I told you he couldn't defend

Dani Alves can attack, score great goals, provide numerous assists to Messi and Neymar.

He can't tackle, play offside, or head it - he'd never get in the Stoke team.

Everybody's working for the weekend

Is Gareth staying? Will Wayne pout? Which haircut is Ronaldo sporting this time? Are wonder twins Messi and Neymar the real deal together? Lots of reasons to get excited for the weekend, maybe as much as Mexican Miguel Herrera seen here:

In a world of giants

We've all lied about our height

I'm sure it's Fellaini's hair that makes him look that big

Ok, so we've all exaggerated about how big we are (although some of us don't need to!), but Mathieu Valbuena is pushing it if he claims to be 5ft 6'.

Kompany and Fellaini are big boys (keep it clean), but this pic almost looks like an optical illusion. The Frenchman makes Iniesta, Messi and Xavi look like giants too, and can't imagine he'd even reach Peter Crouch's waist - ok, too much, most of you belong in the gutter anyway!

A level playing field now Fergie has gone?

The Premier League may be more interesting this year

Still 3 divisions within a division, but balance of power may shift again

Where to start?

Will David Moyes fail? Can he succeed after Fergie? Sell Rooney, sign Ibrahimovic - that's my solution. He's got to win something or the tabloids will label him a failure - and I think he'll be a failure!

Manchester City have made the big signings - Navas, Negrado, Jovetic and Fernandinho should all start, although with Aguero and Dzeko, Pellegrini will struggle to get the right rotation, much as Mancini did.

Chelsea have 47 midfielders, so Lampard to the LA Galaxy rumors will start as soon as he misses a match. Mourinho will no doubt spice things up a bit, but the league needs that after how boring it was last year.

Can Arsenal be relevant even if Arsene doesn't spend? He got rid of Gervinho and Andre Santos, so they at least can't be worse than last year.

And then there's Spurs. Fifth again no doubt, maybe lower if they sell Bale. I'd like to see them break the top 4, and they are much closer than Liverpool or Everton.

Middle table teams will be the same - Newcastle, West Ham, Stoke (although hoping Mark Hughes messes it all up again and takes them down).

Not sure why, but I think Fulham could struggle this year. If Berbatov is off, they may not have enough, and there is always one strange one. It could be Sunderland as no-one (not even the manager) knows who they are signing - could be great, but who knows? Hull and Crystal Palace will go down, but Cardiff should really challenge Swansea for a place in the top half.

Whoever I missed out - Norwich, West Brom, Aston Villa, Southampton, should be fine and probably fit in that tier with Newcastle and West Ham. One of these will struggle and be involved in the relegation battle - probably Southampton or West Brom (especially with no Lukaku).

I can't wait for it to start - especially as it actually may be interesting this year now that Fergie can't bully referees into a couple of extra minutes, a dubious penalty or a harsh red card.

Toss a coin - the La Liga Preview this year (applies for foreseeable future)

La Liga kicks-off this weekend, and it's as simple as this: Barcelona or Real Madrid? Pick one.

It's that simple. Neymar will score 25+ for Barca, Messi will probably get another 40 or more. Cristiano is going to score 50 for Real, and Ancelotti will get more from his team than Mourinho did. If they add Bale, then I think Real become favorites, but without him I would put my money on Barca.

The Spanish league just isn't that interesting. It has similar issues to the German Bundesliga in that it's very predictable who the top two will be. All-time, Real have won the league 32 times to Barcelona's 22, but Barca have been stronger in recent years.

An interesting stat to look for this year could be whether Lionel Messi becomes the record scorer in La Liga history. He currently has 215 in 245 games, which is good for 7th on the list. Di Stefano, Raul and Hugo Sanchez are still ahead of him, with Telmo Zarra leading the way with 251. It's strange to say, but I can't see Messi scoring less than 36 in the league this year - and I can't even think when someone in any of the other league's got close to that in a season.

I'm taking Barcelona this year. Other teams like Atletico Madrid and Valencia have sold their best strikers to other leagues, while the two big boys are picking off the young, emerging talent too. Sad to say, but La Liga is going to be a two-horse race for a long time to come.

Couple of beauties today

Ecuador hosted Spain earlier today with a touching homage to Christian Benitez, who died of a heart attack last month at 27. However, with business on the pitch to take care of, Spain proved to be too much as new Manchester City player Alvaro Negredo, chipped this lovely backheel in.

Meanwhile, in Sarajevo, Jozy Altidore rallied the U.S. side to a 4-3 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina after a 2-0 deficit at halftime. Altidore notched three past Stoke City keeper Asmir Begovic in about a half-hour, including this strike on a deadly free kick. Paolo Di Canio must be salivating at his new signing!

At Wembley today, England was able to snatch a 3-2 victory over Scotland and a Sky Sports reporter reporting outside of the stadium prior to the match obviously looked like he was excited for these countries' first meeting in 14 years. Hope he's OK!

At least the Pope has his priorities right!

Because even the Pope needs to take time to worship!

Religion, politics and soccer don't mix, but had to share.

Soccer-loving pope cheers Messi, other players