I’M not actually away.

But I am enjoying the end of the season and a break from blogging.

Let us start though with the BBC, who report the number of English players in the Premiership is fewer than ever before.

Leaving aside the fact that most of us had probably gathered that anyway, a few points really do need making:

1) The sole reason England failed to qualify for this summer’s tournament was poor performance. Playing half way decently, the players we do have were more than capable of getting through the group.

2) Are England doing noticeably worse than before the foreign players arrived? Italia 90 was good, but Euro 88 and Euro 92 were not. And what of World Cup 1994?

Go back further and the pattern appears similar. It’s a point Arsene has made.

3) Would we not be better off looking at the number of England players who have plied their trade abroad?

I readily accept that given the strength of the Premiership, it is little surprise that fewer English players experience foreign climbs than, say, the French do.

But surely a little more worldliness in the squad could blow away the naivety that seems to plague us. It would certainly make more concrete difference than stuffing English sides with English players.

A quick thought: The title is no longer being won by the team that loses the fewest games. Instead, it is the team that wins the most games that comes out on top.

Witness United 07-08 (lost five), United 06-07 (lost five) and Chelsea 05-06 (lost five). All three won the title by eliminating the draws - keeping them to a maximum of five all season.

The point is the damage done by a draw that becomes a defeat (one point) is just half of what is achieved when a draw becomes a victory (two points).

We still draw too many games.

It always happens: I plan lengthy season reviews and player appraisals but once the final whistle goes on the final game, I find myself ready to relax from it all.

At the moment I feel able to do that because I have both settled on my conclusions on last season and also on what needs to happen this summer.

Last season’s conclusion:

For 26 league games we were sensational, exceeding all expectations. Then, when we hit a sticky spell, we lacked two characteristics needed to get out of it:

1) An obstinate defence that could keep clean sheets when the rest of the team were not functioning. We kept just one in eight league games.

2) Enough players who could snaffle a goal from nowhere when the likes of Adebayor were not functioning. We went nine games in all competitions without scoring a first half goal.

Those four draws against Birmingham, Villa, Wigan and Boro came at the wrong time: they meant that we entered out most important phase of the season on the ropes, footballistically punch drunk if you like.

The result was that while our performances against Liverpool, Chelsea and United were not bad, we were vulnerable to counter-blows. They came.

Even then, we lacked a little luck. Forget Anfield or Stamford Bridge, at Old Trafford we were genuinely unfortunate not to win.

Three points there and things could well have been very, very different.

So now I am waiting on four things happening over the summer:

1) A replacement for Flamini

Flamini’s unexpected excellence got us out of a hole if truth be told. It was a stroke of luck for Arsene. To hope Diaby, Denilson, Song, Djourou or anyone can be an equally surprise package next year is to push that luck. We need a proper replacement. And ideally another man too to replace Diarra.

2) A replacement for Hleb

Who will be Nasri, it would appear. His goalscoring record is nothing special. But only the great goalscorers score consistently between the ages of 17 and 20.

He can still develop the goalscoring knack.

Does Arsene tend to chuck flairy, brittle, young foreign signings straight into the starting 11? Not usually. Theo Walcott could well start the first game of next season. Or maybe it will be Eboue.

3) A solution in defence

Without a big, tall, burly alternative to Kolo or Gallas, I fear the same scenario as last year. 31 goals conceded is too many.

4) Goals from elsewhere

If there is any truth in the suggestion we are too nice then Alex Hleb’s refusal to shoot and Emmanuel Eboue’s inability to shoot are probably the most obvious pointers.

Hleb is leaving, while the emergence of Walcott, the arrival of Vela and likely arrival of Nasri should limit Eboue’s appearances on the right flank.

In those barren first halfs, we so badly needed a winger to come forward with a goal. None did.

Walcott’s brace at Brum and a couple of other moments offer genuine hope here. Arsene does not necessarily need to buy further in this area, but he does not need to be able to satisfy himself that we can find goals from elsewhere.

I’m not sure how frequent further updates will be this summer. But when the football is back, so will I be.

THE last thing I expected out of last night’s “no-win” fest was a huge sense of relief.

United can have it as far as I’m concerned. I’m just so glad it was Chelsea and not us who lost like that last night because footballistically I don’t think I could have taken it.

Barcelona in Paris would have seemed like a walk in the park comparatively.

Let us be blunt here: the lesser side over 120 minutes, when it came to penalties, luck saved United. John Terry sent VDS the wrong way with one of the best penalties of the shoot-out. But he slipped. Even then, a few inches to the left and it wouldn’t have mattered.

Like Arsenal v Chelsea four years ago and Liverpool v Chelsea last year and two earlier, this year’s three all English ties have been so close that deciding them has been like playing roulette.

And the thing with roulette is that the fewer times you enter it, the less chance of losing. Which helps explain why United are sitting pretty.

LOOK on the bright side: Moscow could have created some absolutely filthy arguments with loved ones.

“You’re thinking of spending how much on a football match?” would be the very legitimate question.

From then on, everything else, ever would have been compared to the cost of the trip to the final.

Next year, on the other hand, it’s in Rome. And the year after Madrid. Either of those are a lot easier to get away with.

Seriously though, the sight of Chelsea and United going at it tonight should be the only inspiration our players need for next season.

There are just 12 Saturdays between now and our first Champions League qualifier.

And one man who could have arrived by then is Samir Nasri - a new friend for Cesc judging by the odd clip I’ve seen of him.

His goalscoring record is hardly outstanding 11 in 100 odd games for Marseille. But remember he is not yet 21 and that very few non-strikers notch up any significant number of goals while still in their infancy.

I, for one, am excited.

Tonight? Just Chelsea.

Reasons for:

-Grant doesn’t really bother me.
-Mourinho would look rather silly.
-Fergie would turn puce if United lost.
-Chelsea have already bought the title, so what does buying the Champions League matter on top?
-United deserve it more, so it would be funny if they failed.
-Ronaldo’s tears could be very, very funny.
-Fergie would remain just one CL up on Arsene.
-English players in tears happens so often it just doesn’t really do it for me anymore.
-If Chelsea win, the horrible Lampard love-fest can’t get any worse than it was for the semi-final.

THE great thing about blogging is it allows you to tell people where you’ve been within minutes of being there.

So, err, last Tuesday it was off to studios in the shadow of Wembley for the filming of the Cesc Fabregas, 2005 FA Cup winner, TV show.

OK, I added in the 2005 FA Cup Winner part. But it did strike me beforehand that a kind of This is Your Life shebang given his tally of medals seemed a little premature.

The family

But that was not the point. This was essentially a Nike contractual obligation as part of the giant’s attempt to drill into the minds of the young football obsessive. Understandably, they see Cesc as the logical figurehead.

And our favourite Catalan fulfilled his contractual obligations with good grace.

Getting into the studios was less than easy. As well as all clothing labels having to be covered up, so too did the Emirates logo on any shirts and, bizarrely, the Nike swoosh too. Over it went a sticker featuring, err, a Nike swoosh. Go figure.

In a holding pen a gigantic high definition screen replayed some of Cesc’s best moments. And his bust-up with Teddy Sherringham after our defeat at Upton Park last year. Which seemed an odd choice.

One moment replayed over and over again was the equaliser against Man United and the subsequent dash towards Arsene on the touchline.

The man

I’d never noticed before but fourth official Alan Wiley had actually manhandled Cesc away from Arsene in that incident. Truly incredible. Good to see the FA getting tough on the game’s really big issues.

Anyway, we were then shooed into a studio and gathered round the central stage. The presenters were Soccer AM’s Andy Goldstein and another fella, while Richard Keys and Brian Marwood looked on from the sidelines.

Cesc, in shiny white trainers, blue jeans and a dark t-shirt came to the stage biting his lip and flashing his goofy, nervous smile.

On the season he said:

“I’m happy with how it went individually but as a team I’m disappointed as we didn’t win anything.”

A compilation was played, featuring tributes from various figures, including Joe Cole. “How does it feel to have Joe Cole say how good you are?” Cesc was asked in an unintentionally comic spot.

On came Francesc Fabregas senior and mum Maria.

I’m not going to lie, were Maria your mum, you’d let her appear on your TV show too.

As an aside, the grandparents from Arenys De Mar were apparently lurking too, as was Cesc’s Irish landlady from his days spent sharing digs with Phil Senderos.

Cesc told us how if he hadn’t been playing football, he’d probably have ended up in London anyway. He told us studying was important to him and in two days he was taking his English A-Level. Impressive, because on the packet he’s earning it would be very easy not to bother.

Laughing

I’d be lying if I said the chat was flowing. Not that it was Cesc’s fault mind. In fact, what improvisation and humour there was came from him. “It’s scripted and it’s badly scripted” was one person’s observation as yet another autocue was missed. (Only the presenters had an autocue).

We had positioned ourselves near the boxing style entrance from where guests emerged.

Stick thin Arsene Wenger appeared in the shadows, taking last minute advice from crew before striding when called to the stage.

Our knees shook a little as he strode past, within touching distance.

Arsene, as ever, was electric. Utterly professional when it came to doing what TV wanted of him, he also found time to philosophise and have some fun.

First there were tributes to Cesc:

He had to decide at 16 years of age ‘I leave my parents to go to Arsenal Football Club.’

“He gets you in touch with how great football can be.”

Then when matters moved to Arsenal, the words were carefully chosen:

He enjoyed himself

“We’re at the start of a cycle. We’re growing up. That’s why it’s very important that the players stay together.

“We want to come back next season and do it.”

Then in a brief break in filming, he told the crowd:

It’s good to see so many young people of Arsenal Football Club.

The laugh of the night came when the great man was asked what it took to be a professional footballer. The question a player must answer is:

Am I ready not to go to the disco on Friday night because on Saturday I want to have a good game.”

Then, glancing at a member of the audience and with a twinkle in his eye, he added:

You are smiling, but, you know, you went to the disco.

There was a telling revelation when he said:

The best part of a midfielder for me is between 24 and 30.

Draw your own conclusions.

When Arsene departed, he headed instinctively towards the crowd waving autograph books. Eventually, a stage hand, shuffled him away.

Cesc was asked who the funniest guy in the team was. Hleb came first. But Eboue too apparently. Yeah, f*****g hilarious.

The unlikely trio of Phil Senderos, Paul Merson and Michael Thomas came to the stage. Merson ain’t starving.

There was an unspectacular appearance from Nicklas Bendtner too and at the end we were all promised a new home shirt would be sent to us, which is not the worst thing in the world.

Picture credits to my brother.

The show airs on SKY Sports 1 tonight at 6.30pm and 9.30pm.

I ONLY saw the Match of the Day highlights of the Sunderland game.

Gilberto played the sweetest pass of his six years at Arsenal and Theo Walcott scored the kind of goal from the wings that we really missed in February and March.

Coming up on Goodplaya when I finally have a few spare minutes:

-Review of the season.
-Arsene’s comments on Eboue.
-Your chance to have your say in a comprehensive end of season survey.
-A review of the filming of the Cesc Fabregas show.

In the meantime, apologies for the lack of updates.