Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry are part of a select few players who can change the course of the game through a piece of magic. Ronaldo is doing it consistently for Manchester United and that is the main reason why they are such a potent force in the Premiership this season. Arsenal and Barcelona are missing such stuff from their superstars and that is one of the reasons they look good, but not brilliant.

Goals in the Premiership this season have been dominated by piledrivers from midfield dynamos like Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard. There have been very few goals of brilliance and very few players who have lit the field with their electric displays. Ronaldo, Arjen Robben, Aleksandr Hleb and Didier Drogba have been at the top of their powers this season. The likes of Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Dimitar Berbatov and Mark Viduka have been good but inconsistent and Henry is shadow of the player he was in the last few years.

In Serie A, Inter and Roma have been grabbing all the headlines thanks to the likes of Zlatan Ibrahamovic, Francesco Totti, Roberto Mancini and Hernan Crespo.

La Liga seems to be the most competetive of all leagues at the moment with at least five teams in with a chance of winning the league this season. Surprisingly, Sevilla have shown the most enterprise. Barca have blown hot and cold throughout the season with some good, and equally bad games. Real Madrid have been consistently boring while Valencia have made a good comeback since their mid-season slump because of the injuries to key players. I have enjoyed watching David Villa, Andres Iniesta and Antonio Puerta who have been really good. The form of Joaquin is also looking encouraging and if he continues doing so Valencia might pip others on their way to the title.

My point is that there are fewer instances of brilliance like a dribble past two or three defenders before scoring. Instead we get goals scored from 25 yards showcasing shooting technique and power. This is the reason why we see fewer 4-4-2 formations - instead the trend is 4-1-3-1-1 with one of the forwards dropping into the midfield.

Manchester Unitetd are playing the most exciting football although the situation for them is different in Europe. The link-up of the midfield with full-backs Evra Ronaldo has been excellent. Arsenal and Chelsea have the resources but look toothless at times beacuse of the lack of brilliance.