Arsene's Antics!

Is it just me or has Arsene Wenger lost the final screw that was holding his head in place? Wenger's often blatantly stupid rants at officials, fellow managers and opposition team players are quite legendary! So is his love for playing the 'beautiful passing game' more often than not at the risk of humiliation like the recent Chelsea (3-0) loss. His insistence on buying young, cheap players and selling his more experienced stars has now become an obsession! One that can be added to his other obsessions of buying French kids and the current, 'buy the Barcelona youth academy' policy! Season-upon-season we've been hearing the thick French-accented English of Wenger claiming that "They are still young, they are only maturing", and even more surprisingly TV commentators agreeing with him saying "Give them another year, next year they will be champions!"

But after a 5 year win-less (major championships) streak, most commentators and pundits are starting to lose faith in Wenger's babies, ever 'maturing'!... The exasperation of Arsenal fans is becoming ever more evident as they try to justify the latest of Wenger's rants coupled with the ever increasing failure on the pitch! Not even the most die hard Gunners' fan could possibly convincingly justify Wenger's claim that the Dutch FA should compensate the injury, that Arsenal's best player of the season so far, Robin van Persie, picked up while on international duty! And they would be hard pressed to accept their French manager's claim that the Burnley side they drew with 1-1 was supposedly too strong for them!

While Wenger's actual words might have been that it is unfair for Arsenal to have faced a strong Burnley side when Manchester United faced a second string Wolves side the day before, the question still remains whether Arsenal are incapable of getting the better of the strongest side Burnley can put out? I mean, for a team that (if you believe Wenger) is still in the Championship race, getting the better of newly promoted Burnley should be a walk in the park, shouldn't it? Not underestimating the fight and grit of Owen Coyle's boys, who have already defeated Man U in the second week of the season. Still after that defeat, Sir Alex definitely didn't come out and berate the fact that Burnley were too strong for them! Defeats happen and Man U have been notorious for their slow starts to seasons. But in any normal situation, a game against Burnley should be quite an easy 3 points for the Gunners! It wasn't, and while the real culprits might have been his players who again turned in a shoddy performance on the pitch, Wenger chooses to blame his sides misfortune at having to play a strong side!

I keep coming back to that one point coz I still can't get over the ludicrousness of that claim! Yes, Mick McCarthy, the Wolves boss, did rest his 10 starters for the game against United, but can you actually blame him? McCarthy has enough experience to realise that a game against an United side charging for the title would be a difficult one to get a result from even if he played his best side. And in light of the packed Christmas season coming up and more immediately, the game against, ironically, Wolves on Saturday, he rested his key players! Big deal. The fact that McCarthy feels Wolves can beat Burnley while Wenger felt the same side were too strong, just speaks volumes!

And even if it was wrong on McCarthy's side to have fielded a weakened side at Old Trafford, it is to me just a taste of his own bitter French medicine for Wenger who had just the weak before, fielded the youngest ever side in the final Champions League match against Olympiakos who went on to beat his side of inexperienced teenagers and progress to the next round at the expense of Standard Liege, who fell to third in the group on account of that result! For one thing, Liege who will now compete in the Europa league lost out on millions of pounds in TV revenue as a result of that. Now for that, should they receive compensation from Arsenal who will reportedly receive 36 million pounds for topping their Champions league group?

Which brings us nicely onto Wenger's own claims of being compensated for a hip injury picked up by Van Persie on international duty. The number of injuries at Arsenal this season, as has been the case in most recent seasons (40 injuries and counting), is indeed shocking. It is also very unfortunate for Wenger that the one player in his side who has been scoring goals at will and orchestrating the show, is now out for some time. Yet blaming the Dutch FA for having played him in a supposedly 'unnecessary' game is rubbish! I would like to see how Wenger would react if he were the manager of a national side and had a player he called up for a friendly refuse to join the team, especially with the World Cup just months away!

Getting the composition of the squad just right, ahead of a World Cup is crucial and if Van Persie wanted to play at the World Cup he had no choice but to play the friendly. As it is, international managers hardly ever get their full squad together for more than a week in two months. And again, how appalling is it to say that a player should not play for his national side when he gets a call-up? There are players who train, play and exhaust themselves day in and day out to get a single call-up to their national side. Representing the Oranje is a matter of pride and great honour to Van Persie, I'm sure. But for Wenger to berate the Dutch FA for calling him up to play for his country is, I'm sorry to say, simply lunatic!

Wenger certainly seems to have lost his bearings these days. His latest complaint has been about the congested fixture list. The problem – Arsenal are playing 3 games in 7 days!... Earth to Mr. Wenger – do you remember a certain Manchester United side do just that every week for 5 months at the end of last season, what with their commitments in the Club World Cup, Champions League, Carling Cup and FA cup to add to the BPL?... And they didn't do too badly did they? Won the Club World Cup, won the Carling Cup and the BPL, and were Champions league finalists and FA cup semifinalists...

This sort of situation is called hard work Sir Wenger!... You need a squad of experienced players to deal with such situations. You need a squad that is willing to come in one day, give their heart and soul and then 3 days later come back and do the same! Arsenal's kids are certainly not at that level yet... the way things are going and especially if they keep having a lunatic Frenchman in charge who keeps selling off their best players, they won't be at that level any time soon!

- BiBinhio

The Hand of Gaul!

23 years since the original Hand of God goal scored by Diego Maradona against England in the '86 World Cup, another prolific, exceptionally gifted and widely admired footballing talent takes the road down the dark alley of footballing infamy. Within a mere five seconds of twice handling the ball, passing it off and then rushing over to celebrate with goalscorer William Gallas, French international captain and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry had marred his reputation almost irrevocably.

Often credited to be the leading inspiration behind the Anti-Racism movement in football, Henry's double handball in extra time against the Irish that ensured progression for France to the 2010 World Cup, has very much ripped the 'good' he's done over the years to tatters. It also ensures the millions of dollars that go along with a team's presence at this global sporting extravaganza, the continuation in the post of manager (at least for a while more) of the often criticised and controversial Raymond Domenech and spares the blushes of the French football association, fans and to some extent Fifa.

The Hand of Gaul

For in all reality, while genuine cries of uproar are coming out of France today, the fans and officials of the French footballing bandwagon are indeed happy somewhere that their team made it through to South Africa. A French employee can at least go to work without facing the taunts of his Italian or British colleague about their teams non-qualification. Fifa itself has often been criticised of favouring European giants France and Portugal in the draw for the European playoffs. Judging by the expected mammoth economic benifits of France making the African sojourn in 2010 instead of say Ireland, one cannot blame Fifa either, in the present economic climate. One just wishes that their claims of 'fair play' are dumped in the incinerator where it belongs!

Gallas Scores and Henry commiserates with Dunne after match

Where next for Ireland and football?

Well definitely not to football's global governing body Fifa and their at the best of times, controversial President Sepp Blatter. Fifa has waved aside claims for a replay of the match saying that the referee's decision is final. I agree for once with this actually. What Fifa needs to be doing is ensure such incidents are never repeated again.

A lot has been said about the use of video technology to avoid such incidents in the future, a lot of which have come from high ups in Ireland. After all of their concert

ed efforts to keep the game flowing, if Fifa succombs to pressure and implements a modified Hawkeye technology as used in rugby, it would be interesting to see what that will do to the amount of injury time at the end of every game! Teams like Arsenal, Barcelona, Argentina and Spain who thrive on free flowing, momentum building styles of play could very well be affected by constant stoppages. It has already been noticed how teams like Bolton and Blackburn have efficiently used a physical style of play to force constant stoppages, thereby enjoying success against the Arsenal's of the game.

It seems that the best Irish fans can hope for and the least the French Association can do is drop Henry from their team for South Africa, but the meteor supposed to arrive in 2012 will consume earth and the rest of the universe before that happens!

Was Thierry Henry at fault or was it a refereeing blunder?

As Henry would have all believe, he is not the ref and the ref is at fault! True, the ref and the assistant ref both failed to spot the handball but they were clearly not at a position to spot the infringement with their view blocked by all the other players. Yet, even after the goal had been scored Henry had the opportunity to own-up! Show some fair play! Stand up for his actions! As Russel Peter's would put it - Be a man! Instead he ran over with a gleeful (looking as stupid as always) grin on his face to celebrate with Gallas.

Its hard to say Henry was at fault for doing what he did. The obvious advantages of not admitting his action to the ref weighed up on one side. On the other, who ever said that human's are perfect? And with this incident Henry definitely proved he is as human as you or I. But in the same breath, to say that Henry was not at fault for his actions is even harder! The handball might even have been a reflex, but he very well knew what he was doing when he passed the ball over to Gallas. He knew that he was extinguishing the hopes and aspirations of millions of Irish football fans and the Irish team who arguably owned the French on the pitch that day at the Stade de France. He knew that he was probably forever tainting not just his reputation but also of his nation and the glorious game. Still he did what he did. To err is human. To forgive, divine?

- BiBinhio

Season end!

Well the relegation dogfight in the Barclay's Premier League certainly threw up the surprises and excitement it was supposed to. Unfortunately, Newcastle United with their amazing fan following and rich history have been relegated to the Championship along with Middlesborough and West Bromwich Albion. Hull City and Newcastle's neighbours Sunderland, both managed to maintain their Premiership status even though they both lost on the last day of 2009 Premiership action.

As I expected a very 'weakened' Manchester United team went to KC Stadium and racked up a 1-0 win over Hull. As Newcastle United manager Alan Shearer had said earlier, 'Any team of Mancheter United that goes to Hull will get a win'... So it prooved with Darron Gibson securing three points for the champions with a blinding strike mid-way through the first half. This meant Newcastle United only required a draw at Aston Villa to stay up and yet could not manage this as they had no reply to a Gareth Barry strike at Villa Park.

Middlesborough's fate was pretty much sealed before the final round of matches and they would have required a sporting miracle to stay up. Yet they put up a valiant display and still lost to Gianfranco Zola's West Ham side at Upton Park by 2 goals to 1. Sunderland put up a fight in what was coach Ricky Sbragia's last match in charge and went down 3-2 to Chelsea. Manager Niall Quinn should now try and look for a big name replacement for Sbragia to take this team forward next year.

So another season of Premiership football is over and now all eyes turn to Rome and the Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona on the 27th. Come on you Reds!...

Final day mircales again?

The 2008-09 Barclays Premier League season is coming to an end. Yet another entertaining and hard fought season has seen Manchester United trump for a 3rd straight year and hold off age old rivals Liverpool and the more recent challenger in Chelsea. The Mersysiders put up a season long championship winning effort for the first time in almost 20 years.

These two North-West English giants have had a historic rivalry that has with this triumph of Man United seen both clubs rack up 18 top flight championships. The Mancunians and Scousers alike would love nothing better than to see their clubs go ahead of the other in Championships' count next year! But while things are done and dusted at the top of the table, the relegation battle is anything but. Heading into the last week, only West Bromwich Albion (31 pts) are mathematically relegated. One of the closest and most competitive seasons ever in the BPL has resulted in Middlesborough (32 pts), Newcastle United (34 pts), Hull City (35 pts) and Sunderland (36 pts) all fighting to stay in the top flight of English football for another season on the last matchday.

Sunderland could have secured their Premiership status yesterday night at a relegation dogfight at Portsmouth but squandered a 1-0 lead thanks to some horrific defending and crashed to a 3-1 defeat. Now they have to win at home against a Chelsea side who have shown phenomenal away form all season, as they emphatically reminded everyone with a 4-1 thumping of Arsenal at the Emirates in their last BPL away game. A draw for Ricky Sbragia's men would mean that wins by both Hull and Newcastle would see Sunderland relegated alongwith Gareth Southgate's Middlesborough.



Similar emotions - Ricky Sbragia (left) and Alan Shearer (right)

Newcastle United have displayed a lot of grit and determination ever since Toonside legend Alan Shearer took over as manager a few weeks back. This new found 'backbone' in performance has not exactly seen the ideal results in terms of wins for the Magpies. Yet on a last day trip to a recently faltering and patchy Aston Villa, I would expect a team boasting the skill and experience of Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Obafemi Martins, Damien Duff, Alan Smith, Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan and Nicky Butt among others, to pick up a vital victory. Even though they find themselves in the last relegation spot at the moment, the one thing they have going for themselves is a better goal difference to their opponents. If Hull and Sunderland both win then this counts for nothing. But if Sunderland draw and Newcastle win then this plays a huge role because as things would then stand, both these teams would be locked on 37 points with Newcastle above Sunderland because of GD. As already mentioned, that, combined with a Hull City win over Manchester United would mean that Sunderland would be relegated.

Manchester United have nothing to gain from their first ever trip to the Kingston Communications Stadium. They have wrapped up the championship. Plus there is a little matter of a Champions League Final to look to in 3 days time. You could forgive Sir Alex Ferguson to rest all his stars for this match as I am sure he will do. Theoretically this should give Phil Brown's Hull (the picture shows Brown's infamous on the pitch half-time dressdown of his wards in the match against Man City) a chance for what would be in other circumstances an upset. However, I do not believe this will happen. For one thing, Sir Alex has always been one to ensure he plays a strong enough team in such circumstances and not be blamed for taking the relegation battle lightly. The last day game against West Ham in the 2007 season with an FA Cup final against Chelsea coming up is a very similar situation. Ferguson did play a strong team that day which included the likes of Rooney, Smith, Fletcher, Solskjaer and Van Der Sar. Yet at the same time I do not expect Ferguson to play Rooney, Ronaldo and his other stars on Sunday either. The difference between 2007 and now is the amazing squad depth that United have.

The Man Utd squad on Sunday should be pretty much like the squad Sir Alex put out against Everton in the FA Cup semi. A young, attacking squad that only lost on penalties to an Everton squad that is sure of European football next year! This side that should consist of Darren Fletcher, Kiko Macheda, Danny Welbeck, Darron Gibson, Rafael and Fabio Da Silva, Ben Foster and others should be enough to beat Hull.



Vociferous managers - Shearer (Left) and Southgate (right) - but how much can manager's actually do if the players don't perform?

Middlesborough are the side least likely to escape relegation as they would need a convincing win at West Ham and other results to go their way in order to beat the drop. Taking their current form into account this seems hardly likely. Southgate's men need Hull and Newcastle to loose their games first. Their GD stands at -28. Hull's is -24. Newcastle is on -18. A loss for both these teams would mean Hull stays at 35 pts and Newcastle at 34. 'Borough would go up to 35 points with a win. Then they have to overcome a 4 goal difference over Hull. Basically if Hull loose by a single goal to United then the Riverside club would have to win by at least 4 goals to save themselves. If United runs rampant at the KC stadium things might look a bit more probable. If Newcastle draw then Middlesborough would have to win by a nigh impossible 11 goal margin! It is safe to say that if Shearer's men manage any sort of result at Villa then 'Borough are doomed.

But last day miracles can happen... They always have! If anything is certain it is that May 24 is gonna be an action packed day fitting for a remarkable season!

Predictions:

Sunderland vs Chelsea: 1 - 2
Hull vs Manchester United: 0 - 2
Aston Villa vs Newcastle: 1 - 1
West Ham vs Middlesborough: 1 - 0

: Sunderland and Newcastle to beat the drop.
: Hull, Middlesborough and West Brom to be relegated.
: Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton, Aston Villa - top 6.
: Fulham to get the last Europa League spot over Tottenham.

Champions again!

1 point more... and i point is what we got yesterday night against Arsenal at Old Trafford... A 0-0 draw it might have been... yet it served the purpose because now with being 7 points ahead of Liverpool and just 2 games to go for them... Manchester United are the champions of England for the 3rd straight time and the 18th time overall!... Glory, Glory, Man United!

To all the Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea fans I've had fights with over the last few years - At the end of it all its the results that matter and the results speak for themselves! 3 BPL titles in the last three years. Reigning European Champions. Reigning World Champions. Add the Carling Cup to that and the Community shield for good measure! It all points to this 1 term - CHAMPIONS!



The BPL trophy remains where it deserves to be!



Superhuman effort - 11 championships... Ryan Giggs!



But amidst all the celebrations... Could this be a final pat on the back... a goodbye if you will? - Carlos Tevez!

And 1 point more...

With the derby against Manchester City emphatically taken care off as well as the trip down to the JJB Stadium, Manchester United need 1 point from their remaining two games to win the Premier league for the 11th time and the English First Division championship for the 18th time, equaling the record of rivals Liverpool in the process.

A convincing 2-0 win over City on Sunday and a come from behind 2-1 win against Steve Bruce's Wigan on Wednesday night, mean that United could be champions on Saturday with at least a draw against Arsenal at Old Trafford. If they were to achieve this it will only be the second time in all of their 11 BPL championships when they have won the league playing in front of their home fans. The last time they did this was in the record breaking season of '99. With this season looking to be a repeat of the Treble performance from '99, that feat looks set to be achieved again.

With Carlos Tevez being linked with a move away from United in the summer because of the Red Devils' apparent hesitancy to cough up around 30 million pounds to make his loan deal permanent, the two crucial goals he scored in these 2 games increases the pressure on Sir Alex Ferguson to keep this fan favourite at Old Trafford. If Tevez were to score another goal in Saturday's game against Arsenal, the striker's form might also pose Ferguson with a dilemma heading into the Champions League final at Rome on May 28th against Barcelona. Does he leave out record signing Dimitar Berbatov and deploy Tevez, the talismanic Wayne Rooney and the world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo up front? Or does he leave both Tevez and Berbatov out and go for a more conservative approach? At the end of this long winding season I'm just glad that its someone like Sir Alex who is at the helm to make such a crucial decision.

Arsenal game preview:

The two embarrassing defeats in the Champions League semis will still be fresh in the minds of the Arsenal players and fans. United should take advantage of the shell shocked Arsenal players who also lost at home to Chelsea last weekend. Ferguson would not also want his team to
loose their current rich vein of form ahead of the mouth watering clash against Barcelona in less than 2 weeks time. Wrapping up the championship against Arsenal also means that Ferguson will be able to rest all his stars at Hull next Sunday, 3 days ahead of the Champions League final. Given all this impetus plus the joy of winning in front of their home fans against old rivals Arsenal, I would expect United to go looking for a win and get just that!

Barcelona hit by injuries:

Already missing Daniel Alves and Abidal due to suspension and Gabby Milito and Rafael Marquez due to injury, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola got an added scare as Andres Iniesta, who scored the valuable goal deep into extra time against Chelsea in the 2nd leg of the semis, limped off with what appears to be a recurrence of an earlier thigh injury in the weekend game against Villareal. Iniesta and Thierry Henry, who picked up a ligament injury against Real Madrid a week earlier, both face a tough battle to be ready for the Champions League final. This could largely hamper Barcelona's challenge for the Champions League title.

If you're a Red Devil n u know it clap ur hands!

In my other posts on this blog I have tried to be as objective as possible... Not qriting biased one-sided passionate fan posts... But over the course of my studies on international journalism, I have come to understand that objectivity in reporting has never really existed... So what the hell... Unleashing the true Red Devil inside me...

3-1 Man United!... 4-1 on aggregate! As Gary Bloom (SBS commentator) put it, 'It was not men against boys, it was CHAMPIONS against boys'!... United's first ever win at the Emitates stadium and in what style... 2-0 up inside 10 minutes... 3-0 up after an awesome counter-attack early in the second half... If the only thing United did wrong at Old Trafford a week back was fail to take their chances, they definitely corrected that today!... The only tinge of regret... the only black mark, was the sending off of Darren Fletcher for a last man tackle on Cesc Fabregas, in which Fletcher clearly got to the ball first, yet got penalised. Van Persie scored from the penalty and got Arse-nal a thoruoghly undeserved consolation goal.

There was a lot of talk in the press from Wenger before the game about 'not leaving with any regrets'. Well... I guess Le Prof understood today just how far his kids have to 'mature' before they can step onto the pitch with United. For United though this performance away from home can very well be compared with that of the 7-1 drubbing of Roma two years back. The coreline may not be that emphatic but when you keep in mind that the entire game was played only with one striker on the pitch at any given point of time and that the game was at the Emirates against Arsenal, it throws into light the magnanimity of the acheivement. 

          

The atmosphere early on in the game wass terrific really with all those red and white Arsenal flags and shit... I guess most of those flags will remain in dumpsters in and around the ground as the poor idiots who support Arsenal try to forget this night for ever! But one thing is for certain... I'm not gonna let u forget it that easily!

Reviewing the player performances:

Almunia - Wenger made comments in the press after the first leg that Almunia is the best 'keeper in England! Come on!... The freekick of Ronaldo clearly showed that he is a mistake-prone at best, horrible at worst 'keeper! With Wenger saying Almunia should get English citizenship and get into the England team... am I glad that that won't happen...

Gibbs - In a facebook thread between Arsenal and Man U supporters that I'm a part of, some1 mentioned a 'dream' scenario in which Gibbs lands Ronaldo on his back, gallops forward and passes 2 Bendtner 2 score.... Well all I can say is Gibbs' butt and the Emirates turf have a unique understanding... one that let Park score the 1st goal of the game! :D

Djourou - Like in the 1st game Djourou must have though he was on the bench I guess... He sure did a looot of watching the game than doing anything about it!

Toure - Yaya Toure has recently come out and said he wants his bro at Barca... After this performance Arsenal will be glad to see him go...only prob would be that Barca won't take him! :P

Sagna - The only piece of skill Sagna showed in the match was when he caught the ball from falling to the ground over the touchline sometime in the first half. He then proceeded to throw it nicely as well... Maybe he should try cricket coz football is definitely not his cup of tea...

Song - Wenger this year called him the new Viera... Really Mr. Wenger??? are u tat dumb???... Viera at Song's age was helping Arsenal win the League and FA Cup double... Song trying to inspire this team 2 do that... no chance...

Nasri - The next Zinedine Zidane for some... Puhlease... don't disgrace Zidane... Nasri can't even wipe Zidane's butt... Nasri was so invisble in this game that I had to stop and think who was the 11th gunner on the pitch...

Fabregas - Other than being fouled by Fletcher for the penalty, Fabregas did absolutely nothing in the game... Clearly shows why Spain employ Senna behind him when he plays for them... Lads like Fabregas need someone with him to bully the other team's players away from him so that he can run into space and score one-on-one with the 'keeper!

Walcott - For all talks of the next big English thing and all Walcott sucked in both games! This leg clearly showed that for Walcott to dazzle he needs to put up against a far slower left back... Evra's pace easily put him in his place. Maybe Walcott needs to go play in the veteran's league where his pace can do him some good...

Van Persie - Scored the penalty. Took 2 freekicks. That was his total contribution. His coming back from injury made absolutely no difference!

Adebayor - Adi was ball boy and servant boy for United today. Everytime the ball would go out behind the United goal, Adi would run and fetch the ball and then place it on the 6 yard line for Van Der Sar to kick! He was terrific in those duties... But as a striker... Just as the rest of the team he was inefficient... invisible (even for some1 his height) for most parts!

United played a magnificent overall game. In the second half with the injection of Berbatov they even beat Arsenal at their own passing game... Park's shot that was saved by Almunia clearly shows how Utd ran circles around them.

I was predicting a 1-1 draw but I guess I was giving 2 much credit to the Gunners. Its been 5 years now since their trophyless run and 5 years of constant whinings of 'maturing side' by coach and fans alike... Well... deep down I guess everyone knows that this policy is gonna get them nowhere... They better go get some good players if they have the money! Earlier in the week their majority stakeholder increased his stakes to about 28%... how he must be wishing he hadn't done that now! :))

Anyway United through to the Champions League final in Rome. A repeat of the '99 treble is still on. Maybe I have taken biased reporting a bit 2 much in this post and then again maybe I've not... Who cares... I'm a true Red Devil at heart and I know it and I'm sure as well happy and clapping my hands! :D

Glory Glory Man United!

- BiBinhio.