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Garth Crooks' team of the week

EDWIN VAN DER SAR

Goalkeeper
Manchester United
Provided the turning point in United's victory over Everton, a sensational save from Jack Rodwell at 0-0 that took a deflection en route to goal. When will Arsenal and Tottenham realise that you need a top-class keeper to win anything? Van der Sar is still world-class at the grand old age of 40.
Did you know? Has the best saves-to-shots ratio for efforts from outside the area in the Premier League this season (97%).

JOHN FLANAGAN

Full-back
Liverpool
This young man played against Birmingham with the same ease and authority as Chris Lawyer, a former Liverpool player and favourite of mine. If this prodigious talent has anything like the career of that Kop icon then the glory days are really on their way back to Anfield.
Did you know? Despite being the youngest player in the Premier League, Liverpool have conceded only one goal (to Arsenal) in three games with him on the pitch this season.

JAMIE CARRAGHER

Centre-back
Liverpool
Stretchered off last week, he was back to hold the fort this week. 'Mr Dependable' was the bedrock of Liverpool's defence, albeit against the lacklustre Blues. He is the perfect role model for Flanagan and Jack Robinson.
Did you know? Has not had a single shot this season, despite playing 2,129 minutes.

GARY CAHILL

Centre-back
Bolton
This time last week the Bolton defender must have thought his world had collapsed after struggling in the 5-0 FA Cup defeat by Stoke. Against Arsenal however, he made a goal, saved another and went some way to burying that nightmare.
Did you know? Has made a clearance every eight minutes in the Premier League this season, only Blackpool's Ian Evatt and Brede Hangeland of Fulham have cleared the ball more often.

CARLOS SALCIDO

Full-back
Fulham
Played his part in a solid performance at Molineux. The Mexican international continually provided menacing raids down the left flank, resulting in a gilt-edged chance for Clint Dempsey. It is a pity the American striker was not equal to it.
Did you know? No Fulham player won more tackles this weekend (three).

JORDAN HENDERSON

Midfield
Sunderland
Just when you thought that injuries to Sunderland's strike-force had robbed them of a point against Wigan, Henderson popped up with a brace and provided the Black Cats with all three. The 20-year-old is starting to look lively again.
Did you know? Only four players have created more goalscoring chances in the Premier League this season (74).

FRANK LAMPARD

Midfield
Chelsea
In difficult conditions, the Chelsea midfielder initiated West Ham's downfall, set the stage for Fernando Torres and helped keep the pressure on Manchester United at the top of the table. Lampard in this form means the title race is still not over.
Did you know? Chelsea have averaged 2.3 goals per game when he has started in the league this season, compared to only 1.4 without him.

MAXI RODRIGUEZ

Midfield
Liverpool
The Argentine put in an outstanding performance to score that hat-trick against Birmingham. There were a couple of gifts from the keeper, but you cannot do any more than be in the right place at the right time. It was an excellent contribution to a fulsome Liverpool performance.
Did you know? Scored his first league hat-trick since September 2004 for Espanyol against Real Betis.

JAVIER HERNANDEZ

Striker
Manchester United
The little Mexican pestered Everton's defence all day and eventually got his reward with a late goal. At a cost of only £6m, he is an outstanding foil for Wayne Rooney. Who would not pay three times that now? And where does United boss Sir Alex Ferguson keep finding them?!
Did you know? Has the best shot conversion rate of regular strikers in the Premier League this season (30%).

PETER ODEMWINGIE

Striker
West Brom
What a buy the Nigerian international has proved to be for the Baggies. Ever since he burst onto the Premier League scene he has transformed West Brom's attack. All credit to ex-Baggies boss Roberto DiMatteo for making a signing other managers were wary of.
Did you know? Only Carlos Tevez (50%) has been involved (goal or assist) in a higher proportion of his team's Premier League goals this season (39%).

DANIEL STURRIDGE

Striker
Bolton
What a fantastic addition this lad has made to Bolton's attack since he left Stamford Bridge on loan. Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti could not have found a better way to wreck Arsenal's season.
Did you know? No player has scored more goals from outside the box in the Premier League this season than him (three).

Dillon boys making steady headway

For decades, when you interviewed parents or grandparents of race drivers, you felt compelled to ask them how they dealt with the danger to their offspring.
Nobody had to ask Richard Childress. He volunteered, before this season started, that "I can feel good about watching my grandsons race."
This is the man whose deep and abiding personal loss, his driver and best friend, Dale Earnhardt, stirred the NASCAR safety revolution that now makes him feel less anxious as his grandsons, Ty and Austin Dillon, move up through the ranks.
After the younger grandson, Ty, 19, won the ARCA race at Talladega last Saturday with what Childress called "a classic Earnhardt move," I was struck by Childress' calm at the most white-knuckling of tracks, the place where Earnhardt was seriously injured in 1996.

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John Harrelson/Getty ImagesAustin Dillon is in the top 10 in the Camping World Truck Series.

Young Dillon's last-second move began in the tri-oval, the dog leg in the frontstretch, close to where Earnhardt's car had rolled over on its side and been struck on the roof, fracturing his sternum.
Yet Childress could sit on the pit box, as both a master race strategist and a grandfather, and watch Ty's move -- a slingshot past ARCA veteran Frank Kimmel -- with unbridled glee.
Since Earnhardt was killed at Daytona in 2001, "I think we all learned a lot with that situation, losing Dale," Childress said at Talladega. "If you find anything that came out of it positive, it's that all the drivers are in safer equipment today -- the racetracks with the soft walls, the HANS devices, all the things today. We have a lot safer racing."
He paused for a moment. Long before he lost Earnhardt, Childress himself drove woozily with a concussion for months in the 1970s, daring not tell NASCAR because he had to race to stay afloat financially. And before that, Childress had dared to drive in the inaugural Talladega race in 1969 when the top drivers of NASCAR boycotted due to danger.
So for Childress, the awareness of the risks never really fades away.
"It's still a dangerous sport, and that's part of it," he said. "But that's what [Ty] and his brother wanted to do, and I'm gonna back 'em."
Ty has now won three of only five ARCA starts. Austin, 20, won twice in the Truck series last year and is currently one of the drivers to beat, week in, week out.
"When Ty turned 13, he called me and said, 'Pop Pop, we're ready to go racing,'" Childress recalled, "and that was the most expensive call I've ever had."
That's saying a lot, for an owner who came out of his first season with Earnhardt, 1981, about $75,000 in debt from all the crashes -- even with the Wrangler sponsorship Earnhardt brought with him.
"Boy, he'll break you," owner Bud Moore had warned Childress in 1983, just before Earnhardt came back to Childress for keeps in '84.

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Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCARTy Dillon has moved up to the ARCA series and won at Talladega.

To the contrary, Earnhardt and Childress made each other rich, of course, and now Pop Pop has the wherewithal to put the Dillon boys in the best equipment.
"But I knew," Childress said, "they would put [their] all into it."
At Talladega, Ty "really ran a smart race," Childress said. "He studies racing hard. I'm really proud of him for all the effort he's put into it.
"Yeah, you can have a good car, but you've got to know what to do with it," Childress continued. "And he does."
No wonder. Childress and son-in-law Mike Dillon started the boys out on dirt, the best training ground there is for oval racers in any type of cars. When a driver gets accustomed to being sideways, little can rattle him thereafter. Dirt racing, I've always believed, was the foundation of the uncanny car control that made Earnhardt so successful.
"I think dirt racing helped them more than anything," Childress said of the Dillon boys. "And they still really love to run dirt."
They're currently on slightly different paths, but "the big picture is to move them up," their Pop Pop said. "We ran Austin in the [NASCAR] East series, and we felt it was better for Ty to go ahead and move up [to the big tracks and ARCA]. We watched what happened with Austin, and we moved him on [to Trucks].
"And now we're hoping to run Ty in some Truck races before the year is over, and Austin's going to run some Nationwide. And if we find the sponsorship, hopefully we can run Ty in the Trucks next year and Austin in the Nationwide next year. That's our plan."
Can he envision Austin and Ty Dillon as drivers with RCR at the Cup level someday?
"That's something that you dream of," he said. "But they both know they've got to earn it."
They can be workmanlike, and learn racing as a craft. Pop Pop can feel good about that.

Luke Donald thwarted by Brandt Snedeker Heritage win

Donald could have replaced Germany's Martin Kaymer as world number one

Final leaderboard:
-12 B Snedeker (US) L Donald (Eng) -11 T Gainey (US) -10 T Herron (US) R Barnes (US) -8 N O'Hern (Aus), B Crane (US) P Perez (US) Selected others: -3 I Poulter (Eng) +1 G McDowell (NI)

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England's Luke Donald narrowly missed the chance to become world number one after losing a sudden-death play-off to Brandt Snedeker at The Heritage.

The result means Englishman Lee Westwood reclaims the number one spot after winning the Indonesia Masters.
Both players finished the tournament on 12 under par but Snedeker snatched victory at the third play-off hole when Donald's chip lipped out at the 18th.
Snedeker had fired a seven-under-par 64, while Donald could only make a 70.
The 33-year-old Englishman went into Sunday's finale knowling that a victory in South Carolina would have seen him usurp Germany's Martin Kaymer as the top-ranked player.
But second place allowed Westwood to regain the position he first claimed in October, while Kaymer slips to second with Donald third.
Snedeker had produced the outstanding performance of the final day, firing nine birdies in his round.
The 30-year-old, from Nashville, Tennessee, went round the front nine in 30 shots and, after dropping shots at 13 and 16, he holed a 15-footer at the 18th to briefly snatch the outright lead.
Donald, who had a one-shot lead going into Sunday's final round, picked up two shots in his first five holes but he dropped shots on the seventh and the 10th, where he missed from three feet.
But a superb birdie putt at the 13th took him back into a share of the lead.
The Englishman had a golden chance to regain the lead on the par-four 16th but a five-footer slid past the left-hand side of the hole.
Needing a par to force a play-off, Donald found a greenside bunker with his second shot on the 18th but a sublime shot rolled a foot past the hole, leaving him a simple tap-in to take the match to a play-off.
Both players hit stunning second shots into 18 and made birdies before the 17th was halved in par.
Playing the 18th again, Donald found a bunker with his second shot and could only splash out to the far edge of the green.
With Snedeker having tapped in for par, Donald had to hole the ensuing chip but his brilliant effort hit the back of the hole and bounced out to hand victory to the American.
Earlier, defending champion Jim Furyk, playing alongside Donald in the final group, made two double bogeys in the last four holes to card a 76 and slide to five under.
American Tommy Gainey took third place on 11 under par, with his compatriots Tim Herron and Ricky Barnes in a share of fourth on 10 under.

Stats the way for Liverpool

Statistics will provide the key information for Liverpool this summer

Comolli: Looking to use his expertise of French market to help Liverpool

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Liverpool Director of football Damien Comolli has highlighted the qualities of potential target Blaise Matuidi.

"When you find yourself handling three of the biggest transfers in English football history in the last days of the market, precise figures allow you not to do that blind."
Damien Comolli Quotes of the week

The Saint Etienne midfielder has been linked with a summer move to Anfield as part of the anticipated wave of summer signings.
Comolli is set to use the aide of statistics to help him decide on which players will make the grade at Liverpool.

Figures

"In France, all the figures prove that the player who wins the most possession at the feet of his opponents is Blaise Matuidi," Comolli told the News of the World.
"That is an extraordinary strong point. When the team plays high, it means a goal chance."

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Comolli believes his new policy has already paid dividends as it was used to sign Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez in January and to facilitate the sale of Fernando Torres.
In regards to Suarez, who has become an instant hit at Anfield, his due diligence appears to have been faultless.

Transfers

"When you find yourself handling three of the biggest transfers in English football history in the last days of the market, precise figures allow you not to do that blind," he added.
"You have to act quickly. For Luis, I asked scouts to make inquiries in Holland. I looked at his stats over the last three years - especially the number of matches played.
"We are going in the right direction of players who don't get injured. We are going to take more and more account of the health of a player in the future. It costs so much having players who don't play.
"With Luis, we took account of the number of decisive passes, his performances against the big teams, against the little ones, in Europe, the difference between his goals scored at home and away."

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Bolton   2 - 1   Arsenal Arsenal's frustration was plain to see at the Reebok on Sunday By Phil Dawkes Arsenal's Premier League title challenge is all but over after they lost to a last-minute goal at Bolton. The Gunners were below par in the first half and trailed at half-time to Daniel Sturridge's header following a corner. Early in the second half, Wojciech Szczesny saved a Kevin Davies penalty and a minute later Robin van Persie slotted in an equaliser for Arsenal. The visitors had enough chances to win the match but were left shocked by Tamir Cohen's poignant late header. The substitute celebrated his match-winning goal by revealing a t-shirt in honour of his late father Avi (a former Liverpool player), who died after a motorbike accident in December. But while Cohen's sentiment was touching, Arsenal will be left with litttle reason to lift their mood. Cannot play media.You do not have the correct version of the flash player. Download the correct version Title chances now minimal - Wenger After wins for league leaders Manchester United and rejuvenated challengers Chelsea on Saturday, the equation was a simple one for Arsenal: win, or essentially wave goodbye to this year's title challenge and their last remaining hopes of silverware. Three points here would have left the Gunners knowing that victory over United at the Emirates next Sunday would have taken them to within three points of the leaders, but they now trail Sir Alex Ferguson's men by nine points with only 12 to play for. Having spent much of the season as United's closest challengers for the league, Arsenal now face a battle to secure second place in the table, with Chelsea holding a three-point lead and a superior goal difference over them. There was a time, not long ago, when Arsenal's performances at the Reebok represented a central tenet of the argument that Arsene Wenger's side were a soft touch. Three successive victories at the Reebok in a run of eight straight wins in total over Bolton prior to Sunday had helped them to hit back at accusations of their physical fallibility. But doubts remain about the Gunners' mental strength, which was further fuelled by their sacrificing of a two-goal lead in last Wednesday's 3-3 draw at north London rivals Tottenham, and will now come under the severest scrutiny. Yet a victory in Lancashire would not have flattered Arsenal. They fashioned enough chances in the second half alone to comfortably win the game. The fact that they did not, when you suspect their title rivals would have, is telling. Samir Nasri will be wondering how he did not score with two clear opportunities in the second half, firstly when Jussi Jaaskelainen saved his shot after he had been released by Van Persie, and then when the Frenchman failed to connect with a header back across the box to him from substitute Marouane Chamakh. However, the visitors had only themselves to blame for being in such a frantic second-half state. They had plenty of possession before the break, but too often let themselves down by over-playing in the final third, and often lacked focus in defence. This gave encouragement to a Bolton side determined to make amends for their FA Cup semi-final hammering at the hands of Stoke last Sunday. The clearest goalscoring chances in the first half were fashioned by the home side. Cannot play media.You do not have the correct version of the flash player. Download the correct version Coyle delighted with turnaround in form Midway through the half, Sturridge split the Gunners defence with a pinpoint pass to unleash Chung-Yong Lee, but inexplicably the midfielder opted for an elaborate flick pass to Davies and Song was able to intercept and clear. Minutes later, Johan Djourou's mistake gave Matthew Taylor a clear shooting opportunity, but Szczesny was able to save the 20-yard angled drive low down. It was no surprise when Wanderers opened the scoring, seven minutes before the break, and it was equally predictable that the in-form Sturridge would get the goal. Gary Cahill's header from a corner was blocked on the line by Nasri and Sturrdidge was first to react, nodding in his seventh goal in nine games since joining on loan from Chelsea. In the first minute of the second half the 21-year-old made another major contribution, falling under the challenge of Djourou for a penalty. However, Szczesny was able to save Davies' poorly taken spot-kick with his legs to keep alive Arsenal's hopes of victory. These were raised further when, a minute later, Van Persie fed Fabregas in the box and then ran on to the Spaniard's lay off to side-foot in an equaliser. This prompted a 40-minute siege of the Bolton goal, but a second away goal refused to come. Instead Arsenal's growing desperation left them increasingly vulnerable at the back, and Bolton capitalised when Lee's corner was headed home by Cohen.