I am convinced that I am experiencing a bout of Déjà Vu. Then again, I have that feeling every year.

From around July to mid August, I receive strange text messages from old friends proclaiming “This is our year” followed by the abbreviation YNWA.

On sporting websites and forums across the internet, delusional fans proclaim that this season will be different from the previous and that they will be covered in glory.

After countless seasons, I’m beginning to think that YNWA stands for You’ll Never Win Anything.

The latest pundit to become deluded is former United striker Teddy Sheringham.

“I’m going for Liverpool to win the title,” he told ZOO magazine.

“They looked so good at the end of last season and will be the team to beat.

“United fans won’t like me saying it, but it’ll be their year.”

In addition, the man who scored his most important goal against Bayern Munich to equalize in the 1999 Champions League final, tips Fernando Torres to be the league’s top scorer.

“I also think they’ll have the Prem’s top scorer in Fernando Torres,” he said.

“Benitez will play him in all the Premier League games because the title is so important to the Reds, whereas other clubs may rotate more.”

For me it’s very clear, the sale of Xabi Alonso has weakened Liverpool considerably and Alberto Aquilani has a reputation for being injury-pone.

Fernando Torres has had bouts of hamstring injuries and as we’ve learned with Ryan Giggs it can take years to learn how to cope.

I’m firmly with Fergie that Man Utd, as well as Chelsea will be the top two teams with Liverpool coming in third.

I just don’t see how deluded fans continually fail to see the weakness of Liverpool’s team and Rafael’s Benitez inability to rotate successfully.

26 year old Espanyol skipper Dani Jarque has died after his heart stopped following a pre-season training session in Coverciano, Italy on Saturday evening.

Club doctors and Italian paramedics from the Florence emergency services tried to revive Jarque, a product of the Espanyol youth system, but without success.

Jarque joins a somber list of notable footballers who have died of heart failure in recent years. In August 2007, 22 year old Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta died after collapsing during the opening game of the Spanish La Liga season. Shortly after that, Motherwell’s Phil O’Donnell died during an SPL game against Dundee United of left ventricular failure.

In 2003, Marc-Vivien Foe died during the Confederations Cup semi-final and 7 months later, Benfica’s Miklos Feher suffered cardiac arrest in a game against Vitoria.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family and loved ones of dani Jarque. My hope is that his soul will rest in peace and that his death might help sports scientists learn something new through his tragic passing, which will benefit athletes around the world.

A statement on the club’s official website read:

“Tragedy struck Espanyol and the family of Dani Jarque this evening. The blanquiazul player died from a cardiac arrest.

“The doctor Cervera carried out CPR on the player and used a defibrillator, which showed that the arrest was non responsive. “After a few minutes the first ambulance arrived from the Florence emergency services, who tried again with the defibrillator they carried.

“The medical services continued carrying out CPR, administering adrenaline and atropine for an hour, but the player’s heart did not react, so finally that determined his death.

“RCD Espanyol, broken with pain, wish to put themselves at the absolute disposition of the family of our captain Dani Jarque, to whom go our warmest thoughts.”

Espanyol, who had been due to play Bologna on Sunday, have suspended their pre-season tour of Italy and will fly back to Barcelona.

Jarque joined Espanyol at the age of 12, making his debut in 2002, and was handed the captaincy this summer.

Antonia Valencia’s MOTM performance sees off Valencia

Two second half goals from Wayne Rooney and Tom Cleverly handed Man Utd the victory against a spirited Valencia side in an entertaining encounter.

New signing Antonio Valencia impressed an Old trafford crowd of 71,000 on his home debut by putting in a Man of the Match performance that left the Spanish opposition exasperated.

Running the right flank like a seasoned pro, Valencia’s pace, ball-control, trickery, crossing, as well as willingness and ability to take on defenders was a pleasure to watch.

A beautiful second-half cross found Wayne Rooney, who headed home the ball exquisitely to give United the lead.

Another cross from Valencia shortly later caused mayhem in the Valenica penalty area and Tom Cleverly was on hand to take control of a loose ball before slotting home United’s second.

Rooney was equally impressive with his ball control, passing and strength, which would have please Fergie and England boss Fabio Capello, who was watching from the stands.

Michael Owen, however, did not do his England chances any favours by missing 4 good chances. Maybe the pressure of playing in front of Capello effected him, but I don’t see that as a good thing, because there will be many more presurizing situations coming up. Hopefully he will score when it matters.

Young defender Richie de Laet did very well at right back and didn’t look out of depth against a good Valencia side, which featured full internationals. A resent signing from Stoke, de Laet impressed against Hull in the last game of the season and carried on his good form last night. His pace, as well as tackling were the highlights of his game, but i was equally impressed with his composure. He has a lot of bottle.

Darron Gibson came on as a second-half substitute and rattled the cross bar with a fine effort. This guy keeps putting in encouraging performances and I believe he is going to become a better player than most fans suspect.

Valencia had several good chances, hitting the woodwork and forcing Tomasz Kuszczak into a fine save, but they just couldn’t convert his chances. David Silva came on as a sub in the second-half and did very well, forging chances for his team mate and forcing PIG into a save.

Here are the goals from the game:

First-half highlights:

Second-half highlights:

Manchester United received €37.8 m from UEFA

Although they were the losing finalists in the Champions League, English champions  Manchester United received almost €7 million more than eventual winners Barcelona in broadcasting and marketing revenue for the 2008-09 season, according to data released by UEFA.

€581.8 million was shared between 32 teams from UEFA’s revenue pool in European Football’s premier club football competition.

About €300 million is shared between all the teams based on their performance, and the remainder is weighted depending on the “value of each television market represented by the clubs taking part.”

According to the data from Europe’s ruling body for football, Manchester United  received €37.8 million whereas Barcelona received €31 million.

German side Bayern Munich were the second-highest earners, receiving  €34.6 million after reaching the quarter-final stage of the competition last season, because it was the only German team to qualify for the knockout stages.

Semi-finalists Chelsea received €30.5 million, the fourth-highest payout, with Italian champions Inter Milan the fifth-highest recipient receiving €28.5 million.

The data does not include match-day merchandise revenue or ticket sales, which are not part of the organisation’s central distribution to competing teams.

Man Utd fans might be able to enjoy Carlsberg without guilt

According to an interview in Forbes magazine, Danish brewer Carlsberg may not be extending their 17-year relationship with Liverpool FC.

The current deal between the two parties ends in mid-2010 and until July, Liverpool were not allowed to approach other potential sponsors due to an exclusivity clause in the contract.

Carlsberg chief executive Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen told the magazine:
“We will have a conclusion of a deal or not this year. But, like in every discussion, everything has a price, and we need to assess the alternatives.”

Stefan Szymanski, sports economist at the Cass Business School at City University in London, added: “If I were a brand, I wouldn’t want to be associated with a football team for so long, as you end up alienating supporters of rival teams. And advertisers don’t want their products to be permanently associated with just one team.”

Carlsberg has been the bin-dippers’ official sponsor since 1992, the longest partnership in the English Premier League.

I personally would welcome this development, as I think Carlsberg is a decent beer, but always order different beers, if available, so as to avoid ‘supporting’ Liverpool’s sponsor.

England’s future main custodian gets chance to prove himself

Man Utd goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is set to miss 8 weeks of action due to a broken thumb after injuring himself while saving a penalty from Bayern Munich’s Daniel Pranjic during the Audi Cup Final.

I usually don’t wish injury on any player – and I hope Edwin recovers as quickly as possible – but I can’t help feeling happy for Ben Foster. He’ll finally get a chance to get a good run of games under his belt and hopefully prove to Sir Alex that he can be Edwin’s long-term replacement.

After impressing at Watford where he was on loan, Foster has had mixed fortunes after returning to Old Trafford. Opportunities have been hard to come by, as Sir Alex was chasing silverware on all fronts and decided to use the more expereienced van der Sar. This meant less playing time for Foster and thus whenever he did get a chance to play, he was prone to make the odd clanger.

What Ben needs is a good run of games to build up his confidence and match sharpness and if he can get back to the form he displayed at Watford, Manchester United will have a very good keeper. And if he manages to improve on that form, we will have an excellent keeper.

Whighny mercenary keeps slipping down the slippery slope

Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez will not make his Man City debut until the start of the season, because of a heel injury, which he aggravated by slipping the shower.  The cash-chasing mercenary who has yet to play a single minute in the baby blue of Man Shitty, is set to miss all footballing action for the next two weeks, but City boss Mark Hughes believes Tevez should be fit for the season opener against Blackburn Rovers.

Hughes said: “We don’t think Carlos should play for his international team. We would prefer him to stay back next week. He hasn’t trained all pre-season. He had an injury from his last international and then he banged the same area when he slipped in the shower. He’ll be fine for the start of the season, but he’s still not able to put his full weight on it.’