"LAST summer saw a bit of an upheaval at Barcelona who got rid of some players including Ronaldinho and Deco as well as their Champions League winning manager Frank Rijkaard. Another player was also on the list to go ¿ their main striker Samuel Eto'o. He had been unhappy last season and it seemed that he was on his way out as well. In the end he stayed. And now he is enjoying a fantastic season having scored 13 goals so far ¿ and we are only in November!

Last weekend saw Eto'o on fire. He was magnificent in scoring four goals in the 6-0 victory over Valladolid. And he scored those four goals in the first half. Much of the praise must go to Lionel Messi who simply tore into the Valladolid defence and laid off some beautiful passes for Eto'o to get on the end of. But Eto'o is certainly one of the best strikers in the world and has been for some time now. His awareness is excellent ¿ he is thinking and anticipating much faster than the defender and he is so calm in front of goal.

Barca look to be back to playing their best football ¿ they have scored 34 goals in the first 10 league games this season ¿ that is a very good average per game. While everything is tight at the top of the table in Spain with Barca leading, just look at how they finished at the end of last season ¿ 18 points behind champions Real Madrid which must have really angered their passionate fans.

No manager gets a long time with a club these days ¿ certainly not like Alex Ferguson has had with Manchester United. After a few years it is usually time to move on and that is what Rijkaard did at the end of last season. But fair play to Barca ¿ they went to one of their own to replace the Dutchman.

Pep Guardiola was a huge favourite with Barca fans as a player and had begun his coaching career with significant successes with Barcelona's 'B' team. While some may have thought it risky to give him the main manager's job, it has worked out and you know he has the support of the fans.

Barca are also already into the last 16 of the Champions League with two games to spare.

While Ronaldinho left after an indifferent season, little Messi has just been getting better and better. I really do think he is the heir to Maradona. He plays just like him and has such fantastic skill. Just watching last weekend was truly inspiring with the way he took defenders on. And like all good combinations, Messi and Eto'o seem to work on the same wavelength. I remember Bobby Moore and Hurst combining not only at West ham but also with England especially in that 1966 World Cup final against germany. Hurst may have got the hat-trick but it was Moore who made those goals. Having players instinctively know what the other will do kills defenders.

And Messi and Eto'o are killing defenders this season.

***

TIGHT AT THE TOP

WHILE the top teams in England are already pulling away from the others, that is not the case in Italy ¿ or for that matter Germany.

The Italian league is remarkably tight so far this season. After 11 rounds, eight clubs are still within four points of the lead making the Serie A the most competitive major league in Europe.

Three-time defending champions Inter Milan lead with 24 points. AC Milan and Napoli are next with 23 points each, Lazio is on 22, Udinese and Juventus have 21 each and Genoa and Fiorentina are level with 20 points.

That is extremely competitive and I would like to see the Premiership get like that. It makes everything so much more exciting.

One person who probably would like to get back to England is Jose Mourinho who is in charge of Inter. I don't think he has made himself very popular in Italy. But I doubt he cares about that at all. He is one of those guys who you either love or can't stand and I don't think there is a lot of love for the Portuguese manager right now in Italy ¿ even by his own fans!

Last weekend when Inter finally scored a last minute goal against Udinese, Mourinho turned to the fans and put his finger to his lips shushing them ¿ and they were playing at home! Apparently the fans had been getting on his case but Inter are top of the league.

In Germany the top eight teams are separated by only six points while the Premier League and the Spanish league have a 12-point differential between first and eighth place and in France it's 10 points.

***

SPURS

Last weekend Spurs beat Manchester City 2-1 to keep their revival going under my mate Harry (Redknapp). And then this week in the League Cup Spurs beat Liverpool 4-2. As I have had said before, Harry is what I call a 'player's manager'. With the terrible start to the season they had it is remarkable at how quickly he has turned them around. Darren Bent has his confidence back and is scoring while Harry gave a chance to Fraizer Campbell against Liverpool and the on-loan young player from Manchester United scored twice along with new Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko.

Chelsea were given a real shock this week when lower-league Burnley went to Stamford Bridge and beat them on penalties. That is fantastic for a team like Burnley ¿ not many teams from anywhere can beat Chelsea never mind at home.

I have always said that foreign players sometimes do not realise what it is like when they come up against a lower-division English team. It is a war and probably not the prettiest football in the world but those lower teams fight like hell. You have to be ready for it.

In a very entertaining match Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-1 last weekend and the game was a credit to both teams. It was very open and attacking and the Gunners just happened to put their chances away while United didn't. I know Wayne Rooney must be regretting his miss when ideally placed.

I was unhappy when West Ham lost to Everton. We looked good for a large part of the game and seemed to have everything under control before three goals in about five minutes saw Everton take the three points. They have former United striker Saha to thank for that ¿ he has been class everywhere he has gone and is playing well for the Blues.

***

INTERNATIONALS

There are a number of international friendly matches next Wednesday and while you would think England taking on Germany in Berlin would be the top one to watch, I think Argentina playing Scotland will be the one everyone will be looking out for. And it is because Maradona will be leading his team for the first time as coach although there have been rumblings this week about Maradona quitting because of a dispute with the Argentine FA.

Maradona was only officially named as coach last week but now he is in a fight with Argentina FA boss Julio Grondona who does not approve of the choice of Oscar Ruggeri as an assistant coach. As far as I am concerned the head coach should have anyone he wants as his assistant and if Maradona doesn't get his way I can see him walking. We will have to wait and see.

Another good match should be Portugal against Brazil. Hopefully we will see some of these matches on TV.