European woes...but still the most entertaining?

In a week of drama, shocks and excitement the Premier League has proved yet again that it is the most exciting in world football.

At the top, Sir Alex got the title-challenger mind games going have by lambasting Patrick Viera’s criticism of Paul Scholes before simultaneously attacking the return of Carlos Tevez.

Ferguson and his team thrive in this situation, and despite Tevez and Samir Nasri’s midweek heroics against Chelsea, the title-race is now United’s to lose.

Considering their much publicised injuries and insufficiencies it is amazing that they contending at all, and the genius of Ferguson and his generals Scholes and Giggs must be applauded once again.

Arsenal’s recent recovery has also been astounding, and after another fine week they are moving clear of their London rivals. RVP remains the star, but the return of the first-choice back five has also been key.

With Peter Crouch’s wonder-strike and QPR’s wonder-comeback, it was a week of thrills.

But Bolton’s ‘fab’ win over Blackburn was the most heart-warming, as they showed Muamba-like fight to triumph and cut Wolves adrift at the bottom of the table.

It was a pity that the Old Firm match was not played with the same derby spirit, and despite the brilliance of Barcelona’s record scorer Messi, even La Liga does not have the same unpredictability and excitement as the Prem.   

Speaking of excitement, with the Six Nations over Rugby focus turned to Hong Kong, as perennial Seven’s stars Fiji beat England on way to victory, while on these shores Wales boss Warren Gatland was approached for the Lions job.

With England’s latest Test series approaching, spot fixing was back dominating the cricket agenda after a series of interviews with Pakistan’s Mohammed Amir. On the field Afghanistan continued their rise by reaching their second successive Twenty20 World Cup.

Underdogs also succeeded in Formula One, where Ferrari and Fernando Alonso prospered in wet Malaysia ahead of rising star Sergio Perez.

But in Golf it was a week for the veteran as Tiger Woods showed ominous pre-Masters form by winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

In the UK it was a week of charity, and in Rugby League Leeds marked Sport Relief by dyeing their hair pink before being comprehensively beaten by St Helens.

The issue of whether appearance affects performance has been a prominent one this week with the revealing of Britain’s Olympic kit.

But it is not what you wear, but what you do in it which matters, and our performances continue to encourage. After much criticism in 2012, Tom Daley has won three World Cup medals this week, as he chases China’s brilliant world-leader Qui Bo.

And the hierarchical battle between our top female cyclists continued as Lizzie Armistead won in Belgium to put more pressure on Beijing champion Nicole Cooke for the sole team-leader spot.

The Olympics, like the Premier League, is a physical and mental struggle towards perfection.

 After his sad death this week, Darts’ Jocky Wilson belonged to a vastly different culture. Yet he remained a great entertainer, and it is important to remember that thrills and excitement are also key aspects of modern sport.  

Records, comebacks and slams...but ultimately tragedy

There were doses of triumph, failure and controversy this week, but the halcyon world of sporting drama was put firmly into the shade by events at White Hart Lane.

Fabrice Muamba’s is one of the fittest players in the most physically demanding of disciplines, but was not immune from a condition which is all the more worrying in modern sport.

Once dubbed the ‘black Robbie Savage’, his fitness, intelligence and humility is deserving of far greater accolades than that, and the determination he has shown in hospital displays that perfectly.

He is a modern, cultured footballer and this, together with the unity and respect shown by the nation’s fans, are both positive aspects of the game so often overlooked by the media.

Football is a community and although it takes catastrophe to unite it, the spontaneous reactions of players and fans must be applauded.

Rugby had its own tragedy this week with the death of Merv ‘the Swerve’ Davies, and it was a fitting testimony that his Welsh team reacted by securing their third Grand Slam in 8 years.

With a series of typically thumping tackles, Dan Lydiate has been the player of the tournament, and in a side blessed with leaders all over the pitch, even an injury to skipper Sam Warburton made no difference.

The standard of the tournament as a whole was not that high. Ireland’s deficiencies in the pack were brutally exposed, France were typically erratic, while Scotland were lacklustre and  deserving of the wooden spoon.

But for England it was a season of real progress. They have new stars in Robshaw, Morgan and Farrell, and old ones reborn in Tom Croft.

And in a way, they were just a Scott Williams wonder-try away from a Grand-Slam.

We should not get carried away, but Stuart Lancaster has surely done enough to merit the full time job, and replacing him would only upset the unity he has created.

It Welsh Rugby now represents efficiency and physicality more than ingenuity, Wales’ foremost football team’s attacking prowess has drawn comparisons with Barcelona after Swansea’s demolition of Fulham.

But England’s European woes continued as both Manchester clubs exited the Europa League, with Joe Hart’s last minute attempt failing to disguise a dismal campaign from both.

On the bureaucratic side, Premier League Chairman Dave Richards has fermented further diplomatic embarrassment, with a series of remarks defending our heritage and drinking culture before falling unceremoniously into a duck pond.

His criticism of FIFA may have foundation, but considering he is no more elected and accountable than Sepp Blatter, he is in no position to talk.

With all the furore surrounding the exit of A V-B, it is ironic that Chelsea are our sole representatives left in Europe. But with old campaigners Lampard, Terry and Drogba to the fore, it was a spirited and deserved win over Napoli, and even Fernando Torres has since found the net.  

In other sports however our success is more widespread.

Jenson Button got his 2012 campaign off to a perfect start by holding off a Red Bull fightback to triumph in Melbourne.

And after becoming the third Brit to win across the pond in in successive weeks, Luke Donald reclaimed Golf’s world number one ranking.

There were contrasting fortunes for some of sports greats. Roger Federer won in Indian Wells after earlier exits for Murray and Djokovic, but Ian Thorpe comprehensively failed in his Olympic quest at the Aussie trials.

At Cheltenham there was agonising failure for Kauto Star, but glory for AP McCoy, who brilliantly rode Synchronised to victory to claim his first Gold Cup win.

But the final word must go to the ‘little master’ as Sachin Tendulkar finally netted his hundredth international hundred, against Bangladesh.

Success and Failure is what we think about most in sport, and while the case of Fabrice Muamba shows there is much more to it than that, where would we be without the brilliance of McCoy, Federer and Tendulkar?