Sorry About That

In truly hilarious fashion, Arsenal's board has decided to compensate the traveling fans that sat through the Gunners epic capitulation at the hands of Manchester United this past weekend at Old Trafford. An interesting move indeed, considering the board have watched the departure of three marquee players, namely Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy, and seen very very few signings at the Emirates. Some form of apology was definitely required.

But this is not the way to do it. The players performed poorly because they are despondent by the lack of transfer activity. On this the last day of the summer transfer window, why not take that money and throw it towards, oh, perhaps a signing? If 2,000 fans plonked down an average of 42 pounds to watch their Gunners be humiliated, that's 84,000 pounds wasted. A paltry sum that, even to offset a transfer fee, but does the Arsenal board really think the fans want that money back when it could be used to bring in reinforcements?

Northern Parallels

Manchester gave us a combined 13 goals this weekend. In their game against Tottenham, Man City brought the pain in a 5-1 drubbing that left Spurs manager Harry Redknapp fuming, both at the result and the fact that he cannot call on his talisman Luka Modric as his transfer saga drags on.

Not to be outdone by their noisy neighbors, Man United dished out a little hurt of their own against an already demoralized Arsenal side, putting them to the sword by a scoreline of 8-2. Ouch indeed.

Seems the northern city of Manchester will be the one to deliver us this year's Premier League champion. The goals are there, the defenses are watertight, and the talent was most surely on display this weekend.

North London, on the other hand, seems to be heading towards a long retreat into the shadows. Gone are Arsenal's Invincibles of 2004. Even Tottenham's recent foray into the Champions League threatens to be just another minor blip on an otherwise maddeningly talented but underachieving squad. It would appear the North London clubs have gone from promising and exciting to feeder clubs for Europe's largest teams.

Blue Moon Rising

Up until two seasons ago, everyone knew the four teams that would dominate the Champions League qualification places: Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. All that needed to be decided was the order. They were known begrudgingly as the “Big Four.”

Last season and the one before that, Liverpool failed to crack into the exclusive club, muscled out by Tottenham in 2010, and Man City last term.

While Tottenham's ascent looks more and more like a one-off, City are there to stay. The billions of petro dollars the Abu Dhabi group has at its disposal will ensure manager Roberto Mancini will not lack for the funds to lure top players to the club. Yesterday saw Samir Nasri finally complete his move to the club. He is now the third former Gunner to embrace the blue half of Manchester. Former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira played a decisive role in luring all of them to the City of Manchester Stadium.

Who's willing to bet Vieira is no longer on Arsene Wenger's Christmas card list?

Everton Are Paupers

This summer has proven to be an expensive one around the EPL. Manchester City and Liverpool have been breaking spending records during the off season. Even Sunderland have spent somewhere in the region of £23 million this transfer window. They finished 10^th in the Premiership last season.

Everton finished seventh. Their current amount spent during this transfer window: 0. With total debts exceeding £45 million and the bank refusing to loan any more cash, Everton are this year's EPL pauper club.

Everton have finished no lower than eighth in each of the last six seasons. David Moyes, without a doubt one of the EPL's finest managers, will quite literally need to walk on water to keep this club in the top half of the league this year. The mood around Goodison Park is more dire than it has been in many a year. A Cinderella story of a season and European qualification would do the sport some good, where the penniless good guy still gets to win in the end. Not likely... but what a story!

Spanish Players Down Tools

It's a sign of the times. The Spanish football league (LFP) and the player's union (AFE) have failed to reach an agreement that would forestall a strike. The  footballers want a designated fund to ensure players will continue to be paid in the event their clubs become insolvent.

Over 50 million euro are owed to players across Europe due to just such a scenario. It is perhaps good to remember that not every professional plying his trade in the Spanish first and second division get paid as much as this guy.

When a club goes insolvent players are often cut off from their only source of income: their contractually owed salary. Most players aren't sponsored. If their club goes, so does their income. It will be interesting to see, if such a fund is ultimately created, whether there are knock-on effects on leagues around the world, such as the English Premier League or Serie A.

Adios, Muchacho

Well, he's finally done it. So ends one of the most protracted transfer sagas in modern sports history, with Cesc Fabregas at last getting his wish of a move back to Barcelona. The 24 year old, who has been at Arsenal since 2003, returns at last to the club that first nurtured his undeniable talents. His departure throws a massive cloud of doubt over the Gunners' future, despite a hefty £35 million transfer fee.

With Samir Nasri still likely to depart for greener pastures, Arsenal now face the prospect of losing not one but two world class footballers. This blog has predicted a sixth place finish for them in the Premier League this year. That would ostensibly place them outside of the Europa League qualification places, unless they win the good sportsmanship award. A season outside of the Champions League would have massive financial ramifications for Arsene Wenger's men, making this doubtlessly the most important season of his 13 year reign.

One wonders how much more the fans and the board will tolerate, with the trophy cupboard bare since 2005's FA Cup triumph?

Premier League Predictions

In a season whose start has already stuttered due to rioting and cancelled games, this weekend saw several big teams creep slowly out of the gates. 


Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea were all held to draws. Not much to go on but nevertheless here are our predictions for the top ten:

1. Manchester United : Still too strong for the rest.

2. Manchester City : Big money and massive ambition see them step up a little further this year.

3. Liverpool : Summer investment will see them crack back into the top 4.

4. Chelsea : Villas Boas is our pick for first manager fired this season.

5. Tottenham : Still enough quality to see the Spurs finish fifth.
6. Arsenal : A miserable season for the Gunners awaits.

7. Everton : Moyes will marshall the troops back into seventh.

8. Sunderland : Big investment over the Summer should see them finish well up the top ten.

9. Stoke : Pulis is a motivator, and he will lead his battling squad to eighth.

10. Bolton : Brilliant young manager Coyle will guide his team four places higher than last season.


Feel free to bestow your seer-ish visions for the upcoming season upon us.

London Burning

The riots sparked in the wake of Tottenham resident Mark Duggan's shooting by the police are now in their fifth day. Police have been busily trying to quell riots and looting all across the country, with Prime Minister David Cameron calling on a “more robust” police presence in the capital. Not a good look for a city planning to host the 2012 Olympics.

The English Premier League has come out with a statement saying it will not postpone the start of the season, but some games might be affected. Everton footballer Tim Cahill, whose team are set to face Tottenham Hotspur this weekend, has come out in support of a postponement.

Money will, ultimately, be the deciding factor. Therefore, the games will go on. The EPL stands to lose too much from postponing games even for one weekend, and no amount of looting, burning cars and deaths will keep them from making their coin.

The EPL ought to rather look at the human cost this situation has exacted, and take a stand in solidarity of those who have already died from this calamity. Money isn't everything, after all.

Normal Service Restored

For a bit there at half-time, it seemed as though Manchester City were effectively informing the rest of the football world that a changing of the guard was underway. There would be a new order in the City of Manchester, with the sky blues the power to usurp. United debutant keeper David de Gea looked anything like the sure pair of hands Sir Alex would have wanted by allowing Joleon Lescott and Edin Dzeko both to score in the first half.

But then, United are United, and Sir Alex is, well, Sir Alex. The hairdryer would have been on full-blast at halftime. The team came out and did what it has always done under the Great Scot: win. Three goals, one from Chris Smalling and two from Nani, the second in the 94^th minute of the game, reversed the blue tide and brought all present back down to earth. United are still the kings of the Premier League, and all the oil money in Abu Dhabi was not able to change that on this day. But just for a minute there it looked like something more significant than a glorified friendly was under way. Oh well, next year boys.

McCarthy a Buc

We recently reported that South African striker Benny McCarthy was training with Ajax Cape Town in an effort to win a contract with a European club. It seems he was offered a lucrative deal by Ajax, but has opted to take the one made by Soweto outfit and PSL champions Orlando Pirates.

Whether he used Ajax for the purpose of signing to Pirates is neither here nor there, since he had already expressed a desire to play for another club anyway. His main goals are to regain fitness and force his way back into Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Motsimane's plans.

The real winner here, though, is the PSL. McCarthy has a wealth of top flight European experience, and at 33 he can still do a job, provided he gets his fitness under control. That Orlando managed to convince the well-traveled striker to sign on the dotted line for them is a major coup and should raise their profile as a force in African football at the local and continental level.

Klinsman for USA

The man's CV is impressive: as a player, he was part of the German side to win the 1990 World Cup and the European Cup in 1996. His professional career took him from Stuttgart to Inter Milan, with late spells in Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich.

As a coach, he led an underpowered German national side to third in the 2006 World Cup. As Bayern Munich's coach, his first season in charge saw his side finish just three points behind the eventual champions.

So one wonders what his appointment as US National Soccer Team coach means, in the long run. Is he taking a mid-level international side in an attempt to get his feet wet again for a future, properly “big” appointment? Is he just so in love with his second home that he couldn't be bothered to try his luck at a European professional side?

Is the US slowly evolving into a global contender? The support is certainly growing. Perhaps all that's needed to harness the enormous US talent pool is a big enough name to draw them in. Time will tell.

Top Five Transfer Targets

The transfer window is now entering its most frenetic stage. The window of opportunity for clubs to find that special talent to take them to the next level closes in a month and stays that way until January.

The world's big clubs continue to jostle and either prise away top talent from smaller clubs or, for those in the latter category, trying desperately to hold onto their most important players. It's never pretty or particularly graceful, but it makes for riveting entertainment. Here is a short list of the top five transfer targets that should go before midnight on 31 August.

5. Carlos Tevez. Current club: Manchester City. Possible destinations: Inter Milan, Real Madrid

4. Neymar. Current Club: Santos. Possible destinations: Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City

3. Luka Modric. Current club: Tottenham Hotspur. Possible destination: Chelsea

2. Samir Nasri. Current club: Arsenal. Possible destinations: Manchester City, Manchester United

1. Cesc Fabregas. Current club: Arsenal. Possible destination: Barcelona