LONDON, ENGLAND – Chelsea striker Didier Drogba made a goal scoring return to the Chelsea team on Saturday as the Londoners swept away Premier League new boys Swansea City 4-1. But it all could have been so different for the Ivory Coast international after a clash with Norwich goal keeper John Ruddy left him unconscious and lucky to be alive just a few weeks ago..

“I was scared,” remembers Drogba.

“When I woke up in the ambulance I was scared because I didn’t know what I was doing there. I couldn’t remember anything from after Norwich equalised until I was being rushed to hospital. I didn’t know what was going on. It was a weird feeling and a difficult moment. I understand now what it must be like for a boxer when they are knocked out. But I’m really grateful to everyone who helped me, the stadium staff and the medics who calmed me down. They told me I’d been unconscious for between six and eight minutes.”

It was only later that night that the big striker saw exactly what had happened and realised that he had been offside any and need not of chased down the pass.

“When I saw the images I really understood why my parents, my family and close friends were very worried because it’s not something you see every weekend,” he said.

“I had friends at the ground but my parents were back at home in France and were watching the game live so you can imagine how worrying it was for them. They always watch my games and they weren’t nice images for them to see. I’ve had some injuries before — I’ve broken my leg and arm but this was worse. While I was recovering at home I was looking at the replays and realising how dangerous it was. It’s scary. I was pleased my three kids weren’t there at the ground. They usually go to the game but they were still on holiday. I spoke to them later and told them it would be OK.”

Chelsea and Drogba looked to be back to their devastating best at the weekend after stepping up a gear from their slowish start to the campaign. They now need to continue in the same vein so that they can be challenging the likes of Utd at the business end of the season.

MANCHESTER, ENGLNAND – Manchester City’s defensive midfielder Owen Hargreaves has today talked openly about his three year injury hell at Old Trafford and said that he was hit with so many injections that at one point he felt like nothing more than a guinea pig.

Hargreaves had a dream first year in England which culminated in him winning the Premier League and Champions League double. But serious tendon issues soon followed and as the England international fought to get back to full fitness he says he felt like his body simply rejected all of the treatment that the Utd medical staff could think of, when what he should have been doing all along was simply resting.

“After my first season, I had a bit of a tendon problem, which I did not realise the magnitude of. I played and it got a little bit worse. We treated it and it got significantly worse after that through the injections I had,” said the former Bayern Munich man who scored his first goal for his new club in the Carling Cup in mid-week.

“All the people there are lovely. Everybody tries their best. They said it would help. That obviously wasn’t the case. With my tendon injury, I’ve had to be a guinea pig for a lot of these treatments. You’re left to try and make something of a difficult situation. Basically I wanted to play, everyone wanted me to play, so it’s not really an option to say sit it out and rest for six months. With hindsight, it’s a lot easier. Yep, probably the injections I had, I should probably not have had. I received some injections and after that my tendon was never the same.”

Hargreaves then talked about his frustrations, his pains and the jealousy that almost consumed what was left of his career.

“After the injections, I tried to get back on my feet, but it felt like I was made out of glass. That obviously had a huge impact. Basically, I was left to pick up the pieces, which was incredibly frustrating. That was surgery and that was 18 months gone. So at times, I’d watch games and be jealous of the way people could move, as funny as that sounds. I wondered if I was going to be able to be as sharp.”

Hargreaves could start his first Premier League match for over a year against Everton on Saturday.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – Manchester Utd striker Michael Owen gave England boss Fabio Capello a little reminder that he is still around after scoring twice in his sides 3-1 Carling Cup win against Leeds Utd.

Owen is 31 now and has played little football over the last two years at Old Trafford because of injury. But the former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker proved that he still knows how to score and Sir Alex Ferguson thinks that he still deserves a chance at international level.

“Michael is still fantastic when it comes to putting the ball in the net. I’m very pleased for him that he’s got another couple tonight,” said Fergie.

“When you look at his goal ratio throughout his career it is magnificent. And, yes, absolutely he is still one of the best finishers in England. Because of the form of the other strikers we have here, Michael is not getting the amount of games he deserves right now, and that is unfortunate for him. But he is a great person to have around.”

Owen turned down offers to go to so called lesser clubs in the summer deciding instead to sign a one year extension to his current Utd contract and use his vast experience to help the youngsters at the club develop.

“My first goal was a pure mis-hit but, I have to say, that second one was every bit as sweet as I can hit them,” said Owen when asked about his nights work.

“It’s always nice for me to score because it’s what I have been all about over the years. These days, though, I am also trying to help and encourage the young players here and be an example to them. But, at 31, I still believe there are a few good years left in me yet.”

Owen has 40 goals for his country and is just nine behind the all-time record set by Utd legend Bobby Charlton.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish says that his team will put the disappointment of the weekends 4-0 hammering away at Tottenham Hotspurs behind them and repay the fans by getting through to the next round of the Carling Cup.

Liverpool will face Championship side Brighton who have been in good form so far this season and find themselves in third place just two points behind top of the table Southampton. But if they thought they were going to stand a good chance against a Liverpool team that were played off the park at White Hart Lane their hearts may have sunk just a little with the news that Steven Gerrard could be making his long awaited comeback and that Dalglish has asked his team take out their anger against The Seagulls.

“The fans supported us fantastically and I think the boys will bear that in mind and look forward to repaying them in some way,” said the 60 year old Scotsman.

“Sunday didn’t please anybody and the players were really disappointed. We have got to get ourselves right and concentrate on ourselves. We are pleased to be in the Carling Cup and our intention is to stay in it for as long as we possibly can.”

The reds will be without midfielder Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel after they were both sent off in the nightmare showing at the weekend. Defender Daniel Agger will also miss the match after fracturing a rib, but this only paves the way for Uruguayan international Sebastian Coates to make his full debut and Craig Bellamy his first start on his return to the club.

“Daniel has got a fractured rib, so he’s struggling a bit,” said Dalglish.

“We’ll have a strong team out at Brighton and expect a difficult game. We need to show the same attitude we did at Exeter.Brighton are doing well after getting promotion and were sitting on top of the table until they lost to Leicester. Our players were totally professional when we played at Exeter and we’ll have to do the same again if we want to get a result.”

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – Billionaire Premier League club Manchester City have spent massive amounts on players over the last two years, but even they realise that this is no way to run a successful football club and in a move that is looking well in to the future survival of the sky blues the club are looking build a 100 million GBP youth training facility in the hope they can find, instead of buy, the future stars of the game.

The complex will be built next to the current Etihad stadium and will include 15 training pitches, state of the art medical and sports science facilities along with a new 7000 seater stadium for youth and reserve matches.

But City’s football administrator Brian Marwood says that this investment is just the start and that they will still have to work hard to ensure they find and develop youth players good enough to take the club forward.

“It’s one thing building with bricks and mortar, it’s another to being able to develop young players and I find it incredible that we’ve only had one Mancunian player in Nedum Onuoha who’s come through from the age or 10 or 11,” said Marwood.

“I find that a damning statistic in terms of developing young talent. Then there is the example of Ryan Giggs, who was at City as a schoolboy, but ended up at Manchester United, so there’s something not quite right. What I wouldn’t like to do is be sat here in 10 years’ time and say ‘well, the facilities are great, but we didn’t bring anybody through’ because we would have failed.”

Marwood also thanked recently-resigned CEO Garry cook for his work in getting the project off the ground.

“Garry did a tremendous amount for this club in the three years he was chief executive and he will always be welcome. I’m saddened [by his departure] because everyone is aware of the relationship I had with him, but we have to move on.”

City will find out on December 22^nd whether they can begin building the exciting new project.

LONDON, ENGLAND – Tottenham Hotspurs are set to move quickly and work out a deal to keep Croatian midfielder Luka Modric at the club. Modric was instrumental in his sides 4-0 weekend win over Liverpool opening the scoring with a stunning strike after just six minutes and leaving boss Harry Redknapp hopeful that Chairman Daniel Levy will start talks sooner rather than later and pay the man what he is worth.

“If Luka is worth £40m then life tells you that you have to be paid accordingly doesn’t it?” said Redknapp after watching his side destroy Kenny Dalglish’s expensive Liverpool team.

“You can’t say he is worth £40m and want to pay him the wages of someone who is worth £5m. That doesn’t ring true does it?

“You have to look after the boy and I’m sure we will do that and his future is hopefully here. We have to convince him that his future is here and make it right for the boy, that’s only fair as well, and I’m sure the chairman will be fair and make sure he does that.”

Modric had made it clear in the summer that he wanted to leave the club and move across London to Chelsea after the Stamford Bridge club tabled a bid of around 30 million GBP. The bid and the transfer request were subsequently turned down which provoked Modric to refuse to play in the clubs opening Premier League match of the season. But Redknapp feels that the disappointment of not being allowed to move is behind him and that his long term future is with Spurs.

“Luka is fine now, he’s just getting on with it. I think the chairman will sit down with him and discuss his contract. That’s what I’d like to happen. The chairman has said he would give it six or seven weeks, sit down and have a chat with him.”

SPAIN – Real Madrid’s perfect start to the season came to crashing halt against Spanish minnows Levante thanks to a red card and a determined performance from the home side.

Jose Mourinho’s men have looked devastating so far this season and with Barcelona struggling to two draws in their last two games before this weekend’s matches many people were beginning to think that the tide had turned in Spanish football. But anybody that had criticised Barcelona over the last few weeks were well and truly put in their place after the Catalan club bounced back with a resounding 8-0 win over Osasuna.

Even by Pep Guardiola’s high standards the performance of the defending champions was nothing short of sensational with Lionel Messi and David Villa simply unstoppable. With that game in the bag it was left to Madrid to keep up the pressure as they travelled to the small Ciutat de Valencia Arena to face Levante with the away fans predicted a similar cricket score to that which their rivals had managed the day before.

Mourinho’s men would have to do so without their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo who was left on the bench after picking up a nasty gash to the midweek Champion League win against Dinamo Zagreb. But his replacement Frenchman Karim Benzema simply wasn’t up to the task and Madrid looked void of ideas in the final third of the field. Their task wasn’t made any easier when midfielder Sami Khedira was sent off on the stroke of half time.

Madrid huffed and puffed but with just 20 minutes remaining Levante forward Kone smashed the ball home to give his side a deserved lead and even with the inclusion of Ronaldo late on Mourinho’s men simply couldn’t get back in to the game.

In truth they looked shell shocked. It was if Barcelona’s performance the day before had sent shock waves through the Bernabau and skid marks in the players jocks and left them wondering how they were ever going to beat what is arguably the greatest footballing team of all time.

LONDON, ENGLNAD – Before Manchester City took on Fulham in a bid to continue their 100% start to the Premier League season boss Roberto Mancini was urging his stars to be more ruthless, never stop playing and to score more goals.

The Italian feels that his side do not press their advantage for the full 90 minutes and ease off when they take the lead and says that they need to copy Manchester Utd’s mentality and show no mercy to their opponents.

“United are a top team. They have been used to winning for a long time,” he said.

“When they played against Arsenal and scored two or three goals, they continued to try and score. We need to have that mentality. We had it at Tottenham and when that happens you have to continue to play, play, play. We need to play to win always but we also need to understand that we can win not only because we always play well. I want our team to have a strong mentality like United, AC Milan or Barcelona. All these teams have won the Champions League or the championship in their own countries. I think we need to have this mentality.”

Great words, it’s just a shame that no one took any notice as City squandered a 2-0 lead given to them by Sergio Aguero to draw 2-2 away at Fulham.

City dominated proceedings and really should have been two or three up by half time, but thanks to Aussie keeper Mark Schwarzer Fulham were only one down at half time after Sergio Aguero grabbed his seventh goal of the season in just his fifth match.

The match looked over after just 12 seconds of the restart when Aguero again smashed the ball in to the net. The Argentinean then had a third goal disallowed for offside and it was here that City’s killer instinct that Mancini had urged them to use more often deserted them. With Fulham on the ropes the Manchester team stepped back allowing Bobby Zamora to get the home side back in it and ensure a frantic last half an hour which culminated in Danny Murphy snatching the equaliser.

“This could be a lesson for us,” said Mancini after the game.

“Because when you dominate a game like we did today, and you score only two goals, it’s a problem. For 10 or 15 minutes after Fulham scored, they played very well. But a football match is 95 minutes and a top team like us needs to have more control of the game. I’m not angry. I’m just disappointed because we conceded two stupid goals.”

City now find themselves 2 points behind rivals Manchester Utd at the top of the Premier League after they disposed of Chelsea 3-1. It may not sound like a big gap but with the way Utd are playing at the moment it could prove to be all important.

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – It is a case of new club, same old problems for QPR captain Joey Barton after the FA launched an enquiry in to remarks he made about Wolves boss Mick McCarthy and player Karl Henry on social network site Twitter.

It was a strange choice by Barton to use the Twitterverse to air his grievances after he was allowed to leave former club Newcastle Utd on a free because of a similar situation.

But the former Manchester City player seems to have not learnt his lesson, and after taking a dislike to a heavy challenge from Henry late in the game he had this to say to all of his Twit fans.

“I bet you Henry feels like an idiot again today. He should just keep his trap firmly shut. Sunday league player. I wasn’t happy another player tried to cause an injury when the game nearly over. Just because he’s inferior in every way.”

QPR had won the game 3-0 with Barton getting on the score sheet for the first time with his new club. But even with the great performance and watching the humiliated home fans leaving early Barton couldn’t help himself especially when he read that Wolves boss Mick McCarthy had told the press that he had turned down the opportunity to sign the fiery Scouser.

“‘Wolves snubbed me’, I read in this morning papers. Ha ha (I) don’t know what Mick’s been smoking,” he said.

The FA have been trying their best to stamp out such things appearing on footballers Twitter accounts and QPR boss Neil Warnock revealed that Barton had been specifically warned and should now expect the full force of English football’s governing body to hit him in his pocket.

“The FA have told players what they expect from anyone who tweets and he has got to adhere to the guidelines.”

Joey needs to gain some self control and to simply grow up. He had already done his talking on the pitch with a great performance and a goal to boot that had the Wolves fans streaming to the exit. If he has a personal problem with Henry he should note it in his little black book and make him pay when they next meet and just try to keep his big gob shut.

LONDON, ENGLAND – Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has been drawn in to a war of words with Manchester Utd on the eve of their first meeting of the season. Both teams go in to the game unbeaten but many experts feel that the 33 year old Boas is yet to be tested and with his team yet to get out of first gear the former Porto coach has been able to avoid the incessant mind games that many coaches feel are needed to gain an edge in the worlds toughest league.

But with Manchester Utd coach Rene Meulensteen saying, “Their squad is too old and their tempo is not high enough to win the Premier League. Also, Chelsea have made just one major signing in Juan Mata.”

Villas-Boas bit back with what some will call naivety and others inexperience, pulling himself in to an unnecessary battle of wits with the man who invented mind war fare in football, Sir Alex Ferguson.

“I find it strange he would say something like this when we have all seen the importance of players like Ryan Giggs, Edwin van der Sar and Paul Scholes to Manchester United,” said the man affectionately known as carrot top.

“Only this week Giggs was scoring in the Champions League and being praised by everyone. What’s the difference between that and some of the players we have?”

In truth the difference in the average age of the two squads is minimal with Utd’s set at 25 and Chelsea’s 27, which is why the Chelsea manager should have shown a little more restraint. It is only silly argument I know, but if Fergie knows he can get Andre biting this early in the season wait to see what is thrown at him when we hit the business end of the campaign.

Manchester Utd 2 – Chelsea 0

LONDON, ENGLAND – It is widely believed that the end of the Premier League season will consist of Manchester Utd, Manchester City, Chelsea and one of Liverpool, Tottenham or Arsenal making up the top four. Out of the three scrapping for that final fourth spot it has been Liverpool have impressed the most with an exciting bunch of new signings playing open attacking football under boss Kenny Dalglish.

But as Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp prepares to take on the reds this weekend he says that although the new boys at Anfield have improved the team immensely this season, if he could choose one player from King Kenny’s squad it would be veteran Steven Gerrard without question.

“Kenny has spent a considerable sum of money since January . . . around £69million in total on Andy Carroll, Charlie Adam, Luis Suarez, Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Jose Enrique. Kenny knew money had to be spent on the team and in fairness he’s pulled in £50m for Fernando Torres, so it’s not bad business at all what he’s done,” said Redknapp in an article for Britain’s Sun newspaper.

“The money’s flying around at Anfield but I still say that the two most important players at that club are Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.

“Both have been there all their careers. Both are local boys, neither cost Liverpool a penny but both are priceless in their importance to Dalglish and Liverpool FC.

“Take Gerrard. And I would. If I were given a choice to pick one and one only from that squad to have with me at Tottenham, it would be him — followed closely by Carragher.

“Gerrard is a great character, a strong man. He has dug them out of trouble so many times, won so many games for them. So much so that even now he is indispensable. If I were England manager, if fit, Gerrard would be one of the first names in my squad list for next summer’s Euro 2012 finals should we qualify. You cannot overestimate his quality and effectiveness. Gerrard has been one of the best midfielders in the world for years, still is and can be for a few more years yet.”

Liverpool will still be without Gerrard as they try to get back to winning ways after a disappointing defeat against Stoke last week, while Spurs will bring back ten first teamers after a 0-0 draw with PAOK in the Europa Cup in midweek. For me Liverpool will have too much class and I expect a comfortable 2-0 win for the red men.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – The competition for places in the Manchester Utd team has arguably never been tougher. The Red Devils have spent a fortune this summer as they look to defend their Premier League title with the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool breathing down their necks. But while most of the new boys have slotted straight in to the system and have played some breathtaking football already there is one player that has struggled to settle in the hustle and bustle of life in the English Premier League.

18 million GBP goalkeeper David De Gea undoubtedly has talent. Great foot speed and agility makes him one of the best shot stoppers in the world but it his inability to be a dominant force in the penalty area that has many Utd fans worried and his 27 year old Danish understudy Ander Lindegaard rubbing his big gloved hands with glee.

“If you expect me to say I am happy to be No 2 that is not how it is. I am here because I want to be No 1. I have said a thousand times I am not here to pick my nose,” said Lindegaard after an impressive performance in Utd’s 1-1 draw with Benfica in the UEFA Champions League.

In contrast to De Gea’s hefty transfer fee Lindegaard only cost the Old Trafford club a measly 3.5 million GBP from Aalesunds, but the great Dane is still hopeful of emulating the achievements of his country man Peter Schmeichel. And despite being told that he will not play against Chelsea at the weekend Lindegaard still feels that the size of the transfer fee should have no bearing on who is picked to start between the posts.

“No, I don’t feel like that. But my opinion does not matter. The manager has proved he is the best manager in the world and I will always respect his decisions.”