New look Chelsea missing their old guard

This was about as poor a performance from a defending European Champion side as one could wish to see. Juventus swept aside Chelsea, who were fragile as glass in defence and played for 71 minutes without a striker.

Yet it was not the same team that brought them the European Cup. Chelsea were unfortunate to be missing John Terry and Frank Lampard through injury but their failure to replace Didier Drogba is a consequence of their demanding chairman's desire to see his team play attractive football.

Roman Abramovic poured huge sums of money into acquiring the hottest, most exotic attacking midfielders, and neglected the forward department. He led Chelsea into the 2012/13 season with just two strikers: an out of sorts Fernando Torres and rough around the edges Daniel Sturridge.

The lack of faith in Torres was handed a spotlight against Juventus, the £50m man who has returned 11 goals from 58 league starts, as Chelsea fielded six midfielders at his expense.

It felt forced. Light years away from emulating Spain's masterclass in the Euro 2012 final. 

Their opposition, Juventus, also suffer from a case of non-scoring strikers. The difference, though, is Juve are willing to play theirs. While Mirko Vučinić may not be clinical, he drops into midfield and links their play well. Importantly, they are a complete team. 

This was a walk in the park for Juventus as, for all their newfound flair, Chelsea are missing the spine of the team that won them the Champions League.

Chelsea must now win against Nordsjaelland and rely on Shakhtar Donetsk to beat Juventus if they are to avoid becoming the first European Champions to exit at the group stage. It would be an embarrassing outcome for one of the competition's most successful sides of the past decade.

Manchester United chase down leads, Arsenal throw them away

Premier League '12/13, week 11

Arsenal were leading Fulham 2-0. Manchester United were trailing Aston Villa, away, 2-0. Yet the two most successful teams in Premier League history conformed to what is typical of their character. They did what they do best. United swam, and Arsenal sank.

These were two fantastic games, both first-on-Match of the Day worthy. One had to play second fiddle, and Villa-United was considered by the programme editor to be the most special. Fulham will be asking themselves what must they do to be on first, but this was a truly staggering game.

Villa held a comfortable lead, owing to Andrea Weimann's first two goals for the club. The timing of the goals meant their impact was even heavier. One moments before half-time with another tucked in just five minutes into the second-half would have felt like hammer blows to a lesser side.

But Manchester United are not a lesser side. When you have won the European Cup with the other team's colours already decorating the trophy, it gives you the mental strength to believe any situation is rescuable. United typify the never-say-die spirit like no other team.

Their saviour today was Javier Hernandez, who Martin Keown described as a 'modern-day Solskjaer'. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was United's go-to player whenever they needed a goal during the 1990s. Time and time again he would deliver from off the bench. He is a rare type of player whom few teams have in their squads and, despite building a career on starting most matches on the bench, he was never underrated.

It certainly appears that Solskjaer has been reborn in Hernandez.

While Manchester United chased down a lead, Arsenal threw one away. Arsenal are very good at keeping the ball, and enjoy the most possession of the league's 20 teams. But they can't keep an advantage.

For the second game in a row, Arsenal struck first, only to see their lead had evaporated at the final whistle. The nature of the goals they conceded is alarming, too. Fulham's first was a messy goal from a corner that should have been cleared. The second should have been saved. There appears to be a problem with the marking system at Arsenal, and they need a reliable goalkeeper. These are simple issues that can be addressed easily.

The positives for Arsenal lie in that they played their part in a highly entertaining game. Also, they missed a penalty in the last minute, which could easily have gone in on another day.

The negative, perhaps realistic, perspective is that this has been Arsenal's worst start to a league campaign under Wenger. The gap between them and United, City and Chelsea is widening. 

That Alan Shearer stated Everton are favourites to finish fourth speaks greatly about Arsenal's blatantly obvious flaws of character. In comparison to United, they could not be more apparent.

'How to be a football journalist' - Guardian Masterclass review

I attended a Guardian 'Masterclass' in how to be a football journalist on October 14. The event was held at the Guardian's [stunning] offices in King's Cross. But at £225 for the day it hardly came cheap, and so I went there brain fully switched on, pen and pad at hand to record any priceless insights. David Hytner and Jacob Steinberg were our tutors.

The day began with David reeling off daunting figures of the success of the Guardian's website. He told stories of and emphasised the human side of football, lamented cliches and praised the Sun for their "incredibly concise and punchy" writing.

The notion that being an excellent writer is the be-all and end-all to becoming a football journalist was quickly dispelled in the first session. "I've worked with people who can barely spell their name," David told. They referenced the 'perspiring journalist' Duncan Jenkins as a case in point. In fact, they said the job of a journalist is roughly only 10% about writing. Being successful in the industry weighs heavily on one thing: contacts.

We were told that "a huge amount" is what you know and who you know - the tutors could not help but use cliches themselves here. The person who knows who punched Alan Shearer in the face, David hypothesised, may be offered the position first.

So, the class was now considering both Who can be a contact? and How do I gather contacts?. The tutors offered useful insight into these million dollar questions:

• Press officers are the official channel of the club but may not respond nine out of ten times or for two days.
• Agents are gossips, which is good, but they may have an agenda. It's important to ask yourself the following: What's in it for them? and Why they are telling me this?
• Players are nowadays inaccessible, ring fenced by so many people and networks of agents. Contacts lower down the food chain are easier to work directly with.
• Some of the best contacts you can have are other journalists, especially foreign journalists. They can enlighten you about a certain player in the match you are about to report on.

It is important to remember that a contact will only remain a contact if you stay in touch with that person. The tutors advised friendly texts and emails as ways of maintaining the connection. Furthermore, a contact can always be strengthened. Case in point: the Mail on Sunday put considerable groundwork in with Paul Stratford, agent of Wayne Rooney. When the story that Rooney wanted away from Manchester United broke in October 2010, the MoS were answered first with the most fruity details.

The tutors gave full answers to all questions the group had. One of the more straightforward-seeming ones was Are there different types of writers?. Hytner explained that the Guardian's football writers are each assigned to cover a certain geographical area; for example, he rarely reports on football outside of London. He stressed caution at limiting ones field, unless you are very good at a specific type of football writing - as Arseblog, a dedicated Arsenal blogger and Zonal Marking, a website analysing tactics post-match, have successfully managed. For perspiring aspiring journalists, it's better to first hone an all-round set of skills.

The class wanted to know how to get started in journalism. The tutors told us that you don't need a degree: "Get work experience, impress, show you're willing". The local newspaper is an excellent place to start, as everything originates from a local level. The manager of Tooting, for example, might want the Wandsworth Guardian to be nice about him and the team.

Newsworthiness. This singular word explains why Luis Suarez, a controversial and in some arenas hated character, is gold dust for papers. The way he combines being an anti-hero on one level and a genius on another means that everyone has an opinion of him. Regardless of what you think of Suarez, he sells papers. The tutors used the idea of 'A-list' footballers, saying Suarez is an A-lister along with, you guessed it, John Terry and Wayne Rooney.

A discussion ensued, and the hypothesis Do A-listers receive preferential treatment from the press? was considered. The example given was when Robin van Persie appeared to elbow Yohan Cabaye during Manchester United's 3-0 win over Newcastle a week previous on October 7th, yet avoided a media scolding. This example was dismissed by the tutors, as the FA chose not to punish the incident, but it was an interesting consideration whether celebrity footballers may be somewhat 'untouchable' in print.

Inconsistencies galore as Terrygate is finally over

A dispassionate defence of John Terry

A long-running saga was ended on 27 September when the FA charged Chelsea and former England captain John Terry with "using abusive language", a charge which "included a reference to colour and/ or race". Terry now faces a four match suspension and must pay £220,000, should he decline his right to appeal. Terry was acquitted of criminal charges at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 13 July in a rigorous four-day trial but the FA exercised its ability to conduct its own investigation.

Unlike a court of law, the FA doesn't need to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to record a conviction. With the torrent of hate being poured at Terry, it's highly likely that the independent panel felt a little pressured to deliver a guilty verdict. That outcome, too, felt inevitable. Football is currently on a mission to purify its game. Terry may have got away with it once but football wasn't going to let him off the hook twice.

In enforcing the charge, the FA has created a platform for Terry-abuse. However, whether it's a fair one is dubious. Terry's defence, that he was repeating what was said to him by Anton Ferdinand, held up in the Magistrates'. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that the Magistrates got it right and the FA, acting on behalf of the good of football, got it wrong.

John Obi Mikel was stood beside Terry when the words that landed him in this situation came out. He's one of many black Chelsea players who, not only took no offence to Terry's words, but flew to their captain's defence during the trial. These are people who work with Terry every day and did not hesitate to help him clear his name. In the eyes of these players, it was heat of the moment foul-mouthing from one player to another; nothing more and should have been treated like nothing more. 

Indeed, Ferdinand didn't even hear firsthand what was said to him. He was informed of footage of their argument, and after one thing had led to another, agreed to pursue the matter in a case that rapidly began to gather momentum. As no personal harm was caused at the time of the incident, it feels contrived that such an ordeal would ensue. 

John Terry is far from the only one to come off badly from this affair. The FA look ridiculous having handed Luis Suarez a suspension double the length that Terry received for a racist tirade on Patrice Evra just last year. The offender's intentions in this case were also questionable: Suarez claimed the aggravating word 'negro' is common in latin American countries, and means no harm.  

Followers of football have lamented a lack of continuity as the FA failed to match the charges. Suarez's £40,000 fine is considerably less than Terry's. Because Suarez was banned for longer but Terry was fined more, it's impossible to tell which act of charged racism was deemed worse.

A consequence of the events, which loomed over football for nearly a year, saw Rio Ferdinand's effective eligibility to the England Euro 2012 squad decimated merely for being the brother of Anton. England also lost a manager. For a four match ban and around a fine of a week's wages, it begs the question was the whole thing worth it?

Racism is foul and needs to be tackled in football, as in other arenas of life. Though in the cases of Suarez and Terry the truth may be that a desire to present a tough stance on racism, combined with their high profile personalities, led to their receiving considerably steeper punishment than their actions warranted.

Triple Olympic champion - no small feat

No athlete has ever won the same track event at three consecutive Olympics. It appears a feat beyond the parameters of human possibility. To be the fastest or to have the best endurance over a specific distance for the best part of a decade is yet to be crystallised in the form of Olympic domination.

Of course, it is much more complicated than that. Merely being the quickest in your discipline is no assurance of victory. Take Mo Farah in the 5,000m for example: this year ten other runners had posted faster times and seven boasted superior personal bests. 

But when it came to it, at the crucial point - in the final of the Olympic Games - Farah vanquished them all. 

In the run-up to the Games, Farah stressed how he had configured his training so that he peaked at London. Evidently, this worked wonders - while others were busy setting world-leading times, Farah was quietly timing his preparations to perfection. 

Hitting one's peak at the critical moment is a quality synonymous with the last of the 'Flying Finns' Lasse Viren. Viren is the only competitor to win both the 5,000m and 10,000m in consecutive Olympics, and he did so by drifting away from the athletics scene - when he worked as a policeman in his home country - and returning when it mattered most.

The sole athlete who had the chance to earn Olympic track immortality at this Games - in Farah's first conquest, the 10,000m - was Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia. This is a runner who has been so successful in his career that on the sparse occasion when he's taken anything but a gold medal, the immediate question to be asked is what went wrong for Bekele - not what went right for the winner.

Kenenisa Bekele leading the pack; by David Leah from Comisión Nacional de Cultura Física y Deporte

However, even for someone considered to be one of the all-time greats in long-distance running, a third Olympic title proved elusive. There were no excuses from Bekele as he finished in fourth place and out of the medals, and one must assume merely that the years had caught up with him. He has since declared that he will hang up his track boots in order to tackle the marathon, a progression many greats have made before him.

In the sprints, Carl Lewis was 100m champion in 1984 and 1988. Come Barcelona 1992, however, his dominance had waned and Lewis focused on the long jump. To further highlight the difficulties of staying at the top, on only one occasion has the 400m been won by the same man at consecutive Olympics – by ‘Superman’ Michael Johnson in 1996 and 2000.

Is there something about track running that makes the treble so hard to achieve? Rigorous training demands are one small matter as the athlete has a number of factors to contend with cometh the moment. In sprinting, one false start now equates to immediate disqualification and in the longer distances, tactics play a huge part as runners influence the way the race plays out by sticking with their fellow nationals and training partners.

Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the recently crowned double Olympic champions in men's and women's 100m, will each have a chance at Rio 2016 to do what no one has done before and become an Olympic triple track champion. Quite a mouthful, and quite a feat. In fact, as the double winner in the 200m, Bolt will have two opportunities. 

They will both be 29 when the opportunity arises, and age is unlikely to be their stumbling block. For 5"0' Fraser-Pryce, competing in one of the most loaded events, has twice denied the USA and has awakened their wrath. Then, Bolt: who knows where he will be in four years' time? In the world of cricket, motoring on to Wayne Rooney throughballs or tackling the longer sprint, the 400m?

Or maybe, just maybe, he will have stuck around long enough to achieve something that really will make Bolt a legend of athletics.

Usain Bolt after retaining his Olympic 100m crown at London 2012; by Mike Hilton

Keri-Anne Payne unable to follow in fellow GB stars' golden footsteps

London Olympics 2012, Women's Open Water Race, 10k/ 6 laps of Hyde Park's Serpentine

The Serpentine: a dauntingly named lake that conjures images of mythical snake beasts. Indeed, its name is derived from its snaking, curving shape. Yet as open water courses go, such thoughts are misleading. The flat tide made for a very fast race in the women’s swimming marathon.

Great Britain’s Keri-Anne Payne was a strong favourite but could only manage fourth place. Perhaps that the winner, Eva Risztov of Hungary, has a rich background in middle-distance pool races suggests the conditions were unfavourable to Payne.

Open water racing is as it sounds: an individualised discipline where swimmers have great freedom to decide how they compete. They can lurk in a chasing pack or lead, drift sideways and take fuel breaks as and when pleased.

Payne appeared to have missed her final drop from her feeding station, which could account for her being off the leaders’ pace. It may be more appropriate, however, to make the point that the waters were too tame to draw the best out of her.

For a swimmer who has encountered jellyfish the size of dinner plates, swam in a river where dead dogs and horses had been dumped and in ice-cold waters without shark nets, the recreational lake would have been like a stroll in the surrounding Hyde Park – a comfort to some but which played competitively to Payne’s disadvantage.

Characteristically Payne, who likes to lead from start to finish, took immediately to the front, only to be hauled back by Hayley Anderson of USA and Risztok, who stretched the field at a ferocious pace.

With one lap of six remaining, the race was already elitist as a ten metre gap separated the first five swimmers. Mercifully, Risztok cranked the intensity to make the gap 20 then 30 metres, putting a clear separation between the rest of the field.

The early race leader, Anderson, was left adrift battling with Payne to catch Germany’s Angela Moura, Italy’s Martina Grimaldi and Risztok who occupied the medal positions.

What happened next was extraordinary, however, as she summoned staggering reserve to surge up to second place, and came close to snatching victory. Payne, too, was swept forward as the end approached, and finished just 0.4 seconds off a podium finish.

Resilient, brave, occasionally brilliant - but beaten

Euro 2012 quarter-final: England 0 - 0 Italy (Italy won 4-2 on penalties after extra-time)

In terms of the quality of football played over 120 minutes, England had lost. Long before the actual penalty defeat. It was as if the players felt they were competing a long-distance desert race, desperately attempting to drag their dead, cramping bodies over the extra-time finish line.

Andrea Pirlo, the puppet master, had England at his mercy and the viewing public in horrified awe. His ability to exert a wizard-like influence on the game from such a deep-sitting position proved to be a tactical nightmare and a spectacle scarcely seen. There is no denying his passing was on top form, both in terms of range and accuracy. But he has been performing at that ultimate level all year for Juventus, where he was in many critics’ eyes player of the season. Pirlo was just doing his thing. And we had no plan - or so it seemed - to nullify him.

The problem lay in the position Pirlo operates in; he plays in-between the defence and midfield where he aims to orchestrate the team's tempo and play passes in all directions. Our orthodox 4-4-2 did not naturally lend a player to picking him up, and the result was Pirlo had both plenty of space and time on the ball throughout the match. Free reign to the one player we could not afford to allow free reign. He also roamed to the sides, where his crossing was equally threatening.

Going into the quarter-final there was genuine reason for optimism. England breezed through their group, and with two exciting performances. We showed against Sweden an ability to raise our game, find goals when needed. Against Ukraine, we withstood a barrage from an inspired host nation and there was a genuine feeling of togetherness that has been a missing ingredient of past campaigns. The first half performance was all that was missing, and against Italy we got it. But then we lost it.

In the second half we reverted to the negative mindset we displayed against France. Like someone who had been sat in an uncomfortable chair for too long, we slumped from sitting high with attacking posture to sagging around our box as our goal-threat evaporated.

'Same old England' describes the style of our exit as once again we departed on penalties. But if that is how our tournament is remembered, it will do England an injustice. There were numerous, if disjointed, examples of the talents and capacity needed to form a winning side. We just never managed to display them all together at once.