Arsenal suffer humiliation in MilanSo English football is having something of an annus horribilis in Europe.

Two teams knocked out of the Champions League group stage, only one successfully negotiating the Europa League groups, and now Arsenal's 4-0 drubbing in Milan.

The demise of Manchesters United and City from the Champions League group stage was portrayed as a major setback. Arsenal's defeat was an embarrassment.

Now our hopes lie with a Chelsea team that reports claim is openly at war with itself  - if they fail to reach the quarter-finals it will be time to hit the panic button.

Our national pride will lie in tatters.

Matt Jarvis trains with EnglandAt Murrayfield on Saturday, England's rugby team were led out by a 25-year-old with only one previous cap to his name. A player with an excellent record in domestic competitions but never previously thought ready to make the step up.

Chris Robshaw's England beat Scotland 13-6.

What do you think are the chances of England's footballers taking the field against France in Donetsk on June 11 with Matt Jarvis wearing the hallowed armband?

For the Wolves winger is football's answer to Robshaw: 25, capped once, and routinely excellent in the Premier League.

Jarvis, obviously, will not be England

Kenny Dalglish celebrates Liverpool's Carling Cup semi-final victory (Reuters)Faith can be a very powerful thing.

If you believe something is going to happen, it becomes more likely that it will - even if your belief has no concrete foundation.

This is apparent in the placebo effect, which means sugar pills and saltwater injections have been clinically proven to alleviate symptoms of illness, simply because the people taking them believe in them.

Faith works. Just look at the extraordinary tale of Tim Tebow, a devoutly-Christian NFL quarterback whose apparent lack of basic skills have proved no match for an iron conviction that he will win.

The wildly unorthodox Tebow

Mark Hughes at Fulham

In appointing Mark Hughes as their new manager, QPR have given themselves a major boost in their battle against relegation.

Neil Warnock may count himself unlucky to be sacked, with his club still outside the bottom three the season after a spectacular promotion campaign.

As Warnock pointed out, Tony Fernandes's takeover of the club, on August 18, did not give the manager enough time to bring in new players, while many of his preferred targets had already gone elsewhere.

Warnock said on Tuesday: "Will a new manager make a difference? Not as much as new players will.

"If you haven't got the

To the casual observer, Manchester United's struggles this season might suggest they are getting weaker.

However, that would apparently be a deeply simplistic and naïve interpretation.

The consensus among the pundits and rival managers is not that United are getting worse - everyone else is getting stronger.

Take their back-to-back defeats over the New Year - including a shocking home loss to a side that were 28/1 shots at kick-off.

Blackburn's win at Old Trafford was greeted as proof positive that the Premier League's competitive balance remains alive and well.

If the worst team in the league

David Silva: Making Armchair Pundit look halfway competentOn August 5, I made a bunch of predictions for the upcoming Premier League season.

As we reach the campaign's midpoint, it is time to take a look at how I am doing so far.

- - -

Prediction: Champions - Manchester United

What I wrote: 'Manchester City might have brought down the '35 years' banner but they still exude a faint air of desperation.

Second: Manchester City, Third: Liverpool, Fourth: Chelsea.'

How it looks now: Not great. Desperation has turned to supreme confidence and City are odds-on to convert their exceptional start into a first league title since 1968. United remain the closest

Often a result doesn't tell the whole story.

Manchester City lost a Premier League game for the first
time this season, but have every reason to feel confident of lifting the title.

They can take heart from their performance in last night's
2-1 defeat at Chelsea, particularly in an excellent first half.

That's not to say they merited a win - more often than not
in football you get what you deserve, and what they got was nothing.

Yes they should have had a penalty, but otherwise City's
wounds were self-inflicted, through a failure to press home their early
advantage and a brainless sending-off.

It might have been a bad season for English clubs in Europe,
but nobody expected this.

Having been handed one of the easiest groups in Champions
League history, Manchester United somehow contrived to win none out four
against Benfica and Basel.

Manchester City's exit, ousted by Bayern Munich and Napoli, is
poor but understandable. United's is completely inexcusable.

Their punishment is a Thursday night date with the Europa
League, a competition Patrice Evra has already declared himself
"embarrassed" to be a part of.

So what happened?

Complacency

United always seem to get a favourable draw, and