We could have done the double last year had we not lost to Man City in the finals. The loss to Man City was a disappointing one for us. Nico O’Reilly scored twice and ruined some of the fun that was about to come later. We also lost to PSG in the Champions League finals, and missed the treble. The getaway was that you shouldn’t lose finals but to learn from those losses, we must reach there again.
And the journey begins today. We are visiting Ipswich Town today in the third round of Carabao Cup / EFL cup. There are some good teams competing this time – Chelsea, Bournemouth, Sunderland, Palace, Newcastle have already made it to the next round. The fate of Arsenal, Man Utd, City, Liverpool and Spurs will be decided today.
We are unbeaten so far this season. 4 Premier League wins and a CL win so far, and we can add another one today. And it’s the second last game before we go into the international break, so the manager is under no duress to rest players. Though, I would like to see the likes of Max Dowman getting some game time today, Mikel likely prefers to go with the best fit XI.
Wenger used these cups to develop academy players and he would find some gems often. He invested his time and also cost the club a few points in doing so. But we are way past the development phase and we can spend 60m on players that would be second fiddle to Saliba and Rice, so don’t expect anything interesting. The best we can do is, WIN, and move on to the next round.
Every trophy matters. We have the best squad in the Premier League and we have already won the Premier League. The next target is to win more, and not just settle with the title this season.
In the team news, we would probably see Kepa back in the goals. There’s so much to do for Raya, so he will get some rest. We can also see a midfield of MLS and Guimaraes, with Merino in the Odegaard role. Madueke is a candidate to get a start and we might see Eze over Tzolis. Gyokeres could also get his start. I don’t care frankly who starts and if he is fatigued, we have got at least 2 players for each position and that removes the injury anxiety for me.
That’s all for today, see you during the game.
So City have either got to be severely fucked or the whole thing will be pointless – even a massive fine wouldn’t be enough it would just turn into a handicap system where breaking the rules could be balanced off as worth it.
With that said I also don’t think you can go back and strip City of titles etc – it’d completely undermine the value of the PL and make the competition worthless. Before you know it our title last season would be declared “unlawful” by Spud fans because X or Y happened – you’d have clubs getting involved in lawfare on decisions in every match.
The only solution is a punishment so severe no one would ever dare to repeat what City did and an increase in the due diligence conducted by the PL.
Kicking City out of the league structure (have to be at the end of the season) and forcing them to re-enter in League 2 would be catastrophic if full FFP rules were applied to their future conduct.
Obviously the usual PL parachute payments would be forfeited in the above.
Art
My microwave practically exploded yesterday while I was reheating a cup of tea. I was incensed, even more than I was about City.
Do you think Hong Kong Mick might be able to sort me out with a hooky one for 20 guineas? I can meet him at his south London lock-up if you don’t want to touch anything too hot.
Oh, and does he still have any Sony Beta max video recorders? Asking for a friend in the adult film industry.
Arsenal v Forest on the ‘big match revisited’ this morning. Kenny Samson at left back, Viv Anderson at right back for them. Spider looks about 12 but is captaining the Gunners. Clock End open to the elements THOF looking beautiful. Early 80s I’d say.
History will show that Arsene Wenger is the one who had the most to lose due to the cheating by Chelsea and City.
Neither Chelsea or City would have been able to dominate the league or compete fairly with Arsenal at a time when Wenger had rebuilt the Arsenal side after the invincibles, a side that included Cole, fabregas, van persie , Nasri, Wilshire, cliche , Adebuyor, sagna, Walcott,rosicky ,Ramsey etc, of which a number of players were enticed to sign for city for financial reasons as well as success on the field.
To put it bluntly, City decimated wenger’s rebuild which also led to world class players like Fabregas and van persie leaving.
Those fans who abused Wenger should hold their head in shame now that both Chelsea and city have been found guilty, that young Wenger side would have been competing with United year in and year out as they grew together , but unfortunately the players heads were turned by the financial inducements on offer which led to the break up of what I regard as the most pure , exciting team that Wenger ever produced.
I have absolutely no doubt that the side Wenger built after the invincibles would have won titles , they never had a chance to grow and reach their peak, united and possibly Liverpool would have been the only teams that could compete with Arsenal during that period.
Wenger should feel vindicated now that the truth has come out , he always said that City destroyed his team and how Chelsea managed to get away without a points deduction god only knows, let’s hope that city get what they deserve…
KP – Weather permitting (I am a softy fair weather supporter) I would let others use my season tickets and stand at the Clock End. There was a bunch of chaps, all successful businessmen would only stand in the Clock End. The banter was amazing.
Wicksy
You make it sound like no one knew Chelsea and City were financially doping – everyone knew it.
The only surprise is that City have been found guilty. The big question now is what will be done about it?
Kroenkephobe
Those were the days.
Mick is blind as a bat,he is more likely to get you a fuckin vase or a kettle than micro
But my point stands.
We all fuckin knew, except it seems that the money men that Chelsea and Manchester City were at it.
For years we took their money
And then for years we paid for the overpriced cack.
If we had any fuckin principles of scruples , we should never have dealt with the dodgy cunts
The whole fuckin circus will now hopefully collapse, because it needs to.
Slagsy
Wenger earned fucking millions out of the game, I am sure he can take a few swear words from some spotty cunts .
He is not living in a poky bedsit in Catford struggling to cope, you soppy cunt.
Where did he think the Manchester City money was coming from?
Peter Swales wallet or UAE trillions?
Ufraud
“ I am sure he can take a few swear words from some spotty cunts “
I suggest you use a mild cleanser to help with your acne
Marc
“ You make it sound like no one knew Chelsea and City were financially doping – everyone knew it.”
And Wenger was ridiculed for trying to educate the football world about financial doping …
“ Arsene Wenger first coined and popularized the term “financial doping” around 2008 and 2009 to criticize the heavily state-backed or billionaire-funded spending models of clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City “
Wicksy
You just so insightful – I mean none of us knew anything that was going on.
I just found out they have 11 players on each team – who have thought.
I have no affinity for City, minus the fact that my son is a casual fan, and although I would like to see them punished for anything that “actually” falls outside the bounds of what most top clubs have done and continue to do, I would much rather that those administrators/owners who perpetrated/sanctioned said acts received the full brunt of the punishment…the fans of the sport and the players shouldn’t be subjected to the punitive fallout…force the owners to sell, ban those involved for an unprecedented period and/or hit them hard in the pocketbook…of course my response is slightly skewed by the fact that if they were to removed from the equation we would lose the ability to watch a side chock full of talent(offensive) and it just might lead other sides into emulating our incredibly bland brand of football…thanks but no thanks
oh yeah, holier than thou Wenger was so disturbed by the state of things that he took a fucking cushy gig with FIFA following his SACKING…clearly he’s worked tirelessly to clean up that money-grubbing shit show
Marc
“ You make it sound like no one knew Chelsea and City were financially doping – everyone knew it.”
Everyone knew it and yet a minority of Arsenal fans were so dumb that they attacked Wenger despite knowing he was competing with one arm tied behind his s back..
I’m sure you and your pals on here were the sensible ones and defended Wenger in the knowledge that it was an almost impossible task to compete with the bottomless pit of money that Chelsea and City had at their disposal..
Only a fool would turn on their own manager in such circumstances.
NORG
I spent some very good times on the Clock End in the 90s, mainly when the ‘murial’ was up on the north bank.
largely bullshit self-imposed circumstances you fucking managerial apologist…we had bags of money but our monopolistic star-hating ego-driven fuck of a manager wanted all the accolades and none of the in-house grief that typically came with building a top drawer side…fuck your hat you simpleton twat
And Slagsy,
You might not have noticed, because your tongue is permanently up the cunts arse but he has spent more than Manchester City the last few years.
We are just as grubby, culpable and rotten as every other fuckin club in the premier league.
A league from day 1, that was built on the premise of fucking greed and ripping off the silly cunts that go and watch.
As for Wenger, he may have been a good coach a while back, but he is hardly doing himself favours at FIFA
And dont forget Graham, took bungs.
So stop making out , we are so fuckin perfect, because you are making yourself look a mug.
Wicksy
As I have said on many occasions there was a period after the stadium move where our finances were “limited” but there was also an extended period once things eased where Wenger just seemed to refuse to spend money on the players we desperately needed.
And its not about £100 million players – no one complained about Vieira, Henry, Pires or any of the other players who didn’t cost a ransom.
Wenger got old.