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With the new football season still a few weeks away many could be forgiven for thinking that there’s hardly enough sporting action to get the pulse racing. Call us sports-crazy but we think there’s more than enough adrenaline pumping, nail-biting, gut-wrenching, top quality action this weekend and we’ve got all the betting markets you’ll need to prove it. How’s this for a taster?

ARSENAL INS: Aaron Ramsey (Cardiff - Undisclosed), Alexander Hleb (Barcelona - £11.8M) OUTS: Mathieu Flamini (AC Milan - Free), Jens Lehmann (Stuttgart - Free) Arsenal finally completed the signing of French international Samir Nasri this week for an undisclosed fee. He will go some way to replacing the void left by Alexander Hleb who signed for Barcelona on Wednesday. Meanwhile, veteran Gilberto Silva is on the verge of joining Greek side Panathinaikos.

The most naturally gifted tennis player to pick up a racquet is in the last 4 of Wimbledon. No, not him. Or him. Marat Safin, come on down. This god of a human being was 350-1 at the start of the tournament and is still value at 22/1 to win it. Federer next, then Nadal. Who are these clowns?What have they ever achieved?

Federer and Nadal are both susceptible if they have an off-day. It is of course highly unlikely they will have an off day in the last four of Wimbledon however. That’s where Marat Safin comes in. He is capable of beating either of them when they’re on their ‘A’ game. Of course we have a number of free online bets on all tennis matches. He is also capable of losing to a 4-yr-old girl over 5 sets. That’s the beauty of the man.

He’s won two Grand Slams. In the US Open, he beat Pete Sampras (who everyone thought was invincible at the time) in straight sets in the final. Five years later, he won the Australian Open. In the semi-final, he beat a man who was on a 26-match winning streak against top 10 players (who everyone thought was invincible at the time). Who was it? Roger Federer.
Safin is made for grass, with his huge frame and natural serve-volley ability, but he says he hates it. He won’t hate it on Sunday when he’s crowned Wimbledon Champion. We’ll finish with some quotes from the great man:

Safin on domestic duties: “I have an empty refrigerator and I have nobody to cook for me, so I go to restaurants. Me cooking? No idea. Me washing clothes? No idea.”
On school: “I wasn’t a genius and I wasn’t stupid. Sometimes I cheated in exams. We all do.”
And, finally, refuting claims that he’s a troubled soul comprehensively and conclusively: ' I’m not fighting with myself. That’s how I am. You know the story of the hippo? The hippo comes to the monkey and says “listen, I’m not a hippo”. So he paints himself like a zebra, but the monkey tells him he’s still a hippo. So then he says, “I want to be a little parrot.” So he puts the colours on him and comes to the monkey, who tells him he’s still a hippo. So in the end, you know, he says he’s happy to be a hippo. This is who I am. I have to be who I am and I’m happy being a hippo'.
Wise words from the great man, wise words.

If you think the above is a load of nonsense, there’s every chance you’re right. But everybody wrote off a certain wildcard in 2001 by the name of Goran Ivanisevic.

A spectacular Euro 2008 came to an end last weekend and Spain signalled a change in Tournament football which, we hope, is here to stay. In contrast to the dour World Cup knock-out matches we were forced to endure two years ago Europe put on a show.

The last four were a far cry from the predictable negative-thinking formations which have plagued football over recent years. Turkey were absolutely superb and deserved a place in the final. They were Euro 2008’s Rocky Balboa- they came straight ahead, were great to watch and did not know when they were beaten. When Slaven Bilic leapt on to the pitch in celebration following Croatia’s last minute “winner” the gods of karmic retribution got to work- and Turkey got up from the canvas to deliver one more knock-out punch. If Nihat- who produced the tournament’s best finish in the dying moments against the Czechs- was on the pitch, they’d have made the final.

As soon as Arshavin served his suspension Russia were simply awesome. They outclassed Sweden and outplayed Holland - who had outplayed everyone else - before they hit the wall against the Spaniards. Pavlyuchenko was class throughout and Zhirkov was refreshingly ambitious for a right-back. Watching them dismantle the hitherto brilliant Dutch was an exhibition of Guus Hiddink’s managerial brilliance. Having a Russian spy in the Orange camp was simply too much for them.

Germany were simply Germany. Again, they had a straightforward-looking route to the Final, (England had a straightforward-looking qualifying group) but they did enough to get there. The highlight was a superbly attacking display against Portugal. Ballack’s net-busting free-kick against Austria is still just passing Mars but Croatia were on another planet when they smashed them in the group stages. Considering Germany carried some truly awful players with them to the final- Gomez, Kuranyi, Metzelder- to come out as runners-up is a testament to mental fortitude over natural ability.

Spain were the best team in the tournament and deserved winners. David Villa’s destruction of Russia and his finish to see off the Swedes earned him the golden boot but Fernando Torres came good at just the right time. With no particular height or strength in the side, it was a victory for craft, skill and vision- a victory for football. Of course we had a huge list of free bets on the game. With Senna guarding the back four superbly, the embarrassingly-talented midfield was allowed to run the show- and what a show they put on. Xavi and Iniesta were superb and Fabregas was the best substitute since Roger Milla.

Three of the last four had virtually no physicality or route-one dimensions to their game and the other one was Germany (and Germany will always be Germany). As for the other sides, Italy proved that lumping it up top to a bungling Frankenstein of a striker (Luca Toni) won’t get you very far. It’s all well-and-good having 25 chances to score, but if you have a 50 pence-piece for a head, two left feet and a complete inability to run, you’re not getting very far. France were dreadful. DREADFUL. Holland played some truly outstanding stuff and Schneider’s goal against Italy was as good a counter-attacking goal as you will ever see.

It has to be said that Austria and Switzerland qualifying automatically was a shambles and it’s something UEFA need to be looking at. Had Scotland and Northern Ireland (who beat France and Spain respectively in the groups don’t forget) played instead, it could’ve been even better. Make the hosts qualify from now on. (England thoroughly deserved to stay at home of course).
Hopefully, Euro 2008 will be the catalyst for free-flowing, attacking, passing football. It will certainly be remembered as a wonderful spectacle. What a crying shame England didn’t get there