Something From The Weekend: Rafael van der Vaart; City's socks; Michael Gove; Avram Grant; Australian confectionery

The Good

Rafael van der Vaart

Is there a Spurs fan who doesn't swoon even just a little when you mention the Dutchman? This man does exactly what Ruud Gullit meant when he spoke of "sexy football". Saturday's thrilling win may not have been his best game this season, but he still scored one and set up two; the cutest of touches for goal one and a brutally whipped set piece for goal three sandwiching a coolly converted penalty. The buy of the season – and quite possibly the player of the season, too.

City's socks

"Looking good!" "Feeling good!" is the exchange between Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd that ends Trading Places (note: very contrived link coming up). City may not have yet managed to swap places with their neighbours or Chelsea but they are closing in and looked good in every way yesterday – especially with those light- and-dark-blue thin-striped socks. In stark contrast, Chelsea wore their dire away strip in Birmingham, looked awful and lost.

The Bad

Michael Gove

The Education Secretary wants to cut £162m worth of funding for sports in schools in England. This from a government determined to play a leading role in bringing the World Cup finals here in 2018. It would look fantastic for David Cameron (as he's well aware) if he could do for 2018 what Tony Blair helped do for the London Olympics, but how does this butchering of a sporting budget fit into the legacy promise that did so much to secure the Games for London in the first place?

Avram Grant

According to the West Ham manager, his side showed in the second half at Anfield that they were "not easy to break". If it hadn't been for those three first-half goals...

The Odd

Australian confectionery

Can you not get hold of Opal Fruits or Curly Wurlys Down Under? Just asking because Graeme Swann, arch Twitterer, is desperate for the arrival of his parents in Brisbane today with his "Red Cross package".