It was the first time in Chelsea’s Premier League history that they’d let a three goal lead slip, exactly a year to the day after Arsenal had let a four goal lead slip to this season’s surprise package Newcastle United. Yet, in an unexpected sort of way, the result wasn’t as surprising as one may’ve thought: this season, Premier League fixtures between last season’s top four have reaped an average of 5.25 goals per game.

Three factors were at play to ensure that Manchester United will push Manchester City all the way in the fight for the title:

Persistence and Determination

Ultimately, what Rio Ferdinand described as a “Man Utd never say die attitude” display, is what was needed to compete in a hotly contested duel in which The Red Devils eventually came out as the dominant side in a game with no winner.

Dominating possession and converting their chances was the gilded difference between a Manchester United side that looked dead as the third goal was headed in by Brazilian centre-back David Luiz, and a Chelsea side that, on paper, looked as weak as they had done in such a clash with Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, John Terry and Ashley Cole all out together for the first time in 4 years.

For Sir Alex Ferguson, it was a game that “epitomises what English football’s about,” and it went to prove that, despite failing to win, Manchester United will fight City all the way for the Premier League title.

At three goals down, with debatably two own goals scored – although the second was accredited to David Luiz, and with Chelsea’s fans providing another unwanted sub-story to the game, with a chorus of boos akin to the treatment Patrice Evra received at Anfield, United’s season was near the potential point of no return.

If, like the form book would’ve led one to believe, and Chelsea had gone on to win the game, it would’ve been Manchester United’s third loss to a top seven side, in all competitions, in 2012 alone. Furthermore, with Manchester City convincingly beating Fulham 3-0 yesterday, the gap between the top two would’ve remained at three points.

Some were expecting a repeat of the 6-1 defeat Manchester City had inflicted on United last year.

David de Gea

“When you make a mistake at United, it is highlighted and can be exaggerated a little bit,” commented Sir Alex Ferguson on the criticism received by his Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea prior to the game and at three down, the hate brigade was well and truly in full swing. However, in palming shots away and punching balls out of the box, despite the score line, the Spanish ‘keeper proved his critics wrong.

For many, and wrongly so, de Gea is considered the chink in United’s armour and, in the extremist’s view, including Piers Morgan, the worst goalkeeper in the Premier League: however, the statistics would beg to differ and in the aftermath of the game, the Spaniard’s saves-to-shots ratio was 77% and the fourth best in the league, whereas Petr Cech’s stood at 65%, pitting him as the worst in the league. Whilst I don’t believe either are anywhere near the worst in the league, de Gea outshone Petr Cech with his emphatic save to stop a tremendous effort from fellow countryman Juan Mata.

The blend of experience and youth

Although the game was tainted by the continuous drone of boos for Rio Ferdinand, something Andre Villas-Boas seemed to palm off as a “normal situation in the Premier League,” which would confirm Ollie Holt’s views of a “resurgence of racist attitudes in the English game,” it did prove there is still life in the old dog yet, literally.

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At the start of the season, the Leeds chairman, Ken Bates – a figure of controversy throughout his time at Elland Road – outlined his expectation for Leeds to be promoted in the current campaign having finished narrowly outside the Play-Off places last year. Despite a decidedly inconsistent opening few months in the Championship, the Whites found themselves in 5th spot at the beginning of December and, with Robert Snodgrass returning to his talismanic best, looked on course to continue to vie for position with the best teams in the division.

However, 5 defeats from their previous 8 outings, including a humiliating 4-1 defeat to local rivals Barnsley, has badly derailed the Leeds bid for promotion and left an ominous sense of déjà vu around the club after Grayson’s steering of the previous two second-halves of the season led to a sharp downturn in form that saw his side drop out of a seemingly secure Play-Off berth last season, and before that, almost threw away the comfortable lead they had earned in League One at the start of 2010. The warning signs were there and the Leeds board have acted.

This doesn’t give the overall impression of what’s going on at Leeds, though, as unconvincing transfer dealings, widespread dissent against Bates and Chief Executive, Shaun Harvey, and wildly differing performances on the pitch have left Elland Road an unhappy and chaotic place to be.

Concerns were first aroused in the Summer as Leeds were unable to significantly boost the quality of players they already possessed, and following the expected sales of Bradley Johnson and Neil Kilkenny, lost Kasper Schmeichel and Max Gradel to richer clubs. Gradel was voted Player of the Season by the fans last year while Schmeichel had proved to be a consistently safe pair of hands and looked set to protect the backline for years to come.

Three players arrived in their absence – Andy Lonergan, whose performances have helped to justify his signing as a replacement for Schmeichel, Paul Rachubka, whose efforts led to him being shipped out to Tranmere following a calamitous goalkeeping effort in a 5-0 defeat to Blackpool, and Michael Brown, who, at 35, has confirmed fans’ fears and proven he is not capable of commanding the Leeds midfield. This was hardly an improvement to a side that ultimately, failed to enter the Play-Offs at the final hurdle last season and would be expected to go one better this campaign.

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So I wonder what to make of the Metro reporting that Barcelona’s chief negotiator Andoni Zubizarreta has laid the foundations for the clubs pursual of Bale in what count amount to world record transfer. It’s claimed that Andoni has made phone calls, trips to London and met with the top brass at White Hart Lane to try and manoeuver Barca into the power position when it comes to Gareth Bale.

Catalan newspaper Sport claim that the process was started back in October, via a phone call and proceeded into talks with Spurs and Bale’s management firm, the Stellar Group.

If there’s any truth to these rumours, then I’m a little surprised that Barcelona have elected to make Bale their major transfer target. It’s clear that this is a club obsessed with having somebody to obsess over. Now that they’ve got Cesc Fabregas they need somebody else to pine for. But why Gareth Bale, a man with no Barca connection and no good reason to leave his club. He’s also a man that Spurs have shown no willingness to sell.

For Barcelona it just seems like a fool’s errand.

After all, Bale will surely have looked at the progress his side has made in recent times and view Tottenham as a club going places. They are a good shout for a 2^nd or 3^rd place finish this season and as Barca themselves look like they’ll finish 2^nd (they’re currently 7 points away from leaders Real Madrid) in La Liga it’s hardly a big step up. Of course the current Barcelona first team is better than Tottenham’s, but who’s to say that Spurs can’t engineer a position over the coming years where they too have one of Europe’s best sides?

What’s more, who’s to say that Gareth Bale even wants to move to Spain? He’s settled in North London and likely to stay there for the near future. Any information to the contrary is surely just Barcelona propaganda.

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If he did, which I don’t think he does, deserve any co-operation and support from footballing’s governing bodies, he didn’t get it: typical of the F.A., inconsistency and inefficiency was on display again. While Luis Suarez received an eight-match ban for his racist abuse of Patrice Evra, John Terry had his case passed onto the Crown Prosecution Service: but why? How can two similar acts be treated vastly different?

Secondly, the F.A have now, unintentionally I am assured, cast a moody and delicate backlight to England’s preparation for and participation in the European Championships 2012 by removing John Terry as the captain of The Three Lions as a result of his case not being heard until after the competition. It was inevitable and necessary to remove Terry from his position, but it could have been better dealt with considering the F.A’s initial tacit support for the centre-back, with him making the squad for November’s friendlies with European and World Champions Spain, and Sweden days later in which John Terry captained the side having been an unused substitute in the 1-0 win over Spain.

If, like Rodney Hinds suggests in The Guardian, Luis Suarez’s ban had restored English football’s credibility, then the management of the John Terry case and the sub story of England’s captaincy has partly undone that, as the rest of Europe look on and yet again wonder why we place such importance on it: a sentiment echoed by Fabio Capello.

However, we do and a new captain must be instated and the decision must be carefully considered: but who stands a chance of wearing the elastic strapping round their bicep, providing a vocal presence and leading by example?

Steven Gerrard – The Obvious Choice

The Liverpool captain is a natural leader: he leads by example on the pitch and has been an ever-present in the England squad under four different managers since his debut in 2000 under Kevin Keegan, whilst in the Premier League, he captains Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool side.

Having captained England in their last major tournament, South Africa’s World Cup 2010, and leading The Three Lions out for the beginning of their qualifying campaign for this summer’s European Championship, Gerrard is the obvious choice.

However, he’s often been overlooked for senior positions within the England hierarchy: but with Rio Ferdinand ruling himself out of the captaincy, Steven Gerrard has become the obvious choice pitted against an out of favour Frank Lampard as the most experienced players in the England camp.

Ultimately, some may see the Liverpool captain as a regressive step for England as there is no guarantee that he will start this summer. Whilst, he unquestionably has the drive, commitment and direction to make a sufficient captain, it would be a temporary solution to a long term problem: at 31 and with England undergoing a transition, with numerous talented youngsters on the verge of regular starting positions, it is unlikely that the scouser will be in the 2014 World Cup team and the captaincy could be better appointed to a player that will be in the foundations of the side over the next decade. However, with Capello set to leave after the Euros, a new manager will have the ability to state a new captain anyway and no one would begrudge him so: Gerrard is the obvious choice this summer.

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Chelsea had a disappointing season by their standards; trophyless, and a fair way behind eventual winners Manchester United. They seemed to be lacking a spark in the centre of their midfield. Someone who could change the course of a game in the blink of an eye. They controversially sacked coach Carlo Ancelotti at the end of the season after just 2 years in charge – which is unsurprising with Roman Abramovich making the decisions at the helm. Many said the choice was harsh but it was left to Andre Villas-Boas to revive the fortunes of the West London side. The slightly unknown Portuguese manager made it clear who his main transfer target was for that window.

Modric signed for Spurs from Dinamo Zagreb for a fee of around £16.5 million, which seems a real bargain after the performances he has put in over the past few seasons. Chelsea’s highest offer was £40 million in the summer, according to Harry Redknapp and Tottenham rejected the offer, all thanks to chairman Daniel Levy and Redknapp’s resilience. Modric stated his desire to leave but wasn’t going anywhere due to Levy standing firm and rejecting all the offers that came Spurs’s way. It was a brave decision by the club. Any team who is offered over £35 million for a player would definitely consider selling. Tottenham’s buoyant stance wouldn’t budge and many questions were raised over the decision. But the decision turned out to be the right one

Luka Modric has scored 12 goals in 112 appearances for Spurs which isn’t a great deal for an attacking midfielder. But it’s his pass completion rate and the ability to link play up that caught the eye of Chelsea’s scouts. After the transfer deadline of Summer 2011 had passed, it was all up to Modric to gain the respect of the Tottenham faithful once again – and, by god, has he done that. He has arguably been one of the best players of the season so far and his formidable midfield partnership with the strong Scott Parker has been the driving force in making Tottenham Hotspur one of the best sides in Europe again.

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The Times have claimed that Cahill has already become disillusioned with life at Stamford Bridge and is disappointed with a lack of opportunities to prove himself.  If the reports are to be believed it’s understood that Cahill’s main concern is the fact that Andre Villas-Boas opted for Branislac Ivanovic to replace the injured John Terry instead of calling upon his January signing.

Whilst this may have Cahill wondering just how far down the pecking order he is, if he’s genuinely discontent with his situation at Chelsea, you have to wonder about his temperament. It’s a pretty powerful sense of entitlement that drives one to believe that you don’t require any time to adjust to new circumstances and new teammates and that you should be thrown into action right away.

Villas-Boas is clearly giving Cahill a chance to get his head in the right place, develop an understanding with Chelsea centre-backs in training and prove he’s ready for first-team action. If he’s genuinely worried about his role in this Chelsea team after such a short period of time, I can’t help but wonder if the last couple of months with Bolton have rocked his confidence. Poor defensive performances one after another may have forced him to question his own ability and it’s not impossible that Cahill is wondering if he has the quality to force his way into the Blues starting line-up.

Cahill will be given chances – that’s a sure thing, it’s just up to the England International to prove he’s worthy. He knows he’ll be given chances, so surely he can’t be that worried, can he? Then why do The Times report that an unnamed observer of Wednesday’s training session claimed that it looks as though ‘his head has gone’?

This sounds like the kind of tedious, vague bullshit that signifies very little, but if there is any truth behind these stories, it’d be very disappointing from a Chelsea perspective. The best thing Cahill can do is bide his time and take the opportunities when they arrive. In the meantime, he has to ensure that he’s got the right attitude; otherwise he may struggle to make it with the Blues.

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Let’s not forget, this is the kid who was asked by Arsene Wenger to take part in Arsenal’s first-team training sessions at just 16-years-old. He’s the same player who once earned comparisons to Dennis Bergkamp and a man that Mark Hughes once described as ‘a great talent with a big future’. Let’s put it this way, there’s a reason Spurs were willing to shell out £15m for his signature back in 2008.

Unfortunately for Bentley he’s only made 42 appearances in four years at Spurs and has only scored 3 goals. Worst of all, he spurned an opportunity to impress whilst on loan at Birmingham City. He failed to break into City’s first team, even though their squad wasn’t exactly sparse with talent and returned to White Hart Lane with his career still in tatters.

He’s been a bit unlucky this season. He was loaned out to West Ham at the end of August, but was soon ruled out for six months following a troublesome knee-injury. As a result the Hammers stuck a ‘Damaged Goods’ label on him and sent him back to Tottenham for treatment. At this stage it looked as though David Bentley would face yet another season without making any significant inroads.

Fortunately, he has recovered well from his injury and is working hard in training to make things right. This has been reflected in Harry Redknapp’s decision to include Bentley in his 25-man squad listing for the rest of the season. As the year rolls on, Redknapp will be forced to rely more and more on squad players and there’s a good chance that Bentley will be called upon to prove that he can still cut it at the top level. The hope amongst Spurs fans at the moment will be that he can rediscover the form he had whilst at Blackburn (2006-2008).

He’s 27-years-old now and really ought to be in the peak of his career. His circumstances have held him back but he now has one last chance to show his quality. The sad truth is, if he fails now he’ll be remembered as a laughing stock.

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Whilst I understand why Sir Alex opted to sell Morrison and don’t necessarily condemn the move, I do think there’s a larger picture that needs to be examined here. In years previous United have been renowned for their youth development system and a number of good players have come through and made a name for themselves in the Premier League and abroad. But are they now at risk of selling out their next generation?

I’m talking about players like Ravel Morrison, Paul Pogba and Ezekiel Fryers – none of whom seem to have any real long-term future with the club. Morrison has already moved on and both Pogba and Fryers have been linked to other clubs. Fryers in particular seems to be entangled in a complex contract negotiation and it’s unclear as to where his allegiances and his future lies.

At only 19-years-old the highly versatile defender has bags of potential and plenty of talent. United are reported to have offered him new terms that he is yet to accept. There’s a good chance he’s holding out for an improved deal or looking to see if any clubs start pursuing him this Summer.

Whilst he’ll be a free-agent at the end of the season, if anybody does pick him up on a ‘free’ they’ll be forced to pay Manchester United compensation (as is always the case with players under the age of 23). Still there’ll be plenty of clubs who intend acquiring a bright young spark like Fryers, and ClubCall claim that Spurs are already an interested party.

This along with Pogba’s unwillingness to commit to Manchester United has me concerned. Whilst youngsters like Smalling, Cleverley and Jones are making a name for themselves in the Premier League, Manchester United’s next generation seems to be disbanding. Can Sir Alex Ferguson offer them the right incentives to keep them at the club or will United be left to regret their absence?

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There are many examples, in the Premier League, of clubs who simply haven’t got the money to spend on expensive signings and have tried but failed in the past to bring in highly-paid stars in an attempt to push their way into the elite of the country.  One example is Everton.  Their money troubles have been well-documented in recent years as they are suffering from a lack of income as well as the Global financial situation leading to the bank squeezing them on their overdraft.  This has meant they’ve had to cut their wage bill and spend very little money on players in the last few years.  However, the incidences where they have spent money haven’t always worked out and have led to them having to change strategy.  In 2009, the club spent nearly £10 million on Diniyar Bilyaletdinov from Locomotiv Moscow. 

Despite providing moments such as his goal in a win over Manchester United at Goodison Park, the Russian struggled to settle on Merseyside and never really lived up to his transfer fee for the club.  He was eventually sold back to Russia, Spartak Moscow in January 2012 for a figure reported to be around £5 million meaning the club made a significant loss on the player, something they can’t afford to do. 

These figures are in stark contrast to some of the club’s most impressive performers of recent times such as Steven Pienaar, Tim Cahill and Phil Jagielka who between them only cost £7.5 million but have made significantly bigger impacts for the club than Bilyaletdinov ever did.

Another example is Arsenal.  Although it is reported they do have the money to spend on world-class, ready-made stars, this has not always been the case and when they have spent big money, it hasn’t always worked out in the past.  There are numerous players currently starring for The Gunners who cost very little, if any, money but have proven to be much more effective in the team than expensive players brought into the club.  The star player and current Captain is Robin van Persie. 

He was bought from Feyernoord at the age of 20 for just £2.75 million and has developed into one of the best strikers in the world.  He may have reached this level at an even earlier date if it hadn’t been for bad luck with injuries. 

Other examples include players who cost the club nothing such as Wojciech Szczesny, Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs as well as cheap purchases such as Aaron Ramsey, Alex Song and Bacary Sagna whom, combined, cost the North London club the relatively small sum of around £13 million.

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This obviously led to a prolonged period on the sidelines and a very challenging process of rehabilitation to try and get him back to his previous state of fitness as well as in the best possible mind-set to fulfil his potential and compete as Premier League level for Arsenal.  He had been starring in a fantastic Christmas and New Year period for the club and leading their title charge.  One of his best and most memorable games was a goalscoring and man of the match performance away at Portsmouth in December in which they won 4-0.

Following his £5 million move from Cardiff 18 months earlier, Ramsey had appeared more often than had been expected at such a young age but it had proven him correct in choosing Arsenal over Manchester United as he had moved to a club famed for blooding youngsters into the first team early in their career.   He even started the club’s first game after his arrival in the midst of an injury crisis prior to the Champions League qualifier away to FC Twente in August 2008.

However, the horror injury put a stop to his meteoric rise and angered many people throughout football who had seen one of Britain’s most promising footballers suffer such a severe setback that no-one could be 100% sure he would play again, let alone get back to the level he had been at and more.  Ramsey’s operation went well and he began the process of recovery which would eventually take 11 months and many hours of hard work.  But it has turned out to be well worth the effort and endurance after all.

After making his long-awaited comeback in November 2010 with a loan spell to Nottingham Forest, he started the long road to re-establishing himself as a key part of Arsenal’s first team squad again and trying to work his way into Arsene Wenger’s future plans.  However, due to severe weather, he made relatively few appearances for Forest during the spell and after two unused substitute appearances for the Gunners, went back to his boyhood club, Cardiff, for another confidence and fitness-building loan spell.

This proved very useful and effective for Ramsey in getting him back near the level he was at before the injury.  After appearing regularly, Arsenal rejected an offer for the Bluebirds to keep him until the end of the season and he returned to North London.

For the rest of the 2010-11 season, Ramsey featured frequently in an Arsenal team again fighting, but eventually failing, to win the title.  His crowning moment and proof of his full recovery came on the 1^st May.  Arsenal had given up any chance of winning the title and had a depleted squad as Manchester United came to The Emirates.

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