It Was a Very Good Year

Year in Review

2012 was a brilliant year for British sport with Wiggo winning Le Tour, Team GB’s sensational performance in the Olympics & Chelsea upsetting the odds to win the Champions League.

Bolt & Phelps underlined their legendary status with standout performances in the summer. Rudisha’s 800 metre win was even better.

In football, Spain showed they’re still a class above the rest, winning Euro 2012 with style. Aguero’s injury time winner for Man City capped the most exciting finish to a top flight title race since 1989. Leo Messi broke Gerd Muller’s record for goals in a calendar year, with an astonishing 91, helping Barcelona to a nine point lead in La Liga.

Europe pulled off one of the great comebacks in the Ryder Cup.

It was another vintage year in tennis.  The marathon Aussie Open final, record-breaking  wins for Nadal at the French & Federer at Wimbledon. Murray breaking his grand slam duck & the winning the Olympic title. Serena, when fit & focused, proved to be a class apart from the rest, but it seems Azarenka may be getting closer.

Alistair Cook scored 562 runs & broke the English record for most Test centuries, captaining the side to a rare Test series win in India. He will surely break many more batting records.

Uefa Champions League round of 16

A tough draw for the Britsih clubs. Both Man U & Celtic are favoured to go out by the bookies. (Arsenal’s chances are rated 50-50) Madrid v United should be closer than the odds suggest, but I think all the British sides will go out.

Performance of the Month

England’s great upset win over the All Blacks, ending their 20 match unbeaten streak.

Honourable mention: Juan Manuel Marquez getting his revenge for being on the wrong side of some questionable points decisions with a brutal one-punch knockout of Manny Pacquiao.

Comeback Kings

Only a handful of boxers have been able to make successful comebacks in their thirties: Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson etc. Bernard Hopkins is another of that rare breed able to compete successfully at elite level outside the heavyweight division (the heavies can make up for diminished reflexes with punching power-Foreman is the best example). It’s a cliche that there’s no hiding place in the ring, but Ricky Hatton was the latest to suffer the unforgiving examination last weekend, when he was stopped in the ninth by Senchenko. The Ukrainian is the kind of opponent he would have comfortably handled at his peak.

Speaking of great comebacks: in October there were two great recoveries from 4-0 down, Arsenal v Reading in the League Cup (7-5 aet),& Sweden grabbed a 4-all draw against Germany in their World Cup qualifier.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic reputedly has quite an ego, but now has the feats to back it up against an English team . His four brilliant goals against an experimental England side dispelled the myth that he can never bring his best form against English teams.

The days of English teams dominating the Champions League are long gone. (Chelsea’s win last year was something of a freak, they massively over-achieved) The scale of the decline is evident this year with two teams (Man City & Chelsea) looking likely to go out at the group stage.

Performance of the Month

October- Sweden.

November-Ibrahimovic.

Honourable Mentions:

Tonga beat Scotland in international (15 a side) rugby for the first time, with several Tongan players in tears at the final whistle as the scale of their achievement sunk in.

Celtic, who averaged 20 % of possesion in their two UCL games with Barcelona, but pulled off an upset 2-1 win at Parkhead & were unlucky to lose in Camp Nou.

Djokovic, undefeated champion at the ATP Tour Finals & the first player since Federer to finish as year-end no. 1 in two consecutive years.

Carl Froch, who destroyed Yusaf Mack in four rounds to re-establish his status as the leading contender at super-middle.

Sebastian Vettel, who became the youngest to win a hat-trick of F1 world titles & must be a great bet to beat Schumacher’s record of seven titles.

Landmarks & Comebacks

Just like his coach Lendl, Andy Murray won a Slam final at his fifth attempt. When Djokovic pulled it back to two sets all, was there a tiny part of the Scot that thought 'there's no way i want to become the first man to lose five major finals in a row' ?

It was Djokovic though, the marathon man who beat Nadal in Melbourne in just under six hours, who faded in the fifth set.

Many commentators are predicting start of a new era of dominance by the two finalists. Two massive assumptions are behind this. Firstly that Nadal will not be able return to his former level before the injury lay-off. Second that Federer is on the decline now at the age of 31. I'm not so sure.

Some have even suggested Murray can reach the world no. 1 ranking. Possibly at some point in a season he will, but in the past he hasn't been able to match the consistency of the rest of the 'Big Four' on clay courts, so i can't see him finishing as a year-end no. 1.

Fred Perry will probably still be mentioned until Murray wins Wimbledon.

Performance of the Month

Murray, breaker of a 76 year hoodoo.

Honourable Mentions:
Europe Ryder Cup team. They produced one of the great sporting comebacks and overturned a four point deficit on the final day, despite the traditional strength of the USA in singles.

Laura Robson, who continued her rise up the rankings by reaching the Guangzhou final-the 1st Brit to play in a WTA final since Jo Durie.

MF Simply Brilliant

A brief, post-Olympic, August round-up.

Performance of the Month

Mo Farah (see last blog).

Honourable mentions:
The South African Test cricket team. Their series win over England meant they deposed them as the world no. 1 Test side.
Rory McIlroy, who won the US PGA by eight shots, his 2nd major at a younger age than Tiger Woods achieved it.
Laura Robson, who beat two former Slam champions, Clijsters & Li Na, to become the 1st British woman since Sam Smith in '98 to reach the fourth round of a Slam. 

As Good As It Gets

Olympics Review

Team GB had done exceptionally well in Beijing, London 2012 was even better.

Some Brits underperformed, but mostly they overperformed. The home crowd roar inspired them to ignore burning lungs, tired legs, aches & pains.

What a turnaround from Atlanta 96 where GB won just one gold (plus eight silver & six bronze). I expect GB to struggle to match that medal haul in the future, & finish around 5-6^th in the medal table in Rio.

A highly personal idiosyncratic choice of fave moments:

The first Saturday night athletics, natch.

Gemma Gibbons, who belied her lowly world ranking (42) to win silver in the judo. She mouthed ‘I love you mum’ to the skies, in memory of her late mother, after her exhausting, golden score victory in the semi-final over the world champion.

David Rudisha, who had declared before the 800 metres final he intended to break the world record, & did exactly that, leading from gun to tape with a blistering run.

The women’s triathlon ending in a sprint finish.

The exuberant, joyful celebrations of Jade Jones when she won taekwondo goal.

Andy Murray finally winning a best of five sets final, & doing it against Federer. In the gold medal match his level of play & focus was exceptional, and made the great man look ordinary.

Performance of the Games

So many exceptional performances to choose from, including the usual suspects such as Bolt & Phelps. I’ll go for Mo Farah in the 5000 metres. Most of the opposition were fresh, not having done the 10k. In the home straight it seemed the Kenyan was catching, but Farah found another gear, then it seemed the Ethiopian Gebremeskel was gaining on him, again he found the strength to kick clear.

Premier League Predictions

Man City to regain title, but by a more comfortable margin this time-5 points. United to be the closest challengers, pushed closely by Chelsea.

The Wonder of Wiggo

Wimbledon

When Djokovic & Nadal were hoovering up all the major titles, I & many experts, thought Federer might not win another Slam. However, since losing in the US Open his form has been unmatched, winning eight titles. In the semi he overturned a three-match losing streak against Djokovic, & in the final showed touches of genius to thwart Murray. He regained the world no. 1 ranking from the young bucks to boot, at the age of 30.

Serena Williams is of similar vintage to Federer, but was even more dominant, proving to be a class apart on the SW19 grass. Her serve in particular was awesome over the fortnight with 90 aces.

Wiggins

Five years ago, the prospects of a Brit winning Le Tour looked remote. A British one-two GC finish, let alone a Brit winner, is totally staggering. Wiggins went in as the favourite having done the unique treble of the Dauphine, Paris-Nice & the Tour of Romandie. When he took an early lead, I feared the commentators were giving him the kiss of death by anointing him as the champion-elect, but the strength in depth of team Sky was a major factor in allowing him to keep control. On two of the mountain stages it appeared that Chris Froome could have taken some serious time out of his team-mate, but Froome responded to team orders to wait for his team leader. Wiggins, though, was the clearly the best time time triallist by some distance.

July Performance of the Month

I decided on this before the Olympics.

It’s not often that Federer is relegated to second place, but I have to give it Wiggins as he sustained his excellence over three gruelling weeks.

Next month

Tune in for the next enthralling instalment- Olympic review.

The History Boys

Spain put on a masterclass against Italy to retain the European championship. Portugal had taken them to penalties in the semi & I thought a repeat could be on the cards in the final, but Spain were irresistible. Not only are they setting new standards of technical play, but Del Bosque has also used revolutionary tactics. The Spanish starting formation was six passing midfielders with no conventional centre-forward, though you would expect David Villa to come back into the team when fit. Italy can be proud of surpassing all expectations with an excellent win over Germany in the semi.

June has been quite the month for record breaking, with Nadal breaking Borg’s record by winning his seventh title at Roland Garros. Overall the French Open had enough epic matches (Mathieu-Isner, 18-16 in the 5^{th set}) & upsets to be one of the best editions of recent years. Judging by the first week though, Wimbledon has trumped it. There was the biggest underdog win in a slam for many years with Rosol over Nadal, & the Cilic Querrey 5hr 30 marathon (17-15 in the 5^th).

Nadal’s loss to Rosol was just one of those freak results where the Czech played the game of his life, hitting the lines with fearsome power: 65 winners, including a 99 mph backhand & numerous aces. Nadal’s performance in the French final typified his mental strength for me. At the start of the 4th set he lost a 44 shot rally & dropped serve. Other players would have been discouraged, but Nadal held his next service game. The rain break that followed didn’t help Djokovic's momentum (he had won 8 of the last 9 games) & he was broken when they resumed the next day, but Nadal was the deserved winner.

It’s often said we are lucky to be in a golden age of tennis, with Federer, Nadal & Djokovic all playing to such a high level & continually setting new records. The same could now be said with Spain now having very strong claims to be the best national team ever. Brazil, Germany, Holland, Argentina & Hungary have produced sides with exceptional talent in the past, but it’s tough to argue with Spain’s run of trophies.

Performance of the Month

The history makers, Spain.

Honourable mentions:
Rafa Nadal.
Yohan Blake, who clocked a 9.75 100 m to beat Bolt at the Jamaican Olympic trials & then repeated it in the 200 final.

Blue Is The Colour

The month of May has seen some thrilling sporting finishes, with the last day of the Premier League, where the title was not decided until injury time, and the Champions League final going to penalties. The French Open first round match between Serena Williams & Virginie Razzano was another. Up 5-1 in the 2nd set tiebreak & cruising, Serena lost six straight points & then the first five games of the final set. She recovered to 5-3, & then there was an incredible final game lasting nearly 25 minutes, with 12 deuces & 5 break points. Razzano began cramping up, but managed to close it out on her 8th match point. It was excruciating to watch at times, with great shots alternating with tired efforts. The drama included a controversial forfeit of points for hindrance (usually called when the opponent makes a noise deemed to have put the opponent off their shot). It was the biggest win in the career of Razzano, ranked 111.

Alec Ferguson deserves great credit for the way Man U took the title race with City to the wire, despite the superior squad of the Blues. Scholes had to come out of retirement to boost the Man U midfield, & they were without their best defender, Vidic, for most of the season.
Fergie’s record of sustained excellence makes it to hard now to deny him the title of the greatest British club manager, above the likes of Paisley, Clough, Busby, Nicholson, Shankly, Revie etc.

Chelsea again rode their luck in the Champions League final, & only started to put their passing together in extra time. Crucially, they held their nerve better than Munich at penalties. David Luiz, famously derided for his defensive positional sense, smacked his into the top corner, & Drogba, with his last kick for the club, sent Neuer the wrong way to win the cup.

Performance of the Month

Chelsea. Who else ?

Honourable mentions:
Ronnie O'Sullivan, who was tested in his quarter-final with Robertson, but otherwise cruised to his fourth world title at the Crucible.
Pastor Maldonado, who became the first Venezuelan F1 winner of a F1 by winning the Spanish GP.

Chelsea Pensioners

Champions League

One of the tasks AVB was given by Abramovich was to overhaul the Chelsea squad, including ageing stars like Drogba & Lampard. However, the old guard, especially Drogba weighing in with vital goals, have been instrumental in Chelsea's recent return to top form. Having looked dead & buried in the last 16 v Napoli, they have now beaten the mighty Barca with only ten men for over 50 minutes of the SF second leg, & reached two cup finals.

Performance of the Month

Bubba Watson, who promptly burst into tears after sinking the winning putt which clinched his first major at the Masters.

Honourable mentions:
Chelsea.
Real Madrid, who inflicted Barca's first home defeat for 54 matches with a 2-1 win at the Bernabeu, & so took a seemingly insurmountable seven point lead in La Liga.

Operation Grand Slam

My pre-tournament tip, Wales, deservedly took their third Six Nations Grand Slam in eight years.With only three players over the age of 30, they could dominate for some years.
England, who I thought would end up in the bottom half, finished up as runners-up; & in Owen Farrell may have found a dead-eyed kicker in the Wilkinson mould.
France will look to rebound next year from a disappointing 4th place.

Federer back in Form

Roger Federer showed he is still a force to be reckoned with, winning Rotterdam, Dubai, and Indian Wells. Until he lost in Miami it looked like he was on track to regain the world no. 1 ranking, amazingly, at the age of 30. It's still possible, as Djokovic has a huge amount of ranking points to defend this season, but the Fed would need to win a couple of tournaments in the upcoming clay court swing. Also, I still think in the best of five sets matches at the Slams, he will come unstuck against a top eight opponent.

Performance of the Month (Feb & March)

Wales.
Honourable mentions:
Federer.
The GB women 4 x 400 m relay squad, who won the 1st ever GB gold in the event, at the World Indoors.
Brad Wiggins, who became the first Brit since Tom Simpson to win the Paris-Nice stage race.
Vika Azarenka, who lost her 27 match win streak to Bartoli in Miami this week.

Quote of the Month
　
There is no script in sports, you know. I think that's what makes it the best entertainment in the world.
Andy Roddick, after beating Federer for only the third time in 24 meetings.

England Eclipsed

Champions League

With Chelsea & Arsenal facing first leg deficits of 3-1 & 4-0 respectively, it's looking highly likely there will be no English team in the QFs for the fist time since 1996. From 2007-9, English teams made up three of the four semi-finalists, with an-all English final in 2008. United were also runners-up to Barca last year & in 2009. So why are English clubs no longer dominant ? The other side of the coin is the opposition getting stronger. Barcelona have set a new level of excellence in recent years, & Real Madrid are perhaps Barca's closest challengers. So last season Barca accounted for Arsenal as well as Man U, while Madrid knocked out Spurs. In the last few seasons English sides have had the better of the Italians but this year Serie A have turned the tables, assuming the London clubs can't pull off miracle comebacks.

The question is whether this is set to last, or will English teams mount a strong challenge next season. I think they will. Man U will surely bounce back after their nightmare European season, although they need reinforcements in midfield for the vets: Giggs & the unretired Scholes. Man City you would expect to have a decent run after a difficult first campaign. Spurs are the only other team you can be fairly sure will qualify, with the 4th place being far too close to call at the moment. If Redknapp takes the England national team post, I wouldn't like to tip how well Spurs will do until seeing their new manager.

Marathon Man

January review

Novak Djokovic, after a semi v Murray lasting nearly five hours , had the iron will to overcome fatigue and take the Australian Open title in the longest Slam final in history (5 hr 53 min). That it was against Nadal, by common consent the fittest player on the Tour, made it even more of a feat . Rafa had also had the luxury of an extra day's rest & a shorter four set semi v Federer.
Djokovic's mental strength was typified for me by the ninth game of the final set. He lost an exhausting 31-shot rally, but went on to win the game.
Some experts have been quick to put the match up there with the all-time great finals, like Wimbledon 2008 (Federer-Nadal) & 1980 (Borg-McEnroe). it was definitely a great match, but the lack of net play is a slight negative. Time will tell whether it deserves to be ranked that highly.

Murray can take heart from coming back from 2-5 down in the fifth set of the semi before eventually succumbing to defeat (7-5). He pushed Djokovic much closer than the straight sets reverse of last year's final.

The womens final was a let down by comparison, turning out to be disappointingly one-sided, as Sharapova won only three games. Azarenka won her first major, & in stark contrast to the men, where the top three players have monopolised the Slams, the last four majors have had first time winners (Stosur, Li Na, Kvitova, Azarenka). I think the latter two will vie for the no.1 ranking over the next few years.

Performance of the Month

There can only be one-Djokovic.

Six Nations Rugby

Before an oval ball was kicked I tipped Wales. They have pace, power & youth in the backs. The Welsh can win the key fixture, home to France, & do the Grand Slam.