If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
It's very topical to discuss England's failings as a footballing nation, and to be honest I'm a little sick of some of the damning indictments on the national game made by self proclaimed experts. That said, there is a lot of evidence to suggest the problem is getting worse.
Arsenal will have to make some adjustments to the team from last season and will have to use the reported £70 million budget wisely. Gonzalo Higuain is a top class International but with the back injury he suffered in 2010, he will not play the 30+ games which Wenger will need him too, maybe Arsenal and Wenger should look elsewhere.
There aren't too many club legends to talk of in the history of Malaga CF, most notably because of their chaotic rise to the top of Spanish football. Since adopting their current name, however, their fans have seen a gradual improvement at La Rosaleda and this year was no exception.
Spurs have two major problems: the first is that they haven't been Champions since 1961 - a major flaw for a club with any pretensions to size and a place in the forefront of the game. The second problem may be succinctly summed-up as 'Arsenal FC'.
With extra money coming into the club from their lucrative deal with Puma, funds freed up from their deal with Emirates, not to mention increased TV revenue and the likely departure of a certain meerkat-a-like, it could be time for one last hurrah.
As the Soccer Saturday panel prepare for another final day fling, where will the traditional end of season drama occur? With Manchester United having won the title in a canter and second and third places are resolved, all eyes will be on White Hart Lane and St. James' Park where the battle for the final Champions League spot will be won and lost.
The other night, the light-bulb came on when I watched Real Madrid and then Barcelona being dismantled by German teams on successive evenings. The excitement was partly about the football itself, but mainly at the way two powerhouses of European football were swept away with barely a whimper. It was the same with the Mongols. The great empires of China and Persia went up in a puff of smoke, demolished without throwing a punch in self-defence.
Like many, I've never been the biggest 'Fergie Fan'. However, on the pitch, his United teams have far surpassed anything we have ever seen. The man from Glasgow has taken Manchester United, and turned them into a dynasty. The like of which me won't see again.
While this may have heralded the rise of Bayern - although it's worth remembering they reached the final in 2010 and 2012, so it's not exactly as though they've suddenly came from nowhere to usurp Barca's throne - it was not necessarily the 'end' of Barcelona.
Last time we saw a Heineken viral they were putting their own spin on the video prank genre in a gloriously over the top attempt to find a new apprentice. They and budget busting agency Wieden + Kennedy have returned though with a much glossier effort for another round of Champion's League ad action.
Arsenal can only improve now. With rumoured targets in Stevan Jovetic, Ashley Williams and more, we are finally improving rather than replacing - something Wenger has sought to do for a long time now. This season is yet to be concluded, but boy, am I ready for next season.
Today, Chelsea sit fourth in the league and in all likelihood will cling onto that place or better for the remainder of the season. It's mathematically possible for them to be champions still but a gap of 19 points to United with 10 games to go would require miracles of Red Sea proportions to make that happen.
Recent events, on top of a long history of prominent stories figuring the controversy and fuss that attend one football club above all others, might lead us to ask a somewhat wider version of the same question. Why is it always Manchester United?
A lot is said about the much publicized circus, that Chelsea seems to have become. Negative press has become as regular as Ashley Cole's one night stands. This severe fall from grace would have been unthinkable back in May when Didier Drogba and the bus that was parked behind him won the most treasured prize in European Football, the Champions League.
The virtually unanimous praise of Villas-Boas from Spurs players and even Monday's mass celebration on the touchline show a team that's united, happy and fully behind their manager. Either that or the Spurs squad are more deserving than Daniel Day-Lewis of an Academy Award for good acting at hiding their dislike so well.
Arsenal's Champions League campaign, and, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, for all intents and purposes, their season, is all but over after they were comprehensively beaten by Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.
