Manchester Ambitions Reined In

December review

Champions League

The group stage has seen shock exits for Man U & Man City. When United were at their peak, teams from the smaller European leagues like Benfica & Basle would have been swept aside by a comfortable margin at Old Trafford. This season, two home draws against those teams cost them. Man City had a much tougher group, & couldn’t get the better of Bayern & Napoli.
Pundits like Keane & Southgate, in a snap reaction after Man U’s exit, talked of a team in transition. I thought it was premature at the time, & so it’s proved, with them now level on points with City at the top of the Prem. It looks like the title race will go all the way, so far United are coping with the injuries to the likes of Vidic & Jones. However, to go from UCL runners-up to a group stage exit in a year, is still a disaster for them.
Meanwhile, Barcelona have underlined their status as favourites again, with a crushing 4-0 win over Santos in the World Club Cup as well as beating Real 3-1 at the Bernabeu in La Liga.

The draw for the Europa League will have given further ammunition to the conspiracy theorists who believe Platini has an anti-English basis. The draws for Man U & City of Ajax & Porto respectively, are the toughest possible ties.

One of the greats of Braziilan football died last month. Socrates played in two world cups; & the 1982 side of Zico, Falcao, Junior, Eder, is widely thought of as one of the best teams not to have the won the World Cup.

Perfomance of the Year

Novak Djokovic. He went on a 41 match win streak this year, & won three of the four Slams, as well as a setting a new record of five Masters titles in a season. Although his season tailed off slightly with a back injury taking its toll (two retirements) & he finished with a 70-6 win loss record, it was still a standout performance.
Honourable mentions for Cadel Evans, Mark Cavendish, the All Blacks & the England cricket team.

Youth vs Experience

November review

UEFA Euro 2012

Talk about the commentators' curse. In my October blog I'd been praising Spain to the rafters, but an experimental England XI beat them 1-0. In this & the Sweden game we saw the promise of youngsters like Rodwell & Jones. We've been here before of course, it's one thing having good results in friendlies & qualifying, but can they deliver at the business end of a major tournament ? The first game against France will be crucial. If England win the group they would avoid Spain (assuming the Spaniards win their group) in the quarters. I think the semis is the best England can hope for.

ATP World Tour Finals

Roger Federer won the ATP Masters for a record sixth time. I think the shorter format (best of 3 sets) suited him. At the Slams, with the best of 5 set matches, I think fatigue can be a issue and the younger guys will still prevent him from winning a 17th major. Both Tsonga & Djokovic beat him this year from 2 sets down, something that Roger had suffered only once before, in Davis Cup (2003) to Hewitt.

Frazier & Lyle

Last month saw the passing of two great heavies, Joe Frazier & Ron Lyle. They fought in the golden age of the heavyweight division, the 1970's, an era packed with quality: Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Larry Holmes, Earnie Shavers, Jerry Quarry, Lyle. This is in stark contrast to the current situation where Eastern European fighters dominate. Sadly there is no statue of Frazier in his native city of Philadelphia despite his achievements-only one of Rocky Balboa.

Performance of the Month

Federer for winning at the O2, his 70th career tournament title.