Sporting reflections

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noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Wed, 19 May 2010 07:36:00 +0000

The Sporting reflections blog has moved.

Please follow me to my new home at http://thearmchairsportsfan.wordpress.com/.

New posts will no longer appear here.

The week in numbers: w/e 16/5/10

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 17 May 2010 07:46:00 +0000

56 - The number of people who died in the Bradford City fire, 25 years ago last week.

0 - After six races of the F1 season, we have yet to see any car other than the two Red Bulls start from pole position. (Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber have three each.)

0 - The FA Cup has never been won by a team relegated from the top flight of English football in the same season.

2 - The number of missed penalties in Saturday's FA Cup final, the first time this had ever happened.

4 - The number of times the leader's pink jersey has changed hands so far during the first eight stages of the Giro d'Italia. Bradley Wiggins claimed it on stage one, since when it has gone to Cadel Evans (stage two), Alexandre Vinokourov (stage three), Vincenzo Nibali (stage four) and Vinokourov again (stage seven).

2 - Last Wednesday's Europa League final was the second time goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer had played in the final of Europe's second cup competition, with two different clubs. On both occasions he has lost to a Spanish side.

1 - Yesterday was the England men's cricket team first win in five attempts in a world final. They beat Australia by seven wickets in the final of the World Twenty20.

17 - Runs required by Australia off the last five balls of their World Twenty20 semi-final against Pakistan. Mike Hussey then hit 22 off the next four.

99 - Final points total for Barcelona, who clinched the Primera Liga title last night. Runners-up Real Madrid finished on 96, which also surpassed the previous record total.

4 - The number of seasons Oxford United spent in the Conference before earning promotion back to League 2 yesterday with a victory over York City. Oxford had been the first winner of a major trophy to be relegated from the Football League in 2006.

120,000 - Pounds per week reportedly demanded by 33 year old William Gallas during his contract talks with Arsenal. Bye bye.

25 years on, the Bradford fire burns fresh in the memory

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Tue, 11 May 2010 10:55:00 +0000

It was supposed to be a day of celebration. On the final day of the 1984/85 season, fans gathered at Bradford City’s Valley Parade to celebrate winning the Third Division championship, their first trophy in 56 years.

For those who escaped the ground alive that afternoon, celebration turned into a disaster which forever changed the face of English football.

It is believed that a dropped match – smoking was still allowed in football grounds in those days – ignited discarded rubbish underneath the main stand, a rickety wooden structure which was due to be demolished after the game. Once it had started, the wind swept the fire rapidly through the length and depth of the stand, turning it into a burning cauldron. Within four minutes the entire stand was ablaze.

56 people died. Over 200 others were injured, many with serious burns.

The resultant Popplewell Inquiry led to the introduction of new legislation to improve safety, most notably prohibiting the construction of new wooden grandstands at all

sports grounds.

Today, 25 years to the day after the fire which devastated the community, memorial services are being held at Bradford's Centenary Square, Bradford Cathedral and at the Valley Parade ground.

More complete details of the tragedy, along with stories and tributes, are plentiful both online and in the broadcast media today. If you are not familiar with the events, they are worth a look, if only for a reminder of how far stadium safety has progressed in the past 25 years.

For those of us who are old enough to recall the images and emotions associated with that tragic day, the mere mention of the Bradford fire is more than enough. We remember.

Vino's no dope as crashes gift him the maglia rosa

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 10 May 2010 22:15:00 +0000

The race leader's pink jersey has been more patata calda (hot potato) than maglia rosa thus far in the Giro d'Italia. During three days' racing in Holland, the jersey has been worn on the podium by three different riders: Bradley Wiggins, Cadel Evans and now Alexandre Vinokourov.

Both yesterday and today, crashes on routes which have been narrow, twisty and full of road furniture have contributed significantly to the jersey changing possession.

On yesterday's stage between Amsterdam and Utrecht, major crashes in the peloton 40 and seven kilometres out brought down or delayed dozens of riders. Wiggins's Sky teammates were able to bridge the gap after the first crash, but not the second, allowing Evans to assume the race lead.

This afternoon, another crash on an extremely tight and dangerous turn ten kilometres from the finish in Middelburg brought down Wiggins, among others, and delayed Evans who, despite a heroic solo effort to regain contact with the chasing pack still finished 46 seconds down on the leaders, gifting the pink jersey to Vinokourov. In addition to his losses yesterday, Wiggins gave up another four minutes today, eliminating him from overall contention.

It is difficult to imagine a less popular - or more controversial - race leader than the 36 year old Kazakh. Less than a year after returning from a two year ban for blood doping at the Tour de France, Vino has already won Liege-Bastogne-Liege, one of the most prestigious Spring one day classics, and now leads the Giro, a position from which it may prove difficult to unseat him. Evans remains within striking distance, but Garmin's Christian Vande Velde was forced out today with a broken collarbone, and Wiggins is one of several other contenders now effectively out of reach.

Add to that the absence of the top three finishers from last year's race: winner Denis Menchov (who elected to miss the race to prepare for the Tour), Danilo di Luca (doping ban) and Franco Pellizotti (withdrawn due to ongoing investigation), not to mention Messrs Contador, Armstrong and Schleck (both of them), and the number of credible challengers to Vinokourov has already dwindled significantly.

It will be a sad state of affairs if Vinokourov is still wearing pink in Verona on May 30th. Not so much because of his original crime - for which he has served his time - but because he was so utterly unrepentant of an offence of which he was so clearly guilty, and for which he still protests his innocence. (When tests reveal you have another person's blood in your system, there isn't much of a defence.) And, even more than that, he betrayed cycling fans everywhere by shattering the illusion that his swashbuckling, kamikaze attacks we loved so much were fuelled by more than mere talent and determination.

Tomorrow is a rest day as the circus decamps back to Italy. Which, given the travails of the last couple of days, is probably just as well. I'll be hoping that the extra recovery time for some pretty banged-up teams will help someone depose Vino in Wednesday's team time trial.

The week in numbers: w/e 9/5/10

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 10 May 2010 07:20:00 +0000

138 - In millions of pounds, the current debt of Portsmouth FC, about double what it was when the club went into administration at the end of February.

0 - The number of Grand Tour stage wins for both Team Sky and Bradley Wiggins before his two second victory in the opening time trial at the Giro d'Italia on Saturday.

103 - The final tally of Premier League goals for Chelsea, who hammered eight past Wigan yesterday. It is the highest total for a season in 47 years.

18 – Yesterday was the 18th consecutive league game without a win for Wigan in London, underlining quite how remote Man U's chances of securing the title really were.

1 - Mark Webber became the first F1 driver in five races this season to convert pole position into a race win at Barcelona yesterday.

85 not out - Runs scored by Cameron White off just 49 balls (including six sixes and six fours) in Australia's World Twenty20 win over Sri Lanka last night. The entire Sri Lankan side managed just two runs more than White.

31 - The number of league wins (from 37 matches) for Real Madrid after their 5-1 thumping of Athletic Bilbao. This is one more than Barcelona, who still lead Spain's Primera Liga by a point with one game remaining. The previous record for wins in a season was 28, jointly held by ... Real Madrid and Barcelona.

92 - The previous points record for a Primera Liga season (set by Real Madrid in 1997), already broken by both Barcelona (96) and Real Madrid (95).

00:54 - The time on Tuesday morning at which Australia’s Neil Robertson finally overcame Graeme Dott to win the World Snooker Championship.

Pretty in pink as Wiggins takes Giro lead

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Sat, 08 May 2010 18:31:00 +0000

In the greater scheme of things, the Giro d’Italia represents little more than a tune-up opportunity for Team Sky’s British leader Bradley Wiggins. However, any stage win in one of cycling’s three Grand Tours is a big deal, and victory for ‘Wiggo’ in today’s opening time trial in Amsterdam will have come as a welcome confidence boost.

But Wiggins’ single-minded focus remains the Tour de France in July, where he will seek to become, as a minimum, the first Briton ever to finish in the top three, with his ultimate ambition being to unseat defending champion Alberto Contador as the wearer of the yellow jersey in Paris on July 25th.

Both Contador and defending Giro champion Denis Menchov are absent from Italy this month, as are other top Tour contenders Lance Armstrong and the brothers Andy and Frank Schleck. Nonetheless, perennial nearly man Cadel Evans heads a strong field which includes Christian Vande Velde and 2008 Tour winner Carlos Sastre, as well as Ivan Basso and Alexandre Vinokourov, two top riders who have both served doping bans. They will provide a good benchmark for Wiggins, who should still be a fraction short of peak form at this point in the season.

Wiggins completed today’s 8.4km stage in 10:18, two seconds faster than BMC’s Brent Bookwalter and his team leader Evans. Victory earned him the right to wear the race leader’s pink jersey, the maglia rosa. Afterwards, Wiggins said:

"It was hard but I just went for it, especially in the corners. If you want to win it, you've got to commit 100 per cent, like a sprinter when they go for a sprint. For me it's beautiful to be wearing the pink jersey. It's iconic and one of the most special jerseys. To wear it means a lot to me and is a big honour."

However, he also insisted he will not getting carried away by his early success.

"I don't want to make the mistake of being at my best form and getting carried away in the Giro and then being knackered at the Tour. A lot of guys tried that last year, and fell short in July.”

The race will spend two further days in Holland before making its way back to Italy, ending in Verona on May 30th. Wiggins is unlikely to stay in pink for only a few days at most. The maglia rosa is a welcome addition to a trophy collection which includes three Olympic golds, but the biggest prize of all remains over two months away.

Pellizotti investigation casts a cloud over Sky's Giro debut

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Fri, 07 May 2010 06:44:00 +0000

I should be really looking forward to Team Sky's Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia, which kicks off in Amsterdam tomorrow and concludes in Verona on May 30th. It will provide the first real yardstick to assess Bradley Wiggins' prospects of improving on his fourth place finish at last year's Tour de France, as well as the progress of several other leading contenders.

Actually, I am looking forward to it.

However, my anticipation of the race comes in spite of rather than because of events leading up to it, with news breaking on Monday of yet another doping investigation into three riders, including Liquigas's Franco Pellizotti.

Pellizotti finished third on the road at the 2009 Giro, having placed fourth the previous year. That was subsequently upgraded to second after the original runner-up (and 2007 winner) Danilo di Luca returned two positive tests for the prohibited blood-booster CERA during the race. Add that to the 20-month ban recently completed by Riccardo Ricco, the 2008 runner-up (positive for CERA at the 2008 Tour), and you have a grim record which shows that half the podium finishers - all Italian - from the past two Giros have been either banned or suspended for actual/suspected doping offences.

It's not great, is it? Despite the considerable efforts (and money) invested into sophisticated and comprehensive drug-testing procedures - for which the sport should be applauded - it seems the potential rewards for those willing to cheat continue to outweigh the growing risks of detection. Ricco has already returned to professional racing. So too Michael Rasmussen, who was thrown out of the 2007 Tour while wearing the yellow jersey.

Something needs to be done. But what?

Motherwell add to a season of incredible comebacks

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Thu, 06 May 2010 10:54:00 +0000

Motherwell 6 Hibernian 6

In the highest-scoring game in Scottish Premier League history last night, Motherwell recovered from a 6-2 deficit with 24 minutes remaining to draw 6-6 at home to Hibernian.

It really has been quite a season for comebacks, and it says something that this is only the second most incredible one in recent months. Barely two weeks ago, we had Wigan turning a 0-2 scoreline into a 3-2 win against Arsenal - the first time since the inception of the Premier League that a team had won having been two goals down with ten minutes remaining. But even that pales into insignificance when compared to the opening match of January's Africa Cup of Nations, when Mali recovered from 4-0 down against the hosts Angola to draw 4-4, with the final two goals coming in the 93rd and 94th minutes.

This one ran it close, though.

Last night's match had added importance because Motherwell entered it holding a one point advantage (with just two games remaining) over Hibs in the battle for fourth place in the SPL, which yields the reward of a Europa League spot.

I won't repeat the full details of the game - try the BBC Sport website here for a match report - but a Colin Nish first half hat-trick and a brace from former Arsenal and Sunderland striker Anthony Stokes saw the visitors take a commanding 6-2 lead after 65 minutes, only for Motherwell to score three goals in nine minutes. That still left sufficient time for Lukas Jutkiewicz to earn an 86th minute penalty which Ross Forbes failed to convert before Jutkiewicz himself struck a ferocious volley from a narrow angle in the third of four minutes of added-on time. The draw leaves the Steelmen in control of their destiny going into their final game against champions Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday.

It's well worth seeking out the highlights on either YouTube or the BBC website, if only for Jutkiewicz's equaliser. Anyone familiar with Marco van Basten's amazing volley against the USSR in the final of the 1988 European Championships will know what I mean when I say that this is virtually a left-footed mirror image of that goal. It was a goal worthy of crowning an amazing game.

And it was a prime example of the danger of walking out of a game early, as thousands of Motherwell fans did at 6-2. Comebacks like this may only happen once in a lifetime, but how gutted would you be to have missed it?

Spurs win limits options for City's summer transfer spree

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Thu, 06 May 2010 08:26:00 +0000

Manchester City 0 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Peter Crouch's late header at Eastlands last night was worth a lot more than three points to Spurs. It was even worth more than the undoubted jubilation it brought to one half of North London at achieving their first ever Champions League spot - technically, entry into the final qualifying round as opposed to the Champions League proper - something which has become routine to their neighbours and rivals Arsenal. (It is only the second time that Spurs will have played in Europe's top club competition, and the first time in 49 years.)

It was a result which will have brought great joy to many neutrals, as well as fans of Liverpool and Aston Villa, the manager's office at Old Trafford, and even a small corner of West Berkshire, where this particular Arsenal fan - one, I suspect, of a very small number of Gooners - actually considers Spurs to be the lesser of two evils.

It may well prove to be only a temporary forestalling of twelve months, but defeat for Manchester City will make the job of turning the club into a dominant European force in this summer's transfer market considerably more difficult, despite the backing of Sheikh Mansour, owner of the deepest pockets in world football. A top four finish - and the carrot of Champions League football that goes with it - would have opened the door for the potential signing of many of the game's very best players. Now, however, instead of the grand stage of Champions League ties against Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan or Bayern Munich, City can only offer the less attractive prospect of Europa League Thursdays against the likes of Palermo, Real Mallorca or Borussia Dortmund.

True, City can always offer more lucrative financial incentives than anyone else - and therefore attract those of a more mercenary disposition (of which there are many in the sport). But for many of the small band who can truly count themselves among the world's elite - players like Fernando Torres, David Villa, Franck Ribery and Steven Gerrard - cash alone will not be enough to persuade them to exchange their current colours for sky blue.

The reality is that defeat last night has put a serious dent in City's summer transfer plans. Not only does that hurt their prospects of success next season, but it also gives some of their closest rivals vital leeway to regroup and rebuild. Liverpool are cash-strapped and will be potentially Rafa Benitez-less. Villa remain short of squad depth. Man Utd have not yet adequately replaced Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez. And Chelsea need to add youth to an ageing squad packed with over-30s.

Indeed, Chelsea serve as a salutary warning to City. As Roman Abramovich has discovered, endless spending does not necessarily guarantee future success. For all the hundreds of millions of clubs the Russian billionaire poured into the London club, they have still never been able to secure the one prize he covets above all else: the Champions League trophy.

So for one more season, at least, money can't buy you everything. Tomorrow will have to wait another year. And possibly longer. It's hard not to raise a smile at that prospect, which is why - for probably the one and only time in my life - I'm not fuming at Spurs' success. Don't tell anyone, though.

Shane Warne’s ‘ball of the century’

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 07:48:00 +0000

An occasional series looking at the defining moments which explain why sport captivates us so much ...

Sport’s superstars often arrive on the scene in a blaze of youthful glory, producing outstanding debut games or seasons. Football has given us teenage sensations such as Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi, cricket the likes of Sachin Tendulkar (Test debut at 16, a centurion at 17, captain at 23), and women’s tennis a production line of prodigies from Tracy Austin to the Williams sisters.

Some, like Austin, have departed almost before they have arrived, but many have gone on to be dominant figures in their sport for many years.

The sporting annals are littered with examples of great debuts. Few, however, can claim to have had such a profound impact - not just on a match, but on his entire sport - as the showman fittingly nicknamed ‘Hollywood’.

England v Australia, 1st Ashes Test, Old Trafford, June 1993

MW Gatting b SK Warne 4

These are the bare facts as recorded by the match scorecard. In cricketing circles, though, it is referred to in hushed tones as “the ball of the century”. No other ball is as well remembered as Shane Warne’s first ever delivery in an Ashes Test match.

It’s the second day of the first Test.

England

have started well in their attempt to regain the Ashes – 80 for 1 in response to

Australia

’s modest 289. The blond-haired wrist spinner is brought into the attack for the first time. Warne measures out his run-up for his debut over against

England

and measures up the opposing batsman.

The pugnacious, bulldog-like face of Mike Gatting stares back at him. The former

England

captain is an excellent player of spin bowling and is hugely experienced. This is his 73rd Test, two days short of his 36th birthday, and he has seen pretty much everything there is to see in cricket.

But he has never seen anything like this. Warne’s first ball pitches well outside leg stump, then darts sharply back like a spherical stump-seeking missile to clip the outside of off stump. Bowled!

Gatting stands aghast, unwilling to believe the evidence of his own eyes, before finally acknowledging the umpire’s signal and trudging off the pitch, still shaking his head in bewilderment.

Just in case there are any thoughts that the ‘Gatting ball’ is a one-in-a-million fluke, Warne wastes little time in proving otherwise. The first ball of his second over is a carbon copy. Robin Smith misjudges the ball and edges to slip. Seven balls, two wickets! In the space of less than ten minutes, Shane Warne has set the tone for the match, indeed for the entire series.

England

’s batsmen will never really get to grips with his magician’s tricks throughout the summer, and the Ashes are as good as lost already.

Warne finishes the match with eight wickets, and goes on to claim a total of 34 victims and the Man of the Series award as

Australia

romp away with the series.

Ashes Tests are supposed to be intimidating affairs for the uninitiated; after all, this is one of the oldest and most intense of all sporting rivalries, dating back to 1877. An Ashes debutant isn’t supposed to march brashly in and destroy the opposition on their home turf. But that’s exactly what Shane Warne did in 1993, and it all started with one ball.

Not bad for a beginner.

Warne’s legacy

It’s all too easy to attach clichéd labels to Shane Warne such as ‘prodigious’, ‘phenomenon’ and ‘reinventing the art of spin bowling’, but then to look at Warne is to see something of a cliché anyway. He resembles not so much a modern, professional cricketer as a stereotypical Aussie who has wandered into the SCG after catching the morning surf at Bondi, with his burly frame, bottle-blond hair and macho, fun-loving brashness. So let’s work with the clichés.

In all honesty, there are few words that describe Warne’s ability to spin the ball so extravagantly as well as ‘prodigious’. He produced the equivalent of the ‘Gatting ball’ – no more than an extreme version of his standard leg break - repeatedly in his career. Warne frequently left batsmen bamboozled, groping futilely at thin air as the ball spun past the bat. What was particularly impressive was his ability to bowl long, tiring spells with sustained control, accuracy and aggression.

Was he a phenomenon? Unquestionably. To announce your arrival on the Ashes stage in the way that Warne did at Old Trafford and sustain that level of success for more than a decade showed that he is no flash in the pan. He stands second on the all-time wicket takers list (708 in 145 Tests), was voted fourth in Wisden’s Player of the 20th Century poll (being both the highest placed bowler and contemporary player), and has been described by no less an authority than Richie Benaud as “the best leg spinner I’ve ever seen”. Glowing praise, indeed.

Did he reinvent the art of spin bowling? Perhaps not, but he certainly changed people’s perceptions of it. Prior to his arrival, spin was becoming an increasingly rare and largely defensive art outside of the Asian nations. Warne turned that on its head by presenting spin bowling as a genuinely attacking – and, in cricketing terms, positively sexy - option. You need only look now – virtually every leading Test nation has a spin bowler who is single-handedly capable of turning (if you will forgive the pun) a match. Shane Warne’s legacy extends far beyond the Australian coastline or the time defined by the length of his career.

I was fortunate enough to see the 1993 Old Trafford Test live on television, and I can vividly remember my reaction to the moment Warne delivered that ball. I empathised with Gatting’s disbelief, then, watching the replay, I found myself quietly applauding in the solitude of my own living room as it began to dawn on me that I had just witnessed something truly special. It didn’t matter that it had cost my side a key wicket; such moments of sporting genius transcend something as petty as mere competition. I just knew that I had witnessed, as it happened, one of those precious moments that people would talk about for years to come.

Arsenal and Vettel show leading doesn't equate to winning

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:34:00 +0000

This Premier League season has had almost as many twists and turns as Shanghai's Formula 1 circuit, but within the space of twelve hours yesterday we were given two clear demonstrations that being faster or better or simply ahead of your opponents is not an automatic ticket to victory.

Some of the greatest individuals and teams in sport dominate their events from start to finish (for instance, Michael Schumacher or the current Barcelona football team). Others save their best for last, building momentum at the perfect moment down the home straight. Football's most famous example of this is the Manchester United team of 1995/96, which bridged a seemingly unassailable 12-point gap to claim the Premier League title.

There are plenty of similar instances elsewhere in the sporting universe too: Dennis Taylor recovering from 8-0 down to win the 1985 World Snooker Championship; Greg LeMond overcoming a 50 second deficit in the final time trial stage to win the 1989 Tour de France by eight seconds; Nick Faldo coming from six shots back after three rounds to triumph at the 1996 US Masters.

Equally, for every great comeback, there is a contrasting example of the team or individual who put themselves in a commanding position, only to throw it all away. Call it a lack of belief or mental strength, or just plain 'choking', but their number is legion. For Man U, read Newcastle; for Taylor, LeMond and Faldo, read Steve Davis, Laurent Fignon and Greg Norman.

And, for the 2009/10 Premier League season, read Arsenal.

Wigan 3 Arsenal 2

Under Arsene Wenger, Arsenal have become specialists in late-season runs to overhaul the league leaders, putting together irresistible winning sequences en route to their 1998 and 2002 titles. However, they are also notably uncomfortable when they themselves are front-runners, twice wasting five-point leads late in the 2003 and 2007 seasons to concede the title to Man U. While neither of these concessions was of the magnitude of the one which cost Devon Loch, who literally stumbled within sight of the finish while leading the 1956 Grand National, it is a clear indication that the club prefers the role of greyhound rather than hare.

The 2003 run-in was notorious for a crucial 2-2 draw at Bolton in which Arsenal frittered away a two goal lead in the last 20 minutes; this season we have seen an identical scenario play out at West Ham. At times this year, this team has shown great heart and fighting spirit when cast in the role of underdog. However, the old frailties of being unable to cope with the glare of the spotlight have surfaced repeatedly. And while the damage done by home-and-away defeats to both Chelsea and Man U was largely repaired, the ignominy of a first league defeat to Spurs in nearly 11 years last Wednesday merely reopened the wounds.

Yesterday, however, the team plumbed new depths. After Chelsea's defeat on Saturday, the players knew the importance of securing a victory which would have moved them back within three points of the summit. But having secured a spluttering two goal advantage at the DW Stadium - and having wasted several chances to bolster the potentially critical goal difference - Arsenal somehow contrived to concede three goals in the last ten minutes to extinguish their fading title aspirations.

The worst thing was you could see it coming. After Mikael Silvestre scored the second goal early in the second half, there was a visible drop-off in effort as a fog of complacency descended over the team. Chances went begging, and opponents' runs went untracked (Ben Watson's 80th minute effort that made it 2-1 came as a result of Abou Diaby's casual, half-hearted effort to fulfil his defensive duties). The manner of the capitulation may have been shocking, but the warning signs were clearly there - and totally ignored.

Now I don't mind being beaten by the better team, as happened recently when Barcelona knocked Arsenal out of this season's Champions League. But with the greatest of respect to Roberto Martinez's side, Wigan are not a better team than Arsenal. There is a reason why they have been flirting with relegation all season. However, they battled hard throughout yesterday and stood toe-to-toe with a side they knew was technically superior, and who switched off the moment they went 2-0 up, assuming the job was done.

Being better on paper - or for 80 minutes - does not confer an automatic right to victory. I have no complaints. Wigan got everything they deserved yesterday. So, too, did Arsenal.

Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai

There is no question that Sebastian Vettel is an extremely quick and talented driver. Three poles and one win from the first four races of the 2010 season are testament to his speed and consistency when he gets himself into race-winning positions.

However, if there is one question mark hanging over him, it is his ability to drive through the field when fate deals him a mediocre hand. Having squandered pole position with a poor start yesterday, he lost further places in the tactical scramble which ensued when a combination of light rain and a safety car randomised the pack. With McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in close attendance, there was a clear contrast between the incision and aggression with which the Briton carved his way through the field and Vettel's more hesitant approach, most obviously when Vettel fumbled an overtaking attempt on Adrian Sutil at the end of the back straight, allowing Hamilton to dive past them both in a flash.

Hamilton is at his best chasing, when required to drive on instinct and emotion and not over-think; he is not the type to relentlessly crush his opposition with effortless lights-to-flag victories. Vettel seems to be the opposite: when he is out in front he is untouchable; when asked to charge through the midfield, less so. That's not necessarily a fatal flaw - in my lifetime, only Schumacher and Ayrton Senna have been routinely capable of winning a grand prix through both relentless dominance and stirring charges. (For prime examples of the latter, think of Schumacher's win from 16th on the grid at Spa in 1995, or Senna dancing his McLaren through the intermittent storms at Donington in 1993.)

There is no question that Vettel is one of the fastest men of the grid. Hamilton too. But neither won yesterday's race. While speed is critical in F1, it is not the only thing. Jenson Button won his second race of the season with the brave decision to stay on slicks when most others were switching to intermediates, and now leads the championship by ten points, confounding the pundits who insisted he would be blown into the weeds by Hamilton. Both his wins this season have come as a result of making the right split-second call on tyres, demonstrating a tactical intelligence (and a modicum of good fortune) which is currently keeping him ahead of the acknowledged speed merchants.

Many have already drawn the comparison of Hamilton and Button with the Senna/Alain Prost era at McLaren: fire and ice, the hot-blooded Latin who would just out-drive everyone else and the cool Frenchman who would out-think everyone. It's not a bad comparison. It doesn't matter how fast Hamilton is, how many times he outqualifies his teammate or how many laps he leads; in changeable conditions which push tactical nous to the fore, Button is finding a way to ensure he leads in the only place that matters: the final lap.

As the F1 circus moves back towards Europe and into the summer months, Button will be less likely to benefit from the wild card effect of changeable weather. Vettel and Hamilton will undoubtedly take their share of victories and podiums. (So too Fernando Alonso and the consistent if unspectacular Nico Rosberg.) But with the final third of the season featuring races in Belgium, Japan and Brazil - each with notoriously unpredictable conditions - only a fool would discount Button's chances if he remains in contention down the stretch.

Ultimately it doesn't really matter whether you prefer to win from the front or with a well-timed attack from behind - the greatest champions simply find a way to win, no matter what. And that is what separates the likes of Man U and Barcelona from Arsenal, and that means that Vettel will not have things all his own way.

Painful though that simple fact was from an Arsenal perspective yesterday, I wouldn't have it any other way. The right to be called 'champion' has to be earned; it is not simply conferred. That is why it means so much.

Van Persie and Campbell show the way forward for Arsenal

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:26:00 +0000

Tottenham 2 Arsenal 1

On a night on which Spurs took all three points from them for the first time in nearly 11 years, it was Arsenal’s oldest and most injured players – respectively, Sol Campbell and Robin van Persie – who provided the potential blueprint for future success for a club now destined to go trophy-less for the fifth consecutive season.

Campbell, 35, made his 20th appearance of the season for Arsenal last night, having been signed as something of an afterthought in January, and was outstanding throughout despite the incessant barrage of abuse he received from the home fans. Even though he has clearly lost a yard of pace over the years, he remains a redoubtable physical presence whose intelligence and anticipation remain undiminished, and he is a far more reliable proposition than Mikael Silvestre, three years his junior. Arsene Wenger will undoubtedly plunge into the transfer market this summer; his first move should be to offer a new one-year contract to Sol. Certainly Wenger acknowledged Campbell’s influence in his post-match interview, saying “He has shown the way to some players. What a winner he is. He showed what you need if you want to win titles.”

The oft-injured Van Persie was making his comeback after torn ankle ligaments had sidelined him for five months. By rights, he should have been rusty and off the pace. Instead, his 68th minute arrival transformed the match, providing a cutting edge to the Arsenal attack and demonstrating to Nicklas Bendtner that, for all that the young Dane has contributed to the scoresheet (nine goals in his last 11 games), there is a massive gulf separating him from the tag of ‘world-class striker’ he believes he deserves.

For nearly 70 minutes Tottenham keeper Heurelho Gomes had been a virtual spectator, with Arsenal’s only attempt on target being a bundled effort from – of all people – Campbell as early as the second minute. But, as Spurs began to tire after their Wembley exertions 72 hours previously, van Persie launched what seemed at times to be a one-man assault on the Brazilian’s goal, most notably a sumptuous effort in which, with his back to goal, he chested the ball down, swivelled and fired a fierce volley in one fluid movement which a diving Gomes did well to turn away.

Ultimately, it was too little too late, with Bendtner’s late tap-in – inevitably, van Persie was at the heart of the move – no more than a consolation.

The game had been lost long before van Persie’s arrival, though. On his league debut, 19-year-old Danny Rose had opened the scoring with a rasping 30-yard volley – truly, a candidate for goal of the season – after Manuel Almunia’s punch fell straight to him. And the second half had barely started when Gareth Bale raced clear of a shambolically invisible backline – how often have we said that about Arsenal this season? – to clip home the second, his first league goal in two and a half seasons, his previous one having also come against Arsenal.

On the night, it was clear to see how much Arsenal missed Cesc Fabregas, Andrey Arshavin, Alex Song, William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen (who limped off with a calf strain after 20 minutes), not to mention Aaron Ramsey and Johan Djourou, who would have provided reinforcements from the bench. But that’s neither a complaint nor an excuse. Arsenal fans will have rightly expected greater leadership from senior campaigners such as Tomas Rosicky and Emmanuel Eboue and for younger (but hardly inexperienced) players like Denilson, Abou Diaby and Samir Nasri to step up to the plate. In reality, only Nasri and to a lesser extent Eboue have done so in recent weeks. It is a distinct weakness in a squad which is over-reliant on youthful potential and lacks consistency.

Which is exactly why Wenger needs to add more players like Campbell to his squad. His team is too dependent on Fabregas and, to a lesser extent, the likes of van Persie and Vermaelen to take games by the scruff of the neck. Too often there is a lack of purpose up front and a sense of barely-controlled panic at the back. One or two more experienced heads – as opposed to yet another promising teenager – could make all the difference in that respect.

The other key is keeping van Persie fit. It is no coincidence that, before last night, Arsenal had averaged 3.3 goals in games in which he had played, compared to 1.8 without him. It is futile to speculate on what might have been had the Dutchman played more this season, but suffice to say he has been sorely missed. Fabregas, Arshavin and Nasri provide the creativity from deeper positions, but he is the only one of the club’s batch of centre forwards who can truly turn a match with a moment of individual skill. Regardless of what his shirt says, Bendtner is an old-fashioned number nine who lacks pace and guile. Theo Walcott has pace to burn, but lacks physicality and aggression. Eduardo is no longer the player he was before his injury; he seems to actively avoid any potential 50:50 challenge. And Carlos Vela looks lost whenever he is asked to play in anything other than the Carling Cup (it’s no wonder he misplaced his passport and missed last week’s Camp Nou trip).

Summer signings

So what should be top of Arsenal’s shopping list this summer?

Firstly, a good luck charm for van Persie, who has missed a significant chunk of every season he has spent at the club through injury. But given that he is never likely to be a 50 game a year player, a quality lead-the-line striker is a must. If the rumours about the impending arrival of Bordeaux’s Marouane Chamakh are true, consider that box ticked.

Even if Campbell stays, the increasingly injury-prone Gallas and the ever-inept Silvestre are also out of contract this summer, and Philippe Senderos will undoubtedly be sold. Djourou’s return will help, but there is a clear need for another central defender, possibly two.

To strengthen the porous defence, I would target a new goalkeeper – I’m a fan of Lyon and France stopper Hugo Lloris – and another defensive midfielder who can partner Alex Song. I know Denilson has his supporters, but to my eyes he is too much of a bits-and-pieces player – decent at most things, but not exceptional at anything – and a liability defensively. And although Diaby is often compared to Patrick Vieira physically, the resemblance ends there; he is a good option going forward, but poor defensively. For me, Diaby is a great option from the bench; Denilson should be offloaded. And I would look for someone like

Brazil

’s Felipe Melo, who has struggled to settle at Juventus.

So, that would be four (five at most) new bodies in – targeting where possible players in their mid to late-twenties – with Campbell and hopefully Gallas re-signed, counterbalanced by the release of Silvestre and the sale of Senderos, Denilson and possibly Rosicky, with Jack Wilshere returning from his loan spell at Bolton to take his place.

To my eyes, there’s not a big gulf between this year’s squad which has challenged for honours, and one next year which could actually win them. A touch more experience and fewer injuries to key players could transform this team, and the last 20 minutes of a depressing defeat to the annoying neighbours showed me enough to suggest that a line-up like this would enhance Arsenal's prospects for a successful 2010/11 season.

Lloris

Sagna – Vermaelen – Gallas – Clichy

Song – Melo

Fabregas

Walcott - Van Persie – Nasri

Well, I can hope, can’t I?

Arsenal’s Champions League bid comes to a Messi end

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:04:00 +0000

Lionel Messi scored his fourth hat-trick of the season as he single-handedly reduced Arsenal’s Champions League aspirations to dust last night. No reflection on current and former Man U forwards Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo – world-class players both – but there can be little doubt he is currently the best footballer in the world. By a distance.

If last week’s game at the Emirates was akin to the Blitz as Barcelona peppered Manuel Almunia’s goal with shot after shot, then the return leg was more a succession of surgical strikes. Messi’s goals aside, Almunia had a surprisingly untroubled game – although not as much as Victor Valdes, whose only meaningful participation all night was to pick the ball out of his net after Nicklas Bendtner’s opening goal. Messi equalised within two minutes with a thunderous strike from 20 yards, and it was all downhill from there as he delivered a masterclass in the art of centre forward play. (Although – and this should take nothing away from the little Argentinian’s performance - it must be said Arsenal’s defending was, at times, extremely accommodating.)

In his post-match interviews, Arsene Wenger was more downcast than I have ever heard him, showering praise on Messi and acknowledging that his side simply weren’t good enough in the face of markedly superior opposition. For perhaps the first time, he is now talking openly about the need to strengthen a young squad which – Sol Campbell aside – was not added to during the January transfer window. There is a clear need for one (probably two) centre backs (Campbell, William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre are all out of contract this summer, and the out-of-favour Philippe Senderos is likely to be sold), goalkeeper, holding midfielder (as backup to Alex Song) and centre forward (although this already appears likely in the form of Bordeaux’s Marouane Chamakh).

Having said all that, the state of the current squad – which, let’s remember, is just three points off the top of the Premier League – is hardly shambolic, just a fraction short of that combination of quality and depth you need to be there rather than thereabouts. Some of the fans who phoned in to 5 Live after the game last night were well wide the mark in making such ludicrous suggestions as the squad needing a complete overhaul, or that it is time for Wenger to leave the club. A sense of perspective is important here. An Arsenal XI in which injury and suspension robbed Wenger of half his preferred starting line-up – captain Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Gallas, Song and Andrey Arshavin – as well as a number who would probably have travelled as part of the squad (Aaron Ramsey, Campbell, Johan Djourou, Kieran Gibbs) – was beaten by the Spanish, European and World club champions. There is no shame in that.

If any criticism is to be levelled at manager or team, it should be directed at the tactics employed when Arsenal did have the ball. Too frequently Theo Walcott was stranded out on the right touchline when perhaps he could have ventured inside; not often enough were quick, speculative balls played over the top behind the Barca defence for him to exploit with his pace. Bendtner’s control let him down on occasion. Almunia’s kicking was, as usual, woeful.

But it is easy to be too harsh. Arsenal found themselves in the unfamiliar position of being starved of possession and having to chase shadows, and over both legs consequently played like a team who don’t know how to hassle and harry effectively as a collective unit. It was a tough lesson, one of a number which hopefully will be absorbed by all at Arsenal. When we look back, the shame will not be in the fact of the defeat, nor even the manner of it – it will be if there is no learning or development resulting from it. We may all be surprised how a little wisdom and a little reinforcement (and some better luck with injuries) may be all that is required to turn this Arsenal side into one which can stand toe-to-toe with the very best England and Europe have to offer.

Review: 'Lance Armstrong: Tour de Force'

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 07:05:00 +0000

Now updated to include a new chapter covering Lance Armstrong's return to the Tour de France in 2009, Daniel Coyle's account of the American's build-up to the 2004 race which saw him claim his record-breaking sixth win focuses more on the day-to-day life of a top professional road cyclist than it does on the racing itself.

In so doing Coyle, who gained unprecedented access to Armstrong and his US Postal Service team throughout the season, provides many fascinating insights into a peculiar world whose inhabitants fear infection and watch their weight as obsessively as the most anorexic hypochondriac. It is a world in which its occupants push lift buttons with their elbows to avoid infections spreading via their fingers, and for whom every handshake is a potential hotbed of germs. It is a world of masochistic training rides and of lung-bursting tests to assess performance and condition, where the only things that matter are the numbers. And it is a world of cloak and dagger, where every rider is constantly assessing their rivals’ form and physical condition, and full of intra- and inter-team political intrigue.

Above all, this book is as close as any writer has ever been allowed to get to the man behind the façade of Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and seven-time Tour de France champion. In so far that any book authorised and signed off by the man himself can be, this is an honest appraisal of what makes Armstrong tick, from his single-minded focus on hitting peak physical condition in the month of July to his overwhelming need to not just beat but destroy anyone who stands in his way, whether they are wielding a bike or a keyboard.

The book also touches upon the racing year through the eyes of Phonak’s Tyler Hamilton (a former US Postal teammate), and Floyd Landis (a Postie in 2004, but one who would leave for Phonak in 2005 to escape Armstrong’s long shadow). It even tackles the multiple accusations and litigations being aimed at Armstrong at that time, including the infamous book L.A. Confidentiel by Irish journalist David Walsh, and while the examination of these carries a hint of red-white-and-blue tinted spectacles, it is largely handled in an even-handed way; it is not simply an extension of the Armstrong PR machine.

For anyone who is interested in an external portrait of Lance Armstrong, or in the fine detail behind the broad brush-strokes which comprise the annual spectacle which is the Tour de France, this is one to add to the collection. It’s not necessarily a book for the cycling ingénue, but it is a richly rewarding read nonetheless.

5 stars (out of 5)

Available at amazon.co.uk here and at amazon.com here

Cardiac Kids resurrect Arsenal’s Champions League dream

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 21:53:00 +0000

UEFA Champions League quarter-final, first leg: Arsenal 2 Barcelona 2

It was the 1980 Cleveland Browns who first earned the nickname ‘Kardiac Kids’ for their habit of winning games with heart-stopping late-game heroics. That moniker could be equally attached to an Arsenal team who tonight extended to eight a run of games in which they have scored in the closing ten minutes.

It is rare that an eagerly-awaited match truly lives up to the hype, but this game delivered on all counts. Barcelona simply ran rings around Arsenal in the first half - they had nine shots on target in the first 16 minutes alone - passing and moving the ball with pace and elegance when attacking, and pressing their opponents in unison to devastating effect when defending. Arsenal were left chasing shadows for much of the half, and grew increasingly frustrated as the Spanish team denied them time to respond in kind.

If not for Manuel Almunia, Arsenal's Spanish goalkeeper who had been much maligned after conceding a soft equaliser at Birmingham on Saturday, Barca would have booked their place in the semis inside the first half hour. Almunia produced four or five saves which were truly world class during that period, reminding those fans at the Emirates with short memories that he is a shot-stopper with excellent reflexes and agility.

There was little else for the home fans to cheer about in the first half. Andrey Arshavin limped off injured, quickly followed by William Gallas. Samir Nasri twice wriggled behind the visitors' defence to deliver tempting crosses, and saw one curling effort drift just wide of Victor Valdes' left-hand post. When half-time came with the scoreline remarkably still goalless, Arsenal fans wondered if perhaps they had weathered the storm. (Myself among them, as I was lulled into a cheeky bet on a 0-0 draw.)

Wrong. A mere 23 seconds of the second half had elapsed when Zlatan Ibrahimovic - who to that point had displayed all the shooting accuracy of Devon Malcolm bowling blindfolded - found himself running free behind the Arsenal back line after a simple ball over the top. In a moment which undid his first half excellence, Almunia charged off his line, got caught in no man's land, and was made to look something of a turnip as the giant Swede artfully lobbed the ball over him and into the unguarded net.

Thirteen minutes later, with Arsenal having responded quite well to that shocking setback - Nicklas Bendtner having stung Valdes' hands with a bullet header - another straightforward aerial ball allowed Ibrahimovic to run on and fire a howitzer past the blameless Almunia. Barcelona, the great artists, found themselves 2-0 up courtesy of two long balls straight out of the old Wimbledon playbook.

An hour gone. Two goals up away from home. See you in the semis, eh?

If there has been one valid criticism of Arsenal in recent years, it has been an obvious mental fragility when faced with a physical or superior team. Arsene Wenger's beautiful team has been scarred by the likes of Stoke and Bolton. But that simply hasn't been the case this year, despite losing four out of four games to Chelsea and Man U. This 2009/10 Arsenal side has rebounded from every setback, whether it was Aaron Ramsey's broken leg at Stoke, or coming back from being 2-0 down inside five minutes in Liege. And, all season, this side has scored late, late goals, turning draws into wins and defeats into draws.

So as Barcelona's early, unsustainable tempo waned and their thoughts started to turn to a seemingly comfortable second leg at Camp Nou, Arsenal slowly, inexorably started to regain a measure of parity in midfield. It still felt like clutching at straws, but there remained a shred of hope. All that was needed was a catalyst.

That catalyst was Theo Walcott. Absent for much of the season with injury, too often missing in action when playing, and harshly labelled by Chris Waddle as lacking 'a football brain', Walcott was Wenger's third and final substitution on 66 minutes. Last roll of the dice.

Within 60 seconds, Walcott had blown by Maxwell as if he wasn't there to slide a teasing cross across the area. Two minutes after that he repeated the feat, Bendtner slid a perfect through ball to him and Walcott instantly drove the ball under the diving Valdes. 1-2. A straw grasped.

Like flicking a switch, the mood inside the ground changed. Despair was replaced by hope. Arsenal surged forward, Barca retreated. All of a sudden it seemed there was a red shirt who was first to every loose ball, where previously it had been yellow.

And then: the moment. 84 minutes - note, inside the final ten. Bendtner, again, deftly directed the ball towards his captain and former Barcelona youth team player Cesc Fabregas. Definite contact from behind by Barca skipper Carles Puyol. A soft penalty (but a penalty nonetheless), and a red card for the unfortunate Puyol. Fabregas - as if there was ever any doubt - converted the chance by hammering the ball hard and low down the middle, but injured himself in the process.

No matter. 2-2. A breathtaking end to a breathtaking match.

With their two away goals, Barcelona remain favourites for the return leg next Tuesday, but their confidence will be shaken by the absence of both starting centre backs, Puyol and Gerard Pique (suspended as a result of receiving his third yellow card of the competition). For Arsenal, the inspirational Fabregas (who has a suspected broken fibula) will miss his homecoming next week after a slightly soft third booking, Gallas is apparently done for the season and Arshavin's calf injury also makes him doubtful. Even so, Arsenal will fancy their chances - certainly considerably more so than they would have done with thirty minutes still to play.

If the second leg next week is half as dramatic, we will be in for a treat. I certainly know where I'll be on Tuesday night.

Tour de France wildcards aren't so wild after all

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:39:00 +0000

With 95 days to go until the start of the 2010 Tour de France, we now know who the last six squads are who will make up the full complement of 22 teams when the first wheel is turned in Rotterdam on July 3rd.

In addition to the 16 ProTour teams who were already guaranteed a seat at cycling’s top table, there were no real surprises when the six wildcard entrants were revealed earlier today:

- Sky, the new BSkyB-sponsored outfit, who will be led by triple Olympic gold medallist Bradley Wiggins, fourth in last year’s race

- RadioShack, another new team led by seven-time winner Lance Armstrong and including previous podium finishers Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Kloeden

- Garmin, Wiggins’ former team and the home of both Christian Vande Velde, a top 8 finisher in each of the last two Tours, and Tyler Farrar, a genuine green jersey contender

- Cervelho, the team of both 2008 yellow jersey Carlos Sastre and current green jersey holder Thor Hushovd

- BMC, led by two-time runner-up Cadel Evans, and aided and abetted by Armstrong’s former right-hand man, George Hincapie

- Katusha, the Russian team which boasts three-time green jersey winner Robbie McEwen, Italian national champion Filippo Pozzato and Vladimir Karpets

All the first five teams are able to boast at least one marquee name who will each command considerable media interest in key global markets come July. And although Katusha’s big names are not quite at the same stratospheric level (with the exception of McEwen, who is now nearing the end of a glittering career), their record since their formation last year is ample qualification for their inclusion in the Tour.

Given that this year’s Tour will spend its first two days in Holland, Dutch teams Vacansoleil and Skil-Shimano will be particularly upset at having been omitted (as will the new all-French Saur-Sojasun squad), but in truth neither possesses a marquee name or the prospect of delivering anything more than a successful breakaway stage win. Their absence is regrettable, but will be barely noticed once the racing begins.

The fact is that the six teams selected as wildcards were neither particularly ‘wild’ nor a surprise, because they were clearly the ones most likely to have an impact at this year’s Tour. You can’t really ask for more than that.

The Tour may still be over three months away, but it is now less than six weeks until the first of this year’s Grand Tours, the Giro d’Italia, which coincidentally also starts in Holland (in Amsterdam) on May 8th. I can’t wait.

Button's slick thinking in Melbourne masterclass

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:15:00 +0000

After the damp squib that was the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, a little pre-race rain contributed to a spectacular Melbourne race, won by Jenson Button’s quick thinking in exploiting the changing conditions.

As I've said previously, it would be a mistake to prematurely dismiss Button's chances this year. Lewis Hamilton may be the faster driver against the stopwatch, but winning in Formula 1 also requires bold decision-making and sometimes a sprinkling of luck.

Unlike in

Bahrain

, Button had been on the same level as Hamilton all weekend. He struggled off the start, tapping Fernando Alonso into a spin which – the sprinkling of luck – merely delayed rather than derailed him, and was then overtaken by his McLaren teammate as both struggled for grip on intermediate tyres.

It was at this point – languishing in seventh place on a track still damp from the earlier rain – that Button rolled the dice and made his race-winning, off-the-cuff call to pit immediately for slick dry weather tyres. The immediate and universal reaction of commentators and journalists was that it was a suicidal move, a view that appeared to be vindicated when he immediately slid off at turn three on his out-lap. But, having regained the track, he immediately posted two fastest sector times, prompting a mad scramble for the pitlane. With the advantage of an extra lap on what were now clearly the right tyres for the prevailing conditions, seventh soon became second. And when Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel retired – again – after suspected brake failure pitched him off the track, second became first, a position which Button never looked like relinquishing as he preserved his tyres and controlled the gap at the front with consummate ease to secure his eighth career grand prix victory.

It was a win reminiscent of the type Alain Prost used to achieve with regularity. Preserve the tyres, make good strategic decisions, let other people make mistakes and apply enough speed at the right time to ensure the win – everything else is for show. In short, it was the type of win the new regulations were intended to create, turning grands prix into more strategic races which reward intelligence as well as speed, rather than a series of madcap sprints between pitstops.

After the race, Button underlined the importance of quick thinking in the cockpit:

“It's a lot easier for the drivers to feel the conditions. We can feel out on the circuit what's happening. I didn't have a balance at all on the [intermediates] so I thought let's get in and stick the slicks on. When I entered the pitlane I thought I'd make a catastrophic mistake because it was soaking wet, but once I got it going the pace was pretty good. It was the right call and I'm very happy that I made it.”

It was a stark contrast to teammate Hamilton, who had a weekend to forget. A run-in with police for ‘over-exuberant driving’ did not help, but should not be used as a reason for a messy qualifying performance which left him down in 11th. And his anger at what turned out to be a poor call by McLaren to bring him in for a second tyre change mid-race spilled over into a reckless last-of the-late-brakers move on Alonso which resulted in the following Mark Webber shunting him off the track. Fortunately, the accident only cost him one place (he finished sixth rather than fifth), but Hamilton’s churlish finger-pointing both during - "Whose call was it to bring me in? Freaking terrible idea" - and after the race only served to underline that Button had taken control of his own destiny, while he had gone with whatever the team decided for him.

"I probably had one of the drives of my life. But unfortunately due to the strategy I was put further back and then I got taken out by Mark Webber. I am happy with the job that I did.”

Hamilton misses the point. As Button said, it’s easier for drivers to feel the conditions, particularly when those conditions are on that razor’s edge where a driver’s intuition can make the right decision faster than the army of engineers watching the telemetry and timing screens. Button made the call; Hamilton passively followed his team strategy. If the latter had also pitted for slicks on lap six rather than seven, he would probably have won.

Beyond McLaren, there were incidents aplenty yesterday, with cars frequently running at close quarters and several overtaking moves. After his first-lap spin, Alonso charged through the field, sweeping slower cars imperiously out of his way. But he would eventually end up bottle-necked behind Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa, and it was the duo’s subsequent struggles on badly grained tyres which led to Hamilton’s ill-fated move. Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi suffered his second front wing failure of the weekend on the opening lap, leading to a spectacular crash which also wiped out Williams’ Nico Hulkenburg and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi. And we had the you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it sight of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher – again comprehensively outclassed by Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg – being overtaken by Virgin rookie Lucas di Grassi.

In the same way people overreacted to the Bahrain bore-a-thon, yesterday’s race does not mean that everything is rosy in Bernie Ecclestone’s garden – wet/dry races are invariably good ones. F1 typically only has one or two of these a season, but the fact we have had one so early on will be a crucial boost to Button in a season where many thought Hamilton would destroy him. It certainly underlines there is more than one way to win races: you can either be flat out quicker than everyone else – which is how Hamilton, Vettel and Massa primarily operate – or you can use your brain to manage all the variables better than other drivers (Button, Alonso). That is no bad thing.

It also moves the McLaren subplot on a pace. Button has now staked his claim on Hamilton’s team, and you have to wonder if this will affect the younger man’s performances, which in the past have been fragile under pressure. Certainly Jenson will have filed away Hamilton’s angry outbursts for future reference and he will now know – rather than think – he can beat him fair and square.

In the meantime, it’s on to

Malaysia

this weekend, which historically tends to produce good racing and (tee hee) the occasional monsoon. Bring it on.

Sir Chris rises above the Hoy polloi

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 09:30:00 +0000

Chris Hoy’s rivals in the keirin had clearly decided they were no match for his pace and power in a straight race, opting instead to give him the type of treatment opposing sides often target Arsenal with.

In other words, they tried to rough him up. First Josiah Ng Onn Lam cut across Hoy during the heats, knocking the Scot off his bike and earning a clear disqualification. Then, in the final, Azizulhasni Awang attempted to elbow his way through but Hoy – a man as strong as Usain Bolt is fast – continued undeterred to beat the Malaysian to the finish line by half a wheel.

The keirin is a unique event. For those who think track cycling is a non-contact sport, a simple test of man and machine against the clock, the keirin is a bit like coming out of the Last Night of the Proms and getting caught in a pub brawl. Six cyclists cruise around behind a pootling, pace-setting motor scooter – the ‘derny’ – which pulls off with two-and-a-half laps left, resulting in a madcap, free-for-all dash to the finish. (It’s not unlike watching greyhounds jogging carefully behind the hare for a couple of warm-up laps before the race actually starts.)

It is an event which rewards those riders who can combine tactical acumen with savage acceleration and the ability to sustain maximum speed. Having pointy elbows doesn’t hurt either. Hoy, a four-time world champion in the one kilometre time trial and now a three-time winner of the keirin, possesses each of those qualities in abundance.

It has so far been a disappointing Track Cycling World Championships for

Britain

, although the team is missing several key stars such as Bradley Wiggins, who this year is focussing solely on road racing and July's Tour de France. Hoy’s was GB’s first win of these championships, and his tenth world title overall. (Only

France

’s Arnaud Tourmant, with 14, has won more.) Even at 34 – it was his birthday on Tuesday – and with a knighthood and four Olympic golds to his name, Hoy’s prodigious power and competitive fire remain undiminished.

Only a fool would bet against Hoy adding to his Olympic tally at London 2012. Or against him adding gold in Sunday’s individual sprint to yesterday’s keirin. Aside from his devastating speed, you can be sure he will have his elbows at the ready, just in case.

Premier League contenders face their moment of truth

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:49:00 +0000

Could this weekend have a significant – and potentially decisive – influence on who wins this season’s Premier League?

I have been saying for several weeks the outcome of the title race will most likely be decided on the away form of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. After all, the top three – now separated by just two points – just keep on winning at home (where they have dropped a miserly 18 points between them thus far), while showing definite vulnerabilities on their travels, amassing 13 defeats combined.

This weekend, however, all three face challenging assignments. It is the last match-day on which at least one of the three does not have a relatively ‘easy’ (I use the word advisedly) game.

On paper, Arsenal – away to Birmingham – appear to have the toughest task. Alex McLeish’s side have only lost twice in the league at St Andrew’s, and are unbeaten at home since the end of September, a run which includes deserved draws against both Chelsea and United. Furthermore, Arsenal will be without their first-choice centre back pairing of Thomas Vermaelen (suspended) and William Gallas (calf), with striker Nicklas Bendtner rated as questionable at the time of writing, having not trained since twisting his ankle against West Ham on Saturday. If he is ruled out, there is the possibility that Eduardo could start on the ground where his leg was broken two years ago.

Man U visit Bolton, who have won three and drawn one of their last four league games at the Reebok, without conceding a goal. This has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for Alex Ferguson’s side, but with Bolton in decent form, set up the way new manager Owen Coyle wants them to play and just a few tantalising points away from safety, a surprise is not out of the question, particularly if Wayne Rooney’s knee – he was observed hobbling after Sunday’s victory over Liverpool – limits his participation. (Now I’ve said that, United will win 4-0 …)

Chelsea are the only one of the three to have the benefit of a home match, but it is against an Aston Villa team who are embroiled in a dog-fight for the fourth and final Champions League spot. (Just two points separate Tottenham, Man City, Liverpool and Villa.) Up front, John Carew is on a hot streak with eight goals in his last seven games in all competitions. At the back, no defence has conceded fewer goals than Villa’s (25). And as a team they are incredibly difficult to beat: no other team has suffered fewer defeats (five), and only the top three themselves have more points away from home this season.

After Chelsea’s thumping 5-0 win over soon-to-be-relegated Portsmouth last night, the mathematics of the title race are now much simpler. The top three have all played 31 games, United lead Chelsea by a point (who lead Arsenal by a further point) and after this weekend each club will have three home and three away games remaining.

Beyond this weekend, Chelsea certainly have the most difficult away programme by some distance, which must trouble Carlo Ancelotti:

Man U: Blackburn, Man City, Sunderland

Chelsea: Man U, Tottenham, Liverpool

Arsenal: Tottenham, Wigan, Blackburn

Even allowing for the fact that Chelsea’s remaining home games are relatively straightforward, with every possibility they could fail to win all three remaining away fixtures they still look to have more difficult games overall than either of their rivals. With no disrespect to their other opponents, United will view Chelsea (H), City (A) and Spurs (H) as their toughest challenges, while Arsene Wenger’s most serious threats are limited to Spurs (A) and City (H).

It genuinely is too close to call. Arsenal trail and have the longest injury list, but have the easiest run-in. Chelsea don’t have the distraction of the Champions League, but face a tough sequence of games. United are a Rooney injury away from potential disaster, but have the experience of leading down the stretch and will probably feel if they can avoid defeat to Chelsea, the title is theirs to lose.

Who do I think will win? My heart says Arsenal, but my head says United – just. But I expect there to be a few dramatic twists and turns before we know for sure, and this weekend could turn out to be a pivotal one when we look back at the end of the season.

Arsenal discover there really are no easy games in Europe

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:01:00 +0000

On the face of it, Arsenal fans have much to be depressed about after today's Champions League quarter-final draw. Being paired with Barcelona, champions of

Spain

, Europe and indeed the world, is disappointing enough. But a competitive record that reads played three, drawn one, lost two makes the task for Arsene Wenger’s men appear even more insurmountable. After all, statistics don’t lie.

Or do they?

Firstly, history is never the most reliable predictor of future performance. Of the eleven players who started the 2006 Champions League final for Arsenal only three – Emmanuel Eboue, Sol Campbell and Cesc Fabregas – are still at the club. Campbell (the scorer of Arsenal’s only goal that night) has also played for Portsmouth and Notts County during the interim and Eboue (who dubiously won the free kick from which Campbell scored) is now more of a super-sub than a starter. It’s the same picture if you look at Barcelona’s starting XI – goalscorers Samuel Eto’o and Juliano Belletti are now at Inter Milan and Chelsea respectively, and other star names such as Ronaldinho, Ludovic Giuly, Mark van Bommel and Deco have also long since moved on. The two sides who will meet at the Emirates in under a fortnight’s time are almost unrecognisable from the teams who played that night in Paris. So any historical comparisons should be taken with a large pinch of salt – or better still, ignored completely.

Even if you do take history into consideration, a more detailed examination of those three previous games provides clear signs of encouragement for the English side.

Let’s start with the 2006 Champions League final. Arsenal played for more than 70 minutes with ten men after goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was (rightly) sent off and took a 37th minute lead through Campbell’s header. It was an advantage they held until the final quarter of an hour, when substitute Henrik Larsson turned the game in Barca’s favour, with the equaliser carrying a strong hint of offside to it. To be fair, the better team won on the night, but Arsenal – a man down - had put in a great battling performance, and with a squad which (like this season’s one) had been largely written off mid-season.

The other two meetings took place during the Champions League group phase of the 1999/2000 season. A late Kanu goal earned Arsenal a 1-1 draw in Barcelona – so, if you want to look at it another way, Arsenal are unbeaten at Camp Nou – and although they lost the ‘home’ leg 4-2, the match was effectively played on a neutral ground, Wembley, rather than Highbury. So, again, applying the kind of spin Peter Mandelson would be proud of, Arsenal are actually unbeaten home and away against Barcelona.

Doesn’t seem too bad when you put it that way, does it?

Putting aside the manipulation of statistics – lies, damn lies and statistics, indeed! - the reality is that Arsenal will be underdogs going into this quarter-final. That is fair enough. But to write Arsenal off would be foolhardy. Twice already this season, the Londoners’ Premier League challenge has been prematurely dismissed (firstly after a humiliating home defeat to Chelsea before Christmas, then after back-to-back losses to Man U and Chelsea a few weeks ago), but each time the team has bounced back impressively to sustain an improbable – but far from impossible - tilt at the title.

Arsenal are quietly coming into form right now – or, at the very least, finding a way to win tight games by whatever means necessary (which works just as well for me) – and I get the impression that this team functions much better as an underdog than it does as a favourite. Barcelona, on the other hand, have recently shown signs of both fatigue and a slight dip in form, particularly away from Camp Nou.

Even allowing for my somewhat partisan view, there is certainly more than a glimmer of hope for Arsenal. Their chances of advancing to the semi-finals (where either Inter or CSKA Moscow will await) are perhaps only 35-40% - but that’s certainly better than Chelsea or Liverpool’s odds!

Whisper it quietly, I am not exactly unconfident about our prospects. With Fabregas in the team all things are possible, and Arsenal have developed a knack in recent seasons of turning over Europe’s big names (while simultaneously struggling against so-called ‘lesser’ teams): Juventus, Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, Inter at the San Siro, Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.

Yes, there are no easy games in Europe. But there are also no impossible ones.

As a footnote, I would like to congratulate Fulham, who last night overcame a 3-1 first-leg deficit – and then the concession of a second minute David Trezeguet goal – to defeat Juventus 5-4 on aggregate (4-1 on the night) and advance to the Europa League quarter-finals. It must surely have been one of the biggest nights in the club’s history. And it is testament to the managerial prowess of Roy Hodgson, who this time two years ago had just taken over a club who looked nailed-on certainties for relegation and has delivered nothing but positive progress ever since.

England

’s next manager? Maybe, although there are several plausible arguments against his appointment whenever Fabio Capello decides to step down. But you would have a hard time convincing me that there is a better - or more likeable - English manager anywhere in the game right now.

Beckham injury is not England’s Achilles’ heel

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:44:00 +0000

When I first heard about David Beckham’s ruptured Achilles tendon on Sunday night, I was sad for the player but didn’t feel the need to comment on it here on the blog, given his peripheral role as a player in the

England

set-up. However, looking at the minor frenzy which has been whipped up in the media over the past 36 hours, you would think we had just witnessed the Munich air disaster.

Er, why?

Before the revisionists completely rewrite history, let’s be absolutely clear about Beckham’s position in the World Cup mix prior to his injury.

Was Fabio Capello going to include him in his 23-man squad? Almost certainly. There were certainly strong arguments for having him present both on the pitch (as an impact substitute) and off it (for his experience and influence in the dressing room). To my mind, these outweighed the potential distraction of the circus which inevitably follows wherever Beckham goes.

If he had gone, would Beckham ever have made the starting XI? Certainly not, unless

England

were to suffer an injury crisis of apocalyptic proportions over the next few weeks. To fill the right winger’s position, one of Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott or Shaun Wright-Phillips will be the starter in South Africa, with probably one taken as backup and one left to bemoan his misfortune on a beach somewhere. And with Steven Gerrard and James Milner also well capable of playing wide right, England are more than adequately covered with speedy, dynamic players who can run for 90 minutes in a way Beckham no longer can. Similarly, the squad will also be well-stocked with central midfielders, the other area where Beckham could have played a role.

David Beckham was never going to be more than a bit-part player at this summer’s World Cup. That’s not to say his role might not have been a significant one: you never know when one of his trademark free kicks could have been needed to settle a tight game late on. But England are hardly bereft of players who can strike a mean dead ball: Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Milner and Gareth Barry can all strike a ball with plenty of pace, bend and accuracy. And then there is the list of injured or ailing players whose status I am far more concerned about than Beckham’s: Ashley Cole, Lennon, Rio Ferdinand …

Is Beckham’s injury the end of the world? No. Does it dent

England

’s chances in

South Africa

? A bit. Is Capello’s squad now holed below the waterline and devoid of all hope? Give me a break.

If some corners of the media are whipping up a storm about Beckham, what will they do if Wayne Rooney suffers a season-ending injury? Will we have a national day of mourning and withdraw from the tournament completely?

Never mind the World Cup, a ruptured Achilles is a serious and potentially career-threatening injury. At 34 – and turning 35 before the World Cup begins – Beckham faces an extremely long and tough road back. Without the possibility of going out on the biggest stage of all you have to wonder whether he will decide to bring down the curtain on a career which has brought him 115 caps for his country, many team and personal triumphs, and only last week brought him back to Old Trafford for a cameo appearance where he was given a hero’s welcome.

David Beckham has never been the retiring type when it comes to publicity, but surely now it is time to seriously contemplate retirement.

F1 starts with lots of subplot, little actual plot

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:44:00 +0000

It had been billed as the start of Formula 1’s ‘most exciting season ever’, with four world champions – Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher – present on the grid.

Instead, yesterday’s Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sakhir circuit was more like a desert without an oasis, with precious little for millions of viewers around the world to take as sustenance.

In-race refuelling has been consigned to history, with the intended effect of encouraging more overtaking on the track.

Bahrain

gave us some customary first corner argy-bargy, but that was then followed by 49 laps of largely processional ‘racing’ during which the only major position changes of note were the McLarens of Button and Hamilton gaining a place each during their pit-stops.

A new points system intended to provide a greater reward for higher placings and therefore a greater incentive for attempted overtaking moves also had little discernible effect, as the ever-present issue of turbulence compromising a car’s aerodynamic performance as it closes in on the car in front discouraged Alonso – one of the sport’s bravest overtakers - from risking a move on Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel for fear of destroying his tyres.

As it was, he didn’t even need to try. Vettel picked up a problem with a spark plug, enabling Alonso, Felipe Massa and Hamilton to sweep past him as Ferrari put a troubled 2009 season behind then with a one-two finish.

And that was pretty much all she wrote as far as the action was concerned. The resurrected Lotus team managed to get Heikki Kovalainen’s car to the finish, while teammate Jarno Trulli broke down late on. Neither Virgin car made it beyond one-third distance. And while Hispania’s Bruno Senna completed 17 laps, teammate Karun Chandhok managed just one circuit before being thrown into a wall after hitting a bump.

Before the naysayers prematurely trash the 2010 season, there are mitigating circumstances. The first race of the season often throws up some oddities, with teams scrambling to finish new parts and make last-minute improvements to their cars. The teams are also still trying to work out how best to deal with the new refuelling-free regulations, and everyone was clearly erring well on the side of conservative with their race strategies. And finally Sakhir is a slow, dusty circuit which has always offered few overtaking opportunities.

While the early signs are far from positive, we will not really be in a position to judge the overall impact of the rule changes until after the season’s third and fourth races in

Malaysia

and

China

At least one thing remains consistent in F1. There may not have been much happening on the track in

Bahrain

, but the season’s major subplots all developed nicely.

Let’s start with Ferrari. On his return from his career-threatening accident in

Hungary

last year, Massa threw down a huge marker on Saturday by outqualifying teammate Alonso. But in the race the Spaniard, on the cleaner line, went round the outside of Massa at the first corner and later, having passed the ailing Vettel, banged in a series of blistering laps – his fastest race lap was fully 1.1 seconds quicker than anyone else’s (and nearly 1.5 seconds faster than Massa’s) – to emphasise his dominance.

Spain

Brazil

In the all-British McLaren team, Hamilton (third) not only finished well ahead of Button (seventh), but was consistently quicker than his new teammate all weekend. That was hardly unexpected, though, as it is too easy to underestimate the difficulty Button faces settling in to what is categorically Hamilton’s team. I fully expect it will take until at least mid-season until Button is able to feel fully at home at McLaren. Overall, I still expect Hamilton to be the faster man, but it won’t be as clear-cut as it appeared this weekend, and on fast, abrasive, car-breaking circuits such as

Canada

in mid-June, Button’s smoother driving style may pay big dividends.

At Mercedes, Schumacher looked uncomfortable throughout and was outpaced by teammate Nico Rosberg in every session. Again, it is asking too much of even a seven-time world champion to be straight back on the pace after more than three years out of the sport. Like Button, we cannot fully gauge the success of his comeback until mid-season. And while sixth place represented a solid showing, he will certainly have plenty to think about when contemplating his performance. Schumacher has always dominated; to be markedly inferior over an entire race weekend against a teammate 17 years his junior is unprecedented in his experience.

Perhaps the most convincing and decisive performance came at Red Bull, where Vettel took pole and led for two-thirds of the race before his mechanical problems, while Mark Webber qualified sixth – more than a second behind his teammate – and finished a distant eighth. The German’s race weekend had everything: a dramatic, blistering pole-setting lap followed by a mistake-free performance in the race itself. Make no mistake, Vettel is a big, big contender for this year’s title, but Red Bull need to rectify the lack of reliability which scuppered their challenge last year.

The racing in

Bahrain

may have been dull, but will hopefully improve. The politics of F1, however, remain second to none.

Tango Man gets tango-ed as Hull sack Brown

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:47:00 +0000

At Arsenal’s London Colney training ground this morning, I suspect Nicklas Bendtner will have allowed himself a small smile for any contribution he may have made to the dismissal of Phil Brown as Hull City manager this morning.

First, the Danish striker was on the receiving end – literally – of a poke in the eye from George Boateng, for which the Hull captain was (leniently) given a yellow card and Bendtner was (inexplicably) also booked. Boateng received a second yellow card minutes later for an horrific knee-high stamp on Bacary Sagna, a ‘tackle’ which was many times more dangerous than the one by Ryan Shawcross which broke Aaron Ramsey’s leg, and yet - because he received a second yellow rather than a straight red – will receive a lesser punishment.

(And before the “he’s not that kind of player” brigade comes leaping to Boateng’s defence, it is, incidentally, the seventh red card of Boateng’s career, and the third time he has been sent off against Arsenal in his career. You do the maths.)

Then, deep into six minutes of injury time at the end of the game, Bendtner gave Hull a poke in the eye – metaphorically - by being quickest to the rebound after Boaz Myhill had spilled Denilson’s speculative long-range effort, sealing a 2-1 win for Arsenal.

It is, of course, difficult to say how much (if at all) Bendtner’s late strike influenced the club’s decision to put Brown on ‘gardening leave’. A disappointing season which sees them three points adrift in the Premier League drop-zone - rather than one specific defeat to a title contender - is the key issue. The very public incident of handbags last week between Jimmy Bullard and Nick Barmby, which was witnessed by a large group of Women’s Institute members near the Humber Bridge certainly wouldn’t have helped matters either. And it may well be that the move has been on the cards for some time, but chairman Adam Pearson has been waiting until he had a successor lined up before pulling the trigger.

A statement on the Hull City website reads as follows:

“Hull City AFC confirms that Phil Brown has been relieved of his managerial duties at the club and has been placed on gardening leave with immediate effect. Brian Horton and Steve Parkin will take charge of first-team duties until further notice.

“We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Phil for the major success achieved during a period of four seasons in charge at the club and wish him every success for the future. Promotion to the Premier League in 2008 and retention of our status on the last day of the 2009 season are unique events in the history of Hull City AFC and both were achieved under Phil's stewardship during a period which will never be forgotten by all connected with the club.

“However, retention of Premier League status is paramount and the board believes that a change in managerial direction is the correct option at this time. The club will keep supporters completely up-to-date in respect of any managerial appointment but, in the meantime, Brian Horton and Steve Parkin will prepare the team for our important game at Portsmouth next Saturday.”

Whatever the cause, the Premier League has certainly lost one of its more colourful – in so many ways – managers. This, after all, is the headset-wearing, rent-a-quote Phil Brown who grew a goatee for charity, sat his players down on the pitch at Eastlands to give them a half-time team-talk and has never been backwards in announcing opinions which have ranged from the sensible to the downright bizarre. And he has, of course, been the target of much hilarity from opposing fans who have labelled him ‘Tango Man’ and ‘Phil Orange’ for his predilection for tanning products. But now, in the words of the famous TV ad from a decade ago, he has been well and truly Tango-ed himself.

Last but by no means least, the fans at the KC Stadium will now be spared any further X Factor-style performances. Having survived relegation by the skin of their teeth after the final game last season, Brown to took to the pitch and launched into a karaoke version of the Beach Boys’ ‘Sloop John B’. Who knows what auditory delights they might have been treated to if Brown had guided them to safety again this season. Perhaps one of the following:

1. REM - Orange Crush

2. Stranglers - Always The Sun(Bed)

3. Elton John - Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

4. Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays

I’m just saying.

Formula 1’s World Cup kicks off

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:36:00 +0000

It’s not exactly the football World Cup, but but with the opening race of the 2010 season taking place in Bahrain this weekend this is as close as F1 is ever likely to get to national teams.

In the red, white and blue corner we have the British frontrunners McLaren, who can boast an all-British line-up comprising the current and previous world champions, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. For now, it is all smiles, with Button claiming:

“No, it’s all for show. It is what we have been told to do by the McLaren PR people.”

And Hamilton agrees for now, saying they are both practising for a potential future in acting. But with a car certain to be at the sharp end of the grid, how this fragile entente cordiale holds up once the racing starts will be one of the key subplots to the 2010 season. Certainly McLaren has a less than stellar history of handling intra-team conflicts going back to Senna/Prost, as Hamilton himself will testify from his rookie season alongside

Spain

’s Fernando Alonso.

In the black, red and gold corner, there is Mercedes (née Brawn), the German manufacturer responsible for bringing Michael Schumacher back to F1. Schumacher in 2010 is a mirror image of Lance Armstrong in 2009: a seven-time champion returning after a three-year absence to rejoin wheel-to-wheel battle with younger rivals. Schumacher is 41, and although Mercedes are not necessarily expected to be immediate front-runners, all eyes will be focussed on whether Schumi’s fire remains undimmed. Certainly, his new teammate Nico Rosberg who, at 24, is young enough to be Schumacher’s son, will provide a rapid benchmark.

The confrontation between McLaren and Mercedes is more than just

Britain

versus

Germany

, though. McLaren will still be running Mercedes engines, although they will now be just another customer rather than having everything designed with their car in mind. And, of course, there is the small matter of Button taking the championship he won with Brawn last year - and the right to carry the number 1 on his car – from Brackley to Woking.

And then there is

Italy

, in the shape of Ferrari. F1’s most famous and supported team endured a nightmarish 2009, winning just one race, finishing a distant fourth in the constructors’ championship and losing their lead driver, the Brazilian Felipe Massa, to a freak, near-fatal accident. However, two-time champion Alonso has now joined a recovered Massa at Maranello, and Ferrari started development on this year’s car earlier than their rivals (having effectively junked the 2009 car mid-season). Pre-season testing times have been impressive, so expect the Scuderia to put last year’s aberration behind them.

Finally, there is last year’s second-best team, the cosmopolitan melting pot that is Red Bull. Officially an Austrian team but based in Milton Keynes, with German (Sebastian Vettel) and Australian (Mark Webber) drivers and a French engine supplier (Renault), it will be intriguing to see if they can repeat last year’s breakthrough campaign. Vettel has been widely touted as the ‘new Schumacher’ – a tag he largely lived up to in 2009 with a string of spectacular drives – while Webber’s season was compromised by recovery from an off-season broken leg and a run of truly appalling bad luck.

It is hard to look beyond these four teams, although I note with interest that Adrian Sutil – another German – topped the timesheets in today’s first practice session for a Force India team who ran at the front of the pack on merit at times last year, particularly in the latter half of the season.

The cars will, of course, be crucial to the outcome of the season, but with each of the top four teams boasting two strong drivers, much will also depend on how intra-team politics resolve themselves.

Of course, it wouldn’t be F1 without there also being a large degree of change. Sunday’s opening race in

Bahrain

will feature three new teams - Hispania, Virgin and Lotus – with the former bringing the hallowed Senna name back into the sport in the form of Ayrton’s nephew Bruno Senna. And there has been the usual raft of rule changes, the two most prominent being a new points system which will see points awarded to the top ten finishers (formerly eight) with the race winner earning 25 rather than 10 points, and the return to refuelling-free racing for the first time since 1993.

This last change will have the most significant change on race strategy this year. The effect of differing fuel loads in final qualifying has been removed, meaning we will know for sure that the man on pole genuinely is the fastest on the grid. And pit stops will certainly be much faster, but no one knows whether or not the change will improve the races overall. Even Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn - the architect behind Schumacher’s decade of domination and as sharp a strategist as there is on the pitwall – isn’t quite sure.

“The refuelling ban is going to be a fascinating new challenge this season and until the racing actually gets underway, none of us really knows if it will be for better or worse. The emphasis on pit stops will be quite different and present a big challenge for the teams with just three or four seconds to make the tyre changes which increases the potential for errors.”

It is shaping up to be a great season. Although Mercedes will probably take a while to hit their full potential, it is possible to put a convincing case for any of the McLaren, Ferrari or Red Bull drivers becoming 2010 world champion. My money, though, will be going on Fernando Alonso.

So, we have an English team versus a German one, with

Italy

’s team expected to do well, and with key Spanish and Brazilian participants present. It certainly feels like the World Cup to me …

Gentlemen, start your engines.

Bendtner transforms from zero to hat-trick hero

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:52:00 +0000

Champions League round of 16: Arsenal 5 Porto 0 (6-2 aggregate)

Football, as the old saying goes, is a funny old game.

Barely 72 hours earlier, Nicklas Bendtner had missed two hat-tricks’ worth of chances in Arsenal’s nervy 3-1 win over Burnley. Tonight, facing the prospect of overturning a first-leg deficit in European competition – a feat no Arsenal side had achieved in over 30 years – Bendtner was the headline act, safely tucking away two finishes inside the first 25 minutes to steady the nerves and rounding off his night’s work with a last-minute penalty to complete his first ever hat-trick at senior level.

Bendtner’s first came after 10 minutes of one-way traffic, helping to settle the Emirates crowd’s nerves. Andrey Arshavin challenged – fairly – for a 50:50 ball with Porto goalie Helton, and the big Dane was first to the loose ball.

And again, on 25 minutes, after mesmerising footwork from Arshavin created space to slide a ball across the face of the six-yard box, Bendtner was lurking to tap in, like a proper old-fashioned centre forward.

Arshavin then scooped over from 12 yards with an open goal at his mercy - a chance which would have clinched the tie before halftime – and Arsenal then had to endure a nervy 15 minutes at the start of the second half as Porto pressed for the goal which would have forced extra time. Samir Nasri cleared off the line, then barely two minutes later set off on a mazy run through the left side of the Porto defence before finding a seemingly impossible angle between Helton and his far post. 3-0 on the night, 4-2 on aggregate, and effectively game over.

The rest was merely icing on an already sweet cake. A Porto corner, Arshavin stealing the ball on the edge of the Arsenal box, dribbling 60 yards and then threading a perfectly weighted pass for substitute Emmanuel Eboue to take around the keeper for 4-0. Then, with fans already streaming to the exits, it was Eboue again, this time upended in the box (for once, with no suggestion of the diving which has become almost synonymous with his name). Bendtner grabbed the ball, and completed his evening of personal redemption with an emphatic penalty.

One suspects the entire team had a point to prove tonight – that Arsenal, written off more times this season than a demolition derby car driven by Mr Magoo - can still be a formidable force even without their talismanic skipper Cesc Fabregas. From front to back, the men in red and white came out to play, from the rock-solid Thomas Vermaelen and Alex Song down the spine of the team, to the quicksilver surges of full backs Clichy and Sagna and the darting, intelligent movement of Arshavin, Nasri, Rosicky and Eboue, this was a night when Arsenal unveiled all Arsene Wenger’s beloved purist principles.

And the brightest of them all was Bendtner who, despite his implausibly bad day at the office, had been cheered off the pitch on Saturday. I remember remarking at the time that it was one of those games that even the very best strikers can have, that Bendtner at least possesses (in spades) the self-confidence that all top players need to have, and that he would still score some important goals down the stretch in both domestic and European competitions. Mind you, I wasn’t expecting the payback to be this big this soon!

The jury is still out on just how good Bendtner is, and how good he will ever be. It is easy to forget that he is still only 22. At that age Thierry Henry was still widely considered to be a failed winger at Juventus, while Didier Drogba was losing his place in Le Mans’ starting line-up to Daniel Cousin (who popped up most recently at Hull City and is currently on loan at Greek side Larissa). Now I’m not suggesting Bendtner will ever be in the same class as the above two players – he is still some considerable distance from even being the best striker currently at Arsenal – but he might yet become a very fine player. Only time will tell. Yes, he will have stinkers like Saturday, but he is also capable of scoring fine goals with both his head (the equaliser against Stoke ten days ago and his first league goal against Tottenham in December 2007 spring readily to mind) and his feet (the rasping 20-yard drive at the end of the 6-2 rout of Blackburn earlier this season).

After all, it was only a couple of years ago that most Arsenal fans – myself included – were wondering who this young but hopeless central midfielder Alex Song was, yet he has been arguably Arsenal’s most influential – certainly most improved – player this season after Fabregas.

Anyhow, Bendtner has repaid the faith shown to him by Arsenal fans on Saturday, in spades. We’ll be hoping it’s the beginning of great things. And in this topsy-turvy season, who knows what the final chapter will look like?

Tricky challenges await Arsenal in the quarter final (and potentially beyond): Barcelona and Real Madrid, both on record-setting pace in La Liga; possibly Chelsea and Manchester United, who have both done the Premier League double over the Gunners. But such concerns are for tomorrow; tonight, Arsenal – and Nicklas Bendtner - rule the roost.