The Whole Delivery

Pre-Game Kickaround: Fernando's Last Chance  In a normal buildup to Champions League semifinals, the return of Fernando Torres to his former two clubs would be a story garnering frontline attention, examining in detail whether the former world class striker turned global mystery would recapture his once impeccable form. But the events of recent days has made that intriguing tale almost as irrelevant as Pep Guardiola renewing his rivalry with Real Madrid. The David Moyes saga and Torres' own current manager, Jose Mourinho negative tales, have occupied the attention well before the Spanish striker's return to his old domiciles. In fact, Atletico manager Diego Simeone is third in line for most headlines in both the English and Espana's presses, with him now being linked to the United job despite being comfortable with his position. Torres' anecdote though will return to the forefront this time around, as he is destined to get playing time in Chelsea's big...

Image from Iberosphere.com  It will be fascinating to see who Vicente Del Bosque brings to the World Cup Finals in the forward position for España. With Diego Costa still scoring (now 15 goals in 15 games) for co-Liga leaders Atletico, the Brazilian-Spaniard continues to make his case that maybe he made the right decision to not wait on Luis Scolari and his native country giving him that long awaited "A" team call up during the last international break. But Costa's great form still does not mean he can erase the biggest disadvantage he has currently, which is no caps for Spain yet. He would have to wait until the next international break in March to get that first appearance. That is a problem considering that his four main competitors at the forward spot for Spain have plenty of experience with Del Bosque, with three of the four currently in solid form. The lone man Costa doesn't have to fret about at the moment is Roberto Soldado, who may need a spying a...

Photo from GettyImages.com Despite winning the club its first Champions League and European title, despite winning the FA Cup last May, and despite being a title positioned 3rd place in the Premier League, Roman Abramovich thought Robert Di Matteo was less worthy to keep his job than Andre Villas Boas last year. Even with their current rough patch going on with Abramovich's desire to never be truly patient when his club faces adversity after Juventus 2nd half clear home win yesterday , this still was an unexpected shock and totally beyond ridiculous. Is the main reason for the latest stupid Roman Rage move was the fact that Di Matteo did not start Fernando Torres last night and played a counterattacking style vs Juventus instead of being like Barcelona, playing the same offensive possession style every game regardless of the situation. It really is quite nauseating to see this happen in pure irrationality and knee jerk anger once again from this childish ...