Sir Alex Ferguson: End of an Era

The tributes will start pouring in now on those social networking sites. There will be tons of stories, tons of analyses of his glorious 26 years at the helm of the most successful club in English history. But what I cannot stop wondering about is how it must have exactly been to be him. I mean, isn't that the ultimate life one can ever dream of? Getting over 70, and still having that boundless enthusiasm to do what you love? And to still be the freaking best at it after 39 years?

I won't talk about the stats and all the trophies he won and everything. Pretty much everyone knows about that, and if even if you don't, you're going to be bombarded with all that information anyways. The only statistic that tells the story of his life for me is this: 5 times Manchester United finished as the runners-up in the Premier League under him. On each and every occasion, they stormed back to win back the title. The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will, said Vince Lombardi. Willpower was never a problem with Ferguson. Every goal scored was cheered with the same childlike enthusiasm, that must have been present right from childhood. Every defeat was met with a burning desire to return to the winning ways.

The speculations are already rife about who shall succeed him at Old Trafford. For all we know, that might be the greatest managerial challenge one has ever faced. The kind of legacy he leaves behind, how do you compete with that? And yet Ferguson might not be gone just yet. They say he'll continue on the football board and as an ambassador. You wonder if there's one final challenge left for him. History tells us its a monumental task to continue the same level of success, when a team loses a legend like him. It took decades for United to get over Sir Matt Busby. Liverpool met with similar fate after Bill Shankly. I wonder if that's why Ferguson wants to hang around, albeit in an upstairs job. To ensure that Manchester United continue to move forward with the legend that he has built in last 26 years.

That, might just be the ultimate triumph for the Wily Old Scott.

Work In Progress...

Quite a few must have been surprised with how strongly Di Matteo's Chelsea began their season. They were supposed to be the team in transition; with all those fancy new play-makers coming in who would surely need  time to adapt. Add to that, they'd just lost the talismanic Didier Drogba, and a bunch of dependable squad-players like Kalou, Meireles and Malouda. The hopes went up pretty fast though, once they'd stormed to 7 wins in first 8 games, playing probably the best football in British Islands. Last few weeks have shown enough though, to remind us that, Chelsea very much remain a "work in progress."

So, where do the problems lie? People point out Chelsea haven't kept a clean-sheet in last six games. But, the defenders haven't been poor to be honest, nor the goal-keeper. They haven't really got enough protection from the midfield shield ahead of them. How many times have we seen Mikel so unusually high up the pitch for his holding-role? Some of us wondered how could Hazard and Mata play in the same team. Well, Chelsea even threw Oscar into the mix, and they have formed an incredible attacking-trio quite seamlessly. Chelsea's biggest concerns stem from not the new boys, but adapting the existing ones to the new system.

The Double Pivot:

Ideally to play a double midfield pivot, you'd prefer a combination of a strong ball-winner, and an excellent passer, the one they call "the deep-lying play-maker" these days. A good example would be Busquests and Xavi at Barcelona, or Vidal and Pirlo at Juventus; even though neither of those two clubs employ the the same formation. Last few games have shown us that Chelsea have neither.

With Di Matteo sticking to his preferred 4-2-3-1, it allows Chelsea to field all three of their coveted playmakers. But it has created a new conundrum in the deep-lying midfield positions. Last season, Di Matteo would play Ramires as the part of the advanced trio, leaving Lampard and Mikel  to sit in front of the defense. Lampard adapted to the role brilliantly, controlling the play from deep and even getting into strong tackles frequently. This season though, Di Matteo has had to choose two out of the three, and Lampard has found himself on the bench a few times because the energy Ramires brings to the midfield.

Lampard and Mikel proved to be a solid midfield-duo last season.

As Chelsea's approach was conservative for the big games, Mikel often stayed deep and went on to be one of the stand-out performers last season. But with this season's Chelsea wanting to play with flair, we've often seen him move high up the pitch at times, where frankly, he looks like a deer caught in the headlights. What's worse, it leaves Chelsea vulnerable to counter-attacks like the way United cut them open for their second goal. Oriol Romeu seemed to be tailor-made for a role in this midfield with his performances early last season, with decent tackling skills and excellent ball-distribution. But his form has pretty much fizzled out since.As for Ramires, yes, he's one of the most valuable midfielders in the Premier League right now with his boundless stamina, he's not the guy suited to his current role. Ramires is a proper box-to-box midfielder, tirelessly moving up and down the pitch. Thus, his attacking instincts leave Chelsea outnumbered in the middle of the park during rapid opposition counters. 

The Number Nine Role:

Well, there have been enough columns filled on this one. Chelsea do get goals, but they need more of them coming from their strikers. I feel the criticism handed out to Torres is a bit excessive. He's looked quite sharp recently, ready to take on defenders, even pulling out tricks and dummies. But Chelsea need him to score goals.Anyhow. Without them, the pressure is too much on the trio of Mata, Hazard and Oscar. At the moment, they're the ones expected to create chances, and then do the scoring too. Daniel Sturridge simply doesn't look good enough to start week-in-week-out. Which means Torres has to start games continuously without even thinking of rotations and stuff.

To be frank, expectations from Torres have been sky-high because of all the expensive creative talent brought in by Chelsea. During his heydays at Liverpool, everything went through him. But Chelsea's creators are themselves more than able bang in goals themselves, which in fact means, lesser clear-cut chances for Torres than one would expect. He's at his best when playing on the shoulder of the last defender, while currently he often has to come deeper to link with Mata and Hazard. This is one big conundrum to deal with for Di Matteo.

There are already talks of a January swoop for a big name forward. If the current scenario doesn't change soon, that might turn into a necessity rather than a luxury. We've been told Chelsea will be genuine title contenders this season, but all that talk may end up to be premature. This team is yet far from complete. The occasional flashes of brilliance might dazzle us temporarily. But unless Chelsea sort out their current issues, the English title looks unlikely to leave the city of Manchester.

The Return of a Boas...

From the managerial wunderkid to a naive failure. The journey was swift for a young Andre Villas-Boas. A year ago, he was the most coveted man in European football; with all the big clubs showing interest, after that incredible treble with Porto. Yet the gasps were audible when a move to Stamford Bridge materialized. No one had ever paid 13 million pounds before to secure a manager. Not even Roman Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour.

Yet here he stands now, as the newly-named boss of Tottenham, just four months after the unceremonious sacking at Chelsea, where his tenure lasted merely 256 days. Yes, Andre Villas-Boas is back in English football. Perhaps not amidst so  much fanfare this time, but certainly with even more resolve to succeed. His decision to take the reigns at Spurs is indeed a bold one, considering many would've shied away from such a fast return after a nightmarish experience.

We have already been subjected to lots of discussions on whether he can succeed at White Hart Lane, or what are the issues he'll need to handle immediately; from serious tactical debates to amateurish "Get Modric to stay, Sign a big striker and everything will be rosy" types. Let's not get into all that again. Villas-Boas' rise on the footballing circuit has certainly been fascinating. Did he try to get big too fast? Should he have waited another year, like his predecessor Mourinho, before making the big move? The discussions have been endless. And yet, a man as shrewd as Levy chose to put his faith in him ahead of an experienced Englishman highly popular at Spurs. That should tell us something.

Villas-Boas certainly has an interesting persona, although the media didn't exactly do him justice. The confidence was soon labelled as "arrogance" once he took them head-on, and results started dwindling. He came to Chelsea with a clear vision for the future, but the actual implementation was far more difficult. The plan was to play the beautiful passing game, with an extremely high back-line to press heavily (Yeah, we have heard tons about that!). Trouble began when Chelsea's Old Guard struggled to adjust to the new system. You could say Villas-Boas's reaction wasn't exactly diplomatic. Even that could work at some of the clubs, but not at a club where player-power is so rampant.

A few would deny the young Portuguese is an astute tactician; in fact, some would say he's too much of that. His attention to details is immense, inherited from his days as the Opposition Scout. It's said that some of the Chelsea's players didn't take it too well, when AVB tried to dictate even their smallest movements. He was a workaholic, poring over massive amounts of technical data about his players. In the end he became so engrossed with damage-control work, that he'd even sleep at the Cobham training center. Despite having a family home in Chelsea Harbour. People could call him naive, arrogant and loads of other things; but no one could fault his burning desire to make things work at Chelsea.

Some say Villas-Boas was too obsessed with the tactical data, than his own players.

To make things clear, this writer is a die-hard Chelsea fan, so any urge to see as bitter rivals as Tottenham fail should be almost obligatory. One would think that desire would be even more intense against someone who went there from the Stamford Bridge itself. And yet, I just can't bring myself to not like the man, who was willing to sleep on the training grounds, just to make things right at Chelsea.

Some of Villas-Boas' mistakes were glaring. The insistence on high-line with ageing defenders was always highlighted. Although his signing of Gary Cahill showed he understood the issue. No one had better stats last season in catching opponents offside as the last man in defense than the English Centre-back. He wasn't helped by the troubles in Chelsea's striking department, despite the abundance of talent. His success at Porto was built majorly on two phenomenal forwards, Falcao and Hulk. The two scored an incredible 74 goals together in Porto's treble-winning heroics. At Chelsea, neither Drogba nor Torres hit the ground running. Suspensions suffered at crucial junctures didn't help the cause either.

And yet, perhaps the biggest mistake was isolating Nicolas Anelka and Alex, once they handed in transfer request. Maybe a decision too professional for players' liking. These were 2 experienced footballers who had won championships with Chelsea and had greatly successful careers; most of the team felt a strong bond with them that Villas-Boas didn't share. The public humiliation of taking away their first-team privileges didn't go down well with the rest of the team.

Ever since that, Villas-Boas must have known he was on borrowed time. Chelsea looked like a broken team, as if they didn't even want to play under him. The sacking was almost inevitable, but Roman Abramovich did blame his players for the poor performances. Villas-Boas didn't play the blame-games; he fought audaciously  till the inevitable end came. They say Spurs are taking a huge gamble by hiring him. Only time will tell us if it backfires. But for now, the man who once laid claims to title of the "Next Special One" is back in English Football. And the Premier League is going to get a lot more interesting.

The Burning Boats...

There's an awe-inspiring story of the famed explorer Hernando Cortez that I can never forget. He reached the shores of Mexico in 1519. Wanted to conquer the land for the Spanish empire. But the hurdles were too big. A  mighty empire of Aztecs as enemies, deadly diseases, and scarce resources in a totally foreign land. As he marched with his army for the battle, he sent one of his captains back to the shore with a single order, "Burn our Boats." I love that attitude.

When Chelsea's famous Old Guard marched on to the Stamford Bridge turf on Wednesday night, they perfectly knew what future awaited them. They knew that, their boats were burning, and that there was no way back. Fight for survival, or die in the war.Simple. And they delivered. Sometimes, it's better to be under pressure, rather than coasting through everything.

John Terry said before the game it could be one of their greatest nights, and spot on he was. This was a performance that defined what Chelsea are all about. Simply refusing to die, refusing to give up on their long cherished dream of conquering Europe. Chelsea's golden generation knew this would be their last chance, a final onslaught in their quest for the Holy Grail, that is the Champions League. And they fought heroically, for the whole of those astonishing 120 minutes. John Terry, Mr Chelsea as he most certainly is, would lead the way majestically, miraculously just 3 weeks after a surgery on what had looked like a serious knee injury. Didier Drogba, who turned 34 days ago, battled like a monster for the whole of two hours, never allowing a moment's peace to all 3 defenders who formed Napoli's rearguard.

Let's give Napoli the credit they are due, though, for making this tie a memorable one. Any Italian team would try to sit on the two-goal lead they brought from Naples. But then, Napoli hardly play like an old-fashioned Italian team. They aren't afraid of the giants, and rightfully so. Their "Holy Trinity" is one of the best forward-lines in Europe, bettered perhaps only by Messi and Co. Napoli are quite an exceptional team, they move at a breakneck speed, they make the game thrilling, without doubt they went down fighting.

Walter Mazzari was right with his philosophy, despite the defeat. They knew they could score in London, leaving Chelsea to score atleast three. What he would not have thought, was that Chelsea would be up for the challenge. This was the Chelsea radically different from the one that fell lamely in Naples. Fired up for the occasion, ever since Terry put them ahead on aggregate, you could sense there would be no stopping them. Gokhan Inler's brilliantly taken goal, even though easily the finest of the night, merely delayed the inevitable. Chelsea would not be beaten on the night. There was far too much determination in them to be knocked out.

These are the nights that make football fans' lives worth living for. These are the nights that make Football the "Beatiful Game" that it is. Every club has their own, and this one perhaps, was Chelsea's greatest. There's far too much work yet to be done, all the hullabaloo will count for nothing if Chelsea can't get their faltering season back on track at the end. But this was a night, that galvanized the club, which days ago, looked a broken unit. Stamford Bridge erupted like never before, and it's likely to keep roaring again. The writing on the wall is there for all to see. Chelsea's Golden Generation are out on their final assault. They might not be around for long now, but they're far from finished. Not by a long way.

Is this the start of a revival for the Men from the Bridge?

Bilbao’s supremacy or United’s frailties?

After a hiatus for more than 2 months, Football Freaks finally returns.. Akash Nair takes a look back at the hugely entertaining clash between Manchester United and Athletic Bilbao two days ago, as he praises the project Marcelo Bielsa has undertaken at the Basque club....

I will confess now and here that I am a fan of Marcelo Bielsa. This is not a consequence of Athletic Club de Bilbao’s triumph over my beloved United, but a gradual appreciation from the time I first saw him manage a side – Chile against Spain at the world cup, the only match where Spain was threatened.

Now coming to the original question – was it Bilbao’s supremacy or United’s frailties? The answer in my opinion is a combination of both.  Disagree? Agree? In any case read on !!

Athletic club de Bilbao and ‘Vertical Football’:

Believe it or not, Athletic club de Bilbao under Marcelo Bielsa is not your typical Spanish team, it’s an English team with technically good players. How many times do you see a muscular tall centre forward in a Spanish team? They don’t strut around with their tiki-taka and don’t obsess over possession of the ball. They follow a philosophy called "Vertical Football". Many of you may be familiar with it. There is tremendous importance attached to winning the ball high up the pitch (a tactic employed by Pep Guardiola and  AVB) and then launching quick attacks, either through the middle or with the help of galloping fullbacks who occupy the space left by the inverted wingers.

Bielsa’s start at Bilbao wasn’t a great one, but whose is? He has created a team which suits his tactical methodologies to the hilt. Nimble-footed young players with great stamina who never stop running. His training routines are arduous and revolutionary with a maddening attention to detail. Enough drooling over Bielsa and Bilbao! So what did they do when they played at old Trafford? Simple, they pressed hard....Really hard. Fernando Llorente closed down both Smalling and Evans with effective ease. At times, you could see Evans or Smalling high up the pitch. The reason was a single striker left one free defender who could move ahead with the ball. The same happened at the other end. But the problem for United was Hernandez and Rooney aren't habituated to the pressing game Bilbao play. Rooney drops deep and hence his marker is usually the CDM of the opposing team, whereas Hernandez sometimes just can't keep himself outside the offside zone, let alone pressurizing defenders (oh Tevez .. I remember thou!). Welbeck would have been a better choice since he had done the closing down job well at Anfield and in many other games this season.

This left a Centre-back free and on top of that, Rooney’s tracking back was pathetic in the first half, which left their deep-lying midfielder free to roam ahead into the United half. Bilbao kept it simple, played at high tempo, didn’t give United centre-backs and midfielders any time on the ball and United quite evidently struggled. Bilbao’s system though, has certain chinks in the armor. All it needs to exploit Bilbao is a midfielder who is adept at dribbling (Modric), leave one or two of their players in the lurch and find vast amounts of space behind their defenders and a pacey striker to latch onto them.  Unfortunately in Giggs and Jones, we didn't have a specialist midfield pairing and their positional naivety was exposed very badly.

Do United miss a certain Portuguese?

Okay. Most of you know Manchester United’s midfield conundrum like multiplication tables. What I would like to focus is the change affected by the introduction of Carrick and Anderson in midfield. Anderson's energy helped us launch 3 counter attacks while Carrick's passing range nullified Bilbao’s pressing threat. Those counters were expertly bottled by Chicharito who should have scored at least one.

SAF favors the 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 . the problem with a midfield two is that when you play against a midfield 3,  you are outnumbered. Add to that, 3 young ones hunting you down like a pack of wolves .. you are in for a nightmare. United’s midfield 2 consists of a runner and a passer. At present united have 2 passers (Carrick, Scholes) while our runners are absent ( Cleverly, Anderson, Fletcher ). One of the best examples  of a perfect 2 is Modric(passer) and Parker(runner). So now you know the present predicament at Manchester United.

Coming to title of this section. The Portuguese we are missing badly as most have guessed is not Cristiano Ronaldo, but the mercurial Carlos Queiroz. SAF, I will have to concede was never tactically brilliant in Europe. We have many occasions that this has come to the fore .. most notably the 2 finals against Barcelona ,  semifinal against Milan and matches against Real Madrid. Ferguson, combined with the tactical acumen of Queiroz then adopted a shape which loosely resembled that of Juventus of Marcelo Lippi. With Scholes playing as the regista(deep lying playmaker .. like Pirlo) with a midfield destroyer along with him (Hargreaves). Sadly we don’t have such players around and nor do we have Carlos Queiroz around.

What United need to do is play a 3 in Europe till we get the perfect combination, but again we rarely adopt such a shape in the league. We did play a midfield 3 against Bayern in quarters, but that is the only match which lingers in recent memory.

Concluding my piece, it would be interesting to see what Ferguson does at St. James' next week. With an away trip to Wolves looming, I don’t see him playing a strong side. I wouldn't want us to compromise the league in any case. Manchester United are in a transitional period. The sooner we come out of it, the better for us. As for Athletic club de Bilbao, I hope Biesla holds onto his stars. The legendary club’s rise will do a world of good to the Spanish league and Europe in general.  

Catalonia Log: The Fabregas Effect

Enough has already been written on the el classico that took place last week. We all talked about Messi's brilliance again, along with Ronaldo's flop show and Jose's failed bid to open up a massive lead at the top of the La Liga. Barcelona were supposedly looking weaker this season, and it was said Madrid were ready to finally overthrow their reign. So after the the game, Barca fans did take their chances to boast their superiority again, but puzzlingly, there have been too few discussions about the radical change in Barca's tactics this season.

People talked about Barcelona not looking as great as they have been last three seasons at the start of the campaign. But, the changes that Pep Guardiola has implemented are finally showing their fruit. People have just talked in awe about the 3-defenders system Pep utilised, but there's a lot of tactical thinking behind it.Yes, Lionel Messi continues to dazzle the world with his trickery and inhuman goal-scoring rate. But, one of the biggest factors for the La Blagurana has been the return of their prodigal son.

The Front-Three :
Even with Messi playing in the "False 9" role since Ibrahimovic's departure, Barcelona's front three have been a bit rigid. Messi would drop deep for the possession at times, but Pedro and David Villa always played from the flanks, trying to cut inside. But, with now Cesc Fabregas, naturally an attacking mid-fielder, introduced in that trio, there's suddenly a lot more flexibility. Well, or even more than that was pre-existing!

Messi roams anywhere with the ball, allowing Fabregas to make the forays forward

As you can see, with Fabregas willing to play between the lines, rather than either a conventional forward or midfielder, Messi can now roam literally anywhere on the field again. People had talked a lot about Dani Alves just not being able to defend. So, Pep decided to do the clever thing. He just relieved him of his defensive duties, offering him a much more advanced role. This allows Messi and Fabregas to keep changing their positions all the time, causing all kinds of havoc. And this has clearly been seen in both players' stats. While people have long stopped feeling any more surprised about Messi's monstrous goal-scoring record, the former Gunners captain's haul of 10 goals already, does show his immense importance to that system.

Even though Barcelona brought Cesc home more for his creative skills, you wonder Guardiola had this role planned for him all along. Of course, that doesn't mean he's stopped creating chances the way he did at Arsenal. Often he drops deep into the centre of the park, picking out his trademark through-balls, allowing Dani Alves to almost operate as an advanced winger.

Barcelona Set-up with Fabregas in deep-lying role

One of the biggest tactical master-stroke from Guardiola though, was turning Mascherano into a ball-playing defender in the absence of Pique. It was the biggest change, that allowed Barcelona to ease into this system. It took them a bit of time to get accustomed to it, the draw Bilbao and defeat to Getafe stand as proof. But it's commendable how quickly Pep's team have passed through this transition. The difference seems so much starker, when compared to the current re-building attempts at Manchester United and Chelsea.

"At the height of success, 'break' your business", said the former Motorola CEO, Ed Zander. Find any similarities? Barcelona have been on top of the footballing world now for 3 years. And yet, Pep has innovated relentlessly, always bringing out something new and even more beautiful. We often talk about the astute tactical game-plans by Fergusons and Mourinhos, indirectly assuming Barca's magical play is just because of their superstars. Yet, some of the most fantastic innovations in recent times have come from the former Barcelona Number 4. Playing Messi in the "False 9" role after the departures of Eto'o and Ibrahimovic, using David Villa on the left-flank to cut inside, and now this nearly un-'man-markable' system.

Let Real Madrid fans say they don't care about about losing to Barcelona as long as they win the league.They still lead the table despite that that classico defeat. But deep inside, they will know that, for them to succeed, the mighty Catalans must be beaten. Jose Mourinho will be desperate for that. He has beaten them with Chelsea and Inter already. But, Barcelona still stand pretty on top of the tree. He knows himself, that to end the catalan reign, he must build one of the greatest club-teams, one that can go close to the might of the legendary Real Madrid of 50s and 60s. His track record and determination suggests he might achieve that one day. But for all the current attempts from the club from the Capital, the team from Catalonia still hold the advantage.

10 Best Summer Transfers: 2011

With nearly a one-third of the season gone, one would think it's about time to see how the new summer recruits are faring at their new clubs. There have been many of them, as usual, some expensive flops, some bargain deals, and they have probably had time to settle down. Here's a look back.

10. Javier Pastore (Palermo to PSG, 43m Euros)
Even Chelsea and Manchester City balked at the price tag. But, PSG's new Qatari owners chose him as the poster-boy for their revolution. And Pastore hasn't disappointed. PSG currently sit 2nd in the French League, ahead of the likes of Lyon and Marseille, and Pastore has contributed with 6 goals and 4 assists in all competitions already.  Still only 22, the lanky Argentine can certainly develop into one of the best attacking midfielders.


9. Michel Vorm ( FC Utrecht to Swansea City, 1.5m Pounds)

Michel Vorm has been outstanding in goal for Swansea this season...
                                                           Picture Courtsey: Vincent Teeuwen

Who would've predicted that a Dutch goalkeeper joining Swansea would feature in such lists, when there were deals for the likes of Aguero, Mata, Nasri and Fabregas? But, Michel Vorm has been nothing short of sensational for the Swans this season. He has the highest number of clean sheets so far in a league, where Reina, Hart and Cech also ply their trade. Swansea are the joint lowest scorers in the league, and arguably, Vorm is the only reason they're still comfortably out of relegation places. What more you can get for 1.5 million Pounds?

8. Manuel Neuer (Schalke 04 to Bayern Munich, 22m Euros)

One of the best goalkeepers in the world, possibly the best, he still faced hostilities from a few Bayern fans for being a former Schalke player. But his performances have done more than enough to erase all that. Right at the start of his Bayern career, Neuer broke the Bayern Munich record for most competitive clean sheets in a row, having gone 1000 minutes without conceding a goal. That's pretty impressive, even for someone Bayern have chosen to succeed the legendary Oliver Kahn.


7. Arturo Vidal ( Bayer Leverkusen to Juventus, 12.5m Euros)

Not the most attractive among Juve's summer signings, but possibly the most solid one. Vidal joined the Bianconeris after an impressive season with Bayer Leverkusen in which they finished 2nd in the league, and an excellent Copa America. He has been fairly impressive so far for Juve, forging a good partnership with Pirlo and Marchisio. Essentially a defensive midfielder, the Chilean is also capable of playing in a box-to-box role, and he already looks an integral part of Antonio Conte's new look Old Lady.


6. Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid to Manchester City, 35m Pounds)

To be honest, I haven't been that impressed with him, although the sheer number of goals he has scored forces his inclusion here. 12 goals this season already, 10 of them in the league, but let's not forget 5 of them have come in 2 home games against Swansea and Wigan. We would have earlier expected even more from a 35-million-pounds signing. But all of us seemed to have lowered the expectations a bit, after the January deals for Torres and Carroll. While David Silva has had a lion's share in City's magnificent start to this campaign, aged only 23, Aguero has loads of time to turn into one of the most lethal forwards of the game.


5. Santi Cazorla ( Villareal to Malaga, 21m Euros)

One of the biggest coup Malaga's new owners managed. Technically sound, Cazorla is a versatile winger who can play on both flanks. With 4 goals and 2 assists, he's currently Malaga's best goal-scorer and assist-provider this season. It's pretty clear that this guy will havbe to carry Malaga's lofty ambitions on his shoulders this season, if they are to upstage Villareal and surprise-package Levante for Champions League qualification.


4. Juan Mata ( Valencia to Chelsea, 22m Pounds)

In a Chelsea team that has looked stale and clue-less at times, Mata has been the lone shining light. In fact, with most other big names under-performing, you'd have to wonder where would Chelsea be, if they hadn't secured the creative talent of Mata. The diminutive Spaniard already has 4 goals and 6 assists so far, and his instant settling-down in EPL suggests he's well on his way to turning into one of the best play-makers of the current generation.


3. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal to Barcelona, 34m Euros)

Cesc Fabgrgas: No more a Gunner....
                                                                     Picture Courtsey: Wonker

It was one of the longest drawn transfer sagas in recent times, and it finally ended this summer. Fabregas finally got the move back to his parent club Barcelona, and if there were doubts about him not having a place in the already star-studded line-up, he has quickly removed all of them. Already having accumulated 7 goals and 6 assists this season, Cesc has quickly established himself in Barcelona's already mighty line-up. With the La Blagurana not exactly performing to their dazzling best currently, the return of theier Prodigal Son might just prove to be a vital move.


2. Phil Jones (Blackburn to Manchester United, 16.5m Pounds)

He's just 19, he's already a regular into the Manchester United starting-11, and is already being touted as the future England captain. That should tell you something about him. A brilliant defender, Jones is well capable of bullying people of the ball, and can driver forward with equal ease from the back. In fact, I'm surprised he's yet to score a goal (at the right end, that is!) for Red Devils, seeing his boundless energy on the field. If someone threatens Rio Ferdiand's place in defense at the age of 19, you just know he's destined for big things.

1. Scott Parker (West Ham United to Tottenham, 6m Pounds)

Scoring goals hasn't been an issue for Spurs under Harry Redknapp, with the abundance of attacking talent at their disposal. The problem was always the cheap goals leaked at vital times. Enter Scott Parker, and Spurs are suddenly looking a transformed unit. It's surely not a co-incidence that Spurs haven't lost a league game since his arrival, winning 7 out of the 8 games he has played. Having been named PFA Player of the Year last season, Parker has continued his majestic form in the holding-midfielder's role. Not just a great tackler, he easily controls the tempo of the game, leaving the likes of Van der Vaart and Bale to bomb forward fearlessly. And then, how many have managed to overpower Spain's magical midfield, even in a friendly?