Terrible defending let Inter score three on the trot with an own goal by William Gallas swinging his right leg at a free kick like Virender Sehwag chasing a fast ball outside off stump with equally disastrous results. Totally reckless. But it was left to Emmanuel Adebayor, his former Arsenal team mate to rectify the situation in extra time sliding in a spill off Samir Hamdanovic unable to hold onto Moussa Dembele’s shot. Which meant in the next 24 minutes +, Inter had to come back with two more to ensure passage. A tall, very tall task.

The Milan club got one back from Ricky Alvarez in the 110th minute but Spurs were able to ride out the remainder without any further damage.

In the end the Mario Mandzukic goal in the first leg proved to be the difference. Arsenal managed to win at the Allianz Arena against the Bundesliga giants, only the third side to do so this season, a feat worthy of celebration. Their victory was not enough to give them passage as the extra away goal advantage went to Bayern.

Parsing the euphoria reveals a more more sanguine story of a side struggling all match long to establish any fluency as the attack was pockmarked with poor ball retention, errant passes, and players frequently out of position. There appeared to be no desire to win despite all of Arsene Wenger’s prematch brave talk.

Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky were particularly at fault with the Spaniard looking out of depth. Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud combined magnificently for the first very early goal but except for another near connection, the duo posed tiny threat. Giroud’s first touch was heavier than any doom metal band and Walcott proved a pundit’s very on the money prophesy of having no footballing brain.

With the customary short passing game deserting them, this was Stoke City as Arsenal lumped the ball up in the hopes Giroud who played deeper and deeper would get to it. Except he plays like a lightweight. There was a look on Wenger’s face that could only be described as disgust when the French striker cheapened his stock speculatively blasting the ball into the stratosphere from 30 yards instead of working out an attack.

We have gone all season long without a recognized holding midfielder and at this point, Abou Diaby does not count. How we do this defies logic. Mikel Arteta has manfully given it a go and Ramsey’s bewildered disposition (or is it dispossession?) is understandable. He’s been asked to be the square peg. Left wing, right back, slot striker, holding midfielder, played out of position as others have leapfrogged over as attacking midfielder.

That was the bad part. We saw shining in that sludge, Arsenal’s future defence, and it should feature Laurent Koscielny and Carl Jenkinson at all times. The French centre back was all snarling pit bull and Jenkinson was nearly pitch perfect with his tackles. He stood up to Arjen Robben, an intimidating customer with his wheeling and dealing ( h/t to Clyde Frazier). The former Addick was also responsible for forcing Arjen Robben early into a shot as the Dutchman broke free onto goal. Fabianski intervening with his left foot to deflect his effort. They were Arsenal’s two ideal players on the pitch.

The much criticized Fabianski coming back after months of rehabilitation turned in a good performance bringing off some fine saves and looking assertive on set pieces but there were nervy moments with his ball distribution. Out of the attackers, Gervinho deserves praise bringing off a near goal as he executed a series of trademark cutbacks and then poked the ball just wide off the far post. No Arsenal striker lurking to turn the ball in. Where was Giroud? The match was drifting to an inevitable conclusion till Koscielny’s header off Cazorla’s corner kick forced Bayern to endure a nerve wracking eight minutes to the end.

Arsenal did not suffer a embarrassing defeat, instead eking out an unconvincing win, helped in dollops by Bayern Munich’s wayward marksmanship. Lets hope Arsene Wenger’s statement of “being proud of Arsenal’s performance” is just for public consumption and he is applying more private objective measures reflective of what actually transpired on the pitch. His post match interviews sometimes have no bearing in reality.

Now comes the battle for fourth. Whether this is achievable is of course the biggest question. For the bigger picture, is it even the right one? Even if we lock up a top four, will there be any change in philosophy other than the present one of benign neglect and ad-hocism.

From a commentator in the Guardian responding to Arsene Wenger’s team selection for the Bayern CL second leg which includes a lot of second stringers with his focus on Swansea, a crucial weekend encounter in the race for the fourth and final league spot.

Question: Why are we resting players?
Answer: Because being fouth is more important.
Question: Why is being fourth important?
Answer: To be in the CL, the most prestigious and exciting of all comps, so as to rest players, so as to be in the CL…

This is called a vicious circle. Arsenal are now in this feedback loop as they fail to determine cause and effect. The manager earning £7.5m sees no problem, the board watching their share prices escalate see no problems, the players earning £60,000/week to sit on their haunches see no problems, but the fans who see problems get their ticket prices raised and are derided as unpatriotic.

You know what will break this cycle. If we fail to qualify for fourth, forcing us into actual re-building rather than the duct tape applications we have been fooling ourselves with these past seasons. We must also get out of the post Wenger apocalyptic scenarios which are the direct result of his infantilization of the club as everyone who is anyone defers to him for everything and anything Arsenal.

Peter Hill -Wood, the last time we heard from him: ” We have run the club sensibly, and we have not done badly; it’s not as if we have been relegated.”

We are earning a healthy profit, the stadium debt is down substantially, now is the time to turn our attention to performances on the pitch. The bottomline is if someone like Brian McDermott in his first PL season can go after losing four in a row on a shoestring budget, then Wenger is also expendable because of the historic lows he is achieved in his last two seasons with a transfer budget and wages that dwarf Reading.

Barca in the last month or so have been buffeted by the news of their impending demise. Even to Sid Lowe, the keen observed of everything Liga, these were anxious signs of an indomitable era coming to an end. Leo Messi was in a fugue, a man in search of an oasis, a muse, a Red Bull infusion. Madrid was administering a death from a thousand cuts as Milan, their CL understudy was playing the perfect spoiler.

The Madrid press was carousing, their Catalan counterparts were speaking off a shift of power, the media elsewhere was speaking of death throes, and back in Argentina, everyone was offering a theory for Messi’s disappearing act.

The truths still are: Barca is as dominant as ever. Real Madrid will always have to break the bank to keep up. Cristiano Ronado is the perfect athlete. Leo Messi is a f**king footballing genius.

Today’s Nou Camp encounter saw an brilliant Leo Messi, an imperious Iniesta, and a relentless Xavi push and probe to spring new orifices in Milan’s demeanour. Command and control, baby, with a death rattle at the end. Hit the reset button. Get your neuralizers out. They’re back with leather chaps on and cat o’nine tails.

Messi got the show at home started with two imperceptible shifts of position. I remember Vivian Richards, the West Indian legend, blasting sixes all over the stadium with the barest twitch of a muscle, a figment of the imagination. The ball rocketed forward with tremendous velocity generated with the briefest of backlifts as Abbiati did not move a muscle. Xavi the provider. Sometimes seeing is not believing.

Five minutes before half time, Messi again as Iniesta dispossesses Ambrosini and slides a pass to the Argentinian who shifts the ball to his left, holds for a nano second, and lashes a low drive between Phillipe Mexes’s legs and past the hapless Abbiati. The aggregate was all square. Milan had a golden chance before the second goal to make Barca break out in a light sweat as Javier Mascherano, playing like a rejiggered centre half, comically headed a long ball straight to M’baye Niang, who powered forward and with Valdes beaten, contrived to strike it straight at the far post.

The second half saw Barca establish a complete chokehold once again and this time David Villa, the forgotten man in the side, scored what was the winning goal as Milan were robbed again close to the box with Mascherano relaying the ball to Iniesta and thereon to Xavi. The no 4 connects with Villa on his right as Constant commits early and the striker finishes perfectly with an angled shot to the far post. The 2-3 aggregate now in favour strangely produced Barca’s most vulnerable moments as Milan realizing they could still go ahead on the away goal rule pressed harder.

Barca would go into panic stations every time Milan went forward with Ignazio Abate active in exploiting the lack of composure with his runs down the right flank. Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol (coming in for Mascherano) regularly lost sight of the other and their offside enforcement became hit and miss. Milan’s ideal chance came when former Barca man Bojan dummied Pique to slide his pass to Robinho and only a last ditch block by Jordi Alba saved that goal. The left back built on his heroics minutes later, providing the Cam Nou with the longest sigh of relief with his 90th minute goal, resulting from a misplaced Milan free kick which Messi finally captured and sprang Alexis Sanchez forward. Alba running parallel to the Chilean and on his left was at hand to sweep in his cross perfectly.

As scintillating as the attack was, there is no question that this back line needs replenishing. Dani Alves has been the subject of many transfer rumours and today’s performance showed why as his trademark crossing skills let down Barca in scoring positions. Mascherano is not a centre half and Pique is not the force he was. Neither is Puyol, who reminds one of Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, forcing his beaten, aging body into one more final throwdown. Victor Valdes has not renewed his contract and he will be on the move next season.

Milan had its chances and till the 90th minute were right in it. But they also had a number of notable absentees. Stephan Al Shaarawy was a subdued presence down the left and the one clear chance was a tame effort with Valdes having no problems. A clearly frustrated Kevin Prince Boateng was booked for a series of rash challenges. Ambrosini was often befuddled by the swarming Barca midfield which would capture the ball right back as Iniesta did punishing the veteran.

The Blaugrana faithful will be showing their team spirit at the Camp Nou for the AC Milan showdown by displaying a mosaic of 90,000 cards reflecting the colours of the club and Catalonia with the centre reading, “We’re a team”.

Dani Alves has been very vocal about the side playing without fear and rising up to the comeback challenge. Which Barca has rarely had to do. This will be a historic night if they can erase the two goal deficit and win.

“If we do not take risks, we won´t win. We have to face up to this game with no fear.” But Alves is ready to bet the kitchen sink “they will beat Milan.”

In an interview, he also speaks amongst other things, about Tito Vilanova’s absence.

” It’s weird. Obviously, with all due respect to the people in charge at the moment, we miss him. We did not want any of this to happen, but it has and we cannot let it get to us. We can get through this with hard work and by playing well. He is analysing the team, watching our games and trying to help. But it would be easier if he was here.”

Carlos Tevez faces jail time for driving his automobile while disqualified. He was driving his Porsche Cayenne when the police picked him up and found he should not legally been driving. The Argentinian was banned from driving when failing to respond to the Cheshire Constabulary notifying him of two other counts of speeding. At that time, Tevez did not have a proper UK drivers license. His plea, he knows the word police but not constabulary.

Tevez could face 6 months in jail but will probably end up doing community service instead. Roberto Mancini must be going ballistic. If Tevez is out, it is down to Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko for what they have left to offer Man Utd as a challenge. Also why was Tevez driving a Porsche? Because if there is anything that doesn’t scream look at me on a country road, it’s a Porsche. If only he had stuck to a Ford Escort.

Goals from Gareth Bale, Gyulfi Sigurdsson, and Jan Vertonghen guide Spurs to a ridiculously simple win. Bale was also booked for diving which means he will not be available for the return leg at Milan. In the Premiership, Bale has been caught simulating against Liverpool, Fulham and Sunderland. The “dark arts” part of the game and unfortunate not a pretty one. Internazionale was reduced to one single attempt at goal.

The ole fat Ronaldo bade his time and at a 2014 World Cup event, he let loose. “Real Madrid shut his mouth for me”, before adding that the United manager’s word’s were “disrespectful.”

” A professional with so many years in the game, a knight of the realm, shouldn’t be so disrespectful, it’s distasteful.”

More ominously, and sweet music to Roberto Mancini’s ears, the Brazilian spat out ” [I hope] the team managed by Ferguson always lose”.

Ooooooh! That was not nice. But will the curse of the gordo be as potent as the curse of the bambino?

In heart and spirit the two were allies, sharing identical views on Bolivarian socialism or more succinctly, economic populism for the poor and anti-imperialism synonymous with anti- USA, or more specifically Bush’s empire. Maradona drawing from his narrower perspective of earning his credentials as passionate challenger to Joao Havelange and the FIFA hierarchy in their quest to reduce players to chattel.

Growing up too in impoverished households with resonating stories drew them even closer. So much so when Maradona was fired as Argentina coach for his brinkmanship, the first person he visited was the Venezuelan firebrand, a hugely polarizing figure in his country for career advice.

“I have not come to Venezuela to look for work, I have come to ask my good friend Hugo advice,” Maradona stated last Friday in Caracas. “It brings me great pride being at the president’s side because he fights for the people, for his country and for his ideals. I will be with him until death.”

He probably came to the right person because for 14 years, Chavez was the master of re-invention when it came to his political career. Surviving numerous attempts to oust him democratically and then in a US backed coup in 2002.

The Venezuelan came out on top each time as an unabashed champion of the poor and his policies resulted in impressive socioeconomic gains, as extreme poverty climbed to below 9% from 24% and unemployment rates dipped to 7.6% from 14.5%. For many anti-war activists here, Chavez was the heroic figure who stood up to George W Bush’s trumped up Iraq war mongering as it gathered steam amongst the obsequious and the neo-cons.

Maradona also fought large odds and rollercoasters in his colourful life. Coming to Napoli after being run out of Barca where he suffered a potentially career ending ankle injury at the hands of Andoni Goikoetxea. He was anointed the city’s patron saint after he succeeded in bringing them their first Scudetto before he fell out with his drug use and connections to the Camorra and had to leave in disgrace. The result of the stress brought on by trying to unshackle single handed the club’s inferiority complex drilled into their psyche by their northern rivals.1986 also brought him international recognition and adulation in his country and over the world while being slated by the English as victims of sport’s most memorable or infamous goal. 1990 showed a waning of his powers and by 1994, he had reached his nadir, sent off after failing a drug test,

Maradona’s post career was marked with ill health and frequent bouts with drug use and alcoholism. But he seems to have turned around since 2007 and has been incident free.

Chavez’s burnished his anti- imperialist credentials with his memorable UN speech engendering as much revilement on the right as it did blushes in the toothless international community. A distaste shared by Maradona for the former US president wearing a STOP BUSH T-shirt and calling him “human garbage” on his Argentina visit. For all of Bush’s empty speak of being a uniter not a divider, it must be remembered that Chavez was lauded despite myriad ideological differences, for his commitment to his continent and its integration. Chavismo is as powerful as Peronism today. Eduardo Galeano, who wrote the superb vignettes in Soccer in Sun and Shadow, stated this:

“This tyrant invented by the mass media, this fearsome demon, has just given a tremendous vitamin-injection to democracy, which, both in Latin America and elsewhere, has become rickety and enfeebled.”

Having Maradona as friend was also good election strategy. The Che Guevara T- shirt toting soccer legend and host of a popular TV show was also firm friends with Evo Morales and Fidel Castro, two of Chavez’s ideological soulmates, and the pic ops reassured the populace that their hearts belonged to them as their political alliance held fast solidarity against empire. One one of his many visits to Miraflores, the presidential palace in Caracas, Maradona appearing in a TV show stated to thunderous applause:

“I believe in Chávez, I am Chávista. Everything Fidel does, everything Chávez does, for me is the best.”

Venezuela is known as a baseball powerhouse while its football is considerably lower rung in the powerful CONMEBOL fraternity. But Chavez the baseball loving, one time MLB dreamer grew visibly into the sport and was front and centre in that country’s hosting of the 2007 Copa America. While convalescing in the Cuban countryside from cancer surgery, snacking on fruit, and flanked by his two daughters, he recounted the number of well-wishers. Amongst the number of South American heads of states, he stated one name with great relish: Diego Armando Maradona.” Che, I’m on my way there.” Maradona!”

Jose Mourinho was seen to lean into Sir Alex and whisper something into his ear after Nani made his red card exit. Maybe he was commiserating because both gaffers are friends. In an interview he mentions a booking would have sufficed and the infraction did not rise to the level of a red card.

He was also quite critical of his team performance.

” I’m happy at the result but expected more from my team. We did not play well. We had about fifteen good minutes after the expulsion, I think. Modric changed the game and made a difference in midfield creativity.”

“At 11 v 11, I doubt we could have won the match. I’m frustrated because we played amazingly well against Barcelona. Today I was waiting for more. I was waiting for us to play in a different way.”

The pressure that 10 man Utd exerted in the last 15 minutes also had him worried and he praised Diego Lopez for his performance but stated the midfield ceded too much control. “Utd are the masters of last minute comebacks”.

Probably the greatest assembly of global talent ever with Zinedine Zidane, Guti, Figo, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Claude Makelele, Fernando Morientes, Fernando Hierro, Iker Casillas taking on a Utd side with Mikel Silvestre included. Check out the breathtaking exhibition of touch passing working the tight spaces as Zidane unlocks the Utd defense to find Ronaldo via Carlos for his second goal. Tell me Barca would not be proud of that.

Ronaldo had already lashed a 20 yarder that bounced awkwardly for Fabian Barthez for his first goal. But Ruud Van Nistelrooy collected his 12th goal in 9 CL appearances after he connected on a cross by a sliding Ole Gunner Solksjaer. The baby faced killer was in for Beckham sitting out the wrath of Sir Alex for his Spice Girl distractions. Half time was all even steven.

Then came Ronaldo’s second goal and things looked grim. But Ivan Helguera’s own goal raised Old Trafford’s hopes. Back came Real through Ronaldo creating a few feet of space and unleashing a blistering drive that gave Barthez absolutely no chance. A hat trick at Old Trafford. How special is that. He left to an standing ovation in the 67th minute. By then Sir Alex had trotted out Beckham in a last throw of the dice to wrest this match. And minutes later, he delivered through what he called his ideal free kick ever. No arguments there. Watch Casillas not move a muscle.

Utd finally went ahead as Beckham at the receiving end of Fernando Hierro’s inadvertent backpass, managed to scramble the ball home before Casillas. But Real never relinquished control and there was a sense the outcome was already decided despite Utd’s valiant efforts with the 3-1 gap in the first leg proving too formidable.

Jeld Wen stadium was electrifying as over 20,000 fans, a raucous bunch, cheered their side onto a befitting response. The second half was all Timbers as they fought back from a 3-1 deficit with Diego Valeri and Darlington Nagbe leading the way. Valeri on loan from Lanus must have felt right at home because this is the sort of excitement the Liga generates in Argentina. He’s come to the right place. Portland is a first rate soccer town.

Red Bulls parked the bus as Timbers ran up the stats and quality. In hindsight, the NY team should think about themselves lucky escaping with a draw.

Phillipe Coutinho showed brilliant invention. Luis Suarez is now officially more potent than RVP. The much maligned Pepe Reina could not be breached. And what do you know, there was even a Stewart Downing goal. It was a satisfyingly complete performance by Liverpool.

Wigan’s biggest highlight was the handbags between Emmerson Boyce and James McArthur. The bad vibes continued when Franco Di Santo, displeased with his substitution, stalked off without acknowledging Roberto Martinez.

Have at the highlights before the powers to be take it down.

We might be seeing a precursor to the N. London derby as a ripped, muscular, cut and thrust Spurs take on a more calculated, territorial Arsenal tomorrow.

Today’s El Crassico continued the theme of an imploding Barca who seem to have internalized the collywobbles against Real Madrid to the extent it will keep their shrinks preoccupied.

Actually, make it just Cristiano Ronaldo, because till his introduction Barca was happy to pass the ball around till the eyes bled, resting on the laurels of the Leo Messi equalizer. With CR7 on the pitch, the party was immediately over as he ran Barca’s defense ragged with his no hostage taken approach. Jose Mourinho’s decision to begin without his star was a dare to the visitors. By introducing Ronaldo so late, he thumbed his nose at the visitors, unveiling his ace in the sleeve to which Barca had no answer. Crudely put, the men in stripes had shot their load in the first half.

Strangely, it’s the Portugese, seemingly a conflagration removed from leaving Madrid, giving the club its stability. While Barca has a rudderless look with Jordi Roura filling in for Tito Vilanova who is realistically speaking, filling in for Pep Guardiola. The Blaugranas seem not to be responding well to these changes whether it be by design or misfortune. One doesn’t remember tiki taka being so pointless or so prevaricating. It is usually a means to a Messi end. Thereafter, sterile domination was used to kill off games but the present Barca seem to have gone into a fugue and their main man in search of a muse.

The old Messi would have checked and finessed an audacious chip over Diego Lopez leaving a Bernabeu reacting with a familiar collective groan. That shot was tired and directed straight at Iker Casillas’s fill in. No dice.

Till two weeks ago, Milan was fearing a new orifice being torn, Madrid had been held at the Bernabeu for the Copa first leg, and there was nary a wrinkle on the inevitable Liga anointment. How did it all change? How was a system working so fantastically well before turn into a bunch of widgets and patch ups? We maybe looking at a Black Swan. But Barca has seen off El Clasicos and are still ahead by a country mile so barring some Niall Ferguson like counterfactual event, this Liga is recorded history.

What makes it fraught is the road ahead. It’s unclear whether Barca have the Xavi and Iniesta’s lined up in Barca’s second generation. That will fall to Thiago and Fabregas who have not shown that spark yet. The club is an exemplar in their development and recruitment of meticulously trained homegrown talent which their Madrid counterparts have jettisoned so calculatingly to create endless versions of Galacticos. Will Barca do the same?

Back to the match. That was a poor, poor reaction by Victor Valdes at the end, barracking the referee Miguel Angel Lasa and deservedly getting the red. The match was marred with so many fouls that giving a number becomes immaterial.

Here is the note of warning to the Gunners in tomorrow’s derby. Barca recorded an astounding 72% ball possession but only managed 5 looks at goal while Madrid with 28% had 14 with six on target as compared to two of their opponents. Sergio Ramos provided the biggest bit of controversy but his leg stuck out at Adriano did not appear to make contact and his theatrical jack knife did not fool Lasa. A last minute PK would have made Marca very, very mad. And so Barca go back to the Nou to lick their wounds. A fitting response would be to smash aside Milan in the second leg of the CL and restore some shine.

Arsene Wenger has no tactical plans to stop Gareth Bale. No, not even the Harlem Shake, as Per Mertesacker gets it going with his pelvic thrusting at “Con Los Terroristas” before the whole Arsenal side and visiting fans join him at ‘Do the Harlem Shake” in front of goal. Given his devastating form, Bale might still tele-kinetically bend a ball through.

However, Wenger when asked felt Bale would find it difficult to sustain that form.

” No, to maintain that percentage at the moment I think it’s certainly the ideal in Europe but, in terms of conversion rate and chances created, to maintain that is very, very difficult.”

The Arsenal manager might be giving a positive spin on the Bale revolution but really to downplay his scoring chances is being a bit overly optimistic. All indications are that the Welshman has not sated his hunger for goals so the question becomes one of damage limitation. He’ll be due his one or two but make sure there are no more and always score more. Wenger seems to be saying that he anticipates a shootout at the fantasy factory and the edge is with Arsenal with its decidedly bigger group of scoring saviours.

Bakary Sagna will not be back and in his stead it will be Carl Jenkinson. The right back had a very decent game against Villa showing speed and robust tackling against the likes of Agbanlahor but Bale is in a different league altogether. Andre Villa-Boas has been employing the winger more centrally and so the area sweeping down the left to the middle has to have speedier players than the more leaden footed Arteta or Ramsey. The chances of Abou Diaby being declared fit is about even but he is still shaking off major rust and any of these three might be taken to the cleaners.

One is tempted to take a chance with Frances Coquelin to protect the area in front of the back four because he does have the pace. Arteta has been guilty also of turning his back when a player has a go at goal and it has cost Arsenal. Given Bale’s trigger foot, we need a player with the spinal fortitude to suffer his face and body being rearranged. Coquelin showed that courage when thrown into the cauldron against Utd last season. His subsequent outings reveal a player with the mettle to dish it out too. There may not be a plan but a good rule of thumb would be to close the gap so that Bale’s shot is either blocked or unsighted is sent off target. He thrives on a backpedaling defense and cheap giveaways. See West Ham, see Newcastle, see West Brom, see ad nauseum.

The other way is to starve off the supply from Moussa Dembele and Scott Parker so that Bale drifts back deeper. Theo Walcott can play a large part in taking his former Soton comrade out of attack mode by forcing him to track back in support of Benoit Assou Ekotto.

On paper, one can hope to slow down Bale on open field but he can kill you with his set pieces which are now rated higher than Cristiano Ronaldo’s stemwinders. Basically, he is every opposing managers nightmare. A player who can render useless any plans and seize the whole match in an instant. Arsenal have to outshoot Spurs and grasp at every scoring opportunity. The Spurs defense have been questionable and before Bale’s match winning daggers, their notoriety was the inability to hold onto a lead. They have stiffened of late even though that Joe Cole goal, a wonderful piece of invention, resulted after Jan Vertonghen switched off. That should give the Gunners hope.

One area where we have been woeful, actually that is too kind a descriptor, nay downright abject is our own set piece conversions.

We have only scored six goals out of all those myriad corners and free kicks that we create with Oliver Giroud leading the way with four goals from set pieces. Thomas Vermaelen, a reliable aerial threat in the past has drawn a complete blank this season after scoring 6 the previous one. RVP’s record goalscoring exploits takes all the shine but equally praiseworthy was his corner kick service which would hang up the ball in the air as a juicy morsel. He’s doing the same at Utd and both Evra and Jonny Evans have benefited with some huge strikes. In fact, Arsenal’s defense as a goalscoring unit ranks amongst the worst in the Premiership. Spurs have the edge on Sunday with 7. Amongst rivals, Chelsea have 9, Everton on the strength of Leighton Baines’s free kicks have 6, giving context to Arsenal’s dry spell from its back line.

Against Spurs we have to be more threatening on set pieces. And we have to be more clinical from the open field. Spurs have relied on the spectacular. Tom Huddlestone, Rafael Van Der Vaart, Danny Rose, Gareth Bale came out of left field to deflate the Gunners. This maybe the defining match of the season not just because it is the most important North London derby in quite sometime and victory would give three very important points to keep challenging for a top four finish but it would help this side find its self belief.

The news is Rafa Benitez survived his rant at the club supporters and his interim status. The Chelsea board voted to let him continue.

What one doesn’t get is why fans are lining up against Rafa? Probably because he is low hanging fruit. Their ire should really be directed at Roman Abramovich who’s hiring and firing seems driven by something more picayune than any futuristic vision.

Andre Villa-Boas if he had been allowed his second season at the club with the present talent at his disposal, would have been challenging Man Utd for the title. After a slow start, Spurs are the brightest spark in the league buoyed by a young coach and his philosophy and eagerly accepted by younger, fresher faces. You can see the shared excitement of a new discovery. This is not a cabal of cynical, brainwashed veterans who decide who they will play for and when. Even Jose Mourinho was shunted out after a player revolt led by John Terry who went up the chain straight to Peter Kenyon and stated in gist, “Its my way or the highway.”

AVB’s predecessor Carlo Ancelotti, an AC Milan legend, despite winning them the league and the FA Cup found himself out of a job in the midst of his second season, after his assistant was bewilderingly axed. His cerebral approach typified by the arching left eyebrow did not sit well with the new chain of command. The manner of his firing should sit in first place in the hall of shame. Now, he is settled at PSG, Chelsea’s very, very near East version, with a less whimsical group of owners. Doing well, one might add.

With the constant parade of managers traipsing in and out, even after three league titles, a couple of FA Cup, and the glittering Champions League prize, nearly a decade after Abramovich’s takeover, Chelsea feels curiously stillborn. What exactly have they accomplished? An enviable style of football? A quarry of homegrown talent that they can mine? Their pixilated goals include resuscitating a £50m boondoggle. Casting envious eyes at Bayern spiriting away Pep Guardiola. Crashing out of the CL the following season, a new low for Europe’s champions.

Stamford Bridge is the King’s Landing. With a Game of Thrones mentality, is it any wonder a coach worth his salt would think about Chelsea his home? Rafa was foolhardy taking this job, rusty after being out of one for a couple of years. He’s not at fault. The owner who has poisoned the well, is. Take him on. Boo him, berate him, direct your fire and brimstone at him.

The Real Madrid love flows. Barcelona “humiliated”. Messi was “caged in” by the Real Madrid defense. Cristiano Ronaldo “won the game” and Rafael Varane was “consecrated.” Alberto Undiano Mallenco, the referee was “perfect.” The media hailed the biggest win for the Merengues at the Camp Nou in 50 years.

There was doom and gloom at Barca with Marca gleefully reporting that Messi had developed a fever and both he and Xavi had not reported training while Iniesta and Dani Alves were caught soul searching.

Absent in this lovefest, was praise for the entrenador, Jose Mourinho. It took a player, Varane to dedicate this win to his coach. The tea leaves point to Mou leaving this summer.

Carles Puyol has been a lion for Barca over the years but the way he was exposed by Angel Di Maria on that second Ronaldo goal clearly shows the need for fresh legs. And Cristiano Ronaldo had the measure of Gerard Pique having difficulties spying where the fleet footed winger/ striker was headed upended him for a PK. Which CR7 put away with contemptuous ease. In Rafael Varane, Real Madrid have found a half back who can do everything, including save and score goals in the same match. That was some leap for the third goal as the Barca defense stood around earthbound.

Barca’s consolation was a Jordi Alba goal from an Iniesta long ball that dropped in his doorstep. It was too little, too late. Leo Messi was nondescript for the AC Milan match and he disappeared for this one too.

One of the hallmarks of a rampant Barca attack was their recycling qualities as they pinged the ball around the box stretching the defense out and then suddenly Xavi would mail Pedro a gorgeous through ball. I remember reading an article by Jonathan Wilson where he mentioned their suffocating possession camped out in the opponent’s half was their form of defense. But that was when they had the lead and needed to kill the match off. This is new to them. And it’s proving too slow and futile.

When Mourinho won against them in the CL semi-final in 2010, Inter’s performance was hailed as the epitome of what a defense could do as Walter Samuel and Thiago Motta turned in the performance of their lives against that hitherto unstoppable side. Now, Mou has Barca on the run, winning all the important matches making it nearly too easy. Yet, lest we forget at this fading stage, Barca’s greater service to the sport preserving their enviable cantera to produce legends while Real has purchased its overseas stars at enormous cost. When Real have won the way Barca have won preserving their nucleus of homegrown talent then we can speak of an equivalence.

Bale force winds look to threaten the Gunners this coming weekend. Gareth Bale is redefining spectacular, his first strike made to look ordinary by his second goal which rocketed forward a ridiculous number of yards with a minimum of backlift and swerved away from Jussi Jaaskelainen. Who could have stopped that? That was his eighth goal in 6 matches. Bale is a beast and he is turning it on at the right time for Spurs.

Guy Demel’s interception of Lewis Holtby’s pass ended up at the feet of Bale and a few strides later the ball was dispatched at an angle too acute for Jaaskelainen. The marvelous thing about Bale is his penetration is so swift with such tiny preparation to pull the trigger, it leaves virtually no time to throw a block.

The Hammers equalized after Scotty Parker caught Andy Carroll on the follow through as he tried to get to the ball. Howard Webb had no second thoughts and the pony tailed one made no mistake with the spot kick. West Ham went ahead after Joe Cole in a lovely bit of skill controlled a long ball with his right foot, turned around and tapped the ball past Hugo Lloris. Poor defending by Jan Vertonghen. A topless celebration followed for which he was carded.

A free kick by Bale led to a goalmouth scramble as West Ham bodies got in the way and Caulker caught in the thicket came down prone with the ball bouncing on his back and trickling down which Adebayor crashing through aimed at for the mom of all air kicks. Sigurdsson was at hand to tuck away the ball past Jaaskelainen.

West Ham would have willingly settled for a draw as Jaaskelainen, the much busier of the two goalies had to come up with some huge saves. But Bale obviously had different plans.

Bobby Moore was remembered before the match. The legend passed away 20 years ago, the captain and one of three Hammers instrumental in winning England its only World Cup in 1966.

The Swans thoroughly outclassed Bradford at Wembley to take their first huge title in their 100 year history. The scoreline tells you the story as much as the other stats. 78% possession to 22%, 10 shots on target to just the one, 8 corners to just the one.

Matt Duke was sent off for his challenge on Nathan Dyer and as he was walking off, Dyer started a jawing back and forth with Jonathan De Guzman on who would take the penalty providing the most tense moments of this already decided final. Dyer had a strong case because he was on a hattrick but De Guzman was the designated penalty taker. Michu had to mediate, counselling the diminutive Dyer to back off. Fortunately, De Guzman managed to convert otherwise this could have been a locker room speaking point.

Now comes the hard part on retaining Michael Laudrup who has been linked with a number of clubs ranging from Chelsea to Real Madrid. He’s also on the wishlist of many Arsenal fans.

By the way, the final was not shown in any of the networks here. The focus was firmly on the Premiership. That is utterly bollocks.