I've suggested this before (with a nice diagram), but if we have no fit centre-forward worthy of the name we need to make the most of what we do have, namely attacking midfielder types.

Jonathan Wilson's review of the tactical year.

Barcelona also show the effectiveness of two of the other tactical trends in club football: the false nine and the inverted winger.

On Saturday Michael Essien makes his return to the Chelsea side to face Everton after seeing out his three match suspension picked up for the straight red card he received against Fulham and you have to say we have missed him big time. You can only imagine that Essien has been sitting in the stands watching the games kicking himself for making that silly tackle on Dempsey.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates— European champions Inter Milan swept into the final of the Club World Cup with a convincing 3-0 semi-final defeat of Asian counterparts Seongnam Ilhwa here on Wednesday. Argentine striker Diego Milito made one goal and scored another on his return from a five-week absence, as Rafael Benitez's under-performing side set [.

The one shame about last night's AFF Cup Final 2nd Leg in Jakarta was the absence of any Malaysian fans. There were a handful sprinkled round the stadium but they were anonymous and for good reason when you consider some of the hype that comes out of certain political elements here.
But something like 20,000 Indonesians were at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Malaysia for the 1st leg and there were no brawls that I'm aware of.

It was absolutely freezing last night, but at a tenner for my ticket it would have been rude not too. First of all I would like to thank the company I had last night as always the legend that is Arsenal TV Online's Akhil and Steve were on top form and we tried our very best to liven up the graveyard that is Block 1.

Jose Mourinho will have to miss his side's upcoming match this Wednesday in the Champions League against Auxerre, but the Real Madrid manager will not have to worry about serving any further penalties for his role in the red card incident in Los Blancos last Champions League match.

Mourinho, who was accused of telling his players to commit deliberate penalites in order to sit out this week's upcoming meaningless match, was originally suspended for one match and fined $160,000 by the UEFA.

It was stated earlier in the weeks that Real Madrid striker, Gonzalo Higuian will be out for 2 months with a hernia in his lower back but recent reports have him returning sooner than expected. As Higuian started his recover program on his herniated disc problem, it seems that the results are rapidly getting better and the amount estimated for his recover will be a lot sooner.

One striker.

That is all Real Madrid will really be left with this December before the January transfer window opens back up. The loss of Gonzalo Higuain to a hernia problem could cost Jose Mourinho a shot at the league title this season.

Just a few weeks back Real Madrid potentially looked like they could become the best team in the world by the end of the year.

Yeah, I know, it's hard to believe.
Yesterday's Divisi Utama game between PSIM and Persikab was held up while fans decided what they really wanted to do was have a go at each other.
I should point out that I never saw the game - every time I went to the channel they were showing skin whitening commercials - but I think I can safely assume there were no, or next to no, Persikab fans in the stadium.

How quickly things change in the world of Arsenal injuries these days. Yesterday we expected to lose Laurent Koscielny for a few games, which would allow Djourou his chance alongside Squillaci, this morning the news is that Koscielny is fine and will play tonight while Djourou has a small thigh problem which means he won't be involved at all.

Leicester manager Sven-Goran Eriksson recently attempted to sign Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham on brief loan. The second division coach hoped to convince his former Three Lions captain (from 2001-2006) to join him back in England after a long absence from playing league football in his homeland since his departure from Manchester United to Real Madrid nearly a decade ago.

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has revealed that the club has plans to hand midfielder Lucas a new contract.
The 23-year-old has been impressive for the club this season, and has forged a good partnership with Raul Meireles in the centre of midfield in the absence of skipper Steven Gerrard.
And their partnership has even sparked talk as to whether the Reds captain should return to his previous position of playing behind Fernando Torres when he returns from injury.

Sorry again for the lack of posts, but it's just been hectic lately. I wanted to at least get Calcio Thoughts up, so I can answer all your great questions for the 8th week in a row. If you would like to have a calcio question answered in next week's Calcio Thoughts 9, you know the drill by now.

Cesare Prandelli has been interviewed today and spoke quite a bit on how other countries view gli azzurri, the style of play he wants to instill in the team, and how he selects goalies in Buffon's absence. [read more]

There's no doubt that the manner in which Rio Ferdinand remains so prone to picking up injuries is a major annoyance for United fans, with the England defender a crucial influence both on and off the pitch for the club, but the way in which Nemanja Vidic has stepped up to the plate in his absence in terms of taking on the captaincy and the role as leader in defence says everything about both the player, who has become a true legend around Old Trafford, and the management style of Sir Alex Ferguson, who remains as able as always to get the most out of the players under his control.

After his poor start to the season, I'm sure I'm not the only one who was questioning Ji-Sung Park's Manchester United future.

Now, with the Korean in the best form, at least scoring-wise, in what's now his sixth season at Old Trafford, all of the talk is about how much he'll be missed when he has to depart after Boxing Day to join up with South Korea ahead of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, which kicks off early next month in Qatar.

Photo: Marc AtkinsCarlo Ancelotti has confirmed that Frank Lampard will be starting against Manchester United on Sunday. It was a huge sigh of relief to see Lampard back in the squad last week and to see him starting a match after three months is like signing a new £30 million player. Frank Lampard is one of those players who doesn't get a lot of media attention, in fact, he gets a lot of negative press.

MADRID, Spain Karim Benzema cemented his return to form with his second hat-trick of the month and Cristiano Ronaldo also netted three goals as Real Madrid crushed lowly Levante 8-0 in their King's Cup last-16 first leg on Wednesday. France striker Benzema is profiting from the absence through injury of first-choice centre forward Gonzalo [.

MADRID, Spain Karim Benzema cemented his return to form with his second hat-trick of the month and Cristiano Ronaldo also netted three goals as Real Madrid crushed lowly Levante 8-0 in their King's Cup last-16 first leg on Wednesday. France striker Benzema is profiting from the absence through injury of first-choice centre forward Gonzalo [.

Our inability to win away from home continues. This undesirable trend that began 2 games into our season has seen us draw 7 out of the 8 away games we've played so far.

Gibson got a rare start with Park jetting off to play for his country. As I've mentioned before, Park does plenty of little things well and I believe United felt the void left by his absence as their play lacked the fluidity that was on display over the weekend.