Afternoon losers, just thought i’d share my thoughts on the second weekend of the Premier League as i know you all need the advice so badly.

There’s some tricky fixtures this week as Liverpool and Arsenal meet at The Emirates on Saturday lunch time and Man Utd host Spurs in the Monday night game. If the first weekend proved anything, it was that once again i was right in everything i’ve ever told you and that this season is going to be even more difficult to predict Fantasy Football trends. Difficult for you, piss east for me. Here’s my tips for the week (either as Captain or transfers) -

Sergio Aguero (Man City) – After his two goal debut last week at home to Swansea, ‘Kun’ showed not only his class but that his slender frame can cut it in the most physically demanding league in the world. City are away at Bolton who are no push-overs these days under Owen Coyle.

Fernando Torres (Chelsea) – El Nino showed some signs that he’s still an actual player rather than the equivalent of a 1st minute red card. He’s still pretty expensive in both games though and with the arrival of Romalu Lukaku from Anderlect for c. £20m, it’s even more confusing trying to predict who’d going to play. I still believe Torres and Drogba can play together but that would mean a return to the diamond, which has proved more successful in massaging the egos of Chelsea’s undroppable ‘stars’ than winning matches.

Tim Cahill (Everton) – At home to QPR in game week 2, Timmy C has been the Bitter’s main goal threat for what seems like forever (who was their last prolific striker?). Either Bolton were great last Saturday or QPR were shite and i strongly favour the latter. QPR should be fine though once the takeover goes through and Neil Warnock no longer works for the world’s poorest billionaire.

Jonathan Walters (Stoke) – Walter’s finished last season on fire, finishing the season with 12 goals and a cup final appearance. Although not a stellar name, he’s a bargain and with a home fixture with Norwich, worth a punt.

Hello Fantasy Football fans! After months of waiting, watching and debating the transfers and tribulations of the world’s favourite league Fantasy Football 2011/12 is now open!

I can feel your joy throbbing through my servers, and yet i can sense that this feeling of elation is tempered with confusion and even mild panic. “How the hell am i going to beat that smug prick who dominates my work league?” is the question flashing across the minds of every Fantasy Football manager. The simple answer my children, is with the help of FantasyFootballInfo.co.uk. We’ll be here right through the season to offer help and advice for Daily Telegraph Fantasy Football and for the first time Premier League Fantasy Football, starting with a preview of the season giving you the inside knowledge you need to pick the perfect Fantasy Football team.

For those of you feeling particularly brave, we’ve got a couple leagues set up in the various games so come and take us on if you’ve got the balls. Stuart Vaughan, i’m coming for this you this year son! Entry details can be found on the main site, unless of course you’re a massive pussy.

So, let’s crack on then. I’ve got Gary Neville making nest in my loft and i don’t want him to disturb the pigeons.

Strategy yada yada yada…

Simple. Pick the players that are certain to do well, predict the cheapos who will over perform and don’t cane your tranfers through boredom like i always do. It’s more difficult these days without the likes of Henry and Fat Frank smashing in the goals. Even Stevie G is ruled out until October with a ‘groin infection’ or something. Here’s some suggestions anywho.

The ‘Must Haves’

Darren Bent (Aston Villa) – I’m shocked that this guy hasn’t been picked up by a top 4 team. It doesn’t matter what club he’s playing for, Darren Bent is proven Premier League quality who gets goals. Takes pens too which is handy and doesn’t get injured that often. Without Young and Downing Villa won’t be as good this season but if you can score shed loads of goals for Charlton and Sunderland then you’ve got some skills. A Fantasy Football banker.

Luis Suarez (Liverpool) – God reincarnate. That is all.

Robin Van Persie (Arsenal) – If this dude can stay fit for more than five seconds then you have to have him in your team. When fit, he’s an awesome player and almost single handedly carries Arsenal’s goal threat. The only slight problem is that his ankles appear to made out of glass and tissue paper. He’s an expensive risk but worth a punt in my view. If your in our league, why not also pick Jonathan Woodgate…..and Darren Anderton….and Harry Kewell…..

Nani (Man Utd) – He may have a stupid name and look like a young Michael Jackson but man can this guy play. Finally crawling out of Cristiano’s shadow he was easily United’s best player last season in my opinion, adding end product to the customary billion step-overs per run down a blind alley.

Leighton Baines (Everton) – The best left back in the world, despite being a toffee. Clean sheets, assists, goals. Now if only he played for a proper team. Ashley who?

The Risks

The majority of successful Fantasy Football managers have one thing in common. No, not B.O and back hair but the ability to predict the players who are going to over-perform. These usually come from the newly promoted teams and will score most of their points in the first half of the season before everyone figures them out. Who will be this year’s Charlie Adam or Andy Carroll? Probably not Charlie Adam and Andy Carroll i’d wager. Here’s a couple of our suggestions

Scott Sinclair (Swansea) – The former Chelsea winger seems to have found a home in south Wales, scoring 22 goals last season as Swansea became the first Welsh club to make it to the promised land. His raw pace will unsettle defenders and if the Swans are to beat the drop, Sinclair will surely be a big part of that. He takes pens too.

Adel Taarabt (QPR) – The Morrocan arrived at Loftus Road with a reputation as something of a lose cannon. Despite his undoubted ability, his selfish play and failure to track back had grown all too frustrating for Harry Redknapp at Spurs. Never a good sign from a manager who’s worked with other ‘one man teams’ like Di Canio. Neil Warnock however decided to build his entire team around his enigmatic front man. The gamble paid off and Taarabt starred as Rangers strolled to the Championship title, banging in 19 goals with 16 assists and picking up the Player of the Year trophy on the way. The biggest problem with picking Taarabt for your team is whether he’ll actually be playing in this country when the season starts, although his proposed moved to big spending PSG seems to have cooled of late.

Grant Holt (Norwich) – A somewhat nomadic figure in lower league football, Grant Holt has scored goals wherever he’s been. A pivotal figure in the back to back promotions achieved under Paul Lambert, Holt scored 45 goals over the last two seasons. The big question though is if the Football League’s quintessential journeyman can make the grade in the Premier League. It’s an unfortunate reality of the game that some players who thrive in The Championship are just not good enough for the best league in the world (Robert Earnshaw? Michael Chopra?). How will Holt fair? Picking him is probably the biggest risk of them all.

Stephen Ireland (Aston Villa) – Although far from an unknown quantity, it’s clear that Stephen Ireland has lost his way in recent seasons. Much was expected of the Irishman when he arrived at Villa Park after being deemed surplus to requirements at the Etihad Stadium, despite being named Man City’s player of the year in 2009. A box to box midfield who scores goals, Ireland struggled with injury and form under Gerard Houlier and found himself loaned out to Newcastle in the second half of last season. Once more found himself warming the bench, unable to break in to a midfield consisting on Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Tiote. The arrival of Alex Mcleish at Villa Park might just be the fresh start needed. If he can steer clear of injury, Stephen Ireland could be the bargain of the season.

Transfers/Captains

Transfers play a huge role in Daily Telegraph Fantasy Football. I’ve not got too much to say on transfers except use them sparingly and don’t panic. I could tell you that it’s a marathon and not a sprint, that you win nothing in January but it’s also important to make sure you spot the form players early and get them in your side. If you wait too long, you could end up wasting a transfer on a player who just played the best 6 games of his career and is now disappearing in to the background from whence he came.

Selecting your captain for Fantasy Premier League is even more important then transfers. With your captain scoring double points, it can be the difference between a modest score and a massive score for the week. It’s important to do your research every Friday – check the fixtures, check the injuries, check form but most importantly go with you gut feeling. It’s a gamble and you never know, John Obi Mikel may just score that elusive first hat-trick…

So i think that’s enough for now. Ade Akenbiyi is scratching at my back door whimpering to get in so i’d better go and feed him before he wakes up Ruel Fox. Make sure you join our league, i’m getting bored of beating the same people year after year.

Name: Fantasy Football Info League
Pin: 8005539

Name: Fantasy Football Info League
Pin: 35857-153564

With over a third of the Premier League season gone, i think it’s time for a quick strategy review. This season is turning out to be one of the most open Premier League seasons ever. The untouchable top four of the recent past is being blown apart by the likes of Spurs and Man City, not to mention unlikely victories at Anfield and Stamford Bridge for Blackpool and Sunderland. Only Manchester United remain unbeaten which, although impressive, have been achieved with far too many draws while both Chelsea and Arsenal have lost four times already.

With so many surprising results comes a need for a shift in strategy. Players who have been a ‘must have’ for many years are now proving to expensive Fantasy Football flops while the seemingly expensive flops of the Premier League appear to finally be delivering on their price tag. Does anyone still have Rooney, Lampard or Gerrard in their teams? Admittedly the first two have been out injured but where hardly in the best form after returning from a poor World Cup, while Gerrard’s performance in Fantasy League seems to have suffered from carrying an average side for so many years. On the other side of the coin, you have Bolton’s Johan Elmander who is arguably the most in form player in the league and Man Utd’s Nani who is finally starting to look like more than a poor man’s Ronaldo in a young Michael Jackson’s body.

So other than making a couple of transfers, what’s really changed? Well, goals really. Teams who used to be a certainty for keeping clean sheets week in week out like Chelsea and Liverpool are now conceding goals. This clean sheet pedigree comes with a hefty price tag which at the moment is unjustifiable. It’s time to cut back on the defence and load up on attacking players. This doesn’t mean strikers though as most teams are now playing one up front so goal scoring midfielders should be the focus of the team. The likes of Malouda, Van Der Vaart and Nani have all outscored Torres, Bent and Anelka. 3-5-2 is the new 4-3-3.

Hopefully the following two line ups should be of some use. In order to make the most efficient use of your transfers, it’s important to look at player form over the season so far rather than just going for the striker who happened to score a hat-trick at the weekend, but then does bugger all for the next 4 games (we’ve all done it!). So, with that in mind, here’s the best possible line up so far and the best value line up in the 3-5-2 formation.

Best Team So Far

Total Points - 711

Best Value Team So Far

Total Points - 629

In a game dominated by stats and trends there one that happens every year that we all seem to ignore. Blackpool’s opening day demolition of Wigan at The DW Stadium hasn’t exactly silenced those who believe Ian Holloway’s men will be making a swift return to the Championship next year but it has continued a recent trend. Every year in the Premier League, one of the teams everyone expects to get battered every week has a really good start and anyone brave enough to include some risky players in their Fantasy Football team reap the reward. Burnley did it last year, keeping clean sheets and scoring goals including a victory of Champions Manchester United at Turf Moor. Hull were the early season surprise team the year before, spurred on by Giovanni’s goals with results including victories at The Emirates and White Hart Lane.

It has to be said though, as good as Blackpool where on Saturday Wigan were poor and had Chris Kirkland not had an off day the score line would have been much more respectable. It’s going to be an interesting month for Blackpool. All their players are cheap so if you’re feeling brave, take a punt on Marlon Harewood at £4.4m as a 3rd striker. If Blackpool can keep their momentum going Harewood will surely be their main threat and could bring in more points the some of the more expensive midfielders.

Elsewhere, the top two from last year both put down markers. Chelsea picked up where they left off last season by destroying West Brom 6-0 while Man Utd’s old boy’s saw off Newcastle at Old Trafford. The most interesting fixtures thrown up by our beloved fixture computer was the meeting between the four sides likely to finish third to sixth. Spurs and Man City kicked off at lunch time at the lane, with everyone keen to see if Harry could repeat the fantastic achievement of last season and whether Paulo Mancini had managed to blend Man City’s mercenaries in to some kind of team. Spurs dominated the first half and were it not for Joe Hart in the City goal they would have started with a victory. Similarly, were it not for the sun in Pepe Reina’s eyes, Liverpool would have secured a priceless win against Arsenal. Joe Cole’s sending off was unlucky but having just watched Liverpool beat Trabzonspor where Cole missed a penalty, he seems like he’s trying too hard. The goals and the performances will come for Cole eventually.

Transfer tips of the week -

Marlon Harewood (Striker, Blackpool, £4.4m)
Steven Ireland (Midfield, Aston Villa, £3.5m)

Fantasy Football can be a confusing business. Last season proved that the principles we all worked to in previous years are no longer strictly true. Tottenham to pick one example, can now defend. Spurs proved last season that the gap is closing at the top. In the last ten years things have gone from a top two to a top 4 and now with Man City and their millions (billions) along with Harry’s Midas touch we have a proper top 6 in the Premier League.

This is great news for the neutral but a potential head-ache for the Fantasy Football manager. There are many things to consider before picking a Fantasy Football team – Who will Chelsea sign? Despite winning the double last season it’s not really Ancelotti’s team. Can Arsenal hang on to Fabregas? Will Spurs be able to repeat their form of last season? How will Man City fair and just what is their best team? What effect will Roy Hodgson’s arrival have on Liverpool? There are lots of things to consider and if you’re not sure where to start, here’s the customary Fantasy Football Info tips and advice for Daily Telegraph Fantasy Football 2010/11 -

Preparation

The close season is a time of great change for Premier League clubs. Most teams will buy and sell players and not all will be successful at their new clubs. Before you start to formulate your Fantasy Football Team, make sure you’re aware of all the various comings and goings and try to put yourself in the manager’s shoes. Ask yourself “why has that player been bought by that club?”. This is especially relevant for the bigger clubs. A player could be a first team free scoring regular at one club but quickly find himself warming the bench at another. Keep an eye on pre-season friendlies and see who’s looking sharp already, although this is more difficult due to players returning to training late because of the World Cup. Finally, keep informed about any injuries suffered at the World Cup or in pre-season. We off a list of Premier League injuries broken down by team that can help.

The formation

As i mentioned earlier, things are much more difficult this year as i’m sure you’ve discovered from looking at the player prices! Personally, i always prefer to go 4-3-3 but this approach takes some very careful thought as you’ll quickly run out of cash if you just go for all the obvious players. If you don’t feel as confident in taking calculated risks, stick to 4-4-2 for a bit and see how you fare. With 4-4-2 though, there are some players you must make sure you have in your team (see The ‘Must Haves’ section).

Last Season

The back end of the season prior can give some interesting insight if you’re paying attention! Every season, one or two players who have been consistently unspectacular all year finally start to get it right. Some good example from 09/10 are Nani and Gareth Bale. Until around Christmas time, Gareth Bale had never even won a match in a Spurs shirt but injuries and suspension meant he got his chance on the left side of midfield and scored points galore, finishing the season as one of the highest scoring defenders of the year. If you can identify the players that have come good in the second half of the season and look likely to carry that form on you’ll have a good start.

The ‘Must Haves’

This list seems to get shorter every year. Players who used to be bankers have become inconsistent from season to season. Steven Gerrard had a torrid season for Liverpool last season, the burden of carrying an average squad (Torres apart) seems to have finally taken it’s toll. Didier Drogba appears to be on a ‘one season on, one season off’ rotation of form and players like Van Persie, John Terry and Cesc Fabregas has been plagued by injury in recent times. The List is short but these two players must be included if you’re Fantasy Football team is going to be a success.

Fantasy Football Info recommends:

Frank Lampard (Midfield, Chelsea, £7.0m)
Wayne Rooney (Striker, Man Utd, £6.9m)

The ‘Sleepers’

It’s a fact of footballing life that players fall in and out of favour at clubs. Players move on to new clubs but can’t replicate the form we know they can produce in the Premier League. Most values in Fantasy Football is based on form so watch these players closely. Players like Shaun Wight-Phillips and Steven Ireland will probably not get much of a look in at Man City this season but they are both proven Premier League Players. At £3.7m and £3.5m respectively, if either should he move on to another team where they’ll play regular first team football they both have the potential to score some significant points at a relatively low price.

Fantasy Football Info recommends:

Steven Ireland (Midfield, Man City, £3.5m)
Shaun Wright Phillips (Midfield, Man City, £3.7m)
Michael Johnson (Midfield, Man City, £2.6m)
Andy Johnson (Striker, Fulham, £4.0m)
Roque Santa Cruz (Striker, Man City, £4.5m)

The ‘Long Shots’

Every year, one or two players from the promoted clubs over perform (as do their teams). If you can identify these players before the start of the season you can get ahead of your competition before everyone else jumps on the band wagon. Chose your long shots wisely though and my advice would be to stay clear of defenders as a general rule. Promoted teams always struggle defensively and concede bag fulls of goals. The league’s newcomers also traditionally have problems scoring goals so look to the midfield to pick up your bargains. Players who take corners, free kicks and penalties are always a sound bet. If you don’t know who the set peice specialists are for each Premier League team, we’ve provided a list of likey set peice takers for each Premier League team.

Fantasy Football Info recommends:

Kevin Nolan (Midfield, Newcastle Utd, £3.3m)
Charlie Adam (Midfield, Blackpool, £3.1m)
Graham Dorrans (Midfield, West Brom, £3.2m)
Giles Barnes (Midfield, West Brom, £2.6m)

Transfers

Transfers in Fantasy Football offer a massive temptation for Fantasy Football managers to tinker with their side on a weekly basis. If you’re to be successful, you have to resist the temptation to tinker. Give your team a month at the start of the season and then look at what’s happening. If you spot a trend after a month and see a way to improve your team, make one or two changes. Making transfers is a fine art and a true balancing act between giving your team time to perform and making sure you’re not left behind when there’s a player in red hot form.

Hope you find this useful. See you at the top of the league!

Anyone have any transfers left? No, i don’t either. If you do though, now is the time when you need to get it right. I like many i’m sure hung on to a few players for far too long under the hope that the next match would be when they come good (Messi, Ronaldo etc) when i should have been looking at the trends and picking the players who were performing.

I’ve also made some big mistakes during this World Cup. Most notably, dropping Fabiano and David Villa after the first games only for them to hit a brace each in the next match. Big mistake.

Here’s my tips for the Semi and the Final:

I fully expect the attacking players to come out on top in the Semis and think all 4 teams will score. Given what we’ve seen so far, i think Germany will have too much for Spain and Holland will just edge past Uruguay.

This World Cup has thrown up some of the biggest shocks in World Cup history. Relative minnows South Africa, Switzerland, Slovakia and Serbia all took scalps of Europe’s elite. Not to mention the credible draws achieved by New Zealand and Algeria. So far, the World Cup belongs to South America. Here’s the story of the group stage:

Group A

When Bofana Bofana sung and danced their way on the pitch on to the Soccer City pitch an entire continent was willing them success. When Siphiwe Tshabalala raced through and hit an unstoppable shot past Perez in the Mexico goal, a nation erupted. Unfortunately for the hosts (and the tournament) Rafael Marquez equalised, a goal that ultimately cost Bofana Bofana a place in the last 16.

The story of the group and possibly the tournament though is France failing to turn up to the 2nd World Cup in three. Beaten finalists in Germany but this time beaten by a crack-pot coach and petty in-fighting, culminating a the players refusing to train. Professional footballers of the highest calibre refusing to train at a World Cup.

Group B

Group B was far more predictable. Despite Lionel Messi not scoring, Argentina breezed through the group with neither South Korea, Greece or Nigeria table to take advantage of the fact that Diego Maradona has decided that a left footed left winger only just good enough for the Championship is Argentina’s best right back.

South Korea took 2nd place. Greece proved that as well as the beautiful game, football can also be unbelievably ugly. Nigeria’s Sani Kaita proved that sometimes footballers do stupid things, even in the most important games of their lives.

Group C

What more can we say about England? They should have taken 9 points from this group but Robert Green’s error against the USA, one of the worst England performances ever against Algeria and Landon Donavan’s last minute winner against Algeria consigned England to 2nd place and a last 16 meeting with Germany. Donavan’s goal also say Slovenia crash out when a 0-0 draw would have seen them through as runner’s up behind England. If England go out on Sunday against Germany, it’ll be because of their failures at the group stage. Winning the group would have put England in the most favourable quarter of the draw, facing Ghana in the 2nd round and then with winner of Uruguay v South Korea for a place in the semi finals. Ghana, USA, Uruguay and South Korea all now have the best chance they will ever get at a World Cup.

Group D

Group D began with a thumping 4-0 win for Germany against Australia that made the world sit up and take notice – the German’s were back. A red card to Miroslav Klose, a missed penalty by Luca Podolski and a 1-0 defeat against Serbia threw it all wide open and with Ghana and Australia playing out a 1-1 draw all four teams could qualify going in to the last round of games. In the end, the German’s topped the group to set up a last 16 clash with England while Ghana took 2nd place.

Group E

As expected, Group E was dominated by Holland who won all three games leaving Japan, Denmark and Cameroon to fight it out for 2nd place. Thought by many to be the best African side at the World Cup, Cameroon where hugely disappointing with Paul Le Guen for some reason insisting on playing Samuel Eto’o on the right. In the end, it was Japan’s free kick experts who saw them through against and uninspiring Denmark. At least Nicklas Bentner score though so now he can start to prove that he’s actually as good as he tells everyone he is.

Group F

Another shocking group. The World Champion’s Italy are out, finishing bottom of the group behind the 1500-1 outsiders New Zealand in one of the biggest shocks ever in World Cup history. Two draws against Paraguay and New Zealand and a defeat to Slovakia is perhaps one of the most pathetic title defenses in the history of sport – all sport, not just football. Italy are an ageing team but surely had enough quality to get out the group and i’m sure the inquest will start in Rome just as quick as one will start in Paris.

Group G

Before the start of the tournament, I predicted that Portugal would struggle in this group but and injury to Didier Drogba just before the start of the tournament and Portugal’s 7 goals against North Korea put an end to the Ivory Coast’s chances. What’s ominous for the rest of the tournament is that Brazil, with all their flair have now learnt to defend. Gilberto Silva and Filipe Melo patrol in front of the back four letting the likes of Maicon bomb forward. This group did produce one of the most ridiculous red cards in the history of football. When Abdelkadar Keita ran in to the back of Kaka and went down like he’d been shot, it highlighted an ever growing problem for FIFA. Play acting to get opposition players sent off if the lowest form of cheating, even worse than diving to win a penalty.

Group H

Another group that started with a shock. European Champion’s Spain started as red hot favourites to win the whole thing when they kicked off against Switzerland but a dogged defensive performance and a bundled goal by the Swiss sent them bottom of the group. With Fernando Torres looking out of sorts, were it not for the brilliance of David Villa they may have stayed there. The big winners in this group were Chile who showed everyone (especially Greece) that you can be second favourite in a match and still try to win the game. This approach paid off and if more teams had adopted this Philosophy we wouldn’t be hearing quotes such as “Great World Cup off the field, not so clever on it”.

World Cup Winners

South Africa, Diego Forlan, Mexico, Gonzalo Higuian, Diego Maradona, Landon Donavan, Mesut Ozil, Asamoah Gyan, Dennis Rommedahl, Elijero Eliah, Paraguay, Robert Vittek, New Zealand, Robinho, Luis Fabiano, Maicon, Fabio Coentrao, Jose Raul Meireles, David Villa, Chile, Alexis Sanchez

World Cup Losers

France, Raymond Dominech, Patrice Evra, Andre-Pierre Gignac, Sydney Govou, Nicklas Anelka, Franck Ribery, Greece, Sani Kaita, Aarron Lennon, Frank Lampard, Robert Green, Emile Heskey, Harry Kewell, Samuel Eto’o, Italy,

What a week. The World Cup has finally come to life as teams actually start trying to win games. Thursday even saw 10 goals in total for the 3 games played, including a hat-trick for Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain in their match against South Korea. Anyone have him in their Fantasy team ahead of Messi or Tevez? No, neither did I. The way this World Cup is going and with Miroslav Klose suspended after a sending off the rivals Tim Cahill’s for ‘most ridiculous red card ever’, 3 could even be enough to secure the Real Madrid striker the golden boot.

So what of England? Ah…England, once again the country has whipped itself into a frenzy of overly high expectations. The USA result was disappointing. Last night’s 0-0 draw was nothing short of catastrophic. Yes, England can still qualify as group winners and despite the inexplicably poor performance against Algeria i truly believe we’ll beat Slovenia.

What’s worrying is the speed at which people are turning on Capello. The man heralded as a messiah, brought in to sort out the mess left behind by the wally with the brolly. Hearing Andy Townsend’s comments last night during commentary about how Capello himself is causing unrest in the camp sounded to me like the comments of a man who just wants to say ‘i told you so’. Capello is a first class manager. His approach was applauded during qualifying, his strict discipline being exactly what we needed after Steve McClaren’s overly familiar relationship with the senior players. Capello has had success wherever he’s been. Some say his single minded approach is on the verge of being stubborn, that the system has to change and he should ditch the old fashioned 4-4-2. I seem to remember the same people saying that England should only ever play 4-4-2 when previous coaches experimented with different systems.

The players have to take full responsibility for last night. I can’t remember when i’ve seen a worse England performance (maybe the 0-0 first half against Albania away). So many player’s performance was under par it’s difficult to know where to start. In no way is he solely responsible but i don’t think i’ve ever seen Wayne Rooney play so poorly. The man supposed to be our talisman, leading the nation to glory looked like a shadow of the player we all watched terrorise some of the world’s best defenders last season. His comments to the cameras at the final whistle showed that all is not well. Fan’s booing their own team is always sad to see but if ever it was justified it was last night. Going to a World Cup is not cheap. Many will have taken out loans or spent savings to travel to South Africa and support England and what do they get in return? The players looked scared of the shirt. The fans deserve better.