of the season this has highlighted the failings of the team, and their end of season form which seen them go from top of the table to simply fighting to hold on to fourth spot was worrying.  

I believe the problem is that fans and pundits now seem to believe this is a 'platform' and that Arsene Wenger is now going to spend big in the summer to build on the success of the FA Cup.  Yes he may do just that, but I do not believe that to be the case.

Recent reports have came out from numerous sources within the club claiming a summer transfer pot of over £100million would be available.  The immediate expectation is that he will use this to sort out the obvious inefficiencies within the squad - namely another striker to share the burden with Olivier Giroud and a strong central midfield character able to break up the opposition play and get in their faces.  But why do fans suddenly think now he will sort these problems out simply because he has won a trophy?  

For example, for the past five years or more it has been clear the club lack a battling defense minded midfielder to protect the back four while the attacking players are free to do what they do best - play attractive football and create chances.  It has been well publicised that this weakness has existed and yet Arsene Wenger has not addressed it yet up until this point.  What is there to seriously suggest he will do so now this summer by spending big on a top quality central midfielder?  Yes, he invested heavily last summer in Mesut Ozil and people thought he had finally decided to spend the wealth that has been sitting idle at the club, but then baffled everyone by doing nothing to bolster the squad in January when they were still in strong contention to win the league.  Bringing in an injured Kim Kallstrom on loan did little to excite the fans.  Has Arsene really decided to adapt his transfer policy and spend big, or did the pressure built upon him after the opening day defeat to Aston Villa force his hand into needing to make a big name signing before the transfer window closed? I suppose only Arsene can truly answer that question.

Essentially though, the point which I am trying to make is that this may just be another false dawn for Arsenal.  It seems like every summer for the past five or six years we have been saying this is the time when Arsenal can push on and it never materialises.  Yes they have done tremendously well to win the FA Cup, and challenged for a long period in the title race.  But that is no reason to assume the club will now spend big in the summer for a new striker, central midfielder or a top class right back to replace Bacary Sagna who has all but confirmed he wishes to leave now when his contract expires.  

Of course Arsene could prove me entirely wrong and go on a vast spending spree to turn the team back into serious title contenders.  This may actually be the time when the club genuinely push on from their success and build a team capable of winning multiple trophies again.

For Arsenal fans though I imagine most are still wearing the rose-tinted glasses and are rightly enjoying their FA Cup win, dreaming of the great success the club can have next season.  However with Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and even Manchester United now with Louis Van Gaal confirmed as manager all aiming to strengthen their squads, doubts will remain over whether Arsene Wenger will really invest enough this summer to push the club on to further triumphs. 

What Happened to El Nino?

The signs have been appearing for a couple of months now which suggest that this close season will see Fernando Torres end his ill fated three-and-a-half year spell with Chelsea and leave for somewhere new - or perhaps old, as rumors seem to suggest he will be returning to his boyhood club Atletico Madrid.  Mourinho has made it clear in recent months he does not trust his centre forwards and it is very possible Torres could be used as a makeweight in any deal for Atletico striker Diego Costa. It has been well documented throughout his time at Stamford Bridge that he has never hit form, never went on a consistent scoring run and essentially never got close to showing why Roman Abramovich splashed out £50million for his services on deadline day back in January 2011.  But the question must be asked, could a player of his undoubted ability simply have lost his natural talent? Of course not.  I believe his problems stem from how the team around him is set up to play.

Throughout his time at the club, Torres has generally played in front of three attacking midfielders such as Mata, Hazard, Oscar, Malouda and Willian but to name a few.  One criticism which has been constantly thrown at Fernando is that with such strong attacking players in front of him providing him with service, he should be scoring many more goals than is the case.  However, this is a lazy view, simply looking at the names playing behind him and expecting it all to work when there is much more to it than that.

The fact is that yes, Chelsea have had great attacking midfielders and this year boasts the talents of an exciting Eden Hazard, Oscar, Willian and Andre Schurrle.  However, the style of play which these players have adapted in actual fact hinders rather than helps a player like Torres.  Fernando Torres has always built him game on making intelligent runs and getting the ball played into the space behind the defenders which he has so often punished to devastating effect.  His game is suited to running on to the ball in space, allowing him to then run at defenders and cause problems for opposition teams.  However when playing with whichever trio of attacking midfielders supporting him at Chelsea, this game plan simply is not possible.

For this to work midfielders must be willing to play a quick ball into the space, being direct with their passes to the striker and looking to get the forward away quickly on the attack - this is what Torres has built his career on.  But the highly talented midfielders which Chelsea can boast simply do not want to do this.  They are all very similar players, all of whom would ideally wish to play in the number 10 role behind the striker. The fact is that they all wish to play short sharp passes between each other hoping to unlock the defence. They want to probe and find a way through the back-line with an intelligent killer pass, but they are doing this on the edge of the opposition's penalty box and therefore leaving no space for a striker to run into behind the defense.  So many times in recent seasons Chelsea have had possession on the edge of the opposing penalty area and the attacking midfielders play it between themselves looking to find a way through.  It is by playing this way that Torres has suffered.

With the attacking midfielders camped in and around the edge of the penalty box, probing for a gap or a space to slide a pinpoint pass into, there is no room for a striker such as Torres to hang on the shoulder of the last defender and make a run into the space behind.  He simply has nowhere to go and this makes it so difficult for him then to receive the ball in an area where he can punish the opposition.

But lets not forget, he is not the only striker to suffer due to the slow build up play of the midfield.  It is no coincidence that all three strikers this season have looked so ordinary and have had so few chances to score. The simple fact is that unless Chelsea change their build up play, choose to attack at a much quicker pace and at a speed which prevents the opposition defence from getting set in their shape, strikers will always struggle to spearhead the attack.  Fernando Torres has showing glimpses of promise, shades of his former self without every really pushing on and regaining any sort of form.  But if he does move this summer, he will be given a new lease of life, refreshed and revitalised away from the constant pressure he felt under at Chelsea.  Fernando Torres will shine again...but it will not be at Chelsea Football Club.

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Farewell Arsene

As another season draws closer to an end, questions once again surface about the future of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.  For the past few seasons this has been standard procedure with Arsenal as fans and media both question whether the time has come for Wenger to leave.  Eight years without a trophy has placed great pressure on the manager and even if they manage to end that barren spell by winning the FA Cup against Hull - which they should, surely it is still now finally the time for Arsenal and Wenger to part ways once and for all.

This opinion isn't simply based on what has happened in the past few years.  Arsenal fans will never forget the huge success he has brought to their club - the trophies, the success, and the famous 'Invincibles' team of 03/04 which featured the likes of Thierry Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira and Robert Pires.  The silverware and memories which Arsene Wenger has given to Arsenal Football Club will always be remembered, but as in life and particularly football - all good things must come to an end.

As a club, Arsenal have stalled.  The past number of years have seen the club be positioned in England as a club which is not in a position to challenge for the title, but still good enough to secure Champions League football on a consistent basis.  I accept they have fared better this season up to a point, leading the premier league for some time, however they now find themselves back in their more familiar position of competing to keep hold of fourth spot.  This, along with the terrible performances and the drubbings handed out to them by the teams around them who have been challenging for the title, has led to many Arsenal fans finally saying enough is enough.

The case must surely be made to say that under Wenger, the club have regressed in the past few seasons. They were a team who comfortably managed to reach the top four consistently however last season they just pipped their North London rivals Tottenham by a point, and this season seem to be in serious trouble of losing out to an in-form Everton.  The clubs competing around Arsenal have improved vastly and Arsenal simply have stood still - the blame must sit with the manager.  This season has seen Martinez - a potential replacement for Wenger, showcase his managerial talent bringing Everton into a position to challenge, while Liverpool's unexpected rise to the top of the pile has also made it more difficult for Arsenal to finish in the top four.  

The commitment of Arsene Wenger must also be questioned.  His contract ends at the end of this season and although he has often stated he wishes to stay on as manager, the fact he has not yet signed a deal suggests other forces are at play.  Perhaps he has began to lose the will for the job, as fans and the media constantly slate his performances and heap more and more pressure on the man - a claim which I myself could be guilty of doing right here.  

The signing of Mesut Ozil in the summer for £40million was seen by many as the catalyst for change at the Emirates, a new dawn when Wenger would spend and aim to compete with the elite in the league such as Manchester City and Chelsea.  However this has not happened and the shambolic behaviour in the January transfer window has added to the grumbles of Arsenal fans, who were extremely disappointed with the lack of activity, and trying to understand the benefit of taking an injured Kim Kallstrom on loan for the remainder of the season.  Fans wanted the club to kick on from the Ozil signing, strengthening the team - particularly up front to take some of the pressure off Olivier Giroud, but they failed to do so.  Fans seen the clubs around them identifying their weaknesses and resolving them such as Mourinho's decision to bring Nemanja Matic back to the club in order to improve the questionable centre midfield position.  This lack of activity has cost Arsenal this season and Wenger must fully shoulder the blame. 

The fact remains that even if the club sneak into fourth position and win the FA Cup this season, the time has come for a fresh face with fresh ideas to come in and reinvigorate the club.  With new managers coming in this season at Man City, Chelsea and Man Utd, and the upheaval this brings with it, this season was seen as a genuine opportunity by Gunners fans, an opportunity which has been missed and which is primarily down to their manager Arsene Wenger.

So now is the time for change.  With his contract running out and the team showing no signs of progression the only thing which would hold Arsenal back from looking towards a new manager would be sentiment, not wanting to get rid of him because of all he has done for the club.  For football chairmen and boards there can be no room for sentiment, there must only be hard truths and ambition to look forward in order to restore the club back to where they belong - among the elite of English football. 

   

Big Summer Ahead For The Chosen One

Manchester United are a club in transition as we all know.  Fans are disappointed with the performances this season and are crying for manager David Moyes to add to the squad this month.  The manager himself says he is trying to do so, but points out the fact that as usual January is a difficult month to buy players of the high standard expected to sign for a club like Manchester United.  David Moyes was spotted lately at the Cagliari v Juventus match in Italy and the rumours instantly began regarding who he was there to have a look at.  It was suggested he was looking at the Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal and also had an eye on bringing the talented youngster Paul Pogba back to the club he left in the summer of 2012.  However despite these optimistic claims, the players David Moyes was realistically there to cast his eye over were probably Claudio Marchisio of Juventus and the defender Davide Astori of Cagliari.  There is no doubt that these are all players who could add to the Manchester United squad however fans should look slightly further ahead to the troubles David Moyes will face in the summer.

 

His first problem comes at the heart of his defence where three of their most senior defenders are out of contract this summer.  Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra have been key figures at the back for Manchester United for many years now and the general consensus is that none of these three will be offered new deals with the club.  On top of this, young full back Fabio is also out of contract, although he has never really proven to be good enough and his loss will not have a similar impact on the squad. 

 

In midfield the problems are also building.  How much longer can Ryan Giggs be expected to play for?  He has joined the coaching set up this year and one would have to imagine this will be the last few months of his playing career, with him focusing on the coaching side from next year on.  Then there is the issue of Tom Cleverley.  A player who started out showing so much promise but nobody can argue that this potential has stalled and does not look like coming close to being fulfilled - he does not look like proving his ability is anywhere near good enough for Manchester United.  Anderson looks to be on his way out of the club this month on loan to Fiorentina and word from the club suggests that deal will become permanent in the summer.  Then you have Michael Carrick, a player who divides opinion between fans and pundits alike.  Some see him as a key player for Manchester United and others believe he is simply not good enough for the club.  Personally, I feel he has a role to play in the squad but the players in midfield around him must be of a higher standard and compliment what Carrick is good at - keeping the play moving and feeding balls to those ahead of him to create opportunities with.  The summer signing of Marouane Fellani has not been a success with the fans and his performances have certainly not matched the fee paid to Everton for his services.  However Moyes had him playing well at Everton and I believe he can do well in the squad if Moyes can find the right position for him.   

 

Going forward Manchester United also have issues.  Apart from the glittering performances of the young Adnan Januzaj, the wide men have been terrible this season.  Ashley Young has come in for a lot of criticism from fans this season and it has been largely merited.  On top of this Antonio Valencia has struggles and Nani has flattered to deceive once again.  Along with these underperforming players, Wilfred Zaha has not even got a look in yet and must be wondering how badly the other wingers need to play in order for him to get minutes on the pitch.  The striker position are strong from the outset with Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie offering a frightening combination.  However, the rumours of Rooney leaving do not seem to go away and this will only intensify in the summer when he enters the final year of his contract.  Added to this is the belief that Van Persie is unhappy at Sir Alex leaving when he did as he signed for the club under the impression Ferguson would be in charge for a few seasons yet.  Van Persie himself has came out recently in support of the new manager however you would question what else he could have said as he is not going to publicly criticise his own manager.  There are also many rumours stating Van Persie is unhappy with the training methods of manager David Moyes. 

 

So, there are issues all over the pitch for the manager to address.  If he can bring one or two in now this month then he will certainly have helped the situation but there is so much more rebuilding for him to do.  There is certainly potential in the squad to build on, with David De Gea now looking like the goalkeeper they thought they signed, and Shinji Kagawa is a top quality player if he is given the chance of playing in the right position - behind the strikers and not on the wing where his impact is limited.  This could be the beginning of a vicious cycle for the club.  If they fail to make the top four and therefore miss out on Champions League football, the calibre of player they may be able to attract will decline, making it even harder for David Moyes to improve the squad.  The simple fact is that finishing in the top four has become a much more difficult task than in previous years, with Everton Liverpool and Tottenham all competing strongly with Manchester United.  And David Moyes knows whoever he brings in this month will not decide if he finishes in a Champions League spot, as he is all too aware he will be relying heavily on the squad already at his disposal.

 

Essentially, Manchester United fans must recognise the slow and painful process that lies ahead for their club.  They have been so used to success over the past years that accepting the tough times ahead will be a difficult pill to swallow for the fans but this is a huge rebuilding job, and despite the troubles in front of them, no matter what they must back their club and acknowledge the challenging job ahead for David Moyes.

 

 

What's the Mata with Juan?

Since arriving at Chelsea in the summer of 2011 for £23.5 million Juan Mata has played an integral part in their success.  He has helped them win both the FA Cup and the Champions League in his first season, and tasted Europa League success last season.  He has been a huge hit with fans since his arrival and was voted Player of the Year in both seasons at the club. 

 

Yet, since the return of Jose Mourinho in the summer, Mata has found himself warming the bench at Stamford Bridge more often than not, and has been a peripheral figure at best under the Special One.  The situation is a strange one, and many questions are raised - Why isn't he featuring for Mourinho? Why have the fans not made more of an issue out of this? And what does the future hold for Juan Mata?

 

The first of these questions is probably the most intriguing.  Many pundits and journalists have tried to explain the reason for his exclusions, and Mourinho himself has tried to play down any rumours of discontent with the player, saying he wants him part of the squad and doesn't want him to leave.  The theory which has been doing the rounds is that Mourinho is not happy with Mata's work rate off the ball, feeling he doesn't do enough defensively to win the ball back or retreat back and help out the midfield and defence.  This theory has been given life by the improvements to Eden Hazard's defensive game, something which Jose Mourinho claimed at the beginning of the season could be the difference between him being a very good player and a great one.  Hazard has been in brilliant form this season and only serves to prove the idea that all the team must work defensively in order to fit in with Mourinho's philosophy. 

 

However, I believe there is more to it than that.  Having seen plenty of Chelsea this season I believe Mourinho has been leaving him out because he tends to slow the game down.  I am not for a second encouraging the omission of Juan Mata from the team - in fact I firmly believe he should be one of the first names on the team sheet.  However it is important to analyse this from the manager's point of view in order to understand why he is being left out so regularly.  Mourinho has Chelsea playing this season with a pacey and direct counter attacking approach.  The idea being that when the opposition attacks break down, Chelsea break quickly, with Hazard, Oscar or Willian swiftly moving the ball forward.  When playing this way, Juan Mata does not fit as well as the likes of Hazard or Willian.  Mata likes to get on the ball and probe, finding gaps and playing threaded through balls.  His overall game is much slower and he does not possess the pace of Hazard, Willian or even Andre Shurrle.  Competition for those three positions behind the striker is intense at Chelsea, with Mata, Hazard, Willian, Shurrle, Oscar, and De Bruyne all fighting for positions.  But that is no excuse for the severe lack of game time afforded to Mata since the beginning of the season.

 

Mata is without doubt a talented footballer, and his importance to the team over the past two years cannot be underestimated.  However, if Mourinho continues to play the way he currently is, Juan Mata will continue to find himself watching games from the comfort of the bench.

 

So why haven't the Chelsea fans been making more noise about their Player of the Year twice running being left out so often.  It is simply because the team are still winning, and because Jose Mourinho is revered as a God at Stamford Bridge.  There are no Chelsea fans who are happy with Mata being left out, but ask any fan what they think about it and the phrase, "Jose knows what he is doing" continues to get used.  The fans believe that Mourinho cannot do wrong and they will not want to come to loggerheads with him over this issue.  On top of this the team are, without firing on all cylinders yet, still in the hunt for the Premier League, and through to the next round of the FA Cup and Champions League.  If the team were not getting results, and going through a rough period there is no doubt the calls for Juan Mata to be starting games would increase and fans may begin to get restless about the treatment of one of their most popular figures. 

 

Speculation about the future of Juan Mata has been rife over the past months and with the January transfer window now open, more and more clubs are getting linked with the little Spaniard.  Jose Mourinho continues to play down speculation, saying he still is an important part of the team and is not for sale.  But the rumours are continuing to intensify and although he may not go this month, Chelsea fans may need to accept the idea he could be gone in the summer.  Recent reports have linked him with moves to Paris-St Germain or Barcelona.  The deal with PSG would be a more likely move however in the past few days, talk has increased about a move back to Spain but with Atletico Madrid not Barcelona.  The belief is that with Atletico pushing hard in La Liga this season, they want Mata to come in and play a part in driving on in the league.  

 

Juan Mata is a huge talent, who will no doubt attract numerous top clubs in Europe.  Mourinho says he isn't going anywhere, but that is becoming more and more difficult to believe.  Maybe not now in January but come the end of the season, there is strong belief Juan Mata will be leaving London and heading elsewhere.   

 

 

Champions League Last 16 Preview

So the draw has been made to see who faces who in the first knockout round of the Champions League.  There was guaranteed to be some mouth watering clashes in this round as English heavyweights Manchester City and Arsenal only managed runner-up spots in their groups behind Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund respectively.  This meant both would have to face one of the strong group winners in the first knockout round and the draw did not disappoint.

 

The tie of the round is surely Manchester City v Barcelona.  This will be a great spectacle over the two legs as the small, agile and highly technical players of Barcelona come up against the huge, physical players in the Manchester City team.  Players like Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, and "The Beast" Alvaro Negredo base their game on the physicality they bring and this approach will be in stark contrast to how Barcelona will aim to play. 

In the group stages, Barcelona were brilliant at home, scoring 13 goals in their three games.  However, they were less impressive on the road, losing to Ajax, drawing with AC Milan and just scraping a single goal victory over Celtic.  Manchester City should take heart from this, and look to take hold of the tie in the first leg at the Etihad.  Manchester City have been so strong at home this season. scoring for fun and there is no reason they should not believe they can score a few against Barcelona in the first leg.  Confidence should be high for the City squad after that great victory in the Allianz against the European Champions, however it is a long time to February and who knows what form the two teams will be in come then.

 

Arsenal also got a difficult draw, facing the current champions Bayern Munich.  This will be a rematch from last year when Arsenal came so close to knocking out the Germans in the second leg as they won 2-0 in Germany.  But Munich scraped by thanks to their impressive win at the Emirates and then went all the way to bring home the trophy.  Arsenal do appear to be stronger this season, reflected in their position in the premier league however the odds are surely on Bayern Munich to progress.  They have so many players who can hurt the opposition - Ribery, Robben, and Muller, with the likes of Kroos, Gotze and Shaqiri coming off the bench.  And bearing in mind all these players will play behind the menacing Mario Mandzukic who always manages to find himself in the right place in the box.  Arsenal will no doubt give this one their all, trying to go that one step further than last year and qualify at the expense of Bayern Munich. However, just like last year, I believe they will ultimately be disappointed.

 

Those are probably the most high profile of the ties but now lets take a look at how the other English teams fared.  The fairy tale of the round is surely the return of Didier Drogba to Stamford Bridge as Chelsea have been drawn against the Turkish outfit Galatasaray.  Jose Mourinho stated before the draw that he would love to get this tie and give Drogba his glorious return, and fate has appeared to grant him his wish.  This could prove a more difficult assignment than some would believe it to be as Galatasaray were impressive in the group stage qualifying ahead of Italian champions Juventus.  They done well to recover from match day 1 when they were thumped 6-1 at home to Real Madrid and there are few who could say they have not earned their place in the first knockout round.  They managed a draw in Turin and then beat Juventus in the home tie in the final match day fixture which was controversially delayed until the following day due to heavy snow.  However, Drogba's heroic return to the club which he helped win the ultimate prize in European football is likely to be in vain as the Chelsea squad should be strong enough over two legs to qualify.  When you get past the star players such as Drogba and Wesley Sneijder, the Galatasaray team is not littered with quality and although they achieved a great deal in qualifying from a group with Real Madrid and Juventus, this is surely where their Champions League adventure ends.

  

The last of the four English teams is Manchester United and they must be fairly content after being drawn with the Greek outfit Olympiakos.  Despite their domestic troubles, United have been getting the results in this years Champions League and finished top of their group with minimal fuss and indeed have an impressive 5-0 away win over the organised German side Bayer Leverkusen to their name.  Olympiakos finished runners up in group C, joint on 10 points with Benfica but sneaking through thanks to the head to head results.  The main threat posed to Manchester United will be the attacking link up between journeyman striker Javier Saviola who now operates in a deeper no. 10 role, and Greek forward Kostas Mitroglou who has impressed in this years competition and scored a great hat trick away to Anderlecht. However, they should be no match for a much stronger Manchester United and much like their group success, they should expect to progress to the quarter-finals with consummate ease.

 

So finally to take a quick glance at the other ties in the round.  There are some intriguing match ups and AC Milan v Atletico Madrid should be interesting.  I believe Atletico are going to be the surprise packages of this year's competition and if luck is on their side they could go far.  Diego Simeone has set his team up to be tight at the back and devastating on the counter, with Diego Costa in the form of his career this season and the club having a strong season in La Liga.  Milan on the other hand are simply not the team they used to be.  The star names have long gone and despite the return of Kaka and Robinho, the sale of Kevin-Prince Boateng to Schalke speaks volumes about where the club is going as they struggle economically like almost all Italians clubs at the minute..  They are under-performing domestically and are certainly there for the taking if Atlectico can perform. 

The last 16 also sees Bayer Leverkusen take on Paris St-Germain.  PSG have spent millions in the past few seasons with Champions League glory being the end result they hope to achieve, and although I don't feel this will be the year for that to happen, they should manage to qualify for the quarter-finals at the expense of Leverkusen.  Manchester United made them look ordinary in both games during the group stages and with the likes of Zlatan, Cavani and Lucas Moura at their disposal PSG should comfortably put the Germans to the sword.

Schalke meet Real Madrid in another tie where the gap between group winners and runners-up is evident.  Schalke came second to Chelsea in the group stages but were hugely unimpressive in the two defeats to the London club and are having a very indifferent domestic campaign, so it is to be expected that a Real Madrid side who are much stronger than Chelsea should have no difficulty in overcoming Schalke.

And finally, Zenit St- Petersburg will face Borussia Dortmund.  This has the potential to be an interesting tie as Dortmund are not performing anywhere near the level they did last year en route to the final, and Zenit should never be ruled out with match winners such as Hulk in their side.  However, Dortmund appear at face value to be a much stronger side, and considering this tie takes place in February when the Bundesliga will be in full flow compared to the pre season period in Russia, it should be a Borussia Dortmund victory.

 

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