Arsenal managerial legend Arsene Wenger

It’s not been a good last couple of weeks for Arsenal. Out of the Champions League at the hands of European ‘bogey’ team Barcelona, out of the FA Cup at the hands of old rivals Manchester United, defeat in the final of the Carling Cup to upstarts Birmingham City and patchy Premier League results with draws against Newcastle and Sunderland. Not to mention an injury list that has contained, at various points of the season, Fabregas, Vermaelen, van Persie, three goalkeepers and now Djourou.

Manager Arséne Wenger must wonder what he has to do to win a trophy these days, because it’s not just this season where things have gone wrong. No, it’s been six long years since the North Londoners picked up any silverware and that, for a club managed by one of the best, is something of a disaster.

Yet Wenger remains in charge and it appears as if he’ll stay that way until he decides to give it up. The Frenchman does have a job for life at Arsenal, of that there can be no doubt. The real question is whether or not he deserves it. Six years without a trophy suggests it might be time for a change, but Wenger made Arsenal great and if Sir Alex Ferguson’s 20-odd years at Old Trafford has taught football anything it’s that you don’t dispense with the men who make you great.

Except Ferguson has never gone six years without winning something…

The success Arsenal enjoyed under Wenger was achieved through a combination of power, skill and a natural goalscorer. Today’s less successful Arsenal lacks both power and, unless van Persie is fit and well, a natural goalscorer. The skill level has been raised to levels unmatched in the Premier League. They are, without doubt, a joy to watch when on song. But they lack what it takes to win the League.

The fact that they have been dubbed “Barcelona Lite” is both praise and damnation in my opinion. They can play like the Catalans in periods of games, for sure, and who wouldn’t want that comparison? But they lack the confidence and winning mentality of the Spanish giants, they just don’t believe that their football, their talent is enough to win anything. And, of course, they’re not quite as good anyway – hence the ‘Lite’.

Wenger, then, has to accept that he needs to make changes. As much as his reputation and even position at Arsenal is secure, he is now in danger of appearing stubborn at best and blind to his own team’s problems at worst. Nobody is questioning Wenger’s talents as a manager but you do feel he needs to take a step back and see that the direction he is taking Arsenal is not going to be a successful one.

He has persisted with the beautiful football on its own for long enough. His transfer policy in the summer must focus on steel not silk and on goals not glamour. Arsenal’s squad is lightweight but the first eleven is only a player or two from making a genuine challenge on domestic and European fronts. Surely if Wenger expects to have that “job for life” at the Emirates he has to acknowledge these facts and act upon them?

If he doesn’t then it is possible that he will be removed from the managers position. This would no doubt cause uproar amongst the Arsenal faithful but even they will begin to tire of season after season of promise but no delivery. Without a holding, grafting midfielder of high quality and a striker with an unerring eye for goal (rather than the corner flag, Mr Bendtner) that is pretty much all I think they can look forward to.

They needn’t worry though. Wenger will be offered a role upstairs involving scouting and youth development more than likely. Job for life, remember, and one he would, I have no doubt, excel at.

Sporting Fare - Serving up the world of sport...with a twist!

Sporting Fare - Serving up the world of sport...with a twist!

Which is fair enough – a promise was made to the International Olympics Committee that awarding the Olympics to London would leave a lasting athletics legacy, the heart of which would be the stadium. West Ham made all the right noises along those lines, while Spurs said they’d knock it down, build a football stadium on the site and redevelop the Crystal Palace athletics venue instead.

Actually, that’s NOT what Spurs said, but the media said it was, so that’s good enough. They would actually have retained about £420m of the stadium. Nevertheless, they WOULD have removed the running track and any possibility of athletics events taking place there.

Small wonder the ‘Appy ‘Ammers won the bid, really.

It is rather amusing then that it’ll be the Tottenham fans celebrating while the West Ham fans cry into their jellied eels. I haven’t heard one supporter of either club in favour of moving to the Olympic Stadium, citing many reasons for wanting to stay put. The main one though was that damned running track. It means you’re not close enough to the action, it ruins the atmosphere (incidentally, have you been to a Premier League game lately? There’s very little atmosphere left anywhere if we’re honest with ourselves), it separates you from your heroes, blah, blah, blah. All true, but not exactly forward thinking.

Spurs would have built this:

No, I have no idea what that red twirly thing is meant to be either

The larger capacity and other amenities that went with it would have helped them increase revenue and push on in their bid to become a real Premier League title contender. West Ham had the same idea, though there are a few cynics out there (yes, me) that question their ability to fill the Olympic Stadium on a weekly basis.

A recent poll in London suggested that 72% of people in the capital supported West Ham’s bid, while only 13% backed Spurs. Can’t help thinking the 72% were Spurs fans and the 13% Hammers fans!

Anyway, point is that the business heads at the two clubs (Brady and Levy) saw an opportunity and went for it, not giving one thought to the supporters. Silly move. West Ham will live to regret this “win”, I believe.

The world of British athletics can rejoice, though they are now going to have to prove that they can generate interest and income in big enough numbers to justify this decision by the OPLC. Again, I have my doubts.

I actually thought Tottenham’s bid was the better one for all concerned (fans aside). Restoring Crystal Palace to its former glory would have been nice and the chance for Spurs to kick on and challenge Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal would have been interesting.

Ah well. West Ham will get the keys after the closing ceremony in 2012 and we’ll find out shortly after if they have bitten off more than they can chew.

Any supporters of either club out there care to comment on your win / loss of the stadium? Good thing, bad thing? Why? Let me know in the comments.

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The only thing that doesn’t make sense, apart from the transfer fees, is Newcastle’s agreement to let Carroll leave. But what these moves mean for the summer transfer window is what is really interesting.

For Newcastle, a star striker is an absolute must. The fact they would already have had to strengthen other areas will now be overshadowed by the search for a new goalscorer. And that assume they now survive in the Premiership. Without Carroll, that is not a certainty. Their ability to attract the best is not what it was, the loss of their best player will not help that, and it’s going to be a difficult summer for them in the transfer market.

Liverpool, on the other hand, will be hoping they’ve resolved the loss of Torres with Carroll. Personally, I feel that’s unlikely but the addition of Luis Suarez is inspired. He had a fantastic World Cup for Uruguay and impressed me. If he can bring that form and talent to the Liverpool side they can look forward to a much brighter second half of the season and beyond. The Anfield side will be looking at other areas of their squad instead, notably the defence, I’m sure.

At Chelsea there will be significant changes I feel. Ancelotti will no doubt look to rebuild his side around new signing Torres and you can expect some significant departures as he does it. I also feel that Abramovich will insist on some sort of return following his £70m outlay on Luiz and the Spanish striker. So who will go?

Drogba, it seems, is past his best and at 32 could be deemed surplus to requirements unless he sparks off a stunning partnership with Torres this season. He would still command a decent fee too. Chelsea’s other striker, Nicolas Anelka is a year younger, which isn’t much and has had a less significant impact on the side in terms of goals. He still offers quality and pace, though, and Ancelotti will have to decide between the two as to which is best to partner Torres.

Or he could choose to jettison them both, raising some £10-£12m in the process and seek out a new, younger model. At the same time, he’ll be looking at his midfield and wondering what to do. Is the current set up of Lampard, Essien, Kalou and Mikel, supported by Malouda and Ramires, the right one? For me, it actually is but Ancelotti may see it differently (especially with the usually indestructible Lampard showing his age in terms of injuries) and a summer transfer wouldn’t be a summer transfer window without Abramovich splashing the cash!

In defence, Chelsea look to have plugged a huge gap with the signing of Luiz so the only possible change there would be at right back. Terry, Alex and Luiz will share the centre back roles, with Terry bowing out to age and letting Chelsea form a potentially superb Luiz/Alex axis, while Ashley Cole will remain first choice left back for the Londoners and England for at least a couple more years. Only Bosingwa, Ivanovic and especially Ferreira (how is he still there?!) need worry.

Could Drogba and / or Anelka end up at Newcastle then, as Chelsea look to forge a strike partnership of similar success with Torres? It’s possible that at least one could end up there.

Outside of these three you can fully expect Manchester United and Arsenal to be as frugal as ever. United NEED a goalkeeper now van der Sar has announced his retirement in May, while Wenger will be confident about his current squad, if not his chances of holding on to Fabregas for yet another season.

Sir Alex Ferguson will find that goalkeeper but his search for replacements for Giggs and Scholes will go on. And on. As the players are themselves. Wenger will need to look for a Fabregas replacement, just in case, and he must surely look to replace the inept (but oddly lucky) Bendtner too. Outside of that, the current top two in the Premier League will consider themselves healthy in player terms.

The only other side who will be looking for real quality to push on to real success is Tottenham. Redknapp stated he was only one or two players from winning the League. I don’t think he’s too wrong with that, but who and what those two players are is a debate for another article!

In the meantime, there’s a title race on that Manchester United look to be cruising through, unbeaten as they are this season while the other challengers slip up around them. But nothing is ever certain, especially in this league. Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle proved that on January 31st.

Sporting Fare - Serving up the world of sport...with a twist!

Sporting Fare - Serving up the world of sport...with a twist!

Who's laughing now?

It doesn’t come as much of a shock, to be perfectly frank, as what they said was clearly sexist:

Keys: “Somebody better get down there and explain offside to her.”
Gray: “Can you believe that? A female linesman. Women don’t know the offside rule.”
Keys: “’Course they don’t. I can guarantee you there will be a big one today. Kenny [Dalglish] will go potty. This is not the first time, is it? Didn’t we have one before?”
Keys: “The game’s gone mad. Did you hear charming Karren Brady this morning complaining about sexism? Do me a favour love.”

On Radio Five Live this morning was a woman (whose name escapes me at the moment, but she’s on the board of Wolves, is a big name in women’s cricket and knows Keys and Gray well, apparently) defending the pair, putting it down to banter. But Five Live played the audio clip and it didn’t sound like banter to me. It sounded like real exasperation at a woman, A WOMAN, getting involved at the top level of English football.

The comments are at best unkind and at worst bigoted. That said, in this day of knee-jerk reaction and over the top reporting while it may not be a surprise they have been suspended do they really deserve it?

There’s arguments on both sides. That sort of talk shouldn’t be allowed on TV, that’s for sure. But it wasn’t. It was a private conversation off air that was recorded and leaked. You might not LIKE what was said, but everyone is entitled to their opinion, no matter how outdated it is, including Keys and Gray. They should, in my opinion, be publicly vilified and professionally warned, not punished.

Of course, Sky can’t be seen to be going easy on them so suspension it is. What now for the cornerstones of Sky Sports’ football coverage over the last 25 years or so? Can they bounce back in the roles they have enjoyed so smugly for years or will they be fired and replaced? And if so, who with? Who can do the job as well as they have?

Your thoughts and opinions please!

Sporting Fare - Serving up the world of sport...with a twist!

If you’re on Twitter I strongly suggest you follow them for videos of classic games – or as they put it:

Modern football? No thanks! Revisit classic games as they happened with Scott Murray, Rob Smyth and Georgina Turner.

I realise I’ve been posting a lot of classic Manchester United-related stuff lately…I’m coming over all nostalgic for some unexplainable reason. I’ll try to tone it down from now on! In the meantime, enjoy this…

Sporting Fare - Serving up the world of sport...with a twist!

Luckily, thanks to the world we live in, I can relive the glory days. Like these highlights of Eric Cantona’s goals and assists from the 1993/94 season. Ah, happy days…

Sporting Fare - Serving up the world of sport...with a twist!

That was the question asked in commentary at the end of the game anyway.The answer is no, there’s not been a shift in power. For that to happen Arsenal would have to be falling back, and they’re not. Spurs, however, are very much on a par now, or close to it. What Harry Redknapp has done is assemble a squad of good quality players and moulded them into a team of true class. He has done what Arsene Wenger has been doing for so many years at Arsenal in fact.

It can only be good for London and the Premier League. A rivalry down South of the type enjoyed by Northern clubs – Manchester United and City and Liverpool and Everton in particular – is needed and fantastic. It’s been too long. Arsenal now know they have a true local rivalry. The battles with Chelsea are just not the same.

Redknapp crafted a victory today of huge significance and Wenger must now be worrying about the often raised fragility of his team and squad. They are a hugely talented bunch but they lack a certain steel that Spurs DO possess. They have for a few years. But that’s Wenger’s way. He prefers skill over power now – despite having several very large men in his squad, they aren’t a patch on the likes of Patrick Vieira.

Spurs have mixed the skills of van der Vaart and Modric with the relative power of Huddlestone, Gallas and Kaboul. It’s proving to be a most potent mix. But on their day, Arsenal are still the better side. Today, for 45 minutes, they weren’t, bit over the course of 38 games, yes, they are still the better team. I still thik the Gunners will finish above Spurs – but it would no longer surprise me if it didn’t happen.

Awhile back Redknapp claimed he was two players away from the title. He might well be right. A proper, goal scoring striker and a defender slightly better than he has already is all he really needs. January should be interesting. There’s no doubting his ability to spot and get a talent.

The balance of power hasn’t shifted. But it’s far more equally shared now. That is down to Redknapp.

Sporting Fare - Serving up the world of sport...with a twist!

Wazza pens new five year deal

Sporting Fare - Serving up the world of sport...with a twist!