Being Logical

I'm a runner. If you didn't know that then you've either not been paying attention to your Facebook & Twitter feeds or you've managed to block me until now. Well done on both counts. If you don't want to read about running, please look away now. I'll probably be blogging about something you might find interesting in a couple of years. I'm thinking 'tweed' but there's still time to decide on that.

I didn't want to be a runner. In fact, I took pride in telling my parents (Christmas 2012) that I'd never run because it was just so boring. This was despite the fact that my wife ran regularly and I would turn up at parkrun and clap. In a moment of weakness, perhaps because I'd offered to drive her to run at King's Lynn at 9am on New Year's Day 2013, I decided I'd give it a go. I didn't really enjoy it but there was free fruit and the parkrun people seemed quite nice. I tried again the following week back in Cambridge and got a bit quicker. There was cake at the end. I like cake. Now I'm a member of a running club with two half marathons and plenty of shorter races under my belt. I own more running shoes than I do normal shoes. Lycra now takes up approximately 40% of my wardrobe & chest of drawers. So definitely a convert.

I decided that it might be a good idea to run a marathon. It's such an iconic distance. My wife is running Brighton in April, and I thought it might be good to coincide our training plans. Plus it means I get to use skills from my job for a training plan - i.e. cobbling together a spreadsheet with lots of pastel colours that sort of represents what I want it to show.

So why am I sitting here tapping away on the laptop instead of running? Well soon after signing up for a marathon, I discovered a bit of an injury. After a Thursday night tempo session, I discovered that walking down stairs was practically impossible and killed my right knee. At the time I felt like a fair price to pay as the run had felt good.

I have 'weak hips'. Now as an accountant, I've never needed to consider whether my hips were strong or not. I'm unlikely to get the call up to Strictly Come Dancing and unless technology gets so clever that I can formulate a spreadsheet using some wiggling and gyrating of my waist, it was never really going to be a problem for me. Instead my new life means that I have a piece of green elastic band following me around the house as I attempt to buff up my hips. It's fairly tedious but I can now stand on one leg for more than three seconds without face planting. I'm on four.

Apparently though you are supposed to Listen To Your Body. Well my brain was telling me that I still wanted to run, so I've been keeping up the mileage over Christmas and set a 10k PB in a gale. So I listened to my brain - who wouldn't - as it's served me pretty well so far in life. All going well.

I've structured a nice 3:30 training plan from Runner's World, adding in an additional week in case I got injured, which started on Monday 6th January. So full steam ahead - tally ho!

Obviously I haven't recovered. Despite having a heavy cold for a week, little sleep and being away in Barcelona with work, I banged out a five mile run on Thursday morning with my knee already slightly painful on the day before and regretted it immediately. Possibly not immediately, but when I was limping through Gatwick trying to make the earliest train home, I cursed myself. I may have also cursed people around me because I couldn't really hear properly from the cold. Sorry about that.

Well that and a stonking cold have knocked me sideways this week, leaving me down on mileage by 14 miles. So here I am on a Sunday morning. Week 1 of a 17 week plan drinking a cup of tea and trying to work out if I can justify some more Soreen Fruit Loaf in my life. So this is my back-up 'illness' week, before I've even properly started.

This time I'm going to LTMB. I'm going to sit, and do nothing until at least tomorrow when all the world's problems will have been righted and 6 miles at 8:50 pace will be perfectly appropriate. Plus my man flu cold will have disappeared. I might also have become a better husband, become respected for my revolutionary accounting opinions and also developed a cure for the common cold. Here's hoping.

I'm going to call this the logic of the runner.

PS - I'm going to leave this with a picture of Richard Lyle, the merry leader of Wimpole parkrun, author of a blog too and destroyed of running dreams on Tuesday evenings.

Edit: I also look silly in a hat, so I'm putting me in too.

Book Review: The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle

Review
The Secret Race is written by Daniel Coyle, about Tyler Hamilton, the former professional cyclist who tested positive for drugs after being the team-mate of Lance Armstrong during the early 2000s.

The book tells the story of Hamilton's career, but predominantly his years of professional cycling riding for the US Postal Service team during Armstrong's initial victories in the Tour de France. It starts with a traditional format, documenting the story of Hamilton's love for cycling as a junior rider. He's a little different from ordinary, as he enjoys pushing himself through the pain barrier, and finds that he is actually rather good at it. This will stand him in great stead for future years.

Before long, Hamilton is shooting through the ranks and being noticed by the top teams. Recruitment by one of the top teams, however, does bring with it the revelation that you can't win clean. Or, realistically, it is almost impossible for you to compete regularly without taking performance-enhancing drugs. Sometimes it is hard to know whether drugs really were required. Surely a rider with morals could have said 'no'? It seems like a loss with drugs could be tolerated, as the rider had tried 'everything' to win; a defeat without drugs was just not competing. Ultimately the sport was infected with cheats, deceptive cheats and powerful cheats. We learn that Armstrong is all three of these categories, and to be elite with Armstrong involved all manner of medical procedures.

The book heads through Hamilton's career with the Postal Service, his emergence as a team leader and subsequent fall from grace following his positive test in 2004. I'm not going to dwell on the narrative of the book; anyone with a brief scan of major search engines will find his life story, and I certainly didn't find any ground-breaking discoveries about his personal life in this book.

The Secret Race definitely focuses on the doping. We learn a lot about the processes the Postal team used to conceal their tracks, but ultimately how naive the testers were in attempting to detect cheating. Any rider supported by their team, with a few simple steps, could avoid being tested when they were 'glowing' soon after blood transfusions or testosterone injections. In fact, the scale of the doping and implication of Armstrong is almost secondary to the shock of how easy it actually was. In fact, what is completely surprising is that Hamilton actually got caught. I suppose that eventually every significant rider in that generation was, or has come clean afterwards.

Daniel Coyle deserves some credit as an interviewer of Hamilton. Never does the book really slip away from the key objective of explaining Hamilton's misdemeanours. It is simple to get drawn into the doping and descent into cheating, but it never feels rushed or ponderous. It is a tricky balance to make it sound like the rider, without descending into banal observations, but Coyle accomplishes it well.

I think it is important to put into context how and when I read this book. I've already read David Millar's Racing Through The Dark, a man who fully acknowledged his role in doping, admitted his guilt and has devoted the twilight of his career to fighting the cause. I was rapt by this book; possibly because I bought into the story of Millar that he wants to be redeemed, but also because of the emotion that he explains from the early days of doping until his positive test. He truly seemed to hate the methods and himself without any exceptions.

I finished the book about a week before Lance Armstrong's interviews with Oprah Winfrey. Getting Armstrong's side of the story has painted a different light on my opinion of Hamilton. Armstrong, in my opinion, would never have admitted without the disclosures of Hamilton and Floyd Landis, another ex-team mate. On that basis, I have to consider this story to be beneficial for the sport of cycling, as it can hopefully put the omerta and cheating culture behind it. So many developments have happened since the Tours of the mid 2000s that we would like to hope that the sport is now clean and redemptive. In fact, the speeds of the riders in 2012 being substantially lower than those ten years previously gives us hope that our time isn't being wasted watching top-level cycling. I wasted three weeks in July over seven consecutive years watching Armstrong 'win' cycling events, marvelling at his dominance, but it was based on a lie.

Ultimately it is difficult to consider whether Hamilton's story is credible. There is certainly some value in writing a narrative like this, as it educates the reader about the endemic doping culture that was prevalent. It is shocking and really goes to underline that systematic testing was, at best, ineffectual and at worst pointless. However, Hamilton never really feels or sounds contrite about his cheating. He doesn't go far enough to explain why he was doping. We know some of the guilt is real, but would Hamilton have written the book if he hadn't tested positive in 2004? Unfortunately, I don't think so.

Summary
First published - 2012
Immediacy - 4/5 - as a cycling fan, I knew what to expect - a narrative about his opening years, drive for success et cetera. Others might find it harder to get into.
Writing style - 4/5 - Coyle is factual, descriptive but it always feels like it is coming from Hamilton himself.
Ongoing narrative - 3/5 - I couldn't get past the guilt and incomplete emotion depicted in the book. This probably isn't the fault of the book, but any reader with knowledge of Hamilton's history cannot fully enjoy it, in my opinion.
Overall - 3.5/5.

Book Review: Fibber In The Heat by Miles Jupp

Review
Fibber In The Heat is written by the comedian (and, as the book refers quite regularly, former Balamory actor) Miles Jupp. It follows his growing love of cricket inspiring him to join the press corps on the England Test tour to India. The only problem is that he isn't actually a journalist, and is driven to some rather long lengths to obtain press accreditation. This results in him being a correspondent for the Western Mail, a Welsh newspaper, whose readership are merely interested in the trials and tribulations of their Welsh fast bowler, Simon Jones, who promptly is injured before the Test matches begin. His back-up missive is as the writer for BBC Scotland, a country not renowned for producing international players; step forward Exhibit A, Gavin Hamilton.

Miles's writing style is somewhat charismatic. He describes early on his love for the sport driving him to distraction during the early pages. How he manages to keep his job during the 2005 Ashes series, one will never know! We learn to be very admiring of his long-suffering girlfriend, as he effectively 'swans off' to the Indian sub-continent, on a whim, without any paid work promised or any costs likely to be covered by third parties.

The start is particularly entertaining - the reader is left to imagine the wide range of issues that could be created from Miles's plans, and he leads us merrily to India, full of optimism of the japes ahead.

He is completely out of his depth. From not knowing how to operate hotel blinds, to regularly appearing at the wrong entrance of the ground without any accreditation, Miles has to try very hard to make sure that he can fit in. Which he doesn't, much to the reader's enjoyment.

Miles reports, quite factually, the various correspondents that he meets on his journey. Effectively a travelling army of BBC, newspaper and Sky commentators remain together for the duration of the tour, which he had imagined to be a 'brothers in arms' experience. As it happens, the long demands of the tour somewhat erode their working relationships, and he discovers that the competitive nature of the press can be rather tiresome. However, Miles is very good at pretending to look busy, so he can settle in quite nicely.

Miles has a number of interesting drinking experiences with former England captains; unfortunately we don't learn too much about these, possibly due to the serious hangovers that he suffers on the following mornings, and the evident memory loss.

The narrative winds onwards through the Test series, covering the three matches over the 342 pages. This runs at a suitable pace, never dwelling for long on an experience, no matter how important it proves to be later in the book.

The difficulty with the book is that it never quite gives you everything you are hoping for. Miles is certainly excellent at reporting some of the key facts and stories that occurred to him. Anyone who has experienced food poisoning will empathise with his street food adventure, which ultimately drives him to his conclusion about sports journalism and his future. However, we don't ever really learn about what he is feeling. There is a fleeting mention about missing home, but considering some of his thoughts and experiences, especially during the second half of the book, some personal perspective is really required. This is what could make the book more appealing to readers who aren't as involved with sports, or as familiar with sports literature.

Overall it is an entertaining read. It doesn't provide quite enough comedy from observations about India itself, or from habits of the touring party, to quite satisfy the reader. The cricket detail can be a little light in places for the aficionado but is generally well written, providing a suitable narrative throughout the book. It is definitely a strong debut, although inclusion on the final William Hill Sports Book of the Year shortlist is a little surprising.

Summary:
Length - 343 pages
First published - 2012
Immediacy - 5/5 - the opening is very entertaining and can sustain the reader throughout the majority of the book.
Writing style - 4/5 - light-hearted, self-effacing and genial.
Ongoing narrative - 4/5 - sometimes skirts around some of his personal thoughts, such as his family, which must have played a part in his enjoyment of the tour.
Overall - 4/5.

NFL: London Calling?

For the past five years, the NFL has brought its brand of football to the shores of England in the month of October. These games have witnessed sell-outs, aside from the lockout-affected 2011 affair, which still pulled in c.60,000 people for the Bucs and Bears. Not that it helped either side in the second half of the season!

This has introduced a regular NFL circus to the British media, bringing an increase in volume and clamour each year. We (and by "we", I mean NFL fans) are exposed to Commissioner Roger Goodall discussing whether the UK could support a franchise. Various factors are considered: the distance between the US and UK, time difference, sell outs at Wembley and the fact that American Football is "the fastest growing sport in the UK". This all paints a relative persuasive picture for a franchise located in Europe.

However, would it actually work? There are a limited number of teams which would consider moving. Let's be frank - the franchise system has never been afraid of moving teams across a city, state, or timezone! Before we get into that argument, many English teams have moved - Manchester United (not actually in Manchester), Milton Keynes Dons and Arsenal, to name but three.

Each NFL team currently plays 16 games per season, which would mean 8 home games in the UK. It would make sense to play the games at the same time as the East Coast teams, giving a 5pm kick-off (2pm PST). Any earlier, and this wouldn't work for the viewing public in the US who the NFL would be crazy to alienate.

Where would the games be played? Early September through to November is a key team for Wembley to maximise revenue for concerts and England football games. Wembley could easily secure eight dates, but it could be difficult to ensure that these are synchronised with the FIFA calendar. Mind you, with the amount of debt still weighing heavily on the developers of the stadium, the opportunity to put people in the ground would clearly negate the inevitable 'poor quality grass' debate the Association Football media would love to debate.

However, I'm not convinced that a regular season would encourage sufficient people to watch to justify the use of Wembley. The Office for National Statistics, in 2009, estimated that there were 189,000 people born in the US who were currently living in the UK. Many teams who have come over to the UK include the stronger sides in the 1980s and 1990s (49ers, Dolphins, Broncos). Would a team be able to generate a regular support from day one?

Without stating the obvious, the city best placed to hold a franchise would be London. But where? Which stadium would be free during September through to (potentially) late January, on a combination of Thursday, Sunday and Monday evenings? Immediately, it wouldn't work for a Premier League football ground due to the television schedules holding sway at the Emirates, Stamford Bridge and White Hart Lane. I'm not sure a smaller stadium would make sense, unless a rotation system was in place, and this wouldn't exactly encourage regular fans.

Although the Bucs practised at Lord's, that would never be allowed to happen. Twickenham's key period is November during the Autumn internationals, and that has the same issues as Wembley (as well as appalling transport links for a Sunday evening).

What about the Olympic Stadium?  Just one side potentially considering playing there, and without intending on disrespecting West Ham, regular European football is unlikely. The ground would hold sufficient people, and has decent transport links. I will keep that at "decent" until August 2012 has passed.

So, here is how it will work:

• Continue playing a regular season game at Wembley each year, potentially increasing to two games by 2014. This should be at Wembley.
• Concentrate on bringing over sides who don't sell out their home stadia, with the Bengals or the Bucs being the favourites. These are the most likely to make a move. See ESPN's Attendance Summary, or the Bengals 101 Website.
• Continue working at grass-roots level with Universities and London clubs, as there is a massively-expanding popularity with younger fans.
• Use the popularity of relatively "famous" fans. This might be the first time I advocate Vernon Kay being used more on television, but surely a magazine-style show on Sky Sports would be popular? Especially if the 'Polocrosse World Cup' can make it onto television!
• Bring some of the NFL articles and analysis over. By this I mean the library of books, and quality productions from the NFL team. Anything to accompany the excellent 'America's Team' series on Sky would be appreciated.

I'm here for the phone call, Roger Goodall, if you need some advice!

cp

Super Mega Ultra Survival Sunday

"And now, the end is here. And so I face the final curtain." My Way, Frank Sinatra.

The television executives have what they want: a final day decider. It isn't quite the Premier League title shoot out of 1995 (Andy Cole vs Ludek Miklosko), but Survival Sunday will be foisted onto our screens on Sunday at 4pm.

According to the hyperbole, this is a £30m, £60m, £90m game. Who knows what the actual economic impact will be on each of the clubs - it isn't just television money but gate receipts, money-spinning tours and merchandise that are factored into these unproven figures - but ultimately each of the five teams fighting to stay up will experience a different level of fall-out from a relegation to the Championship. So here is how it stands (in reverse order, just to be different):

19th: Wigan: 39 points; -22 goal difference; v Stoke away
18th: Blackpool: 39; -21; v Man Utd away
17th: Birmingham: 39; -20; v Spurs away
16th: Wolves: 40; -19; v Blackburn home
15th: Blackburn: 40; -14; v Wolves away

Blackburn
I really don't know what to make about the owners of Blackburn. In the Premier League era, arguably they have had three phases:
1) The emergence under Jack Walker, resulting in their title victory & European adventure (+ fighting);
2) The enterprising side as built by Mark Hughes in 2003;
3) The Sam Allardyce solid unit of the past few years.

Why was Sam dismissed? To remove a manager whose penchant for effective and not entertaining sides seems now like a folly. Steve Keen, a man who has followed Chris Coleman's generally ineffectual management odyssey as his assistant, was a very surprising choice. He won't bring in investment, but perhaps he is more of a 'yes' man who is keen (apologies for the pun) to do what the owners want.

I think they will survive; there are enough Premier League quality players to justify their inclusion for another year, such as Christopher Samba. They were also only a penalty away from a tactically astute win against the champions last week, so logic states that they won't end up in the bottom three by Sunday night.

If they did, I'm not sure where the owners would go next.

Wolves
In whose shoes would I want to be in? Ultimately Wolves. Their win at Sunderland, an impressive triumph for Mick McCarthy at a ground where he suffered so much in a previous guise, has put them as favourites to stay up. Even if Blackburn come away from Molineux with a win, the probability of two of Wigan, Blackpool and Wigan leaping above them is slender, unless win by a few goals.

Mick McCarthy has built an interesting side. Slowly he has added a series of grafters and under-rated players, and they are starting to mature into a unit who could start to establish themselves in the Premier League, albeit in the bottom half. If they got relegated, I really would imagine limited impact. Steve Morgan is a patient man, and I'm sure he'd allow Mick to re-build and bring Wolves back up next year.

Birmingham
Carling Cup winners. Relegation candidates.
Europa League. Barnsley away.
There is something very strange about the way Birmingham's season has unwound. Stories of goalkeepers drinking until the early hours and premature celebrations suggest that their victory over Arsenal was the end of their season.

It is astonishing that they are in this position. A few years ago Birmingham were a decent side, finishing in the top half of the league, and with new investment coming, looking like they would cement their place in the top flight. However, I really think that Sunday will be the end of the road.

Their performance at the weekend made them look like a beaten side, settling for a home defeat 2-0 against Fulham. This is a Fulham side who have won three away games, which must be a recent record for them! Spurs typically struggle against sides such as Birmingham, but I feel that they will have too much on Sunday.

I think McLeish will be removed from his position, and it will be a period of culling the higher wage earners and building round some of the lesser players (McFadden, Johnson etc) in 2011/2.

Blackpool
Blackpool. What a breath of fresh air, regardless of whether you are a fan of Ian Holloway or not. They have possibly ten points more than I thought they could muster, but the fixture list has not worked in their favour.

Several seasons ago West Ham went to Old Trafford needing a point to stay up. They won 1-0. This year Blackpool are going to Old Trafford needing at least a point to stay up. However, given the number of warnings that Ferguson has had this year from the Football Association, they won't field a weakened side. Their players will not want to warm up for Barcelona (well technically Juventus at home in a friendly in midweek...) with a defeat, and will want to force themselves into the match day squad.

Blackpool will go for it, lose, be relegated, keep Holloway, build, and finish in the top eight in the Championship next year.

Wigan
I really respect Roberto Martinez. He's a guy who seems to be professional and thoroughly knowledgeable. I fancy them to get a result at the Britannia, buoyed by their defeat of West Ham, and stay up.

Given the number of good players that they've introduced to the Premier League (Baines, Valencia, Chimbonda, Palacios) who have gone onto bigger and better things, despite their small crowds, I think there is a place for them in the Premier League.

If they went down, I'd fancy them to come straight back up, as long as they held onto their manager.

So my prediction? That's for Birmingham and Blackpool to join West Ham in the Championship.

An overall net gain - Birmingham add nothing, West Ham are incredibly erratic but Blackpool have been very entertaining. However, I'd far rather see QPR and Norwich, both of whom are quality footballing teams, in the Premier League (even if for only one season).

cp

Resetting expectations?

I hate to admit it, but the start of the Eurovision Song Contest has inspired this post. Apologies to everyone who likes taste and decency!

Stoke
So, Manchester City break their 35 year drought. The favourites edged past a Stoke side who demolished Bolton in the semi-finals, in surely one of the most one-sided games seen at Wembley.

Stoke should be pleased to have reached the final but this isn't meant as an insult. Tony Pulis's side has constantly defied expectations and quietly established themselves as a useful addition to the Premier League. How often are they mentioned as candidates for relegation? They are a physical side, but the have some deftness to their play with Etherington, and the nomadic Pennant.

I was pleased to see so many fans in the stadium during the trophy presentation. Yes, cries of "Delilah" rang out as the City players climbed the Wembley steps (certainly not staying for the £8.50 fish and chips....?!), but clearly the Stoke fans were pleased to be at Wembley for a proper final . The only disappointment was that they were overrun in midfield and fielding a number of unfit players (Huth and Etherington, at a minimum).

However, Stoke will be embarking on a European campaign in 2012/3, along with Birmingham; - how nice it is to see different teams making it into Europe from domestic Cup finals! There is no need to fear about England's UEFA coefficient, given the certainty of at least 2 or 3 English sides making the CL quarter finals, a guaranteed return with the money flowing through Sir Dave Richard's Premier League behemoth.

If both get through to the Europa League group stage, however, it is an established route to struggling in the league. For Stoke, I expect some mild evolution over the summer, perhaps replacing Carew and bolstering the midfield if cash is made available. If it was me, I'd be pushing a cheque under Mike Ashley's nose for Tiote.

City
Ah, Manchester City. It seems that the investment from the Middle East meant that Chelsea is now the acceptable face of "sugar daddy" ownership for football clubs in England.

For most people City were expected to challenge at the top end of the table almost immediately following the takeover from Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. That was very unrealistic. Before today, they had not won anything for a very long time. What Arsenal continue to demonstrate is how a brittle spine and weak mentality can provide a "monkey on your back" when it comes to the key moments in big games. Today's result will push them forward, and guaranteed CL football will finally attract those players who weren't entirely tempted by the money (Kaka, I'm talking about you).

As an external observer, Manchester City should only build in size and confidence over the next few seasons, competing strongly with United and Chelsea sides in transition in 2012/3. If they want to challenge for the league and Champions League next season, Mancini needs to amend his mindset in the big, big games (too many years of hearing Jamie Redknapp!). They were victorious against United, Spurs and Stoke all by the margin of one goal to nil. I'm not sure I've seen them chase a game though, and will be a very important test when sides from around Europe "park the bus" at Eastlands.

Most neutrals will expect a strong CL run and a title challenge next year. Nothing will reset the majority's expectations of the club.Today's result will probably increase investment, but I predict that many City fans would be happy with being closer to United next season and re-appearance in the CL. 

It is difficult to pick out obvious areas of improvement in their squad. Hart, Silva, Tevez and now probably Toure would get into nearly every side in the Premier League (wages discounted!). They have many 'good' players though, the likes of Boateng, Barry, Milner, Balotelli; that's before we get anywhere near Jo, Adebayor and Wayne Bridge! I'm sure a number of players will be lured to Eastlands, but today's result and proof that the side are trophy winners is probably as large a draw as the Champions League football offered.

I'll post tomorrow on the relegation battle, following the crucial Wigan v West Ham game.
PS - has there been a harder shot to win a Cup final?


cp

From Stoke to Manchester...

"Football. Bloody hell."
"I want to knock Liverpool off their f***ing perch."


Two famous quotes by Sir Alex Ferguson. Unless anything truly remarkable (and unprecedented) happens, United will clinch Ferguson's 12th and their 19th league title at Blackburn on Wednesday; Chelsea will finish second, and Arsenal third.


Arsenal
I certainly didn't predict that result. Stoke, to all intents and purposes, are focused purely on the Cup final, their biggest game for decades. Who would have said anything if they'd taken their eye off the ball and produced an insipid display, mirroring Bolton's abject performance at Wembley last month? However Tony Pulis is too clever and smart to let that happen. He's clearly created an atmosphere of competition in the squad, and challenged them to prove that they should be playing at Wembley. They've got a smart outfit, and if Manchester City perform like they can, Stoke could certainly shock them. I promise to blog later in the week on the appalling schedule of the Cup final!


Wenger's side demonstrated what the casual observer has known for years. They have a soft underbelly. Although they can pass most sides off the park (amusingly Stoke fans taunted with "boring, boring"), they really aren't up for the fight. A few seasons ago this was typified by defeats at the Reebok, St Andrews', etc, but these days it appears that any decent side away from home can cause them problems.


What next for Wenger? He won't be sacked, as he's given too much to Arsenal over the past 14 years. Anyway, why sack him in 2011 when Arsenal are in the same situation as 2008, 2009, 2010? To give him the credit he deserves, he has balanced the books and maintained a league challenge, and Champions League football, during the transition from Highbury to the Emirates. He should be contented that he's not located at King's Road, however, as surely the under the Russian Dictatorship run by Roman Abramovich, he would have been out on his ear by now.


A simplified observation would be this: Arsenal need a new goalkeeper, central defender, and a leader. Most importantly, the Fabregas/Barcelona doesn't look like it will be solved quite yet. Cesc hasn't exactly had a storming season, and with the emergence of Busquets to accompany Xavi and Iniesta in the Barcelona midfield, his value to the Catalans has certainly diminished.


If I was Wenger I would be looking to shift a few of the underperformers. I'd take £10-15 million for Arshavin. Flashes of brilliance shown across the season do not legislate for his general attitude on the football pitch, which is one of indifference at best. A disruptive influence who doesn't like England, mainly for the tax rates!


However, with a full season of Vermaelan on the pitch, would Arsenal have won the league? He's certainly a leader, chips in with a good number of goals, and seems to add that solidarity that was missing at the Britannia. Another interesting pre-season beckons at the Emirates. They were close, but just not quite close enough.


Manchester United
Their critics call them "the worst United team to win the league". Can they be that bad if they have just beaten their nearest challengers who were on a fantastic run of results? If there is a more convincing 2-1 game, please do let me know - United were clearly the better side.


This is an insult to Sir Alex, mainly due to the continual evolution and revolution which he undertakes every few seasons. This side doesn't have a Ronaldo, a Tevez, a Keane, a Bruce, a Cantona, but what it does have are incredibly reliable performers. Cantona was brilliant - he led the line outstandingly at times - but he could go AWOL (especially in the nascent European days). How many of the current team would you put in Sir Alex's All-time United side? An interesting consideration, and one that I'm not going to try and answer, but put the best two players in each position over his tenure, in my opinion (and I'm sticking to a 4-4-2)...


Schmeichel or van der Saar?


Paul Parker or Gary Neville?
Nemanja Vidic or Steve Bruce?
Rio Ferdinand or Jaap Stam?
Denis Irwin or Patrice Evra?


Ryan Giggs or Ryan Giggs?!
Paul Scholes or Bryan Robson?
Paul Ince or Roy Keane?
David Beckham or Cristiano Ronaldo?


Wayne Rooney or Andy Cole?
Dwight Yorke or Eric Cantona?


Apologies to Teddy Sheringham, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (a great substitute) and the numerous others.


My point here is that there are a number of current players in the top two for each position, especially at the back. In fact, what with United's fantastic defensive record in Europe this season, would it be inappropriate to suggest that this is their best back five ever? Other than the transition for right-back (where I fully expect the excellent Rafael to mature into the world's best in the next three years), this could be one of their greatest defensive sides (certainly squad), which is even more remarkable considering the injury problems experienced by Vidic, Evra and Ferdinand over the past eight months.


The next evolution will be the replacement of Scholes and Giggs. Nani and Anderson should be able to replace Giggs, but I feel that Modric may be Ferguson's answer to Scholes. He has the vision and can still time a challenge!


cp