A New Dictator

History has shown that many dictators followed a similar pattern regardless of which country they lived in. The dictators were once seen revolutionaries and hailed as heroes. These revolutionaries promised to usher in a new bright future. However, after they were in power for a period of time, things began to change. The revolutionaries did not like any opposing voices and did their best to quieten any dissent by whatever means possible. Then, they slowly started consolidating power and eventually turned into ruthless dictators who did anything to ensure they could rule for as long as possible.

This is how dictators have been known to exist in the political world. The sporting world has been run differently, especially with regards to football/soccer managers. It has often been said that being a manager of a soccer team is one of the most stressful jobs there is. The Hungarian coach Béla Guttmann once famously said “the third season is fatal”. His words have proven true on so many occasions where diverse managers like Arrigo Sacchi, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho have not stayed at a club beyond 3-4 years. Sacchi transformed AC Milan but left after 4 years. Guardiola stayed at Barcelona for 4 years and left Bayern Munich after 3 seasons. José Mourinho may have an incredible winning record but the strain on his face has been apparent after 3 seasons at most clubs. In his first stay at Chelsea, he lasted just a few months into his 4th season while in his second stay at Chelsea, he never finished the third season. Mourinho stayed at Madrid for 3 seasons while 2 each at Inter Milan and Porto. There are a few examples of managers who stayed for decades at one club such as Guy Roux who stayed at Auxerre for a staggering 44 years and oversaw the development of many young players. Then there is Alex Ferguson who famously stayed at Manchester United for 27 years and ensured his team were always winning a trophy. There surely won’t be any managers like Roux and Ferguson in the game anymore as the high pressures of the modern game ensures managers are never far from being fired from their job. It does feel like managers are just a few games from being fired and can’t ever get into a position where they wield complete control and get into a position of absolute power.

As always, there are exceptions. In North London, history is being written where the game’s first modern dictator has emerged. Arsène Wenger has now been manager of Arsenal for 21 years and he shows no sign of wanting to leave. He is one of the highest paid managers in the world for a club that charges some of the highest ticket prices (if not the highest) in Europe. Wenger has never won any European trophy (he has overseen defeats in the finals of Champions League, Cup Winner’s Cup, UEFA Cup) and has not won a league title in 13 years. On top of that, he has overseen humiliating defeats to Bayern Munich (5-1, 5-1, 5-1 for 3 straight games), Manchester United (8-2, 6-1, 4-0), Chelsea (6-0), Barcelona, AC Milan (4-0) to name just a few. Yet, there is no one in the Arsenal board, including the owner, who wants him to leave allowing Wenger to have absolute power. Any fans who oppose the manager are told to shut up and “support the team”. Articles are published which keep repeating that Wenger is the best person for Arsenal and that there isn’t any other manager who can do a job like Wenger. There is a clear split in the fan base where some fans are loyal to Wenger and others who want him gone. The situation at Arsenal resembles what happens in a nation ruled by a dictator where media publishes propaganda singing praises of their dictator, where opposing views to the dictator are shut down and loyalists of the dictator blindly support whatever decision the dictator makes. Of course, in a political dictatorship, the opponents are imprisoned or tortured or made to disappear. This doesn’t happen in the case of the soccer club where opponents are free to return to their homes or walk away from supporting their team. However, it is not easy to walk away from a team that supporters have cheered for decades.

There is on end in sight of Wenger’s dictatorship. All signs point to him staying even beyond the two year contract he has signed until 2019.

The New Ozymandias

The beautiful game. Oh the cliches. The truth is that the game stopped being beautiful long ago. No, I take that back. The televised game stopped being beautiful long ago. The beautiful game still exists, far away from one that is shown on tv. The beautiful game can be found in streets around the world, dirt fields, bumpy/patchy open areas or any section of space that is transformed into a make-shift soccer field.

There is beauty in the movement, there is beauty in the passing, there is beauty in that perfect pass that is conceived in the mind but is yet to materialize. And finally, there is the ultimate beauty in a goal, the move that started it leading up to the ball ending up in the net. Joy for the team that scored and despair for the other. The ultimate emotional soap opera.

It is with these eyes that I once viewed the game, both on tv and on those streets far away from any cameras. But the game on the tv changed, slowly at first, and then rapidly. The movements became faster coupled almost with the fast pace of cash being poured into the game. Money does not always translate into wins even though the common perception is that the winning team is the one that spends the most. Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City banished that belief back in 2016 but that was a rare occurrence in the Premier League which seems to only distribute titles among a select few. 

They also say that money buys quality. But what is quality? In a 90 minute game, that quality only shows itself for 2-3 minutes and usually it manifests itself in a single goal. But a 1-0 win is still a win. And that is all that matters. A single goal.

4-5-1. The end of the beautiful televised game started with that. The suffocating formation used by two coaches to drain the game of any quality. 0-0 games. 90 minutes of 0-0. Nothing happened in those games. Now, 4-5-1 does not directly imply 0-0 but it is all in the execution. But two managers in England, one Portuguese, the other Spanish, used this formation in the most negative game killing manner possible. And then others followed. Then that formation eventually went away but the idea of game killers and negative players remained. Sure, 0-0 went away for the most part but somewhere along the way, attacking players, especially centre forwards started disappearing. The tradition centre forward is an endangered species in the game now. Most teams lust for a defensive midfielder in lieu for an attacking player.

As the money poured in, only a few teams were left competing at the top. The European Cup was once a tournament where a team could emerge from the shadows and steal a win. But slowly, the big clubs wanted to be there all the time. And so the Champions League was born. Teams who finished 2nd to 4th in their domestic league wanted to be there all the time. Such is the case of Arsenal.

For Arsène Wenger, going from an unbeaten championship season to 4th became the norm. The Arsenal board told Wenger that he had to ensure 4th every year until the new stadium debt was paid off. Prior to this requirement by the board, Wenger proclaimed that Arsenal could dominate English soccer like Ferguson’s Man Utd. Clearly, Ferguson didn’t take that well because he stayed in the game long enough to ensure no one could ever match his trophy haul. Ferguson delayed his retirement and found new ways to keep bouncing back and winning titles. Man Utd and Ferguson were Wenger’s rivals but after 2004, Wenger found a new rival in the foreign money coming into the league. Wenger was irritated by the new money that flowed into the English League and that likely reminded him of the bribery that took place in the French League back in the early 1990’s. The influx of money meant that Wenger changed his ways. His goal changed to be only 4th by spending as little money as possible. In doing so, Wenger would forget his own target of dominating the league and winning league titles.

It has been 13 years since Arsenal last won the league. It has also been 13 years since this blog was started, with the first entry coming five days before Arsenal finished the 2003-04 season unbeaten.

So much has changed in this blog over that time, the structure, look, and content. My love for this blog has not changed in that period but the frequency of posting has gone down. That has not been by choice but by circumstances. Many posts have been written in my mind or my computer but never made it on the website. A perfect example is this post has been written in my mind many times over the last 7 years yet never actually posted.

It was January 2010 after Arsenal lost 3-1 at home to Man Utd that I uttered that Arsenal would never win anything under Wenger again. In a way, I was proven wrong as two F.A Cup titles arrived in 2014 and 2015 but the league has stayed elusive. Back on that day, Man Utd raced to a 3-0 lead and for once, there were no excuses for Wenger to hide behind. Until that game, Wenger could always blame other factors for his team falling short, such as an incorrect ref decision, a nasty foul, a bad pitch. Yet, on that day, Man Utd didn’t need to foul Arsenal, they didn’t need Rooney to dive for a penalty, they didn’t need a waterlogged pitch. On that day, Man Utd showed the tactical difference between the two teams. That game highlighted that Wenger had fallen well short of Ferguson and there was no catching up.

I uttered these words to other fans but was told to shut up. The belief in Wenger was strong back in 2010. Those fans said that it was only a matter of time before Wenger would lead Arsenal to glory again. That glory has not arrived. Instead, painful defeats have arrived at such a regular frequency that it is no longer a surprise. 

There is no fun in watching Bayern win 5-1 over Arsenal every time. Of course, there is no fun in watching Bayern play anytime, anywhere. Certain members of Bayern Munich’s establishment like to think their values are above the crazy spending of the English League. Yet, Bayern have poached many players from Dortmund. If Bayern had any values, why would they buy players from their rivals and keep strengthening at the expense of their opponents? As far as on-field play goes, a player such as Lewandowski can score at will. But, he also dives when needed. There lies the problem. Talented players who don’t need to dive continue to cheat all the time. It is now a part of the game. But it should never be part of the game. Divers can be punished afterwards, even if their name is Ronaldo, Messi, Lewandowski, Neymar, Rooney.

There is also no fun in watching La Liga where Ronaldo and Messi are always in constant battle to score more goals than each other. Real Madrid and Barcelona dominate the headlines and are so big that every player in every league says one thing “It is my dream to play for [Real Madrid/Barcelona]”. The interviews are all the same. New players come and go, coaches are fired or forced out, goals are scored frequently, titles are won and the cycle continues.

Real Madrid, Barcelona represent the need to win titles at all costs while Arsenal are the opposite and represent a team that never wants to win titles at any costs. Neither situation is healthy. Yet, that is how things are. The Arsenal board and owner don’t care what happens. Wenger doesn’t care about winning and is intent on staying, like a dictator from one of those countries you read about in the news. Of course, this is how the cycle works. The man who transformed Arsenal from a boring football team into an exciting force is now also the man who has overseen its decay. He has tarnished his legacy and the bright future that he once oversaw for Arsenal is now in ruins.

I can finally say what I have wanted to say for a long time. Arsène Wenger and his stubborn ways have slowly destroyed my love for the televised game. He should have left 7 years ago, 3 years ago, 2 years ago. Yet, he wants to continue at Arsenal for another 2 years. He should not be allowed the luxury of that decision. He should not even be given another day at Arsenal.

Soccer DNA

Form is temporary, class is permanent.

This time, Thierry Henry provided another working example of the old cricket proverb.

On Thursday, July 22, Henry made his debut for the New York Red Bulls against Arsenal's bitter rivals Spurs and as expected, Henry duly scored a goal. No matter where Henry goes, he will always have Arsenal DNA in his blood. The same can't be said about Arsenal's current captain.

The rain in Spain falls mainly on English plains

The stories about Cesc refuse to go away. So looking into the crystal ball, here are some notes about future, 2011 and beyond, English and Spanish league title battles.

This Cesc saga is like Cristiano Ronaldo, part II. That means Cesc will leave the Gunners in 2011 after helping Arsenal to an impressive 2nd place finish next season. 2nd place will double the expectations of 4th place, thereby exceeding the Arsenal board's goals significantly. But Cesc won't go alone to Barca. Wenger will follow him there next year allowing Guardiola to move in the other direction to Arsenal. Guardiola will immediately try to target titles but that will not go down well with the Arsenal board who would prefer Pep merely give the illusion of challenging for the title rather than win it.

Man Utd will continue to push Pep's Arsenal and [revolving foreign manager]'s Chelsea for the title despite Man Utd being 3 trillion dollars in debt. Some will eagerly await Man Utd's demise but England will declare Man Utd too big to fail and use government money to prop the team up, ensuring that no matter how much debt Man Utd have, they never go a single season without challenging for a trophy, even if that trophy is the meaningless Tesco Cup (formerly known as the Carling Cup).

Over in Spain...after Jose takes over at Madrid, Wenger would be forced to chase 2nd spot at Barca. Wenger never managed to get the winning goal over the bus parked in front of Jose's Chelsea so the same pattern would repeat when Jose's Madrid takes on Wenger's Barca. Also, in typical Jose fashion, the bus will be designed to look like an airplane. But in Madrid, Jose would need to play free flowing football as the fans there are likely to boo a dull 1-0 win. And if Jose complains about booing fans, well, he would be out the door.

Meanwhile, Rafa Benitez will take over at Valencia again and spend 300 million pounds to build a 3rd place team which will finish 34 points behind the champions. Rafa will then demand another 200 million the following summer to make a title charge. But his expenses will force Valencia into administration thereby allowing Ronald Koeman to come in and finish the job of getting Valencia relegated.

On the other hand, Seville will continue winning the Copa Del Rey and flirting with 3rd and 4th spots while getting atleast a home win over the big 2. Atletico Madrid will again fail to win against their rivals Real Madrid in the derby matches despite holding a 3-0 lead with 5 minutes left in a game.

Beauty and the Beast

There is no doubt that Barcelona plays the most beautiful football in the world. Yet, they also exhibit ugliness on and off the field. If one looks carefully, then each Barcelona game will demonstrate a few moments of playacting which occurs in between their artistic moves and passes. Their on-field ugliness is personified best by Sergio Busquets, a player who will dive when given a chance and do his best to get an opponent sent off. Messi and Bojan are also capable of crying foul when there isn't one. Off-field, they are taking a leaf out of Madrid's book in terms of acquiring players negatively. Starting from the mid 1990's, Real Madrid have been famous for unsettling players contracted to other clubs. Since negotiating with a player is considered illegal without a club's permission, Madrid are kings of using other means to let a player know they want him. Madrid often let out via media outlets (paper, radio and internet) that they are interested in a player, thereby making an indirect yet illegal move for the player. The player then becomes unsettled and demands a move. Madrid then walks into the club's offices and offers to take the troubled player off the club's hands.

Madrid hounded Arsenal for Patrick Vieira's signature for years and only failed to land him because Vieira had a change of heart at the last minute. Ronaldo was chased for a few years before Man Utd were forced to cash in on the Portuguese star. Barcelona adopted the same bullying tactics when it came to getting Henry and Hleb from Arsenal. And for the last few years Barcelona have been after Cesc Fabregas. It is entirely understandble that Cesc would want to return to his birth city and play in front of his family and friends. Arsenal took Cesc from Barca's academy but they did that with Barcelona's permission. Barcelona didn't realize the star they had in their hands and let him go. And since Cesc has established himself as a top notch player, Barcelona have been trying every means to get him. If Cesc wanted to go, then that should be between him and Arsenal. For the last few years, he has expressed his loyalty towards Arsenal time and time again. Yet, that does not stop Barcelona from making advances.

This transfer saga will go on for the entire summer, even after the world cup is over.
Rafael Yuste, one of the Catalan club's vice presidents, said bringing Arsenal captain Fabregas back to Barca, where he was a youth player, was "more complicated because lengthy negotiations with his club lie ahead".

Things are complicated because Arsenal do not want to sell. Simple as that.

From a footballing standpoint, Barcelona do not need Cesc as the duo of Xavi and Iniesta are more than enough. But Barcelona like Madrid are notorious for signing players for non footballing reasons. Every time there are presidential elections, Barcelona and Madrid's presidential candidates want to sign a big name player as part of their election campaign. Yet, there are many examples of both team's failed signings. Madrid splashed out tons of money on Ronaldo, Kaka and Benzema and failed to land a single trophy. Prior to that Madrid wasted the talents of Sneijder and Robben, two players who have excelled since they left Madrid. Barcelona brought in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and any fan could have predicted that move was not going to work. On top of that, Barcelona failed to make use of Hleb and Henry. Thierry Henry atleast showed his genius in Barcelona's treble winning season but Hleb was a complete flop.

Barcelona and Madrid would be better off concerned with their own team rather than desiring players who are contracted to other teams. Both team's officials spend more time lusting after other team's players than concerned with the ones they have. Once they land in their cherished player, they then move onto a new desire. Two clubs with such a rich history do not need such ugly transfer tactics, yet not a season goes by without reading about Barca and Madrid's desired wishlist.

4 Goals 3 Injuries 2 Reunions

Arsenal 2 - 2 Barcelona

Barcelona did not waste any time in establishing their superiority and from the first minute they played Arsenal off the field. It should have been 3-0 early on but Almunia, Arsenal's much despised goalie, bravely kept Arsenal in the game. It wasn't until the 22nd minute that Arsenal had their first meaningful shot on Barca's net, when a wicked curving effort by Nasri just went wide of the net. Before half-time, Arsenal lost Arshavin and Gallas through injury and then Cesc got a yellow card thereby suspending him from the return leg at the Nou Camp. He was visibly heartbroken as he was looking forward for the chance to play in his front of his friends and family.  All said and done, Arsenal were lucky to go into the break at 0-0 and not 0-5 down.

22 seconds into the second half, a long ball found Arsenal's defense sleeping and Zlatan coolly lobbed Almunia who was needlessly out of his goal. All of Almunia's good work in the first half was undone by yet another misjudged moment of error, something that he has shown consistently over his Arsenal career. The long ball tactic worked so well that Barca tried it again 13 minutes later with the same end result of Zlatan scoring a goal. With Arsenal 0-2 at home, the tie looked over. However, the introduction of Theo Walcott changed things. His pace and wonderful goal just before the 70th minute mark sparked an Arsenal revival as the last 20 minutes were dominated by the home team.

There was a brief respite around the 77th minute mark when Zlatan went off and ex-Arsenal legend Thierry Henry stepped onto the pitch. Henry's appearance did not change Arsenal's momentum and 5 minutes from time, Arsenal amazingly tied the game up. After Cesc was judged to be blocked by Puyol, the Barca defender got a straight red card and Arsenal a penalty. Cesc smashed the kick home but appeared to hobble after the goal. With Arsenal having used all their three substitutes it seemed the game would be 10 vs 10 players but Cesc returned to the field and continued to limp until the finale.

For an hour, Barca showed why they are the best football side on the planet as their passes and movement was beautiful.  Barcelona are clearly the favourites in the return leg however they will be without their key defenders Puyol and Gerard Piqué both of whom are suspended. Arsenal on the other hand will be without Cesc, Gallas and Arshavin, three injuries which will have a huge impact not only on their European future but also their dreams of landing the league title . Both Cesc and Gallas are out for the rest of the season and it remains to be seen whether Cesc's brave heroics of playing with a broken leg and scoring that crucial penalty amount to anything for Arsenal's 2010 season.

The second leg should be equally entertaining and if Arsenal have any chance of pulling off an unlikely triumph they will need Samir Nasri to be in top form as he is the one remaining fit player who has a chance to provide a moment of genius to lift Arsenal.  On the other hand, Barcelona will be hoping that Messi, the world's best player, might finally make his presence felt as his impact in the first leg was minimal.

5 years on...

pic: MikeHewitt/GettyImages, soccernet

If Kolo Toure is indeed on his way out from Arsenal, then that would mean that the last remaining starter of the "invincibles" team would be gone.

The 2003/04 Arsenal team: Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Keown, Toure, Cole, Cygan, Parlour, Edu, Vieira, Gilberto, Ljungberg, Pires, Henry, Bergkamp, Reyes, Kanu, Wiltord

Ofcourse, majority of the core 2003/04 team were dispatched in less than 3 years. In the 5 years since 2004, Arsenal have gone from being the best team in Europe to an average team in England. And after Gilberto and Lehmann left in the summer of 2008, Kolo became the sole surviving member from that great team (note: Clichy was a sub in the 03/04 season). Now, admittedly Kolo was not the same player as he once was but there was always the hope that if the going got tough, Kolo could have gathered the young guns around the fire and told them stories about the glory days.

On another note, I started this blog just over 5 years ago, just 5 days before Arsenal achieved history by going through their 38 game season unbeaten. How time flies....

A Rivalry rekindled

The wait is almost over. The intense rivalry of Arsenal vs Man Utd has graduated from the domestic game to take center stage on the European stage. For more than a decade, this match-up has captured the attention of followers of the English game for a variety of reasons -- the battles of the two managers, who are now the longest serving club managers not only in England but also in Europe, the match-ups of players involved and the intense passion of the fans. In a way, this match-up also presents a clash of two different ideologies as both teams have followed different paths over the last decade. Man Utd were debt free until they were taken over and overnight laden with debt yet they have continued splashing out money on whichever player they have wanted. On the other hand, Arsenal’s transfer spending was restricted because of the debt incurred as part of building the new stadium resulting in Wenger’s youth policy. Even though both clubs have a very rich history, both clubs are a complete contrast in their images as well -- Man Utd certainly have more hype around them not only because of past players but because of off-field promotional contracts. On the other hand, Arsenal have allowed their football to gain new supporters over the last decade as most recent fans can claim to have found love with the Gunners solely for footballing results, be it a player’s skill or the footballing style developed under Wenger.

Regardless of the paths the two clubs have undertaken over the last few years, on Wednesday night they will be standing on the same field side by side trying to achieve the same goal of making the Champions League final.

A changing of the guard that never happened

After Ferguson took almost 7 years to land his first title for Man Utd, he and Man Utd were able to enjoy an unchallenged monopoly on the Premier League title until Arsene Wenger came along. So it was not surprizing that Wenger’s immediate success with Arsenal brought on a rivalry. Plus, Wenger was the only manager to rightly question the lenient decisions that Man Utd kept getting. Unfortunately, after Arsenal’s double in 1998, they failed to narrowly win the title the following season, losing by one point over 38 games (Arsenal’s goal difference was just one behind Manchester’s) and failed to convert a last minute penalty to knock Man Utd out of the F.A Cup semi’s. Arsenal took a few steps backward the next two seasons before they finally managed to assert themselves in the 2001/02 season whey they completed an impressive double and went the entire season unbeaten away from home. The title was clinched in that memorable 1-0 away win at Old Trafford.

It seemed Arsenal were on the verge of dethroning Man Utd’s reign but they surrendered the title the following season to Man Utd by giving up some late goals to drop valuable points. Also that season, Rooney (already a Man Utd player in the making) ended Arsenal’s long unbeaten streak and Man Utd stopped Arsenal’s 55 goal scoring streak with a 2-0 win at Old Trafford. Arsenal managed to get a tiny revenge by winning 2-0 away to Manchester in the F.A Cup, a defeat that caused that mystery shoe to be kicked about in the Manchester dressing room, paving the path for their celebrity star to exit for Madrid.

Even though Arsenal had a historic season in 2003/04 going unbeaten in the league and fulfilling Wenger’s beliefs and comments from the 2003 season, they still could not bury Man Utd. Henry’s bullet of a shot gave Arsenal a lead in the league match-up but Arsenal failed to hold on and allowed Man Utd to leave with a 1-1 tie. A week later, Man Utd knocked Arsenal out of the F.A Cup and their players celebrated as if they had won the cup.

The following season, while Chelsea’s emergence was knocking Man Utd to third spot in the league, Ferguson’s men still provided a major hindrance to Arsenal by halting Arsenal’s unbeaten streak to 49. That defeat essentially derailed Arsenal’s title bid. Arsenal once again got a mini revenge by winning the F.A Cup that season on penalties over Man Utd.

Man Utd managed to rise up again and wrestled the title away from Chelsea while Arsenal once again took a few steps backwards. Still, Arsenal did their part to ensure Man Utd won’t have their way by doing the double over Man Utd in the 2006/07 season. But once again, Man Utd managed to come back the following season and easily knocked Arsenal out of the F.A Cup and defeated them in the league to finally halt Arsenal’s league ambitions. Still, with all their problems this season, Arsenal managed to inflict a defeat on Man Utd 2-1 and remarkably held on despite Man Utd’s 6 gifted minuted of injury time.

A goal or two would be just fine

In the 15 trips Arsenal have made to Old Trafford under Wenger, the record is:
Man Utd with 6 wins (outscoring Arsenal 20-2),
Arsenal with 4 wins, shutting out Man Utd by a 5-0 score,
and three draws.

In these games, Arsenal have scored more than one goal at Old Trafford on only one occasion, in that 2-0 F.A Cup win. Whereas, in the same time period Man Utd have scored two or more goals on atleast 6 occasions (Man Utd got more than 2 only one time in that 4-2 away win). Although, before Wenger came along Arsenal’s away record to Man Utd was worse as they had only won one away trip (1-0, ofcourse, in that league winning 1990/91 season) in a decade.

If one is too read something in these results, it is that when Arsenal have won at Old Trafford, they have had to keep a clean sheet. But this two legged Champions league tie presents a different context to this tussle because of the importance of away goals. In the previous league meetings with points at stake, the number of goals were not the important factor as victory by any score-line would do in landing the 3 points. Same goes for the F.A Cup tie where a win was essential to avoid a replay (note: the league Cup encounter at Old Trafford was a winner take all affair). But in the Champions league, the winner will ultimately be decided after 180 minutes (or more as needed, not including courtesy added ref time). Although, given the number of injuries that Arsenal have had, defending is not going to be their forte (not something that has been in recent years anyway) and they would have to attack while still managing to contain Man Utd. And moreover, as Villa and a certain North London team have shown recently, taking a lead at Old Trafford is much easier than trying to hold onto it.

In recent years Man Utd have tried to play an open style against Arsenal. Maybe it has something to do with Man Utd wanting to beat Arsenal by playing better football as even though Man Utd have all those trophies, some in the media still credit Arsenal as having beautiful football, although that tag has come under scrutiny over the last few seasons.

In the past, Arsenal have failed to get past their other two main domestic rivals in the Champions league as their encounters against Chelsea and Liverpool both came at the Quarter-final stage. But if Arsenal have to finally end their long elusive wait for the trophy, then what better way than to get past their biggest domestic rivals and the current holders en route to the final. And as Old Trafford has been a bother to past Arsenal teams, it is probably much better for Arsenal to get the away trip out of the way first.

Arsenal vs Liverpool, two friendly foes

The league table shows that sunday’s game between Arsenal and Liverpool pits the 5th vs 1st place teams, with Arsenal trailing Liverpool by 8 points. A win for Arsenal and the gap would be reduced to 5 points but a defeat would open a 11 point gap between the two. While Liverpool have only lost one game this season and Arsenal have lost 5, the two share one common aspect this season -- both teams have recorded a home win against Man Utd and an away win to Chelsea.

While there is a lot of stake given the current league season, an Arsenal vs Liverpool game does manage to encapsulate plenty of history. The first recorded game between the two took place all the way on October 28 1893, which Liverpool won 5-0, and since then the two have engaged in 168 league meetings and 202 overall encounters in all competitions. There have been many eye-catching match-ups between these two but here are some that have stood out in the last two decades.

Anfield 1989: "It's up for grabs now.."


Arsenal’s 2-0 win at Anfield has become the stuff of legends. In a way, Arsenal’s title win laid the foundations for further success through the 1990’s and even enabled Arsene Wenger to implement his philosophy with the aid of the 1989 title winning squad. On the other hand, Liverpool bounced back in the 1989/90 season to win the League but have not won the league title since then.

2001 F.A Cup Final:


Even though Arsenal’s team was strong on paper (Seamen, Dixon, Keown, Adams, Cole, Pires, Grimandi, Vieira, Ljungberg, Wiltord, Henry, subs used -- Parlour, Kanu, Bergkamp), the squad showed the same weakness that became an unfortunate symbol of Arsenal in the years since -- dominating the game, playing beautiful football, unable to finish chances and kill the game and conceding goals via set-pieces to lose. But there was a silver lining in Arsenal’s defeat as the team bounced back the following season to do the double (including going unbeaten away from home in the league) and managed to win consecutive F.A Cup titles. Also, Arsenal went on to win atleast a trophy in each of the next four seasons (including that unbeaten league season) while playing some champagne football.

April 2004:
That game, That goal! "Genius at work, his name's Thierry Henry"

Yes soccer is a team game but if there was ever a moment a single player carried the expectations of an entire team and their fans, then Thierry Henry provided it at Highbury on April 9. Even though the 4-2 stunning Arsenal win didn’t mathematically secure the title, there was no doubt that Arsenal would win the 2003/04 League title. The next day even Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri admitted that his team would not be able to catch Arsenal, which they didn’t.

Jan 2007:

Arsenal knocked Liverpool out of both the F.A Cup and Carling Cup within three days with two completely different teams playing away to Anfield. Although, the young Arsenal squad’s stunning 6-3 win in the Carling Cup stands out as that was the only time any Arsenal squad has scored 6 goals away to Liverpool. Julio Baptista scored 4 goals and even had the luxury to miss a penalty. Even though both victories still didn’t get Arsenal a trophy that season but there was still much to cheer for three days.

Liverpool 1-3 Arsenal: "oh he's done it again"
Ah beauty at work for the first goal. Rosicky to Hleb back to Tomas and goooolaso!!!!!


Last few seasons:

The last time Arsenal did the league double over Liverpool was in the unbeaten league season of 2003/04. In the following three seasons, Arsenal and Liverpool have split home wins between them with Arsenal winning their home fixtures 3-1 (2004/05), 2-1 and 3-0 while Liverpool have won their home ties 2-1 (2004/05), 1-0 and 4-1. Arsenal met Liverpool 4 times last season, with three of the games ending 1-1. The 4th and final encounter also should have ended in a draw, 2-2, a result that would have ensured Arsenal’s progress in the Champions League. After Walcott’s fantastic run setup Adebayor for the easiest of tap-ins, someone should have shouted ‘Cut’ or ‘That’s a wrap’ to close the game out and leave Arsenal with a fairy tale ending. But the cameras kept on rolling and in an instant the fairy tale game turned into a nightmare for Arsenal. And just to emphasize the seriousness of the situation, Kolo Toure did his best imitation of an extra on an horror film set by etching panic all over his face. Curtains and fade to black.

When Sunday Comes:

There are plenty of reasons for Arsenal to record a win over Liverpool. Make up for last season’s disappointment, improve this season’s league standings and continue this season’s trend of winning games against the ‘big’ teams. It may be a biased opinion but it appears that Arsenal have more to gain from a win or more to lose from a defeat than Liverpool do. But that does not mean Liverpool will treat this fixture lightly. Whatever happens on Sunday, Rafael Benitez will surely be busy taking notes. Hopefully, the Arsenal players give him plenty to think and scribble about.

Arsenal vs Manchester United

pics from: Arsenal.com, BBC

This is it. The ultimate Battle Royale!! Although this year’s installment features the weakest and even softest Arsenal team to take on their traditional rivals. Injuries and a needless suspension have denied Arsenal a chance to battle on equal terms but Arsenal’s opponents will not care too much for that as they will go out looking to inflict maximum damage, such is the nature of these games.

Then...

Until Wenger came to England, Man Utd were the undisputed kings of English football. On top of that, all decisions went Manchester’s way and when Wenger questioned that, it led to Ferguson taking a cheap shot at Arsene. Back then, Ferguson would have hardly expected that the French man from Japan would cause him so much headache. But after winning a glorious double in 1998, Arsenal were pegged back in their effort to sustain repeated title challenges. Three title less seasons followed but after Arsenal beautifully did the double in 2001/02, it looked like they could finally maintain their dominance and even emulate Manchester. But the following season, Arsenal let Man Utd overtake them in the end as Arsenal’s weakness to defend leads was highlighted. Also, in that 2002/03 Arsenal suffered their first hurdle against Everton when a 16 year old Rooney stunned them in the final minute.

The following season Arsenal did the impossible and went unbeaten through the season but even then, they allowed Manchester to put a dent on their achievement in their 1-0 F.A Cup loss. Things were looking good for Arsenal at the start of the 2004/05 until their visit to Old Trafford. Man Utd were well back of Arsenal and Ferguson tried to rally his team by saying that all of England were expecting Manchester to stop Arsenal. Well, stop they did but not by playing football but by kicking and cheating their way to a 2-0 win. A year earlier as well Man Utd tried to cheat a win courtesy of Ruud Van but his penalty miss was followed by a dishing out of emotions by Keown and company. Unfortunately a year later (Oct 24, 2004) Manchester completed their cheating job and the level of injustice felt by the Arsenal players led to some friction in the tunnel after the game. Up to this day, Ferguson is still waiting for an apology and we are waiting for the full truth to come out. Nonetheless, that defeat led to another Arsenal title bid to falter. Arsenal got revenge in a very subtle way at the end of the season in their penalty shoot-out F.A Cup win over Man Utd. Earlier in the season, Ferguson’s side had stopped Arsenal by kicking the Gunners and stopping them from playing. On the other hand, Arsenal stopped Man Utd by allowing them to play as much football as they wanted. Man Utd dominated possession and freely shot at Arsenal’s net as many times as their hearts desired. It turned out Arsenal’s tactic that day was to give Manchester the illusion of control and were willing to wait until the Red Devils tired themselves out. After 120 minutes, Man Utd were still standing and it required a penalty save from Jens to allow Patrick Vieira to give Arsenal another F.A Cup and as it stands, their last trophy.

In the 2005/06 season, Manchester once again played spoilers to the team at the top, this time it was Chelsea. Both Arsenal and Manchester were fading in the shadows of Chelsea’s monetary constructed team. The summer of 2006 proved crucial for Manchester’s fate. After Ronaldo’s wink at Rooney’s dismal in the World Cup, it looked like that Ronaldo would never play at Manchester or in England again. But Ferguson ensured that didn’t happen and the following season, Ronaldo lifted Manchester to another league title. Although, Arsenal did their best that season to give their rivals something to think about by winning both their league fixtures. In the first game between the two at Old Trafford, Adebayor scored the crucial goal to give Arsenal their first of the season as the Gunners started the campaign winless in 3 games. On the other hand, Manchester had opened the season up with 4 straight league wins only to be stopped by Arsenal. In January 2007, Arsenal once again defeated Man Utd in dramatic fashion when Eboue crossed (no this is not a typo) for Henry to head home the winner. The game was the last time that Henry would play against Manchester in an Arsenal shirt and as it stands, it was the last time that Arsenal won a game against them.

Now...

No Adebayor or Van Persie present for Saturday while Rooney is well rested for Manchester and they are at full attacking strength with Tevez, Ronaldo, Berbatov and Nani. One would consider that this was a chance for Bendtner and Vela to show what they can do but Arsene might leave Bendtner up front on his own. The tactic has the danger of leaving Bendtner completely isolated and not giving Manchester’s defense any worries. In that case, Nasri might be the only real game breaker as Cesc would be too bogged down by doing everything on his own. There are no real leaders in the team and even though he is only 21, Cesc is still the only player in who can vocally lift the team. So it is crucial for Arsenal to start off positively. If there was a game when Arsenal needed the full support of the home crowd, this would be it.

Saying this is a massive test is an understatement. The devil himself is personally coming to London to conduct this young Arsenal squad’s baptism with fire.

Arsenal vs Liverpool, Round 2

Time for game 2 of the Arsenal and Liverpool series. Even though it may look tiring to play the same opponent in quick succession, each game presents a different flavour and in turn a unique challenge. The first game was meant for Arsenal to gain a good advantage, maybe a 1-0 or even a two goal lead while Liverpool's intentions were to sit back and limit Arsenal to just one goal, or get an away goal themselves. The second game means more to Arsenal than Liverpool as Arsenal need 3 precious points, while a single point might do for Liverpool; the game itself should present some of the Liverpool subs with a chance to make their mark. It is only in the third game that one would see Liverpool try to attack and get a goal in front of their home crowd. Prior to the three games, Liverpool would have been happy with two goal-less draws in the first two games, with a 1-0 win in the third. In Arsenal's case, it was always about winning the three games and scoring goals. So Arsenal's task was always going to be harder, while Liverpool would be content to sit back for 2 of the three games.

History and all that:

In the 200 games that the two teams have played against each other, Liverpool hold a slight edge with 80 wins compared to Arsenal's 70 with 50 games being tied. The 10 game winning margin presents itself in the 167 league meetings between as Liverpool have 68 wins compared to Arsenal's 58. The first time these teams played each other was in the old second Division when Liverpool thumped Arsenal 5-0 back on Oct 1893. In fact, Liverpool won the first 4 meetings with Arsenal, outscoring the Gunners 12-0. It was only in 1905 when both teams were in Division 1 did Arsenal manage a 3-1 victory over Liverpool.

Historically, there have been cases where both these teams played each other more than 3 times in a season. In the 1979/80 season, the two played each other 7 times, with 4 of those games being an F.A Cup tie in the days of playing replays until a winner was found. In the 1981/82 season, the two met 4 times, while a 5 game meeting took place in that eventful 1988/89 season when Arsenal won that memorable away game to Anfield 2-0 to take the title. Arsenal played Livepool 4 times in the 1989/90 season, with another 4 games taking place last season thanks to the two Cup games in quick succession when Arsenal went to Anfield and came away with 6-3 (League Cup) and 3-1 wins (F.A Cup).

Given the number of games between Arsenal and Liverpool, there have been plenty of memorable moments from matches. Anfield 1989 stands out because that title provided the foundation for the current era of Arsenal success. The 4-2 Highbury win provided a calm path towards the unbeaten title in 2004. The F.A Cup loss in 2001 also stands out because of the manner in which Arsenal lost -- Arsenal dominated the game, created plenty of chances yet only took a 1-0 lead, before two late goals sunk them. Arsenal would find that pattern of dominating possession, creating plenty of chances, yet not winning repeated again and again over the last 7 years.

Create at one end, prevent at the other:

In a match if a team creates atleast 7-10 goal scoring chances, then it would be a good result if they scored 2 or 3 goals. Also, it is important on how many chances the team limits the opposition to. If the opponent is limited to a few chances and either only one goal is conceded or the team keeps a clean sheet, then victory is assured. In order to win, a good balance is required between the attack and defense. However, wins can still be achieved if one part is much more stronger than the other. George Graham's Arsenal teams had a rock solid defense and had a good chance to keep a clean sheet, so the attack could get away with only one goal (Alan Smith's lone strike in the 1994 Cup Winner's Cup final is a perfect example). When Wenger took over, he inherited that solid defense. So that allowed Wenger to build on that and modify the team's attack. The goals flowed in and the defense held firm. When GG's defense started aging away and disappearing, at first it was not a problem as Arsenal kept creating plenty of changes and scoring enough goals to get by. Only when the chances were limited and the goals dried up, the limitations of the poor defense came into focus.

Given that plenty of Wenger teams have fallen prey to similar defensive mistakes like being caught out by long balls, poor at defending set-pieces, it does not seem likely that over-night the Arsenal team would start having a rock solid defense. If the mistakes have not been fixed over a span over 4-5 years, they certainly won't start correcting themselves in a matter of weeks. So that leaves more pressure to ensure that the attack can carry a large burden on their shoulders. But in order to score goals, chances have to be created. If in a game a team only creates 5 chances, then the pressure is on the team to take full advantage. Out of those 5 changes, if one chance is incorrectly called back for off-side, or a valid penalty not given, then the pressure on the team increases as they have to extra sharp in front of goal as the next chance might not come for a long while.

Advantage creator vs Advantage destructor:

As history and every day life show, it is easy to destruct rather than create. Likewise, it is easier to break up a team's creative play than it is for a team to creatively split open an opponent's defense. Liverpool have flaunted their destructive mentality in the Champions league for the last 3 years and Wednesday's game was no exception. So on Sat, once again the pressure will be on Arsenal again to take advantage of Liverpool's sit-back & watch approach. Arsenal need an early goal on Sat to break Liverpool's shell mentality. But before a goal is scored, a chance has to be created.

The return of the Champions League

The wait is finally over. Champions League football finally returns this week as 16 teams can briefly put their league worries on hold and focus on the glittering European prize. The original European Cup always had a strong appeal right from its inception in 1956. But in recent years, the quest for this trophy has certainly reached obsessive heights. In fact, quite a few teams have made the Champions League the most important quest of their season while letting their league form dip since winning the league title is no longer a requirement to take part in the competition like in the old days of the European Cup. For example last year even if AC Milan had not won the trophy, they would still have been in the Champions League this season as they finished in the final 4th spot required for the Champs League with 61 points, a staggering 36 points behind the league champions Inter Milan (this includes Milan's 8 point point deduction, without which they would have been still 28 points behind).

The Champions League is once again the only trophy that Milan will be playing for this year as they are currently 21 points adrift of Inter Milan and were dumped out of the Italian Cup in January. In fact they have been in cruise mode in the league for a few weeks now, while Arsenal have been involved in a tight league championship race. Ofcourse, not withstanding this previous weekend's game, Arsenal should return fully motived for this Wednesday's game as they once again bid to go one better than their 2006 runner's up spot.

Arsenal vs AC Milan


This is the first meeting between Arsenal and AC Milan in European competition. Even though both teams have a proud history, this encounter has been atleast two decades in the making.

A new start in 1986

After winning the 1979 Italian league title, AC Milan went through a bad phase in the early 1980's when they got relegated. The team's history was forever changed when Silvio Berlusconi bought the team in 1986. His main master stroke was hiring Arrigo Sacchi from lowly Parma. Sacchi transformed the team by ushering in a new exciting playing style and leading Milan to the league title in 1988, followed by two European Cups in 1989 & 1990. The current Milan team's origins can be traced back to that Sacchi team as Paolo Maldini evolved under Sacchi and Milan's current coach Carlo Ancelotti was part of the European Cup winning squads in 89 & 90 (including scoring a goal in a 5-0 rout of Real Madrid in the 1989 European Cup).

The years 1979 and 1986 also stand out in Arsenal's history. After a famous 3-2 victory over Man Utd in the 1979 F.A Cup final, Arsenal went trough a period of indifferent results and no trophies in the early 1980's. Their success only started after former player George Graham was hired in 1986. A league Cup victory followed in 1987 before a famous league title in 1989. Arsenal went onto win another league title in 1991 (losing only one game), won both domestic cups in 1993 and championed a gritty 1-0 win in the 1994 Cup Winner's Cup final. Arsene Wenger inherited the tough defense that George Graham created and if not for that solid backbone, then it is hard to believe Wenger would have fashioned a championship winning team so quickly in 1998.

So if there was ever a chance that two different playing styles and cultures would have clashed, it should have been in 1990 when a defensive Arsenal could have met an attack minded Milan team in the European Cup. But because of the European ban on English clubs, that meeting was not to be.

1994: Arsenal's defense overcame a skilful Parma team packed with Zola, Asprilla and Thomas Brolin to win the Cup Winner's Cup. Also, in 1994 AC Milan thrashed Barcelona 4-0 to win the European Cup. Prior to the game, Johan Cruyff and a few Barcelona players ridiculed Milan and said that Barcelona's attack would easily overcome Milan's defense. But like that night and many more nights after that, Milan have proved their critics wrong.

Playing styles reversed:

On Feb 20, 2008, as Arsenal prepare to take on AC Milan, both teams playing style has reversed from those under George Graham and Sacchi. Arsenal are not known for their defense like under George Graham and even though Milan possess a talented attacking streak in Kaka, they are not know for their attacking potential like under Sacchi. In a recent interview, Kaka was full of praise for Arsenal and said: "They play football the way we like it to see it in Brazil, with style, changing position all the time, moving the ball among themselves so quickly,". Praise indeed. But as past Champions League games have shown, a team can possess as much talent as possible but it amounts to nothing if the opponent is tactically able to negate their opponents strengths.

While Arsenal vs Milan is easily one of the most eye catching fixtures, there are 7 other games which should provide enough drama.

The European Quest:

Safe to say, all the 16 teams have their own reason for doing well in Europe. In Olympiacos' case, a good European performance will help ease the constant taunts they get in league football. Even though Olympiacos are completely dominant in Greek league football with 35 league titles (including 10 of the last 11 league titles) compared to Panathinaikos's 14 titles, Panathinaikos fans often joke that only their team has true "European pedigree" because of their solitary runner's up spot in the European Cup in 1971 and two semi-final appearances (1985 & 1996). Whereas Olympiacos only have a quarter-final berth in 1998 to show for their European Cup exploits. This taunt is similar to one that the English media often use against Arsenal, thanks to Manchester United & Ferguson. Manchester's solitary European Cup under Ferguson in 1999 is often used to imply their greatness over the Gunners. Even though with each passing year's failure in Europe, Manchester's win in 1999 appears to be more of a fluke than something earned through true quality. But the Champions League failure is used a sword over Wenger and Arsenal.

Lyon are another team that feels the pressure of European glory every year. Last season, their 6th straight league title felt like a consolation prize after another failure in Europe. Real Madrid always have tremendous expectations on their shoulders in the Champions League despite their 9 Cup victories. But considering their last Cup was in 2002, the almost 6 year gap must feel like a drought to the team's owners and fans. And Liverpool have been able to use the Champions League to mask their poor domestic form. It is hard to believe that Rafa Benitez would have earned so much respect from Liverpool fans had Liverpool not conjured up six minutes of magic to erase a 3-0 deficit against a stylish Milan team in 2005.

Final note:

There Will be Brazilians:

15 of the 16 European teams have atleast one registered Brazilian player on their squad. The only exception is Celtic. While some teams revolve around their Brazilian players, other teams such as Arsenal have only been using their Brazilian players when the first team players have been injured.