It's gonna get Messi

Ok it's a terrible pun to open with but it could well be true. Everything is set for Lionel Messi to have a big impact at this summer's World Cup (well everything but the Argentine coach)

Messi is player named FIFA Player of the year before the age of 22 and has already broken all sorts of records at his club Barcelona since joining them as a youngster in 2000. At 17 years and 114 days old he made his league debut for Barca' in the 'o5-'06 season and since then he has only got better with each passing year.

And it is in the last couple of years that he has really begun to push on and become the talismanic leader of his club operating often as part of a fluid three man attack. In the season just gone he netted 47 times in 53 appearances and pretty much dismissed Arsenal in the Champions league by himself as he torn the Gunners apart.

Quick, full of trickery and with the ability to pick out killer passes alongside a high level of shooting ability Messi does seem to have it all. But yet it's fair to say despite his excellent recent form he can still be prone to letting himself be marked out of a game (see the Champions Leagues semi final games against Inter) and this that lead to a underwhelming world cup, epically since Maradona's chosen formation doesn't lend itself to Messi's strengths asking him to play deeper down the field.

Still the big players rise to the big occasions and this little man is a big player.

Brazil, Airport, old school Ronaldo. Classic

A classic World Cup advert, full of the joy of the beautiful game.

The Drog

With the World Cup fast approaching lets take a look at some of the players who may prove to be the stars of the tournament. First up it's Didier "The Drog" Drogba.

When Drogba first arrived at Chelsea in July 2004 for a fee of £24m it was fair to say that many asked if he was worth that price. Indeed at first it was hard to see anything special about the man from the Ivory Coast.

But after two solid if not outstanding seasons Drogba's third campaign for Chelsea in the '06/'07 saw him score 33 goals in all competitions and finish two scorer in the league. He'd begun to show what he could do with his combination of pace and power; quick to the ball and almost impossible to force off it once he had under control.

A couple of quieter seasons followed as Drogba felt the loss of Mourinho from the club more the most and fell foul to ongoing injury concerns the season after. However in this last season he has once gain regained form and terrorised opponents with a goal haul of 37 in all with an impressive 29 in the league to once again take the Golden Boot.

Yes, he can be petulant and moody (as demonstrated by on his on pitch tantrums and occasional mad moments like that against Barca) but on his day and on his game he appears to be simply unplayable for opponents, able to simply brute force his way to goal, hit screamers from distance (see those FA cup final efforts this year) or trick his way through.

But crucially he is more than a goal scorer, his ability to hold the ball and bring teammates into play can prove vital in close games. It's telling that if you tell people they can have one out of Drogba, Rooney or Torres in their team I find most people will pick the twice African Footballer of the year.

Ivory Coast have a number of good players but if they are to make real progress it will be Drogba that will be the fulcrum and it's his passion that might well steer them through Group G's 'group of death'.

Where The Wild Things Are

Spike Jonze's take on Maurice Sendak's classic children's book is his first film since 2002's Adaptation and the seven year wait was worth it.

Sendak's book contains very little actual prose and the question was always about how successfully it could be transferred into the feature film format. Well, it's been done well by fleshing out each of the Wild Things a little than in the book as we follow Max on his adventure to meet them.

Undoubtedly some will criticise the lack of firm plotting in the film once Max meets the family of creatures. But this is a film all about how it feels to be a child; the frustration, the excitement, the fun, the confusion. About how it is to deal with emotions from yourself and others that you don't quite yet really understand.

In the respect it's a sensory film and Jonze along with cinematographer Lance Acord bring a lovely dream like quality to the film (the trailer goes you a strong sense of it). Taking full advantage of flickering fires, the glow of dusk and worlds both big and small (Carol's model village is used wonderfully at least a couple of times).

Plus of course the Wild Things themselves are realised brilliantly with a combination of practical effects and digital effects each one is both believable as strange creature and importantly as a person.

Something which helps the audience invest in them along with a strong voice cast; James Gandolfini and Lauren Ambrose in particular stand out as lead creature Carol and KW respectively.

Away from the creatures, Max Records is naturalistic as Max in the main role and the ever excellent Catherine Keener very nearly has the moment of the film as the relief and love come flooding to her face as her boy comes back home.

Suffice to say I loved this film and it fell into the rare category of films that I immediately wanted to watch again as soon as it finished.

And on a side note..working with dogs is hard.

Trailer Of The Day : Inception

Christopher "I made The Dark Knight" Nolan returns with another hard scratching epic with a rock solid cast in tow; Leo DiCaprio,Joesph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Micheal Caine.

Looks epic, looks weird. Colour me excited.

Get Out Of There!!!!

More randomness from the internet...

Capello picks his men*

*well, some of them will be sent home and some of them might well break down first.

Yep, today Fabio named his provisional 30 man party, which will be whittled down to 23 names who will take part in the summer's World Cup. And here there are:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham).

No real surprises here, expect James to start against the USA with Green as the first choice backup. Hart has had a good, a very good season but his youth works against him on the international stage and one's very much one for the future.

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa).

The story here is that Carragher has been persuaded to return to play back up right back, which is why he quit this lark in the first place. King was a shoe in after proving his fitness in the last few fixtures of the season and it seems Fabio has been tracking him and talking to the Spurs physios all year. Hopefully Terry will have stopped being an idiot by July (small hope I know) and Rio's back doesn't fall apart like dry Playdo. Still at least Cashley Cole is one of the best in his position out there (as much as I hate to admit it) , the less said about Johnson defensive awareness the better however.

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Scott Parker (West Ham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City).

Huddlestone's inclusion is a bit of surprise and it seems he's waiting in the wings to take Barry's place if he fails to pass a fitness test at the end of the month. Lennon, Walcott, Johnson and Wright-Phillips mean there is plenty of pace in the side and we might even get some proper 'old fashioned' wing play. If miracles happen Gerrard and Lampard will suddenly, finally, learn how to play well together for a whole match at a time.

Forwards: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

So happy to see Bent get a nod to at least join the initial squad. You have to be in good form to score than often for Sunderland. Sadly I fear he may be the one to lose out since Fabio has a strange fixation with Emile "Goal Machine" Heskey.

If the squad stays fit and they can build momentum in the early games then they could fail heroically in the semi-finals, as all English men should. But if I could wish for a dream end to the World Cup it will be for Crouch to score a last minute World Cup final winner and immediately proceed to do the robot watched by about one billion people.

C'mon Crouchy!