The Class of Danny Welbeck

Danny Welbeck.

Galatasary.

6 chances.

3 goals.

Man of the match.

Danny Welbeck.

Chelsea.

0 chances.

0 goals.

Non existent in the match.

The two sides of Danny Welbeck beautifully illustrated in the space of 4 days.

From the moment Danny joined Arsenal we have seen his career perform like a heart monitor.

Shot up after his two goal salvo for England against Switzerland.

Straight back down for his debut miss at Manchester City.

A hat trick in the Champions League.

Then absolutely nothing during the game with Chelsea.

Never more beautifully did he illustrate how he is such a class player - just not a world class player.

Danny can produce brilliantly like against Galatasary on Wednesday when he became only the sixth Englishman to score a Champions League hat-trick.

Then get completely nullified four days later on Sunday when he played against a top quality side.

Just like last month when he scored against last season’s fifteenth placed Aston Villa.

And was then completely shut-out when he played the champions Manchester City.

A lot has been said of one of the most surprising deals of transfer deadline day in recent weeks.

Mainly from Arsenal fans.

Who reacted on twitter with many feelings - bewilderment included.

Their team had just spent £16m on a player who often attracted derision from fans outside of the Old Trafford.

Derision from fans inside at times too.

They needed a striker, badly.

With Arsene Wenger off refereeing a charity match in Rome, the Gunners faithful feared the worse with just hours to go before the window closed.

No mention of a striker for weeks until suddenly Danny Welbeck’s name cropped up.

He was a striker alright.

Just not a very good one.

Or at least that’s what they had thought.

His record suggested he wasn’t what their team needed.

Games for Manchester United - 142.

Goals for Manchester United - 29.

Hardly figures to set even the most optimistic of supporter’s imagination alight.

The reaction of Manchester United’s fans suggested otherwise.

Respected pundits such as Gary Neville questioned the sale.

Paul Scholes, Dwight Yorke, David Beckham too.

Even Mike Phelan, Sir Alex Ferguson’s right hand man came out against the decision of Louis Van Gaal.

A decision make entirely by Louis Van Gaal.

For Louis Van Gaal.

And for Manchester United.

Louis has come in to this massive club and now needs to stamp his authority.

He will have looked at the reactions of said former players and known every one of them came from the Sir Alex Ferguson school of thought.

And under the great Scotsman, Danny would not have been sold.

At least not yet.

But life is different now and Louis is not cut from the same cloth.

He has no sentimentality towards players who came through the ranks at the club having been there since the age of 10.

He is a lot more black and white than that.

He will have seen the stat of 29 goals in 142 games.

The problem for Danny is he will have looked at the stat of 155 goals in 200 games as well.

Radamel Falcao’s return since he came to Europe is astonishing.

He hasn’t stopped scoring since he arrived on the continent.

Lighting up the teams of Porto, Atletico Madrid and Monaco.

Costing the French side £51m last summer.

A return of 35 goals in his 41 games in European competition.

His two seasons in Europe’s best league saw a return of 24 and 28 league goals.

36 and 34 overall.

In every season he played in Europe bar the one season not finished due to his cruciate ligament injury, he has scored more goals than Danny has scored in his 6 years at Manchester United in total.

Every season.

34, 38, 36, 34.

Compared to an overall of 29.

Danny is just not in the same league.

Not even close.

Excuses can be made of how Danny has been forced to play out wide in far too many games before.

He has craved this central role that he will get at Arsenal.

But Falcao wasn’t played out wide to accommodate Diego Costa at Atletico Madrid.

The same Diego Costa who would go on to score 36 goals the following season.

That’s not what managers do with world class players.

They do that with players like Danny Welbeck.

They even sell players like Danny for sums as paltry as £16m.

A great price for Arsenal to pay.

A price that got them a great striker.

Just not one as good as Falcao...

Forget Manchester City and Chelsea - Manchester United are back.

Manchester United are back.

And back big time.

Not that they were really ever gone mind.

It’s just now the fears of them actually going away have been extinguished.

For anyone who ever had any doubt - Louis Van Gaal gave them one hundred and fifty four million reasons this summer.

Each single reason a pound.

A single currency that appears to be Manchester United’s new way of thinking.

Although very much their old one when you give it a moment’s thought.

A lot has been said about how United have become the new Manchester City.

Or the new Chelsea.

Even the new Real Madrid with the phrase ‘The Galáticos’ being replaced with ‘The Gaaláticos’.

Truth is, they were always that.

They just hadn’t flexed this muscle as often in the previous few seasons.

There were clubs who spent more than United during Sir Alex Ferguson’s tenure, sure.

But United were invariably coming from a healthy position of talent.

When they had to spend big to address any discrepancies they may have had - they did.

Sir Alex Ferguson broke the British transfer record five times alone.

Five times.

The only reason it’s not six is because Robinho signed the same night as Dimitar Berbatov.

The Brazilian forward becoming the first major signing to symbolise Manchester City’s ‘buying success’ period.

He cost a mere £1.75 million more than what their city rivals had just paid.

The following summers saw an increase in City’s spending but only because they were starting from a distance back.

They needed to play catch-up first to obtain success before they could try sustain it.

A much more expensive game.

A game of heavy spending that inflation has a habit of distorting.

But just as Chelsea or Manchester City needed to do so of late - United needed to play catch up on Arsenal in the summer of 1998.

It was a huge summer.

A £27 million size summer.

Dwight Yorke, Jaap Stam, Jasper Blomqvist all bought in.

Almost triple the amount spent by their nearest rivals.

An historic treble followed.

A treble funded by the largest outlay any English club had green lighted before.

Manchester City have been the most recent club accused of buying success.

But it’s been a long time since a team hasn’t.

The last of the non ‘big’ teams to win the league was Blackburn Rovers.

Bankrolled by the treasure chest of Jack Walker, they paid huge sums for various players at the time.

The British transfer record was broke to bring Alan Shearer to Ewood Park before they won the title.

Job done.

There’s even teams in the Premier League who have spent massive amounts to ‘buy success’ yet just haven’t achieved the desired results that go with this expression of intended derision.

Liverpool have spent more than Manchester United in the Premier League era.

Tottenham Hotspur have spent more than Arsenal.

The only difference between what they did and Manchester City or Chelsea did is the amount spent in the first few seasons of this ‘new’ money.

Playing catch-up meant they had to spend big to jump up to a level playing field with the established clubs.

But just as this season sees Manchester City spending only £50 million compared to their previous larger amounts - a plateau invariably occurs.

Resulting in spending now that equates little difference to the regular spends of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Tottenham of certain periods in the last 22 years.

£154 million was a huge outlay.

And one suspects there will be more money spent come January and next summer.

But it’s no different to breaking the British transfer record to bring Juan Sebastien Veron to the club for £28.1 million in 2001.

Nor is it any different to breaking the world transfer record for a defender when they brought in Rio Ferdinand for £29.1 million in 2002.

Roy Keane, Andy Cole, Ruud Van Nistelrooy the same.

All 5 times Sir Alex Ferguson broke the British transfer record was an example of a big club buying success.

It’s been that way for a long, long time.

Manchester United haven’t become the new Chelsea.

Haven’t become the new Manchester City either.

And they certainly haven’t sold their soul.

They’re just back to their traditional Manchester United selves.

The original big spenders of the Premier League.

Intent on buying success again...

Does England Have The Premier League?

The hyperbole machine is in full flow this month.

We’ve been told the best league in the world has returned.

We’ve been told the most entertaining league in the world has returned.

We’ve been told the most competitive league in the world has returned.

Problem is - We’re just not sure if it’s returned to England.

The Premier League hyperbole machine will tell us it has of course.

They’ll tell us just about anything about how eminent the league is.

But it continuously fails to mention the most pertinent description it can offer - the best branded league in the world.

The Premier League has an awful lot going for it.

Most fans.

Most watched.

Most money.

Off the pitch it’s unbeatable.

It’s on the pitch the problems lie.

Season after season the best the Premier League has to offer seems to be off to La Liga.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the first major talent to leave in recent seasons.

Manchester United’s main man.

He was followed by Cesc Fabrages.

Arsenal’s main man.

Gareth Bale then picked up both player of the year awards.

Then promptly picked up and left.

The trend continued this summer when multiple player of the year award winner Luis Suarez landed in Barcelona.

Yet when we look at the reverse transfer dealings, it’s not the top players or star men of Spanish clubs that head for the shores of England.

As usual, Diego Costa aside, it was another summer of England’s finest picking off what Spain’s finest decided to cast off.

Barcelona decided Cesc Fabregas was surplus to requirements after they signed Suarez.

Alexis Sanchez too.

Much like when Bale arrived last summer and Mesut Ozil was allowed to leave, this year it was the turn of Angel DiMaria who was free to go.

Available for transfer only after Real Madrid had sufficiently bolstered their squad with the best there was to offer.

When it comes to individual awards, the English league’s top players rarely feature either.

Since 2010, only Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic have made the FIFPro team of the year.

Not that the Germans or Italians have featured prominently either.

It’s the Spanish who have dominated completely.

Of the 44 players chosen since the turn of the decade, 34 have come from the Spanish league.

32 players more than the ‘best league in the world’.

Of course, It’s not just the players who make the league.

The teams are primary.

And right now it’s hard to look past the elite of the Spanish and German leagues.

An all Spanish affair in the final of the Champions League last season.

An all German affair the season before.

In fact, if it wasn’t for Chelsea flying the flag for the Premier League, it would be pretty poor reading in the Champions League over the past three seasons.

Manchester City have gone out in the group stages twice and the last 16 once.

Manchester United have gone out in the group stages, the last 16 and the quarter finals.

While Arsenal have not made it past the last 16 any of the seasons.

Even Chelsea, with their triumph 3 seasons ago have exited the competition at the group stage too.

Hardly statistics to back up the title of best league in the world.

Hyperbole will argue that the Premier League is more competitive of course.

It’s only the big two in Spain and the big one in Germany.

A quick look back over the last 10 years reveal otherwise.

All three countries have had a dominant club in the league - Manchester United (5 times winners), Barcelona (6), Bayern Munich (6).

Followed by a secondary team - Chelsea (3), Real Madrid (3), Borussia Dortmund (2).

And some less successful clubs - Manchester City (2), Atletico Madrid (1), Wolfsburg (1) and Schalke (1).

Tough to argue it’s more competitive when only 3 teams have won the league in the last 1o years - the same as it’s La Liga counterparts and 1 less then the Bundesliga.

The battle for the Champions League places, or top four, is even less compelling reading.

Only 7 teams have qualified from England in the last 10 years.

The supposedly less competitive nation of Germany has had 9 qualifiers.

The supposedly even less competitive Spanish league has had 12.

Examining the top 4 of each league last season pours further cold water on the argument of competitiveness.

The top 4 in the Premier League dropped a combined total of 125 points last season.

Only 3 points more than the combined total of the top 4 in both Spain and Germany - equal on 122.

Hardly convincing evidence that the other leagues are dominated by just the elite.

A look further down the league tables suggests the strength lies in the other two leagues as well.

In the last 3 seasons 5 teams from Spain have made the semi-finals of the Europa League, winning it twice.

Just the 1 English representative here - Chelsea again.

In the week that Hull City crashed out before the group stages even begun, it was another reminder of what little success English clubs have had of late compared to their Spanish counterparts.

It’s not all grim reading of course.

The likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal are still up there with the best in the world.

Likewise players such as Angel DiMaria, Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez.

Even the clubs that have competed in the Europa League from England are good clubs who have had success in the past.

All pointing to England’s elite competition being one of the best in the world.

But that’s not being questioned.

The English League is no doubt up there with the best in the world.

It may be that it’s just not the premier league...

Mourinho could manage Manchester United’s expectations

Nigel Adkins was relieved of his managerial duties last week following a noteworthy tenure.

Southampton had just completed back-to-back promotions and at the first time of asking, have given themselves a real chance of staying up as they reached the midway point of the Premier League.

Give this option to any Southampton supporter two seasons ago and they would have snapped your hand off.

He didn’t need years to lay foundations and build from the ground up.

He didn’t have substantial backing.

He didn’t even have much time.

Yet Nigel could not have achieved much more.

Not so long ago, Tottenham Hotspur were struggling in the relegation zone when they moved for Harry Redknapp.

In four seasons at the club, Harry finished 4th, 5th, 4th and even managed to take the club to the quarter finals of the Champions League.

No lengthy regime.

No extensive rebuilding project.

No complaint from Spurs fans.

As for David Moyes, he is highly regarded for his achievements at Everton.

Ten seasons of stability is all he has really achieved though.

Despite being in the Premier League for his entire reign, selling numerous players for vast sums, David has never won a major honour for them.

This during a period where clubs like Blackburn, Portsmouth, Birmingham and even Middlesborough have won silverware of some sort.

All of whom have had various candidates at their helm.

Then there’s Jose Mourinho.

It’s been nine seasons since Roman Abramovich took over at Chelsea.

In that time, Roman has hired or fired nine different managers.

His first appointment was Jose.

While his treatment of a selection of these managers, namely the special one, has sparked vociferous debate in the stands - his methods have proved massively successful.

Chelsea hadn’t won the league in fifty years.

The only time they’d won it.

Three times they’ve won it under Roman now.

Last season they went one better.

Adding their first ever Champions League to the trophy cabinet.

In fact, they’ve qualified for the tournament every season Roman has overseen proceedings.

Coupled with four FA cups, two league cups and on numerous occasions reached the final four of Europe’s elite competition.

Jose was responsible for five of those major honours.

Not a bad period at all.

And no comparison with their former rivals Arsenal - the epitome of stability in the modern era.

Arsene Wenger has governed every single aspect of Arsenal football club for sixteen straight seasons now.

He has full control in decisions made yet hasn’t managed a major honour in his previous eight campaigns.

No contest when it comes to finance.

And no contest when it comes to success.

The idea that a manager must embody longevity is a distinctly British one - throughout the major European leagues anyway.

Since Sir Alex took over at Old Trafford, Bayern Munich have had twenty managers.

Ajax Amsterdam eighteen.

FC Porto the same.

All clubs dominating their domestic leagues as well as conquering Europe throughout this period.

A similar picture in Italy too.

Juventus fourteen.

AC Milan sixteen.

Internazionale as much as twenty seven.

All hugely successful in Serie ‘A’.

All winners of the Champions League during Fergie time.

Then comes the biggest club of all.

Real Madrid.

Jose Mourinho’s home right now.

The Spanish giants have had twenty five managers since Sir Alex took up his reigns.

Won eleven La Liga titles.

Three Champions Leagues.

Plus numerous World Club Cups, European Super Cups and Copa Del Reys.

Never one to have a problem with moving on a manager at seasons end - no matter how successful.

Fabio Capello won the league yet didn’t do it stylishly enough.

Jupp Heynckes won the Champions League in his only season in charge.

Vicente Del Bosque won two and it still wasn’t enough for him to retain his job.

Yet despite all this, Real Madrid remain the most successful club in the world.

Even more remarkable is that by the end of this season, Jose should be their third longest serving manager in their one hundred and ten year history.

He has had two and a half campaigns so far.

Brought in to end Josep Guardiola’s Barcelona dominance - labelled the greatest club side of all time.

It took Jose just one season before he started to overturn the Catalan giants.

No better manager in the world to undertake such a massive challenge.

And it will be a similar challenge that faces the next Manchester United manager - taking over from a man who has been in charge for almost thirty years.

How to find the next Alex Ferguson is the question people keep asking.

Not a job that Jose seems made for.

But what they should really be asking - is who will manage Manchester United next?

And expect Jose to be able to manage that...

The Marginal Victory that is Winning The Champions League

Roman took over Chelsea in the summer of 2003.

Transforming a modest team into one of the top sides in the world.

Traditionalists will cite that what took place over the course of the next nine years was a club buying their success.

Realists will know that this is how football works these days.

Chelsea are no different to Blackburn, Liverpool, Manchester City or Manchester United.

Arsenal would have seen the same success but spent their money on a stadium instead of players.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are funded by Spanish banks and the Government.

And money has dictated the Italian championship a lot longer than it’s European counterparts.

Yet even those who have spent big have still only managed limited success in Europe’s top competition.

No team has ever retained the competition.

No team has ever dominated it.

Sir Alex Ferguson has had 17 attempts at winning the competition yet has only yielded 2 titles.

By his own accord that has not been good enough - but he is still the most successful manager in the competitions history.

Arsene Wenger has had 14 attempts with just 1 runner-ups spot.

Roman has tried and failed with the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, Luis Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink, Avram Grant, even Jose Mourinho.

Nothing.

We have witnessed one of the greatest sides to ever come out of England continuously miss out on Champions League glory.

And by the smallest of margins.

John’s slip in the final.

Luis’ goal that never crossed the line.

Eidur’s miss in the last minute.

The penalties at Anfield.

Barcelona-gate.

This squad, more than most, have proved what little margins there are between coming first - or coming last.

For to win the Champions League - everything must go your way.

Everything over the course of the season.

Liverpool were 4 minutes away from elimination in the group stage in 2005.

Not to mention what happened in Istanbul.

Manchester United were losing 1-0 in injury time in 1999.

The same club of course, who benefitted from John’s slip.

And then we had Chelsea in 2012.

How many times had they looked dead and buried in this seasons competition?

Napoli defeating them 3-1 in the first leg.

Then scoring an away goal at the Bridge.

Losing both centre backs in Camp Nou.

Barcelona going 2-0 up.

Lionel stepping up to take a penalty to give Barcelona the lead.

Their opponents in the final playing with home advantage.

Bayern scoring in the 84th minute of the final.

Arjen looked to seal it from 12 yards in extra time.

Juan missing his kick.

Before finally Bastian tipped the competition in Chelsea’s favour.

They were down and out on so many occasions yet they would not die.

Neutrals may not like some of these Chelsea players but they have to have been impressed with their mentality.

They have earned the respect of everyone who really knows about this sport.

Their ‘not knowing when to quit’ attitude was exceptional.

Desire unquestionable.

Every time they looked out, they somehow found something extra special to keep them in the fight.

This is what makes great teams great.

What made Chelsea great.

And Chelsea have been exactly that this century.

It’s just now, they’ve finally got what they deserve - a marginal victory...

Spain are not yet leagues ahead of England

A lot has been said about Athletic Bilbao’s extremely impressive win over Manchester United last week.

Defeating the current English champions both home and away led to a comprehensive score line and a place in the quarter finals.

A lesson in football and incontrovertible proof that the Spanish league is superior to the English Premier - I’m afraid not.

Firstly, it was one tie.

Not 5 seasons of dominance.

Secondly, you have to question the motives of Sir Alex Ferguson and look at the benefits of getting knocked out.

The Europa League is a great competition for the likes of Shamrock Rovers, Stoke City and Athletic Bilbao.

But it quite simply isn’t entertained by clubs the size of Manchester United, Manchester City or Tottenham Hotspur.

Especially when they are going for the league.

They all want to be sitting at the top table with Europe’s finest and if they fail to do so, see very little point in taking part in European competition.

So while Athletic did so comprehensively defeat United, you can’t help but think that Sir Alex was more concerned with his weekend trip to face Wolves.

This season has been a strange one for English clubs.

So dominant for much of the previous 5 years, they now find themselves with only 1 team remaining in the Champions League quarter finals.

Chelsea are the only side performing to a similar level that we have come to expect.

Manchester United took a calculated risk in trying to qualify from a relatively easy group.

Unfortunately for them, they got their calculations wrong.

It doesn’t make them a bad team overnight.

They took a risk and it backfired.

Had they scraped through against Basle however, they would surely be vying for what would have been their 4th final in 5 years.

Manchester City had the misfortune of being drawn in the group of death.

Roberto Mancini’s expensively assembled side is still on a building process and will no doubt be serious contenders for next seasons crown having tasted some Champions League action for the first time.

It’s worth noting however that it was Spanish side Villarreal who finished bottom of that group with 0 points.

Arsenal’s campaign finished with a thumping at the hands of AC Milan in the last 16.

They however, similar to another one of England’s Champions League stalwarts Liverpool, are undergoing a rebuilding process.

A process that the English league seems to be going through too.

This seasons results have not seen the shift in power to Spain.

But rather England’s dominance suffering a blip.

Next season should see the return of Tottenham Hotspur - a team on the up.

The two Manchester clubs will see themselves as major contenders.

And one of either Chelsea or Arsenal, who have both come through a tough season looking that bit stronger will no doubt be looking to reach the quarters at least.

Which league is stronger will not be answered by one victory by Athletic Bilbao.

But it did raise some interesting questions.

English teams, so dominant for 5 seasons now - have had a major blip.

Repeating this next season will cause much concern.

Maybe then the Spanish league will be able to stake their claim as the best in the world.

But for now - they must make do with the best side in the world.

Leagues ahead of everybody else in Europe.

Just not in the best league...

Robin 'The Man' Persie?

Robin Van Persie is going through a terrific run of form right now.

It’s lasted about a year.

And he looks like he’s finally fulfilling his obvious potential.

I just wonder whether Robin would be getting as many plaudits if he were playing for a better team?

Since Arsenal have started upon their downward spiral, any competition Robin may have had up front has dissipated.

He is the main man.

Largely due to his form in front of goal.

But you cannot ignore the fact the he has no other competition for places up front.

No player that Arsene Wenger can trust anyway.

This gives Robin centre stage every game.

Marouane Chamakh, Chu-Young Park, and Gervinho have made up the rest of Arsenal’s attack all season.

They have 5 goals between them.

In the past, Robin was part of an Arsenal attack that included players such as Emmanuel Adebayor, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp.

Arsene could afford to rely on players of the same class as Robin and the responsibilities were shared.

But right now, not only does Robin start every game, he is also their main penalty kick taker.

Their main free-kick taker.

And every attack gets played through him.

Rarely does he find himself out wide with the ball trying to create opportunities for others.

His job is to stay central and convert the opportunities created for him.

A job he is doing extremely well.

But if we are to judge Robin as one of the worlds best, and ask if he is the best, then he needs to play on a bigger stage.

It’s one thing being the main man at club who currently lye in seventh place in the Premier League as we enter the home straight.

It’s another being one of the main men at a club challenging for the league.

Wayne Rooney gets ‘dropped’ for two games against weaker opposition over Christmas and Dimitar Berbatov scores 5 goals.

Edin Dzeko scores 4 goals against Tottenham and gets ‘dropped’ for the next game.

Man City can even afford to loan Emmanuel Adebayor out to a main rival, drop Carlos Tevez indefinitely and still have three strikers in the same calibre as Robin.

If any of these players were given the same focus by their teams as Robin is, they would surely be on the same goal tally.

Didier Drogba was the main man at Chelsea yet two of the last three seasons has finished behind Nicolas Anelka in the scoring charts.

Not because Nicolas was the better player, but Didier was ‘dropped’ against the weaker teams, where goals are plentiful, and saved for the big games.

Fernando Torres looked like one of the worlds top attackers when at Liverpool.

The team was based around him.

David Ngog was his only competition for places.

Yet now at Chelsea, they have too many good attackers to play everything through the now hapless looking Spaniard.

No longer the main man.

No longer considered amongst the world’s best.

Which is exactly where Robin finds himself now.

A world class attacker.

One of the best around.

But if he is to be mentioned in the top three instead of just the top ten, he’ll need Arsene to take Arsenal back to where they were.

Or maybe look for a brighter stage...

The Villans have a new Hero

Robbie Keane returned to the Premier League with great impact this weekend.

Two goals against Wolverhampton Wanderers showing he has lost none of his quality since making the move to Major League Soccer last summer.

In only his first start for his new club, Robbie managed to score both the equaliser and the subsequent winner, with two strikes of the highest order from outside the box.

In a team struggling since Alex McLeish took over, Robbie might just well be the difference between an Aston Villa relegation battle and an Aston Villa push for Europe.

For a team that have found goals hard to come by this season, the signing of Robbie couldn’t have come at a better time.

Lose to Wolves on Saturday and they remain in the bottom six, dangerously close to the relegation zone.

Win at Molineux and suddenly the Villans lie just outside the top half on goal difference.

A shrewd piece of business by Alex to supplement his strikeforce of Darren Bent, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey with the type of quality vision that Robbie possesses.

The only thing that surprised me about the transfer was that one of the bigger teams didn’t come in for him.

A team like Liverpool, Newcastle or higher, might have been a better move for the Republic of Ireland captain.

With Luis Suarez suspended for 8 games, Robbie could potentially have been an astute short term solution for Kenny Dalglish.

While not having a very successful period under Rafa Benitez, his time spent there would have made it all the easier to settle in fast, knowing he would only have two months to make an impact.

With their season starting to derail over the last six games or so, Robbie might have been the man to reignite their push for a Champions League place by filling the void left by Luis.

Newcastle of course have just lost their seasons star man - Demba Ba.

15 goals in the league already, he will be sorely missed for the next month.

The addition of Robbie to fill this void for the next few games would surely have helped Alan Pardew retain their push for that last lucrative Champions League spot.

With just his wages to consider, a loan deal for either of these clubs would represent good value for money.

Robbie, of course, is not the only senior player making a return to the Premier League during this transfer window.

Arsenal have taken a chance on bringing back Thierry Henry in a bid to help his team secure fourth place.

Everton as well, have taken back Landon Donovan, having previously enjoyed a loan spell on Merseyside.
 

Manchester United have resigned Paul Scholes, having just retired last summer.

While some seem riskier than others, particularly with Thierry and Paul’s age, Robbie looks the best business of all.

Sir Alex Ferguson has opted to treat the problem of Paul’s absence from the game as the equivalent to him having an injury over the last few months.

Arsene Wenger does not seem too worried about Thierry’s game not having that devastating pace anymore, instead hoping his presence in the dressing room can have the desired effect.

Whereas Robbie has no such concerns at the age of 31.

He has been playing regularly since he departed England at the end of last season.

Not to mention captaining the Republic of Ireland to qualification for the European Championships.

Bringing in experienced campaigners during the January transfer window has proved quite popular in the Premier League.

In particular this season.

Each manager hoping these players will give their side a timely boost going into the business end of the season.

While Thierry, Landon and Paul all returned to clubs for second spells, it was the fact that Robbie didn’t return to one of his that proved the most surprising.

What may prove to be Liverpool’s loss, or indeed any of the sides fighting for European places - is most definitely Alex’s gain.

The Villans have gotten themselves a new hero, if only for a short time.

But as Robbie has shown already - he only needs a few games to make all the difference...

Do fans really want success or are they just happy to be entertained?

For me, the sport I love has always been about winning.

Whether it’s Ireland in a World Cup or a kick about in the park, winning was all that mattered.

Even if we didn’t play well - winning made the sport entertaining.

I always felt that while the match may not have been an entertaining spectacle, it felt great to play so bad and still win.

Qualification for the European Championships this month was a massive success.

All the hard work, combined with this perceived lack of entertainment, surmounted to winning qualification to a major tournament for the first time in ten years.

The criticism of Giovanni Trapattoni’s reign over the Irish team should have grinded to a halt after his victory over Estonia.

Instead, critics have now turned their attention to telling the public how bad Ireland are going to do at the Championships next summer.

Even if Ireland were to lose every game 5-0, the campaign would still go down as the furthest Ireland have gone in 10 years.

The furthest in the European Championships in 22 years.

Yet now some journalists are saying we will be found out by the likes of Spain, Germany and Holland when we get there.

Found out?

As in the best three teams in the world will prove that they are better than a team made up from the bottom half of the Premier League?

Surely success came in the qualification and anything beyond is even more of a bonus for this Irish team?

Yet a large portion of Irish supporters want Giovanni out.

Sick of the style of football, no matter how successful.

Compare this to the situation at Arsenal right now.

Arsene Wenger, one of the greatest managers in the world, has led his team to play some of the best football the Premier League has ever seen.

Yet he is nowhere near as successful as Giovanni.

Arsene will hope to some day be mentioned in the same breath as Giovanni when it comes to the amount of major honours he’s won.

But right now, he is not even close to adding to his tally.

He is currently overseeing his seventh season since he won a trophy.

But by playing such entertaining football during this barren spell, he was able to keep the terraces happy.

Gordon Strachan and Martin O’Neill is another interesting example at Celtic.

Gordon had the better record as manager.

Yet the supporters never really took to him despite twice taking the Glasgow team to the last 16 of the Champions League and winning the same number of league titles as Martin but in fewer seasons.

Gordon didn’t have nearly as much money as Martin and was forced to work with a weaker squad.

Yet most Celtic supporters will tell you they’d prefer to see Martin back in the hot seat.

Martin and his entertaining ways.

Finally, you have the situation at Chelsea.

There’s no chance Arsene would have been allowed 6 seasons in charge of Chelsea with such a lack of success.

Giovanni would no doubt have had success at the helm but the feeling is that Roman Abramovich demands entertainment and success.

And even when they had that in the shape of Jose Mourinho or Carlo Ancelotti, it only lasted as long as the success was there.

Hefty prices have been paid in trying to obtain both.

And he still can’t win the Champions League no matter how much money he spends.

The aim in football has always been to have an entertaining and successful side.

This is not always possible with the resources some sides have.

Especially in the international arena.

Roman has the right idea about this.

And the resources.

He is just living proof of how hard it is to have both.
 

At the end of the day though - Roman shares the same belief as myself.

Football is all about winning.

Yet some supporters of this beautiful game, just don’t find joy in being successful...

Watch out Barcelona. Manchester City are coming...

For exactly 100 games now, Manchester City have been going about things the right way.

The constant criticisms of negative defensive football are steadily dissipating.

For the last season and a half, Roberto Mancini has spent his time building from the back, focusing on defensive duties first.

Teaching his ‘team’ how to play as a team.

Slowly but surely he has started to let his team off their leash.

And on Sunday - they exploded.

Against the second best team in the world - Manchester United.

Who’ve reached 3 of the last 4 Champions League finals.

Won 4 of the last 5 Premier League titles.

Yet Manchester City managed to beat them 6-1 in their own backyard.

The 6 goals were not actually the impressive part.

In reality, they were 3-1 up against ten men in the 90th minute.

It was the fact that United had dropped only 2 points at home in the whole of last season.

And suddenly City had taken 3 points off them.

By starting to produce some of the best football seen in the Premier League since it began.

City are on course to overtake Arsenal as the critics favourite footballing side.

For years now Critics have labelled the talented North London side as the best in England.

But while Arsenal were thrilling us with their attacking flair, United and Chelsea were busy lifting trophies.

Beautiful on the eye yet ultimately no substance.

However, Man City are not trying to emulate Arsenal.

They’re aiming much higher than that.

Roberto is building a team full of style and substance.

A team that has just managed to topple the Champions in their own back yard after all.

And when you beat the second best team in the world - there’s only one team you can go after.

Barcelona.

A team they are fast becoming like, but - whisper it - more attacking.

The City formation may well go on to become as synonymous as the Ajax formation the way things are building.

The Barcelona way is to have 4 defensive players, 3 link players and 3 attackers.

City have gone with 4 attackers.

The 4 defenders defend, get the ball to the 2 link players in midfield and in turn they just look for an attacker.

Any attacker.

They all play the same.

Silva, Balotelli, Aguero, Tevez, Dzeko, Nasri, Milner, Johnson.

All can play anywhere across the front four.

All do.

Barcelona use 3 attackers that can play anywhere - Messi, Pedro and Villa.

Roberto has gone with 1 more.

Neutrals should be licking their lips all over the world.

Here is a team, with ambitions of being the best in the world, going about this ambition in the right way.

Humility at management level.

Great handling of a parasite like Tevez.

Even the fans - so long telling us they are the real fans in Manchester - have invented their own unique celebration.

They’re loving every minute of it.

So should we.

And now they are going after Barcelona.

With 1 more attacker in hand.

So good luck City.

We’re all behind you.

Except for Barcelona...