Wenger Responds With Rejection

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger has reacted to recent Real Madrid links by firmly stating that he is committed to The Gunners. Current Real coach Wanderly Luxemburgo has received much criticism over the past weeks and speculation regarding his future at the Bernabeu has grown increasingly.

Florentino Perez the Madrid president said he was a fan of the Frenchman's entertaining playing style and overall tactics.

"Jose Mourinho and Fabio Capello are two of the world's best. I have another name for you, Wenger. I like him very much," Perez told a radio interview.

Wenger responded by saying that he was committed to his current North London club until the year of 2008.

Skipper, Thierry Henry has also been linked with the 'galacticos' as his contract at Arsenal is due to expire at the end of the season. Arsenal's highest scorer in their history says he will not discuss a new deal until the turn of the New Year. Florentino Perez is keen to have him at his club, however Wenger is aiming to persuade arguably the world's best striker to stay at Highbury (or even Ashburton Grove!)

Barca's Brazilian Bags Ballon D'Or

World Player of The Year, Ronaldinho scooped up another award last night with the only difference being that the latest was for European Player of The Year. He was always favourite to win, nevertheless Chelsea's Frank Lampard was close behind in second place.

Ronaldinho was a key part of the key to success for Barca last year. Many believe they would not have been able to secure La Liga if it wasn't for the South American ace. Hi form this season has been even better, having equalled last season’s goal tally of nine after only playing 12 games! His performances have been so bewildering that fierce Barcelona rivals, Real Madrid were forced to give the magician a standing ovation after grabbing a couple of goals.

Incidentally, Ronaldinho is the third player to win the award whilst playing at the Nou Camp. The other two being Ronaldo in 1997 and Rivaldo in 1999.

Here is a list of the past winners of the Ballon D'Or provided by BBC SPORT:

1956 - Stanley Matthews
1957 - Alfredo Di Stefano
1958 - Raymond Kopa
1959 - Alfredo Di Stefano
1960 - Luis Suarez
1961 - Omar Sivori
1962 - Josef Masopust
1963 - Lev Yachine
1964 - Denis Law
1965 - Eusebio
1966 - Bobby Charlton
1967 - Florian Albert
1968 - George Best
1969 - Gianni Rivera
1970 - Gerd Muller
1971 - Johan Cruyff
1972 - Franz Beckenbauer
1973 - Johan Cruyff
1974 - Johan Cruyff
1975 - Oleg Blokhin
1976 - Franz Beckenbauer
1977 - Alan Simonsen
1978 - Kevin Keegan
1979 - Kevin Keegan
1980 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
1981 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
1982 - Paolo Rossi
1983 - Michel Platini
1984 - Michel Platini
1985 - Michel Platini
1986 - Igor Belanov
1987 - Ruud Gullit
1988 - Marco Van Basten
1989 - Marco Van Basten
1990 - Lothar Matthaus
1991 - Jean-Pierre Papin
1992 - Marco Van Basten
1993 - Roberto Baggio
1994 - Hristo Stoichkov
1995 - George Weah
1996 - Matthias Sammer
1997 - Ronaldo
1998 - Zinedine Zidane
1999 - Rivaldo
2000 - Luis Figo
2001 - Michael Owen
2002 - Ronaldo
2003 - Pavel Nedved
2004 - Andrei Shevchenko
2005 - Ronaldinho

Rooney Is No Best, But He Is One Of The Best

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson compared Wayne Rooney to Old Trafford legend George Best after his side's 2-1 win at West Ham. I believe it is incorrect to make such claims as they are two players with different playing styles and it is not right to make such comparisons so soon after the death of footballing legend. No one compared the two beforehand, so why now?

Rooney made it onto the score sheet and also set up a goal as Man Utd won by two goals to one at Upton Park. Rooney scored just after the break two put The Red Devils back on track after Marlon Harewood had opened the scoring within the first minute.

He then assisted the vital winning goal for John O'Shea as United moved up to second in the table, bringing an emotional weekend for the club to a close. Alan Pardew the Hammers manager could not put it into words how well Rooney performed.

"Maybe he deserved to wear George Best's old number seven shirt - he was that good."

These types of comment were never mentioned before Best's death, so is it right to start making these claims now all of a sudden? Have your say by leaving a comment.

Meanwhile, In Fulham’s match up with Bolton at Craven Cottage, Brian McBride scored twice to help clinch a vital victory for Fulham. The first was stabbed home due to natural strike instinct whilst, the second was a textbook volley from 18 yrds out in order to double his tally.

Bolton's only goal came from a late Sylvain Legwinski own goal but a frustrating day ended when El-Hadji Diouf was red-carded after full-time for dissent. The match ended, 2-1.

Middlesborough versus West Brom proved to be an exciting contest which finished 2-2. A late penalty from Nigerian Yakubu rescued Boro' from defeat though The Baggies would be travelling away from The Riverside rather sombre, knowing that they could have got three points from the game.

Mark Viduka opened the scoring and Nathan Ellington and Kanu scored for Albion. The final result was a fair one after both sides created ample chances and provided great entertainment on a rain-drenched day in Middlesbrough.

Newcastle Fury As Officials Make Mistake

There were more cries for video technology to be incorporated into football, as Everton and Newcastle departed from Goodison Park in the early kick-off. Everyone but the referee and his assistants managed to see James McFadden handling Shola Ameobi's shot on goal. The game was preceded by one minute's applause in memory of George Best, with both sets of fans paying a fitting tribute to the Manchester United legend.

The contained little quality, if any, with both teams failing to really settle into each others style of play. Newcastle edged the play in the first half with a number off opportunities to break the deadlock in the last ten minutes. The main incident was when McFadden clearly made contact with the ball with the use of his hand in order to prevent Shola Ameobi's volley reaching the back of the net. Nevertheless the officials failed see it, and instead, waved play on. As well as this, there were flaying arms between Tim Cahill and Celestine Babayaro towards the dieing moments of the half however, the referee, Howard Webb did not punish either play.

Just after the break Joseph Yobo rose to meet Mikel Arteta's corner as Everton battled to earn a deserved victory. The goal was clocked at 54 seconds into the half which shows how inspirational Graeme Souness' half-time team talk was. Newcastle struggled to make any impression and Everton were rewarded with three points, though they could have scored plenty more if it wasn't for the remarkable Shay Given in The Toon goal.

160 Not Out

In the late kick-off between Portsmouth and Chelsea, Frank Lampard made history by playing in his 160th consecutive Premiership game. He has now over taken David James at the top of the appearance charts and even capped the performance off with a goal.

Chelsea controlled the game and took the lead through an early Hernan Crespo volley, though the Argentinean was forced to limp off the field soon afterwards. Former Newcastle whizkid, LuaLua was a constant threat up front, and managed to find the target on a number f occasions, however none off the attempts were worthy enough to beat the outstanding Petr Cech.

Nevertheless, Joe Cole and Damien Duff provided constant threat on either side of the pitch and it was Cole who created the second goal. The talented youngster was tricky for the defenders to handle all night and when he made his way into the penalty area, he used his stepovers to marvellous effect and as a result caused Dejan Stefanovic to blatantly trip him. The penalty was correctly awarded and it was Lampard who stepped up and slot it low into the corner in order to give Chelsea a fully deserved two goal lead which incidentally, they finished with.

As well as Lampard's outing passing the previous record of 159 consecutive league appearances set by keeper David James while at Liverpool, the Football Writer's Player of the Year is now also the top scorer in the Premiership, with 11 goals. Not bad for a midfielder, who has played every Chelsea league match since September 2001.

As in all the fixtures over the weekend there was a moment of remembrance for the great George Best. However, unlike the traditional minutes silence, there was a minute of celebration for Best, which contained applause and the chanting of the legends name.

Gunners Get The Better Of Blackburn

Arsenal club captain made history again, as he became the first player to find the back of the net one hundred times at Highbury. Henry grabbed the second on the stroke of halftime in a 3-0 win for the North London side.

Midfielder, Cesc Fabregas gave Arsenal an early lead when he arrowed a perfect shot into the top-right hand corner of the Blackburn goal. Henry then came close soon after with an exquisite free-kick which narrowly missed however; he was able to make up for the effort when he ended a fabulous Arsenal move, latching on to Robert Pires' through ball in order to double the Arsenal lead. This was also the Frenchman's one hundredth Highbury goal.

Soon after Robin Van Persie rounded off a happy afternoon for The Gunners with a delightful goal. He took the ball passed two opposing players and scored from what seemed to be an impossible angle. The game finally finished 3-0 to Arsenal.

In Wigan's match with Tottenham, Keane and Davids scored to secure a Spurs win. Arjan De Zeeuw made an error allowing Keane to capitalise in order to clinch the first all important goal. Soon after, Edgar Davids ran through the Wigan defence and fired a low shot under keeper Mike Pollitt to give Spurs a two goal advantage. At this point Wigan looked like a Championship side, disregarding this seasons Premiership form.

However the crowd at the JJB Stadium began to lift the player’s spirit and this resulted in a surprising goal. Paul Robinson parried Jason Roberts' shot straight into the path of Lee McCulloch, who sidefooted home to give Wigan slim hope. Nevertheless the game was all but over, and Spurs went on to end the game positively, finishing 1-2.

In the Aston Villa - Charlton Athletic match up at Villa Park, young on-loan midfielder James Milner impressed again, encouraging David O'Leary to sign him permanently in the January transfer window perhaps.

Meanwhile, Steve Davis's winner rounded up a fully deserved win for Aston Villa and consigned Charlton to a fourth successive Premiership defeat. Milan Baros hit the crossbar and luckily the ball rebounded to Steven Davis, who hit a super strike into the top corner.

Liverpool narrowly won at the City of Manchester Stadium with a late goal from John Arne Riise. He powered a left-footed strike in at David James' near post after playing a one-two with Steven Gerrard. Thanks to this settling the game, Liverpool now climb up the table and rise above City.

Finally, Sunderland lost to Birmingham at the Stadium of Light by a single goal. The deadlock was broken in the basement battle when Julian Gray came off the bench to score what turned out to be a crucial goal for Birmingham. The midfielder was on hand to tap home after Ben Alnwick saved a flying header from Walter Pandiani.

In all five of this afternoon's fixtures there was a moments silence before kick-off in rememberance of the late football legend, George Best.

Chelsea's match versus Portsmouth is a 5.15 kick off and will be reported on later.

Best Sadly Passes Away

It had been on the cards for a while now however, not anyone knew of the sudden impact and shock the nation would suffer when football legend George Best died. At 59 Best fell victim to the curse of alcohol though his genius footballing ability will never be forgotten.

Best was a great player and one of the all time greats in world football. He starred in the sixties and seventies for Manchester United and represented his country Northern Ireland.

Best will be buried next to his mother, Ann, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Dec. 2, said his agent, Phil Hughes.

Pompey Axe Perrin

Alain Perrin was dismissed by Portsmouth today after a run of poor performances. Perrin had spent most of the season under threat, and met with club chairman last night in order to reassess his position. The two could apparently not come to an agreement and Perrin was forced to exit. Only two weeks ago the pair met and Milan Mandaric came to the conclusion that the next two games would decide the Frenchman's fate. The first was against Liverpool on Saturday in which the club lost by three goals to none. Whilst the second is versus current title holders, Chelsea this weekend.

Perrin received as much criticism as sympathy from the Fratton Park faithful and it was obvious from early on in the season that he was the wrong man for the job. He stated to the media how he was disappointed at how the eventful journey eventually ended.

"I am disappointed my adventure with Pompey ended so quickly. I am sorry for our supporters that good performances at home did not reward us with the results we deserved."

Senior coach Joe Jordan will take charge for the time being - a position that he beginning to become all too familiar with. Rumours have spread that Mandaric is keenly showing an interest in bringing Sheffield Utd manager, Niel Warnock to take the current vacant position left by Perrin. Though, Warnock has previously staed his commitment to his South Yorkshire club. However, they have yet to offer a new contract at the club, thus seeming the lifelong Sheffield Utd support will exit after Saturday's clash against Derby.

He has emerged as the clear favourite to succeed Alain Perrin as manager of Portsmouth after Crystal Palace turned down an approach for Iain Dowie.

Champions League Latest

The European mid-week ties proved to be successful for most of the British sides in the tournament with none of them losing. Tuesday night saw Arsenal win over FC Thun away from home, whilst Man Utd finished with the scoreline goalless at Old Trafford in their match versus Villarreal.

Arsenal just scraped victory over Thun who went down to 10-men after Armand Deumi was sent off in the 35th minute. The goal came in the second -half when Robin Van Persie was fouled within the 18-yrd box. The referee correctly awarded the penalty in which Robert Pires converted with style to clinch the winning goal.

The victory ensured Arsenal finish top in their group and also carry on maintaining a five-game winning streak in Europe.

However, Man Utd's hopes of still qualifying into the knockout stages took a stumble when they could only manage a draw against Spanish side Villarreal. Wayne Rooney was the only promising highlight of the match in a lacklustre performance from the home side.

Utd now to beat Benfica to ensure qualification, although if Villarreal gain victory over Lille a draw will be enough.

Group A 'Big-Boys' Bayern Munich and Juventus booked their places in the next phase of the competition with two different wins. Juventus struggled against a hard-working Club Bruuge, nevertheless, the experienced Allesandro Del Piero struck in the eightieth minute to spare the Italian giants blushes.

Bayern won comfortably against Rapid Vienna with Dutchman Roy Makkay grabbing a couple. Ali Karimi and Sebastian Deisler were the only other scorers. Thus, the game finishing 4-0.

Barcelona eased through to the knockout stages with an impressive result against Werder Bremen. Gabri, Larrson and Ronaldinho all scored for the Spanish giants. Bremen’s only scorer was Tim Borowski. Udinise won 2-1 against rivals Panathinaikos. They now need at least a draw in their final game in order to secure a place in the next phase.
Ajax won 2-1 over Sparta Prague in Group B, whilst Lille could only finish with a draw over Portuguese side Benfica.

On Wednesday, Liverpool and Chelsea both claimed a place in the knockout stages of the tournament. Current holders, Liverpool managed a goalless draw with Real Betis in order to remain at the top of Group G and reach the last 16. Peter Crouch failed to score again and Djibril Cisse did not manage to make the starting line-up. Perhaps, this signals his departure from the club?

Meanwhile, Chelsea cruised to victory with a 2-0 at Anderlecht. The goals were both scored in the first half by Hernan Crespo, and Ricardo Carvahlo. Chelsea

The final game between the two English sides, will take place at Stamford Bridge

Alex McLeish’s Rangers received a priceless point at Porto thanks to Ross McCormack’s late equaliser. This was after Lisandro Lopez put the former Champions League winners Porto in the lead. Brazil's Adriano scored a superb hatrick in order to helper Inter Milan win 4-0 over Artmedia. This also rewarded Milan with qualification. Luis Figo got the fourth.

Levan Kobiashvili also scored three to help Schalke to a 3-0 win over PSV. However I am afraid there is a striker who managed to surpass Adriano and Kobiashvili's feats by scoring four goals. Yes that’s right, Andriy Schevschenko scored four as Milan beat Turkish side Fenerbache. Real Madrids match with Lyon

Last but by no means least, Rosenberg snatched the win out Olympiacos' hands when Thorstein Helstad scored a late equaliser to deny Rilvado's first half strike controlled the game and never looked under pressure at all. Didier Drogba stayed on the bench with a supposed hamstring strain. in December. This will determine who finishes top of Group G. finished as a stalemate. Guti and Carew both scored. Therefore, the game ended 1-1.

Ronaldinho Steals The Show (Yet Again!)

Ronaldinho helped sercure a Barcalona victory over bitter rivals Real Madrid at the Bernabeau last night. The World's Best Footballer in the world scored two terrific solo goals in the second half. This was subsequent to African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto'o opening the scoreline fifteen minutes into the highly contested match.

After poor defending from Real's Ivan Helguera, Eto'o latched onto Leo Messi's perfectly weighted pass and with no doubt capitilised with a deathly toe-poke. England skipper David Beckham seemed to be the only Madrid player worthy of his vast price tag and weekly wages as he once again continued his fine run of form for Real.

Ronaldinho simply ran riot in the second half, with two goals any player would be pleased with. His Brazililian brilliance was certainly entertaining and it brought a couple of goals too. Both the goals were similar, as the magician picked up the ball on the left wing, towards the half way line and then performed an unstoppable solo run in which he beat a countless number of 'Galacticos', after achieving this feet there was no doubt in anyones mind that he would slot home to increase Barca's lead. It was so impressive that even the Madrid fans applauded in amazement and even gave him a standing ovation as he left the pitch at full time.

But for Iker Cassilas Barcalona could have added more insult to injury.

Crouch Receives More Criticism

The weekend saw yet more turmoil for Liverpool's Peter Crouch as he missed a penalty on an afternoon that he had a number of opportunities to end his scoring drought. The 6ft 7" striker asked to step up and take the spot-kick however it was to his dismay that it was saved by Portsmouth keeper Jamie Ashdown. It was struck with no real conviction and there was an obvious lack of influential confidence. However luckily for Liverpool, Bolo Zenden reacted instantly and headed home off the rebound. Later on Crouch found himself one-on-one with Ashdown however he struck at a comfortable height for the keeper and it was parried away.

Shortly after Zenden's goal, Djibril Cisse found himself on the right of midfield aiming to whip an in swinging cross in to the box however the ball was hit with too much power and only managed to fin itself in the back of the Pompey goal. Cisse was delighted although his honesty was shown as he signalled to the touchline that it was a fluke.

Fernando Morientes also joined the party with a powerful shot which found James Ashdown's bottom left hand corner. The Spaniard is now starting show why he has such a high value and The Kop are loving him.

In other matches, Middlesborough gained a controversial victory over Fulham. Fulham's Collins John gave Fulham the lead after only nine minutes with a superb spinning volley which will surely be in the contest for goal of the month. However the controversy was sparked when Yakubu scored from Hasslebainks assist. The pass looked to be offside nevertheless the goal was given. The match ended 3-2.

Chelsea ended their so called 'losing streak' with an impressive victory over Newcastle United. The Magpies suffered a heavy defeat of three goals to none which ended their good form of late. Despite Newcastle's injuries with many players still on the sidelines, Chelsea did not have it all their own way in the first half. Everybody but the referee spotted John Terry's foul on Lee Bowyer however, the man in charge failed to award Newcastle a rightful penalty. The first and second goals were scored due to a Titus Bramble, ever so common mistake. Hernan Crespo and Joe Cole capitilised with quality and class. The Newcastle strength in midfield certainly was shown with Emre, Solano, and Parker holding out the Chelsea Pack. Nevertheless in the closing minutes Damien Duff put the game to bed with a long-range drive that caught a deflection off Scott Parker and rolled into the back of the net.

Everton continued their inconsistent run of form when they were comprehensively beaten by The Baggies at The Hawthorns. Nathan Ellington grabbed two, the first being from the spot. Tony Hibbert was judged to have fouled Ellington although; it looked to be outside the box. Nevertheless the penalty was given and Ellington converted comfortably. Clement scored the second with a header in the fiftieth minute. Soon after Ellington got his second with a fine curling effort. To ad insult to injury Robbie Earnshaw came off the bench to the score the fourth. The game was all over with the scoreline finishing 4-0 to The Midlands side.

In the London derby of Spurs versus West Ham, Mido put Tottenham ahead in the fifteenth minute with a delightful cushioned header which looped over Shaka Hislop. The scoreline stayed like this until the final minute when Anton Ferdinand - younger brother to Rio, managed to scramble the ball back into the net on a corner set piece. The game was a stalemate.

Arsenal scored three whilst, Wigan scored two in order to end the recently promoted sides run of good form. All the goals were scored in the fist half including a superb Henry free-kick.

Man Utd won at The Valley as they aim to recover from Roy Keane's shock exit. Charlton scored one though The Red Devils managed to put three away.

Also Sunderland lost against Villa, 1-3. Kevin Phillips scored against his former club which silenced all the abuse he was receiving from crazy Sunderland fans.

Meanwhile, Man City drew at home against Blackburn. No goals were scored.

Breathe Football Returns

After a vacant period, we at Breathe Football have returned. As a matter of prioritising we came to the conclusion that we would have to take a break from publishing, nevertheless, we have come back and now the blog is our number one priority!

Feel free to contact us with any of your views by adding comments to the posts, we would like to hear from you.