This One Could Go All The Way

A few weeks ago we brought up the fact that Milan's drive to avenge the horror of their Istanbul experience could prove the deciding factor in this evening's Champions League Final rematch against Liverpool (and it is that, a rematch, Steven Gerrard's autobiographical musings have got sufficiently up Rino Gattuso's nose to guarantee that much).

The only thing that could save Liverpool, we felt, would be a pronouncement of sublime arrogance from Silvio Berlusconi. There's a good megalomaniacal media mogul! Didn't he oblige? "Milan will win in Athens, we will succeed because we have a superior class than our opponents," said the man with the thickest weave this side of Magee's of Donegal.

"Since Milan have already beaten Manchester during the season and Manchester having beaten Liverpool, the football rule wants that now Milan beats the same Liverpool," added Berlusconi, adapting the rules of conkers to those of association football.

Moving from the deep tan of Berlusconi to the deep purple of Alex Ferguson, and we find more fuelling words for the Liverpool fire. "I told Carlo [Ancelotti] at the end of our semi-final that there is no way he can now not win this competition," said Ferguson.

"Carlo gave me a magnificent bottle of wine. But I immediately told him there is no point in giving such a wonderful gift if he then fails in the final. In fact, I told him I would only drink his wine once I see him lifting the Champions Cup." Looks like Fergie still enjoys seeing Liverpool being knocked off their f#cking perch.

Of course, these two mild-mannered gents are not the only ones who see no other outcome than a seventh European title for the Rossoneri. Football teams are, it seems, only as good as their last game, and many seem happy to accept that the wonderful Milan performance in their semi-final second leg victory is the definitive proof of their superiority. Few care to remember, it seems, the toiling outfit of most of this season. Most have easily forgotten the side that only eked past Celtic by a solitary Kaka intervention after 210 minutes of football.

Plenty have transformed their workmanlike disposal of Bayern Munich (the fourth best team in the dowdy old Bundesliga, remember) into a masterclass it was not. And far too many have discounted the role of a jaded, strangely lacklustre and tactically inept Manchester United in providing Milan the stage in which to dazzle at the San Siro three weeks ago.

Surprising are the number of those who neglect to consider Rafael Benitez organisational abilities, and his absolute aversion to allowing his teams to be open to the lacerating thrusts of fluid attacking teams. Indeed probably the only time one of Benitez's Liverpool sides have been pierced at will was on that very evening in Istanbul that made him an Anfield legend.

In swooning at the combination of guile and grime that the Milan midfield possess, a substantial amount of observers are unwilling to consider that it is in this very area in which Liverpool's own greatest strength resides; that, in Javier Mascherano, they have the man for the job of plugging that hole from which Kaka springs so dangerously.

What I'm trying to say is that, despite what Berlusconi and Ferguson feel, it is simply not true that Milan are a fundamentally better side. In fact, in reality, there is little to separate these two teams.

And I'll go further: there's much to suggest that they will cancel each other out. And you know what that means. "That’s why we lost, you know," Berlusconi also said recently ahead of this evening's match. "The goalkeeper was trying to disturb our players’ concentration. This time we’ll be practising penalties against moving goalkeepers."

You better had, Silvio, you better had.

Milan's Vengeance Is Liverpool's Danger

And so it has come to pass. The Champions League final brings us Chelsea and Manchester United, the two great forces currently in Engl....ehhh...Manchester United and Liverpool, the two greatest names in the history of Engl...huh? Oh, right...Liverpool and... AC Milan? Ok then...ah yes! Revenge for Istanbul, the Playback of the Comeback...ah, it'll do.

So plucky little Milan have battled their way amongst the English giants to grab a chance of glory, their up-and-at-'em Crazy Gang spirit carrying them all the way from the backwaters of Serie A to a place among Europe's big boys. See how they battle, the lovable rogue Gattuso, the heart-on-his-sleeve Nesta, the doe-eyed Kaka; what a story!

Okay, stop being a smart-arse. In the hours after Liverpool's victory over Chelsea on Tuesday night, the thought occurred about how little of the pre-semi-final ruminations and hypotheses took much notice of the strong chance of a Liverpool-Milan final, and the reprise of That Night In Istanbul Which Your Liverpool-Supporting Friends Can Work Into Any Conversation, Like, For Example, One About Your Favourite Sandwich, Which Would Go "Oh Yes Ham And Cheese, I Had One Of Those The Night Of The 2005 Champions League Final".

Obviously the nuclear cloud of hype surrounding the fact that three English sides were at the semi-final stage obliterated most reasoned consideration of much else (there's been a General Election called here you know. Yeah really. Bertie supports United doesn't he....you see how it works?).

Now that all other permutations are discounted, however, we can actually look at Liverpool v Milan, the 2007 version, and how it will be affected by That Night In Istanbul Which Your Liverpool-Supporting Friends Can Work Into Any Conversation, Like, For Example, One About Your Favourite Chocolate Bar, Which Would Go "Oh Yes Turkish Delight, That's What Liverpool Experienced After That Incredible Night In Istanbul".

Funniest thing - I heard a Liverpool supporter remark this morning that "he wouldn't mind losing to Milan." Now to say that sentence in the way he meant it, you must put the stress on the mind rather than the losing, and also place it in the context of making a comparison with the now-averted possibility of losing in the final to Manchester United (an occurence which would, of course, have led to a mass fleeing of Kopites in the direction of remote hermitages).

But still, where does the balance of motivation lie here? Milan, humiliated in 2005, can be personified by the rich, powerful man whose beautiful wife absconded with the gardener. Presented with the opportunity of visiting revenge on the randy horticulturalist, they can be forgiven for reaching for the pliers.

Liverpool have no such psychological fuel to burn in Athens on May 23rd. Indeed, subconsciously, if presented with the scenario in the previous paragraph, they might find themselves unzipping graciously.

This is not to suggest that Liverpool pilfered the coveted trophy on That Night In Istanbul Which etc., etc.,. On the contrary, although Milan left the windows open and the door unlocked, it wasn't burglary when Liverpool made off with the family silver, m'lud. Liverpool's comeback belongs to the ages because of the tactical adjustments made by their manager, the seizing of the moment by their captain and the rare presence of sport's magic spirits that evening.

All the same, you wouldn't be properly reared if you didn't feel a little guilty about what Milan endured two years ago, the magnitude of which you can calculate by simply inverting the joy Liverpool and their supporters experienced. Eeeek. So could Istanbul-guilt be Liverpool's downfall come Three Weeks Time In Athens?

Clearly Liverpool need to mine a new seam of motivational inspiration, like the abundant source that Jose Mourinho's disdain provided. What they need is some ill-timed, intemperate words from someone within the Milan camp.

Over to you Silvio...

Moments of Truth

Most of the season is about opinions. This time of the year is about truths. Two years ago Steven Gerrard's perception that he would have to leave Liverpool in order to win major trophies was altered by the truth of their Champions League triumph. Earlier this term, Jose Mourinho's boss reckoned his manager was not the man to bring him that same trophy; over the next few weeks, beginning last night, he too will see the truth emerge, whatever that may be.

Tom Hicks and George Gillett, Liverpool's new owners, will have received a bracing dose of reality also. If they understood what they saw, or at least were properly briefed on what they were watching, they will have seen the true nature of their job. Of course, a glance at the league table could tell them about the gap between their new investment and Roman Abramovich's four-year-old one.

Sometimes, however, the hard facts of the league table get sidelined in favour of the cock-eyed hokum of optimism. Liverpool fans could, of course, point to the semi-final of 2005 to back up their team's chances. But the law of averages suggests that a team whose strike-force cost £54 million will generally prevail over one which paid £15 million for their front two.

Yes, truths are established at this time of year. It might become a truth, in a week's time, that Anfield's special European atmosphere, Rafa Benitez's tactical acumen or Steven Gerrard's virtuosity are powerful enough to redress the fact of Chelsea's financial strength and Joe Cole's single goal advantage.

But all too true for Liverpool supporters last night was the fact that Boudewijn Zenden, a mediocrity unwanted by Chelsea even in the pre-Abramovich, pre-Mourinho days, was the wasteful endpoint of much of their attacking ambitions in a Champions League semi-final. Unavoidably factual were Alvaro Arbeloa's limitations at full-back, both defensively and in constructive play. Plain as the nose on your face was the difference between Chelsea's awesome juggernaut in attack, Didier Drogba, and the honest toil of Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt.

There is an old football expression about on-field bad times: All your best players are sitting in the stand. It is used by exasperated fans convinced that the kids and journeymen on the bench must be the answer to their current plight.

Looking at the Liverpool bench, anyone castigating Rafa Benitez's selections would have been halted mid-expletive. Who would have been the better option than the woeful Zenden? Marc Gonzalez, the callow winger? Jermaine Pennant, the wastrel? Did hopeful balls directed toward a clambering Peter Crouch really represent an improvement for Liverpool when the big striker came on for Craig Bellamy.

Taking a goal lead to Anfield, having not conceded an away score, bringing back Michael Essien and looking right back to their solid, formidable best, it's hard not to see Chelsea completing the job next Tuesday. For all the ferocious backing that Liverpool will receive from their supporters, there remains a shortfall of true quality in their team, especially when presented with the challenge of beating a team with plenty of it.

Their owner's will be well aware of the need to redress that. Chelsea's owner, meanwhile, might just have to change his mind about his manager. After all, the truth will out.

Interestingly Enough, There Is Some History Between These Sides You Know...

Presumably Jose Mourinho watches this clip after coming in from the pub of a night.

"Let it go Jose," says Mrs.Mourinho.

"Was not goal! Was not goal!"

Was penalty and sending off?

The Other Super 8: Champions League Quarter Finals

PSV Eindhoven v Liverpool

AC Milan v Bayern Munich

Roma v Manchester United

Chelsea v Valencia

If the Champions League were a ouija board, and we rapt onlookers were slumber partying teenagers, then it might seem as if Dark Lord is guiding the upturned shot glass to spell out 'L-I-V-E-R-P-O-O-L', that is until the girl in the Manchester United pyjamas whimpers "I don't want to do this anymore"...

Certainly the omens are good for the Reds: they've drawn PSV Eindhoven, the weakest side remaining in the tournament, and one that they have already met and beaten in the group stages; they play the second leg at Anfield; judging by Saturday's demolition of Arsenal, they appear to have come out of the international break in fine fettle; their opponents are in the midst of a domestic slump and are missing their most influential player (the Brazilian defender Alex).

Old Lucifer might have a point here. Surely PSV can't finagle their way past another superior team through defensive sturdiness and a couple of moments of opportunism? Still, Liverpool will remember their exit to Benfica in last season's competition and will want to bring a result back from the Philipsstadion. And who's that, communicating from the other side....is that you Arsene...what's he saying? B-E-W-A-R-E P-S-V......

From petrified teenagers to greying patricians: AC Milan and Bayern Munich are, of course, super-colossi of European football, jangling 10 Champions League and European Cups (as your Daddy used to call it) in their pockets between them. But the relative ordinariness the current incarnations of these two and the likes of Real Madrid (vanquished by Bayern in the last round) is stated as proof of the non-vintage status of this season's tournament.

Certainly Milan's last 16 victory over Celtic, in which they managed a single goal in 210 minutes, did not evoke the glories of the Rossoneri's past, and the sight of Bayern languishing fourth in the Bundesliga is a very rare one indeed in the normal run of German football.

Although a victory over league leaders Schalke 04 at the weekend should put some pep in the Bayern step, Milan should be fancied here for the tournament savviness that has seen them reach the quarter-finals for the fifth time in-a-row, for the fact that they clobbered Bayern 5-2 on aggregate in last year's round of 16, and for the loss to the Bavarians of Oliver Kahn through suspension.

To Roma and Manchester United and the guiltless checking out of Totti. The bold Francesco has attracted all the attention in the run-up to this game, having, as he is, the season of his life in Serie A.

The key to Totti and Roma's success was the decision by new coach Luciano Spalletti (how very Italian this) to play without a centre-forward at all, instead playing the Roma fans' idol in a deeper-lying role, allowing the midfield triumvirate of Simone Perotta, Daniele de Rossi and the Brazilian Mancini - he of the astonishing quadruple-stepover goal in the win in Lyon last time out - to attack in support.

United will be feeling top of the world after the demolition of Blackburn at the weekend, but prior to the freewheeling second half display on Saturday they suffered what could turn out to be a fateful blow to their lofty season-end prospects: the injury to Nemanja Vidic.

The rock-solid Serbian's absence might be felt less tomorrow night, however, than against most domestic rivals. Alex Ferguson will already have been contemplating playing a 'marker' type defender on Totti, and the mobility of, perhaps, Wes Brown might suit.

United are missing a whole back four, however: Vidic, Gary Neville, Patrice Evra and Mikael Silvestre are all unavailable, and the Stadio Olimpico is a bad place to go without your most trusted defensive troops. A clean-sheet will be United's aim; it might be Roma's too, who'll fancy repeating the trick they pulled on Lyon on United.

Chelsea probably drew the shortest straw of the English clubs by getting Valencia, but then the Spaniards will probably have felt the same themselves. Chelsea remain the most convincingly attired of the English clubs, and perhaps even of anyone left in the tournament. In the event of their procurement of a victory at Stamford Bridge tomorrow night, who would you rather send to bludgeon out an away result in Europe?

With that Shevchenko guy starting to look like that other Shevchenko guy who once graced this tournament with Dynamo Kiev and AC Milan, Salomon Kalou starting to look like a footballer and Joe Cole finally returning to the squad, they have reason to fancy the latter stages of the tournament that Jose Mourinho would, I believe, choose to win of the three that they remain in contention for.

United Don't Have All the Answers, But Still Pass the Test

Title credentials checklist

Name: Manchester United

Question 1: Do you win when playing badly? Tick.

Question 2: Has fortune favoured you of late? Tick.

Question 3: Do you have a good balance of experience and youth? Tick.

Question 4: Do have a reliable goalkeeper and a solid defence? Tick.

Question 5: Do you carry a scoring threat from a number of sources? Tick

Question 6: Do have a dominating presence in central midfield? Erm.

Question 7: Have you produced one defining performance which unequivocably demonstrates your superiority over your closest rivals? Hmmmm......

Previously around these parts we have tended to regard this season's incarnation of Manchester United with a bit of scepticism, seeing the way they brutally bully the lesser teams in the Premiership while tending towards diffidence when meeting their peers.

Aside from the defeat of Liverpool at Old Trafford earlier in the season, they have failed to fully dominate Arsenal and Chelsea when they have met them and on Saturday Liverpool had the better of them everywhere but the scoreline.

Of course, points won against the other big boys are no more valuable than those garnered from Vicarage Road or Bramall Lane. Fair enough, United have clinically mined their points from the bountiful seam of mediocrity elsewhere in the Premiership, and their nine point over Chelsea is reflective of a job, so far, exceptionally well done.

But why the troubling inability to say, with finality, that they are the best team in the league?

United's hypothesis goes like this: although their midfield lacks the destructive strength of the those other clubs, particularly Chelsea and Liverpool, it is generally up to the task of mastery, or at least parity, over those of the less well-endowed clubs. Then, equipped with a devastating array of attacking talent and an athletic, well balanced defensive unit, they can maximise their offensive potential while fending off at the back most that the also-rans can throw at them.

United have looked unconvincing this season when faced with teams that dominate their flimsier midfield totally, leaving them little real opportunity to generate a head of steam in attack. These are the games in which Cristiano Ronaldo looks like a headless chicken, rather than the bird of prey he normally resembles and Wayne Rooney exudes frustration, rather than the devastating audacity he normally exhibits.

Liverpool have long been able to grip the central areas vice-like, Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Momo Sissoko embodying an uncompromising mix of guile, strength and intelligence. But unlike United, Rafa Benitez has been, as yet, unable to concoct the right attacking alchemy, showing only in flashes - like with Gerrard's goal against Sheffield United nine days ago - the sort of fluid choreography with which United have dispatched so many teams this season.

Perhaps the meeting with Chelsea on 15 April will provide the opportunity for that one, irrefutable demonstration of superiority for United before they claim a title that would mean as much, if not more, to Alex Ferguson than any of his others. More likely he will approach that game with a similar caution to how he did last Saturday's.

He will be leaving Question 6 above to be answered in the transfer market during the summer, and, if the Premiership trophy does return to Old Trafford in May, will not care in the slightest if he hasn't satisfied question 7 either.

Liverpool v Manchester - Old School Rules

Some dullards in sheepskin coats will have you think that it is a mere football match that will be played out at Anfield tomorrow lunchtime. Nonsense. It is, of course, a battle of cultures for the ages, like Rome and Carthage, Islam and Christendom, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan.

Manchester and Liverpool stare each other out at either end of the M62, and, at least twice a year, send their respective major football teams into enemy territory to pillage and plunder.But although Manchester United hold the upper hand currently, there is little to separate the clubs football-wise, with Liverpool's greater history holding their end up against United's more contemporary dominance.

Which is better? To divide the two empires, I declare a pop-culture-off! You decide....

Liverpool is great because of....

The Beatles

Bread

The Grand National

Militant Dockers

The La's

Lisa Tarbuck

That weather island that used to be on Richard and Judy on ITV

John Peel

John Lennon's Working Class Hero

The Kop

Being dead witty

Being dead musical

Calling an airport after a rock star

Echo & The Bunnymen

Robbie Fowler

Dey love de Irish, most of der Grans were Irish!

Impossibly short skirts

Jan Molby

Anna Friel's lesbian kiss

Sense of community and solidarity

But Liverpool is rubbish because of....

Gerry and the Pacemakers

Brookside

Cilla Black

Atomic Kitten

Jimmy Tarbuck

John Lennon's Imagine

Excessive sentimentality, especially with regard to cross-river passenger ferries

Stan Boardman

Peter Reid

Pete Burns

Paul O'Grady

Brookside (apart from Anna Friel's lesbian kiss)

Accusing Manchester United of having glory-seeking, far-flung fans, despite half of the south-east supporting "Livverpoowl, innit?"

Football team owned by Yanks

Now, Manchester is great because of...

The Stone Roses

The Happy Mondays

Definitely Maybe

Jack Duckworth

Hilda Ogden

Urban regeneration

Man Citeh and 30,000 in the Third Division

The Wengerbus song

Joy Division

New Order

The Hacienda

The (original) Guardian

Shameless

The cat on the rooftop in the Corrie title sequence

Areas called things like Saddleworth and Ramsbottom

Steve Coogan on TV

However, Manchester is crap because of....

Inspiral Carpets - not so much the band, but the name. And the band too I suppose.

Prawn Sandwiches

Be Here Now

Ken Barlow

Janice Battersby

Cold Feet

The way people like Eamonn Holmes and Jimmy Nesbitt can be 'celebrity United fans'

Mick Hucknall

Did I say Mick Hucknall?

Mick Hucknall and Simply Red

Mick Hucknall's hair

Steve Coogan in films

The popularisation of the kagoule as fashion item

Thinking canals are tourist attractions

Football team owned by Yanks

Chelsea Send Out Distress Message

The beginning of the end for Jose? United lose their nerve 'ten minutes from title'? Liverpool as realistic title contenders? Arsenal too, maybe?

Trying to interpret the messages from Grand Slam weekend is almost like being in a NASA laboratory attempting to decipher what appears to be a communication from another planet: behind all the white noise and static, what does it say?

With just seven minutes to go in yesterday's match at the Emirates Stadium (which will have felt more like home for Arsenal fans than at any time since the move from Highbury, thanks to the memorable manner of their victory) the interpretation seemed clear: Manchester United were surely champions.

In a match of few clear-cut chances, they looked to have edged out one of their biggest rivals with the type of gritty performance usually seen as the hallmark of title-winners. Arsenal had rarely seriously threatened Edwin Van der Saar's goal, and with the clock ticking down, United looked to be effectively closing out a priceless win.

Three rare things - two whipped-in Arsenal crosses from wide and one Thierry Henry header - later and the champions-elect handed back their de facto crown.

Review and revise: United fumbled their big chance? Bottled it by shrinking back into defence of their lead?

Of course not. A draw would have been an appropriate result, the win flattering an Arsenal team who never imposed their game on the opposition. Certainly United attempted to close the game down from too far out, leaving themselves vulnerable to a team whose bite comes from many potential sources. But United were generally more impressive yesterday than in defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford last September and remain the most convincing candidates for the title at this point.

It could be argued that they are flat-track bullies, having taken only four points from twelve in meetings with their main rivals this season. But in a league where the vast majority of the clubs resemble bespectacled playground weeds, the bully is king.

No, pretty much the only clear message coming out of the weekend whose hype was, for once, almost matched by the excitement on the pitch, was that the conflict between Chelsea's manager and their owner has reached a grave point, such that the team is unrecognisable from that which won the last two league titles.

The sources of the disagreement are well known: Jose Mourinho's frustration at the club's lack of transfer activity at a time when their defensive resources have been stripped bare; and the resentment caused by the failed signature of Andrij Shevchenko: from Roman Abramovich's viewpoint in the manager's inability to integrate him, and from Mourinho's due to the striker's favoured relationship with the owner.

The nature of this feud is cancerous, so malign are the attitudes of both sides. Mourinho's team were so obviously infected by their manager's defeatism before the game at Anfield on Saturday, that one almost suspected their feebleness to be planned. It's testament to our belief in anything being possible when it comes to Mourinho that we could consider him sending out his team to lose, so as to illustrate his point to Abramovich.

But in effect, even if not purposely, that is what his negative attitude succeeded in doing. Rather than attemting to inspire his team to an heroic triumph against the odds, Mourinho's side had all the fight of lemmings approaching a cliff-top.

This becomes the most significant point to emerge from the weekend because - unlike the other three top sides, who demonstrated at least aspects of their best qualities - Chelsea appeared utterly stripped of what made them the best team in England. The loss of such strength of spirit and unity of purpose is vastly more difficult to redress than mere bad form.

Perhaps the return of John Terry from injury could re-instill these lost virtues. But the salving of the wounds of an entire club would seem beyond any one player, no matter how influential.

The fragile but powerful balance of egos between Mourinho and Abramovich which made Chelsea so strong, so quickly, has been wildly disrupted, and the mess that has resulted on the field does not remotely resemble a championship winning team.

Champions League Sweet Sixteen

Podgy Swiss fingers were put to their best use other than the consumption of stacks of luxury handmade chocolates today as the Champions League second round (or last 16, if you wish to make it sound more exclusive) draw was made.

As is the norm when plastic balls are plucked from erstwhile goldfish bowls, some protagonists fare better than others. For every club exec chuckling with confidence during the post-draw canapés, there is another suit bawling in the corner, crying "Why??!"

On the face of it, Liverpool secretary Bryce Morrison, representing the 2005 champions in Nyon today, would be the inconsolable wretch, seeing as his club was paired with Barcelona. With admirable optimism, however, he refused to be cowed by the prospect of playing last season's free-flowing champions.

"We hope we can go all the way once again, starting with this big one!" quoth he, presumably too woozy from the complimentary wine to conjure the image of Ronaldinho slithering past a statuesque Sami Hyypia.

Whereas the Pool were ill-rewarded for their group-topping feats, the other English teams got the spawny draws one might expect from being seeded. As if to continue the theme of retribution for last year, Manchester United, having exacted revenge on Benfica in the group stage, will now get an opportunity to pay back Lille for defeating them at the Stade de France in the 2006-06 competition.

As with their superiority over Benfica, United have come on more than enough since losing to the French to go through comfortably.

Arsenal will undoubtedly make heavy work of PSV Eindhoven, but should also progress. The return of Jose Mourinho to Porto will provide what is generally dubbed "spice" to their tie, but the bold Jose is well used to whistles and boos - and his team will have little trouble there.

While all over Milan, impeccably shod and coiffed folks may have been rattling their improbably tiny coffee cups in pleasure at their team's draw against Celtic (arguably the weakest of the second seeds on paper); the corresponding celebratory clank of Tennents Special Export cans in the East End of Glasgow might also have been heard.

Milan are in what is known as a 'period of transition', which is a euphemism for being rubbish. Even without their 8 point deduction for match-fixing naughtiness, the Rossoneri would only have been in fifth in Serie A, rather than the 15th place in which they now languish. The loss of Shevchenko's goals has not been properly addressed, their three main strikers - Alberto Gilardino, Filippo Inzaghi and Ricardo Oliveira - only managing four league goals between them. Meanwhile Paolo Maldini and Cafu continue to wearily police the defence, and the team is generally over reliant on Kaka's creativity.

The other ties are rather tasty; perennial powerhouses Real Madrid and Bayern Munich meet, Valencia take on Inter and Roma face Lyon. Lyon are the team to tip these days when trying to show how shrewd a football judge you are, and it will be intriguing to see if they can finally reproduce in the latter stages their scintillating group stages form.

Its hard to see past old money, however: Barca, Real and Inter are still the front runners, with Chelsea the only new name that might get on the trophy.