@McKane

Klopp continues to build a fearsome attack. Salah, Mane, Jota and Firmino will strike the fear of God into any team's defence. Add Diaz to the mix and you're talking about a super attack. For some reason though I feel Diaz was signed just in case Liverpool couldn't get Salah to commit beyond this summer. Either way, that dude from Porto is good. He should be an excellent signing.

Rafael Nadal's win at the Australian Open means he moves one grand slam ahead of Roger Federer and the trouble fomenting Djokovic. I still feel Rafa is grossly underrated. People actually love Federer more than Rafa' and Novak but that doesn't diminish Rafa's impact in the sport.

Infantino should keep his mouth shut right now. We know he is greedy and already want the biennial World Cup so as to make more money. Trying to "weaponize" the perceived poverty in Africa and using it as to campaign for this project is wrong on all level. He has no right to pitch a biennial World Cup as some form of saviour for the African continent. He has no right to mention those who lost their lives trying to cross the sea to Europe and use it as a sales pitch.

Anthony Martial is close to agreeing a loan move to Sevilla. He will definitely be taking a substantial pay cut to achieve that. That dude is ready to do anything so as to be ready when the coach picks his player for the World Cup in Qatar.

Ambitions can propel one to greatness. In like manner, ambitions can lead to ruin. Watching Everton labour to another agonising loss against Aston Villa reminds me of a time when Everton was the fifth best team in the land. They knew their place then and achieved stability. Suddenly Everton wanted a Champions League spot. They ditched their underdog approach in search of a beautiful and more expansive style of play that typify top teams. A couple of years down the line they've hired several top class coaches, signed wonderful players, played beautiful football. As wonderful as this sound, they've also gradually slipped down their regular spot and are now closer to relegation than the Champions League spot. They couldn't find a balance. Everton are closer to ruin than sitting at the table with the big boys now. They were ambitious but it got the better of them.

Watching Kevin De Bruyne's majestic display this afternoon I just can't help but laugh when I remembered there was a time Bruno Fernandes was mentioned in the same breath as him. De Bruyne is different. He sees chances before anyone else does. He doesn't drop like a sack of potato just to win free kicks around opposition area. The fact that he's been absolutely wonderful since his days at Wolfsburg till now shows how consistent he is as a midfielder. And yes, Bruno Fernandes will never get to his level.

SkySports coverage of the Tunisia vs Mali chaos is interesting. They have shown little to no interest in this tournament since it started, but suddenly the Nations Cup gets a grand coverage because a Zambian referee chose to display some interesting level of madness by ending a game twice before 90 minutes, and then summoning both teams to play after the game ended 20 minutes before. Of course, bad news moves faster and attracts more attention.

This Novak Djokovic episode is becoming annoying. He may be the reigning champion but that doesn't warrant new rules being made for only him. The tournament will be a success either he plays or not.

Another shameful and pitiable performance from Mr. Gegenpressing and his bunch of overpaid, overrated players. Against Wolves, Neves ran the show. Tonight, it was young Jacob Ramsey who schooled McTominay and Fred. Now that Woodward is gone I hope sense will return to the club and they'll take the right steps. This is just shameful.

Something interesting is definitely brewing at Villa Park. After the spectacular capture of Coutinho Aston Villa are now in pole position to sign Digne. For all his shortcomings Lucas Digne is one of the best attacking left backs out there. His deliveries to the box is awesome and he is definitely an upgrade on Matt Targett and Ashley Young, two players Villa have used in the left back slot this season. With Coutinho and Digne joining the likes of Watkins, Ings and Bertrand Traore, Villa suddenly looks very dangerous upfront.

Comfortably seated here watching the replay of the Arsenal - Man City match and I just can't believe how good Thomas Partey was in the first half. My initial thought of him was that he is just a flat track bully who wins ball off oppositions. I was totally amazed to see him dominate the midfield effortlessly with timely tackles, crisp passing, nutmegs and dummies. He looked the complete midfielder in the first half of that match.

As if Woodward hasn't done enough damage already, The Sun is claiming that he already offered Pogba £500,000 a week contract. This is just unbelievable! I get it, Pogba is a financial beast, a revenue generating machine. The fact that Man U chose finances over sports by appointing Woodward, who is one of the best marketers out there but with zero knowledge about playing the game, is the major reason the club is no longer one of the elites. To a carpenter every thing looks like a nail; to a marketer every move is about making money. Woodward is a marketer. All he sees is revenues and money making opportunities. I'm 100% sure he signed Ronaldo for financial gains. The sporting aspect is secondary. Paul Pogba hasn't done enough for Man U to be raking in £200,000 per week. Offering him £500,000 is just desperate. Tying players who want to leave to massive contracts has always been catastrophic. Madrid can write a comprehensive journal on that!

Every of Newcastle's relegation rivals will be shitting their pants right now. It's January, transfer window is open and Newcastle definitely have enough money to buy at least six game changing players with the rumoured £250M in their coffers. For a start, Trippier is already a done deal. If Newcastle somehow escapes relegation I won't be surprised if the relegated clubs take this to court. There were many resistance to the take over of Newcastle as some Premier League clubs felt it was against the law. Those allegations will be revisited in the court if Newcastle is saved. A summer of bickering and lawsuit awaits!

Pogba hasn't played since the 5-0 walloping against Liverpool. Even though the team is still in shambles the fact that nobody is talking about having him back to help solve whatever problem that team has shows how irrelevant he is to the club and the fans now. When he finally leaves in the summer, he won't be missed!

For £25M Kieran Trippier is heading to Newcastle. He will be the first signing of the new era at Newcastle. That's a risk for Trippier though as Newcastle may be playing in the Championship next season.

Rudiger's dominant performance against Liverpool is just another timely reminder of what Chelsea stands to lose if they fail to tie him to a new contract. Even though Salah scored that night he will admit to not having a good game. Rudiger was with him all through hustling, hassling, tussling, tackling and kicking him all day. A top class defender that gives 100% every time and makes life difficult for an attacker is very hard to come by in an era where everyone believes passing the ball is the number one quality of a defender. Rudiger's ability to combine passing ability with his no nonsense way of defending makes him one of the best out there. At least four top teams are already in talks with him. Others are glancing in admiration from afar. Chelsea may regret this if he gets away.

Lukaku's folly is out for all to see. He made a serious mistake but he won't be the last to make such a mistake. As easy as it is to batter Lukaku, the question is what are these football clubs doing to protect their players from media toxicity? Media houses feed fat on the fear, doubts and struggles of these footballers. They target them and extract information from them even against their will. Clubs sign contracts giving media personnel unrestricted access to the life of these footballers just to generate more revenue. When these players mess up clubs cry fowl. Not everybody can keep calm when faced with camera. We are built differently.

FT:Chelsea 2 - 2 Liverpool Whenever Chelsea plays Liverpool its always all out war. These two teams just never get tired of each other. They've just added yet another Premier League classic to their catalogue of matches. A highly entertaining game of football.

Reports has it that Chelsea dropped Lukaku for this afternoon's clash against Liverpool and I'm celebrating wildly here. That dude needs to be taught a lesson. He has dragged Chelsea in the mud. He deserves his full punishment for being a senseless loud mouth.

Football can be frustrating. The frustration goes up a notch when you choose to add the highly unpredictable FPL to the mix. With FPL you view the game from a completely different perspective. I dumped Benrahma for Bowen three gameweeks ago. In that period Bowen has 0 goal and 0 assist while Benrahma has tallied two goals and assisted Antonio tonight. What an ingenious switch from me!😂😂🙆

Rodri should be punished for celebrating wildly in front of the Arsenal supporters when he scored. Less annoying acts had led to serious crowd troubles before.

An unfortunate loss for Arsenal today but Thomas Partey was just irrepressible. He played with unbelievable calm and grace. He will be sorely missed as he goes to the Nations Cup.

2021 was the year I learn to appreciate all I have. 2022 will be a year of relentless action. A year that I go for whatever I want as long as it is in my capacity. Action brings result; I'll be trying a lot more things this year. Happy New Year, guys.

I call 2021 the year of unusualness in football and sports in general. Emma Raducanu rewrote Tennis history; Euro 2020 was played in 2021; Messi won his 7th Balon d'Or. Christian Eriksen's health scare that united the whole football world; Max Verstappen's last lap overtake and maiden F1 title win; Steph Curry breaking Basketball's all time three points record; Tyson Fury shutting Deontay Wilder up for good; Messi leaving Barcelona for good and teaming up with Ramos at PSG; Ronaldo returning to Man U. The list is exhaustive. 2021 is a year that won't be forgotten in the sporting space for a while. Here is to a wonderful 2022. See you there.

@TomiAjax I just responded to your challenge #FirstPostChallenge

Last day of the year over here. I didn't achieve everything I set out to achieve this year. I did acquire those things I never even thought was possible this year though. It's been a wonderful year, way better than last year. Here is to hoping that next year will be much better than this year. Happy New Year in advance, guys.

With Chelsea now eight points behind City the next game against Liverpool becomes more important in the title race. City's next two games are against Arsenal and Chelsea. Chelsea's next two games are against Liverpool and Man City. Even though Arsenal has enjoyed some kind of a renaissance it doesn't look like they will win against City. If City wins those two games it's game over as far as I'm concerned. The current situation is just perfect for Man City. They have the biggest squad in the country, and most of their players are surprisingly healthy and free from Covid. Chelsea's players are walking on crutches; Liverpool's players will be heading to the Nations Cup. A very perfect condition for City. The league title battle may already be over as early as the 15th of January.

After seeing the mess Man U midfield pair of Fred and McTominay created against Newcastle, I believe Man U should be chasing down the agents of every available top class midfielder out there right now. So you could imagine my frustration when I read that Tottenham are already in direct negotiations with Frank Kessie while Man U are still "just" interested. Spurs already snatched Conte from the dithering Man U board and we could see how improved Spurs have been since he took over compared to what Mr. Gegenpressing is doing at Old Trafford. If they manage to sign Kessie too then they'll become a force to reckon with again. Woodward and his boys need to wake up now. Their dithering and non-proactive pattern will ruin that club.

I don't know maybe I'm being bias right now or I'm just forming some nonsense conspiracy theory, but I've always thought that left footed players are injury risks. They always look to me like an injury waiting to happen. The amount of left football players that have suffered lengthy, high profile injuries only solidifies my belief about this. Ben Chilwell is out for the season, Luke Shaw needs no introduction, same for the likes of Van Persie, Arjen Robben and even Messi in his early career. This may also be noticeable because we have way more right footed players in football than left footed ones, so issues with the left footed ones often get magnified. NB: This is just my random thought, not a fact or theory

I've been feeling somewhat joyous the past 30 minutes but couldn't understand the reason for the sudden mood change. I just checked my watch now to realise Man U will be playing Newcastle in an hour and half from now. That is the reason for my mood change. I've not seen Man U play in 16 days, since game week 16. The wait has been very frustrating. Though we play Newcastle tonight, win, draw or lose I'm going to enjoy every single moment of the match.