How Can You Want Titles and Lose to Cardiff?

Well, hey, maybe Cardiff will be in the title chase, too!...

(Ha, ha, ha! Yeah, right! LOL! :D, :), ;), etc., etc.)

I'm running out of ways to laugh at Manchester City.

After replacing Roberto Mancini, and the good-looking win against Newcastle, surely the consensus was that it had been the coach's fault.

But what do you know?
This match shows that there are a lot more things rotten in the Man. City team.

If you ask me, the biggest problem, and a huge black ball for City management, is that they just don't get good players when they shop around.

But I don't mean just during this past transfer window. I mean, since the beginning.
I don't know how the hell they did so well that first year (2011-2012) with that team. They didn't finish the campaign too well, at all, and they got extremely lucky at the end, but they did pull it off.
However, these players: Dzeko, Zabaleta, Hart, Lescott, Toure, and even Aguero, are not top-quality players. No way. Any one of the Barcelona players, alone, for example, is, I would think, better than all of these guys (maybe with the exception of Aguero) put together. How Manchester City can keep a nucleus formed by these players, and believe that they can become a better team, in England or (yeah, right!) in Europe, is laughable.
They need way better players. And just buying the likes of Alvaro Negredo, who is not a top player himself, is most certainly not going to do it for them.

Negredo, as a matter of fact, from what I saw, was probably the best player City played in this encounter. (But that is not a praise of his qualities as a player. He's just a newcomer, and very enthusiastic to prove himself.) I don't know yet 100% what that is saying exactly, about Manchester City and their title chances, but for sure it's not a good omen.

Manchester City should be spending like PSG or Monaco, to achieve something truly great. And they should do so every year. Why aren't they getting guys like Falcao, who was clearly getting a move on? (How in the world was Monaco, a newly-promoted team itself, able to snatch it from teams like Chelsea, who reportedly had been watching and wanting him, and City?...)

Otherwise, if Manchester City starts imitating the spending habits of Arsenal, they won't be able to mount title challenges every year, but will oftentimes be trembling in front of weaklings like newly-promoted teams, just like now, against Cardiff.

What the hell are those sheiks doing over there? Did they just invest a little money, in the beginning, to get people to come to their stadium and spend money on merchandise and tickets, and their airline, and stuff, and now are only looking for profit instead of trophies?
That's not good.

AC Milan, the Arsenal of Italy

Berlusconi's Milan.

Just like Arsenal, from the English Premier League, a team previously used to always go for the title, but which in recent seasons apparently decided of its own accord to relax its ambitions drastically. Very much like the Gunners, the Rosso-Neri also seemingly said "forget the trophies, we want to get as many points as we can with the cheapest players we can keep at the club". That is, while at the same time pretending to the fans that they still have some chance to make it to the top.

But, really, what can be expected of a team which, when they play a recently newly-promoted team, have to face, and struggle against, the most famous player on the pitch (because he is playing for the other team)?!?!!

Yes, indeed, the best and most well-known player on the field of play between Hellas Verona and AC Milan was playing for Verona!

I'm talking about Luca Toni, of course, who not only showed up but also made significant efforts to show the Milan team who's who, and scored the two Verona goals, both of them headers.

Verona - Milan 2-1.

And, just like its owner, Milan is (already) in trouble.

Highlights:

What the Fuck is Arsenal Doing?

Why do people still go to see this team of losers playing?

Arsenal played properly only for about 6 minutes, in their season opener, and then it was all kudos to Aston Villa Birmingham.

What kinds of methods is Wenger using? Still from the late '90s, probably? Why isn't the Arsenal management taking measures to improve a team that is slowly transforming into garbage, much like Liverpool FC seems to be doing?

One good goal, scored by Giroud. And a few chances, at 1-2, which also went the other way, to show just how deficient the Gunners are in the finalizing department. That's all this team had in this match.

On the other hand, Aston Villa, a team that could have been relegated last season, showed much better quality. For the first 65 minutes or so, actually, they had all the best chances, too, except for that one goal by Olivier Giroud.

And, so, it looks like another pathetic season for the London team.

A lot of members of the Arsenal business should just pack their bags and quit, over there.
After Henry left, it's been nothing but disappointments for Gunner fans.

If I was among them, I would stop wasting money (- and they're charging the most for tickets, out of all the teams in Premier League, they are -) to see Arsenal. And their pathetic lack of consistency.
(You would never see Manchester United lose, at home, 3-1, in their season opener. By comparison, that's a clue that Arsenal is clearly no longer a top team in the Premier League.)

Highlights:

England - UEFA Club Competitions Participants - 2013-2014

Manchester United --> Champions League Group Stage
Manchester City --> Champions League Group Stage
Chelsea London --> Champions League Group Stage
Arsenal London --> Champions League Play-off Round
Tottenham Hotspur (London) --> Europa League Play-off Round
Swansea City --> Europa League Third Qualifying Round
Wigan Athletic --> Europa League Group Stage

Note: Wigan was relegated from the Premier League.

How the Hell Are These Guys 20 Points Ahead?

This is, unfortunately, I think, the problem with these big football leagues, around Europe. Most of them must be fixed, at least during certain years.

How else can a team like Bayern have a 20-point lead, in the Bundesliga, over a team like Borussia Dortmund?

They must not be playing the same teams. (Or, even more explicit, teams must be playing differently against one (let's say) contender than against the other.)

Real strength is measured better in the Champions League.

And, looking at the Bayern team today, against an only-slightly-above-average team, like Arsenal, I must say "I just don't get it". About Bayern Munich.

Yes, Bayern played better than Arsenal, but Arsenal is weak. No matter which way you look at it, Arsenal is not really a top European team.
Bayern didn't face Manchester United, or City (- yes, I know they suck in the CL, but I had to include them because I'm talking English clubs, here -), or Chelsea.
And they were up 3-1, from the first leg. Away leg!
How did they come to shake and shiver for the entire second leg? Home leg!

I'd look forward to see Bayern play Borussia, in the Champions League, later.

As for Arsenal, they got lucky, to a large extent. They didn't play too great. But they should be proud, because they showed great ambition and tenacity.

I'm sure Wenger is proud. But Wenger and the Arsenal management higher-ups are the only ones close to the London club who shouldn't be proud. Because the Arsenal prestige has been receding, for quite a while now, and this is just a temporary high.

It's quite possible Arsenal won't be in the Champions League, next year, at all.

Highlights:

Man. U.'s Reserves

How can Manchester United get win after win in the Premier League, by having players in their squad that, when 3-5 crucial main players are not playing, cannot inspire their team to even grabbing one point from teams like Galatasaray and CFR Cluj?!?

Yeah, okay, they're already qualified, but these East European teams are surely no better than Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, maybe even Newcastle. All of these English teams saw Man. U. leave the stadium in which they faced each other in the EPL with full points, this season.

So, then, how come Man. U. screws up such a small percentage of matches in the Premier League, and such a large one in the Champions League?
(In the last two years, in Europe's best inter-club competition, United failed to win 50% of their matches. They lost 25%. In the English Premier League, over the same period of time, they won more than 75% of their matches. Out of 53 matches.)

It's weird. Especially because Man. U. supposedly got an easy CL draw last year, and they got an easy CL draw this year.

I can't fully remember the last time a team got six wins out of six in the Champions League group stage. (Maybe I gotta look back to the PSG team of the early '90s, for that.)
But, anyway, why wasn't Man. U. interested in a record like that, considering the fact that they got to be in the crappiest group, and they could have won all six matches, potentially, if playing at full strength?

...Or could they?

Highlights from Man. U. - Cluj:

Is That It for Chelsea This Year?

In 2008-2009, we saw Liverpool making a great start to the season, only to witness a horrid run of draws close to the middle of the season, that completely messed up their chances of winning a league title.

It looks like the same thing is happening now with Chelsea.

I understand that they would be upset for very possibly being robbed in that match against Manchester united, but that was five matches ago.
And, since that lousy derby, Chelsea got a grand total of four points out of possible fifteen. (No wonder people are saying it might just be a two-horse race now, between City and United.)

If I was Abramovich, I would be firing left and right. Not just Di Matteo. This is just crass incompetence, what's happening at Chelsea right now.
You will never see teams like Man. U., Barcelona, Real, Bayern, Juventus, Porto and many other established teams across the continent fuck up so badly, in such a short time, during a season when they really have an opening to win the league (like Chelsea had this year - They should have been seven points ahead, for heaven's sake! -).
It cannot realistically be just the coach.

Chelsea - Fulham 0-0?!?

That's the kind of results you would expect teams like Arsenal (AKA teams that have already accepted the fact that they cannot possibly win the league anymore because of the lack of value of their squad) to let slide.

So, I guess the question is now: Will Chelsea become like a new Arsenal?
(And, maybe, is Manchester City the new Chelsea?)

Stupid, Retarded UEFA Rules!

I must say, it seems to me that UEFA decision makers are getting dumber and dumber. And no, I'm not talking about the decision to have the next Euros comprise of 24 teams.

I'm talking about having the main tie-breaking criterion between teams tied on points in the Champions League be the direct results between the teams in question.

How moronic is that?
How idiotic is it, huh, Mr. Platini?

Let's look at it, group by group.

Group A is, surprisingly, unaffected by this rule.

In Group B, Schalke can even lose, no matter by what scoreline, as long as Arsenal does not win in the other match, and still win the group. So, a team that might get crushed - it will not happen, by I'm just saying - 7-0 by someone as weak as Montpellier could still win that group. Stupid!

In Group C, Malaga has already won the group, courtesy of their better head-to-head record against AC Milan. So, then, both Malaga and Milan have nothing to play for in the last matchday. Very stupid!
Luckily, as far as the struggle between Zenit St. Petersburg and Anderlecht goes, their direct encounters ended 1-0 and 0-1, so that will be decided by goal difference. They will have to show up and play, if they wish to finish third and continue in the Europa League. Thank God (for almost nothing)!

Group D also has a decided winner, Borussia Dortmund, because of their better record against Real Madrid. Not that Borussia was not the best team of the group so far, but if they lose at home to Manchester City, on the last matchday, nobody would then say that they were, pound-for-pound, the best overall team if Real beats Ajax and gets the same number of points. (You gotta play well all your matches to be most appreciated!...)
Man. City, likewise, cannot not win their last match, if they want Europa League play, even if Ajax loses 200-0 in Madrid.
Extremely dumb!

But Group E is the worst.
You know, someone watching Juventus - Chelsea (3-0), and not having been aware of these fucked-up UEFA rules, might have thought that Juventus kept pressing, even at 2-0 and with 10 minutes left, because they knew every goal would count on the last matchday and Chelsea would have played Nordsjaelland (a team that is very likely to lose 6-7--nil). Actually, though, NO!
Thanks to any kind of win over Chelsea, and with a point in Donetsk in two weeks ' time, Juventus can then be assured of progressing over Chelsea, last year 's winner.
Even a 1-0 victory for Juventus would have been enough to secure that advantage.
3-0 was a result that brought Juventus no more benefits than a 1-0 would have.
And another unfortunate result of this obvious lack of intelligence from UEFA officials is the fact that Shakhtar Donetsk is already in the round of 16. Yes, they have secured their place, because of their direct results over Chelsea (2-1 and 2-3, away-goals rule) and now Chelsea can only at best tie Shakhtar on points.
So, Shakhtar has only first place to play for, on the last matchday, and clearly a draw in their direct match would satisfy both Shakhtar (who would win the group) and Juventus (who would go through, leaving Chelsea out).
How much do Chelsea fans hate UEFA for these senseless rules?
So, so retarded!!!

In Group F, Bayern leads over Valencia, even though Valencia has a better goal difference. (The two teams are tied on points, yes.) And all Bayern needs to do is match the number of points that Valencia gets on the last day, to win that group.
Also, Lille cannot go to the Europa League, even though they are clearly better than BATE at the present time, even if they win their last match by an astronomical score, and BATE loses theirs by an astronomical score, too, to boot. Why? Well, because stupid UEFA said 1-3 and 2-0 means the team that scored the three goals in that one match will beat the other team, no matter what else happens, if they're tied on points at the end.
Also, retarded!

In Group G, Benfica needs to match Celtic's result, but luckily for the surprising Scottish outfit (who beat Barcelona) Celtic plays Spartak at home while Benfica has to take on Barca away.

Group H contains another team that might be seriously screwed by this deficiency in thinking clearly exhibited by UEFA officials: CFR Cluj.
The Romanians have to go to Old Trafford, needing to beat Manchester United. And, even then, they have to hope that Galatasaray does not defeat Braga in Portugal. (And Braga cannot even finish third anymore. They will be bottom, and might only be playing for pride, if even that.)
Potential scorelines Man. U. - Cluj 0-5 and Braga - Galatasaray 2-3 would allow the Turkish team to qualify. If that happens, wouldn't that be fucked-up, retarded, and unfair to Cluj?
Realistically, all the Transylvanian team can hope for is for them to get a point in Manchester, and for Galatasaray to lose to Braga.
They could score, and score, and score, in England, and still get kicked out. Thanks to some serious incompetence from UEFA!

Chelsea Stays Top

On Friday, a friend of mine asked me "Who do you think 's going to win between Arsenal and Chelsea?" I said "Chelsea [...] Chelsea better win." He himself is a Chelsea fan, but did not really believe in Chelsea that much, maybe because of the results from last year, so he insisted to add to the discussion that Arsenal was playing at home.

So what?

What I don't believe, though, is that Arsenal could ever be a title contender anymore. (And I told my friend that, too.)
Yes, it's very early, but I would be ready to bet that Arsenal will not win the title this year. I also do not see them winning any of the upcoming couple of seasons, either, or even any later upcoming ones, also.
Arsenal... Tottenham... Newcastle... whatever...
If any of these teams should find themselves atop the table, for some duration, it is only because of an unbelievable streak of coincidences, and they will not, and can not, stay there in the long run.
The way these clubs are run is extremely faulty, from the standpoint of a true winner, and that's why you can exclude these teams as title contenders.
(Oh, and Liverpool?... Well, they should consider themselves lucky if they finish above Everton, Aston Villa and the like. So, I'm not even talking about Liverpool anymore. Champions League berths are beyond its capabilities.)

There are only three teams with real ambitions in the Premier League:
Manchester United, Chelsea (who have to still do a lot of work in rebuilding their team, in my opinion), and now, seemingly, Manchester City.
That's it.

No team that sells its best player willingly to (supposedly )its biggest rival - yes, I do mean van Persie, damn it! - is a team that should be made fun of. And it is not a team who has its heart set on competing against said rival.

But, getting back to Arsenal, I wasn't exactly impressed that they stole some points from Man. City, the previous matchday. But Arsenal, I guess, is going to spoil some things for some teams. Just like Everton. Or QPR, ha, ha, why not?
With that in mind, many congratulations to Chelsea for managing to avoid what City could not.
Maybe Mancini's squad will live to rue those dropped points against Wenger's men.

On the other hand, Arsenal made more errors in their match against Chelsea, than at the Etihad stadium. Torres (in minute 20) and Mata (53) managed to speculate some of those weaknesses, emphatically, and won the game for Di Matteo 's team, in spite of a spectacular effort from Gervinho (42) that pulled things level before half time.
Even so, Arsenal could have kept a point, if Giroud had done better with his shot at the death, after rounding Chelsea's goalkeeper.

But the most important fact is that, thanks to this impressive (- I guess -) win, Chelsea stays top. Let's hope they can maintain their rhythm, and for once offer an English-league title chase that involves more than just two teams, this year. (That would be nice.)

Highlights:

England - UEFA Club Competitions Participants - 2012-2013

Manchester City --> Champions League Group Stage
Manchester United --> Champions League Group Stage
Arsenal London --> Champions League Group Stage
Tottenham Hotspur (London) --> Europa League Group Stage
Newcastle United --> Europa League Play-off Round
Chelsea London --> Champions League Group Stage
Liverpool FC --> Europa League Third Qualifying Round

Note: Even though they finished the league in a Champions-League-Play-off position, Tottenham Hotspur was automatically relocated to the Europa League because Chelsea, who did not finish in a Champions-League position, won the 2011-2012 Champions League (and in 2012-2013 England was not permitted to enter more than 4 teams in the Champions League).

How the Hell Do They Do It in England?

Again, I wonder if Manchester United is not paying off some outside people in the English Premier League. (And now, they're going for big scores, so they can get a better goal difference than Manchester City, of course.)

I mean, really, it's inexplicable how the hell they always manage to win at ALL the critical moments, year, after year, after year.

Are the other teams in the PL really that shitty? So shitty that only one other team was able to win the title in the last 7, possibly 8, years?

If so, then how come Chelsea did better in the Champions League this year?
And how come, usually, Arsenal and Chelsea do practically as well as Man. U. does, in said international competition?
It's a very, very small difference between these three teams, in their Champions League performances, so why is there such a big difference in the Premier League, all the time?

There's something really rotten there, I think.
Manchester United must get some help in the league, I believe, in order for them to win every single title (except when a team, like Arsenal from 2004 or Mourinho's Chelsea, really is way, way better - and even then, it's still very close).

Man. U. should play in another league, to see if they're really worth what they say they're worth.

Yeah, actually! Put them in the Spanish league!
They'd get beatings from the likes of Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao every year.
They'd never win any title in the Spanish league. No way they could win in Spain!

But in England, where every other team stops playing proper football for a month or two at Christmas, and then never gets into the same good rhythm from before, unless they're not competing for anything in particular, Manchester United really can just go ahead and always point & laugh at the so-called opposition.

What would be City's response now, I wonder? Can they keep up with United's march through the league?
Man, how I wish somebody would bring back the Liverpool of the '70s and '80s, to replace these crappy bullshit challengers like Manchester City, Arsenal, and even the current Chelsea team!

(This was inspired by the Wolverhampton - Manchester U. encounter.)

That's Why You Stay Till the End

When football is played honestly, teams can get rewarded if they stick by their guns until the end. But you never know if they will indeed be rewarded or not.
And this is what makes honest football great.

Today, Arsenal added two more points to their potential one by continuing to push forward, even in the 95th minute (the last of official added time).
Vermaelen scored, after a nice ricochet at the end of an extended Arsenal attack put the ball right at his feet.
Newcastle had held off Arsenal quite successfully up until that point.

After Newcastle's random goal - I say "random" because the Gunners goalkeeper should have been able to at least parry Ben Arfa's shot (in minute 14) - Arsenal almost instantly replied (15), through, who else but, van Persie.

The Dutchman continues to lead, in the Premier League topscorer race, with 26 goals.

Getting back, though, Arsenal is only one point behind Tottenham, now. Nice!

I bet those guys wish they had taken some points from Manchester United now...

See highlights here.

Not Enough, Sorry!

What a first half at the Emirates stadium in London!

The way Arsenal pressed forward, and was scoring goal after goal due to Milan's lethargy, made everybody, not just Gunners fans, to believe that Arsenal could, and maybe even would, be able to turn this tie their way.

In just minute 7, Koscielny was left totally unmarked by the Milan defense, and he put it in with a quick header.

19 minutes later, a bad clearance put the ball right at the feet of Tomas Rosicky, whose medium-powered shot was just good enough to beat Abbiati, on the goalkeeper's left-hand side.

And, then, in minute 41, Oxlade-Chamberlain was taken down in the penalty box by Mesbah, and the penalty kick was converted, one minute later, by van Persie.

The fans were going crazy.

But that was it, though.

Arsenal had one big chance to make it 4-0, at the middle of the second half, but both Gervinho and van Persie were foiled by Abbiati, who was probably Milan's man of the match, to say the least.

Milan had a good chance to score, too, in the last 10 minutes, but they have to be reasonably happy with the result, in the end.
After all, they succeeded in defending very effectively a one-goal advantage, away from home, for a little more than 45 minutes.

Arsenal definitely tried their best, but unfortunately for them Milan woke up in the second half of the game.

And thus Milan became the first quarter-final contender of this year 's Champions League.

See highlights here.
Highlights:

Arsenal v AC Milan by pilkook

The Most Faithful of United's Bitches

It is clear to me that Tottenham will never win the Premiership title, as long as Manchester United is in the same league.

Why?
Well, because I think Tottenham is the most obedient of Man. U.'s bitches. 26 matches without beating Ferguson's team... Not even Wigan can top that.
But Wigan is probably (or, I should say, hopefully, for the good of English football) going down this year, while Tottenham keeps filling the numbers in the Premier League.

Not to say that Tottenham doesn't have a pretty good team. They can beat the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and so on. On a good day, they can beat either of Manchester United's opponents, that is.

Actually, they could beat United, too; I'm sure.

But they just don't want to.

Clearly, if ever they had a team good enough to beat the teams above them, including Man. U., it was this year. But what do they care about doing that, and about fairness?

Did you see the defending at the second United goal? (...Not that Rooney's header, in the first half, that opened the scoring, was not the result of really shoddy defending.) When Young scored his first, in minute 60, the Tottenham defenders clearly tried their best to touch the ball as little as possible, even when it came to their feet, and to give the strikers from Manchester as wide a path to put the ball on goal as possible.
Even a person not wearing needed glasses could spot the indifferent approach of Tottenham there.

Additionally, the goal that was cancelled because Adebayor supposedly handled the ball also emphasized the teamwork between Tottenham players and the referee in making sure that United does not leave White Hart Lane without any less than three points... (But maybe I'm wrong and I'll see the Spurs staff complaining about how the referee robbed them... I'm waiting to see such footage on the television news; yes, I am.)

It's very easy to fake playing football, you know, even if you're not a pro.
And when it comes to matches like this one, you don't even have to fake it to scam money from betting companies. There's a lot of money in winning the Premier League. And Manchester United disgustingly, and at any cost, wants to do it every year, I believe.
(Hence, they have these helpers, like Wigan, Bolton, the recent Fulham team, Everton, tottenham... There's a world of difference between how Tottenham represented themselves when they played City away, just a few matchdays ago, and the pathetic manner in which they conducted themselves on the pitch today.)

You know, Ferguson did not have to say that bullshit about how Redknapp's possible naming as the England coach could trouble Tottenham in the match against his team.
Any person with a little bit of brain can see that's an attempt to cover up the fix. (Oh, yeah, Redknapp's future suddenly made every Tottenham player quiver with fear against mighty ferguson 's team!... Yeah, I'll buy that... when pigs fly!)

And it's not like Tottenham did not have a cushy advantage, to be able to lose some of it without major worries. Hell, they're still four points ahead of Arsenal, even though Arsenal won!
And Arsenal and Chelsea very rarely can keep up a sustained effort this season.
That's surely some of the reasoning behind not caring if Manchester United gets these three points. (It's also unthinkable for United to fall four or five points behind Manchester City, at this time in the season, and exactly in a game against their closest lapdog.)

To conclude, though, in order to see some punishment inflicted on this shitty Spurs team, that has not played a decent game against Manchester United in decades, I hope they don't make it in the Champions League next year. That would be a really spectacular turn-around, and a good lesson to see, if only...

As for united, well, hopefully some teams that actually do come to play on the football pitch will stop their challenge, eventually, because the red devils suck this year and don't deserve to win any trophy.

See some sickening highlights here.

Another Failure for Arsenal

It's funny how two games in four days can ruin most of one team's season.

But, considering that that team is Arsene Wenger 's Arsenal, it's not that surprising.

More and more people have surely got to be realizing that Wenger is not doing a good job at the London club.
As of today, they're practically out of the Champions League, as a result of the Milan massacre, and eliminated from the FA Cup by Sunderland, a team that they beat just last Saturday, to reach fourth in the Premier League table, which is all they have left.

Sunderland could have scored more, and no longer made the errors that allowed Arsenal to claw their way back, like in the Premiership game played a week ago.

Even Wenger's freshest discoveries, like Oxlade-Chamberlain, are failing him, as shown by the winger's own goal.

But at least Arsenal is fourth in the league. (Yeah, right, big deal!) I would venture to say that they won't finish there (or above), though.

Highlights from Sunderland - Arsenal 2-0:

Arsenal Just Full of Weaknesses

One of the commentators said, at half-time, that the Arsenal team is unwilling to put the effort needed to stop Milan from steamrolling over them.
That's not one hundred percent accurate.
The Arsenal team is just too poor and badly prepared to stop Milan.

The atrocious management of the London club was obvious before, such as when they lost 2-8 at Old Trafford, but it was never too clear in the Champions League campaign because they were always drawn against significantly weaker teams.

But Milan is not weaker than Arsenal, and today practically everything Milan did turned into success.

The 4-0 scoreline may seem exaggerated, but it's not by much, though.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic just had to get one goal for himself (minute 79 - pen.) this match, when Djorou found no recourse but to foul him in the penalty area, because his skills were just two levels above any of the Arsenal players, as evidenced most clearly from the two passes for Robinho's goals (38, 49). Kevin-Prince Boateng got the (spectacular) first goal, in the 15th minute.

Arsenal suffered their heaviest defeat in the Champions League, and nobody in their right mind would bet on them advancing now.

Watch highlights here.
Full summary:


AC Milan v Arsenal by reterpo

Doesn't This Performance (w)Anger Anybody?

I don't know how Arsenal's fans can put up with so much incompetence.
If I was living in London and supporting Arsenal, I would have stopped going to the stadium, and thus I would have stopped contributing money to a bunch of morons, a long, long time ago. Why are they morons? Well, wouldn't you have to be, to go from a team that dominates the league, year after year, to a team that cannot get a point against their past fiercest rivals, to save its life? What kind of management is that? And why do they insist on keeping Wenger as a coach?

Apparently, he's even having problems when thinking about what substitutions to make. Arshavin was just awful.

And I just don't know what kind of defense training Wenger does with his players. Because Wellbeck should never have gotten to that winning ball...

However, Wenger thinks Arsenal is "in a fighting position".
Not from what I saw. Arsenal played badly. They're like a junior team on the pitch, against the big teams. And who are they fighting? Leeds? Wow, that's impressive! Maybe next year they can fight MK Dons...
Ferguson says the difference should have been bigger, on the scoreboard. And I think he has the more accurate of the two analyses. I was hoping that Arsenal could make United lose points today, but Arsenal cannot perform in a crucial match anymore. (And it all started in 2004.)

But, hey, Wenger says the team should be inspired by this game. Maybe we should all be inspired and support a team that can actually win trophies and make its fans happy.

Which is the Real Derby?

City - Spurs and Gunners - Man. U.
Two big, big games coming up on Sunday.

Some might say that Arsenal - Manchester U. is the main derby. If you look at the head-to-head against these teams until 2004, then yeah, it is.

But you have to look at the positions in the standings, and Manchester City - Tottenham is clearly the most important game of the matchday. Tottenham could pull within two points of the leaders, or the Citizens could reduce Spurs' hidden title challenge to nothing. (Not that Harry Redknapp is not trying to do that already...)

And what is there to say about Arsenal?
Even if they win, they still won't be in the top four. Enough said, about their form.
It also seems that Henry is uncertain for this encounter. What in the world?... They just got him, and he's already broken? Or do they only use him in matches against teams from the Championship (the second tier of English football)? But maybe it's just a deceiving tactic, and he will feature against Man. U. I know I'd like to see old-man Henry perform against the strongest teams in football, not the likes of Leeds.

Swansea - Arsenal, or London Team Is Falling Down...

The last (and deciding) goal in this game is yet another testimony to Wenger's clueless method of coaching.
I mean, do you not tell your goalkeeper that he should never back away from an opposing attacker who is advancing on goal with the ball at his feet?
Do you not tell your players that they are most at risk for conceding right after they score?

'Nuff said.

And was Henry even in this game? Or does he only perform against second-quality teams?

This link has streaming highlights - good on 16 January.

Arsenal Messes with Its Fans Again

What's happening at Arsenal (and of which Fulham - Arsenal 2-1 is only the latest episode) clearly indicates that it's not the players who are under-performing at the club, of late, but the coach.

They have been getting more new players at Arsenal, since 2004, than Ferguson has ever brought at Manchester United since he took over, in the mid-eighties.
And what has smooth-talking Arsene Wenger done with them?
That's a rhetorical question, of course.

I'm surprised at how much patience the owners of the club have with this unambitious, incompetent football manager.
Wenger is good with making a young player into a relatively good, matured one. That's clear to everyone. But, unless the club has no close rival in the league, Wenger is not apt, in the least, to manage their way to a title.

Nobody seems to want to say that about the elegant-looking Frenchman, but it's been the case time and time again, since that notorious unbeaten season (when Arsenal had no close rival, yes).
But, with more and more clubs emitting interest in the highest spots in the Premiership standings, there's no way for Arsenal to go but down.
Even Tottenham seems more likely to end up in the top two, from now on, than Arsenal.

And, ha ha ha, there have been talks of Henry coming back to the Gunners!... Do they really think old-man Henry can bring back the club to the 2003-2004 apogee? Even Wenger cannot be that naive, despite the way he talks whenever he's interviewed.