Team of the week

There were many great performances this week and while challenging for the award, in my opinion there were 2 teams who performed near identically. Manchester United and Barcelona both took the opportunity to close gaps in their respective leagues by thrashing their respective opponents 5-1. Both teams have taken the week by storm and while it is hard to separate the two teams one feels that being only the second team to beat Celtic at home in the champions league puts Barcelona in first place. A great week for the Catalan giants closing what 3 weeks ago seemed an insurmountable gap to only 2 points. A special mention is also due to Tottenham Hotspur, beating Chelsea in a highly tactical battle to win Carling cup silverware.

Player of the week

Samuel Eto’o marked his return to action with a hat-trick this week in a very special performance. Another hat-trick and special mention goes out to the young spaniard Fernando “El Nino” Torres Scoring 3 to take his personal league tally to 15. He is 9 goals short of Ruud van Nistlerooys’ record for a debutant. It was however the enormously talented Cristiano Ronaldo who takes this weeks praise. The youngster is now proving that he is class. Despite being subbed off with 25 minutes remaining the prodigy was able to score 2 classy goals and set Wayne Rooney up for a tap in. As good as the youngster was last season, 29 goals with at least 14 games in the season remaining means this could be the one that catapults the young player into Legendary status.

Moment of the week

Whilst one never wishes to see injuries on a football field the moment of the week belonged to Eduardo Da Silva. The young Arsenal player is probably the most undeserving player in the premiership of the tackle that Martin Taylor put in on him. A true gentleman I have seen the player carded only once and when that happened he went to the ref, politely inquired what the card was for and apologized to all parties involved. The Injury comes at a time when Arsenal least needed it. Eduardo has been showing great form and Arsene Wenger has a limited strike force due to injury as is. With the season hitting the home stretch no manager can afford to lose a player like Da Silva. One can only hope that after the horrific tackle the youngster will one day play at the top level again. Pictures of the impact chill to the bone and can be seen here

Manager of the week

In a week of many special performances, the one manager who pulled of the biggest turnaround of the season is deserving of this weeks award. Juande Ramos came to Tottenham having lead Sevilla to a run of amazing results. In Spurs he found a team languishing at the bottom of the table and performing dismally, despite pre-season talk of a champions league spot finish. Ramos got straight to work and the fruits of his labor are now a reality. The manager has not only taken spurs 8 places higher on the league table but he beat Chelsea in the final of the Carling cup this weekend. A marvelous result for “The cup king.” Tactically both managers continued to fight into extra time and Ramos came out as victor, A remarkable turnaround from a dismal start to the season.