Ji Sung would run all over the Park to win for Man United

Breath easy. Park has earned the nickname 'Three Lungs' for his athleticism

While Ryan Giggs is the main focus of the football and gossip pages at the moment – another Manchester United midfielder will be quietly getting on with training in the hope of playing some part in Saturday’s Champions League final.

And Korean international Park Ji Sung should play against Barcelona at Wembley because he has the burst of energy and the ability to nick a goal and change a game.

Park has played 15 league games and eight Champions League games this season, with eight goals and six assists in all competitions, including the first of the four in their title winning parade against relegated Blackpool. These stats make this the best season for any Asian player in England.

One suspects that if the man on the front of all the papers had not also been at the front of United’s on-field success, then Park, injury permitting, would have played and contributed a lot more.

No doubt that Park has the ability to change a game. He has a history of grabbing goals in important matches including one against Chelsea in the quarter final of this year’s Champions League campaign, just 30 seconds after Didier Drogba had given the Blues hope.

Former United midfielder Nicky Butt made his case for Park’s inclusion in Saturday’s team:

"His athleticism is amazing. He can break up play and gives the simple passes. But he also has the energy to get forward and scores the odd important goal.

"He is one of those players that are so difficult to play against because he is non-stop. Clearly they have outstanding players of their own, but Barcelona will not like playing against Park."

History suggests that Sir Alex Ferguson feels the same way. Park played in the 2009 Champions League final defeat to Barca in Rome. This was as much for his desire as for his ability. Park does not seek the limelight, despite being the equivalent of David Beckham in South East Asia.

He simply trains and gets on with his career in the hope of playing and making an imprint of the game. He has earned the nickname “three lungs” for the reputation of running his socks off for 90 minutes.

If Barca are flowing on Saturday night and Xavi, Iniesta and Messi are frustrating United by playing the ball around, you can bet that Park will be chasing every single one.

McDermott: 'We deserve everything we get'

Royal approval: Reading go to Wembley in a 3-0 win thanks to two goals from Shane Long

Reading manager Brian McDermott has praised his players’ faith throughout the season after they won 3-0 away at Cardiff to make this season’s Championship playoff final.

Two goals from Shane Long and one from Jobi McAnuff helped the Royals secure a spot at Wembley and a match up against former manager Brendan Rodgers’ Swansea City.

McDermott said: “This was a fantastic occasion and we are going to Wembley so I am absolutely delighted . This club is all about the group and they deserved everything they get.”

Reading sat in twelfth place in the Championship back in February but a late run helped secure fifth place. This win at the Cardiff City stadium stretched their unbeaten run away from home to nine games and gives them momentum going to Wembley.

McDermott added: “We had faith in what we could do and we never gave up.”

Just as Kevin Doyle was Reading’s hero when Steve Coppell led them to the Premier League in 2006, Irishman Shane Long was the man of the match and Reading’s after two goals taking his season tally to 25. His clever chip after a Stephen Bywater mistake and cool finish from twelve yards set the stall out in the first half before McAnuff finished it off.

“It means so much to all of us,” said Long. “It has been a long time coming.

“The game was not easy, we had to dig deep and it was just enough.”

A disappointed Dave Jones said Cardiff’s “hearts were on the floor” after his team yet again failed after fighting for promotion all season.
“I said to the players they have worked so hard again but it wasn’t to be. It is hard to swallow but you have to dust yourself down.

“Now is not the right time to reflect on the season, we need to go away and assess and that’s how the club has to grow. It’s Reading’s night it’s not our night.”

Jones delivered champagne to the Reading dressing room as a goodwill gesture but they will have to put it on ice for the time being and see if they can overcome another Welsh team at Wembley on May 30.

Cardiff City 0 - 3 Reading: Match Report

Reading spoilt the Welsh Wembley party and secured a shot at a return to the Premier League with a 3-0 win over Cardiff in the playoff semi final second leg on Tuesday.

As he has been so often this season, Irishman Shane Long was the Royals’ hero with two first half goals after glaring errors in the Cardiff back line. Long’s double and a clinical third goal from Jobi McAnuff towards the end set up a match up with Swansea City on May 30.

The club’s top goal scorer cleverly chipped into an open goal after Stephen Bywater’s scuffed clearance before scoring a second from the penalty spot after Dekel Keinan brought down Matt Mills. McAnuff skipped past the defence to finish past Bywater with seven minutes left to seal it.

Meanwhile the Bluebirds, who had their own hero Craig Bellamy on the sidelines through injury, face another season in England’s second tier after capitulating at the end of the league season and then in front of their own fans in this match. Despite enjoying the majority of the possession and having contentious penalty shouts turned down by England’s top referee Howard Webb, Dave Jones’ team knew that they failed to test Adam Federici in the Reading goal and costly errors in defence led to the defeat.

Cardiff had their first penalty shout after four minutes. Michael Chopra was brought down in the box by Andy Griffin but Webb, whose appointment signified the importance of the occasion, waved it away.

Chopra was in the spotlight again when he claimed to be brought down in the box and later a left footed effort from the edge of the box shaved wide. The Cardiff front man would have scored seconds afterwards when he latched onto a through ball from Jay Bothroyd but Mills’ decisive block in one of a handful of half chances.

Despite all this pressure it was Reading who got the first goal after 28 minutes. Long was lurking as Bywater misjudged the bounce of a long ball forward and kicked the ball straight into him so he could lift it into the empty net.

The goal came against the run of play and Cardiff responded well with more. Webb turned down another penalty claim when Olofinjana appeared to be pushed over by Mikele Leigertwood.

Leigertwood nearly allowed Cardiff back in five minutes before the break when his pass back was too short for Federici, but the Reading goalkeeper read the situation and cleared his lines with Bothroyd breathing down his neck, reacting slightly better than his opposite 20 minutes earlier.

For the contentious decisions in the Reading area, their penalty shout was a no brainer. Keinan constantly tugged on Mills’ shirt before finally bringing him down in front of the referee’s eyes. Webb pointed to the spot and Long converted.

Cardiff came out of the blocks fighting and had the first good chance after the break after Jay Emmanuel-Thomas put a ball across goal but no team mates were there to latch onto it. Olofinjana then latched on to another cross but headed straight at Federici again.

With 13 minutes left, Federici, who had made simple saves from a string of close range efforts, came flying out of his area to dispossess Jay Bothroyd and clear any danger for a second time of the evening. Replays suggested he handled the ball to control the long pass outside his area and was lucky to stay on the pitch.

Noel Hunt hit the post and flashed across goal for Reading in two good chances to kill the tie, but McAnuff finally clinched it with seven minutes left when he twisted past the Cardiff defence and slotted a fierce right-footed shot home.

Chelsea must invest in some width to succeed

Everything points to being all change at Chelsea next season. Odds are on that manager Carlo Ancelotti is off, with a list of candidates lined up to replace him, and the ageing hero Didier Drogba will be ousted to make way for the £50million Fernando Torres to thrive up front.

Should all this happen, the Blues will also need to look at two areas of the pitch in order to succeed and right the wrong of going a season without a trophy, both wings.

Torres is a striker who does best on his own up front. At Liverpool he did well with service from Gerrard and co behind him and he failed for Spain recently with the prolific David Villa up alongside him. With Chelsea having a centre midfielder in Lampard who enjoys bombing forward, the service for Torres to get those all important goals needs to come from the flanks.

Under Ancelotti, and previously under Guus Hiddink, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Avram Grant, Chelsea have played very narrow football but their strength in midfield allowed them to bulldoze lesser teams and occasionally be too strong for their rivals. This style seems to have been found out this year, especially by Manchester United, and has contributed to the unsuccessful campaign.

Although many associate Jose Mourinho’s reign at Stamford Bridge with effective 1-0 wins, many forget that when Arjen Robben emerged from injury in 2004, they enjoyed a string of big wins against Premier League opposition. This was continued with those effective 1-0 victories but they came because Robben and Damien Duff were so devastating on the wings: with pace, the ability to beat players, cross the ball and a knack to get goals. They would frequently swap sides and mess with defenders heads, and everything good about Chelsea going forward went through them.

Compare that with today and Chelsea still frequently play a 4-3-3 formation. But there is no threat on the right hand side with Branislav Ivanovic at right back, as he is a natural centre half, and further up the pitch Ancelotti normally chooses a natural centre forward on the right of the front three in the shape of either Salomon Kalou or Nicolas Anelka. There is of course the option of Jose Bosingwa at right back, but his fondness for going forward often leaves gaping wholes at the back. There needs to be a balance.

It is not much better on the left. While Ashley Coleis one of the world’s best left backs and can defend and get forward equally well, his ability to cross can leave something to be desired. He is joined on the left by Florent Malouda, an enigma for Chelsea who can be the best player on the pitch when things go right, but the worst when things go wrong.

Malouda has been prolific for a left winger with 13 league goals this season. They came when Chelsea were flying, both at the start of the season and on the recent run before the loss to Manchester United last weekend. When Chelsea had the miserable run in mid-winter of seven games without a win, Malouda was anonymous. He does not boast the track record of providing service for the strikers either, with only four assists all season.

Enigma. Florent Malouda has 13 goals but only four assists on the left for Chelsea this season

So some width is needed for Chelsea to succeed next year. That way Torres will enjoy some service while Lampard can bomb on and join him while either John Obi Mikel or Michael Essien (or anyone else who comes in) can sit in front of the front two.

The trouble is the options out there. Today Chelsea were linked with exciting Spanish left winger Juan Mata and Aston Villa’s Ashley Young is frequently rumoured to leave Villa park, but there is not that much Champions League/Premier League winning talent that is available. Whether a Duff and Robben-type partnership will return to Stamford Bridge remains to be seen.

Three captains for the Three Lions - not sure they will all roar

So it is all change in the England cricket set up as the Three Lions now have three different captains for three different disciplines in the international game.

As expected, and rightly so, the most important one and the one we are best at, Test cricket, will not change as Andrew Strauss stays in charge.

Alastair Cook, a man who despite his Ashes heroics could not get in the World Cup team will now not just play One Dayers but lead them and Stuart Broad has been considered the natural successor to Paul Collingwood in Twenty20s given Collingwood’s age and loss of form.

Strauss and coach Flower, who has signed a new contract, are a pair that can lead us to be the top side in the world in Test cricket, especially if this summer goes well. So perhaps it is a good decision for Strauss to just have the five-day game to worry about given that there are holes in our recent One Day and T20 exploits.

It seems a strange decision that Strauss’ replacement is a man who, despite etching his name into Ashes folklore, has not featured in many One Day Internationals of late. But Cook’s appointment is a good decision.

Firstly he has been groomed as Strauss’ successor at Test level and although he has done so against Bangladesh, picking his wits against the world’s best regularly will be the best training. It seems as if England are using Cook in the same way Australia have used Michael Clarke to follow Ricky Ponting. But while Australia’s dominance has fallen away in this transition, England will hope they can rise from the Ashes in One Day cricket.

Secondly, Cook’s guaranteed inclusion in the One Day team will settle worries of who opens for England in 50 over cricket. There were enough problems finding an opening partner for Strauss in the World Cup so at least with Cook in the team it will nail on one opener for future matches after Strauss announced his retirement from the game altogether. While Cook has not played an ODI for Essex since March 2010, his One Day form for Essex has warranted a place in the team after 96 against Nottinghamshire and provided he manages the team well on the field he will slot straight in.

Not such a good appointment is that of Broad as the T20 skipper. He has big shoes to fill after Collingwood led them to victory in the last World T20 and only has one year to prepare before they aim to retain that title. This is another step to make Broad the world beater he will no doubt become but his first appointment as captain at senior level has come too early.

Not long ago Broad was criticised for a lack of respect to umpires, excessive appealing and genuine unsporting behaviour. This was excused for youthful exuberance and a willingness to win but there will be nowhere to hide as captain.

How he leads the team remains to be seen but there is no doubt over his place in the side but there is just a worry that his reign in charge of England in the most up and coming discipline of the game and arguably the second most important, may have a touch of the Kevin Pietersens about it.

Holt to get deserved chance in Premier League

From August those mustard-eating, farm loving, successive-promoting Canaries will be in England’s top flight once again. Delia’s Norwich City – “let’s be havin’ you.”

While much of the praise will go to manager Paul Lambert for taking Norwich to the Premier League two years after his Colchester United team beat the Canaries 7-1 in League One, the hero of the hour will be powerhouse forward Grant Holt whose 20 goals this year have helped his team to second place in the Championship.

Club captain Holt will relish his chance to impress the Carrow Road faithful once again next year in the promise land of the Premier League, having taken a backward step to League Two before joining Norwich and helping their giant leap to the top flight.

After being something of a lower-league journeyman Holt had his chance with Nottingham Forest in 2006 but was largely on the bench. So in 2008 he went down the leagues to become Shrewsbury Town’s record signing for £175,000 and managed 21 goals in his one season with the League Two outfit. Three years later he will be competing against the £50million-rated Fernando Torres in one of Europe’s best leagues.

Following last night’s win at Portsmouth which confirmed Norwich’s promotion, Holt was quick to praise the team spirit that had been galvanised by manager Lambert. But there is no doubt that Holt is the figurehead and talisman in the eyes of the Norwich fans.

Now 30, he will join a host of other strikers who have had their chance to secure a Premier League legacy. At the moment we have players like Luke Varney at Blackpool and Sylvain Ebanks-Blake at Wolves who have lit up the lower leagues in the past but the Premier League is a step to high for them. On the other hand Andy Carroll was Newcastle’s Championship hero and is now worth £35million with a chance of Champions League football next season with Liverpool.

Age and an apparent fondness for Delia’s cakes means that Holt may not enjoy the International goals that Carroll could have in front of him. But after a decade under the radar he will want to end his career with a few more years in the spotlight.