This week saw Jose Mourinho pull out another tactical masterclass when defeating Barcelona to reach the Champions League Final with Inter Milan.

Has this season been the worst ever for quality and consistency, I think so. I haven’t known a season which has been so unpredictable, there has been more twists and turns in the title race this year than I care to remember. Arsenal looked like strong contenders and this was despite losing to Chelsea and Man Utd home and away. Alex Ferguson ruled out Manchester United for the title after drawing at Blackburn recently but then Chelsea losing to Spurs put Man United back in with a shout. Chelsea have put 7 goals past three different teams this season in Sunderland, Aston Villa and Stoke yet I have not been that impressed with Chelsea this season, they don’t excite me and play very rigid.

Liverpool take on Athletico Madrid this week in the semi finals of the Europa League without main man Fernando Torres, as it was announced on Sunday night that Torres would have surgery on a torn cartilage in his right knee – therefore ending his season with Liverpool. So, I would like to eat some humble pie in regards to my previous comments about Torres, Benitez and injuries!

This was an old joke doing the rounds amongst Everton fans back in 2005 when Everton finished in 4th place above Liverpool, the blue noses referred to Liverpools manager as Rafael Beneath-Us, which is quite a good play on words for Evertonians! Now the same could be said this season, infact it looks like 6 teams could be saying that about Liverpool come the end of the season.

Ok, the title of this blog is from a betting perspective and not my switching of alliance. For those of you looking to make some money on this years World Cup should avoid England like the plague, the price on England is always a false price in my opinion. Lots of patriotic money is lumped on England during the run up to the World Cup pushing the price down quicker than John Terrys trousers at a team mates house.

A lot has been said in the media this weekend about England captain John Terry, new revelations about his private life came out this weekend which involved a team mates ex girlfriend. It looks like John Terry has been going behind his wife’s back and sleeping with Wayne Bridges ex girlfriend which probably happens a lot in the real world but being England captain pushes a bigger spotlight onto the story.

I was shocked to see that Algeria had beaten tournament favorites Ivory Coast in the African Nations Cup, this result will have been a major positive for England as it highlights the danger of Algeria. I’m sure Fabio Capello would have been watching this game closely and would have learnt a lot from it.