It begins?

With the World Cup not even cold yet, has the fantasy Premier League season begun?  Or at the very least, is it time to turn our attention to the League and the team's pre-season preparations?

[Roman Pavlyuchenko] stole the show with a superb second-half display, scoring twice and creating another goal as Harry Redknapp's Champions League hopefuls turned the screw after the break.

Jonathan Obika netted the only goal of the first half. The youngster profited from a mix-up in the Bournemouth defence and rolled the ball into an unguarded net after 36 minutes.

Andros Townsend set-up Pavlyuchenko to make it 2-0 before the two players combined again soon afterwards to create an opening for Danny Rose to score.

Pavlyuchenko completed the scoring with a deft lob after latching on to a long throughball.

In the same match, however:

[David Bentley] was forced off during Spurs' 4-0 win in the pre-season friendly at Bournemouth on Saturday and scans revealed Bentley had damaged right ankle ligaments.

A short statement on the club's official website confirmed Bentley would miss the tour of the USA to receive further treatment at Spurs Lodge.

Meanwhile, it's all happening at Liverpool.

• Torres' groin injury could keep him out for two months
• Insua is in talks over a move to Fiorentina
• Lucas could be on his way to Palermo

If 'arry Redknapp had been named the new boss at Liverpool we'd already be hearing about how they were down to bare bones.  And while I guess this could just be a case of "sell before you buy" for Hodgson, he will have to buy, buy quickly, and buy well.