News and notes

Just some quick up-dates. I think again we were right on the money about when we told you it would be a long shot for Ghana star midfielder Michael Essien to make the World Cup after he sustained a knee that required two surgeries post-initial operation to clean out an infection.

Well unfortunately for Ghana, the Black Stars, and the World Cup we will not see the Chelsea midfielder play in South Africa. The news came out two days ago that a medical exam showed he was not making enough progress and now the worst fears have come to fruition, Essien is out.

We've mentioned many times before, it's tough not to over-state, but Essien is one of the most underrated players in the world and probably a top-10 talent. Without Essien, Chelsea struggled mightily in the Champions League and after building up a big lead in the first half of the English Premier League campaign nearly blew it in the second half with Manchester United biting at their heels.

Essien is a rare midfielder with the ability to be dominant in every phase of the game tracking back defensively and often drawing teams most lethal midfielding talent, and at the same with the capability to unleash thunderous strikes from 35-plus yards out. He will be missed...

Germany had some quick news and notes naming star Bayern Munich right back Philipp Lahm as his captain and Schalke goalie Manuel Neuer his first team keeper.

Neither to me is a big surprise. Lahm has been a steadfast contributor to Der Meinschaft dating back to the 2002 World Cup when der Deuschland made it to the final and was an obvious choice to replace injured captain Michael Ballack as the captain at the World Cup.

Neuer was really the best option for Germany once Rene Adler went out with an injury.

I had been meaning to throw this in here for a while, so I will mention it now, the 2010 German team - which I love by the way - is going to be Bastian Schweinsteiger's team. If you saw the way he played at Bayern Munich for much of the season, you would know and understand that he really was going to be the creative midfielding role that Ballack played for Germany in past World Cups.

To me he would have been the better choice as a captain because he is a year younger and probably has to be Germany's best and most vocal player on the pitch for the Black Eagles to succeed.

Schweinsteiger, who has played primarily the outside wing role for Germany, was now ready to move inside just like he did at Munich when the arrival of Arjen Robben complimented Franck Ribery. Germany have plenty of outside middy candidates in Marko Marin, Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller, Piotr Trochowski, and a few others.

Yes Ballack would have gone forward and been a threat on set pieces, but his primary role at Chelsea for the past couple of season has been to as a holding midfielder playing behind Frank Lampard. He was not as unreplaceable as some people in the German camp have said because of Schweinsteiger.