Photo by _ankor

On the face of it, Mario Balotelli is exactly the type of player I, as a thoroughbred American sports fan, should hate: an aloof, cold, joyless sourpuss who even at twenty years old possesses the trappings of a career mercenary.  When Super Mario scores, he celebrates with the excitement one expresses when their doctor starts throwing around words like “terminal” or “malignant” or “herpes.”

He can be both inscrutable and excessively candid, as evidenced by his incredibly honest assessment of his first season in England after turning in a Man of the Match performance which lifted Manchester City to its first grip on hardware in forty painful years.  His talent is as limitless as his ability to shock and offend stodgy football pundits who took no time in branding him an embarrassment to the sport after an audacious (understatement)…perhaps woefully misguided (closer)…OK borderline psychotic (BINGO) backheel shot attempt during a preseason friendly which did not hit the target.

Taylor Twellman’s comments on ESPN’s broadcast immediately smacked me as remiscient of Joe Buck’s infamous righteous indignation at Randy Moss’ pantomooning Packers fans after scoring a touchdown in a playoff game.  Twellman stated that Mario was a disgrace and could not be counted on to perform in big games.  This is funny for a few reasons, not least of which is Twellman’s residency on American soccer’s own Buffalo Bills, losing several title games including one at home in New England.  Balotelli’s FA Cup winner’s medal and youth fly directly in the face of Twellman’s criticism, and his implication that a truly meaningless match against the LA Galaxy has any bearing on Balotelli’s ability to perform in the EPL as well as the Champions League this season or any other season is laughable at best.

For my money, sports need real characters, especially villains to balance all the hero worship, and I’d always rather my villain perpetrate his villainy on the field (Reggie Miller) as opposed to off (Mike Tyson, Ray Lewis, Michael Vick), and at the very least mostly non-violently (Dennis Rodman).  The history of professional sports is littered with brash, cocky upstarts who challenge preconceived notions of how an athlete should behave: from Muhammad Ali to Joe Namath, Pete Rose (not a great example) all the way up to Gazza or Eric Cantona.

And while I can’t really wrap my head around or speak with any authority about being African-born nor raised in Italy by Italians, the combination has undoubtedly created a highly entertaining and intriguing brand of crazy/genius.  His blowup on the sidelines at Roberto Mancini, while inappropriately public, can be seen more as a father/son type clash as opposed to just another simple tale of a spoiled athlete throwing a tantrum (see Owens, Terrell).  After being marginalized at Inter Milan by Jose Mourinho, Balotelli elected to leave for City to follow Mancini, a man he regards as a father figure.  Additionally, if he really believed he had been whistled for offsides anyway, than the criticism of Balotelli becomes even thinner, and his indignation at being swiftly substituted makes much more sense.  However, even as an ardent Balotelli fan, I’m not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt in this case, either.

The issue that most people lose sight of is one of our absolute favorite aspects and joys of football: talking about football.  If nothing else, Balotelli is an excellent topic of football conversation.  He is a genuine heel in a world of purported babyfaces.  The scandals regarding personal conduct in the EPL, especially those involving locker room betrayal, can no longer remain hidden despite the best PR efforts.  Captains of championship teams ought to be revered, yet equally shameless and shameful actions can’t completely sway public opinions far enough to say, “This guy is just a bad person.”  It really is a shame when a player we just don’t understand is demonized when there are no shortage of plain terrible human beings plying their trade in the EPL (see FC, Chelsea).

At just twenty-one years old when this year’s campaign begins, his eccentricities have a decade to bloom, and for my part I cannot wait to see what Super Mario’s future holds.

Photo by ahisgett

Before we all look forward to the new season and what it promises us, I’ve decided to take a look back at West Brom’s remarkable finish to last season’s campaign, in which they picked up 14 points out of an available 24 from their last six matches to guarantee another year in England’s Premier League.

West Brom started the season at the foot of the table, but by the end of it, they had managed to finish 11th, the Baggies’ best finish to a campaign in almost thirty years (they had ended the 1982/83 campaign in 11th also). It was a phenomenal achievement considering it was their return to the top-flight, having bounced straight back up from the Championship, and it consolidated their status as England’s premier ‘yo-yo’ club. Between 2002 and 2010, they were promoted to England’s top tier four times and relegated back to the Championship three times, with 2011 being the first year since 1999 that they were not involved in either a promotion or a relegation battle. It was a refreshing sight to see West Brom perform so well last season, at times challenging for Europe, and it’s one that will live long in the memories of die-hard Baggies fans. They saw them claim hard-earned but deserved victories over top sides such as Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, as well as doing the double over Merseysiders Everton, with an aggregate score of 5-1 to accomodate their impressive performances.

Manager Roberto Di Matteo prepared for their return to the Premier League by snapping up eleven players – some who had previous experience in the Premier League, some not – with transfer fees accumulating to £3.3m (excluding the 5 undisclosed fee’s paid for further players). One of these players took to his first season in English football like a duck to water. It was Nigerian international Peter Odemwingie, who had previously played for Lille and more recently Lokomotiv Moscow, before sealing a move to the Midlands in mid August. Odemwingie competed in his first game for the Baggies just a day after his arrival and by the end of the game, he had already won over the hearts of the West Brom faithful with a neat finish (and winner) ten minutes from time. Little did they know that Peter Odemwingie would later go on to break their record for most goals in a league campaign, amassing a grand total of 15 goals from just 32 games, breaking the previous record set by Robert Earnshaw (11) in the 2004/05 season. This feat by Peter was rewarded by Australian confectionary business owner and Albion fan Spencer Samaroo, who had promised Peter — should he score 15 goals — that he’d shower him with a hamper of Australia’s finest chocolates.

The results those first few weeks upon the Baggies’ return were magnificent, with the small exception of a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Chelsea the opening weekend. After that defeat, they lost only once in the subsequent eleven games, including remarkable victories over Manchester City and Arsenal in successive games. At the end of October, they were sitting pretty, happily occupying a Europa League place. Yes, it may have been beyond belief but this wasn’t neccesarilly an act of disillusion to West Brom supporters. For god sake, they beat Arsenal and Manchester City! Only Aston Villa and Manchester United managed to repeat that feat.

That defeat to Blackpool signalled a terrible run as they only picked up two wins in the following thirteen games. And how did they end this horrible form? With a coincidental home win over Blackpool of course, followed by an even more coincidental winless streak of six further games. However, it was during that first ill-fated run that saw West Brom relieve Roberto Di Matteo of his duties and appoint Roy Hodgson as boss until the end of the 2011/12 campaign. The move itself was a perilous one, considering the Brit had led Liverpool down a dark path the first half of the season, but all was forgotten by the time he took over the reins at the Hawthorns. His first game resulted in a 1-1 draw with fellow relegation contenders Wolverhampton Wanderers and followed that up with another score draw against Tony Pulis’ Stoke. He then led the Baggies to a well-deserved win away to Birmingham, a draw with Arsenal and yet another victory over his previous employers, Liverpool. West Brom were once again on the up and by the middle of April they were coasting, lying in 11th and 6 points clear of nearest relegation strugglers Blackpool. Copious amounts of praise were heaped on Roy Hodgson and the team and by the time May rolled around they were practically guaranteed of survival. A phenomenal job was achieved by Hodgson and it seemed that he was finally the one to get the best of this bunch of players.

PASSES

As the above diagram shows, West Brom’s passing completion was one of the main reasons why they finished in such a high position. Their 78% was among one of the best in the Premier League, behind only Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham. They finished above the likes of Liverpool and Newcastle, who could only manage 77% and 76% respectively. Jerome Thomas was one of the Baggies’ most successful passers of the ball. He managed to find a teammate in 730 of his 930 attempted passes – a 78% success rate. Youssuf Mulumbu, West Brom’s most successful passer, completed 1352 of his 1612 attempted passes – a whopping 84% success rate and among the best in the Premier League, matching that of Tottenham’s Luka Modric and Jack Wilshere and bettering the efforts of Cesc Fabregas, Joey Barton and Charlie Adam. Surprisingly enough West Brom were also one of the highest scoring teams in last years campaign – in at 7th, netting 56 goals, which was above the likes of Tottenham, Everton and even Blackpool. This was partially down to West Brom’s magnificent successful final third passes in which they completed 2318 of the attempted 3469 passes (67%). This landed them in 5th, shared with Spurs, and only below the new ‘big four’ (Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea – in that order). Mulumbu again led the way for the Baggies as his 72% was one of the best among the team.

Click image for larger view.

West Brom’s Chris Brunt was also one of the top 10 passers in the Premier League last season as shown by the table above. Brunt mainly operated on the right of the Baggies midfield and had featured heavily in the ‘Key Passes’ section, averaging a brilliant 2.53 key passes per game. Brunt also came in 3rd in the ‘Total Key Passes” area where he only ranked behind Chelsea’s Florent Malouda and Bolton’s Kevin Davies. Being above the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Steven Gerrard and Rafael Van Der Vaart demonstrated his importance to the Albion team.

Brunt, often the creative hub behind the West Brom team, also racked up 9 assists, levelling that of Joey Barton and only lagging behind Nani and  Cesc Fabregas, who finished on 14 on 11 respectively. Brunt often likes shooting from distance and it shows here as his Shots p/g (per game) is among the top three in the table. He almost doubles Joey Barton’s efforts who averaged a merely 1.1 per game. Brunt’s 40 passes per game was bettered only by Youssuf Mulumbu for the Baggies (47), yet another example of his significant importance to the side. He also created the third most scoring chances (86) in the Premier League last season, coming behind only (again) Florent Malouda (117) and Kevin Davies (91).

GOALS

West Brom scored 56 goals in all last season in the Premier League and they depended heavily on newly-acquired striker Peter Odemwingie to bang in the goals. His 15 goals (27% of the teams goals in all) were a significant factor in why they finished so high in the league last term. Of Odemwingie’s 15 league goals, he scored 7 with his left-foot, demonstrating his versatility as a two-footed player. The closest Baggies goalscorer to Nigerian was again the magnificent Youssuf Mulumbu, who managed to bag 7 in 34 appearances. The closest Albion forward to Odemwingie in scoring terms was Frenchman Marc-Antonie Fortuné who scored just 2 goals in 14 appearances (and 11 as a sub) and the on-loan Arsenal man Carlos Vela who netted impressively twice in 3 appearances (5 as a sub). Odemwingie’s creativity was also on display as he assisted in 7 of West Brom’s goals last season, only behind Chris Brunt who finished on 9.

DEFENSE

With Scott Carson having left for Bursaspor, Welshman Boaz Myhill now has the chance to consolidate his place among the starting XI. Last season Carson’s form became riddled with errors (5 errors leading to goals in 32 appearances) and questions were raised over whether he was actually fit to continue as keeper. Boaz Myhill began 6 games for the Baggies last season and conceded 13 goals – 5 of them from outside the box. He made no defensive errors and also carried out 10 saves. The former Hull City Player of the Year is a more than capable replacement for Carson and with Hodgson yet to purchase a new keeper, Myhill looks set to begin the campaign between the sticks.

Next season the West Brom defence also needs to pay particular attention to set-pieces as they conceded the most goals from set-pieces (30) in the League last season.  The Albion back-four shifted 71 goals last term, boasting the worst defence in the Premier League. Youssuf Mulumbu was also top of the charts – but this time for all the wrong reasons – as he was sent off twice, nestling in at the top of the table, with the likes of Lee Cattermole and Laurent Koscielny.

Photo by Jan S0L0

When Mesut Ozil joined Real Madrid this past summer, some wondered who he was and where he had come from, especially considering his dazzling performances in South Africa.

Mesut Ozil was born 15th October 1988 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. He quickly established himself as a key player to the Gelsenkirchen team and he continued to play for an array of teams until Schalke 04 came knocking. He grasped the opportunity with both hands and joined them in 2005 when he was only 17. He originally came in as a replacement for the suspended Lincoln and excelled against Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich. His talent was extraordinary and he was immediately asserted into the first team.

Unfortunately he fell out with the club staff at Schalke and in January 2008 he moved to Werder Bremen for a reported fee of €4.3 million, signing a 3 year contract. He was the ideal replacement for Brazilian Diego who had departed Bremen to join Serie A big guns Juventus. He didn’t get much playing time in that first season due to arriving in the January transfer window but in his second season he impressed, helping Werder to the last ever UEFA Cup as they eventually lost out to Shakhtar Donetsk. He continued to impress and by the end of his second season he had grabbed an impressive 3 goals and 15 assists as he was proving to be a real hit with the fans. His third and final season at Werder Bremen was what got him noticed on the international scene as he sensationally scored 9 goals and provided 21 assists in 31 appearances.

He was chosen for the German national side to contest at the U-21 European Championships and he was key to their success leading them to victory at the final over England 4-0. He was rapidly evolving as an outstanding individual player and within 2 years he was contesting for the national side. The German U-21 coach Horst Hrubesch paid tribute to Ozil and he was famously quoted to have said, “We in Germany are prone to rave about foreign players. We praise Wayne Rooney to the heavens, likewise (Cristiano) Ronaldo or Messi. But we have our own Messi. Our Messi is Ozil.”

It was at the World Cup 2010 at which he marked his territory and became a household name. He continually performed miraculously as he helped Germany in finishing third. He featured in all of Germany’s group games and even scored a fantastic volley to secure a 1-0 win over Ghana. He was again instrumental in the Germans demolition of struggling England as he provided the cross of Thomas Muller to round off an inspirational 4-1 win over the English. He received endless praise for his World Cup displays and he was shortlisted for the ‘Golden Ball’ award at the World Cup and he was also shortlisted as a nominee for the Ballon D’or.

After the World Cup he attracted global media attention as people were debating where he would go next. He decided to move to Real Madrid ignoring the pleas from Manchester United and Chelsea. In 16 appearances so far in La Liga (as of 12th December 2010) for the Galactico’s, Ozil boasts 4 goals and 6 assists to his name.

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Match Of The Year

Tottenham 3-1 Inter Milan

What a bloody match. As debutants of the world’s finest European competition, Spurs were paired with last years champions Inter Milan, FC Twente and Werder Bremen. They were not expected to progress from the group. But, as we have come to learn since September, Spurs can take on anyone on their day and they defied the odds to top their group, only losing once in the process.

This match was the return fixture of that fateful night at the San Siro, with the presence of a certain Mr Bale earning credibility for Spurs. Bale was again phenomenal in this match at White Hart Lane, setting up two and starring in a rather marvelous performance to beat Inter Milan.

Player Of The Year

Florent Malouda

I was forced to think long and hard about this one. On one hand we had the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi, etc. who perform superbly year in, year out. Then we have the players who have really come on as their own, and I decided to go with the latter, since the others have received huge amounts of praise over the years.

Malouda had not really established himself come 2009 and that was a big year for him. He proved to be a massive hit with the fans upon his arrival from Lyon. Last season he finished with a fine goal to assist ratio, netting 16 and assisting 14. Prior to January 2010 he had not been such a success, but hard work finally paid off when he helped Chelsea to a Premier League and FA Cup double, finally regaining what was rightfully theirs, following a tight campaign with arch rivals Manchester United.

Goal Of The Year

Matty Burrows – Glentoran

Irish football goes relatively unnoticed these days but one goal changed it all back in October. In a match between Glentoran and Portadown, the home side were continually pushing for an equaliser, and in the 92nd minute they scored what proved to be football’s goal of the year. The extent of the goal was exquisite. A cross was delivered for Matt Burrows and with his back to goal, he rather optimistically, attempted a back heel volley. Usually such an attempt would end up soaring high and wide but somehow he managed to perfect it and the video itself became a massive hit on YouTube, racking up more than 4 million hits.

Messi and Co. eat your hearts out:

Moment Of 2010

Year Of The Pigeon

It inevitably summed up England’s world cup campaign. In the dire match that was England vs Algeria, a pigeon seemed to have perched itself on top of the Algerian goal, as it sensed there it would be no sense of danger throughout the 90 minutes. England lacked any real venom going forward and in truth never looked like scoring. When the final whistle went, Algeria celebrated like they had won the World Cup, holding on for a famous 0-0 draw against a country in decline.

Best Signing Of 2010

Rafael Van Der Vaart – Real Madrid to Tottenham

Virtually a last minute signing for Harry Redknapp, Van Der Vaart proved imperious from the off. He quickly established himself as a fan favourite with 6 goals in as many games. Unfortunately, injuries have hurt his goalscoring record, for the time being and he returned to action on fine form, grabbing a double against a weak Aston Villa side taking his tally to 8 goals and 4 assists for this seasons campaign.

Worst Signing Of 2010

Joe Cole – Chelsea to Liverpool

Cole’s career took a turn for the worst after Chelsea declined to extend his contract. He was snapped up by Liverpool, which was labelled as the “bargain buy” of the season but a red card against Arsenal on his Premier League debut for the Merseysiders didn’t do his confidence a whole lot of good. As a result, Cole lost his place in the team, and he has resorted to taking up a spot on the bench, not what he had intended upon arriving at Anfield.

Worst Moment 2010

Mike Ashley Sacks Toon Manager Chris Hughton

Mike Ashley’s decision to sack Chris Hughton sparked outrage amongst the world of football after Hughton had guided the Magpies to a solid tenth in the league. Football fans worldwide were shocked as he was the one who guided Newcastle to Championship glory, directly after they had gone down. This was news to Hughton who recalled being called into chairman Daniel Levy’s office along with goalkeeping coach Paul Barron and was unexpectedly given the boot.

Ashley appointed Alan Pardrew as Hughton’s successor and has had a mixed spell since taking over, beating Liverpool but also losing to Tottenham and Manchester City.

Best Moment 2010

Spain Win World Cup

It was delight for Vincente Del Bosque and Spain as they won their first ever World Cup this past June. They also broke a few more records in the process, being the only side to win the World Cup after losing their first match. They also posted the record by winning the World Cup with the least amount of goals, only managing 8 goals, with hitman David Villa netting 5.

Iniesta became a hero in the eyes of the Spaniards after he sent the fans into jubilation following his 116th minute winner. It was ecstasy for Spain and agony for Holland as they also were competing for a first World Cup.

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Gai Assulin was born in Nahariya on the 9th of April 1991 and signed for Manchester City from Barcelona in December, 2010. He is one of Israel’s exceptional young talents that exist among football today.

Assulin started his career at the footballing school of Hapoel Haifa. When he was just seven years old, Assulin moved to the Bietar Tubruk youth ranks. He was rapidly evolving as a fine individual talent and at the age of 12, his team coach, Shlomo Scharf proposed to Assulin’s parents to consider taking their son to try out for the FC Barcelona youth team. They accepted the proposal and were delighted to find out that Gai was chosen for the youth squad.

The hard work finally paid off for Gai Assulin as he graduated to the FC Barcelona ‘B’ team at the start of August 2007, and was offered a new contract, senior contract and his buy-out clause was beefed up to €20 million. Gai Assulin was living the dream and got his first taste of first team football in September of that year, when he made an appearance in the 46th minute against Girona FC in the semi-final of the Copa Catalunya.

Unfortunately just as he was beginning to prove himself he struggled with injuries during the 2008/09 season. He worked hard over that year regaining form & fitness, which saw him receive an invitation from first team coach Pep Guardiola to participate in pre-season matches with Barcelona. He featured in 3 of Barcelona’s six pre-season friendlies playing against Tottenham Hotspur, Al-Alhy & Manchester City. He continued to impress and made his debut start for Guardiola’s side, competing against Cultural Leonesa in late 2009. Because of the lengthy 2009/10 season Pep Guardiola rested several key players and introduced four Barca ‘B’ players which included Assulin.

Unfortunately for Gai, Barca had no reason to extend his contract and it was announced by mutual consent on 1st of July 2010 that Assulin would be leaving the club. Gai was often linked to Premier League clubs with Arsenal, Blackburn and Tottenham interested in his services. On October 8th 2010 it was reported that Assulin had joined big spenders Manchester City but the contract was a trial for the time being. He was in and out of Eastlands until finally he was signed early this week on a two and a half year deal.

Assulin was delighted and he said, “I had heard a lot about City, and as soon as I saw the club I wanted to stay. I’m at a great club and I hope to be here a long time. I have to take my opportunity and learn every day in training.”

Assulin also became noticed on an international scale for the Israel national side, becoming their youngest ever player, capped two weeks before his 17th birthday, when he trotted out against Chile in 2008. To this day, that has been his only national cap.

Here’s a video of Assulin in action:

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Joe Cole is currently playing for Liverpool and the England national team.

As a youngster Joe Cole was widely regarded as the hottest prospect in English football and was compared to the likes of Paul Gascoine. He famously scored seven goals in an 8-0 win over the Spanish under-18 national side. He established himself as a West Ham regular at the tender age of 17 and by the age of 21 he was captaining the Hammers. In 2003, and over 100 appearances later, the Hammers were fighting desperately for Premier League survival. Joe unfortunately couldn’t keep his beloved Hammers up and he was approached toward the end of 2003 by Chelsea at the start of the Roman Abramovich era.

He signed for Chelsea in the summer of 2003 for a fee of 6.6 million pounds sterling. As soon as he arrived his place was under threat from the likes of Damien Duff and Arjen Robben. He fell out of favor with Claudio Ranieri and was forced to settle on the bench for the 2003/04 season. When Ranieri left he was replaced by ‘The Special One’ Jose Mourinho who opened the door for Cole. Mind you, there was also the factor that Damien Duff and Robben were injured for large chunks of the season. When given the chance Joe Cole showed glimpses of the form that made him ‘Hammer of the year 2003’. Joe scored a goal in the 3-0 rout over Manchester United at the end of the 2004/05 season. He continued to impress and was influential in Chelsea’s 2005/06 season, as the Blues retained the title. He was proving himself as a massive threat throughout the Premiership but once again dipped in form and was left to warm the bench for the 2008/09 & 2009/10 seasons.

Chelsea refused to offer Joe Cole a contract extension and so he left them in July 2010 to join rivals Liverpool on a free transfer. His first match was against Rabonstki as a qualifier for the Europa League and he showed he still had it by displaying a man of the match performance setting up David Ngog as Liverpool romped to a 2-0 win.

His Premier League debut with Liverpool was far from impressive as he was sent off for a two footed lunge on Arsenal’s Lorient Koscielny on the stroke of half time. When he returned, he failed to rediscover that form that he displayed at Rabotnicki as he was once again relegated to the bench as Maxi Rodriguez took his place.

Over the past couple of years Joe Cole has disintegrated into nothing with his overall play disappointing as he lacks that killer instinct he once had. What was once promised to be one of the best English players had evaporated by his middle twenties. He is still only 29 and maybe there is more to come but he is most definitely past his prime. He lacks the pace that he used to possess and his ball skills have vanished. I used to watch Chelsea all the time as his mesmerising pace caused all defenders a problem and he was a thorn in any Premier League side that came against him. Numerous injuries have contributed to his downfall and unfortunately he will never be the same player he used to be.

It is never surprising to hear Sir Alex Ferguson saying something ‘controversial’. Whether it’s emotional, pointless sniping at a beleaguered enemy or an attempt some kind of Jedi Mind Trick deployed to ‘psych out’ Liverpool and their players is up to you. An interesting point with Ferguson’s ‘Torres is the biggest cheater ever, EVER’ (possible paraphrase) comments is that they made headlines in most of Monday’s (English) newspaper sport sections – and this is indicative of the apparent need for character-centric narratives for much of the English press.

Of more interest however, rather than his ‘diving’, is his lack of incisiveness when playing alone up front. His two integral moments in Liverpool’s temporary comeback (winning the free kick and penalty) came with the entrance of David N’Gog alongside him at 2-0. The former was created largely with N’Gog drawing Jonny Evans out of position, allowing Torres to play off the dozing O’Shea and run behind Vidic. For an hour, without a partner alongside him, Torres was ineffectually drifting along the back-four, as Liverpool’s midfield struggled to find him with the ball. Roy Hodgson’s initial reaction to that may well be to partner Torres with N’Gog for the forseeable future – and it will probably end up being a popular move with the Sky Sports/Match of the Day punditocracy, as it necessitates a change from The Purveyor Of All That Is Ever Wrong With Anything Ever, Rafa Benitez, and necessitates Steven Gerrard moving into his ‘best position’ (where, curiously, he rarely plays well enough to stay for an extended period of time) in the middle of midfield.

But that not only moves Gerrard from the position where he has been most effective for his club (in the ‘hole’ behind Torres), but also means Roy has to play a 4-4-2: yes, the very same 4-4-2 that was routed by Manchester City and their fifty holding midfielders at Eastlands. And yes, the same 4-4-2 that became unable to get the ball back off United yesterday once the score went to 3-2. Well, one could argue, he has to leave Torres up front on his own then – to maintain a midfield worthy of preventing a complete massacre – even if it reduces Torres’s efficiency, at least he won’t lose games, and Torres will surely start scoring sooner or later.

But what if he doesn’t? Jurgen Klinsmann stated when in charge of Bayern Munich that he will play two strikers at every opportunity, partly to help keep his strikers fresh. The strain upon a lone striker is so great, in terms of the physical stature, pace, technique and concentration needed to perform the role effectively, that playing the role without a significant break would soon be detrimental. ‘I wouldn’t like to be Torres in two years’ was the general idea, and the strain on Torres may be akin to that placed on Ronaldo at Inter Milan – as from a silky, quicksilver forward he too tried to become a buccaneering lone striker, with injured consequences. And now we look at the Spaniard. From his arrival at Liverpool in 2007 he has been working almost without a break: in 2008 he played in the Euros (a major tournament generally means a truncated break for players), then the next season he spent playing (without a winter break) and working hard recovering from injuries, then the Confederations Cup before the same story the next season, before the World Cup.

And it has taken its toll: once fresh-faced, blond and smiling, then blond and powerful, now Torres lopes around defences, unfit, brown haired and non-threatening, like a late-era Ruud van Nistelrooy for Manchester United. With a partner alongside, the strain is less apparent, as he is not having to work as hard against four defenders – but playing N’Gog or Kuyt alongside him leaves the midfield often unable to cope against teams with 3 central midfielders. Perhaps the solution is give Torres an extended break, perhaps for a month or two, in order to recharge his batteries. Roy can try and muddle through with Babel, N’Gog, Jovanovic and Kuyt – and maybe Torres could well come back refreshed and (at least) as good as ever.

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After a successful, if occassionally indifferent 4-0 win over Bulgaria on Friday, England have won 11 successive home games. Before this game, the British tabloids were ready, knives sharpened, to cut England’s manager to pieces. In his England-Bulgaria preview last week, titled ‘Fabio Capello has lost his players and now he will lose his job’, The Mirror columnist Oliver Holt cites Fabio Capello’s body language as proof that he has given up. ‘It’s obvious from his body language’, he writes, ‘…he didn’t celebrate when England scored.’ There are so many instances of the punditocracy fancifully leaping to conclusions on negligible evidence that it would take a million monkeys writing on a million laptops for a million years to come up with them all, but this laughably unsubstantiated claim takes all the biscuits. Capello should be judged on his results, rather than any apparent lack of enthusiasm when England score, and on this score he has been quite magnificent.

Appointed in 2007, Fabio Capello has the highest win percentage of any England manager ever. Ever. Out of 30 matches since taking over the post he has won 70% of them, nearly 10% more than Sir Alf Ramsey, who actually won the World Cup, and over 20% more than Sir Bobby Robson, who led England to a World Cup semi final in 1990. His bravery – playing Theo Walcott in Zagreb when every other pundit wanted (and expected) David Beckham to play – led to an historic 4-1 victory. His team topped a fairly tough qualifying group ridiculously comfortably, leading Jonathan Wilson to write ‘England have more realistic hope of winning the World Cup than at any point since 1970’. Rather than the disjointed, egotistical, blathering nothingness of the Eriksson era, England (in November 2009) actually had a good team who played good football. England, as usual, expected, and England’s best players, whether due to a lack of fitness, loss of form or both, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard and Aaron Lennon – essentially England’s six best players in the qualifiers – failed quite miserably. To blame Capello completely for England’s failure in these circumstances is absolutely ridiculous. Perhaps only Spain could cope with six of their best players completely unfit or misfiring. England quite clearly couldn’t.

That is not to say he hasn’t made mistakes, and he made plenty in South Africa. Picking Ledley King, Terry, Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher and Matthew Upson as his centre back options for the World Cup was a disaster waiting to happen (and it did). The mythically well-stocked English centre back cupboard was a little bare, but picking Joleon Lescott – indifferent at Man City, but surely no worse than the horrific Upson at West Ham – or Phil Jagielka would surely have been a safer option. Upson and Terry were brutally exposed as the sham they were against Germany, where, without the guidance of a more tactically aware (or even quicker) centre half, Terry and Upson leapt around to prevent Klose (yes, that 300 million year old Miroslav Klose) turning, when it really created space behind them that neither had the pace to fill. The centre backs had made mistakes (such as playing offside at a goal kick), but Capello was stuck with them and had stuck himself to them. His reluctance to play Joe Hart, despite the limits (age and talent-wise) of his other options, David James and Robert Green, is also a mistake which looks even more unfathomable with hindsight.

Moreover, whilst England managers have picked injured players to play at the World Cup since the dawn of time, having a palpably unfit Gareth Barry as the squad’s only holding midfielder (he doesn’t even play there for his club), thus leaving Scott Parker and Phil Neville at home, was naiveté to the point of idiocy. His substitutions against the USA and Algeria were fairly uninspired, and bringing on Emile Heskey for Jermain Defoe against Germany was always going to play badly with an English media obsessed with Peter Crouch’s height. The much criticised system, an ‘ancient 4-4-2’ in The (riotously hypocritical) Sun (there is something so curious about Harry Redknapp criticising a manager for playing a 4-4-2), but a ‘modern, continental 4-2-3-1’ for the whole of qualifying, only held England back because of the players invovled. Someone has to tackle in the centre of midfield, and Barry was never going to do that when unfit – so England often couldn’t get the ball back when Germany, Slovenia or Algeria attacked. This failure again is only really damned with 20-20 hindsight, such was the mood of arrogant euphoria before England set off.

Despite these problems and errors on his part, England still reached the last 16 of the World Cup. Their group, rather than being EASY was deceptively tricky. Not only the Confederations Cup Finalists, but the fourth placed team in the African Cup of Nations, and a team who knocked out Russia over two legs – and all three were known for their organisational abilities. England could still have done better, but to dismiss their opponents as muppets would be a disservice. Once in the last sixteen, they were a television replay away from 2-2 having been 2-0 down, and the typical lack of craft and calm when behind the second half was something not even Capello could beat out of English players.

Moreover, since South Africa, England have won twice against sides who performed creditibly in the last qualification period. Hungary threatened to knock out Portugal, while Bulgaria only failed to qualify because of their phalanx of draws. Both were fairly limited opponents, but creditable scalps by anyone’s standards. And there are further successes: Ashley Cole, largely indifferent under Capello’s predecessor, is playing like the player he almost was at Arsenal; Capello has shown that he has learned from many of his mistakes – Hart is in, Upson is out (for now) – and deserves to keep his job at least until the Euros. Rooney and Defoe as a partnership may well struggle against teams who don’t give England early goals, or who can mark Defoe out of the game, but Capello remains very much in credit, whatever the tabloids say.

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Articulate, funny and an enthusiastic celebrator of his team’s goals, Martin O’Neill is one of the most popular men in football. Having done a superb job at Leicester City, and a very good one at Celtic (despite quite heavy spending) he was linked with the Manchester United job in 2002 (before Ferguson stayed on) and was interviewed for the England Managership in 2006. Many think he would be the perfect candidate for the latter, while others think he and David Moyes would be good ‘home-grown’ choices if and when the former becomes available. He inherited David O’Leary’s position at Aston Villa in 2006, as he was hired by Randy Lerner – who had recently succeeded ‘Deadly’ Doug Ellis as owner of Aston Villa – and according to many pundits did a fantastic job, leading Villa to three consecutive 6th place finishes after a modest 11th place in his first season.

This conclusion has been drawn understandably, but it relies upon a red herring of a statistic. O’Neill’s many acolytes often state that he single-handedly turned a club that finished 16th in 2005-06 consistently into a top 6 club. This understates the level of investment given to O’Neill compared to his predecessor. Whereas O’Leary was able to spend roughly £5m net per season at Villa, O’Neill spent £83m in his four seasons – four times more per season than the Irishman.

During his first season, having spent £16m net, the improvement from 16th to 11th, whilst not being bad, is nothing exceptional with the extra resources available. He insitgated a much-needed overhaul of O’Leary’s squad, buying success stories John Carew and Ashley Young at considerable expense while selling white elephants such as Milan Baros.

The next season, O’Neill spent just £1m net. The improvement from 11th to 6th perhaps came residually from the previous January’s signings (including Carew and Young) being allowed to ‘bed in’ at the club in the previous ‘transition’ season. The signings made in the summer ranged from the moderate (£3.5m for Zat Knight) to the ridiculous (£5m for Marlon Harewood), with only Nigel Reo-Coker and Knight (£11m combined) contributing in any way to the team’s improvement. O’Neill did extremely well to lead this squad to sixth place, but it was in his sales where his success is tempered. Players such as Gary Cahill, Liam Ridgewell, Steven Davis and Aaron Hughes, sold for modest prices by O’Neill, could have acted as the back-up expensively assembled later on in their positions.

The next season, 2008-09, O’Neill splurged £45m net, looking to break into the Champions League. Brad Friedel, James Milner and Carlos Cuellar contributed greatly to this quest, whereas Steve Sidwell, Luke Young and Curtis Davies figured intermittently. Nicky Shorey’s purchase for £5m was comparable in wastage only to that of Marlon Harewood. For this expenditure, Villa attained the same 6th place position after threatening Arsenal’s position in the top four for much of the season. From a very strong position with 15 games to go, Villa collapsed. They struggled for goals as Young, Milner and Agbonlahor tired late in the season, scoring only 16 in 14 games after March 1st.

One major flaw with O’Neill’s transfer policy at this time was his exaggerated belief in the 2007-08 players. A strong sixth placed finish was an overachievement with the players at his disposal – the ‘next level’ of Champions League football required players of greater quality. 1 win in 9 home games against the rest of the top 10 that season suggests that the side lacked the technical quality and imagination to win the tough games needed to finish fourth. Away this was less of a problem, as they could counterattack the more attacking home sides, but at home the level of creativity needed to break solid ‘playing for a point’ teams down was not there.

Moreover, spending £16m on Sidwell, Shorey and Luke Young when players such as Maynor Figueroa, John Paintsil and Dickson Etuhu came into Fulham and Wigan respectively for much less, was indicative of O’Neill’s unimaginative transfer policy. The latter three signings would surely have left greater scope for a striker or creative midfielder of immediate quality, exactly what was needed in his first choice XI. Perhaps O’Neill’s lack of foreign transfer acumen, or a seeming taste for dealing with a largely British dressing room was his biggest flaw. Again he hadn’t done badly by maintaining the team’s position in the European positions, but stagnation would surely not cost £45m under a manager doing an ‘exceptional job’.

Last season saw another sixth place finished after spending £22m net more. With the increasing power of Tottenham and Manchester City, sixth again was by no means a failure but O’Neill’s selection, style and transfer policy was once again Anglo-centric. Stewart Downing came in to help relieve the pressure upon his creative midfielders, but at £10m he was by no means a bargain. Richard Dunne’s age, lack of re-sale value and his wages make his £6m transfer fee from Man City again look no better than good, despite his very impressive performances. That he was signed on deadline day along with James Collins indicates a distinct lack of planning from O’Neill, even if they turned out to be very good on the pitch. Stephen Warnock was a good addition to the first team but was not cheap at £8m. The signing of Fabian Delph has not provided immediate dividends, but he surely is for the future.

Once again Villa defended well for large parts of the season – Carlos Cuellar impressing especially – but the lack of depth up front meant again the strain fell upon Agbonlahor and Carew. They were often magnificent away to Big Four clubs but couldn’t breach top drawer defences at home. If O’Neill had spent some of his budget on a creative schemer rather than on Habib Beye and James Collins, perhaps they would have been able to crack the top four, especially with Liverpool’s capitulation.

In cup competitions O’Neill showed that he is an astute tactician, reaching an FA Cup Semi and a Carling Cup Final, but the major failing in both defeats was Villa’s inability to create and finish chances. In one-off games, against Chelsea and Manchester United, teams who struggle to create and finish their chances are generally punished. O’Neill’s whingeing about Nemanja Vidic’s ‘definite sending off’ in the Carling Cup final masked another disappointing attacking display, despite the early boon of Milner’s penalty.

Again O’Neill was unable to take his side to a higher level than he had in 2008,  due in part to paying over the odds for players who were Premier League quality but not Champions League quality.

Thus while he did by no means a poor job at Aston Villa his net outlay when compared to Everton in 2008-09 (under a manager proving himself to be vastly superior) and to a lesser extent Spurs last season is indicative of a manager doing a solid, unspectacular job. Ultimately, that’s all he did, no more, less.

The last three permanent managers of Liverpool have all overseen a familiar pattern of events. Roy Evans, Gerard Houllier and Rafael Benitez all enjoyed moderately successful starts – Evans had a decent first full league season, Houllier a distant third place and a (very fortunate) cup treble, Benitez’s Champions League triumph rightly overshadowed a fairly poor fifth place – followed by a genuine title challenge or two before it all went stunningly wrong. Evans took a team 90 minutes away from being top of the table in May 1997 to 15 points back in 12 months; Houllier took a team finishing above Manchester United for the first time in gazillions of years to 30 points off top spot in 2 years, via a £20m splurge from 2nd to 5th the previous year; whereas Benitez took his team from a very strong 2nd to an embarrassing seventh in twelve months, the trophy well having dried long ago. History would dictate thus that his successor would have a similarly up and down tenure in the Anfield hot seat, where all of his previous good work is immediately tarnished by the chaos that regularly surrounds Liverpool Football Club every five years or so.

And so the next man, Fleet Street ‘flop’ turned ‘saviour of the Kop’ (don’t worry, he’ll be rubbish again soon enough) Roy Hodgson, steps into the breach. He inherits a comically restrictive financial situation – to the point where the signing of Luke Young, a versatile full back of modest quality and a far from perfect age, becomes almost impossible. His first signing, Joe Cole, required no transfer fee from Chelsea. Cole was a very exciting enigmatic talent at West Ham and performed very well for Mourinho and Avram Grant at Chelsea. His creativity and footballing intelligence may well remain undimmed from those heady days but his injuries may well have wrecked his career. It is further difficult to see how Cole fits in at Liverpool. In a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 he has neither the pace, work rate or consistency of delivery required to play wide, and in a 4-2-3-1 it is difficult to see how he and Gerrard can co-exist centrally. A diamond midfield may be the alternative, but as an attacking fulcrum he has proved only really effective at home recently against poor sides. It is difficult to see how he offers anything that is not offered by anyone else in the squad, so as a marquee signing he may not be guaranteed to starting place he supposedly wants.

Fernando Torres is World Class at his best but if his performances at the World Cup are anything to go by, he may not be able to access that best for a while. Similarly, aspects of Hodgson’s first choice XI may well be on the wrong side of the illustrative hill. Jamie Carragher, even though we are constantly told he ‘never relied on his pace’ every time he is skinned by a kid half his age, has shown signs of wear and tear and is 32, while first choice left back Fabio Aurelio is 30, like club captain Steven Gerrard. Gerrard endured one of his worst seasons in memory last time out, followed by an indifferent World Cup, and while he may be soon back to his best, it is by no means certain. It would be a brave manager to leave out Carragher indefinitely, even at this advanced stage of his career, given his loyalty and service to the club.

Javier Mascherano is a genuinely World Class holding midfielder, but is allegedly looking to leave Anfield in search of Champions League football. Alberto Aquilani can be a devastating footballer when he’s not injured, but he is generally injured. Daniel Agger is a very competent centre half, and Pepe Reina a superb goalkeeper, but there are still gaps in the squad that require filling: Dirk Kuyt was always fairly poor technically, saved by his indefatigable work rate – but in a team lacking in quality, his weaknesses are exposed. The sale of Emiliano Insua to Fiorentina may have fallen flat, but if he is subsequently sold, as is Hodgson’s reported wont, the options behind the ageing Aurelio at left back would be poor to minimal. The options behind Torres too are not great, the improving David N’Gog and Daniel Pacheco have shown little to suggest themselves to be capable of sustaining a Champions League challenge. Ryan Babel remains a complete enigma, combining the physical attributes of Cristiano Ronaldo with the technical proficiency and end product of Carlton Palmer to create an infuriating footballer. The cunning transfer of Milan Jovanovic makes his impact on the squad less important at the moment, but if the expected-in-some-areas fire sale of players rocks into gear, he could be flushed into prominence.

Thus while the Liverpool squad contains players of great talent and potential, its uneven depth and the inability to rectify those problems makes Hodgson’s position difficult. Only with preposterous luck with injuries in certain positions, combined with the unforeseeable ascent of three or four enigmas is it possible to see Liverpool even remotely challenging for the title. As for fourth place, they would require one of the other ‘big three’ if they struggle with injuries, or Manchester City to struggle really badly despite their excellent signings, as well as Spurs and Villa to stagnate. Hodgson would further have to overcome a number of problems within the squad on a shoestring budget, with players desperate to leave, something that he is unused to dealing with in recent times. It would therefore appear to be a long shot for Liverpool to challenge strongly for a top four place.

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There can no be no denying that Rafael Benitez has done a good job at Liverpool. His ever growing number of acolytes of the Liverpool persuasion would of course point to Istanbul, Cardiff, Old Trafford and Fernando Torres. He further helped re-establish Liverpool as a European force who could consistently challenge, if not for the Premier League, certainly for the Champions League where his record is superb. In only one season, 2005-06, did Liverpool not reach the Quarter Finals, and on two occasions they have reached the final, winning in 2005. The league performances (until last season) of 5^th, 3^rd, 3^rd, 4^th, 2^nd further suggest that Benitez had built up a large enough body of work to deserve a ‘written off’ season of transition. Perhaps Benitez felt that the 2008-09 season was so positive that he could afford to try and re-invent his side into a more swashbuckling outfit capable of winning the title, without the risk of it going wrong and him losing his job, but his admirable game of chance didn’t pay off. Maybe he underestimated the capacity for it all to go wrong. But it did go wrong, really really badly.

In almost any other club, the disaster of last season would have been written off as ‘transitional’. But with the stakes so high at Liverpool – not only the ‘culture of success’ ever-present at a club like Liverpool, but with the financial situation being so delicate, dealings in the transfer market simply have to succeed instantly much more often than not to secure the future of the club. Benitez’s series of abysmal flops – Fernando Morientes, Jermaine Pennant, Andrea Dossena, Robbie Keane – when compared to the success stories – Pepe Reina, Javier Mascherano, Yossi Benayoun, Xabi Alonso, Daniel Agger and Fernando Torres – and the sort-of-alright-signings-that-cannot-be-described-as-flops-but-have-not-really-been-totally-successful (Crouch, Riera, Kuyt, Lucas, Bellamy, Johnson, Aquilani) suggests that Benitez’s success rate is slightly better than 1 in 3. With money scarce and the need for constant improvement… er, constant, Benitez’s record in the transfer market is not quite good enough for Liverpool’s current situation. In contrast to Ferguson, whose club are in a similar financial mess to Liverpool’s (worse in some ways) his one great purchase last season, Luis Antonio Valencia, was very successful for the money spent.

The horrendous season that recently passed suggests that Benitez’s signings have not improved the team greatly. In an attempt to re-invent his team in a more attractive, expansive fashion by purchasing attack minded, injury prone, mercurial players (Aquilani, Johnson to replace Alonso and Arbeloa) rather than filling the other holes that lingered in his squad (left back, reserve centre forward, right wing) with cheaper, more dependable (less injury prone) signings, Benitez has killed the goose that laid the golden egg. He would maybe not have left if Liverpool had finished third and reached the Champions League quarter finals, for example, something his stodgy, consistent side of 2005-2008 delivered consistently and (almost) without fail. In a sense poetically for a manager whose teams famously lacked ambition in a tactical sense, Benitez’s ambition left his teams lacking in key areas. As it cannot be presumed with any certainty that Rafa could correct the problems he created without at least some expense (he needed some, not a great amount of expenditure in 2004, but Houllier’s Liverpool never finished seventh) and as Liverpool do not have a great amount of money, the owners felt that they could get better value for money elsewhere.

Ultimately therefore, whilst Rafa Benitez did a commendable job at Liverpool for the vast majority of it, his inadequacies in the transfer market, as well as his previous mistakes and the increasingly problematic financial situation at the club suggests that it was right for him to leave, as he did with his pride and dignity in tact.

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That’s it then. Arsenal have officially turned the corner. In the same way that Eduardo’s injury, Stuart Parnaby’s dive and William Gallas’s teary outburst reflected the collapse of their 2007-08 title challenge, so Ramsey’s injury, Danny Pugh’s waving arms and Cesc Fabregas’s penalty will reflect Arsenal’s glorious rampage to the title. Yet despite the significance of the result in terms of getting Arsenal back into the title race, is there really enough to suggest that Arsenal have turned the corner, other than the obvious historical overtones to the result?

On the surface, it certainly seems that they have. As Aaron Ramsey was carried off the field, it seemed that Arsenal’s title hopes were being carried away with him – not as such due to the Welshman’s impact on the pitch, but to the effect that seeing another broken leg would have on this ‘notoriously brittle’ Arsenal team, who were obviously going to collapse in a heap against a physical Stoke side, at the Britannia where they never lose, in a decade in which they had never lost: the ghost of St Andrews was rearing its head in an eerily similar way… but this time Arsenal didn’t crack. Instead of collapsing as the game meandered along, they dusted themselves down and went for Stoke head on, tackle for tackle in what was surely a must win game. As the clock ticked over 90, just before Stoke cleared it upfield and Sol Campbell gave away a stupid last minute penalty… Danny Pugh stuck out his paws and the penalty was given… to Arsenal. Cesc Fabregas was never going to miss, and he didn’t – low, in the corner, Arsenal take the lead. As Thomas Vermaelan tapped in a third, Arsenal fans and players, instead of smiling and cheering, were growling and shouting – scars had been healed, surely now was the time for Arsenal to grow a pair… and they did. It is understandable for fans and players to be swept along the narrative saying ‘This was the game where Arsenal grew up’.

Understandable, but premature. Whilst the mental effects of Ramsey’s injury were damaging for Arsenal, surely they were also damaging for Stoke – it can be argued that while Arsenal’s players had lessons to learn from previous, similar episodes (like the aforementioned events at St Andrews), Stoke would be inexperienced at having to recover from seeing such a serious injury in such an important game. Moreover, while Arsenal could pass the ball around as they recovered from those events, Stoke had to chase – Stoke’s ten men had to chase down Arsenal’s shadows, no doubt fearful of a similar tackle causing a similar injury. As many of Stoke’s chief threats: energy, physicality and the crowd were all drained from them, Arsenal could pass around them with impunity – and even doing that they struggled to break down Stoke’s determined rearguard. In the same way that Arsenal dominated That Game At St Andrews after Taylor’s dismissal – McFadden’s goals both came completely against the run of play – so they dominated this time, only with arguably less incisiveness. While Theo Walcott’s magnificent performance, the refereeing howler and Arsenal’s largely remarkable composure at St Andrews has been overshadowed by the narrative history, so it may be that Arsenal’s inability to create chances against 10 men, and Stoke’s remarkable ability to organise themselves a man down will be forgotten if Arsenal go on to win the league.

Whilst it is tempting to conclude that Arsenal’s result at the Britannia was a sign of a New, Mature Arsenal, it would be wrong, as ultimately the only difference between now and That Game At St Andrews is that while a dodgy penalty decision went against Arsenal on that day, a fortunate one went for them on Saturday. In the same way that the Lion in the Wizard of Oz had courage all along, so Arsenal’s cubs were always as courageous as they are now. A subsequent league triumph would be down to a consistently good campaign waged by an already spirited team, rather than a corner being turned at the Britannia.

Editor’s note: This is part two of a series of articles written by Stephen Lucey. Part one, released earlier this week, focused on whether a salary cap could save the Premier League from itself. Part two, here, discusses unrestricted free agency and compares the NFL model to the Premier League.

Portsmouth FC are near-mortally crippled by their wage bill, and are left to wander the Arabian deserts with their shower caps extended for oil soaked charity. The Premiership has been seduced by potential riches, and borrowed itself into a black hole filled with bank notes to pay down and creditors to to foil. UEFA’s report released yesterday attributes a 56% controlling majority share of European football’s debt to the Premier League. Obviously, competing in Europe is paramount for English football, but creating a sustainable economic model has to become as important a priority going forward.

Here I’ll acknowledge a concern from some of the previous commenters: Yes, the EPL and NFL are different entities with different structures, competitive factors and concerns, but they are also similar. The Premier League seceded from the Football League in 1992, establishing a corporation with each club holding a vote and equal stake in the partnership, and the NFL functions in much the same fashion. While opinions on revenue sharing in the NFL would vary owner to their contribution, it has been widely acknowledged as their best solution for a financially healthy league.

When the NFL introduced the hard salary cap in 1994, it did so on the back of unrestricted free agency, a policy adopted just a year prior in 1993. After a player had reached four years’ accrued service, he was free to sign with any team at the expiration of his contract. The speculation and anticipation of potential player moves bedded in nicely with the cable sports 24 hours a day news cycle, keeping loud, sometimes punch-drunk ex-players in paychecks, and ensuring interest in the league would only gather steam over the offseason.

An economic success for NFL franchises is the ability of a team to terminate a player’s contract at anytime, based on performance, age, health, or any other reason a millionaire might have to save some scratch. An NFL team can also claim one player with a “franchise” tag, compensating that player with one year’s salary averaged from the Top 5 paid at their position.

The transfer window system unnecessarily forces teams into long-term planning while the nature of sport is in immediacy and reaction. Restricting player movement only ends up restricting the potential quality of play, which is what we, as fans of great competition, should all care about. It is hard to say whose interests are greatly favored by this policy, which makes its skin tight oppression all the more confusing to a neophyte.

The hard cap created a new commodity in the NFL: cap space. Where transfers in the Premier League generally involve cash and credit transactions, NFL franchises value taking a player’s salary off the books when factoring out how older players’ contracts are dealt with. A lot of young NFL players will receive their biggest payday before they’ve entered the prime of their playing career. World football’s balance sheets are plagued with that one last payday for an aging, but perhaps outward star with a haul of credentials.

I was posed a question last night about the Premier League by a casual American observer. “Why don’t they have a salary cap?” While on the face of it I know that in some ways the comparisons aren’t entirely fair, it certainly is a fair question. My knowledge of the economics of the Premier League isn’t as intricate as that of the NFL; however, I have a reasonable grasp. Being a lifelong devoted fanatic of American football, and a recently converted, but obsessed follower of English football, I now find the fans who annoy me most are those on either side who have no regard for the other one. If only the governing bodies of each major professional league were keen to take notes off each other.

Here’s part one of my series:

I) Parity

Since 2000, fifteen different NFL teams have represented their respective conference in the Super Bowl, and eight teams have won the championship. By contrast, only three teams have topped the Premier League in that span, and only members of the “Big Four” have finished in the top two. I will certainly entertain an argument for the value of sustained excellence; however, I think a neutral observer would prefer to see more teams, cities and fans participate in the thrill of a championship run.

There are many factors that created the financial success and stability of the NFL, and the cap-imposed competitive equality is a major factor. The maximum amount of money each of the NFL’s 32 teams could spend on player’s salaries last season was $128 million. The NFL’s deliciously lucrative TV contracts contributed $116 million to each team’s bank account, before a ball has been kicked, or thrown as the case may be. The labor dispute on the horizon between the team owners and the player’s union will be mostly about how to distribute an obscene amount of money amongst hundreds of millionaires.

If only the Premier League had such worries. There is no possibility of a Leeds United situation in the NFL. Sure, it’s possible that teams may relocate cities, or certain teams may fold, leading to the creation of a new franchise. But these unlucky teams and cities end up being replaced by markets that are even more lucrative (cough, Los Angeles, cough), and the overall financial health of the league is unlikely to be in question in the next decade.

Of course, the Premier League’s promotion/relegation system, a fixture in the worldwide game of football, is an entirely foreign concept in American sport. The totem pole/pyramid of the Football League down to Conference and non-league sides is a terrific, living, breathing, sporting meritocracy, where a new or old club is afforded success on its ability, acumen and luck. The NFL has its fair share of almost purely mediocre franchises, such as the Detroit Lions, where the ludicrous management decisions have been sustained by the rest of the league’s success, in what could conceivably be a misguided study in psychological torture of a mass population.

It all looked so easy on Sunday. Despite losing the titanic battle for possession and corners, Chelsea garnered enough wherewithall to dismiss title rivals Arsenal 2-0, moving solidly to the top of the table. Arsenal were dead and buried; United were still walking their admittedly impressive tightrope, though never far away from collapsing around a broken Rooney metatarsal – heck, even John Terry was getting praised for his performance.

Less than a week later, whilst still top of the table, the roof is possibly starting to collapse on the house that Carlo rearranged: Mr Chelsea is in Dubai trying to stop Mrs Chelsea leaving him; their leftback – their only left back who isn’t a right back or a left winger; their leftback who has provided a lot of their width; their leftback who has turned games consistently with his brilliance… is out for the rest of the season; oh yeah, and they are just one point clear of United, just six clear of Arsenal, at the top of the league after another awful away performance, this time at Everton. Sure, they may push Zhirkov to left back and muddle through until the end of the season – the Russian is not a bad left back, just nowhere near as good as Cole on current form – but with the toughest run-in of the challengers (away trips to United, Spurs, Liverpool – should be fun in the penultimate game of the season – as well as a home game against Aston Thriller, with the best defence in the league) their challenge may well come apart at the seams.

For one, since Drogba’s return, and Anelka’s reassignment to his wishy-washy-sort-of-a-winger-but-cut-in-and-miss-chances right flank role, the Frenchman’s performances have nosedived. He has been at his most productive up front in a two with the Ivorian – or on his own up top in his absence –  but the one-paced nature of the midfield (without Essien – Ballack, Lampard, Mikel and Deco are all on the slow side of ‘ponderous’) means that a centre forward has to be sacrificed, if only to prevent the rest of team collapsing (and Ancelotti wouldn’t dare drop Drogba, surely). Joe Cole has been hit and miss since his return (and hasn’t sorted his contract situation) meaning that Anelka is picked on the basis of his centre forward form, rather than his suitability for the position.  Florent Malouda has been very good this season, but there is only so much that one man can do in an increasingly disjointed team – and the Frenchman is hardly the man to carry a side like Rooney has done for United. This is certainly the situation away from home in the last two games, where Chelsea’s defensive problems against well directed high crosses, physically strong centre forwards as well as set pieces (Cech’s poor form has improved a little, but not enough and Terry has been run into the ground by Altidore and Saha in successive away games) have been ruthlessly exploited by both home managers. Previously, Chelsea were only bad at set pieces; a week ago they were struggling to hold off Hull City’s advances, and yesterday they could not stop an Everton side missing its most consistent midfielders.

Yet, they are still top of the league, if only just. United’s problems have not been solved by a decent 10-man draw at Villa, Arsenal have an easier run-in but are still playing catch up with a team exposed as defensively fragile to the counterattack. At home, Chelsea have been superb – they may have been just clinical against Arsenal, but they were previously unbelievable at the Bridge: 7-2 against Sunderland, 3-0 against Birmingham, both without their most important attacking threat. They may be a shambles away from home (1 win in 7 is simply abysmal for a team at the top of the table), but no-one else is suggesting that they will run away with it – the only ‘run away with it’ team was Chelsea before their recent poor away form – implying that the Blues from the Bridge may still, just about, have enough to seal the title from here. Their lead is hanging by a thread, their leftback is out for the rest of the season (it could derail their whole campaign, unless Zhirkov steps up) but they are still on for a conceivable treble. They are definitely still the team to stop in the league, at least.

Gary Neville is many things to many people: a legend; ‘a red who hates Scousers’ in the eyes of United fans; an insufferable manc in the eyes of opposition fans; and to that list you may well add ‘bootlicker’ – kissing the feet of his manager, expressing his ‘views’ to present a-fan’s-view-that-conveniently-supports-that-of-his-boss. Carlos Tevez’s candid description of his former colleague came less than two days after Neville swore at him during Tuesday’s Manchester Derby. Even while emotions, at least it seems for Carlos, are still raw, there is much to suggest that Carlos’s views are not too far from the truth.

What is not in doubt is his legendary status for his performances on the pitch. As a right back from his debut until March 2007, his performances were meticulous, consistent 7-out-of-10s until his injury against Bolton terminally reduced his effectiveness. Starting as an ode to Paul Parker (nudge to Kanchelskis and stay back), he improved so dramatically that he was played as an attacking wing back in Euro ’96. His partnership with Beckham blossomed, his crossing improved, his tally of games increased, his legend was made. He will forever be Ferguson’s greatest right back, a dead cert for any ‘Greatest Fergie Era Team’, but while he in many ways owes Ferguson a lot for his career, will that debt be paid by offering fawning platitudes?

Neville’s increasingly notorious column in the Malta Times newspaper often contains a series of homages to his boss: “We have the best manager in the world at putting teams together“; “he will assess the situation and do what’s best for the club“; “Over a period of 20 years he may have got one or two wrong“. It all seems fairly moribund stuff, but on reflection it seems to whitewash over Fergie’s shortcomings – “one or two wrong”? Diego Forlan, Kleberson, Nani and Massimo Taibi to name but a few purchased for over £4m, that list ignoring the greatest mistake of them all… Juan Sebastian Veron. None of these could be described as anything other than poor signings (in their performances for the club) and (horrifically so in the case of Veron) wastes of money (Nani is the only one who can possibly alter this perception). “He… will do what’s best for the club” shows a Tomkins-esque level of trust in the manager – it can be argued that Fergie has earned trust through his incredible trophy haul, but to dismiss all chance of a Ferguson mistake (heck, it can be argued that signing Berbatov, Hargreaves and Anderson will be viewed in the fullness of time as mistakes) is naívété bordering on idiocy. That is if Neville really believes what he writes.

In comparison to his predecessor as United captain, Neville is little more than a ‘bootlicker’ – Roy Keane was nothing if not brutally honest: when Gary Neville states that Ferguson is ‘probably more interested in his horse (Rock of Gibraltar)’ than managing the team, or openly criticises the sale of a major defender (Jaap Stam), then perhaps the opinion should be reassessed. As for now, whilst being one of the greatest full backs in United’s history, it seems that Gary Neville may well be remembered in the eyes of many as a man kissing the feet of his superiors, as well as a legend.

Jermain Defoe hit five goals yesterday in Spurs’ demolition – the word doesn’t seem strong enough, at times – of Wigan Athletic, but has he done enough to merit a place in Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad next summer?

Many pundits and people in the game, including ‘Arry (who would of course be a neutral observer in such matters), have rushed to declare Defoe as the ‘best finisher in England’ and a certainty for this forthcoming squad. There is compelling contemporary evidence for this: no-one has scored five goals in a Premier League game since Alan Shearer in 1999; Defoe is having the best season of his career to date; he’s even started scoring for England, and is by all accounts flourishing under Redknapp this season, leading the country’s goalscoring charts with eleven. Among his rivals for what surely is one spot, Michael Owen is struggling to score and play regularly for Manchester United; and Darren Bent has seemingly done himself few favours with his ineffective performance in Doha. As of now in late November, Jermain Defoe, according to many, can start either cancelling his summer plans or moving them thousands of miles closer to Johannesburg.

However, can Defoe really start to count his chickens? If Defoe is in the form of his life at the moment, what does that say about his earlier career? His most productive season so far has merited only 14 league goals, below that of Bent’s best of 18, in a weaker Charlton Athletic team, while Defoe’s goals this season – in the ‘form of his life’ – have come mostly (8/11) in two games against Hull City and Wigan Athletic. Compare this to Bent, who has scored against each of the Big Four this season, as well as away to three of the aforementioned four last season. Defoe’s lively performance (relatively speaking) against Brazil, compared to Bent, came at a point where England were chasing the game, thus throwing more balls forward and comitting more teammates in support of the main striker; whereas Bent spent an hour chasing and hunting, crowded out by Brazilian defenders and without a midfield teammate within 40 yards. Can Bent be discounted because of a poor midfield performance? Bent has proved at Charlton that he can operate very effectively as a lone striker, and as his height and power compares favourably with Defoe, he could well prove a more effective all-round option.

Perhaps therefore, it could be argued that while Defoe’s sparkling current form gives him an advantage at the moment – with such pace and agility he is the the perfect foil for current partner Peter Crouch –  he could be pushed to the sidelines before South Africa. When Luka Modric comes back from injury, perhaps Harry will feel it necessary to drop a less powerful striker to accomodate Modric, Niko Krancjar and Aaron Lennon in the same team, forcing Defoe back onto the bench. One thing that goes against Defoe is Spurs’ squad depth, meaning more competition for places and fewer appearances compared to Bent, who seemingly only needs to perform at a level above Frazier Campbell to stay in the Sunderland team. Defoe seems to hold all the aces at the moment, but in the home straight, Darren Bent’s (possible) sheer volume of goals, increased playing time and ability to play up front on his own (service pending, see his Charlton Athletic performances) could end up leaving Defoe with a busted flush. Oh yeah, and Michael Owen may just find some form, too.

Almost everything is going wrong for Liverpool. I say ‘almost’, because last week they beat Manchester United at Anfield, and the gloom was temporarily lifted. “Liverpool have turned a corner… This will kick-start their season… etc” in the end, it hasn’t. Liverpool’s continued struggles share similarities with those of the aforementioned United in the 2004-05 season, where, after an awful start to the season, a victory against Big Rivals (in that case, Arsenal) threatened to send the Old Trafford club on a march back to glory. It didn’t. The next match was a defeat at Portsmouth. Right back to square one. United ultimately finished third. A similar fate to United’s at Fratton Park awaited Liverpool on Saturday. After the giddy hope of redemption last Sunday, soon came the ignominious crash back to earth.

One of the reasons for Liverpool’s hideous run has been, if you believe large sections of their supporters, the owners – George Gillett and Tom Hicks – whose ‘holding the club to ransom’ through the medium of crippling debts has meant that Rafael Benitez’s transfer budgets have been lower than those of other, clubs of similar stature in England. This viewpoint is not an unreasonable conclusion considering Liverpool’s net expenditure in comparison to previous years – from the £39m net splurge of season 2007-08, and the subsequent drop off (£6.25m last year, £950,000 this), but compared to their Big Four rivals, Liverpool’s expenditure this year has been the second highest. The figures are skewed by Manchester City and Real Madrid’s domination of the market this summer, but having sold Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa for £33.5m, and with Benitez apparently having to sell before he can buy couldn’t Liverpool have benefited more from investing in a cheaper right back – especially with the bright prospect Martin Kelly, and the talented Philipp Degen in reserve – and therefore having the funds for a more reliable reserve striker?

A further problem for Liverpool has been their midfield. Following the departure of Alonso, his team has struggled to make use of possession as effectively – when Lucas does not have the space to move through the midfield as he had against United, he is unable to pass particularly incisively, and as he and Mascherano tend to pass the ball more sideways than looking behind the defence, a lot of Liverpool’s possession ends up out wide, at the door of either Dirk Kuyt – creatively limited – or Ryan Babel/Yossi Benayoun on the other flank, rather than the key players (Gerrard and Torres in the middle). Torres has been able to score more goals this year – attributing to the fact that he can move in between defenders when the ball is out wide, finding space in dangerous areas – but is not as involved in attacking moves. When Liverpool play well organised sides, their wide players have been unable to regularly create chances.

With their attack struggling, the defence has, for a variety of reasons, drifted aimlessly from shambles to shambles. Age seems to catching up with Jamie Carragher, his never extravagant pace has dwindled to the point where he is simply abysmal when turned. Bobby Zamora (twice) has joined the growing list of attackers to be hauled down by Carragher when in a foot race, and while he is still superb at timing tackles when faced one-on-one with his back to goal (the game against United proves this), he has become a liability in games where Liverpool are not defending from their own penalty area. Many have claimed that Carragher’s poor performances have come from not having a regular partner at the back, but standing next to the same man every week is not going to make him run any faster. Many tactical elements can be controlled, but pace (or lack thereof) in a defender makes life really difficult, especially in a team where winning games is crucial, and they have to defend high up the pitch.

Benitez, for his part, has admirably tried to right some of the wrongs of last season – too many stale draws against relatively poor sides damaged their title charge – and Liverpool have more intent (from the full back areas at least) to bomb on forward: explaining Glen Johnson’s exuberant performances against Stoke and Burnley, for example – but this process contradicts with Benitez’s controlling nature. He knows that his team is at its best when it has to go for positive results (Champions League escapes, comeback after comeback after comeback), yet this means that he has to play instinctive, creative players like Yossi Benayoun. The Israeli is a good player, and Benitez knows this, but his instinctive nature means that a controller like Benitez doesn’t know what he’s going to do, so when he changes to a new plan when they are in search of a goal, he takes Benayoun off, as his style can’t be measured or controlled. He doesn’t know what Benayoun is going to do, so he can’t trust him, so he is substituted for someone (possibly with pace) that Rafa can understand what to do with.

Liverpool’s failings have resulted also, to an extent, from luck. Remember the Beachball episode at Sunderland, for example? Furthermore, the two sending offs on Saturday (especially Degen’s) are not something that can be laid at Benitez’s door, surely. A catalogue (doesn’t seem an appropriate collective noun, that) of injuries also haven’t helped, and have kept Liverpool’s first choice XI off the field. They have had some good luck too mind, Carragher could have been sent off against United for hauling down Owen, and Lyon’s paucity of defensive options (they had no centre half on the pitch after Cris was injured) meant that they were there for the taking. The problem was, as it has been many times this season, that Liverpool didn’t have the options on the pitch to either force a victory, nor hold out for a draw.

February 2nd 2002 was a pretty non-descript day in the History of Football, or indeed the history of anything – Prince Willem -Alexander of Orange, heir to the Dutch throne got married, Euro-Monarchy Fans will tell you (and, er… wikipedia) – but that aside, Manchester United stayed atop of the Premier League with a 4-1 win against Sunderland, with Newcastle just behind after beating Bolton, and Arsenal dropped seemingly crucial points at home against Southampton, 1-1. Despite breaking the record for scoring in consecutive Premier League games, they were now sat on 48 points, 3 behind United and 1 behind Newcastle, with the title now in the Geordies’ hands.

The press were gnawing at the absence of a “real leader” at the back: three of The Back Four (Lee Dixon, Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn) had left and the other (Tony Adams) was out injured, leaving Sol Campbell to hold together a backline that – Oleg Luzhny, Matthew Upson and Ashley Cole – looks better than decent now, but was raw and uncertain back then. Whilst all the big prizes were still ‘on’, they seemed to be slipping away. Jo Tessem’s 79th minute equaliser had summed up the situation –  Arsenal’s away form had been sensational, but they had picked up just over half of the available points on offer at home (19/36), and had lost to title rivals (Newcastle, Leeds), as well as a Jason Euell inspired Charlton.

Despite the atrocious performances of late autumn 2001, a Manchester United side looking for 4 successive titles had stormed to pole position, and with Sir Bobby Robson’s Newcastle also flying high, Arsenal were in danger of falling away. Or so, it seemed, before one of the Greatest Title Charges in history.

Thirteen games, thirteen wins. It started slowly, with a fortunate Sylvain Wiltord (back then Arsenal’s record signing at £13m) goal looping past Steve Simonsen at Goodison Park, before sparkling into life. A comfortable win over Fulham led to a crunch game at St James’s Park – Newcastle went into the game 2 points behind Arsenal with a game in hand, in the knowledge that victory in this and that game in hand would take them top of the table, Arsenal needed a win to keep pace with the Champions – enter Dennis Bergkamp and Sol Campbell. The latter was superb at the back, snuffing out the threat of Shearer, Laurent Robert and co before crowning an exceptionally mature display with a powerful header; whereas the dutchman silenced The Gallowgate with a moment of either intricate, delicate genius, or remarkable fortune. After taking a pass from Vieira, he slung it out wide to Pires with a lazy precision so typical of his style, before sprinting feverishly forward, seeing the chance for a counter. Pires, carrying the ball forward under little pressure from his marker, cut inside and passed it towards Bergkamp, now back to goal, given a half yard of space to work in, nothing more. With his back to the covering centre half, Nikos Dabizas, he glanced it beautifully, left footed around the right hand side of the greek with his first touch, before swivelling around the left side of Dabizas, holding him off and sliding the ball past Shay Given with a serene insouciance. Did he mean such a magnificent first touch? If he didn’t, who cares?

Following that 2-0 win Arsenal strode mercilessly on, squeaking past Derby County to go briefly top, and after wins at Villa Park, at home against Sunderland and away at Charlton, went top once and for all. On April 1st they went top, and on top they stayed. Monstrous efforts from United and a resurgent Liverpool side under Gerard Houllier (Liverpool won 13 of their last 15 games, United 17 out of 20 going into the final week), couldn’t stop Arsenal sweeping all before them, and even though United had a run of five very tough away games out of six (West Ham, Leeds, Chelsea as well as Leicester and Ipswich, scrapping for their lives), and won them all – 5-3 at Upton Park and 4-3 at Elland Road were both hum-dingers – it was not enough to even guarantee a place in the top 2, such was the amazing form of the other two. Whilst Arsenal kept on flying through their fixtures (Robert Pires, soon to be named FWA Footballer of the Year, was in astonishing form, along with Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg), with wins against Spurs, Ipswich, West Ham (late Ljungberg and Kanu strikes put the title two wins away) and Bolton (Ljungberg again, and Wiltord), three major results went in their favour:

The day after Campbell and Bergkamp thwarted Newcastle’s challenge, United dropped two crucial points at Derby to put Arsenal into The Driving Seat. United could only move one point clear, and they were lucky to get that after a Malcolm Christie goal was curiously ruled out in the last minute. The second was the Champions losing at home to Middlesbrough, an Alen Boksic sidefoot was created expertly by Juan Sebastian Veron… who was playing for United, and losing concentration on the edge of his own box. United couldn’t break Boro down, and Arsenal were given the perfect pick-me up after their Champions League exit. United were now one point ahead of Arsenal, but the gunners had two games in hand, and, as we know in hindsight, won them. With United all but out of it – a do-or-die game against Arsenal at Old Trafford was awaiting, but we’ll get to that later – Liverpool were left chasing down the to-be Champions. That was before Tottenham all but sealed the deal for Arsenal. Gus Poyet’s goal left a dent in the hopes of a Liverpool side hitherto flying under Gerard Houllier – the previous season’s treble (not The Treble, a treble) had raised hopes and a talented side including Michael Owen (before he got injured), a raw but exciting Steven Gerrard and Danny “Three Winners at Old Trafford” Murphy were pushing Arsenal hard. After this game, those hopes completely faded. Arsenal needed a point to be Champions, and they could do it at Old Trafford.

They did, and in style. Neutering the Champions’ threat completely, they kept up their record of scoring in every single game, ten minutes into the second half, with another goal from that man Wiltord. After holding on comfortably, Arsenal’s joyous players celebrated with the travelling support, as this win secured Wenger’s second league title, and both had included 1-0 wins at Old Trafford, right at the end of the season. With thirteen straight wins after a last win over Everton, Arsenal celebrated the double, with having gone the whole season without losing a game away from home.

The Aftermath – Why is it half-forgotten?

As usual in football, subsequent events can tarnish, to a certain extent, glories of the past. The very next season, Arsenal went on to lose the title dramatically to United – another magnificent run (15 wins from 18 games) – and a rather strange collapse (they lost at home to Leeds in the penultimate game, who avoided relegation. Just.) has rather taken the glow off this particular title charge, as the season is often remembered as “United’s Veron Season” rather than “Arsenal’s Charge Season”, because United won the title the next year, and the three previous, making 2001-02 seem like simply a blip. A Veron/Laurent Blanc induced blip. Furthermore, as Arsenal then went on to go a season unbeaten, this charge – until last season the most consecutive wins by any Premier League team, ever – is almost a precede to that triumph, rather one in its own right. “The Curse Of The One In The Middle”, as anyone with older and younger siblings might argue, also comes into effect. The first title (1997-8, for Wenger’s Arsenal) is the sweetest, the most recent is the most memorable… and, oh yeah, there’s the other one.

There is history, here. England’s two greatest football clubs lining up on the hallowed turf of Anfield, some of the World’s greatest players are there; two of the World’s greatest managers are there; but this is worth more than simply names and people: this is about bragging rights, this is to prove which is actually England’s Greatest Club… or at least it would be, if these were two truly great sides. Which in all honesty, they don’t really seem to be. Rather than championing present well, champions, both sides seem to pining for lost Iberian heroes (Xabi Alonso and Cristiano Ronaldo), and foaming at the mouth for the return of wounded warriors – Alberto Aquilani, Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Glen Johnson; Owen Hargreaves and Wayne Rooney.

Manchester United are sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League, yet you would be hard pressed to find anyone who, in all honesty, would say that they are there because of their delightful omnipotence, rather than the relative impotence of the other sides making up the division. This seems, to this observer at least, like a team caught between the past and the future – for the want of a less clichéd term, in transition.

This is majorly evident on the flanks – whereas the jury still seems to be out on the improving, but not quite there Antonio Valencia, and has been taking a long time when deciding upon the infuriating Nani, Ryan Giggs has been in sparkling form at the age of 35, and in linking up with Patrice Evra has been at times carrying this team – the second half against Manchester City being a prime example. Something that, as he nears his 36th birthday, surely cannot be expected of him for too much longer, if at all. If Valencia doesn’t adapt quickly, Nani continues on his path and age finally catches up with Giggs… what’s left? Ji-Sung Park is a very important player defensively, but does not offer a lot going forward; Danny Welbeck showed that he’s not quite ready yet in his limp performance against Sunderland, and then, what? Zoran Tosic, who, at the age of 21, and with International caps to his name, still can’t get a game in the Carling Cup? Gabriel Obertan, a kid who couldn’t get onto the Bordeaux bench ahead of David Bellion last year (leading to his loan-out), and who has played officially zero minutes for the club?

None of these seem as if they are prime options, yet Sir Alex Ferguson has been playing two wingers in what is loosely a 4-4-2 formation, which, while it seems soothing to those brought up on that being the norm, means that there is a large amount donkey work for the central midfielders to do, leading to subsquent problems:

Fletcher is very proficient at the hard-working all around midfielder role (and seems to be holding the middle of the pitch together singlehandedly at times), but Carrick, Scholes and Anderson are not: When Carrick has to do a lot of defensive work (tackling and the like) against opposition midfielders who are more mobile or more in number, he struggles to impose his character upon a game and can get washed away (see 2009 Champions League Final, Sunderland at home and Burnley away for examples); while Anderson’s energy is wasted if not put to use driving at the heart of a defence. Paul Scholes, well, passes and little else (maybe the odd shot) but does it brilliantly. If he is forced to intercept, or (shudder at the thought) tackle, then he’s a liability. If Owen Hargreaves comes back to somewhere approaching his best and can stay fit (two very big ‘ifs’), then a 4-4-2 with Fletcher and Hargreaves for the big games would make a lot of sense, with their mobility, energy and quality making a pair who can cope against three central midfielders; and would minimize the risk of paucity on the flanks, but without that pair, a 4-3-3 with Fletcher, a winger of any description (on current form, Giggs), Rooney, Berbatov and two more central midfielders makes more defensive sense, and may give one of the three central midfielders more scope to contribute offensively, knowing that the door is closed at the back. The front three would also have more freedom to roam and create new angles of attack – Rooney has been playing more ‘off the shoulder’ than ever before, and while his goal output has increased, he isn’t as much of an all-round attacking threat as he has been in previous seasons. If he felt he could drift out wide without impacting upon a winger’s space, he would be tougher to mark for a centre half, and if he started out wide and came back inside (rather like Thierry Henry in days of yore) even more so: his incredible form at the back end of last season came from such a position, proving that he can play there with great success.

This might seem like nit-picking for a team that is atop of the Premier League, but the truth is that in the Big Games, when they’ve played a 4-4-2, United haven’t been totally convincing defensively: – Arsenal could have taken all three points at Old Trafford with a bit of luck – missed chances, own goals, debatable penalties, etc – Manchester City were dominated in the Second Half but still scored three times in the match; and United’s best performance of the season by a distance, at White Hart Lane came from a front six of Fletcher, Scholes, Anderson; Giggs, Rooney, Berbatov. United’s 4-4-2, whilst being effective in the cold, hard currency of results, has been found wanting at home against Sunderland (Cana and Cattermole ate United’s two man midfield for breakfast) and at Burnley. One goal victories against Bolton and Birmingham at home have indicated that this isn’t a team bristling with confidence – and while United could have been away and gone in both games before the end, both of the away sides had glorious chances to snatch a draw. United are by no means in a large hole, (their league position suggests as much) but there is grand scope for improvement.

Liverpool, on the other hand, are stuck at what is nearly the bottom of a yawning chasm at the moment. In six games – Sunderland, Chelsea, Tottenham and Fiorentina away; Lyon and Aston Villa at home – they have a grand total of 6 defeats. A wry irony being that while Benitez was saying that Liverpool drew too many games last season… they haven’t drawn any this season, yet have lost twice as many as in the whole of last season already. The reasons for this are often stated and are clear:

– Benitez’s obsession with control, and controlling a football match where every minute detail can be planned, leads to a natural distrust of a) Going for it, until they are so far behind the 8-ball that control is irrelevant (Champions League escapes time and time again, the 4-4s last year from impossible positions, 4-1 at Old Trafford, amazing form from there on in etc); and b) a distrust of Yossi Benayoun, one of his own signings, but a player who has unpredictable creative abilities – so when Liverpool go forward and really need a goal, Benayoun is generally on hand to provide because there is no need to harness him into a structure or plan, so he is free to do something unexpected. When Liverpool are in a game that they are looking not to lose, and are set up in a clear plan, there is no place for Benayoun because he doesn’t offer the natural balance of a Riera or a Kuyt. Benitez doesn’t seem to know how to use him, Gerrard and Torres – three very creative players – and get the best out of them all at once, without being of defensive detriment to the team. Of course when Benayoun is on his own without the Big Two, he is good at creating something out of nothing, but the team isn’t built around him in the same way that it is for Gerrard and Torres, and he isn’t as good as Gerrard and Torres, and the players around him aren’t as good, so Liverpool struggle for clear cut chances.

– The centre of midfield after the departure of Xabi Alonso is a big problem. Lucas isn’t as good at distributing the ball expertly like Alonso – he is a good player, just not a similar player, or of a very good standard, yet – and so Mascherano has had to take more of a role in attacking distribution, meaning that, rather like Didier Deschamps v Paraguay once Zidane was suspended in the 1998 World Cup, he has struggled to be an effective playmaker and water-carrier combined. A further problem being that, because of his two great talents, Rafa cannot really make that two into a three by moving Gerrard deeper without ruining Gerrard’s interplay with Torres, or removing one of his wingers and asking Gerrard to compensate. Whereas United’s problems are solvable by simply switching personnel, Rafa’s 4-2-3-1 and building his team around his talents has mean that either he needs to buy another central midfielder to do an Alonso job – Alberto Aquilani is a terrific talent, but is injury prone and is a far more direct, attacking player than Alonso, meaning that there will be even less midfield cover than with Lucas there – limit Gerrard’s free role behind Torres; or hope that Lucas/Mascherano/Aquilani improve dramatically or adapt their way of playing to suit the collective. The departure of Alonso and the subsequent signings imply that either Rafa knows something that we don’t, or that he’s made a tremendous blunder in everything related to this position from his courting of Gareth Barry onwards.

– The defence. Oh Dear. Jamie Carragher, a man never known for his great pace, simply his heart, courage and other lacklustre metaphors, has started the season in atrocious form. Not only was he given the run-around by Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane on opening day, he has also been exposed by Zavon Hines on his debut for West Ham, conceding a penalty and other set pieces; Jermaine Beckford of Leeds United in the Carling Cup; and Gabriel Agbonlahor at Anfield, among others. Whereas Rio Ferdinand’s drop in form could be put down to rustiness after a stop-start start to the season, Carragher has hardly missed a game and still looked decidedly dodgy, whilst Martin Skrtel alongside him has hardly covered himself in glory either. Daniel Agger is a terrific defender, by far the best at the club, but is dogged by injury worries still, and may not last a whole season. Beyond those three, there’s little else aside from the unproven Kyrgiakos. As for the full back situation, Martin Kelly’s performance against Lyon was very promising, but this itself asks questions about Rafa’s transfer policy. Why spend £18m on a right back, when there is a talented one like Kelly waiting in the wings? Couldn’t Rafa have bought perhaps a slightly worse one offensively for, say, £10m, and spent the rest of his budget on a much needed striker? Last year, why did Rafa spend £7m on Andrea Dossena when Emiliano Insua, an extremely talented full back, and Fabio Aurelio could have played instead? Some transfers are only damned in hindsight, but the Dossena transfer didn’t really add up to begin with.

Both teams have further problems that do not require such expansion (Liverpool’s impotence on the flanks, and United’s very injury prone defence, for examples), and these major caveats, in my opinion at least, add up to a match that will be very intriguing to watch, maybe not for all the right reasons but that is moot. Liverpool are in dire need of a win, the sort of dire need that has led to “over my dead body” victories in the Champions League time and time again; whereas for United, a defeat would be more of a psychological scar than a physical wound. It would damage United’s title hopes to lose, it would damage their pride even more. For Liverpool, if they lose, there would perhaps not be any title hopes left to damage.

For “Collymore closing in…” in 1996, you can read “It’s Michael Owen…” in 2009. Both games were littered with brilliant goals, pathetic defending and some of the most exciting football the Premier League has seen. Now though, two days on from “The Greatest Manchester Derby in the History of Anything Anytime Ever”, it is surely the time to look back on it with a more tactical eye. The time has come to peer reluctantly into the wreckage.

Looking at the two formations on show, it was clearly a battle between United’s 4-4-2 against a City 4-3-3 (or 4-2-3-1 depending on your outlook on life). Following Rooney’s early goal – caused by a Micah Richards error, not to be the last – City, after a nervous five or ten minutes, and especially following Barry’s equaliser, started to establish control: De Jong was by far and away the best player in the first half, on either side, and dominated the midfield with his smooth, unerring passing complementing his strong, robust tackling. He was helped a lot by United’s eagerness to play the ball towards their two front men rather than using the flanks – one of the major problems with a 4-4-2 is its requirement to play the ball out wide and minimize the numerical disadvantage left in the centre of midfield – and De Jong could therefore just mop up any loose balls from the front. From there he could either give it to either Stephen Ireland or Gareth Barry; if Darren Fletcher and Anderson were blocking that route, he had the time and space to pick out a ball to Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy or Shaun Wright Phillips, whose job it was to create havoc. Even with Park Ji-Sung doing his customary harrying, there was still an easy ball to Wayne Bridge on offer if all else failed.

When City had the ball in United’s half, City’s mobile forwards were interchanging effectively, coming short and running in behind, leaving United’s undermanned back six (defenders, and central midfielders) stretched and leaving the centre halves and middle two too far apart, creating space for Bellamy, Barry et al to pick up the ball in space. Carlos Tevez, whose return to Old Trafford was typically hard working (creating Barry’s equaliser by pouncing on Foster’s indecision), was guilty of not further making use of City’s dominance by missing a guilt edge chance just before half time.

With City dominant and United picking out the wrong passes, the last thing they needed was a goalkeeping error from Ben Foster, whose position as United’s Number 2 has started to come into question: His handling from crosses – once a major problem – now rarely seems to raise its ugly head, but his lapses in concentration and poor judgement cost his team twice yesterday. It is too early to make a sure judgement, but he may join Tim Howard, Fabien Barthez and Massimo Taibi on the “Talented Keeper, Not Great at United” list. A further issue for the Champions was the Park/O’Shea combination on the right flank – Park is an excellent defensive option on tough away trips, but at home, and especially in a 4-4-2, the onus is on the flanks (either the wingers or the full backs) to create another option rather than straight down the middle, and Park doesn’t offer the attacking threat of a Valencia or a Nani. This coupled with John O’Shea’s at times comical crossing ability means that while Patrice Evra and Ryan Giggs were running riot down one wing, it was not until Valencia came on until there were three attacking options (right, left, centre), and City’s defence was truly stretched.

Giggs himself was unbelievable. After a poor first half where he saw little of the ball, he was given more possession in more attacking areas. Linking with his fullback beautifully, he gave a lesson in rounded left wing play: When Evra bombed on he would not be afraid to cut inside and create a third man in midfield; when Evra stayed back he would dance past all and sundry, jinking, nutmegging, crossing with calculated genius. United’s Left Wing Delta Force forced Wright Phillips to almost abandon attacking duty – if the same had been true on the other side, perhaps Bellamy would not have had the space, nor the chance to score his brilliant first goal – and forced City to defend crosses, a quality for which they are not famed: Berbatov was good without being great, but even he was having headed chance after chance from Giggs’ crosses. And after The Other Welshman seemed to have had the last laugh, it was Giggs’ calm, cool, precise pass that gave Michael Owen his moment of glory. Darren Fletcher’s willingness to put his head on the end of two Giggs’ crosses showed just how much that United’s channelling of play down the flanks in the second half made City’s central, numerical advantage almost negligible.

This was partly down to United’s exploitation of Giggs’ genius, but also down to City suddenly starting to sense something special in the offing. Like so many clubs who come to Old Trafford, and are within striking distance of a result, they started to retreat: Their dominance in the middle in the first half was negated, as De Jong, Barry and Ireland would only receive the ball in their own third, and so could not risk a short ball to a team mate in case of interception. They went long up to their front three, and with Tevez, Bellamy and Wright Phillips (i.e. three very small guys) up there, they kept losing it cheaply; so United could give the ball to Giggs, who, much further upfield, could work his magic again, and again, and again. City just couldn’t cope. If City could’ve held their nerve, and held their backline at a reasonable height, then there would not have been such a level on intense pressure on the backline.

Intense pressure took its toll on Micah Richards, who had an awful game, and was put under duress time and again by Giggs and Evra. He still is young enough to recover from such poor games, but he has to work on his defending before he can ever think about being involved in Fabio Capello’s England set up. He was backing off a 35 year old (admittedly playing superbly), allowing him time and space to cross, before then closing down Evra, who would whizz on by. It was a remarkable display, for all the wrong reasons.

On a positive note for City was the second half performance of Shay Given, whose really good saves seemed to have gained a point after Craig Bellamy’s goals. Both of which were brilliant. His first, a cut in and shot from nearly 30 yards, could have been prevented by O’Shea either a) learning how to defend, or b) remembering that the Welshman is weaker on his left foot and showing him that side, instead of just letting him have the space do what he pleased. It still took some finishing however, and he did with unerring accuracy and incredible power for such a small man. His second goal was a similar story – this time it was Rio Ferdinand’s mistake – the Englishman didn’t look fully fit at all on Sunday, and questions may need to be asked if he either breaks down again or puts in a similarly lacklustre performance after getting some more match practice – and Bellamy again finished with deadly accuracy, especially with such a tight angle to work with.

Unfortunately for him and City, the whole world caved in from that moment: Owen scored coolly in the 96th minute (forget the timing issue for a moment, where was the marking?) and he appeared to push a detained fan in the face, after he (the fan) had run on the pitch afterwards. The former moment was about no defence, the latter, allegedly, about self defence. What a strange day.

Arsenal Fans Can Have No Excuses

Emmanuel Adebayor is Public Enemy Number One at the moment, partly for his stamp on Robin Van Persie, and mostly because of his goal celebration in front of the Arsenal fans. “Inciting a riot”. Of course it was ill-advised – he must have Ashley Cole’s Public Relations officer – but it still should not defend the embarrassing actions of the Arsenal fans present, causing unnecessary injury to a steward.

That’s wrong. That is indefensible – I don’t care how much you hate Emmanuel Adebayor – for his “obvious desire to go to Italy”; for his lack of a clear “for the shirt” spirit that most fans bizarrely crave; for being “a classless money grabber”, for whatever – that is no excuse to charge down a flight of chairs and put your fellow supporters (as if you can now call yourself that) at risk. I don’t care how passionate you find your hatred of that man, there is no need to put lives at risk.

Adebayor has accepted the blame for this, many pundits have rushed to blame him for it, the FA are investigating his actions, he seems to be the scapegoat: But what if someone had died? Would Adebayor have blood on his hands if someone had been crushed to death because of the rush to swear at him? No. Is it his fault that some “fans” were willing to put other people’s lives at risk? No. Frustration at an unfortunate two goal deficit, a former player scoring, and the fact that you don’t like him are possible causes but not excuses. The public focus should not be on Adebayor’s pretty brainless behaviour, but on the infinitely more distasteful scenes that followed.

For the record, it was an extremely exciting second half and a game of sometimes breathtaking quality – one which neither side deserved to lose – but it, and the incredible performances of Craig Bellamy and Adebayor have been overshadowed by a piece of rash, brash celebrating and a horribly dangerous reaction.

Scholes’ Indian Summers

Rather like having glitter on your hands and herpes, Paul Scholes never seems to go away. After his 2005 eye injury, and a poor subsequent season, the general consensus was that it was time to usher him quietly out of the door – we don’t want to see a great player reduced to a pale shadow of his greatness (i.e. we don’t want a Rivaldo situation). Then came the 2006-07 season: A miraculous season season as he reinvented himself to suit the team’s need – all but gone were the surging runs from deep; in came the spraying the ball out wide, the simple sideways ball, in essence a deep lying playmaker.

After a decent season in 07-08, and a rather stop-start one in 08-09, his position in the squad was under threat again. Even this blogger thought it was time to hand Scholes his gold watch, listen to his farewell speech and book him a taxi to the Pantheon of United Greats to grow old. Once again, this season he proved us all wrong.

In three starts, he has attempted 190 passes to teammates… misplacing 6. Out of 190. He is still a truly staggering footballer, still United’s best passer, still pathetic at tackling, but still able to control a game like no-one else in his team. In the 1-0 victory over Birmingham, he attempted precisely 100 passes, and all but three found their target. He’s playing in a pretty poor midfield compared to some of the others he’s played in, but he’s still there, calm but confident, with control of the match in the palm of his hand. Proving us all wrong. Again.

In the short time since Chelsea were found guilty of inducing Gael Kakuta to breach his contract at RC Lens, and banned from the registration of new players until 1st Sept 2010 – i.e. two transfer windows away – a lot has been written, blogged, said and alleged – some fact, some fiction. Let’s separate fact from fiction:

“Chelsea have been singled out by UEFA/FIFA”

RC Lens put forward a case to the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber, arguing that Gael Kakuta had breached his contract with them to join Chelsea, and that the West London club induced the frenchman to do so. Chelsea weren’t “singled out” by anyone, the DRC can’t accuse a club of any wrong-doing, a case has to be put forward to them. So the DRC is a courtroom where disputes are settled. This isn’t FIFA (it’s definitely not UEFA because Lens didn’t argue to UEFA at all) picking on Chelsea, it’s FIFA, as is their right as football’s governing body, resolving a dispute and charging the defendent who they have found guilty.

“It’s wrong to punish so heavily Chelsea for ‘Tapping Up'”

This isn’t ‘tapping up’. If you tap up a player, you are trying to make it so that he wants to move to your club for a transfer fee or at the end of his contract, what Chelsea have done is – appeal pending – made a player breach his contract and join them for nothing, which is a lamentable exercise, whoever you are. So Chelsea have been made to pay, together with Kakuta, what in effect is a transfer fee – compensation to the tune of €780,000 – and a training fee of €130,000. As Chelsea have been in breach of transfer statutes and regulations, they were punished furthermore in relation to transfer activity. Makes sense, doesn’t it? If my team lost its best player for nothing because he breached his contract I’d be pretty miffed, wouldn’t you?

“Chelsea have been the only club ever to be punished like this”

That’s just not true. The increasingly famous FC Sion of Switzerland were given exactly the same treatment as Chelsea last April because of their illegal acquistion of Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El Hadary from Al-Ahly. Since they appealed, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled the bans void until a verdict has been reached. Roma were banned for two transfer windows (reduced to one on appeal) after their role in the transfer of sweeper Philippe Mexes from Auxerre. They were forced to pay 7 million euros in compensation.

As for the “Anti-English Clubs” conspiracy going round, I doubt it. If UEFA and FIFA were really out to get English clubs, they’d make verdicts harsher than those given out previously. If Blatter was really “in on this”, then why would FC Sion – from Blatter’s home country, lest we forget – get the same punishment. No-one is saying that there’s an “Anti-Swiss Clubs” conspiracy, so why for English clubs? As for the Eduardo incident – not strictly relevant, but some fans like a whinge – surely it is better to make a scapegoat now for this incident, and stamp it out with the rest of the season to come, than to do it in April or May with titles and cups at stake. It was a dive – even if he did it out of expectation of a collision, it’s still a poor piece of judgement – and so he was punished in a manner that, while not usual for UEFA, is not uncommon in individual leagues: Inter’s Adriano was given the same ban after winning a penalty against Roma in 2007. So, not totally unprecedented then…

The year is 1996. The All New Manchester United juggernaut has just driven relentlessly to the Premier League and FA Cup double, sneering past the wheezing, spluttering, broken down Alfa Romeo of Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle on its way. The chance arises, that summer, to buy a young starlet from France, Zinedine Zidane. While there is no doubting his talent, where does he play? Who would miss out to accomodate the playmaker? Why overhaul the successful machine in the infancy of its powers? This major quandry means that United and Sir Alex Ferguson (or just Alex, as he was in those innocent days) turn down the chance to purchase him, leaving Juventus free to fill their boots.

Sound thinking, as it turns out, as United’s juggernaut goes on to win 4 more league titles, an FA Cup and a Champions League.

Eleven years later then, after winning a league and Champions League double with a young team and most importantly a young forward line, Ferguson purchases Dimitar Berbatov for £32.5m. In the end he took a gamble similar to that which derailed his previous juggernaut (the Veron signing), and gave himself the headache he chose to avoid – for a man who became one of the greatest players of the modern era – just over a decade earlier. Where does he play? Who misses out? Why overhaul the successful machine in the infancy of its powers?

Ferguson answered some of these questions more than adequately, he retained the league title and almost the Champions League (adding the Carling Cup too), but he didn’t improve the side, or its attacking output, at all. In a lot of ways he diminished its power: Cristiano Ronaldo, after 42 goals the previous season, scored 26 this time in a more disciplined role (whether it be in the centre or on either flank, he was more inclined to stay there, and less inclined to roam); Carlos Tevez scored just 5 goals in the league; and United just 68 in 38 games: The worst output for a United Champion outfit since 1993. If anything, instead of adding more attacking variation and guile, Berbatov helped to turn United into more of a passing machine, rather than the 4-6-0-interchanging-all-over-the-place fluid organism of the previous year. “1-0 to United” became as much of a popular scoreline as “1-0 to the Arsenal” had in the George Graham era. Fergie’s gamble hadn’t failed, but neither had it succeeded.

Yet that is only modern history, for now we must look to the future: Tevez has switched his red pyjamas for blue ones, CR7 has become CR9, and United are looking at an attacking overhaul that perhaps may not have occured if Berbatov hadn’t have moved to Old Trafford (certainly Tevez would not have left): Their wide areas post Ronaldo are almost scarily bare – Giggs doesn’t play there anymore; Fergie will be struck down with the plague if Rooney plays there again; Valencia is a Big Time Rookie (a shocker against Arsenal hasn’t helped); Nani is infuriatingly inconsistent and perhaps too young to shoulder too much responsibility (he may well have to in any case); Tosic and Obertan are surely Carling Cup merchants at best at the moment – i.e. United’s options out wide are not too far away from a shower. So why, in the first few games, has Ferguson persisted with two wingers? Does playing two wingers get the best out of Rooney, even if he is in His Holy And Righteous Place in the centre?

Surely now, after a numerically small but consequentially massive changing of the guard, it is time to let Berbatov show his worth, and repay the considerable faith shown in his abilities.

On Saturday, Berbatov didn’t start, with Valencia and Nani both playing to the sides of Rooney, and United were absolutely awful for large parts of the first 70 minutes. Valencia was poor, Nani was not much better, Rooney was chasing the lost causes he was meant to have stopped chasing, and United created almost nothing. Berbatov came on, with United very fortunately 2-1 up – they had created no clear chances other than the penalty (rather like the Burnley game) – and suddenly United had a spark, they became able to keep the ball, they became able to create chances. Pulling out to unorthodox areas – with just one winger space is not cramped on both flanks if either Berbatov or Rooney choose to roam wide – he glided out wide and created a simple chance for Nani, after missing one himself (absolutely hilariously) after a 50 yard run that left him looking absolutely knackered. While it is possible that United could have been running on the euphoria of the dramatic turnabout, there is no doubt that Berbatov gave United something that they didn’t have for the rest of the game. When he came on at Burnley, with United 1-0 down, the momentum started to build, and United seemed able to create chances on a regular basis. In his two starts, United have won 1-0 and 5-0, and created chance after chance. When he hasn’t started, they’ve looked like a wishy washy nonesense in attack.

Whilst there is no doubt that United have other pressing issues – The centre of midfield looks quite scarily open, with Darren Fletcher bearing a heavy load on his shoulders while Carrick, Anderson and Giggs look almost loathe at times to try and tackle. If Hargreaves doesn’t come back soon, United are simply going to have to fill the centre of midfield with three bodies (at least against the big teams) to compensate somewhat for the lack of bite in United’s engine room – there is surely no doubt for one thing – For United to create chances, Dimitar Berbatov must play.

United and Liverpool “Back on track”

After big recent wins against Stoke and Wigan – those bastions of consistency – the general consensus amongst the pundits is that Manchester United and Liverpool are “back on track” after defeats at Turf Moor and White Hart Lane. Just one problem with that though: I thought it was “too early” to judge the respective title challenges of teams at the top. If it’s “too soon” to prove if Tottenham and Manchester City can keep up their impressive form, surely it’s equally soon to judge if  United and Liverpool’s defeats are just blips.

“One swallow doesn’t make a summer”, and obviously if the punditocracy are anything to go by, “early wins don’t necessarily mean a title charge”. Fine, but surely, by the same token, one good win shouldn’t get you back on track. In fact, it’s the opening week of the season: There aren’t any tracks. There’s simply no track to get back on. These two clubs could challenge for the title, or they could both get relegated. We just don’t know. Surely it’s time for those who are paid to pass judgements on football to pass judgements on football: Not to make bland generalisations, or say pathetic clichés for no other reason than how the respective teams did the previous year. Players age, leave, lose form, lose pace, lose confidence and lose inspiration over the summer break, so how do these people know that Team A will continue on a certain path, while not knowing which way Team B will go?

If you want to make a prediction for how a team will do this season, go ahead and do it – but do it for everyone, or don’t do it at all. Most of the people who say, with absolute certainty, that Manchester United and Liverpool will build on their good recent results say, with a straight face, that it’s “too early” to judge the prospective chances of other teams. You seem to have had enough time to judge other teams looking at the Champions League places… so why not judge the rest?

Maybe (probably) I’m overreacting to a throwaway remark, but there has to be a reason why these people be so hypocritical:

Anyone know what it is?

Gianluca Nani shows Curbs’ folly

When Alan Curbishley left Upton Park early last season, it was because he wasn’t having “the final say” in transfer policy. Fans, pundits, fellow managers leapt to his defence, saying that’s “not how we do it in England”, a “Technical Director has no place in the English game” and that it “may be how they do it on the continent” with an arrogant, patronising tone that made Gianluca Nani, like Damien Comolli look like the increasing number of Big Bad Wolves ruining everything for the manager who wasn’t “allowed” to decide who comes and goes.

Harry Redknapp, a man who seems to view Technical Directors with a suspicion only usually left for criminals and spies, replaced Juande Ramos and Comolli at Tottenham – he’s done a decent job so far – leaving Pompey in the lurch. This man, after an earlier altercation with Avram Grant and Vladimir Zajec during his first spell at Fratton Park, insisted on having “total control” of transfers and transfer policy. Essentially, to quote The Smiths “Please, please, please, let me get what I want.”

So, Peter Storrie and Alexander Gaydamak let Harry do what he liked in the transfer market – after a 49% increase in wages over a summer, a financial crisis and all of their good players having to be sold to raise cash for interest payments from the loans taken out to finance the deals, Portsmouth are in a perilous position, willing to beg for any buyer to come in. Obviously Harry couldn’t control the World’s banks (don’t even think about it) but he could’ve controlled his spending. He didn’t, and now the club is in desperate trouble. Surely Portsmouth could’ve hired a technical director – like it or lump it, Harry – to prevent things getting out of hand like they are now? Maybe Harry has learned his lessons from his time at Portsmouth… but the signings of Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch – all for well over £10m each – show that he probably hasn’t. Will Spurs go the same way as Pompey?

A similar story down the road at West Ham, where Alan Curbishley, in an ultimately successful attempt to keep the club in the Premier League and consolidate that position went, for the want of a better word, crazy in the transfer market – £72,000-a-week for Lucas Neill, who turned down a move to Liverpool because of the wage drop, £80,000-a-week for Freddie Ljungberg, £90,000 a week for Keiron Dyer, an astonishing £100,000-a-week allegedly for Craig Bellamy – was subsequently told to slash the wage budget by director Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, and ultimately quit, because – you’ll like this – he didn’t like George McCartney being sold for £7m. With the Icelandic banks having gone into meltdown, West Ham had to cut costs and raise money.

In fact they still do.

Yet twelve months on, Gianluca Nani and Gianfranco Zola in tandem have done a terrific job, bettering Curbishley’s 10th place finish – and, better still, done it a £40m profit. With the sales (mostly to Sunderland) of Anton Ferdinand, McCartney, the slashing of the remarkable wage bill etc, they have shown that, with a coach willing to co-operate, you can make a roaring success of the Technical Director position in English football. And while every player, if a good offer comes in, is still up for sale – the nous of Gianluca Nani, and the coaching talent of Zola means that West Ham will probably get a good deal out of it. On and off the pitch.

The 2000-01 Premier League season was a bizarre one, ranging from the mundane to the improbable: On one hand, Manchester United won the title by 10 points, on the other hand, it was delivered with a poor Middlesbrough side winning 3-0 at Highbury. Whilst Man United, Arsenal and Liverpool were the top three, Peter Reid’s Sunderland were second in late January. Yet despite this, going into the season, Play-off victors Ipswich Town were looking dead certs to go straight back where they came from. As an early 21st Century promoted club, they could expect to follow a defined path:

The life of a 21st Century promoted club tends to go one of three ways – a) you do a Wigan, a Reading, or even a Hull and end up very high up the table at Christmas for no discernible reason other than momentum, spirit and form. You then tail off a little at the end of the season (or a lot) but you stay up. Just.
b) You do a West Brom, a Norwich, a Crystal Palace, or a Charlton – (not strictly 21st Century, but go with me) play easy-on-the-eye football, nearly stay up, but go down because your defence is, in short, crap not very good.
c) You do a Stoke, a Birmingham, or a Bolton – i.e. Stay up reasonably comfortably, by being “tough to beat” (kick lumps out of opponents), “direct” (long ball merchants), brilliant at home (brilliant at home) or all three.

This Ipswich Town side had a bit of everything – momentum, spirit, good football, and were more than able to handle themselves. Especially away from home: Only Leeds and Manchester United were better away teams – and they ended up in Europe.

Their first XI was nothing special on paper: Richard Wright was a promising young keeper who held genuine England chances; but Fabian Wilnis and Herman Hreidarsson were journeyman defenders from the continent, Hreidarsson one of the full backs of the year with his suprising pace, teutonic heading ability and remarkable subtlety; John McGreal was a decent, if limited centre half and Titus Bramble was a promising yet dozy central defender with a turn of pace. “He’ll be an England regular one day” George Burley said before the promise became a joke at Newcastle. They weren’t one of the great central defensive partnerships, but they more than got the job done.

Midfield was slightly better – Irishmen Jim Magilton and Matt Holland were central midfielders who dovetailed superbly: the former relied on nous, simplicity and no little technical ability, while Holland was a perfect counterpoint with his hustle, bustle and steady passing. Holland won the ball, gave it to Magilton and ran forward, and Magilton would feed it out wide, in came the cross: BANG! Another goal for Ipswich. So simple, incredibly effective.

Out wide – on either flank – was dutchman Martijn Reuser – plucked from Ajax at the start of the season – who had a decent turn of pace, solid technique but two real assets: Pinpoint crosses and bludgeoned shots. Two fantastic strikes against struggling Bradford in early March at Portman Road were a turning point* after three straight defeats: Soon to be relegated Bradford were leading at Half Time to a Benito Carbone (remember him?) free-kick, and The Tractor Boys were reeling until Reuser struck with a skilful cut inside and a fizzing drive that left the commentator Martin Tyler purring “The mood has changed at Portman Road… from depression to delight!”. A stunning free kick led to a 3-1 win. A collapse wasn’t in the offing, and they stayed pretty strong until the end.

On the other flank it was generally youngster Jamie Clapham, showing a crossing ability, good technique and most pertinently a left foot that briefly raised hopes of an alternative to Michael Gray and Chris Powell down England’s left. It was not to be. Another key player during this season was the industrious, solid technician Jermaine Wright, an Englishman replacement for Newcastle-bound Keiron Dyer who offered a quite attacking midfield a bit of balance. He didn’t score many, but he didn’t make many mistakes. A major part for any successful promoted club is that your lower league players adapt well to the Premier League, and Wright did that.

Up front was a one season wonder for the ages. Marcus Stewart. In 3 seasons in the Premier League for Ipswich and Sunderland, passed 10 goals once. In season 2000-01 he scored 21. Using an underrated heading ability, an eye for goal and a canny knack for being in the right place at the right time, he scored goal after goal, penalty spot header after penalty spot header, cool finish after cool finish as he became THE HIGHEST ENGLISH GOALSCORER of the season. Ahead of Alan Shearer, Michael Owen, Andy Cole, Robbie Fowler, Emile Heskey and PFA and FWA Player Of The Year Teddy Sheringham. In fact, he finished as the second highest goalscorer of anyone in the Premier League that season – behind only Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and ahead of Thierry Henry, Mark Viduka, Dennis Bergkamp, Dwight Yorke, need I go on? For a man who had only played lower league football until then, this was an extraordinary performance. Ok, so he was playing against the likes of Gianluca Festa, Andy O’Brien and a 1000-year-old Richard Gough every week, but no-one else (nearly) shot as many fish in that particular barrel, an achievement lost in the sands of time. A hattrick in a 3-0 win at Southampton prompted muted calls for an England squad place, but with Teddy Sheringham enjoying a stellar season, there was probably not enough room for two pretty paceless strikers in the same squad.

This victory at the Dell – where the Saints were also chasing Europe – took the side back up to third, meaning that there were genuine hopes of Champions League football as the season entered its final three games. Sadly, a defeat and a draw in two of their last three games, and a Liverpool win at Charlton meant that they finished just three points adrift of The Promised Land in fifth.

It was not meant to be, but the fact that they were oh-so close to Champions League football has been overshadowed by subsequent events: Manager of the Year George Burley, instead of keeping the nucleus of his successful squad and adding a few more bodies, brought in Finidi George and Pablo Counago – for big money (£10m for the pair) – and with far too lofty expectations. The loss of goalkeeper Richard Wright to Arsenal was a blow – to all involved, as it turned out: Wright had two England caps and seemed to be Seaman’s successor for club and country, instead he had a nightmare first season, ended up at Everton (on the bench mainly) for five years and is now back at Portman Road, one of the numerous Great English Hopes (Titus Bramble, Michael Gray, Francis Jeffers, Luke Chadwick, Scott Parker) that ended up falling by the wayside just as they were about to take their biggest strides and get into the national side. For Ipswich, a fantastic season was followed by a horrible one: They were relegated, George Burley ended up leaving and everyone seemed to regret their eagerness to rock the boat.

So, you may ask, why is this a story worth telling? Well who’d have thought that of all the teams in that season who seemed ready to make a challenge – Leicester were top after eight games, Sunderland were second in January: both collapsed horribly – it would be Ipswich Town who’d be the team to get amongst the big boys? It also shows how times have changed in just eight years: Could a promoted club finish above Chelsea now? Could a promoted club get into Europe now? Unfortunately, for the time being at least, the answer is no.

(*Alright, this wasn’t a particularly good Bradford side – chairman Geoffrey Richmond said that the signing of Stan Collymore would “act as a catalyst” for Bradford’s second great escape. It didn’t. – but they were still a doughty bunch of scrappers with a bit of quality (Dean Windass, Carbone, Dean Saunders) and were fighting for their lives.)

This fact alone is not necessarily positive: If there were 10 home wins out of 10 it would be a major cause for concern – “Is the Premier League too predictable? Is home advantage too much of an advantage?” would be ringing from the rooftops of the cynics looking for something to moan about – but that is of no relevance whatsoever: Six of the ten games this weekend were away wins, and with two of the top four being at home, five of the non-big four games were away wins – whichever way you look at it, it’s a big positive.

Of course there are mitigating circumstances, three of the away wins – West Ham at Wolves, Fulham at Portsmouth and Man City at Blackburn – were very winnable for the away teams involved, but even that leaves 2 away wins to one home win. Search high and low, you will not find a disproving fact. The away teams have won this weekend.

Maybe this weekend is just a trend within itself – Mido himself is proof that spectacular starts on the first day of the season mean little – but maybe this is a precursor to an attacking ethos from middling teams away from home, more attacking games between middling clubs, and a more attacking league overall. Followed by goals, drama and, in short, fun. Am I getting a little carried away? Probably, but let’s just hope that the days of “playing for a draw” at Villa Park, The Reebok Stadium or Fratton Park are carried away with me.

“Big Three” Slow To Start

There are only three teams who can win the Premier League title, apparently. The general consensus being that one of Liverpool, Manchester United or Chelsea will win the title because of:

a) Their variety of matchwinners: Three out of their 39 outfield players scored this weekend. Five players scored for Arsenal alone.

b) Their watertight defences: Chelsea conceded at home. To Hull. Liverpool conceded two goals – directly or indirectly – to set pieces, and both were avoidable. United’s back four – Fabio (a left back – *thanks Joel, lazy blogging*, at right back), John O’Shea (Captain for the day. Don’t get me started…), Jonny Evans (talented, but still quite raw, and quite unfit) and Patrice Evra – was at best shambolic defensively (Evra apart) and worst atrocious. In short, all three seem there for the taking at the moment.

Arsenal, Man City, Spurs and the other “also rans” behind The Omnipotent Triumvirate will get their chance. It’s now. Take the crown before the giants wake up, or be glancing worriedly down towards the Europa League for the rest of the season.

(N.B. My dear friend/chance acquaintance (delete where appropriate) David Critchley has a new football blog at his fingertips. Please follow him, because you’re all that he has – davecritchley.blogspot.com )

The last dance of the season, of every season, the FA Cup Final is the jewel in the English Football Crown. Last year’s final between Cardiff and Portsmouth was arguably the exception, but this year’s certainly isn’t:

Underdogs Everton come into the final for the first time in 14 years, since Joe Royle’s infamous ‘dogs of war’ – led by the terrifying Duncan Ferguson – beat Manchester United in a final that was described by many as “rubbish”. This is David Moyes’ first appearance in an English FA Cup Final, as either a player or manger, but with the experienced Phil Neville leading the side, there is no shortage of big match experience. Neville himself is going for his fourth FA Cup triumph, after wins in 1996, 1999 and 2004 with Manchester United. A crucial penalty in the semi final against his former club, he says, was the first time that he really “felt like an Everton player” despite being captain for two years. Hmmm. Unfortunately, talented centre half Phil Jagielka misses out on the Wembley showpiece with a knee injury sustained in a game against Manchester City on 25th April. Nigerian Joseph Yobo is likely to take his place in the back four.

Favourites Chelsea bid a fond farewell to Guus Hiddink on Saturday, after the dutchman guided the Blues to third position in the league and a European Cup semi final, as well as tomorrow’s FA Cup Final. Midfield maestro Frank Lampard has been passed fit to play as Chelsea are bidding to add to their FA Cup haul of four, the last of those being in 2007, where a Didier Drogba goal in extra time saw off league champions Manchester United. Like Moyes, this is Hiddink’s first taste of an English FA Cup Final, but as a European Cup winner with PSV in 1988, he is no stranger to success and the battle of wits between the Scot and the Dutchman could be where this game could be decided.

You better add this to your favourites before you go to bed because  it’s an early start American viewers, so bring your coffee and join me at around 9.30 EDT (2.30pm GMT, so not that early my fellow Brits) for this season’s denouement. Should be a good one. Maybe. Click Here for the live blog.

Editor’s Note: During the FA Cup Final live blog/chat experience on EPL Talk today, host Michael Scallon will be awarding an official EPL Talk T-Shirt to one lucky winner. Log in to find out how to win.

Cristiano Ronaldo scowls to the heavens on a frustrating night for the deposed champions

I think it’s fair to say that the Barcelona ‘passing carousel’ was out in force last night. Even fairer to say that the United midfield wasn’t really out in any force.

After a bright start, where Anderson looked to have the energy that could light up United’s midfield, the Champions capitulated. Whereas Barca were looking nervous – Pique in particular looking decidedly shaky in the early stages – at the beginning, once Eto’o had turned Vidic, cut inside and slotted home United seemed bereft of ideas, especially in a lacklustre first half. Barcelona started to create a rhythm that United couldn’t break, and on a large Olimpico surface, this meant lots and lots of running. It was a scorching night in Rome, and so when United got the ball, they knew that they had to use it wisely, and with their energy being drained by chasing shadows, they didn’t have the zest to do something with it and expose Barcelona’s defence.

Barcelona, for their part, grew in confidence and dominated the game – whenever they lost the ball Xavi and Iniesta would press Carrick, O’Shea and Vidic in particular, forcing them to lose it or give it away time after time. Carrick got used to it after a while to his credit, but the latter two (among others) looked flustered in possession and were always prone to a slack pass upfield – meaning that the passing carousel could start again in earnest. For about twenty minutes.

It’s easy to say with hindsight that United should have approached it like Chelsea did the semi finals, but Chelsea’s midfield has the physicality to pull it off and outlet up front (Drogba) that could do the job of two or three men on his own, leaving more scope for leaving more men back for defnsive duties. United, on the other hand, were never going to be able to intimidate the Barcelona midfield in the same way – for all their merits, Giggs, Carrick, Anderson and Park are not as scary as Michael Essien and Michael Ballack coming to close you down. Ronaldo tried his best to the Drogba role (his histrionics were matching the Ivorian’s by the end) but he didn’t have the raw power to really scare Yaya Touré and Gerard Piqué into mistakes in the way that Drogba managed to at Stamford Bridge. Each attempted slapshot wide was emphasized by the fact that he had wasted the possession that the midfield had struggled so hard to get hold of.

Wayne Rooney was a marginalised figure, putting in only one cross of note all game, and the consensus is now that he shouldn’t be used in that wide role any more. Not true. In the latter part of the season he has excelled in that wide left role, with his ability to both cut inside and go down the flank being very effective going forward and his indefatigability being a crucial asset in protecting Patrice Evra. He was poor last night, and seemed intimidated by either the occassion (he didn’t have a great game in last year’s final) or the Barca midfield, who would capitalised on any mistake in the way – by keeping possession forever – that no other team in Europe would.

Carlos Tevez, introduced at half time, was full of energy but little end product, implying that perhaps the lazy genius of Dimitar Berbatov should have replaced the poor Anderson at half time – the Bulgarian’s ability to keep possession could’ve helped United build up momentum that their opponents managed to achieve early in the second half, Thierry Henry missing another good chance in a Champions League Final and Xavi hitting a post. United on the other hand could only see a good cross from Rooney evade every one. That was it.

Perhaps it was fatigue – this was the 66th game of United’s marathon season – but it was probably more mental tiredness: big games have been coming every three days for three months, and with emotionally draining comebacks needed against Porto, Wigan, Aston Villa and Tottenham, FA Cup ties at Fulham and at Wembley, as well as three meetings with Arsenal, a beating at the hands of Liverpool and a frustrating day at Fulham, perhaps they were a bit stale at the end of the season.

Either way, it was a fabulous performance from the new European Champions, and with the likes of Messi, Iniesta, Pique, Yaya Toure and Xavi hardly veterans, perhaps this can be the dawning of a dynasty threatened after the 2006 triumph. Hopefully, with theirs and Spain’s recent triumphs, there will be a new era of teams playing such beautiful possession football, as teams generally only copy the best.

2/10 - Newcastle's bad boy typifies their season. Fancy a McDonald's, Joey?

West Brom: A season of Ifs, Buts, Maybes and Not Quites for The Baggies this season, but it was nevertheless extremely entertaining. Tony Mowbray will not leave, nor should he, and he has created a side who played some of the most exciting football this season. Sure, they lack a quality centre half – Meite has been a disappointment – and there are unattractive hobos who have scored more times than their strikers, but there are differening types of success, and, both penalty boxes aside, they have been a roaring success: 7/10.

Middlesbrough: Middlesbrough’s side is definitely Premier League Class. Stewart Downing has played for England this season, David Wheater has been solid more often than not and they have conceded only 2 more goals than 12th placed Stoke. Afonso Alves simply hasn’t done it. There are mitigating circumstances, Boro’s style of play perhaps chief amongst them, but 4 goals in 31 league games this season is simply not enough for a striker signed to score goals. They played nice football, but if the goals don’t come, the defence is under more pressure, and ultimately they couldn’t quite keep it tight enough. An underachieving season, and Southgate has plenty to ponder: 4/10

Newcastle United: A joke. From the moment of the season, to the final day defeat at the hands of Aston Villa, The Toon have stumbled from crisis to crisis, leaving a trail of Bad Boys, Bad Signings and even worse performances in their wake. Rare bright spots on the spotty, ugly face of Newcastle season include the emotional victory against Middlesbrough at St James’ and Shay Given’s last dance against Liverpool (they lost 5-1, and Given was sold not long later), but they are of no comfort now. They may not have the Messiah, but they have a very naughty boy: 2/10.

Hull City: After a stunning start, where they gained 20 points from the first nine games and sat third, Hull collapsed horrifically. From that point they gained just 15 points in 29 games – Derby County form – and all the momentum that they gained from dramatic victories at the Emirates and White Hart Line, and from a draw at Anfield eroded desperately. Manucho’s incredibly important goal at Fulham aside, all of Hull’s best moments came in the first part of the season, and while their collapse could be seen as a natural parabola of a promoted side, it does not bode well for next season. See, you don’t have to mention that team talk: 8/10.

Sunderland: Roy Keane left after a 4-1 home defeat against Mighty Bolton, and with the club in the bottom three, Ricky Sbragia stepped into the breach and kept them up. Just about. There were a few good performances, and overall Sunderland have played easy-on-the-eye football, but, like all of the clubs facing relegation, their results tumbled alarmingly towards the end of the season: They avoided relegation to the Championship, only because of the failings of others: 4/10.

Blackburn: Following the sacking of Paul Ince, Rovers were in a dire position in the relegation zone. Enter Big Sam. Like a rescue act combination of The A-Team and Dave Bassett, he has swirled into town, taking 28 points from 21 games and turning a side lying 19th when he took over into comfortable survivors. Benni McCarthy has stepped up to the plate, Keith Andrews has become a solid regular and Stephen Warnock is standing on the edge of England squad, among others. Allardyce has proved what we always knew about him pre-Newcastle, and has made a beefburger out of a cow’s ****. Again. Ince – 3/10, Allardyce – 8/10. Overall: 5/10.

Portsmouth: After a bright start under Harry Redknapp, and a moderate start under Tony Adams, Portsmouth’s season turned at one moment in time: It wasn’t even in the league. AC Milan, 2-0 down at Fratton Park, are given a free kick, 30 yards out. Up steps Ronaldinho… and this happened. Then things like this. Then this final straw. Eyebrows were raised when Adams was replaced by Paul Hart, but he has done a sterling job in keeping Pompey afloat. Peter Crouch and Glen Johnson are undoubtedly their stars, and both will probably go in the summer. Not a bad season, given the financial circumstances, but perhaps tougher times lie ahead: 6/10.

Bolton: The Ginger Mourinho has done it again. It’s not been flashy, barring the odd suprise thrashing, but it has been very effective. Megson has made the Reebok Stadium into a bit of a fortress again, with wins against Spurs, Man City etc, but they have been the 14th best team at home this season, and the 13th best away: i.e. comfortably lower mid-table: 6/10

Stoke: The first half of Stoke’s season could be summed up in one word: Delapidator – Rory Delap’s long throw, along with the inclusion of players like Sidibe, Salif Diao and Olofinjana typified Stoke’s agricultural style. It was effective every so often – most notably against Arsenal at home – but it was football reminiscent of Watford’s two years ago. And they got relegated. In January, Pulis provided his greatest masterstroke: his versatility – the signings of James Beattie and Matthew Etherington, and the recall of Liam Lawrence made Stoke a more rounded side – able to mix it too, of course – but a front six of Lawrence, Whelan, Delap, Etherington, Beattie and Fuller started to play some very good football, and the results swung dramatically upwards: Since January 1st Stoke have been the 10th best team in the division, and have reached mid-table safety with much to spare. Well done, Mr Pulis: 9/10.

Wigan: For 30 games, Wigan were having a fabulous season: Sat in 7th position with just 8 games to go, Steve Bruce could dream of Europe. Unfortunately they have tailed off a little, but it’s still the second best season in Wigan’s history: Players like Charles N’Zogbia, Hugo Rodallega and (to a lesser extent) Mido have all replaced important players (Palacios, Heskey and Ryan Taylor) adequately and in Maynor Figueroa and Chris Kirkland Bruce possesses some of the best players in the league this season. An excellent season: 8/10.

What do you reckon? What are the marks out of 10 for your club’s season? Tomorrow, the top half.

Will there be more to come for United?

As far as title winners go, Manchester United’s Class of 2009 have been one of the best. In cold, hard terms of consistency United have been absolutely incredible – 27 wins from 37 games, 87 points from 37 games and just 7 points being dropped at home belies a level of reliability unmatched since Mourinho’s glory days in the mid-2000s. Line-ups change, the opposition changes, but United win. Again and again.

Individually however, no-one has set the world alight: Rooney has finished brilliantly but was pretty poor until January; Ronaldo has been better than last season at times (Arsenal and Porto away in the Champions League, his brilliant goals against Villa and Blackburn) but drifted in and out until about March; Berbatov is the leader of the assist charts but has divided opinion about whether he is worth £32million; and Tevez has scored five times in the league this season. It would be tempting to say that Vidic has been the dominant United player, but even he has been exposed by Fernando Torres and (more disturbingly) Bobby Zamora at specific points this season. Rio Ferdinand, perhaps? He’s had a season wrecked (to an extent) by injury. PFA Player of the Year Ryan Giggs? Only 15 league starts. The strange thing about this United season is that no-one has truly dominated the season in the way that Cantona, Keane, van Nistelrooy, Bryan Robson et al have in the past.

Perhaps Ferguson himself has been the star of the show: with his rotating and tinkering like a drunk Claudio Ranieri, his shock inclusion of Fletcher and Giggs against Chelsea sparking the turning point of the season, and his clever shuffling of the defensive pack helping Edwin Van der Sar keep 14 consecutive clean sheets. John O’Shea has played more games this season than Wayne Rooney – which says more about his constant changing than words ever could. It would be even more appropriate  to name him as United’s star this season as he has finally knocked Liverpool off their ‘f***ing perch’ by winning United’s 18th title, equalling Liverpool’s long-held record. With United’s title win this season they have won three titles in a row for an unprecedented second time, a feat that even Liverpool – neither in their Heighway heyday nor their Grobbelar Glory Days – couldn’t match. Fergie is doing better than ever, taking United to consecutive Champions League finals for the first time and perhaps on the verge of a (not the) Quadruple for the first time in English football history. He is the star of the Manchester United show this season.

He has built a squad that has coped with the loss of its best defensive midfielder (Hargreaves), its best right back (Brown) and its best central defender (Ferdinand) for large parts of the season and won the league with a game to go. He has built for the future too, as even if (as is rumoured) Ronaldo and Tevez leave the club, players like Rooney, Nani, Anderson, Macheda, Welbeck, Rafael, Fabio, Fletcher etc are young enough and talented enough to keep the dynasty for a third decade – Rooney and Fletcher especially seem the heir apparent to the Giggs/Scholes/Neville role of keeping the spirit of the club alive in a multi-ethnic dressing room. Ferdinand and Vidic are unmatched in World Football as a pairing, and Jonny Evans looks good enough to cement his position as Rio’s future replacement. Foster may not be up to replacing Van der Sar yet but he has time. 

No individual may have set the world alight this year, but with such talent at their disposal, United fans can surely expect even greater peaks to be climbed by this current squad.

Allardyce's Arrival Has All But Staved Off Relegation

Who else could have saved Blackburn so effortlessly? Sat second bottom of the Premier League, five points from safety with just 13 points from 17 games, Sam Allardyce succeeded Paul Ince as Blackburn Rovers’ manager, and in less than 20 games he has made them all but safe – almost in second gear.

He took Bolton up, took them into Europe and developed them into a club so stable that even Gary Megson can keep them afloat with ease. His over-eagerness to join Newcastle perhaps has meant that he probably will be firefighting with clubs like Blackburn forever, but even that “marriage made in hell” was not as bad as first seemed: Mike Ashley sacked Allardyce with the Toon in the heady heights of 12th place, and subsequent failings have shown that Big Sam’s performance – in the cold, hard textbook of results – was in fact a relative success as he seemed – initially at least – to be able to wring the best of Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins (the latter’s brace at Bolton on opening day the highest peak of his short managership). Ashley’s happiness to jump into bed with the fans meant that he immediately replaced Sam with Kevin Keegan – a man who, even four years previously had looked to sign a host of ageing nineties’ superstars for Manchester City (Robbie Fowler, Peter Schmeichel, David Seaman, Michael Tarnat, need I go on? ) and whose work in football for three years amounted to running a childrens’ “Soccer Circus” in Glasgow. It was like replacing Fabio Capello as England manager with Glenn Hoddle – and it was shabby treatment for a manager who, whilst not putting any trees up was definitely not going to make Newcastle relegation candidates.

Of course there are mitigating factors: Newcastle were in a shocking run of form, and the “brand of football” issue raised its ugly head once the results started to turn. He is oft-mocked for his “agricultural” style at Bolton, but with signings like Youri Djorkaeff, Ivan Campo, Nicolas Anelka and Jay-Jay Okocha, can you play completely long-ball football? His football tends to be direct, of course, but his organisation and motivation of players is second to none – at Bolton he came away with two draws from three games at Stamford Bridge during the José era, and with consecutive wins at Old Trafford in his first two seasons in the Premier League, surely he was the man to take Newcastle to the level they had slipped from since Bobby Robson left in 2005. I guess Mr Ashley had other ideas.

So Sam ended up at Blackburn. What had become (under Ince) a gung-ho football team with a brittle underbelly, became a drilled, structured outfit with an underbelly made of titanium. Benni McCarthy went from the outskirts of the side to a prolific Premier League goalscorer, Jason Roberts went from an Ade Akinbiyi impression to a spirited strike partner, and Ryan Nelsen has remembered how to defend: In other words, Blackburn are now a worthy Premier League side, who, with Big Sam at the helm can perhaps look towards Europe next season – after all, since Allardyce’s arrival, they have taken 27 points from 19 games, which is European form and would place them comfortably in seventh if taken over a whole season. He is no Mourinho, no Benitez, no Ferguson, but he has sparked a remarkable revival from a team on it’s knees, and – this becoming an increasing Big Sam trademark – has got the best out of a (relatively) small Premier League club.

Can Gareth Southgate keep Boro up? 25 goals in 35 games says he can't.

With West Brom’s unfortunate defeat at White Hart Lane yesterday, the Baggies are all but relegated with 28 points from 35 games leaving them 6 points behind Hull City – with the Yorkshiremen having a game in hand. Barring a miracle, Tony Mowbray’s outfit will be playing Championship football next season, but who will join them?

Sitting second bottom, Middlesbrough are in deep, deep trouble: 3 points from safety, a disjointed side bereft of confidence and a misfiring winger with perhaps one eye on a summer move to Spurs. Of course, there is a very obvious scapegoat in £12m man Afonso Alves, whose goals to games ratio (worse than 1 in 4) is quite frankly shocking for a fox-in-the-box, but it would be unfair to blame all of Boro’s goalscoring woes on the Brazilian – his swift penalty area movement and cool finishing is not suited to Stewart Downing’s crossing from deep, as diagonal crosses towards Alves are wasted due to his lack of aerial ability – when Yakubu and Mark Viduka were with the Teesiders, Downing could cross high balls from a position level with the corner of penalty area safe in the knowledge that Viduka and Yakubu could compete in the air, but with Tuncay Sanli and Alves on the end of his crosses, there is no presence and most crosses from that area are dealt with comfortably. On the other flank, Jeremie Aliadiere strikes me as someone who is uncomfortable playing on the right, and while he does a moderately effective job – works hard, the odd run – he neither seems to like holding his position out there, nor offer much in the way of penetration, and so, if I was Southgate I would seriously consider playing Marvin Emnes from that position, as not only does he offer pace and will look to get in behind the full back, he will complement Downing and offer the kind of variation that has been lacking from Middlesbrough’s play.

At the back they have not been too bad – David Wheater has been steady if unspectacular, and Robert Huth seems to be at home at this level – but the midfield has been another area for concern: a central midfield pairing of Matthew Bates and Gary O’Neil is very industrious, and against Manchester United yesterday they played very well in the first half, hustling the champions effectively and limiting United to few chances, but they don’t offer something different that a team needs at this level – they can pass a ball over 5-10 yards comfortably, and Boro keep possession relatively well, but they aren’t the best at threading passes through defences for the mobile Tuncay, King and Alves to run onto – therefore, I would definitely play Julio Arca, especially for a crunch, must win game like the forthcoming match at St James’ Park.

Their opponents a week on Monday, Newcastle, are probably in worse shape than their neighbours: While they are a place above Boro, they have scored just one goal in 5 games under Alan Shearer, and while there has been a lot of fuss about their crucial ‘winnable games at home’, they have won just 4 games at home all season and there squad is ageing, inbalanced and desperately lacking in confidence.

To me, this Newcastle side looks like a really good side… about 5 years ago. Players like Duff, Butt, Owen, Viduka and Smith have all had careers ravaged by injury and are not even nearly the same force that they were circa 2004, when they were all Champions League quality and above. Like Middlesbrough, their midfield is a hub of activity and industry, but none of Butt, Smith or Nolan are ever going to unlock a Premier League defence with a flash of quality or a clever through ball on a regular basis, and with their one truly exciting creative talent, Jonas Gutierrez, not really sure of his best position, Newcastle have struggled to feed their talented strikers – Martins, Viduka, Owen, (less so) Carroll and Lovenkrands – on a regular basis and have struggled to score consistently. Their players have plenty of endeavour, but, as shown so palpably by Portsmouth on Monday, they do not threaten defences consistently, so when chances come their way they are snatched at – as they may never come again.

Defensively, Fabricio Coloccini is far too inconsistent at this level, and while at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge he has orchestrated fabulous defensive displays, on a number of other occasions he has let his team down with Cacapa-esque moments of madness to concede crucial goals. Sebatien Bassong looks like a talented defender, but there is only so well that he can play alongside the inconsistent Coloccini and a left winger – Duff – playing at left back. Habib Beye has been injured quite a lot, and his reassuring presence has been negated by Shearer’s tinkering – perhaps necessary tinkering – and he has struggled to assert himself at the back. Steve Harper strikes me as Shay Given-lite, as he is a very good shot-stopper, but is perhaps not big enough to be effective at dealing with crosses – top class keepers are not sat on a bench for nearly 20 years.

Hull have collapsed. With 1 win in 18 games, they have slipped dramatically to the relegation zone, being just 3 points above the North-East clubs in 18th and 19th. When confidence is high, poor players can play above their station and overperform consistently, but when confidence is low, the same players can play at below their normal levels. The latter is happening to Hull. Players like Dean Marney, Ian Ashbee and Andy Dawson were extremely effective during wins at the Emirates and White Hart Lane in early autumn, but with Geovanni’s influence waning, these players (especially Ashbee and Marney) are having to take on more responsibilty and create goalscoring chances for the likes of Manucho and Cousin, and they aren’t good enough. Hull aren’t conceding too many goals, a testament to Michael Turner and Matt Duke, who have both shone this season, but The Tigers have scored just two goals in 5 games, and have lost crucial away games to Sunderland and Middlesbrough. Phil Brown, hailed as a ‘breath of fresh air’ earlier in the season, is now being widely ridiculed for his dodgy tactics and his dodgier fake tan, but he may still keep them up – a win next week against Stoke would give them a fighting chance, but as it is now, I would fancy the winner of Boro/Toon next Monday to leap-frog Hull at some point before the end of the season, leaving the Yorkshire club in the relegation zone.

Sunderland are not out of it either. Pathetic performances at West Brom and against Everton have left them 4 points outside of the relegation zone, and with key players – Cissé, Jones, Richardson and Malbranque – being distinctly out of form, they will be in trouble if they do not find at least a couple of draws out of the games against Bolton, Portsmouth and Chelsea. With the players at Sbragia’s disposal however, they should just about be safe, as players like Andy Reid and Kieran Richardson are very capable of producing something when it matters.

As for my Two Cent’s Worth, I think that Newcastle and Hull are looking the most likely to go, as both team’s inability to find wins from anywhere may be their achilles heel, especially with their respective run-ins both being pretty difficult. Then again, who’s to say that Middlesbrough will ever score again?