MS Dhoni’s CSK have been the team to beat in this year’s IPL. (IANS Photos)

Home and away advantage is a concept associated with football and American sports leagues like NHL, NBA and MLB. This concept could well be applied in cricket if a team is touring another country. For example a team like India or Sri Lanka on a tour of Australia. In such a case the Aussies are bound to have an advantage, “home advantage”, due to their fans, the prevailing conditions and bouncy wickets favourable to their pace attack. The same could be the case of Indians enjoying home advantage on the spin friendly pitches, when say, a team like South Africa or New Zealand visits the sub-continent.

But to think that IPL franchises collectively are enjoying playing on their home grounds and struggling away from home is quite baffling. Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore have won all their home matches. Sunrisers Hyderabad had won every single home match till they faced the only team which is doing better away from home, Chennai Super Kings.

In seasons prior to the on-going one, there have been isolated instances where a team had gone on a prolonged run of winning matches on home turf. It was about being the better side on the day irrespective of the conditions, the ground or even the country (as IPL-2 was staged in South Africa). But this season, ‘making the home ground a fortress’ has perhaps been the major talking point, apart from Chris Gayle of course!

Don’t get me wrong I like Mumbai Indians staying unbeaten at the Wankhede while not necessarily being happy about the other teams home form. But what amazes me is why such a trend is in circulation. One team winning matches on its home turf is understandable but three (and till a couple of days ago four) teams being unbeaten on their home ground, beats me! And almost all the teams in question have played more than five home matches.

Is this just a coincidence? Or have the teams deliberately made teams based on their home conditions? Even then not considering the four foreign players, the rest seven players playing on the day would be Indians, so how does it actually matter they are playing at home or away? It is India after-all and thus ‘home’ for them. What I can’t really come to terms with is: have individual grounds in India become so different from one another to have the home advantage and away disadvantage concept in place?

If that is the case wouldn’t it have an effect on the home advantage that the Indian national team would have against foreign national teams? I mean if there are considerable differences in the ground and the pitches then won’t India have to change their national team combination for these grounds?

The current form at home enabling these teams to be at the right end of the table will come back to haunt them if they qualify for the playoffs and the final. These eliminator matches are scheduled to take place in Delhi and Kolkata. And that means these teams so reliable on their home advantage would have to play the business end of the tournament away from home. What it indicates based on home and away form is that Chennai would be in the driving seat to become three-time champions as they have already won five away games!

Unfortunately, the inevitable has happened. Sir Alex finally decided to hang his boots and retire from the post he had been in for almost an eternity. And perhaps that is what has troubled the fans the most and not just his decision. We all knew it would happen some day, but the manner in which it happen, all so sudden, took us by surprise.

One week he was celebrating bring the trophy back and the next it was retirement time. The impending surgery aside, there was no clue, no talk of him retiring this season and hence the sudden announcement left everyone shocked.

I remember one of the first thoughts I had after I recovered a bit from the shock of the news. “Why so suddenly?” I thought. And my mind went to what is happening at Madrid. Jose is almost guaranteed to leave the club come the end of the season, due to all the well publicised episodes of the clashes in the camp. Add to that the news that Chelsea would be bringing Jose back in the Premier League where he became ‘The Special One’ in those years at the managerial helm at Stamford Bridge. Those were the seasons United looked to struggle the most. I couldn’t help but think that the quick decision was because they planned to bring in Jose before Chelsea.

And then it was announced that it was actually David Moyes who is going to be announced as the successor. And that baffled me even more. Is he the right man for the job at this point of time? Yes, he has the right character to support the values of stability, continuity and longevity associated with the club, but at this moment did we really need a Moyes or someone like Jose.

Will the next season and perhaps the one even after that stand for stability? Logic says not. It is bound to be what is termed as a transition period in club football. New players and possibly new staff will come in, while some will leave the club. There will be a change of style of play, new training methods, new traditions; the players both old and new will require time to get used to these changes. The fans will require time to come to terms with the changes.

Most importantly, every decision, every transfer, every substitution, every tactics will be scrutinised with a comment – ‘What would Sir Alex have done?’. Would he have made any different substitutions, employed different tactics? If Sir Alex would have been at the helm, would United have lost the game? This may be how majority of the news and analysis reports on United come out next season.

Will David Moyes be able to handle such pressure where every decision of his will be compared and discussed globally? Maybe, maybe not. Jose on the other hand would have relished such pressure. There would have been a continuous spotlight on him; what else could he have asked for! And the club would have benefited from that.

A team in transition, no proper combination, sometimes getting it wrong on the day, perhaps even a spell with a lack of trophies, but then the criticism would have been directed at Jose and not necessarily at the functioning of the club. Thus, other aspects of the club could have gone through transition, slipping a bit under the radar.

Another challenge United will now face is bringing in talent in the club. There is no doubt that United’s philosophy of nurturing home grown talent from their own academy has been successful, and Moyes, based on his Everton reign will continue to do so, that being the right way forward. But a club like United would indeed, from time to time, have to bring in real superstars.

United, under Sir Alex, did that, bringing in both young players and established ones, the most recent example being RVP. But would Moyes be able to do that? Suppose a youngster like Neymar suddenly becomes available. Clubs like PSG, Manchester City, Chelsea would have surplus amount of money and managers like Jose, Gaurdiola, even Klopp will have the charismatic power to draw them. Same was the case with Sir Alex. Under Moyes, United will lack on both fronts.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not one of those pseudo fans who have already started a ‘Moyes Out’ twitter trend! I am just of the opinion that bringing in someone like Jose, who ordinarily doesn’t prefers long stints, would have been worthwhile at this point in time. A couple of seasons under Jose, which would have also meant a steady inflow of trophies, was a good option.

And perhaps after that, someone like a Moyes, Solskjaer or maybe even Giggs (after a coaching stint or two) could have carried United forward, without the burden of being compared to Sir Alex. But then again, maybe the board felt Moyes would not let it fall apart and stabilise proceedings and the club would have a smooth transition. Perhaps he wouldn’t mind leading under Sir Alex’s shadow. Also, the fact that Moyes is Sir Alex’s recommendation, helped to a great effect in his appointment, as a United fan, ‘In Sir Alex We Trust’!

Every start of the season and the transfer window brings in a strange excitement, especially for a club like United and its fans. It would be safe to say for United and Red-Devils all over the world that perhaps the coming one will be the most interesting start to the season in a long, long time.

I have postponed writing this for quite a few games now; each time consoling myself that in the next game, Sachin will perform according to the performance level we all associate with him. But with every game, my hopes have gone down, and the Mumbai Indians have been managing to win only because of the new captain Rohit Sharma‘s sensational form, the grit shown by Karthik throughout the whole season, and, of course, because of the bowling brilliance of Johnson. Sadly, Sachin has not been directly associated with the team’s success this season. Just 186 runs in 11 games at an average of 16.86 hardly do justice to the abilities he has. His strike rate has also been nothing out of the ordinary. That being said, it is not just about what he has contributed or rather not contributed on the field for the Mumbai Indians; the greater problem lies in the indirect ramifications of playing Sachin.

Mumbai’s slow starts in the power-play have been well documented. Sachin takes quite a few balls to get going. His strike rate invariably tends to be low, though, he does gradually increase it as the innings progresses. But he is getting out far too quickly in most games before he can build an innings of substantial quality. The slow start has often been cited as the reason handicapping Mumbai’s potent batting line-up from posting scores around 200 consistently. It is also the prime reason why Mumbai, while chasing has been falling short of late.

Anyone who sat through Mumbai’s game against Punjab must have seen Gilchrist’s interview during the match. He clearly said Sachin  was no longer the biggest threat for sides facing Mumbai; he isn’t the same while playing T-20. Interestingly, Gilchrist had decided to drop himself for the sake of the team when he was struggling for form.

It is not just the slow start, but the opening combination itself that is a big concern for Mumbai. Perhaps the root cause of it all is Mumbai buying Jayasuriya in the first IPL auction. Two ageing players were never going to last an eternity. Since then, combination after combination have been tried, and almost all of them have failed. Some succeeded for a while, but perished too quickly. One can’t help but think that the common point in almost all these failed experiments was none other than Sachin. But then again, perhaps no one was good enough to replace Sachin.

The management sensed something was not quite right and so they got in Ponting to relieve him of the burden of captaincy. That led to another unsuccessful experiment, and Sachin still struggles on. Perhaps, I’m being too hard on the Little Master, for  he is a part of a very small group that has amassed 2000 IPL runs, and he is the leading run scorer for Mumbai Indians. But any well-informed cricket watcher would agree with me that the great man hasn’t been quite himself whenever he’s played for the Mumbai Indians in the shortest form of the game. The fact that the only time Mumbai Indians managed winning the IPL, Sachin was out with an in injury through the length of the tournament.

So what is next for the Mumbai Indians? Logically speaking, considering his form and the age factor, the next step should be to  start getting used to life without Sachin. But the question is – Can Mumbai Indian’s management afford to do that?

Considering the brand value of Sachin, is that viable? He is not just any player, he is a crowd favourite, he is a revenue generator, and he is the local hero, a national icon, a legend, the ultimate symbol for Mumbai – A cricketing God in short. What would be the reaction of fans and that of the sponsors if Sachin is left-out?

The biggest challenge is not his form. He and the team are still doing enough to qualify for the elimination stage. The greatest concern is the future. With the three year contracts of players ending at the end of this season and the consequent players’ auction due before the next year’s IPL, Mumbai Indians’ management has some tough decisions to make. If the player retaining system is the same as last time i.e. 4 players could be retained, then Mumbai Indians will have to make a few difficult calls. Pollard and Rohit will be automatic choices. It will be interesting to see which other players Mumbai retain. Will Sachin be retained? That will mean only one among Karthik, Malinga and Johnson (the top players based on current form) will be retained. Does Sachin guarantee enough returns to investments with respect to three more seasons? Will it be a pure cricketing decision or will emotions and the brand power of Sachin have a bigger say in the decision?

In the short run, Sachin’s form is a concern, while in the long run, there are concerns over his longevity and returns on investments. Perhaps Sachin himself will make a decision to hang his T-20 boots before next year’s auction making it easy for the management.

With just 2 wins from 7 matches, an early elimination from the competition looks likely. With 4 teams qualifying for the knockout (or rather elimination) stage, to be in those 4 teams, KKR will have to win at least 6 out of their remaining 9 matches. Winning half of their matches (8 from 16) may just be enough to qualify based on run rate, as was the case last year for Chennai, who qualified as the 4th team on the merit of a better run rate than Bangalore, both having won 8 matches.

RCB and CSK look well on their way to the elimination stages with 6 wins already, with 12 points in the bag. 2 more wins or just to be sure, 3 more wins will do the trick for them. And with the form these two teams find themselves in, they could very well go on to win 5 or 6 more from their remaining 8 matches. That leaves just 2 places up for grab, and including KKR, five teams are fighting for those. Unfortunately for the Pune and Delhi fans, I feel their further role in this year’s IPL will only be of doing damage to the other teams’ chances of qualifying; their qualifying hopes are realistically over. Considering the poor form Pune and Delhi are in, other teams can target and beat them and it may result in a case that winning half the matches won’t be enough for them.

One might argue that KKR and Pune are both on same points. But Pune are currently at sixes and sevens. They don’t know which foreign players should play, their captain changes in every other game, their marquee player has missed games due to injury and the team overall is not playing well. KKR’s problem is about pushing themselves just a bit extra to win close matches. They are doing enough to be in the game till the last few balls, but are just falling short of finishing the game off. The injury suffered by Kallis might turn out to be a blessing in disguise, as now the fast scoring McCullum or the all-round talent of Ryan ten Doeschate can be brought into the team as replacement which might just give KKR the momentum required to finish ahead of their rivals.

Winning seven games out of nine is definitely a tough task and therefore the next two games against Kings XI Punjab and Chennai become even more important. Losing these would mean KKR will have to win 7 out of 7 and that would be improbable if not impossible. Also, the fact that winning against Kings XI would temporarily halt Kings XI’s (currently 5th) progression towards the top of the table gives an added impetus as Kings XI are one of those four other teams in race for the qualifying positions. Each loss will result in panic and negatively effect the confidence of the players. Thus, next two games are of utmost importance for KKR if they want to build momentum and charge towards the qualifying zone.

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 15: Yaya Toure of Manchester City battles with James Perch of Newcastle United during the Barclays Premier League match between Newcastle United and Manchester City at St James’ Park on December 15, 2012 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

Presenting the Game-week that was in the EPL:

Yaya ‘The Leader’:

The Ivorian had failed to match his overall level of performances from last season, but came to life on Tyneside. An indirect assist and a goal will quantify his performance against Newcastle but there was much more quality in his surging runs, determination to win the ball and the defensive work he did in front of the backline. The midfielder wore the captain’s armband in Kompany’s enforced absence, and looked every bit a natural leader. With a performance like that, Man City are sure to miss his presence during the African Cup of Nations.

LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 25: Jermain Defoe of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates scoring their third goal and his second during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United at White Hart Lane on November 25, 2012 in London, England.

The Selfless Striker:

Ask Jermaine Defoe, the best finishers are supposed to be selfish when they sense an opportunity. But this season Robin Van Persie has clearly been trying to be more of an ‘assist’ guy. He even has been vocal about him trying to set up more goals than scoring. It was quite evident against Sunderland this week as he decided to play in Rooney on a couple of occasions where ordinarily a striker would have gone for a strike at goal. Amazingly, even with the ‘assist mode’ on he is the joint top scorer this season with Michu, both scoring 12 league goals. It surely makes us wonder as to how many he would score if he played the Defoe way.

STOKE-ON-TRENT, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 15: Ryan Shawcross of Stoke City is helped up off the ground by team mate Robert Huth during the Barclays Premier League match between Stoke City and Everton at the Britannia Stadium on December 15, 2012, in Stoke-on-Trent, England.

The Afro Headbutt:

As far as giving opponents a tough time is concerned, no team does it better than Stoke. The match against Everton was a true testament to their physical style of play. It was enough to make perhaps the midfielder of the season Fellaini lose his temper. The grappling, pushing, pulling and touch-tight marking approach that Stoke and especially Shawcross used made Fellaini so frustrated that he lost his cool and head-butted Shawcross, although  the impact was maybe not that great with the huge Afro that Fellaini sports.

Fellaini did come out and apologize but he now faces a three-match ban. On the bright side, being ruled out from the next three games  he does get to enjoy Christmas a bit more than the other EPL players.

FILE PHOTO: ROME, ITALY – NOVEMBER 22: The fans of Tottenham before the UEFA Europa League Group J match between S.S. Lazio and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Stadio Olimpico on November 22, 2012 in Rome, Italy.

Getting safely across the last 10 minutes of the match…finally:

If not for the numerous comebacks that Manchester United have had this season, Spurs losing points in the final 10 minutes would have been the theme of the season. In just their last game, against Everton, they had conceded two goals after the 90 minute mark to lose 2-1. The scene was set for a repeat against high-flying Swansea this week. Leading 1-0 in the final 10 minutes, one could easily sense the nervousness among the crowd and the Spurs players. But, they did hold on to the lead even after eight-odd minutes of added time.

LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 15: QPR assistant manager Kevin Bond (R) celebrates victory with manager Harry Redknapp and Shaun Wright-Phillips (L) after the Barclays Premier League match between Queens Park Rangers and Fulham at Loftus Road on December 15, 2012 in London, England.

Harry, The Magician

The name ‘Harry’ thanks to J.K.Rowling is now synonymous with magic. What Harry Redknapp has achieved at QPR in a short term can certainly be termed magical. Unbeaten since he took over from Mark Hughes, and now their first win of the season. It’s not just the results, but the performances that look a level higher to the ones they were showing four to five matches ago. Christmas, for the QPR faithful and Tony Fernandes is starting to look a bit less gloomy.

READING, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 17: Theo Walcott of Arsenal celebrates after scoring their fifth goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Reading and Arsenal at Madejski Stadium on December 17, 2012 in Reading, England.

Walcott, The Forward:

Arsene Wenger played Theo Walcott as a forward and not on the wings against Reading. They got the result they wanted, a win. But it raises questions over whether it was a ploy to make Walcott happy so that he signs the contract extension? or was it a move to increase the price of a possible January transfer.

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN – DECEMBER 16: Chelsea players line up before during the FIFA Club World Cup Final Match between Corinthians and Chelsea at International Stadium Yokohama on December 16, 2012 in Yokohama, Japan.

Chelsea ‘The Project’:

Okay not Game-week 17 related, but Chelsea keep making records. The Champions League winners went on to lose the UEFA Super Cup, they were the first reigning champions to be knocked out of the Champions league at the group stage and they’ve now lost the World Club Cup!

What was that Hazard said while signing for Chelsea? ‘Chelsea have the best project’

MUNICH, GERMANY – MAY 19: Roberto Di Matteo interim manager of Chelsea shows his emotion after their victory in the UEFA Champions League Final between FC Bayern Muenchen and Chelsea.

In this day and age when the dynamics of premier league are in a state of flux, the above mentioned paradox can be clearly observed at the management level of clubs. A string of bad results is enough to send a manager packing these days. Not even half way in the season and already two managers, Roberto Di Matteo (Chelsea) and Mark Hughes (QPR) have got the sack, with a couple of others under pressure. Interestingly the two sackings highlight the completely different trends of why managers are getting sacked thick and fast now-a-days.

Roberto Di Matteo’s sacking highlights the ambition of the rich owners of the clubs. A care-taker who was promoted internally for the big job by Abramovich, then delivered the Champions League, the one trophy Abramovich craved for, ever since taking over the club. Come next season, November, a couple of bad results and its time up for Di Matteo at Chelsea. One might argue that Chelsea being perilously close to not making the Champions league knock-out stage was a key issue, but the performances were not that bad, and Di Matteo had done a good job in incorporating the new players at the club while coping with the loss of Drogba and the injuries to key players.

Mark Hughes, on the other hand, had it coming. Not a single win whole season, already way behind the safety line and in no way looking to get away from the bottom spot. With the money QPR had spent on players, they should have been safe with a mid-table position. No surprise when he got the sack.

Judging by the standings one can expect a managerial change at Reading, Wigan or Southampton. But there is more pressure on Martin O’Neill and Paul Lambert at Sunderland and Aston Villa respectively, because of the expectations of the club. A couple of  bad results and they will also be involved in the relegation dog fight.

But taking into account the stature of the clubs and the expectations, Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal should currently be facing sleepless nights due to the position they find themselves in and more importantly, due to the performances of their respective teams. Rodgers who proved himself at Swansea and having been brought in this season to steady the Liverpool ship will probably get more time for the rebuilding purpose.

BRADFORD, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 11: Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager looks on during the Capital One Cup quarter final match between Bradford City and Arsenal.

But Arsene Wenger it seems has lost the plot. Arsenal over the last few seasons, have consistently lost its top players. Financial matters or footballing reasons, don’t matter at this point in time. The basic point this season is that Arsenal are not the team we have long known them to be. No ‘sexy’ football, no pass-pass fluidity. The once ‘Invincibles’ have become ‘Invisible’ from the title race even though with Christmas just approaching.

One might say this has been long in the making. Over the last of couple of seasons, Arsenal have been sliding away from the top of the table, their performances becoming less and less ‘champion’ like. The roots of this lie in Arsene Wenger not able to successfully rebuild his team following the departures of Henry, Bergkamp, Viera, Fabregas and others.

Even Sir Alex faced the same situation when Mourinho’s Chelsea ruled the Premier League. But he was able to build a new team that time and over the duration of his stay at Old Trafford he has build 5-6 different teams, all successful. What the difference has been with Sir Alex is that every time things start to become stale, he has found new challenges and new foes to motivate himself and the team. Plus there is the unparalleled hunger and desire to win that he possesses.

Even, David Moyes at Everton, the other long time managerial stalwart of the premier league, has had different challenges which has kept him focused. From establishing himself to saving the team from relegation, Champions League, rebuilding, finishing above Liverpool, Moyes has time and again found new avenues for freshness and motivation. In fact, with the tight budget he has to operate on, just being in the Premier League season in and season out, is a challenge at Everton.

Arsenal’s only challenge since the ‘Invincibles’ has been – being in the Champions League. The known fact that they being the ‘best of the rest’ is not a motive on which a whole team can be driven forward. Maybe the lack of challenges and the failure in emulating the undefeated squad has taken its toll on Arsene Wenger, or perhaps he has lost the edge. Whatever the case, a section of the neutrals and the football purists feel at Arsenal, change is perhaps necessary.

These lines from Linkin Park’s ‘Iridescent’ sums up exactly the feeling everyone associated with both the clubs, including the fans, would have been feeling when Thomas Vermaelen went to take the penalty in the shoot-out. Arsenal, already under pressure because of their league position, their performances and the contract issues at the club, were staring at the prospect of being humiliated by the biggest ‘Giant Killing’ in English football since 1992. For Bradford, who in the past decade and a half have gone from being a Premier league club to almost being relegated from the bottom most professional league last season, it wasn’t about losing but rather about what they could gain by winning. For them, the financial implications were gigantically huge.

What happened next is HISTORY!

Bradford went to win to defeat the mighty Arsenal, a team 3 divisions and 64 league places above them. If anyone still doesn’t get the significance of the achievement – Bradford, a team assembled for a miserly £ 7,500 – all but one one ‘free transfers’ – defeated Arsenal, a team of players assembled with £65 million. Easily a contender for ‘The Upset of English Football’.

For Bradford, the cup win coupled with the gate revenues for the Arsenal quarter final will be enough to even out the £600,000 odd figure that they would have over-spent due to wages till the end of the season. Further, it is forecasted that the two semi-final legs at Wembley and the television coverage of those matches will bring in another £1m which will secure the long term future of the club which has twice gone in administration in the last decade. Although on a football field it was a great victory, the financial consequences for the club are even greater. Maybe this cash injection will fuel the redevelopment of the team and the club will finally gain promotion from the 4th division of the English professional football. Who knows, maybe it can drive them even higher.

For Arsenal on the other hand, it’s a different story altogether. The once ‘Invincible’ EPL champions are dangerously close to becoming ‘Invisible’ from the title contenders list. Almost every football fan is quite confused about what went wrong with Arsenal. Maybe it was the philosophy of their playing style, or maybe it’s the heavy reliance and focus on youth, maybe it was the steady outflow of talent from the club. A disaster recipe like the one Arsenal find themselves now in is not possible because of one reason. It is the combined effect of all those reasons and more. Which leaves us wondering how such an astute manager as Arsene Wenger has missed these points consistently over the past few seasons. And if he indeed has identified the problems at the club, why has he missed a trick in rectifying those critical problems?

Arsenal and Arsene Wenger have largely been criticized by the footballing world for letting such talents like Fabregas, Nasri, Song and Van Persie depart from the club. It was openly stated that it was financial reasons due to which these and many others left the club. Maybe Wenger did not give into their demands of higher wages because he was worried that the club could become another Leeds United in the making. Perhaps it was to begin with, but recently footballing reasons and lack of trophies have added to the players’ worries and maybe that is why there is such an outflux of stars from the club. Also, the ones who left haven’t been suitably replaced. Will Cazorla be able to replace Fabregas? Will Arteta ever be as good as Vieira, maybe Song could have, but even he is gone. Can Giroud/Podolski replace the void left by Van Persie? Now there is a chance that Walcott will leave too. To make matters worse, he can leave on a free transfer. There are further news reports that the club coaches’ roles are being marginalised at the training sessions. No one is sure what is going on at the club. What is certain is that if the same continues, it will only lead to a greater disaster.

We might next hear about Bradford City after 5 or 10 years due to another giant killing or we might not hear about them for a long time, but if major decisions are not taken to rectify the problems, and soon, we will surely continue to hear about Arsenal with negative headlines for quite a while.

New Talent Discovered:

If not for Michu and possibly Robin Van Persie, Santi Cazorla would have been the signing of the season. Although Arsenal went through a bad patch and have not been quite consistent throughout the season, Santi has been a real star for Arsenal. Gunners and neutrals alike, all were dazzled by his vision and creativity in driving the Arsenal attacks.

However, this Saturday, Cazorla showed the talent he had kept hidden till now, his diving skills! And wow, what a great dive that was! At first look it was a clear penalty. But then replays showed there was no contact whatsoever, but he still fell like Titanic hitting an iceberg. To add insult to injury, he got the penalty and Arteta scored too. Well, watch out Suarez, Busquets and Young, you guys have competition.

Miracles do happen, Believe in them:

Torres in Chelsea colours scores 2 goals….no, not in the whole month but in a single match. Considering the Champions League game, it’s now two braces in two consecutive games. As a direct consequence, all the football troll-sters in the world are really disappointed with the happenings. Torres, since his move to Chelsea, has been a true superstar in the troll world. Whenever there was a drought of ideas, they could time and again go back to ‘Torres misses open goal’ trolls. Now they are in a fix. The legendary option seems gone. High time that they revert back to the original football troll icon ‘Heskey’.

 Deja vu:

What goes around comes around. And in the club football world, it happens so often that any player facing his former club scores a goal. But very rarely does it happen that two guys playing for a side, score in the same match against an opponent which actually is their former club. So what happened this Sunday at Upton park was an epic statistic in its right. Three ex-West Ham players Glen Johnson, Joe Cole, and Jonjo Shelvey playing for Liverpool scored against their former club West Ham, all in the same match! No one saw that coming! Deja vu for the Hammers really!

Respect for Joe Cole though, his first EPL goal in 18 months but still did not celebrate as a mark of respect towards the club he once captained.

Trend of the season:

16 games, 13 wins and 3 losses. Judging by the goals statistics, matches that have United involved have been the most exciting in all of EPL. 40 goals scored and 23 conceded. Normally with that many goals conceded at this stage of the season, a team should be struggling. However, United sit at the top of the standings with a 6 point cushion. Along with the ‘comebacks’ tag, the mantra for Man United has been ‘we will score more than we concede in a match’. One wonders till when they can keep this on. But one stat that will please the United faithful is once Man Utd lead in a match, at the end of 2nd half injury time, I repeat ‘end of 2nd half injury time’ and not end of 90 minutes; no matter the opposition, the venue, United will win. They have not dropped any points from matches that they have taken a lead at some point in the game.

Lesson to be learned:  One can buy trophies, but can’t buy class.

Last year United were humiliated at home by City. That 6-1 scoreline was even more devastating than the 8-2 they themselves had inflicted on the Gunners. But no matter how disappointed the fans were on the day, nothing of this sort happened. And what the City faithful did- throwing coins, entering the field of play to charge the opponents – was disgraceful really. And although Man City have come out and apologized to Rio, hopefully the FA will take some fitting action.

It was the 23rd of October, 2011. Every United fan all over the world had hopes that at the end of the 90 minutes ‘The Noisy Neighbors’ will be put to their place and Manchester will remain Red. After all, it wasn’t long ago that they had put 8 goals past our great rival from London. Even half of that would have made every Red Devil jump and dance with joy. But that was not how it went down. The memory of what transpired that day is enough to make even the most perfect day a very gloomy one for the United fans. Balotelli with his ‘Why always me’ moment started what ended as City’s mauling of the Reds. It has now become the symbol of the power surge from the blue side of Manchester. Although what City did on the last day of the season with a United-esque stoppage time title winning comeback has a lot more quantitative importance, the two derby victories have a more profound qualitative significance.

Its not like it was the first time City have had a gigantic victory over United. United fans will know that they have spent time in the second division. What stands out from City’s point of view is that they beat United 1-0 at Old Trafford in 1974, a result which relegated United to the second tier of English football. Although, with the rise of United as a global force, that result and the derby itself lost its shine in the 1990′s and the 2000′s, specifically for the global fans. It became just a derby.

With Sir Alex at the helm of United, Premier league, in its formative years, invariably was all about United, until Arsene Wenger and his Arsenal Gunners started challenging for the title. Those 6-7 years when Arsenal and United shared the top two positions, Arsenal were the prime rivals. Then came a certain Russian and changed the dynamics of the Premier League. Chelsea, under Jose ‘The Special One’ Mourinho, became ‘the team’ and United had a new foe. However, the departure of Mourinho made sure that United-Chelsea lacked the spark that could fuel a classic rivalry. With Lancashire and Yorkshire history as the background, United- Leeds ‘Rose derby’ sparked tensions when Leeds united were a Champions League team. That being said, with the ‘knock you off your perch’ theme, Liverpool have been the main rivals for United throughout the Ferguson era. Even legends and icons from the side testify that no matter the position in the league or the competition, United-Liverpool were the games of the season for them.

However, first with the Thai takeover, and then the emergence of the Etihad Dynasty at the Eastlands, there were signs of change in Manchester. The somewhat ignored sky blue side was suddenly making some noise, and frightfully for United, the right kind of noises. And even though Rooney, with his famous Bicycle kick and then Micheal Owen with the shining moment of his United career in the famous 4-3 victory suppressed the noises for some time, the writing was already on the wall.

The Mancini and Kompany led side with the FA cup trophy, the 6-1 victory coupled with the league championship win last season showed that now its not one club that will represent Manchester in the title race. The sky blue team from Manchester proved they are here to stay. The cross town rivalry has grown into something bigger than that. Although, on a global perspective, there is still no competition in terms of fan following, in the city of Manchester the once hibernating fans from the sky blue side are back. With Arsenal no longer a title challenger, Leeds disappeared, Liverpool no longer the force they were, Chelsea self imploding this season, City are the new number one rival for United.

Sir Alex and also Ryan Giggs trying to downplay the significance of tomorrow’s derby match with City by saying ‘the liverpool games are special’, raises the stakes even more. Also to add fuel to fire, a couple of days ago reports came out that United chief executive David Gill was in Croatia to monitor the availability of Dinamo Zagreb duo of Halilovic and Vrsaljko, who are also on the radar of City.

With all that happened last season, tomorrow’s City vs United clash isn’t just a derby. Although a draw would suit both teams, United more than City, its the one match that every United fan wants to win. With City undefeated at their home ground for almost two seasons now, a victory for United would be a sound reply to the 6-1 humiliation.

First of all, other than the two Manchester clubs, are there any more challengers for the EPL trophy this season?

West Brom- they have had a magnificent start to the season but with two losses on the bounce, the most they will be aiming for is a Europa league berth next season. Spurs will continue to win matches but they are not defensively consistent enough to challenge for the title. Chelsea – well, with all that is going on in and around the club and with reports of a come back for Avram Grant in some position on the cards, it’s safe to say the self implosion will continue for a few weeks more. And by the time we get to January, they will be way behind both the front runners. So yes, in reality it’s a two horse race henceforth. City vs United.

The defending champions did not start very well and have dropped points consistently. Although they remain the only undefeated side in the Premier League, 6 draws in 15 matches, i.e. 12 points dropped, is surely not what they were aiming for. And it’s not only that points have been dropped, their performances are not up to last season’s standard. They have let in more goals than they were expected to, also they haven’t been the free scoring side they were last term. But over the last 3-4 matches Roberto Mancini has finally got the Kompany-led defense in order and they now look a much more solid outfit. Now he has to get the midfield sorted, which is well under way with the return of a reignited David Silva. Their movement been much more fluid since his return. With the quality that Dzeko, Tevez, Aguero and Balotelli possess, they will surely start scoring for fun sooner rather than later.

United on the other hand have had a singular philosophy – ‘We can score more than we concede’. With just 15 games played, the ‘comeback’ has already become a theme of their performances. The United defense, quite clearly their Achilles’ heel, has been quite shambolic at times; the first half performance at Reading being a testament to this. And it’s bound to continue for some time at least as Rio is well past his prime and clearly not able to keep pace with the game. Evra continues to be all over the place. Evans never was and will never be a ‘Vidic’ replacement. Rafael has been good going forward but his defending is still not up to the mark. Yes, Vidic coming back will provide some relief but even he is not the rock he used to be. The bright spot being with a few games under their belt, Smalling and Jones will stabilize the crumbling defense to an extent. The midfield too is an issue with the aging of Scholes and Giggs, the injuries, and the lack of form of Nani and Young. Presently, the fortunes of United rest on the Forward trio of Rooney, Van Persie and Welbeck and the super-sub enigma of Chicharito.

There is of course a January transfer window coming up. The possibilities of moves are enormous this time around with United expected to make a couple of changes. City, with all the money they have, can spring some surprise moves too. Any transfer by either club can and will make a difference to their fortunes. But with the current squad, City will continue to improve whereas United’s problem are much more deep, and some beyond the scope of improvement.

Title winning performances are largely based on home form and a solid defense. In both the factors, City look stronger than United. And even if somehow United win this weekend at the fortress where City have been undefeated for almost two years, it seems a safe bet that City will get 7 more points than United from the remaining games and retain their title. For United to win the trophy, at least one of the two miracles should take place – either ‘they continue to score more then they concede in every match’, which Norwich recently showed won’t happen every time, or their defense should suddenly rise from their slumber and ‘get a series of clean sheets’.

Where does Giggs go from here?

Regulars on Facebook and Twitter or the ones who had logged on to these sites on Saturday night & Sunday would have seen the ‘Giggs should not start games now’, ‘Maybe Giggs should retire now’ posts and comments galore by the fans. Let me make it clear, this article does not follow the trend. In fact, I believe Giggs should not only complete this season but go on to play the next one too.

People who have followed the Premier League or Manchester United for the last 12-15 years will remember how Giggs’s was in his prime. He established himself as the first-choice left Winger in Sir Alex’s squad in the mid-90′s and excelled in that role for more than a decade. Giggs is renowned for his tireless running, ball possession and ability to create goal-scoring opportunities for those around him. That amazing solo goal against Arsenal in the FA cup semi-final replay when he burst into in a run from the half way line, slalomed past the Arsenal defense afraid to bring him down and then smashed an unstoppable shot past David Seaman perhaps best describes the icon’s game.

However, as he started to age, Sir Alex started to play him in a deep playmaking role. Although not as brilliant as he was on the wings, his performances have been good enough in that role too. But now at the ripe age of 38, his recent performances clearly show he has struggled a bit in that role. But its not down just to Giggs and his age. The midfield and the players around him have also contributed to bring about the effect.

Giggs has often partnered Carrick in the central midfield. Carrick, although a good passer of the ball, is not as good at distribution as other midfielders like Alonso, Pirlo or even Scholes. The lack of distribution results in the players having to run a lot more to get the ball and also with the ball. And United play a high tempo game, which results in Giggs getting tired even quicker. And when this happens his decision making and passing level especially in the final third goes down; plus the fact his tackles and interceptions per match have never been on a central midfielder’s standard.

At this point in time, a role that Giggs can excel in is Football’s equivalent to Baseball’s ‘Closer’. A closer in baseball is a Relief Pitcher i.e. a substitute for the starting pitcher, who is brought on mostly in the final 1 or 2 innings when the team is leading to get the final few outs and close out the game. In football the super-sub is quite famous. The opposite of that can be done with Giggs. When Man Utd is leading and the last quarter of the game is remaining, Giggs can be substituted in. With the experience he has and fresh legs in his system he can very well help preserve the lead and close out games. Midfielders like Cleverly, Fletcher can go on the wings or he can be substituted for one of the strikers and can play behind the other for the remaining of the game.

However, becoming a dedicated ‘Closer’ wont be possible with the injuries and the amount of games United play in a season. So Giggs will have to start some games. But in such games, if Rooney starts along with Cleverly/Anderson partnering Giggs in the midfield, which didn’t happen in the Norwich game,  the lack of energy and the flow of the game will be regulated. Also, there are rumours that a possible swoop for Lars Bender/Kevin Strootman is on the cards. Having either of them as a partner will also benefit Giggs and the team.

I will end the article on the point from which I started it. The ones who were crazily posting ‘Giggs should retire now’ were just emotional unhappy fans who thought Man Utd were not c0meback ‘Avengers’ like always and Giggs on the day was more ‘Steve Rogers’ than Captain America or rather Captain United. Giggs’s role might get changed or more likely he will play less, but he is here to stay.

When a player starts a game, his performance is rated by many parameters. But when the game is stretched and the players who started the games are getting tired and someone is brought into the game as a tactical substitute to make an impact and change the momentum of the game and eventually win the game for his team, his performance is more or less judged by goals he scores or in some cases, the direct assists he provides. Over the years, there have been players in the EPL who have gone on to excel in this role. The top 5 according to me are:

5) Salomon Kalou and Tore Andre Flo

 Salomon Kalou has 98 substitute appearances with 13 goals for the Blues, whereas  Tore Andre Flo, Chelsea‘s original super-sub, had 69 appearances off the bench where he scored 13 goals.

4) Javier Hernandez

Chicharito made his United debut on 28 July 2010, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute for Nani in the 2010 MLS All-Star Game and 18 minutes later, scored his first goal for the club. Interestingly, his first goals in Community Shield, Champions league and League Cup also came as a substitute. Although in just his 3rd season in the EPL, time and again he has made substitute appearances and scored late winners. Manchester United fans are already hailing him as the next Solskjaer because of his goal getting heroics as a substitute.

3) Nwankwo Kanu

Kanu established himself as a super sub during his time at Arsenal, West Brom and Portsmouth. He holds the record for most substitute appearances in Premier League history, appearing from the bench 118 times.

2) Jermaine Defoe

Jermaine Defoe has been a great super sub for both clubs and country throughout his career. At West Ham, Portsmouth and currently Spurs, Defoe has made a habit of scoring after being introduced during a match and has 20 goals to his credit as a substitute.

And now the top spot. No points for guessing this one. I bet everyone knew who will be at the top spot as soon as they saw the title of the article. Such is Solskjaer’s legacy.

1) Ole Gunnar Solskjær

Manchester United’s Baby-faced Assassin is quite possibly the greatest super-sub of all time. The Norwegian winger/striker was prolific for United, scoring a total 126 goals in 336 career appearances for the club. But he was even more lethal as a substitute.  He scored a total of 28 goals off the bench during his time at Old Trafford. Sir Alex once remarked that Solskjær has a knack of sitting on the bench and studying the game without taking his eye off the action. One of his most impressive feats was coming off the bench to score four goals in the last 12 minutes of United’s 8–1 thrashing of Nottingham Forest. But he will always be remembered as the one who scored the  injury time winner in the 1999 Champions League Final against Bayern Munich.

How the hopes of us fans were thrashed and bullied by a strong Everton, and their personal Hulk ‘Fellaini’!

The first indications that this could happen came when Rio got injured a couple of days ago and with the rest of the center-backs also out, it was Carrick who partnered the captain in central defense. But what perplexed me and I’m certain a lot of other people, was seeing Valencia as a RB and Nani on the right wing. I am no one to question the thinking of Sir Alex but certainly the first thought that came to my mind was ‘doesn’t it make more sense to play a natural defender as a right back when the team is already struggling in defense?’.

However, it could have been to negate the strength that Everton had in the form of Distin, Jagielka and Fellaini for corners and set plays. Well if that was the plan, it didn’t help much as Everton eventually scored the same way. The way Man Utd’s defense and midfield were dominated by Everton in physical terms is alarming, as teams like Stoke and Fulham will make it very hard for United in their games too.

What really upset me was the attack. Rooney didn’t shine, Welbeck was good in parts, Kagawa by the looks of it is a one- touch player and so it would take some time for players around him to get in sync with him. Nani is known to have days when it doesn’t go right for him, and yesterday was a real disaster. I don’t recall a single cross or corner going past the first defender, and once when it did, it didn’t clear the second defender. And why all corners or crosses were delivered to the near post, I fail to understand. RVP, well he will surely have better days as he gets more time on the pitch.

Once again talks have started about how Man Utd tend to be slow starters, and how the second half of the season is always better for them. Man Utd have lost about 6-7 + points almost every season in the first 6 matches, and have gone on to recover from that and challenge and often win the title. But the case then was different as almost each season it turned out Man Utd had truly only 1 challenger for the title – either Arsenal, Chelsea or as in last season Man City.

But this time around with a stable Man City and a strong Chelsea with a brilliant midfield, it will be atleast two other challengers and such slip-ups as the Everton game will hurt us bad. As far as being  strong second half finishers – I don’t think so, atleast not after last season and with the current squad. We better not lose any more points in the coming few games or we could find ourselves well behind the 8-ball very early in the season.

Although the first meeting between the two took place some 120 years ago in 1894 (then it was Newton Heath vs Woolwich Arsenal), the duo have regularly faced each other throughout the 20th century including some very noteworthy matches like the 1979 FA Cup Final often called as ‘the Five minute final’ , the last game before the Munich Disaster. (ManUtd won 5-4 at highbury) The rivalry has come to its own in the 1990′s and 2000′s, the major factor being the two men at the helm of their clubs – Sir Alex and Arsene Wenger.

The rivalry sparked in 1990 at Old Trafford when Manutd’s Brian McClair with a view of taking revenge on Arsenal’s Nigel Winterburn (for some comments made by Winterburn a couple of years ago after McClair missed a penalty), kicked him repeatedly after a tackle which resulted in a ‘free for all’ brawl. The match was stopped for about 10 minutes, later on points were deducted from both the sides.

The start of Arsene Wenger’s reign as the Arsenal manager is a significant event in this rivalry not because of some direct event but because he build a great team that would go onto win the league and cup double in just his second season, denying Manutd the first ever Premier League hat-trick of titles. Man Utd, however, did go on to complete the hat-trick of titles in the next three seasons, while Arsenal finished 2nd on all three occassions. This statistic itself shows what a Man Utd-Arsenal game would have meant at that time, A 6-pointer every time they faced each other.

Infact such was their domination, that from the 1995-96 season to the 2003-04 season only the two clubs shared the Premier league title; Man Utd winning six times, while Arsenal winning the remaining three times. Arsenal winning the 2000-01 title in Old Trafford in the penultimate game-week of the season and the celebrations is something the gunners always relish while the Red-Devils wish they had slept early that night (me included). The two managers’ will to win which dawned upon their teams too, made this one of the most absorbing football rivalries.

As the title supremacy war continued, so did the battles on the pitch. ‘The battle of Old Trafford’ took place on the 21st september 2003, although the result was a goalless draw, the match became famous because of the 30-odd fouls, 8 yellow (4 each) and 1 red card for Arsenal captain Patrick Viera for trying to kick  Man Utd’s Ruud Van Nistelrooy and the penalty miss by the striker in the dying moments of the match, after which Arsenal Martin Keown celebrated all around Ruud Van with his arms completely stretched. This penalty miss was really momentous as the conversion of it would have meant a 1-0 win for Manutd and thus Arsenal would not have gone unbeaten the whole season, winning them the nickname ‘Invincibles’

The ‘Battle of the Buffet’ took place the following season, by this time the Arsenal unbeaten run had gone on to 49 games. The match is  remembered mostly by the Man Utd faithful as the one that finally ‘killed the Invincibles’. A 2-0 win for Utd with goals from Ruud Van and the man who has made a career by scoring against Arsenal – Wayne Rooney ended Arsenal’s unbeaten run. From my point of view, Arsenal have never been the same again.

 The second match of the season is best remembered for the tunnel bust-up between the two captains Roy Keane and Viera. That altercation before the match was so gripping that through-out the match it seemed that Viera was out of sorts (although he did score). Roy Keane had won the argument, Utd went on to win the match 4-2, one of the best away victories for the fans. Ironically, Arsenal won the next match between the two which was the FA Cup final (their last trophy), but have since lost the war.

Even the Arsenal fans will have to agree, it’s been a downhill slide for them since then. Seven seasons without a trophy for a club like Arsenal is nothing short of a disaster. This has shifted the priorities and the attention of both the clubs and their managers. While Utd have since found new rivals in cash-rich Chelsea, in the last couple of seasons their rivalry with their cross city rivals Man City has risen to unparalleled heights. Arsenal’s lack of silverware means their main challenge over the last 5-6 years has shifted to getting direct qualification for Champions league and the cup competitions. While no one denies the quality of passing football they could play on their day but sustaining that over 38 games and winning the league (forgive the pun) has proved to be out of their league.

This brings us to the current scenario and Robin Van Persie. Since that FA Cup win, Arsenal have lost all their key players – Veira, Henry, Fabregas (all three club captains before leaving), Nasri, Clichy, Cole and many others. But the transfer of RVP is much different and has greater implications.  On 16th August 2011, RVP officially signed for and was unveiled as a Manchester United player. RVP had scored 30 goals in the last season, close to 40% of Arsenal’s goals, and was involved if not directly in many others. Club Captain, their marquee player! The one Arsenal player who on his talent can walk into the playing 11 of almost every other club in the world.

How can Arsenal afford to sell such an asset to their main rival?? Answer: perhaps because even Arsenal don’t consider Utd their main rival now. Perhaps the fight for the 4th place with Tottenham, Liverpool and NewCastle is the challenge now.  If money was a key issue they could have sold him to Juventus. Even if they had taken the risk of keeping him for his last season and seeing what happened next, they would have lost a huge chunk of money. But RVP choosing Man Utd over Arsenal gives the indication that the level of both the clubs is not the same anymore. And he has choosen the higher level now.

As a Man Utd fan, the indications of the rivalry subsiding have been observed for some time now. A 4-0 Utd win in 2008, a comfortable Champions league semi-final victory in 2009 & the 8-2 humiliation Arsenal suffered suggest the gap is growing. Even the most ardent of the fans (me included) could never have dreamt about a 7th heaven & here we were scoring not 5, not 6, not 7, but 8 goals. 8 goals against the team that used to be the main obstacle. And now with RVP’s transfer, it seems that Arsenal have thrown in the proverbial towel.

Maybe RVP scoring against Arsenal, Arsenal fans booing him and providing him a welcome like the Barca faithful gave Luis Figo on his return to Nou-Camp as a Galactico will re-ignite the flame and give the rivalry a new life. But certainly for a football fanatic its a shame to see such a great rivalry get diluted.

EPL over the years has been said to be dominated by the BIG 4 i.e. Man utd, Arsenal, Chelsea & Liverpool, although I’m not sure why Liverpool gets to be a part of this group. Don’t get me wrong, by no means am I denying their history and the ’12′ top 4 finishes in the EPL, but in the premier league they have not exactly been ‘The team to beat’. The team under Benitez could have become but for his rotation policy.

Let me put the record straight (as the commentators say in FIFA 12 if one plays as Man Utd). The Premier League  has been all about Man Utd. Winning 12 out of the 20 seasons, having never finished lower than 3rd and by overtaking Liverpool after winning 19 titles have ‘officially’ become the most successful English team.

For me it was always the big two with Man Utd & Arsenal. But God knows what has happened to Arsenal after their ‘Invincibles’ season; It’s sad to see this great rivalry becoming diluted. The 8-2 triumph would never have happened to the Arsenal of the Viera/Bergkamp era.

Sir Alex has been ‘the man’ of the EPL but the one who changed the dynamics of the league has been Mr Abramovich with his unlimited oil money. Chelsea, who were just about getting into Champions league positions, with the ‘Special One’ at the helm challenged the might of the top 2 and became consecutive league winners. Their challenge since has been answered loud and clear by the true grit of Man Utd.

Tottenham and ManCity have lately, along with Newcastle (last year), joined this group to take the number from 4 to 7. ManCity’s success is more donation based on the lines of Chelsea with the money from Thailand under Mr.Shinawatra and then from the Abu Dhabi United Group making it a superpower. Of course, that amount of money can buy the title for any team so I wont speak any further about ManCity and their title win last year. But let me just add that even after buying their way to the title, they could only finish level on points with (what critics like to call) one of the most lackluster Manutd teams of all time.

Tottenham, on the other hand, started to ‘build a winning team’ in the days of Martin Jol. Harry Redknapp has certainly bought and sold the right players over the seasons to make the current team one of the best ‘assembled’ teams and AvB looks to continue that. Newcastle surprised everyone by their football and their 5th place finish was one of the highlights of the season for me.

But will this year be the same?? Will it be a Big 7 that everyone will talk about. I personally think it will Big 3 + 4. Manutd, ManCity and Chelsea to fight for the title and the rest 4 to fight for the remaining Champions league place and respect. Chelsea with their newly bought midfield seems the team to beat this time around, but no one can count out the heavily loaded ManCity and it would be incredibly stupid to think Sir Alex and the RedDevils (with the new recruits) will just let the title slip up from their grasp two years in a row. I sincerely hope the rest 4 will improve on their last season and push for the title and make this season even better and interesting  and more importantly, even more unpredictable than the last.

I am sorry to have choosen to leave Everton out from the list inspite of their champions league qualification a few years back and finishing above liverpool last year as I dont think David Moyes can do still better with this team. In my opinion it’s the best the present squad and David Moyes could have hoped and the challenge for them will be sustaining this position.