A few years ago, Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger had this description regarding the use of his players by international teams and coaches. He likened it to them taking a car from his garage without asking permission, he then added "They will then use the car for 10 days and abandon it in a field without any petrol left in the tank. We then have to recover it, but it is broken down. Then a month later they will come to take your car again, and for good measure you're expected to be nice about it." 

One wonders when this situation will end because in all honesty it is getting beyond a joke. Wenger for all his moaning and tunnel vision at times is 100% right because it seems to me that the national associations are blind, deaf and dumb to their complaints. 

I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he discusses his feelings about the Dutch Football Association, the KNVB, now that his shiny red top-of-the-range Ferrari, Robin Van Persie (ankle ligaments), has just been dinged up and will be in the shop for 4-6 weeks. 

Liverpool's, Rafa Benitez will have the same complaint about the treatment of his Rolls Royce's. Steven Gerrard (groin) and Fernando Torres (groin) both returned from international duty six weeks ago nursing injuries that have severely impacted his club. 

Even Carlo Ancelotti of Chelsea will get his oily rag in to this act. His two Humvee's, John Terry (ankle) and Frank Lampard (thigh) returned from their desert adventure with sand in their carbs and in Lampard's case, a lengthy spell on the sidelines. 

This whole borrowing of player's situation is creating mixed feelings for me though.  

On one hand I love international football when the stakes are high which means either World Cups, European Championships Copa America etc. However 'friendly' matches, which are in all honesty, worthless, have to be played to weed out just who can compete at this level. 

On the other hand, club football is where I make my bread & butter and it's where the fans devote most of their time, energy and money. If the best players are injured due to international play, it's diluting our product. 

So just what can be done to make this situation more equitable to everyone concerned - here are a few ideas that might be worth further discussion. 

Compensation: This is a complicated idea as how do you monetize an injury? For sure, the guilty Football Associations should pay the players wages while they are unfit. In fact why not penalize the Association from which the player who caused the injury pay (think Italian, Giorgio Chiellini on van Persie)!  

The bigger problem occurs when back in domestic play a team loses or ties to a club they should ordinarily beat with ease without their stars. Think Gerrard & Torres with Liverpool's struggles. If a point is worth $1,000,000 at seasons end and you've dropped six while your match winners are out, is the national association on the hook for six million? 

Transfers: The transfer window is now open only twice a year. Surely, if you lose a player to injury while playing in FIFA or UEFA sanctioned competition, you must be allowed to replace them outside of the window. This to me is a no-brainer and given the fertile imaginations of Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, I can't believe that they haven't brought this proposal up. This would certainly protect the lesser clubs who don't have a bevy of international players and can't afford to lose anybody. 

Central Contracts: Okay, I'll admit that this idea is a little whacky but it works in a few sports. Perhaps the Football Associations own the contracts of their players and rent them out to clubs or we work it the other way where clubs rent players to the Associations. Either way there is an implied sense of responsibility and not the washing of hands we currently have. 

The End of International Football: Of course the most radical proposal but one I could envision at some point unless things change quite radically. Seriously, if you spent $30 million on a player, lent him to someone else and then they return him broken, you're going to go mental. At some point the clubs are going to say 'no more' and I can guarantee you that the courts will back them up. 

Ultimately what the National Associations and clubs need is a clear, defined, set of rules that are enforceable, fair and transparent? Until this is achieved, you'll have players deceiving clubs because they are desperate to play for their countries, players & mangers deceiving countries because their club is more important. It is a situation that's coming to a head. 

Hey, you can borrow my car, but if you bust my car, you fix my car! 

Until then, I'll see you at the far post. 
 
 
 
 

In theory, over the course of a season, the good, bad and ugly refereeing decisions will even themselves out. That may be fine and dandy when you look back at the entire campaign but when it effect's the outcome of the biggest match of the season to date, well, that's another story.

The margins when Chelsea and Manchester United meet are always gossamer fine and Sunday was no different which is why each and every decision is magnified 1000 times more than usual.

At 68 years-of-age, Sir Alex Ferguson's eyesight is as sharp as a laser beam. Those beams would have been boring into Martin Atkinson at the end of this contest as a couple of questionable calls didn't go the Scotsman's way.

"It was a bad decision, but what can you do? You lose faith in the refereeing sometimes. That's the way the players are talking in there. It was a bad one. That goal should not have been allowed. We've dominated the game and had great chances to win the match", he fumed afterwards as Stamford Bridge rocked in delight as the Blues took all three points.

I could see his frustrations with the Wayne Rooney offside call, it was desperately tight, but who knows if the United striker would've finished the chance. The real game changer was Atkinson not whistling for the pull down by John Terry on Luis Antonio Valencia. If it's a penalty, Terry is on a yellow for 75 odd minutes and United have the opportunity to score from the spot.

The complaint that Darren Fletcher didn't foul Ashley Cole on the free-kick that led to the Chelsea goal is legit but in all fairness there was a stonewall penalty for the Blues minutes earlier. How Atkinson overlooked Jonny Evans as he almost put his foot through Didier Drogba's chest was unbelievable. For Drogba to receive a yellow card was baffling. My only thought was that it may have been for over acting as the Ivorian was surely auditioning for 'flatliners'. I guess it does go to prove that in a way calls do even out!

I thought that over the course of ninety minutes, United, probably deserved at least a point as Sir Alex, who got his tactics completely wrong at Anfield, showed that he still has the smarts for the big matches by getting the x's and o's spot on.

The five-man midfield bossed the proceedings making Chelsea's diamond look pedestrian and outmoded. First to the challenge, quick to fill holes, the pairing of Fletcher and Michael Carrick was inspired. With Ryan Giggs looking even better that he did last season when he was named the player of the year, you thought that if United scored first they would take control.

Here you have to give credit to Chelsea's back line. They didn't allow United any good looks and when you consider it's now been 872 minutes since they last conceded at the Bridge, you'd have to say JT and Co. were good value for the clean sheet.

One cause of concern for Carlo Ancelotti may be the amount of chances his side created especially when you consider the goal rush his team has been on. Still, the Italian is pragmatic enough to know that 1-0 over your closest rivals is as good as 3-0. It also maintains a decade of dominance for Ancelotti over Ferguson. Since losing to United while manager of Juventus in 1999, the Italian is unbeaten against the Scotsman and I can guarantee this rankles SAF.

Ancelotti will also know that his team didn't play well but did what was required as there was a whiff of Mourinho around this display. It was old school Chelsea mixed with grit, determination and a slice of luck, truly a potent mixture.

With a perfect two-for-two record against 'B4' opposition this season, the final piece of the puzzle is just a few weeks away when they take the short trip to the Emirates on the 29^th. The last time they were in North London they ransacked Arsenal's home, a repeat performance and you can start draping the Premiership trophy in blue ribbons.

With the transfer ban temporarily lifted and money to burn, I can't see anything other than a bad decision or two from derailing their quest for domination. It'll just depend on when and where those decisions go against them. Bolton away, no biggie, at Old Trafford in the return fixture - we might just hear Ancelotti chirp.

Until then, I'll see you at the far post.

Since the inception of the English Premier League in 1992 only four teams have lifted the trophy, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Blackburn.

Of those sides how many were truly great? Blackburn certainly weren’t anything to write home about and you could say that their solitary title was bought and paid for.

Chelsea was brutally efficient but their twin tittles came the same way as Blackburn’s.

United could honestly say they had two great vintages, ’96 and ’99 while Arsenal will proudly point to the ’04 outfit.

If you know nothing about football, the history, players, great rivalries and just looked at records, you would probably say that the greatest team in Premier League history was that Gunner team.

The reasoning being is that they played 38 - won the league by 11 points - and was unbeaten. The only other team to achieve this feat was Preston North End in 1989 when the league table consisted of 12 teams! They were nicknamed the Invincibles - Arsenal inherited that name with ease.

A year later Arsenal won their last trophy of this decade, the FA Cup. Since that afternoon at the Millennium Stadium, Arsene Wenger, Arsenal’s longest serving manager has been telling us that his new Gunners would rule English football for years to come.

For five years that boast has seemed hollow, callow and deluded as one third and a bunch of fourth place finishes have marked the new Arsenal as also-rans. For sure they’ve always started the seasons strongly. They’ve been pleasing on the eye but eventually they’ve flattered to deceive.

Give Wenger credit though because through all of this he has stayed on message. His mantra has been simple. His kids will eventually come good and to be fair, if you say something long, hard and often enough it just may come true.

For sure this isn’t the team of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Sol Campbell and Robert Pires but would you argue against the following. Robin van Persie has the sweetest left foot since Liam Brady. Abou Diaby has Vieira plus goals flowing through his veins. Thomas Vermaelen is a better footballer than Campbell. Cesc Fabregas is the best thing since sliced bread!

Okay Fabregas may not match up to sliced bread but on current form is there anyone better than him in his position in world football? The answer is no!

Fabregas is just one of two holdovers from the Invincibles season, the other being Gael Clichy.

Other than that these two players, this team is built from scratch. If you look at the likes of United and Chelsea, they’re squads look almost ancient compared to the youth and vigor of the North Londoners.

Yes, those two teams have won the last five titles and yes they will be there in May. They have experience and they know how to win and that is the key, knowing how to win. This Arsenal team is just starting to learn that hardest of lessons. Once they know it, feel it, understand it, Wenger, if he can keep the team together will embark on a run that will rival that of his greatest rival, Sir Alex Ferguson.

On Saturday against Tottenham, the Gunners were not playing well. They were not playing that eye catching Wenger football however they were also not in any discomfort. What they did display though and what you rarely see from youth is patience. They waited for the mistake, it came, they punished! That is a sign of maturity and a sign that perhaps, Wenger’s team has finally arrived.

Without any international interruptions and a smooth progression in the UEFA Champions League, with key players returning from injury, I think the next four months will see Arsenal move through the gears and become one of the most potent forces in English football.

The Professor has that hunger again and this could yet be his greatest experiment ever.

Until then, I’ll see you at the far post.

For the next week at least, Rafa Benitez is back on his throne as the king of set piece matches because lets be honest, if you give the Spaniard a 'must win' match, nine times out of ten he'll come out of it smelling of roses. Forget that grinding week-after-week for elusive league titles, just give him the spectacle and at Anfield that's exactly what we got.

Liverpool was magnificent against a strangely subdued Manchester United and deservedly ran out comfortable two-nil winners while reinvigorating their title dreams. From top to bottom this was a team that needed and wanted it more from the first to final whistle. In the process, Rafa and a number of his players took the critics bile and rammed it down their throats. Questions were answered emphatically!

Reds captain, Jamie Carragher turned in a man-of-the-match performance. Mr. Liverpool, who by his own standards has been poor this campaign was power, aggression personified. Fearsome in the tackle, dominating in the air, it makes me wish he'd call up Fabio Capello and say that he'd love to be considered for England selection again. Sure he could've gone for mugging his old teammate, Michael Owen but on this particular day it wasn't cynical enough to convince Andre Marriner that an early bath was called for.

Yossi Benayoun turned in yet another performance of craft and flair surely convincing his boss that he deserves to start and remain on the park, ninety minutes a pop, every single game. His imagination for the decisive pass was never better exemplified than for the opener.

The key to the match though was the work of the defensive shield of Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva. They completely dominated their opponents while starting the attack at every opportunity. Lucas was particularly impressive considering the amount of stick he has been receiving recently. The only blot on the copybook would be Mascherano's suicidal challenge on Edwin van der Sar. Why the Argentine felt compelled to scythe the Dutchman down, only he knows - his loss will be keenly felt as I felt that he was finally shaking off the Maradona induced World Cup Qualifying hangover.

Finally I can't leave the Reds without mentioning the goal scorer, Fernando Torres. Liverpool can survive the loss of Steven Gerrard but forget El Nino who even at 80% fitness is one of the greatest sights I've ever seen on a football pitch. The way he took his one clean-cut chance was breathtaking in its power and desire. Somehow Benitez has to manage his fitness over the next seven months to the best advantage of LFC and not Spain - a double-edged sword for sure.

On the other side of the coin, United's highly impressive 11 game unbeaten streak is over and the meekness of the surrender will have generated some hot air in the visiting dressing room from Sir Alex Ferguson.

Of course his first target was the referee, Marriner and his refusal to grant a spot kick for Carragher's committed challenge on Michael Carrick in the first half saying "Michael Carrick gets a clear penalty kick as far as I was concerned. Jamie Carragher has gone right over the top of the ball. If it is outside of the box it is a free kick and maybe a yellow card. But it was inside the box and the referee was only six yards from it. It was a bad decision, I think."

To give the Scotsman his credit though, he did say and this must've stuck in his craw that Liverpool were the better team and deserved to win the game.

When he conducts his postmortem, a withering look is bound to fall upon, Rio Ferdinand. This is not the first time this campaign that Ferdinand has been responsible for sloppy defending however it is the first time that it has cost them the game. Injuries and age are certainly taking their toll but his rapid rate of deterioration is alarming not only for United but for England's World Cup hopes. Fergie is known for loyalty and patience but he also has a cruel, surgical streak, Rio, you have been warned.

Nemanja Vidic got his now traditional marching orders in this fixture. It is now three consecutive fixtures that the Serb has seen red and each time he can have no argument. Liverpool has taken note that direct running at this usually immaculate defender pays dividends.

The biggest disappointment for me though was Paul Scholes. I have been the biggest fan of the 'Ginger Prince' for as long as I can remember but he doesn't seem to have the legs for this type of encounter anymore. It wasn't that long a go that a misplaced Scholes pass would make headline news, such was the rarity but too often these days they're not finding their targets as he's hurried in possession. I still see him giving full value in Europe where it's more tactical but in the hurly-burly of the Prem, perhaps its time to use him as a substitute.

I would call Dimitar Berbatov a disappointment but why bother it'll take too much effort! This guy is the polar opposite of what a United player is and one wonders just how much longer Fergie can defend him. Silky touches and clever passes will only get you so far at Old Trafford - commitment and drive are the other characteristics. Waving your hands around theatrically and not chasing when play isn't going your way is the surest way to earn yourself a one-way ticket back to London.

Ultimately this loss doesn't hurt United badly, yes, they've had their noses bloodied but in the grand scheme they're exactly where they want to be. Remember this is a team that is second in the table and has all but assured qualification to the knockout round on the UEFA Champions League. They achieved this without Cristiano Ronaldo's goals, without Edwin van der Sar being ever present and without Rio Ferdinand being close to his best. They remain the team to beat.

Kings for the day though are Liverpool and in particular Rafa Benitez. The Spaniard constantly amazes me in his capacity to get the result just when he needs it. If the Saudis buy out George Gillette and he gets a war chest to rival that of Ferguson's and Carlo Ancelotti, perhaps he'll become the King for all seasons.

Until then, I'll see you at the far post.