Change at the top is good for everyone

Everton smashed Arsenal this weekend, and it was refreshing to see. Not because I want to see Arsenal suffer, but because the league can get stale if the same teams dominate every year.

It's the same reason it's great to see Manchester United struggle. It's about time their fans saw an average team, a manager who is struggling to pick his best side, and (most likely) a year without a trophy.

If you support anyone but United or Arsenal, you can probably remember a time when your team was rubbish, and sneaking a 1-0 away win against a team in the bottom 3 was a great result. Arsenal, Manchester United (and the more recent versions - Manchester City and Chelsea) have expected to beat teams like West Brom, Stoke, West Ham and Aston Villa for years. There were surprise results for those teams against the big boys, but they were becoming few and far between.

And there's where it can get boring and repetitive.

If you can predict the top 2 ever year, it's not a great spectacle. If you have 5 or 6 teams competing for the Champions League places, then you engage so many more fans.

City and Chelsea have a lot of money to make sure they are up at the top, but Liverpool and Everton have really crashed the party this year, and many think that Tottenham should have done the same.

It's great for the health of the game in England. United and Arsenal will come again, but eating some humble pie for a season or three will help them refresh their approach. They may not be able to attract the big stars without Champions League football, but that poses new questions and the search for solutions.

Football is an ever-evolving game and we need a shake-up every now and then. Relegation and promotion between the leagues helps, but the teams at the very top need to be reminded that their won't dominate forever - and fans of smaller, less-successful teams will enjoy every minute of seeing the Uniteds and Arsenals of this world struggle.

Win the Cup or stay in the League?

Would you rather your team stayed in the Premier League every year or won a trophy?

It's a tough decision due to the money generated from the Premier League's TV contract, but finishing 6th to 15th every year isn't a very exciting way to follow your club. There are only certain teams who can win the League, and apart from Arsenal (and to some degree Manchester United), they are owned by people who pump money into the club with no expectation of return.

Teams like Stoke, West Ham, Swansea and Everton can't compete. Yes, Everton are having a great year, but their best players are on loan. They can't sustain a challenge over a few years, unless they make the Champions League for at least three consecutive years. And there haven't been any that have been able to do that. Spurs made it one year, Everton were fourth once and even Liverpool have struggled to keep up now they don't have consistent money from UEFA.

So why not go for the Cups? Wigan won the FA Cup last year, West Ham and Sunderland are in the League Cup semi this week - it's the best chance to win something. I've been a fan almost 35 years and have never seen my team win anything (promotion and Intertoto don't count). I'd love to see a win at Wembley and be able to say "I was there."

Who are you going to tell that you were there when your team finished 8th in 2015? No one cares. Yeah you can remember a great win against the eventual champions or when they avoided relegation on the last day, but memories are built around great players and the success they had.

Or average players are remembered for moments. Ben Watson isn't a household name now, but Wigan fans will remember his FA Cup winner forever, despite them being relegated the same season.

So I can't understand why owners and managers don't go for it. Aston Villa fans are not happy that Paul Lambert didn't - and so it's another trophy-less season for them. The best they can hope for is 10th (maybe) - and that's not success.

Not everyone can be owned by a billionaire who treats football clubs like video games - and those that aren't should really target the Cups - you know it makes sense.

Huge clash in Germany; Chance to forget Milner has 44 caps

So watching Ronaldo was fantastic (by far the best player in the world right now), seeing France come back was inspiring (although many people wanted them to miss out), and some of the African qualifiers were great - but now we have the 32, it's all set. International friendlies are awful, as anyone who watched England v Germany will testify. So let's get back to some club football, see some quality, and not wonder how James Milner has 44 caps for England.

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So Everton v Liverpool eh? Martinez v Rodgers. Personally I think Roberto is a better manager and seems to be able to get teams to actually play. He sticks to his principals and has inherited a very good Everton team - the face they have Romelu Lukaku too seems a little unfair, but so be it. Liverpool are very strong going forward, but as we saw against Arsenal, Rodgers doesn't seem to have a Plan B. If Sturridge and Suarez are not firing, Coutinho and Gerrard need to boss the game - because Jordan Henderson, Victor Moses and Joe Allen have all been poor. To say Liverpool need another striking option seems excessive at this point, but they do if they want to really contend.

Arsenal need someone other than Giroud too. A huge game at home against Southampton. It may not sound right, but they need Walcott and others to take the burden off the Frenchman (because he's not that good).

Some early relegation games loom too. Hull v Palace, Stoke v Sunderland and Cardiff v Manchester United! We're coming into a key period where teams need to win games rather than draw, and not let themselves get detached from the pack. West Ham need a win, as do Fulham, but so does everyone I suppose!

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A repeat of last year's Champions League final in Germany this weekend. Dortmund against Bayern. First against second, with the reigning champs unbeaten, conceding just 7 goals in 12 games.  Bayern haven't lost away in the Bundesliga for 24 games, which is just unreal, but they will be without Frank Ribery who was injured for France. Everyone is injured for Dortmund, with their defense really suffering - and as no one can stop Bayern scoring, don't be surprised if Mario Gotze notches against his old team. He's bound to get a lot of abuse from the fans, and should probably avoid Jurgen Klopp screaming at him too!

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I'm bored of La Liga. It's so early to say that, but there isn't a game that really interests me this weekend. Barca without Messi, Real without Khedira and Alonso - yeah, big losses, but those two giants have so many other players. Just means we get to see more of Neymar and Isco.

The top 5 in Serie A are breaking away too, but perhaps it's more interesting to see how bad AC Milan are. 10th after 12 games, no away wins, 19 points behind Roma already and nothing too bright on the horizon. They still have Mario tho, and he's worth admittance on his own.

Lukaku the loan ranger - should it be allowed?

Romelu Lukaku is a beast. He's 6'3, could push Usain Bolt over 50 yards and has already been top scorer in Belgium. And he's 20.

There's no doubt he's already a top player, but has the potential to become one of the best. It's probable he'll score 15+ again in the Premier League this year and head off to Brazil with Belgium next summer.

All of that was just to prove that the next comment is not personal, as I think he's a great talent that we should all see.

But he shouldn't be allowed to be on loan at Everton, or at West Brom last season.

It's just not fair on the other teams. I doubt Crystal Palace, Hull or even Norwich could afford his wages - and he wouldn't go there anyway as they are unlikely to compete for anything except the right to stay in the League.

He scored the winner against West Ham, has 2 already against Newcastle and is going to be one of the toughest opponents any team faces this year. Playing against Everton without him is a much easier task. Chelsea may have lost at Goodison anyway, but he couldn't play against his parent club (although no one knows why they loaned him out anyway).

Lukaku is not alone. In my opinion, a loan should be to cover injuries or to help someone get fitness.

Teams have a limit on numbers in the squad, yet the bigger teams are just accumulating all the best players. Players like Lukaku should be sold (or not bought in the first place) if they aren't going to be in the 25. It stems the growth of players in the academies, gives an unfair advantage to some teams and encourages teams to stockpile talent.

Preventing players like Lukaku going on loan would make him (and his agent/advisor etc.) think twice about signing with a team like Chelsea. This would spread the talent around more and make leagues more competitive. Otherwise, what's to stop a multi-billionaire buying everyone and then not letting them play against his team - therefore making Billionaire United play against Crystal Palace reserves?

That's obviously a hypothetical, but think about it. It's nothing against the players, but the system should be looked at.