This afternoon’s 3-1 defeat of Arsenal  by Manchester United had shades of their Champions League semi-final victory of May. A surprisingly comfortable victory, lethal counter-attacking football and a winger orchestrating the goals. In May it was Ronaldo, today it was  Nani. A quite superb all round performance as Sir Alex Ferguson got it spot on tactically – should Wayne Rooney have another man up front with him? Should Ryan Giggs have started in place of Scholes? Ferguson rightly called no and when things weren’t quite working, moving Paul Scholes further up produced United’s devastating spell of dominance in the first-half, one that set up an important victory.

Final of the Carling Cup, and now one point behind Chelsea at the top of the Premier League – as the old saying goes: never write off Manchester United.

Chelsea and their manager Carlo Ancelotti have backed under-fire defender John Terry and reinforced his position as the club’s captain, despite allegations this weekend of an affair with Vanessa Perroncel, once girlfriend of England and former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge. Ancelotti is quoted as saying: “The players will never lose their trust in him.” Well, why won’t they? The whole episode centres around trust – trust between Terry and his wife Toni, Terry and his then best friend Bridge and Terry and his club, his supporters and the footballing world. Any trust emanating from John Terry is now gone. But trust Chelsea to back their biggest financial asset and one of their highest-paid stars – only a player revolt could turn the club’s scandalous decision around now.

Fabio Capello shouldn’t take any risks on the other hand. Playing for England is a great honour and by captaining your country you have to set the highest standards both on and off the field. Millions idolise the game’s biggest stars and anything of this kind must be punished – in this case by removing the England captaincy. A leader on the field inspires his team to play with passion and desire and play with a team – problems now caused with Wayne Bridge undermines his ability to do this. A leader off the field is an ambassador for the game and for his country – this weekend’s news has a worldwide effect and could prove detrimental to England’s World Cup build-up. Change has to come fast – Terry’s selfishness shouldn’t leave a scar on the rest of the team and only a quick reaction from Capello can limit the damage. The captaincy of England is held in the highest regard – it is far more important than one player.