Who will win La Liga this season?Posted by Sid LoweAs the minutes ticked away on Sunday night's late game between Atltico Madrid and Sevilla, the visiting bench crept closer and closer to the pitch. Every Sevilla substitute was standing; the manager and coaches too, excited, tense, pleading for the final whistle to go, waiting for that explosion of joy.

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Each time Atltico attacked they paused, nervous; each time the ball was sent up the other end, they could feel it getting nearer. Soon, they were practically on the pitch. And when at last the final whistle went, they really were. Leaping up, they embraced, punched the air and ran toward their exhausted club mates.

You would think they had won the World Cup, not a league game against Atltico Madrid. But the reaction said much; there could be few greater compliments for Atltico and few greater results for Sevilla.

"Teams celebrate drawing against us now," Atltico fullback Filipe Luis said, saying it all. "I congratulated [Atltico manager Diego] Simeone out of humility and admiration," Sevilla's coach Unai Emery beamed. This was a big result for Sevilla; it would have been a big result for anyone. In 11 games at the Caldern this season, only one team had managed to secure a draw, still less a victory. And that was Barcelona.

In 20 league matches, Atltico have won 16, drawn three and lost just one. With twenty minutes to go, Atltico were one up and provisional leaders of the league, out on their own at the top for the first time in 17 years -- back when they won the league and cup double. Won 17, drawn two and lost one. But then a penalty, committed by Juanfran and scored by Ivan Rakitic, made it 1-1.

Just as it was a compliment that Barcelona adapted their game to protect themselves against Atltico the week before, there must have been something strangely satisfying in seeing Sevilla so happy. Above all, though, there must have been something frustrating. Just before Atltico's game had started, Barcelona's had ended. Down on the east coast, they had drawn 1-1 to Levante. Their year-long run at the top of the table could have come to an end; so too had Atltico's 17-year wait to lead the league alone.

And so at the news conference, the questions came in. Did you get it wrong? Why did you sit back and not look for the second goal? How will this affect the team? How costly could those points be? How disappointed are you? What have you said to pick the players up?

All the inquisitors headed in the same direction: disappointment, lost opportunity, sadness. Simeone headed in the other direction: satisfaction, security. He was smiling. A brave face perhaps, but a smiling face. This was Sevilla. Why should this affect our morale? We're happy. Fifty-one points after 20 games is an extraordinary record and a draw against Sevilla is a good result, one that allows us to remain in a privileged position.

Of course, he was right.Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty ImagesDiego Simeone's work in keeping Atletico near the Liga summit has been nothing short of remarkable. But do they have enough to win?

Atltico's position is a privileged one. Few seriously anticipated this at the start of the season. Simeone least of all: he has described winning the league as "impossible" and insisted repeatedly on the inequality in Spain. After the Barcelona game he noted with a grin that the two teams were similar -- except for the small matter of "400 million euros extra a year" in the budget. Now, they stand level at the top of the table as the second half of the season begins.

But now there are three. Atltico are not the only team whose position is a privileged one. First, Atltico and Barcelona drew with each other. Then, they drew with Sevilla and Levante respectively. Meanwhile, Real Madrid beat Espanyol 1-0 and Betis 5-0. Suddenly, everything has changed. In seven days, Real Madrid have clawed back four points the pair. There is just one point in it. Barcelona have 51 points, Atltico have 51 and Madrid, 50.

With 18 games to go, there is little margin for error; every point dropped will appear a disaster, every advantage conceded potentially fatal. The three teams are more or less on course for another record-breaking season. Not least because if they are to win the league, they have to be.

"One hundred points might not be enough," Tata Martino said.

One hundred points is the record, reached in each of the past two seasons, first by Madrid and then by Barcelona. In each of the past four seasons, the champions have been able to lose a maximum of two games. This season, Atltico and Barcelona have lost one each, Madrid two. In the past four seasons, the champions could drop points just six, six, eight and seven times: four draws and two defeats over the past two seasons, six draws and two defeats the season before, and six draws and one defeat the season before that. So far, the three contenders have dropped points four times a piece. Josep Lago/AFP/Getty ImagesReal Madrid's variety of goalscorers could be enough for Los Blancos to win their 33rd Liga trophy.

Simeone says that the second half of the season will be harder for Atltico. In part, he is trying to prevent the euphoria from infecting his team, but he also has a point: as he suggested, now that teams have watched them, there is less surprise. Sevilla's success -- and their reaction to it -- suggested that more teams may be satisfied to seek a draw, defending Atltico and denying them the chance to play directly and on the counter-attack. Atltico are relentless, hard to live with and supremely competitive but of the three, they are the side with the least attacking variety.

Atltico also do not have a squad as big as Madrid's or Barcelona's, and while Simeone insists that they are not tired at all, there have been fewer rotations and fatigue could yet be an issue. They are still in the Champions League and the Copa del Rey. Injuries will be harder to assimilate too, should they arrive. And Diego Costa is yet to score in 2014.

Barcelona overcame the absence of Leo Messi and had been playing extremely well of late but the Levante game revealed some familiar weaknesses: 50 percent of the goals they have conceded have come from set plays while in the absence of Andres Iniesta and Neymar, injured against Getafe and likely to be out for three weeks, they lacked a touch of incisiveness to undo tight, deep-lying defences.

Meanwhile, among Real fans, the euphoria is growing. They are unbeaten since Xabi Alonso returned, Cristiano Ronaldo has finally won the Ballon d'Or, youth teamer Jes is pushing for a place in the side with talent and temperament while Luka Modric is emerging as arguably the outstanding midfielder in the league. They have now gone six games without conceding, too, and Raphael Varane is nearing full fitness. The 5-0 victory over Betis was also a glimpse of their depth of talent: five goals, five different scorers. Josep Lago/AFP/Getty ImagesLuka Modric has quietly emerged as an instrumental figure for Real Madrid, yet another intangible in the title race.

The performances have not always been as good as the stats suggests and that run of clean sheets needs to be contextualised: Betis, Espanyol and Celta in the league, Espanyol and Osasuna in the Copa del Rey. Celta, in particular, departed the Bernabu wondering how they didnt score. But there is a security and a confidence about Madrid now that is partly born of getting a second opportunity. From five points behind and virtually out of it to just one and maybe even favourites in barely a week.

There are 18 games left and it could barely be more balanced. Barcelona must go to Madrid, Madrid must go to Atltico and Atltico must go to Barcelona. When it comes to the final few weeks, Madrid's run-in looks the easiest but what position will they be in when those games come around?

Predicting where points will be won and lost is fraught with risk but some games really stick out, with Sevilla, Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao likely to play a big part:

Week 22: Madrid at Athletic Bilbao. Week 23: Barcelona at Sevilla, Villarreal at Madrid. Week 25: Atltico at Real Sociedad. And week 26: Atltico Madrid versus Real Madrid.

Then there's the small matter of Real Madrid vs. Barcelona in Week 29, followed by more intrigue. Week 30: Madrid at Sevilla. Week 31: Atltico at Athletic. Week 32: Atltico vs. Villarreal and Madrid at Sevilla. Week 34: Barcelona vs. Athletic. Week 35: Villarreal-Barcelona and Valencia-Atltico.

And then, on the final day of the season: Barcelona against Atltico. Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty ImagesIt might be significant to the title race that Atletico Madrid and Barcelona face off in La Liga's final round of games.

First, a mischievous question: What if those two, Madrid's great rivals, go into the final minutes of the final match of the season drawing and knowing that a draw between them gives Real Madrid the title? More to the point, what if the prize is still shining before both of them? It is possible. And that is the most extraordinary thing of all.

It has been a decade since a team not named Real or Barcelona won the league. Valencia were the last "other" winners. You have to go back seven years to the most recent time anyone else was a genuine candidate, when Sevilla were agonisingly close in 2006-07.

Since then, the gap has gotten only wider. For the past five years the distance between the team in third and the title winners has been 24, 29, 25, 28 and 17 points. Atltico have done something astonishing in an era defined by huge economic inequality, something that their manager insisted was impossible: They have made themselves contenders and given us the most exciting, tense and demanding title race in years. Jovetic proving to be City's third wheelPosted by Richard JollyGettyImagesStevan Jovetic is back at full fitness, but will he get in the team?It is a medical mystery. How does a stomach bug develop into a hamstring problem? If the answer is elusive so, too, has been Manchester City summer signing Stevan Jovetic, who succumbed in such a strange way that, when sidelined by illness, he developed an injury and only returned six weeks later.

If it seems rather odd, then so, too, does the Montenegrins City career. It is never an encouraging sign when a players peak for his employers comes in a friendly. Rewind to July: Jovetic made an auspicious start to life in City colours, creating two goals as they raced into a 5-0 lead in preseason against AC Milan.

Six months on, the only other real illustrations of his quality have come for Montenegro, in a valiant attempt to take a country with the population of 620,000 to the World Cup. Jovetic -- who was among Serie As most accomplished attackers, who Rafa Benitez wanted to take to Liverpool as a teenager, who interested Arsenal and Juventus last summer, and who cost City 22 million pounds -- has been conspicuous by his absence.

The lesser-spotted striker made a belated reappearance as a replacement in City's Capital One Cup tie at West Ham on Tuesday. By default, it has become his competition. Two of his three starts have come in the junior domestic cup, even if the last, at Newcastle in October, spanned only 10 minutes. So have both of his goals, during his nondescript display in the 5-0 thrashing of Wigan. The only other game he started, the 0-0 draw at Stoke in September, seemed a culture shock for Jovetic and manager Manuel Pellegrini alike.

And, barring a couple of forgettable cameos, that is the full ledger of his time at City. Jovetic has had as many starts as injuries. If the latter are inherently unfortunate, the amount of time the Montenegrin has spent sidelined seems suspicious, not least to City.

Perhaps Pellegrinis most pertinent comment was: I always believe that a player cannot do it unless he feels he can do it. It was a hint that comebacks are not postponed for physical reasons. Fiorentina fans nicknamed Jovetic Il Bua for his low pain threshold, and he has appeared to lack confidence in his fragile frame.

At least when he sat out the entirety of the 2010-11 season, there was a legitimate explanation: He had an anterior cruciate ligament injury. At City, where lesser problems have pockmarked his campaign, he has veered between forgotten man and curiosity since October, appearing an expensive irrelevance.PA PhotosManchester City have a number of players who have got them goals.It is probably only the extraordinarily prolific form of Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo -- 60 goals between them and counting -- that has saved Jovetic from being bracketed alongside Erik Lamela and Marouane Fellaini among the seasons worst signings.

Jovetic is also among the strangest, particularly when a combination of considerable wages and a sizable fee are factored into the equation. City boast a surfeit of riches in the striking department. If the intention was to assemble a quartet with different attributes, defender Micah Richards outlined their various qualities thus: Sergio has pace and power. Edin is a good finisher and good in the air. Negredo runs around like a man possessed and is a great finisher. And Jovetic has skill and technique.

The question from the start, however, was where a natural No. 10 could figure. Pellegrini is not alone in believing top clubs need four high-class forwards, but he began his reign describing Dzeko as the first choice. If that was a psychological ploy to placate an unsettled player, Negredo soon displaced him from the side. Then there is Aguero, who Pellegrini feels trails only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the global pecking order.

In short, Jovetic was signed to understudy an automatic choice, and the suspicion is the money could have been better spent elsewhere. High-quality cover for Vincent Kompany would have helped, and City may yet regret not possessing a classier deputy to Yaya Toure and Fernandinho; another attacker, even if necessary for the sake of numbers, could have been a lesser priority.

Indeed, Jovetic's ill-timed absence proved there are alternatives even when the marksman supreme is missing. When Aguero limped off against Arsenal in December, there were questions about whether Negredo and Dzeko, the two target men, could play together. They were answered emphatically when a calf injury kept the Argentine out: In one three-game spell, the Spaniard and the Bosnian scored 11 goals between them.

Moreover, with Jovetic unavailable, Pellegrini unearthed another option: Four of Citys six goals against Arsenal came with David Silva floating around behind Negredo in a 4-2-3-1 formation. When Silva, Samir Nasri and Jesus Navas are all fit, it allows the Chilean to incorporate another flair player, seemingly without rendering them less potent; with the same shape, they won 3-2 at Bayern Munich and scored twice in a half-hour at Fulham.

City were scarcely impeded by Jovetics litany of problems -- they won 17 of the last 20 games he missed and cruised past the 100-goal barrier with his contributing only two. And so, though finally fit again, the fourth forward looks to be a third wheel. Because the answer to the Twitter question #WheresJovetic may be simple: on the bench.Explaining the Logic of Manchester United's Move for Juan MataBy Rob Dawson , Manchester United Correspondent Jan 23, 2014

There are a select group of players that could fit into any team. If they became available, itwould cause a mad scramble from Europe's top clubs to sign them.You know who they are. Regardless of needs or finances, every club on the planet is interested in signing Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. They are so good that they would make any team better.Manchester United aren't signing Ronaldo or Messi, but the premise is still the same with their pursuitof Juan Mata. The Manchester Evening News reports that the club have submitted a 40 millionbid for the Chelsea midfielder.Mata won't fill United's key need in the centre of midfield, but there's a debate to be had about whether he's so good that it doesn't matter.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images United needed a central midfielder in 2012 too, but instead, Sir Alex Ferguson pushed the boat out to sign a striker in Robin van Persieand an aging one at that, as he was 29 when he arrived from Arsenal.Ferguson didn't address United's most pressing need, but his team still won the Premier League title and Van Persie played a big role.It's similar to Arsenal signing Mesut Ozil in the summer. It was thought they needed a striker and a holding midfielder, but they broke their transfer record to sign another attacking midfielder.Arsene Wenger already had Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla, Serge Gnabry, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. That didn't matter to Wenger, though. Ozil was, in his opinion, so good that he could overlook Arsenal's key needs. Sitting atop the Premier League in January, his decision has been vindicated.

Matt Dunham/Associated Press Moyes hinted in the summer that he didn't enter the race for Ozil because he wasn't the type of player United needed. But Mata and Ozil, while not identical, have similar styles and qualities.So what has changed?Ultimately, it's down to results. Transition or not, there will have been few voices in the boardroom or in the stands worried that United could finish as low as seventh in Moyes' first season.Out of the title race, the FA Cup, the Capital One Cup and with only an outside chance of winning the Champions League, Moyes must finish in the top four to maintain any measure of respectability in his first year.A United side that can include Mata are better equipped to do that.

Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press He is undoubtedly a quality footballer. He won Chelsea's Player of the Year award two years in a row and, at 25, is reaching his peak. For now, we can overlook where he's going to play when Wayne Rooney and Van Persie are fit given Moyes' preference for his variation of 4-4-2.If his arrival is the start of Moyes' major rebuild that will stretch into next summer, Mata's arrival could be inspired. A team which includes him, Rooney and Van Persie will almost certainly create and score goals.However, it's unlikely Mata will be able to cover all the cracks. And Moyes still needs a midfielder.Can Cabaye replicate his Newcastle excellence elsewhere?Posted by Michael CoxANDREW YATES/AFP/Getty ImagesYohan Cabaye has been superb for Newcastle but how many other clubs could give him such freedom to excel?For a midsized Premier League club -- one of those clubs good enough to have top-class international footballers, but not so good that they're cup-tied for European competition -- it's a bad month for your star performers to be hitting the headlines. The Premier League's big clubs are circling and in the midst of the most unpredictable title race for years, one key signing could be crucial.

For "midsized club" read Newcastle United, and for "star performer" read Yohan Cabaye. The Frenchman is the division's in-form midfielder, contributing five goals in his past seven games at the perfect time to place himself prominently in the shop window.

Ordinarily in these situations, there's a debate about whether the player is actually angling for a transfer, or if he's happy to stay put. Last year's equivalent was Everton left-back Leighton Baines, who probably fancied a move to Manchester United but nevertheless remained professional and committed throughout the transfer speculation, meaning we never had explicit proof he was interested in leaving.

With Cabaye, it's different. Following interest from Arsenal earlier in the campaign, he ruled himself out of contention for Newcastle's matches against Manchester City and West Ham, with Alan Pardew admitting that Cabaye "had his head turned by the bid."

The transfer didn't materialise and Cabaye slotted back into the Newcastle side with few problems. But things have changed since then: Newcastle are performing better than expected, Cabaye has a crucial role in the side and he might consider staying until the end of the season, considering this is a World Cup year. Nevertheless, it's difficult to believe Cabaye has no interest in a transfer. Now 28 years old -- but in a sense only now emerging as a genuinely top-class footballer -- he won't have many more chances to join a major club.

The destination? Manchester United have been linked, while PSG remain interested. There are few Premier League teams who categorically don't need another central midfielder, especially given Cabaye's ability to play as both a deep-lying passer and a more advanced No. 10. Given his natural aggression -- which can stray across the line into recklessness, it must be said -- he could also play a destructive role alongside a more cultured playmaker.

On a personal level, though, Cabaye's versatility might become a hindrance. He spent the majority of his first two campaigns at Newcastle alongside Cheick Tiote in the engine room. When he first met Pardew, Cabaye asked his prospective manager how he wanted Newcastle to play, aware that the Magpies had been playing relatively simple football. "With you, it will change," promised Pardew. He wanted Cabaye to boss the midfield and impose a passing game.

Only in the final eight matches of Cabaye's debut campaign was he used in a more advanced role: behind the main striker, a position he played a further four times last season. But when Cabaye first played that position, Newcastle's wide players were usually Demba Ba and Hatem Ben Arfa -- extremely skillful attacking talents, but hardly disciplined defensive workers. Cabaye was probably, on average, Newcastle's fourth most advanced player.Ian MacNicol/AFP/Getty ImagesAlan Pardew has made the most of Cabaye but few clubs will be looking to build around the Frenchman in the same way.

This season, Pardew has formatted his side in a completely different fashion. The wide players are no longer a converted forward and an attack-minded dribbler, but instead a hardworking natural wide man in Yoann Gouffran and Moussa Sissoko, a box-to-box midfielder moved out to the right. Newcastle's defensive discipline is extremely impressive, particularly in the way the midfield protects the back four and squeezes the play in the middle.

"We just try to find a position for [Cabaye] where he is most effective," Pardew explained earlier this month. "Sometimes, it is a deeper position, depending on the opposition. Sometimes it is a higher position and against Arsenal, we went for the higher position. West Brom might be slightly different." In other words, he generally uses Cabaye higher up against good opposition, and deeper when Newcastle can afford to play an extra attacker.

But Cabaye's performances in the advanced position have encouraged Pardew to install him there as his default strategy. Further forward, Cabaye remains crucial in applying Newcastle's defensive pressure. Alongside the surprisingly disciplined Loic Remy, he presses the opposition centre-backs, then drops back into midfield to ensure Newcastle aren't overrun in that zone. His performance in this respect was crucial throughout Newcastle's 1-0 win at Old Trafford -- he helped Newcastle win possession and retain it, while also motoring forward to score the game's only goal.

Pardew is all too happy to acknowledge the reason for Cabaye's good form. "He has an almost free role in the team in the No. 10 [position]," Pardew said after Cabaye's two goals at West Ham on Saturday. "I thought he was a class act all day, he's added goals to his game. He has been a big player for us. He helped us get a nice rhythm in midfield, which worked well."

However, will any club of a higher standing than Newcastle play Cabaye as their No. 10? No. Would Manchester United pick him there, instead of Wayne Rooney or Shinji Kagawa? Would PSG play him there, and change their system? Would Arsenal sideline Mesut Ozil? The answer to these questions is obvious. Cabaye would be brought back into a deeper role.

In that position, Cabaye is a very different player. In his early days at Newcastle, he read an interview with Andres Iniesta, who explained how Xavi Hernandez was furious if he touched the ball fewer than 100 times in a match. Cabaye adopted that approach and therefore started to play a similar, reliable passing game to Xavi: offer, receive, pass. "For me, Xavi is the best player in the world," he once said.

As that type of player, a passing midfielder with a combative edge, Cabaye could still prove useful elsewhere. He could certainly contribute to title-winning sides, in a deeper role and with less creative freedom.

But this, the Newcastle 2013-14 era Cabaye with an advanced role helping to destroy, create and score goals, is probably the best we'll ever see of the Frenchman in an individual sense. "He's in an environment where he's got pole position," outlines Pardew. "You don't always get that. You can get lost at some clubs." His current manager is hardly impartial, but he's probably right. Cabaye must choose between individual prominence at Newcastle and success as a less flashy player elsewhere.

Jermaine Jenas, one of Cabaye's predecessors in Newcastle's midfield, memorably once said playing for the club was akin to "living in a goldfish bowl." If we're sticking with the fish theme, Cabaye now faces the classic dilemma about his favoured size of pond. Arsenal's Stingy Defence Can Win Them a League TitleBy James Dudko Jan 20, 2014

Matt Dunham/Associated Press All those who have ever said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger ignores the defensive side of the game are choking on those words this season.It is a stingy defence that has Wenger's current side at the top of the English Premier League. If they win the league crown, that same defence will be the reason why.The Gunners kept another clean sheet last Saturday. A 2-0 win over Fulham marked the 10th time Arsenal have held an opponent scoreless in the EPL this season.Wenger's men have surrendered the fewest goals in the league this term. Their defensive excellence is the defining feature of their success so far.There are many reasons for this newfound solidity. The most obvious is that Wenger has patiently assembled a group of talented defenders.Towering centre-back Per Mertesacker continues to make a mockery of his critics. His obvious lack of pace has yet to undermine the Gunners. It is also more than compensated for by precision tackling, excellent positional sense and a natural air of authority.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press Mertesacker is the standout performer at the heart of the EPL's best defence. In the opinion of this writer, Mertesacker is by some distance the best defender in the league this season. But if he is leading the way, veteran full-back Bacary Sagna is a close second.Sagna's return to form has made a resolute defence even stronger. At peak fitness, Sagan knows no equal at his position. He is a complete defender, equally formidable on the ground and in the air.Like Mertesacker, Sagna has confounded the naysayersthose who felt he was finished after a subpar 2012/13 season. Never mind that Sagna broke both his legs in the previous campaign and could not realistically be expected to immediately return to his best.Those who wrote off Sagna after his injury problems were clearly afflicted with what will now forever be known as "Aaron Ramsey syndrome."While Sagna has simply reverted to type, left-back Kieran Gibbs has made rapid progress. The young defender is now more assured and accomplished at the back.

Sang Tan/Associated Press Not many get past underrated left-back Kieran Gibbs. There is a composure to how Gibbs plays and that command of his emotions is letting his natural athleticism take over.The final member of the meanest back four in the land serves as a reminder of the dangers of doubting Wenger's ability in the transfer market.When Laurent Koscielny joined the club in 2010, more than a few eyebrows were raised. Wenger had snared him from French club FC Lorient after just a single season of Ligue 1 football.But after enduring more than his share of rocky moments, Koscielny has become almost as important to the Arsenal cause as Mertesacker.What has made Koscielny better this season is curbing his reckless habits. In the past, he has gotten into trouble by needlessly lunging into challenges.Now he is noticeably calmer. It has changed how he approaches his role along the Arsenal back line.While Mertesacker steps out to make the highlight-worthy contributions, it is Koscielny who acts as janitor, sweeping up anything that still gets through.Via smart transfer business, faith in the promise of youth and relying on an old war horse, Wenger has created a perfectly complementary back four.The Gunners now have the ideal blend of pace, intelligence, vocal leadership, calmness and tenacity. Every member of this defence relies on the other for balance.A steady back line has certainly helped those immediately in front and behind it. For the latter, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has experienced a career rebirth.Szczesny is no longer the careless youth who seemed to save calamitous errors for key moments in games. While he has still not completely shed his cavalier ways, there is no denying Szczesny is better than he was a year ago.Like Gibbs, a touch of calmness has allowed Szczesny's physical gifts to shine.Of course, Szczesny and those in front of him also get by with more than a little help from their friends. That help starts with players like Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini.Wenger uses either of these hardened veterans to shield the defence. This is a familiar tactic from a manager so many have wrongly claimed ignores defensive realities.Gilberto Silva was the buffer between defence and midfield during Wenger's best period at Arsenal. Before him, Frenchman Emmanuel Petit was a de facto third centre-back.While supplementing his back four with a deep-lying midfielder is familiar stuff from Wenger, Arsenal's team approach to defending is new.It's at this point where the Wenger critics would have you believe that anything good about Arsenal this season is due entirely to assistant manager Steve Bould.While this narrative is incredibly insultingnot too much utterly wrongone noticeable difference has emerged since Bould became Wenger's second in command.

Michael Regan/Getty Images Steve Bould and Arsene Wenger have worked together to craft a renewed commitment to defensive solidity. Simply put, there is a more ordered, recognizable structure to the way Arsenal defend. While they press more from the front, they also drop greater numbers behind the ball in deeper areas.It is a balanced approach to stifling teams at both ends of the pitch. In previous seasons, Arsenal's approach to defending could be dubbed the "headless chickens strategy."Everything was chaotic and seemed to rely on brilliant individual play to negate attacks. Now this team defends more as a unit. It is not just at the tactical level, but also at a psychological one.A key word that describes Arsenal's defensive renaissance, which really started in the latter stages of last season, is accountability.Players, especially those of the forward-thinking variety, are held accountable for the successes and failures in defence. When Arsenal bested Aston Villa 2-1 on January 13th, they conceded because of a casual and ill-advised piece of play from Santi Cazorla.No sooner had Villains striker Christian Benteke headed into an empty net that Mertesacker was roaring his disapproval in Cazorla's direction.That was unlikely to be the last of it. It is easy to imagine to Mertesacker and the other members of his defence taking Cazorla to task after the game.

Michael Regan/Getty Images Attack-minded players like Santi Cazorla are held accountable for their role in Arsenal's defensive shape. That establishes a culture that lets every member of the team know they are responsible for the defensive record. It is a mindset Arsenal have needed for a while.It doesn't matter if Lionel Messi performs a triple somersault over Mertesacker's head followed by the Karate Kid crane-kick to burst the net at the Emirates Stadium.Every goal conceded should be taken as an affront to a proud back four and a team committed to defensive integrity.Some bright spark is already typing in the comments section about Manchester City's six-goal salvo against Arsenal in mid-December. While that was alarming, the Gunners have stood firm more than they have relented this season.They held Liverpool, with their awesome strike partnership of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, scoreless back in November. At the start of September, they blanked Tottenham Hotspur, who had spent the deficit of a small country beefing up their squad.In late December, Arsenal weren't breached by a Chelsea squad containing enough attacking midfielders and supporting strikers to form their own feeder club.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images Arsenal have thwarted some of the EPL's best strikers this season. It is also important to remember that a poor defence is one likely to collapse against even mediocre opposition. Arsenal blanked Fulham last Saturday, but they conceded three to largely the same team in the same fixture last season.While Wenger has always valued defending more than his critics have claimed, solidity at the back is not the first thing you associate with one of the pioneers of attractive and daring attacking football.However, this defence-led Arsenal is a different animal. While they can still produce classy combination play, if the Gunners do win this EPL title, it will be via graft and defensive resolve.It is a reality that almost casts them in the role of spoilers next to City's free-scoring beauty and Chelsea's individualist power.With the way Arsenal's back four is leading a team committed to defence, the Gunners could spoil their way to Wenger's fourth league title.Time for Man United to replace Nemanja Vidic?Posted by Michael CoxWhen judging a footballer's probable impact over the next couple of seasons, there are certain rules you must never break. The longer you follow English football, the more reluctant you are to break them. Here are three:

1. Never judge a player exclusively on his performance in a major international tournament. Individuals regularly impress in a couple of big games in a particular role within a certain system but fail to replicate that performance over the course of a whole, 50-game domestic season.

2. Never assume a player has severed ties with his club. Whether it's handing in a transfer request, publicly stating he doesn't believe the club is ambitious enough, getting a ban for racial abuse or repeatedly letting down his club because of petulance, it's no barrier. The player will return, and as soon as he scores, he'll be cheered.

3: Never, ever write off Manchester United or any of their players. Over the past two decades, every time you thought Sir Alex Ferguson's side was dead and buried, it came back to prove you wrong. Down 1-0 going into stoppage time in a European Cup final? No problem. Twelve points behind in a title race? Don't count your chickens.

- Mitten: A curious pessimism at Old Trafford- Okwonga: Worrying lack of guile- Darke: United lost their fighting spirit- Burley: Year off good for United?- Extra Time: Will Rooney leave this summer?

There were moments when health problems seemed to have ended Paul Scholes' career as a top-class footballer. He came back stronger. Ryan Giggs' declining pace meant he wasn't the winger of old. He adapted and became a central midfielder. Michael Carrick fell out of favour a couple of years ago but returned to the starting XI and is the club's reigning Players' Player of the Year.

Yet Rule 3 might need a rethink. It was always obvious that the famous, never-say-die spirit owed much to Ferguson, and David Moyes doesn't seem able to replicate that atmosphere. Is it now acceptable to break the third rule?

Can we now, safely, write off some of Manchester United's older players? Specifically, Nemanja Vidic?

United's generation gapMoyes needs to refresh the United squad for two reasons: to improve the quality and to transform this into his side, not Ferguson's. However, his isn't a particularly old squad. Only six players are 30 years old or over: Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, Vidic, Patrice Evra, Carrick and Robin van Persie.

Giggs' retirement will hardly be a shock while Carrick is playing some of the best football of his career. Meanwhile, van Persie -- among his injury problems this season -- has been prolific at United. There's no major decision to make with this trio, and the need for evolution comes in defence, where the Ferdinand-Vidic-Evra axis, once the core of Europe's best defence, is expiring.ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty ImagesNemanja Vidic's decline is now impossible for Man United to ignore.The three can no longer play together regularly. With a combined age of 99, they lack the mobility of their youth and need more time to recover between matches. Moyes used Vidic-Ferdinand for his first five league games but not once since. Injuries have played a part, but Moyes understands their time is running out.

Moyes must choose whom to ditch carefully. Clearing out three of United's most experienced players together would be extremely dangerous, especially at such an uncertain time in the club's history. At least one must remain for his leadership skills as much as his on-pitch performance. Complicating matters is the fact that all three have worn the captain's armband regularly in recent years.

Of the three, it's increasingly difficult to make a case for Vidic remaining, especially as his contract expires this summer.

At his peak, the Serbian was the most dominant aerial centre-back in Europe, but pace has always been his major weakness. Fernando Torres famously exposed that a few years ago, but many defenders struggled to contain Liverpool-era Torres. These things happen.

Vidic has become less mobile, however. The two poor games he experienced in an otherwise magnificent 2010-11 title-winning campaign were when he struggled to turn and run quickly; since the serious knee injury he suffered in late 2011, his pace has been even more questionable. His performance on Sunday against Chelsea was particularly worrying. There was the way Eden Hazard blazed past the Serbian without a care -- but again, like the Torres incidents, that's forgivable.

However, if a defender lacks speed, his positioning and decision-making must be flawless. Chelsea's second goal was curious. After the initial corner was cleared, the other eight Manchester United outfielders who had been defending immediately cleared the box while Vidic dawdled behind, more concerned with fellow Serb Branislav Ivanovic.

Rafael is certainly culpable as well -- too keen to return to his right-back spot rather than defend the second cross -- but Vidic reacts too late to the danger. Samuel Eto'o is at the front post, ready to pounce. Vidic's initial movement toward him is delayed, and then he's not quick enough across the ground.

Later, there was his tackle on Hazard, which brought a straight red card in stoppage time. It wasn't remotely a harsh decision; his challenge was late, high and dangerous with no intent to play the ball, no tactical attempt to break up an attack and simply an attempt to hurt an opponent who had previously embarrassed him.ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty ImagesVidic deserved his red card for fouling Eden Hazard, a tackle that proved his loss of pace and lack of mobility.Between the second goal and the red card, Vidic's weaknesses were laid bare. Positioning himself yards behind the rest of the defence suggests he's not confident in his mobility while the Hazard challenge indicates someone aware of his limitations against tricky opponents. His centre-back colleague Ferdinand has similarly lost pace but has always been a superior reader of the game, not nearly as prone to lapses in concentration as the clich about him suggests, rarely diving into tackles and being shown a red card just once in over a decade with United.

Meanwhile, Vidic's statistics from the past few seasons are interesting. Since his injury, he completes only around two-thirds as many tackles and interceptions as he did at his peak, though his number of clearances have increased. Defensive statistics must be treated with caution; a concern about Jaap Stam's tackling statistics was a reason why Ferguson sold the Dutchman prematurely, whereas Stam was still a fine defender and was simply reading the game better. Nevertheless, Vidic's stats underline a change in approach. He's become more reactive, which tallies with the suspicion he needs to play deeper. That, in turn, affects the position of the entire side.

Surplus to requirements?There is also a case for saying that defenders in Vidic's mould -- at least, in his current guise -- are increasingly anachronistic. Centre-backs need to be physically strong and competent in the air but equally need to be mobile, quick and capable of making the right decisions against tricky opponents.

United have replacements. Jonny Evans has made a surprising number of mistakes this season while Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have both suffered from being played out of position. Nevertheless, all three have demonstrated their quality in the past, and considering that Moyes is insisting upon a long-term strategy with regard to signings, that approach should apply to existing players too.

These three centre-backs are not untested youngsters either, with 361 United appearances between them. By the end of this season, Evans will soon have played for United more than Eric Cantona, Smalling more than Henning Berg. These are players ready to take responsibility.

Yet for Vidic, the future is unclear. A move to Fiorentina has been rumoured -- following Anderson there -- although it seems a strange transfer from Fiorentina's perspective. Vincenzo Montella likes mobile defenders who can play out from the back, and perhaps the transfer is about making up for the fact that Fiorentina could have had Vidic before United pounced in 2005-06; they effectively had his signature but couldnt accommodate another non-EU player.

Regardless of his future, Vidic will be remembered as one of the most dominant centre-backs in Premier League history, and his partnership with Ferdinand is probably the best the division has seen. But their combined peak was six years ago. It's time for United to move on, and perhaps time for us to redefine the rules. Zlatan, Tevez and the Most Successful Multi-League Strikers in FootballBy Sam Pilger Jan 16, 2014

The concept of the one-club man appears to have been lost forever in the modern game.It is increasingly likely players, and especially strikers, will instead have shorter spells at clubs and move more frequently to other clubs and countries.Here we rank the world's best multi-league strikers currently playing today.The criteria was they had to have played in at least three different countries, and then they are ranked on the basis of the success they have enjoyed throughout their careers.You simply cant compete with Zlatan Ibrahimovic when it comes to the sheer volume and quality of clubs he has passed through.Over the last fifteen years the Swede has played for seven teams in five different countries across Europe.But it is the size of the clubs Ibrahimovic has starred for that really sets him apart from his contemporaries.After beginning in his native Sweden with Malmo he made his first move to Hollands biggest club Ajax where he won two Dutch titles and a Dutch Cup between 2001 and 2004.Ibrahimovic also boasts the complete set of having played for Italys three biggest clubs, Juventus, Milan and Inter, where over the course of seven seasons he won an incredible six Serie A titles.The striker left Italy for a year with Barcelona in the 2009-10 season where he collected a La Liga title.He is now currently playing in his fifth country with Paris Saint-Germain where he won the French title last season.Real Madrid must still be cursing themselves for allowing the prolific Cameroon striker to slip through their grasp.Since leaving Madrid, Etoo has become one of the best strikers in the world with eight teams in four countries.He came through the youth ranks at the Bernabeu, but only appeared for the first team three times in three years as he was loaned out to Leganes, Espanyol and Real Mallorca.In 2000 he made the move to Real Mallorca permanent and proceeded to score 69 goals in the next four years and help them win the Copa del Rey in 2003.Real Madrids great rivals Barcelona lured him back to the Spanish mainland in 2004, where he enjoyed his best years, scoring a total of 129 goals and winning three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues and another Copa del Rey.In 2009 he moved to Italy to join Inter Milan and in just two seasons his 53 goals helped win a Serie A title, two Italian Cups, the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup.Etoo moved to Russia for a new challenge with Anzhi Makhachkala in 2011 and though the goals continued to flow, it didnt bring him any more trophies.Last summer Etoo arrived in England, the fourth country of his career to play under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.On the eve of his 30th birthday Tevez has already crammed a lot into his trophy-laden career, which has seen him play for six teams in four countries across two continents.The Argentinian began at his beloved Boca Juniors in 2001 and over the course of three years won the Primera Division Apertura, the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup.In 2004 he moved across the border to Brazil to spend two years at Corinthians, winning the Campeonato Brasileiro in 2005.After two years in Brazil he moved to the Premier League with West Ham where he had to battle against relegation, but earned himself a move to Manchester United in the summer of 2007.In two seasons at Old Trafford he won two Premier League titles, the Champions League, a League Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup under Sir Alex Ferguson before moving to their rivals Manchester City in 2009.Tevez enjoyed his most prolific form at the Etihad stadium with 59 goals in 113 games, and helped City win the Premier League title in 2012, as well as the FA Cup in 2011.Last year he moved to his fourth country and began a so-far-successful spell with Juventus.One of the best strikers of the last decade, the Ivorian has played for six different teams in four countries over two continents.For the first five years of his career Drogba was an unremarkable striker in France for first Le Mans and then Guingamp.In the summer of 2003 he earned a move to Marseille and began to be noticed by scoring 32 goals in 55 games.It persuaded Chelsea to pay a club record fee of 24 million for him in 2004, which heralded the start of an era of unprecedented success for both Drogba and the South London club.Together they won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups. In Drogbas final game for Chelsea he helped them beat Bayern Munich to win the Champions League final in 2012.Drogba then had a brief spell in China with Shanghai Shenhua before returning to Europe to join Galatasaray in Turkey.Last season Drogba helped his new club win the Turkish league.The Colombian striker has amassed nearly 200 career goals as he has made his way through five clubs in five countries over two continents since his professional debut fourteen years ago.He began in his native Colombia with Lanceros Boyaca before moving to River Plate aged only 15.In the Argentine capital he developed in to a fine striker scoring 34 goals in 90 games, and helped win the Argentine Primeria Division in 2008.In the summer of 2009 Falcao moved to Europe to join Porto. The goals continued to flow there with 41 in 51 games over two seasons, which saw him collect the Portuguese title in 2011, the Portuguese Cup in 2010 and 2011, and the UEFA Cup in 2011.In 2011 Falcao moved to Atletico Madrid where his goal scoring feats of 52 goals in just 67 games saw him win the UEFA Cup in 2012 and the Copa del Rey last season.Now acknowledged as one of the leading strikers in the world, AS Monaco brought Falcao to France last summer for a transfer fee of around 51 million.