Bring out your inner cowboy, your inner caveman, your inner bloke at Jamie Oliver’s most recent restaurant and all round homage to meat and flames. 

Americana. The first word that came into my head as I turner the corner into Jamie Oliver’s most recent London outpost. Not the first word you would expect to come to mind when visiting the restaurant of a man who has just published what is sure to be a best-selling book titled Jamie’s Great Britain.

It is also certainly not a word evoked by the imposing view out of the huge windows of the One New Change complex where Barbecoa is housed, that of Sir Christopher Wren’s late Renaissance homage to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, St Paul’s Cathedral.

However, on entering the dark, smokey room meaty aromas fill the air and get those caveman impulses flowing. The first thing you may notice on entering is the caged off shelves of Bourbon bottles that line one wall. On perusing the wonderful drinks menu (I think I spent more time on it than the food menu) there is an extensive list of hand crafted bottle beers, including the excellent Sierra Nevada Pale Ale from California as well as a tempting selection of cocktails and wines.

However it is in whiskey that the drinks list revels, with no less than 22 Bourbon’s and 33 other Whisky and Whiskeys, from Scottish single malts to Japanese pure malts via Tennessee and Ireland. All this may point towards the overriding influence of co-founder, New York barbecue connoisseur Adam Perry Lang. Although it is easy to forget where Jamie has been spending a great deal of his time recently, saving the children stateside, and his reverie for American food comes through in the menu.

Nevertheless the typical Oliverian (he is definitely influential enough to have an -ian) food is there. The courgette salad is a clutter of crisp greens with an overwhelming citrus hit tapered by the heat of the chilli pecorino and cooling curd. I was probably the only man to order this dish since Barbecoa opened, but perhaps I underestimate the taste of modern man.

The crispy calamari was well seasoned with what tasted like a Chinese five spice and came on a bed of smooth and vibrant guacamole, an unusual accompaniment that worked both in terms of flavor and texture. The squid was not sliced all the way through so came in one long piece. This seemed like it was being different for the sake of being different and did not improve the dish, rather creating a flabby base which did not marry with the delicious crispy rings sat on top.

The starters menu is a little underwhelming with no stand out dish, although the giant olives and artesian bread boards of Jamie’s Italian make a welcome appearance. If I had been more hungry, or more carnivorous, I would have ordered the baby back ribs, something which a restaurant like this just has to do well.

It is with the main courses, in other words the meat, that the menu shines and revels in equal measure. There are four different steaks and seven beef dishes in total. All beef is British and is hung on the premises to dry age for between five and 11 weeks in the adjoining butchers.

I was extremely torn between the smoke pit beef served with smoky baked beans and a smoke pit pulled pork, especially after my waitress described the beef as “two cuts of beef, wrapped together and then slowly cooked over the smoke pit to create a tender finish.”

I eventually opted for the Southern American BBQ speciality, the pulled pork, and was not disappointed. The soft pile of shredded meat on top of a savoury waffle pulls your taste buds into the wild west with its soft juicyness and chilli hit. The gristly, chewy sweet edges are worth making the trip, and parting with £16 for alone. The accompanying coleslaw was cooling and fresh and avoided being creamy at all costs.

The fillet steak with bone marrow and a smoky béarnaise was also tempting and has the endorsement of The Observer’s Jay Rainer.

For sides the Duck fat chips weren’t the heavily crisped, finely cut squares of potato I expected but rather a refined version of the TGI Friday’s skin on chip. Hot, salty and very tasty but nothing compared to the confit garlic and olive oil mash which, if a potato was a sentient being, potato rights groups would argue had served their purpose in being a part of.

This is blokey food for blokes, it brings out the inner cowboy, that desire to cook slabs of meat over a hot fire which seems to be at the heart of the current steak house revival sweeping the country. The satisfaction of a good piece of meat well cooked seems to resist the credit crunch and is a timeless pleasure.

Needless to say the clientele was overwhelmingly male with large work groups of suited men taking up large tables and spreading themselves across the red leather. There were less couples than there were man dates. This is unrefined, manly food served with beers and whiskey based cocktails and spicy red wines from the well stocked cellar. There may be something for ladies that lunch on the menu but that doesn’t seem to be the target market here, and seeing as the huge dining room was soon heaving at 7pm on a Thursday, I don’t think Jamie will be introducing anything too refined soon.

Dinner came to just over £100 for two starters, main courses and two sides, two large glasses of wine and two bottled beers.

courtesy of Flix66.com

According to it’s director, speaking in a Q&A session following a preview screening of his latest work Drive at the BFI Southbank, what everyone had just witnessed was ‘a fairytale.’ In this classic tale of good against evil, of innocent love and damsels in distress we witness the protagonist, Ryan Goslings’ Knight in shining satin, threaten to hammer a bullet into the head of a mobster in front of several gawping, topless strippers.

Welcome to the dark imagination of Nicolas Winding Refn, where the City of Angels is transformed into the setting for the Grimmest of modern fairytales.

Refn’s definition of film as fairytale stems here from his determination to strip back a narrative to its simplest, barest form. Drive is a story of purity and innocence in a corrupt city, and the violent struggle to protect these virtues.

For the opening forty minutes Drive is a simple love story. Apart from Gosling’s striking entrance, where his dual career as a stunt driver by day, getaway driver for hire by night is revealed, the film settles into a slow, art house feel, reminiscent of Gosling’s previous romantic dramas. Gosling recently told Little White Lies magazine that he and Refn had imagined Drive as, “a love letter to John Hughes, written in blood.”

Here the bond between the seemingly innocent, milk skinned Carey Mulligan and her young son with Goslings’ Driver character develops mutely to give the film its dramatic and emotional grounding. Refn is fully aware that all good fairytales start with a love story, and what happens when that innocent love is threatened by outside forces.

With an 18 certificate the violence is inevitable, however once it finally explodes on screen in the form of Christina Hendrick’s beautiful red head, the effect is by no means dulled. This is a scene which reminded me of the sense of shock I felt as a 15 year old watching a similarly brutal scene unfold in another motel bathroom, where one of Al Pacino’s business associates has his head carved open with a chainsaw in Scarface.

Refn speaks of cinematic violence like fucking (he made this comparison on BBC Breakfast of all places) in that it is all about the build up and eventual pay off. Refn clearly understands this idea brilliantly, as he invests plenty of time in building up to the eventual explosion of violence and refuses to take his foot of the gas once the Drivers’ demons are unleashed onto the action.

The director clearly revels in shocking and delighting his audience in equal measure, an approach that is shamelessly satisfying. The unflinching nature of the violence is at times gut wrenching and genuinely shocking to a modern audience, however it is never gratuituous. Also the brash and sudden nature of the violence gives it a Tarantino-esque comic effect, be it intentional or not.

Refn’s characters are stripped down to archetypes, the knight and the princess in distress. The director discussed his desire to make a European film with the classic American cinematic idea of the hero at its centre, an idea that manifests itself in Goslings’ reincarnation of the famous ‘man with no name’ figure. In the Q&A the Danish director unsurprisingly referenced Sergio Leone as a key influence.

Clint Eastwood’s man with no name is the classic example of this archetypal American figure. A man of action not words. His past shrouded in mystery. A man of black and white morals with a simple desire to protect innocence and fight corruption and evil even if by brutally violent means. Gosling’s character also owes a lot to the innocent but violently vengeful man without a past that has been so brilliantly picked up by foreign directors in recent years. Namely in 1994 with Luc Besson and Jay Reno’s Leon and more recently, and with the hammer wielding brutality of Gosling’s Driver, in Chan wook-Park and Min-Sik Choi’s Oldboy.

Gosling does not look to riff on Eastwood’s classic character but rather embraces its legacy for what it is, playing the character with a facade of brooding intensity and swagger which is undermined by his innocent and vulnerable desire to protect. A simple man in a simple plot, this is the sort of stripped back and well thought out cinema that Mark Kermode has recently looked to endorse in opposition to the growing mess of blockbuster cinema.

Nevertheless Refn’s film is a blockbuster in an art house shell. Slow to build and quirky in its aesthetic and score, the payload in terms of raw cinematic adrenaline when it finally arrives is so much more satisfying than the “fucking the frame” approach of Michael Bay (you just can’t keep him away can you?). Considering James Sallis’s novel was originally picked up to be, as Refn states in his programme notes from BFI*, “a $60 million Universal franchise movie: Hugh Jackman, real man, leather jacket, sexy Latino woman, you know,” we can only be thankful that it eventually fell into the right hands.

The nostalgic 80’s feel didn’t resonate with me personally but by its very uniqueness set the film apart from its contemporaries and the retro aesthetic gives the film a cult feel which I could wholly appreciate. Sound certainly plays a huge part of this film, Refn is a self confessed music obsessive. As well as the unique Cliff Martinez composed and curated electro-pop soundtrack, it is in the fetishistic creaking of the Driver’s leather gloves, the ticking of his timepiece, the blast of a shotgun, the crushing of bone and the roar of his engine which draws you in and wrenches at your insides. Then, it is in silence that the film truly grips, leaving you breathless in anticipation for the next explosion of violence or a combustion engine, masterfully cranking up the dramatic tension.

Nicholas Refn’s bold and fresh approach to cinema bears similarities to his contemporary Matthew Vaughan in Kick Ass last year. This is intelligent, low budget cinema at its gratifying best. The legacy of Hollywood may be etched into the imagination of this new breed of European directors but they are making it their own and giving us a reason to believe in the ability of Tinsletown to dazzle once again.

*Interview by Nick Roddick for Sight & Sound, October 2011

Refn collecting his Best Director award at Cannes

Courtesy of Empire Online

The release of The Tree of Life has drawn me to visit Terrence Malick’s back catalogue. Not a trying or unenjoyably task but one which will draw out conclusions about humanity and nature, a recurring theme which characterises Malick’s war epic The Thin Red Line, which was my Sunday afternoon undertaking. Standing at just under three hours of gruelling drama, this is not a casual evening film.

Malick’s choice of source material, and with it location, is striking for two reasons. The south pacific front is one rarely visited in my previous experience of epic WWII films which, like Saving Private Ryan, prefer the Western front to base their glorious action. This location also, conveniently, coincides with Malick’s general aesthetic. Magic hour sunsets over lush green mountainous regions, slants of sunshine gently filtering through the high canopy, and of course fields of high grass which replicate his favourite canvas, the high cornfields of pastoral America.

Despite taking you through a kaleidoscope of emotions there is one constant theme underpinning the film, the stark contrast between the natural beauty of the world with the ugly brutality of humanity at war. The opening lines introduce this complex theme immediately: “What’s this war in the heart of nature? Why does nature vie with itself? The land contend with the sea? Is there an avenging power in nature? Not one power, but two?”

There is one scene early on where the camera moves through the high grass in first person, slowly soaking up the frame until the illusion is shattered by two human bodies, blood covered, fly ridden and missing limbs. It is this aspect of war that Malick is interested in. Not the sound and the glory but the futility and brutality. Malick shows a deep regard for nature in all of his films and it would appear the needless destruction of war clashes with his overall worldview. In another scene the camera settles, longingly, on a frame of lush south pacific hilly grassland, before it is blown to hell by an airstrike called in for no other reason than to “buck up the men.”

Malick’s ensemble cast is all American, and primarily from his native southern states. Texan drawls take on a new lofty tone and resonance when providing the philosophical narration for the film. The young soldiers are not presented in the heroic light of Spielberg or the psychologically forced brutality of Kubrick, but rather are presented in a state of constant fear. The edginess of C Company comes across to the audience and creates the much-needed emotional tension which Malick’s most recent film, The Tree of Life, has been criticised for lacking.

No one here appears to be savouring the battle. Apart from perhaps Nick Nolte’s Lieutenant Col. Gordon Tall who conveniently sits back and barks out the orders with the vehemence of Robert Duvall’s Lieutenant “I love the smell of napalm” Kilgore. Tall tellingly voices his belief that “nature’s cruel,” however it is easy to deduce that this is the antithesis to Malick’s own worldview. Nevertheless even this character is nuanced. The seperation of good and evil so integral to the idea of war is purposefully resisted in Malick’s characterisations.

It is, notably, an incredible cast despite the criticism the reclusive director has since received from an embittered Adrien Brody for having the vast majority of his scenes gently sway to the cutting room floor. However, Brody should count himself more fortunate than Gary Oldman, Viggo Mortensen, Martin Sheen, Mickey Rourke and others who found their entire parts cut.

However blue eyed Sean Penn and Jim Caviezel step into the starring roles Brody inadvertently vacated. On his day Penn is the best around, his ability to play the strong man with an underlying empathy, cut adrift from the world, is perfect for the role of 1st Sgt. Edward Welsh. Caviezel pulls off a star turn as the heroic and optimistic Witt.

Due to the size of the cast no one is granted centrality. Nolte holds the company together from his dubious position of power but from there the cast are afforded what I would call chapters of centrality. Fortunately each actors takes the reigns with verve. Woody Harrelson, John Cusack, Caviezel, Penn and even relatively unknown British actor Ben Chaplin (I recognised him from a starring role in 1990’s sitcom Game On where he showed an entirely different talent for boyish comedy alongside Eastenders Samantha Womack, this must have seemed a real big break) steal their relative chapters.

Whereas narrative is sparse when it is isolated from the tactics of war Malick doesn’t disappoint, musing on all of the metaphysical and philosophical questions of life, war and the nature of love and evil which you would expect coming into the movie, “war don’t ennoble men, it turns ‘em into dogs.”

The horrors of war which punctuate the film are presented, and presented well, with a sparse soundtrack and resistance to overblown action without losing their dramatic punch. However I feel Malick’s propensity for the sentimental stops him short of the true horrors where a film like Platoon dares to go. Japanese soldiers who surrender are generally not shot on the spot, for example.

One cannot help but realise how beautiful this film would be, a photo-essay to the natural beauty of the south pacific, or the world, if it weren’t for the ant like humans crawling all over it and spreading fire, blood and destruction. Malick’s regard for the natural word could be seen as over compensative, as he dwells on an injured tropical bird for one scene longer than he does on any soldier throughout the feature. This, and the often slow, thoughtful pace is what sets Malick’s vision of war apart from anything I have seen before and could go a way to explain why The Times veteran film critic Katie Muir recently tweeted that a test screening of this film to a group of soldiers didn’t go down half as well as Spielberg. This is undoubtedly a liberal anti war film, however Malick appears to eventual give in to the idea of the heroic that much of the film looks to resist.

Like Malick’s back catalogue The Thin Red Line isn’t for every one, but for me this is an astounding and thoughtful account of war from a very different kind of director.

The original space jockey

As filming begins on Sir Ridley Scott’s highly anticipated return to the sci-fi genre what exactly do we know about the highly secretive project so far…

In 1979 the crew of the original Alien film observed a giant, anthropomorphic creature (above) with its eyes to a giant telescope. Dallas observes that it, “Looks like its been dead a long time, fossilised, looks like it’s growing outta the chair, bones are bent outward like he explode from inside,” before Lambert asks the question that Alien fans have been asking for 32 years, “I wonder what happened to the rest of the crew.”

This is potentially the territory that Sir Ridley Scott will tread back over in his new project Prometheus. Originally penned as a straightforward prequel to the events of the original Alien films, Scott employed Lost and Star Trek writer Damon Lindelof to re-draft the script and was clearly pleased by the results.

A 20th Century Fox press release reads, “While Alien was indeed the jumping off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology and universe in which this original story takes place. The keen fan will recognize strands of Alien’s DNA, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative. I couldn’t be more pleased to have found the singular tale I’d been searching for, and finally return to this genre that’s so close to my heart,” says Scott.

Lindelof added: “In a world flooded with prequels, sequels and reboots I was incredibly struck by just how original Ridley’s vision was for this movie. It’s daring, visceral and hopefully, the last thing anyone expects. When I sat in a movie theatre as a kid, feet raised off the floor for fear that something might grab my ankles, I never dreamed in my wildest imagination I would one day get to collaborate with the man responsible for it. Working alongside him has been nothing short of a dream come true.”

In earlier interviews Ridley Scott revealed his intentions for the prequel, which would deal directly with the origins of the space jockey species. Despite this project being abandoned his grand intentions for the film, which reached the fourth draft stage, may still figure significantly in Prometheus.

Scott said, “[The prequel] is about the discussion of terraforming – taking planets and planetoids and balls of earth and trying to terraform, seed them with the possibilities of future life.” Scott then elaborated in The Independent, “The film will be really tough, really nasty. It’s the dark side of the moon. We are talking about gods and engineers. Engineers of space. And were the aliens designed as a form of biological warfare? Or biology that would go in and clean up a planet” before the space jockeys would colonise it? Scott then told the Daily Mail earlier this year that Prometheus will similarly be, “The story of creation, the gods and the man who stood against them.”

The presence of a space jockey set similar to that seen in the original Alien film has been reportedly rebuilt at Pinewood studios already, as well as an 8ft animatronic space jockey and, stranger still, “The main spaceship in the film will be piloted by an enormous head,” as reported by Sky Movies.

Fans will also be happy to hear that H.R Giger, designer of the original creatures, confirmed his involvement in Swiss newspaper Blick in February, saying, “Ridley Scott and I met in London to discuss the details of the project. It’s going to be huge.”

This comes after Scott spoke of his concern that the Alien vs Predator films have desensitised the public to the threat of the original Alien and that he will have to go back and totally redesign the creatures with Giger. Furthermore, following an interview with the director, the Daily Mail reported that, “A monster is being developed right now that is so terrifying it’s scaring the designers.”

Head writer at obsessedwithfilm.com and self-confessed Alien fan Simon Gallagher hopes that Prometheus can return some credence to a franchise that has been mistreated as of late but realises that “Prometheus can’t just be good, it has to be incredible in order to get good reception among fans.”

However Simon feels that the film is in the right hands, “Ridley Scott knows how to tell good stories, and he has a commitment to aesthetics and establishing sci-fi mythology that will give Prometheus an excellent foundation to work from. As long as he dials up the action quota (or at least the horror/atmospherics) I can’t see it being a failure, even if there are a few warning bells going off that he might end up getting lost in the grand scale of the project. Complexity is always a stumbling block for sci-fi’s (look at Solaris), but Scott’s enthusiasm always feels so authentic that it’s hard for fans like myself not to get completely invested in the possibilities of the film.”

Many of the cast are understandably excited by the prospect of working on Prometheus. Most of them will have grown up with the films even if they weren’t old enough to watch the original in theatres. Their legacy will have formed a part of their cultural up bringing. Idris Elba of The Wire and Luther told The Independent, “I’m ridiculously excited. I worked with Ridley on American Gangster and he is royalty to me. I was three years old when he first conceived the idea for Alien, but it’s timeless.”

Noomi Rapace will replace Sigourney Weaver as Ridley Scott’s leading femme fatale heroine following her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Millenium Series films. Although there are similarities with Weaver’s Ripley, Repace told MTV, “I don’t think people will compare so much with Ripley when they see the movie, but Ripley was a hero for me.”

Michael Fassbender, who will play an android named David, has been doing much of the talking about the film despite the cast having to sign strict secrecy clauses. Fassbender told Metro New York, “The thing is, it’s not a prequel. It is a separate story, but there are threads that connect the stories.” Fassebender then offered a salivating tease to fans in an interview with ShortList this year, “I remember when they said they were going to do another Alien, I just thought, ‘Where can you go with that?’ Then they sent the script – I kept wondering, ‘When is this going to get bad?’ and it never did.”

Fassbender has also made a fleeting reference to the eponymous Prometheus myth, suggesting its primacy in the writer’s thinking. In Greek mythology, Prometheus was a Titan and a champion of mankind. Known for his guile he stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals only to be condemned to eternal torture. This story of hubris links well with the theory that the space jockey was killed by its own creation and later the Weyland-Yutani Corporation’s desire to develop the aliens as biological weapons in David Fincher’s Alien 3.

Mark McManus, founder of the website prometheusmovie.co.uk and self confessed Alien fanatic says, “With Prometheus, Ridley Scott has finally come good after years of teasing that he would return to Alien. To see the man who started it all (and my favourite living director – even my son is named after him!) come back to the series is very exciting.”

There may be more questions than answers here, and suspicions of some typical Sir Ridley pre-production mischief, but one just can’t help but get excited.

Prometheus is pencilled in for released in terrifying 3-D on June 8th, 2012.

The original Alien, still pretty terrifying if you ask me

Just a little something I have fancied doing for a little while. In short and in video form this is why I love sport and everything that comes with it, enjoy:

5. David nearly floors Goliath – This fight really caught the nations imagination. David Haye had gone up a weight division in order to compete for the Heavyweight title but the man standing in his way was an immovable object, Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev. The man looked more at home in a circus or a street fight but here he was and if Haye wanted to write his name into history he had to find a way past this tower of a man. Haye boxed a clever fight, never tiring, never shy of throwing punches even if most of them didn’t even register let alone sting the Russian. And then, in the final round he nearly did the impossible, a powerful left hook connects and the big mans legs go to jelly, mysteriously managing to stay up right but conceding the fight in a wobble and a nod of the head.

4. A Legend is Born, Nadal v Federer Wimbledon Final 2008 – A clash that has created some of the finest exhibitions of tennis ever seen, including a hard fought French Open final as I type. One elegant and well loved the other young, gritty and frighteningly athletic the clash of the first and second seeds promised to be an excellent final but Nadal really announced himself on the world stage here and started the process of knocking Roger Federer off of his well protected perch at the top of the world rankings. Cue a magnificent victory and a climb into the Royal Box that is etched into the annals of the Wimbledon video archives.

3. A Night in Istanbul – Liverpool v AC Milan 2005 – Many will see this as a surprise inclusion but nothing can indicate the emotional power of sport as much as this come-back did in 2005. It was going to take a truly momentous set of events to make me get out of my chair and start cheering on the team that I despise more than anything else in the world but this historic performance turned me  into an honorary red for 2 hours, something that still makes me feel dirty all over. A truly stunning come back full of heart and quality that showed the beauty of the Premier League to millions of fans worldwide and showed that you can never write a team off in football.

Live it all over again to the tune of Sigur Ros, nothing says Epic like this:

2. 2 Words: David Beckham – Apart from the no.1 in this list no sporting moment gets me out of my seat with a beaming smile and a fist pump more than this classic free kick from golden balls. Not only is the free kick perfect, a reminder of the class and technique of a player at the top of his game but in the context this was a truly stunning moment. Staring down the barrel of a humiliating possibility of not going to the 2002 World Cup England win a soft free kick 30 yards from goal in classic Beckham territory, can he settle the butterflies and nestle the ball into the top corner? Bloody metatarsal:

1. “In Your Life Have You Seen Anything Like That” – Goosebumps every time. The world’s finest golfer in the world’s finest tournament. Wearing his famous red polo on the final day of the Masters at the 16th of Augusta, Tiger Woods not only makes an impossible read of the green but then has the audacity to chip the ball with precision and the perfect amount of weight to create a picture book Nike advert without any one elses help. As the famous Nike ticked ball teeters on the edge of the cup you cannot help but hold your breath and grip the edge of the sofa even if you know the ball will disappear and the crowd will erupt behind him. Cue one of the greatest pieces of sporting commentary and high five to his caddie born out of pure sporting ecstasy. Magic.

So the dust has settled on another season, the scattered hopes and dreams of teams around the world must be recollected and reflected upon before the relentless cycle resumes in four months time. Ian Holloway’s brave Blackpool prove that there is no room for fairy tales in this new corporate, capitalist footballing landscape we live in, a harsh reality felt by Carlo Ancelotti with his brutal meeting with Ron Gourlay in a Goodison Park stairwell one hour after losing his last game in charge. Elsewhere past glories were recaptured by Milan, Dortmund and Porto and Barcelona kept hold of their vice like grip on domestic football ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final against the champions of England under the arch of Wembley. So who makes the final ETotW of the season?
GK – Marco Amelia (AC Milan) An absolute goalkeeping clinic from the stand in keeper here, resisting the dangerous Udinese frontline with a series of stunning reflex stops to deny the irresistible Alexis Sanchez and Antonio Di Natale, who subsequently became the first Serie A player since Guiseppi Signori to take the top goalscoring award two seasons running. Amelia topped off his performance with a vital fingertip penalty save to deny Di Natale another goal for his tally.

RB – Lukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund) One of the revelations of the season for the Champions, the Polish wing-back was signed as a back up for Patrick Owomoyela, Piszczek has cemented his place at right back for much of the season and was in fine form in his sides come back against Frankfurt, tirelessly bombing up the flank and eventually providing a powerful burst followed by a back heel to put in Lucas Barrios for the equalizer.

CB – Steven Taylor (Newcastle United) Taylor made it 3 goals in 3 games when he poked home early on against West Brom, helping put a season of injury related frustration behind him as he looks to push for an England inclusion. He may have been on the wrong side of West Brom’s stunning three goal comeback but Taylor was committed to the cause and his recent goal scoring exploits highlight the aerial ability and determination which make him a quality centre back.

CB – Daniel Diaz (Getafe) Getafe were in real danger of the drop before their trip to Basque club Real Sociedad but Argentine international Diaz and his international compatriot Oscar Ustari between the posts ensured they got the point they needed by remaining resolute defensively before Diaz grabbed the vital lead, dangling out a leg to turn in a looping free kick.

LB – Yuto Nagatomo (Inter Milan) The Japanese international has proved to be a fine acquisition since January, filling in wherever needed, in this case for the missing Maicon. Nagatomo never looks flustered by the task and has the stamina and burst of acceleration to play full back for Europe’s best sides. The full topped off another solid showing with a goal, his solid strike taking a slight deflection before bulging the net.

RW – Somen Tchoyi (West Bromwich Albion) The man from Cameroon sparked an incredible West Brom turnaround. The tall striker has been inconsistent since arriving in the midlands but has shown moments of real class and his second half hat-trick here showed the fans what he is really capable of. Tchoyi grabbed his first by beating the offside trap before tucking the ball home coolly and then showing good composure under pressure by shifting the ball beyond his man and smashing the ball home for his second and rounding it all off with a low diving header.

CM – Gabi (Real Zaragoza)  Zaragoza needed their captain to step up if they were to avoid relegation this weekend against Levante and he didn’t let them down. Gabi scored two goals to ensure the team dramatically retained their top-flight status. A well executed freekick nestled into the top corner for his side’s first following two goals being ruled offside already, with Gabi pulling the strings for both. The €9m defensive midfielder then emphatically thumped home a bouncing ball to take home a vital 2-1 win.

CM – Charlie Adam (Blackpool) If there was a script circulating around Old Trafford on Survival Sunday, Blackpool hadn’t read it and Charlie Adam in particular looked to step up if Ian Holloway’s immensely popular tangerine army were to maintain their revered position in England’s top flight. Adam responded to Sir Alex’s comments earlier in the season that his set pieces alone are worth £10m by firing in a fine effort pasta helpless Edwin Van der Sar and certainly showed that his new home is in the Premier League with a fine all round performance.

LW – Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Without a Champions League final to worry about Cristiano Ronaldo was able to edge past his arch nemesis Leo Messi in the La Liga scoring charts, scoring two goals to take his season tally to a record breaking 40 in the league. If you want to see all his goals this season in under 3 minutes click here. Ronaldo was integral to his sides 8-1 demolition of Almeria, tormenting his opponents time and time again. The Portuguese winger tapped home a Sergio Ramos header for the game’s first goal before smashing in from the right hand side of the box.

CF – Francesco Grandolfo (Bari) The diminutive Italian striker showed good movement and predatory finishing, popping up unmarked to sweep home his first before taking a cushioned touch and nestling a left footed strike into the bottom right hand corner from further out and then evading his markers again to pop up on the far post to tap home his third for a maiden Serie A hat-trick. His exploits may have been too little too late to save Bari from relegation but the 18 year old is certainly one for the future and could feature more often next season now as he looks to develop and get his side back into the top flight.

CF – Kun Aguero (Atletico Madrid) A fond farewell to the fans at the Vicente Calderon or a way of adding a few zeroes to his price tag? Whatever his motivation the little Argentine topped off a fine second half of the season with one of the best hat trick’s you are likely to see before informing the club of his desire to leave. Wearing the armband Aguero tucked home from a tight angle before taking down a lofted pass to execute a magnificent finish into the top right hand corner over the keeper and then jinking past a plethora of defenders, chipping over the keeper and then again the on rushing defender, well worth a look again here.  It would appear that Maradona’s son in law’s ambition has exceeded his surroundings and the summer soap opera surrounding his signature will certainly keep the tabloids busy with both Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Juventus all candidates to match his £40m price tag.

Thank you all for reading this season, it’s been a pleasure.

arsenalhighlights.com

Me and some mate’s recently got stuck into the age old debate of Arsenal’s defence today while  going through our end of season review for James Coggins’ blog, so I thought I would share it and hope some of you get involved (there is a comment box at the bottom of the post for a reason). So here it is in all it’s unedited glory:

SB: Arsenal’s second half of the season jitters would have been totally avoided if Thomas Vermaelen had been involved. He encapsulates everything that Arsenal lacked this season, a no nonsense defender, who provides a calming influence to a petulant Arsenal side. I have been pleased with Koscielny and especially Djourou who has shown considerable improvement but they do not possess the grit or determination of Thomas. Whilst Sebastian Squillaci is just another example of Arsene Wenger meeting his quota of French players, with disastrous consequences. Vermaelen’s fitness next season could in my opinion be the catalyst for Arsenal ending 5 trophy-less years.

SC: Vermaelen is just another cultured Arsenal defender, very talented but not the sort of dominant centre back you see organising title winning sides, the Vidic, Terry and even Carragher’s of this world. What you need is an English centre defender in the mould of Adams if you are to re-find the sort of grit and determination required to grind out games and win titles.

MW: Look at Arsenal’s best ever back 4: Adams, Keown, Winterburn, Dixon. Not a Frenchman among, and you couldn’t call them cultured, stick it in the stands lads.

JP: I don’t agree with the xenophobic idea that he has to be English, but I agree with that point about Vermaelen – he was good last season (09/10) but was caught out of position more than people realised, and was a liability at times. He’s not experienced enough, the same problem that Djourou and Koscielny have. Far too young to read the game as well as the others mentioned.

SC: Yeah OK Joe he doesn’t technically have to be English but I’m talking about your traditional English defender in the Adams mould, willing to put their body on the line for the team and keep the opposition out at all costs, the only reasonable target of which at the moment would probably be Gary Cahill. Although I would argue that Mamadou Sakho at PSG could be an ideal signing even though he is French, a tall and dominant centre back.

SB: Firstly Vermaelen captained Ajax age 20 so i think he must have something going for him? Secondly the Adams era is very difficult to replicate with the premium on english defenders. I’d love to recreate it but you only have to look at the figures being banded about for defenders such as Cahill, Rodwell, Jones and Smalling. And finally I refuse be positive about Vidic, resorting to using your hands when things get tight is not what top defenders do, I would have Vermaelen every day of the week.

SC: If you would rather have Verm than Vidic you may have to become accustomed to not winning trophies for many years to come. Ajax have a tradition of protecting their top prospects by handing them the armband, I never said he wasn’t and exceptional talent just you need a different kind of defender at his side to marshal the troops.

For more information on who is behind the initials and some more fan’s end of season thoughts go to Jame’s Coggins blog.

So for our second edition of Fan’s View we have fellow sport blogger and acquaintance James Coggins mulling over the future of his beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers as they go into potentially their biggest game of the season against West Brom on Sunday:

The Premier League season is reaching its climax; despite wins against Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester’s United and City my beloved Wolves sit entrenched in the relegation zone. The promised land of 17th position however is not out of reach and certainly there are winnable games against West Brom, Sunderland and Blackburn still to come. Whether Mick McCarthy’s squad can maintain a high level of performance for these fixtures is a mystery to all however; even the Wolves players who have all questioned what it is that enables them to beat the teams at the top of the table yet struggle against those elsewhere.
The final story of Wolves’ campaign however will not tell of teams beaten but whether we have avoided the dreaded R word; it is points that matter and McCarthy knows this, having been up before and having learnt the hardship of Premier League fortunes during a more or less embarrassing campaign in charge of Sunderland. McCarthy’s nous as a manager is sometimes underestimated and fans can sometimes lose sight of the greater picture as ultimately results, performances and final positions rule a fan’s judgement of a successful season.

However in an era when clubs can lose everything Wolves’ positive financial outlook can not be overlooked; one of the only clubs in the Premier League that is not in debt and despite relegation looming, possessing a solid and definite future is something to be proud of for Morgan, Moxey, McCarthy and Co. Yet at what cost has this financial caution brought for the fans and quality on the pitch; McCarthy and the board support the players they have and the hierarchy are backing McCarthy and his men to avoid the worst. Yet when you look at the other teams around Wolves you see, epitomised in the likes of West Ham, a great investment on players, could this be perceived as naivety on Wolves’ part?

To be a Wolves fan for me in today’s footballing climate I am torn between wanting Premier League football, giving the football that a club like Wolves demands if not deserves and wanting a club to support; no Wolves fan wants to become the next Leeds United or Portsmouth – at times uncertain about their future. Morgan and Moxey’s gamble to not invest on the pitch therefore seems one that shows bravery but at the same time could be construed as a bridge too far for a squad that, in essence possesses very few players who can change games in the Premier League and have genuine world class quality.
So a trials and tribulations based summary is in order. Should worst come to worst and Wolves are relegated to the Championship; of course it would be a setback but with ambitious plans, Morgan’s financial backing and probably without too many players leaving we would still possess a squad capable of challenging for automatic promotion as long Mick and our babbies avoid a dreaded Premier League hangover.

For me, no offence to Norwich and QPR fans, this is one of the weaker Championships in recent years as I believe with the exception of possibly Blackpool the twenty best squads in England are where they should be. I would justify this by pointing to the results that we’ve seen this year. It truly has been an unpredictable Premier League and anyone can and has beaten anyone; there hasn’t been the whipping boys of a Sunderland, Watford, Portsmouth or Derby County. So although on the last afternoon of the season the doombringers may arrive at the Golden Palace it would be with nervous optimism that I lay my cards on the table and say we will display that most yo-yoesque of traits, bouncebackability. Out of darkness cometh light.

Jurgen Klopp

Congratulations are in order for Borussia Dortmund. A side away from the summit of the Bundesliga since 2002 Jurgen Klopp has built a very young and talented team who have been a pleasure to watch this season and have duly delivered the Bundesliga title. Time will tell if they can keep hold of this new crop of players with playmaker Nuri Sahin (Real Madrid), the magnificent young German centre back Mats Hummels and his Serbian partner Neven Subotic, Japanese winger Shinji Kagawa, top goalscorer Lucas Barrios and the star of the show, Mario Goetze, all doubtless subject to intense interest this coming Summer. I for one hope that one of the most promising coaches in world football, alongside Porto’s André Villas Boas (record this term 26:2:0), can hold on to his players and participate in next years Champions League.

Elsewhere this week saw all four Champions League semi finalists beaten. Manchester United at the hands of Arsenal, which leaves a huge tie with Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday, FC Schalke to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain being defeated by Getafe and Real Sociedad respectively. Also it was a weekend of braces making my striking selections extremely difficult with Giampaolo Pazzini, Pappis Cisse, Milivoje Novakovic, Lafita and Frencesco Totti (who is now Serie A’s top goalscorer of all time) all getting in on the act alongside four in the ETotW itself. So, who made the cut…

GK – Tono (Racing) His team may be in freefall, plummeting towards the drop zone following four consecutive defeats, but they took a real step towards La Liga survival with this 2-0 win over mid-table Mallorca. Tono put in a resilient performance to seal a clean sheet, keeping out Ivan Ramis multiple times before making two vital stops and then saving a Ramis penalty to keep his side on track for three vital points.

RB – Luca Ceccarelli (AC Cesena) Replacing Davide Santon at right back Ceccarelli was fantastic against Inter Milan, marking Goran Pandev out of the game and even getting forward brilliantly, putting in a perfectly weighted cross for Igor Budan to volley home. Unfortunate to be on the losing side following Giampaolo Pazzini’s late brace.

CB – Mamadou Sakho (Paris St Germain) Another imposing centre back inevitably on the Arsene Wenger radar, Sakho finished the game with a goal and an assist to his name; comprehensively dominating his marker at set pieces with a looping header at the back post for PSG’s second of the game before tapping in at the back post to put the tie beyond doubt at 3-1.

CB – Simon Kjaer (VSL Wolfsburg) Tracking Claudio Pizarro all afternoon the estimated €14m Dane certainly showed his value at the weekend. Immaculate aerially and on the deck, Kjaer was unflappable, giving his side great confidence to flood forward freely and take the win.

LB – Mikel Gonzales (Real Sociedad) Playing on the left hand side of central defence Gonzales was given some respite as Pep Guardiola fielded a weakened side at the weekend. However the centre back still had the world’s top goalscorer Lionel Messi to deal with as well as the lively young Brazilian winger Jeffren who did eventually get the better of him to open the scoring. However the defender soon refound his composure to further keep out his opposition and set the platform for a historic win.

RW – Gervinho (Lille) With Eden Hazard on one flank and Gervinho on the other Lille can be one of Ligue 1’s most deadly outfits, as shown in their 5-0 demolition of the leagues’ bottom side (by 16 points no less) Arles Avignon. The Ivorian attacker was ruthless, putting the tie beyond reasonable doubt in the first half by tapping in from close range before latching on to a good through ball to coolly round the keeper.

CM – Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) A great day for the young Welshman as he finally put a line under his recent injury troubles with the game winning goal to top off a fantastic performance against Manchester United, showing Arsenal that there may be life beyond Fabregas. Ramsey linked up brilliantly with fellow bright young midfielder Jack Wilshere, passing the ball brilliantly all game, spreading the play as well as formulating more delicate moves in the middle of the park. Ramsey then topped it all off with a clever piece of movement to find a pocket of space and sweep home a Robin Van Persie cut back under intense pressure to sink United at The Emirates.

CM – Gaetano D’Agostino (Fiorentina) The deep lying playmaker has failed to really live up to his potential since moving to Fiorentina after speculation that he could be on his way to Real Madrid or Juventus. However D’Agostino showed what piqued the interest of the Europe’s elite here, coming back to haunt his former side Udinese with two goals in a free scoring game, tapping in amongst a crowd of players before a thumping drive was deflected home.

LW – Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich) Man of the match in a side which included an irresistible Arjen Robben, Mueller was Schalke’s tormentor in chief at the weekend, coming out with two goals and an assist to his name and was unlucky not to add to that tally. Reacting quickest in the area to get his first, nodding on a Robben cross only to see Gomez tap into an open goal from a yard and then not giving up after his shot was blocked to turn the ball in with his left foot, it was Mueller’s vision, movement and sheer enthusiasm which allowed Bayern to be so lethal on the break, coming away with a 4-1 win.

CF – Kevin Gamerio (Lorient) In a weekend of multiple braces it was the all round game of Gamerio which pushes him above his distinguished co-scorers, inspiring his side to a 3-2 win coming from a goal down. The promising French striker took his two goals brilliantly, taking a touch inside and tucking his finish under the on-rushing Vedran Runje in goal before nodding in from close range. Gamerio proved too quick and lively for the Lens defenders, finishing a smart exchange with his team mate by drawing a foul in the area for the late game winning penalty. His days at Lorient may well be numbered.

CF – Julio Baptista (Malaga) The beast has been an inspired bit of business for La Liga strugglers Malaga, coming in January the Brazilian has scored 7 in 8 games and netted two to beat fellow strugglers Hercules and edge his side further from the drop zone. His first was a stooping header to turn in a driven cross from the left and then doing much the same again, showing good determination and drive to get across the front post to turn in another fine Sergio Duda cross from the other side to seal the points with a 3-1 win.

The Beast! via thesun.com

Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez was the hero again in a week which has been particularly galling for their title rivals, and FC Schalke, as the little Mexican popped up with an 84th minute header to take United closer to an almost inevitable 19th league title. Fernando Torres finally got himself off the mark for Chelsea with his sides 2nd in a flattering 3-0 win over West Ham and Arsenal were yet again stunned by a late Bolton equalizer to put the final nail in their season’s coffin. Elsewhere Real Madrid and Barcelona took a break from playing (and fighting) one another by securing comfortable wins each. German champions in waiting Borussia Dortmund stuttered against a resilient Borussia Mongengladbach and Milan edged ever closer to a much desired Scudetto.

GK – Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Borussia Monchengladbach) Despite all the midweek plaudits for a world class young German keeper in the form of FC Schalke’s Manuel Neuer all the ETotW plaudits must go to 18 year old ter Stegen. A fine performance from the shot stopper saw his side shut out the Bundesliga’s 2nd most potent attack (behind Bayern Munich), despite having no less than 24 shots fired at him. The youngster has established himself as Gladbach’s no.1 and with fine saves to deny Mario Gotze, Robert Lewandowski and Marcel Schmelzer, to name just a few, he certainly looks to have quite the future ahead of him.

RB – Ignazio Abate (A.C Milan) Abate typified his sides drive and desire to get a goal and edge closer to the Scudetto title that everyone on the red and black side of Milan so desires. as they left it late against Brescia. Although troubled at times by former West Ham United winger Alessandro Diamanti, the young full back continued to bomb up and down the right flank tirelessly, providing good crosses and helping to keep Brescia out at the other end.

CB – Cesare Bovo (Palermo) Another strong performance from Bovo in a tough encounter against Serie A’s top marksman, Edison Cavani of Napoli. The 28 year old former Roma stopper stood up to the task well and although he missed an absolute sitter in the first half, shooting over the bar from three yards, he soon made amends with a coolly taken penalty kick to seal a 3-1 win for his side against high flying opposition.

CB – Gary Cahill (Bolton Wanderers) A valiant performance from the England center back typified his sides grit and determination and was rewarded with a massive win to add to Arsenal’s recent woes. His distribution from the back was good, picking diagonal passes and spreading the play well and it was his bullet header which led to Danny Sturridge’s vital opener. Strong, determined, disciplined and willing to put his body on the line, Arsenal would do well to have a player like Cahill at the heart of their defense.

LB – Ashley Cole (Chelsea) Doubtful in the build up to the game, Chelsea’s ever present returned with a typically all action display. A key block off the line following a Freddie Sears flick from a corner set the tone for his afternoon and although he found himself troubled by Sears on more than one occasion a lung busting run onto a perfect Didier Drogba pass before sliding an inch perfect ball for Frank Lampard to lash home the games opener highlighted his class.

RW – Maxi Rodriguez (Liverpool) The Argentine forward hadn’t started a game since March 1st for Liverpool but returned emphatically, scoring a hat trick as his side went on to thrash Birmingham City 5-0. His first came from a rebound off a Jay Spearing strike before volleying in a sublime picked out cross from Luis Suarez. And he had only himself to thank for the third, finished the tie off in style by following up his own rasping strike to tap home with ease.

CM – Kaka (Real Madrid) The Brazilian playmaker will feel hard done by not being selected to start against Barcelona in midweek (as will his ETotW compatriot Gonzalo Higuain). Kaka could have brought some much needed pace and guile to a side lacking a really attack minded midfielder (and an out and out striker) and were duly beaten by the Catalans (Lionel Messi). But enough of the parenthesis and more of the plaudits as Kaka tore Valencia apart at the weekend, linking up with Argentine Higuain to devastating effect. The Brazilian’s old turn of place, intricate passing, assured touch and beaming smile all returned to his game which allowed him to secure two assists and two goals in Real’s 6-3 thrashing of Los Che at the Mestalla. His first goal was a tap in following some good work by Higuain out on the right but then followed with a piece of vintage Kaka, picking up the ball on the edge of the area, nutmegging his opponent and curling the ball emphatically home for his second of the game. Always looking to burst forward and support the attack, will he feature in the second leg?

CM – Jordan Henderson (Sunderland) Following injuries to Danny Wellbeck and Asamoah Gyan Steve Bruce’s under fire side may have been fearing the worst as goals haven’t exactly been easy to come by even with a striker on the field. Up step local lad Jordan Henderson. One of a number of talented young English central midfield players who could all do with adding more goals to their game, namely Jack Rodwell, Jack Wilshere and Josh McEachern. However score goals is exactly what he did, the first a piece of good chest control and a fantastic lashed left footed finish before taking down a good pass from Stephane Sessegnon to coolly finish for his second of the game.

LW – Juan Mata (Valencia) One of few shining lights in Valencia’s 6-3 thrashing at the hands of Real, Mata showed glimpses of the sublime. Certainly in the mould of former Valencia wide man David Silva, Mata has found himself operating in a more central role recently and has flourished as such. Clever, inventive and with an eye for goal it could be argued that Mata would have been an even better acquisition for Man City. A brilliant reverse flicked pass with his left boot put in the substitute Jonas for a well executed finish and then a magnificent scooped pass over the Real defense put in another substitute, Jordi Alba, to return some parity to the scoreline. Europe’s elite should be queuing out the Mestalla door.

CF – Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) Back from injury and back doing what he does best, scoring goals. When fit Higuain is one of the world’s most deadly marksmen and showed that with a hat-trick against Valencia this weekend. His first came after pouncing on a terrible mistake by Jeremey Mathieu, showing good determination to nick the ball and turn it home, then tapping in a fantastic cross goal pass from Kaka and sealing his third with an almost mirror image of his second, Kaka squaring from the left for a tap in this time. However his link up play was also rewarded with two assists to show that he isn’t just a fox in the box. Higuain had a hand in all but one of his sides six goals to cap a performance which should have Emmanuel Adebayor concerned about his future at the club.

CF – Alessandro del Piero (Juventus) The veteran just keeps proving the doubters wrong, turning in another Peter Pan-esque virtuoso performance that still failed to inspire the Old Lady to hold on to a 2-0 lead against Catania. A typically ice-in-the-veins penalty put Juve in front before adding a second, adjusting his body well to turn in a brilliant cross from Milos Krasic. Del Piero was then denied his hat trick as a typically well struck free kick was turned round the post by Mariano Andujar in the Catania goal. The veteran skipper would have been particularly gutted when his side shipped two late goals to the Sicilian’s, making the score 2-2 and putting Juve well off the pace required to return to European football, languishing in 7th place.

England's next no.8? Courtesy of TheFA.com