Tottenham v Arsenal

This is the original post, read the full link at THE HISTORY BOYS website

In North London, there is a rivalry that stretches the length of Seven Sisters Road. At the South of it are Tottenham Hotspur, founded in 1882, two-time English League Champions, the first British team to win a European trophy and winners of the FA Cup eight times.


At the other end are Arsenal, recently of Highbury, but now at the Emirates Stadium in Islington. Founded in 1886 but not in North London, and there in lies the birth of the rivalry. Arsenal were founded by munitions workers in Woolwich, South East London as Dial Square before being renamed Royal Arsenal, then Woolwich Arsenal. The famous emblem and nickname of the club, the Gunners comes from the association with the munitions workers.


However, in 1914 after a flirtation with bankruptcy before the start of The Great War, they moved to a ground north of the river and dropped the Woolwich due to the transplant to become just Arsenal.

As our current socio-political climate with a mass global pandemic bringing professional sports to a standstill, the first World War suspended all sport until it reconvened in 1919. At the end of the 1914-15 season, Arsenal were languishing in 5^th place of the Second division. The First Division was expanded to 22 teams with the two clubs atop the second division, Derby and Preston duly promoted.  Yet Tottenham were relegated, with Arsenal promoted in their place.

Old Wenger

Do you remember that Friends episode when the other five find out that Phoebe has never seen the end of tear-jerking films such as Its A Wonderful Life and Old Yeller, never realising that Old Yeller is shot by his owner. Something struck me as odd last night listening to the reaction of the Arsenal v Barcelona Champions League tie where the Spanish holders won 2-0 to be in the driving seat before the second leg in three weeks time at the Camp Nou.

If Arsenal are eliminated it will be the sixth consecutive season they have been eliminated from the first knockout round of Europe's most prestigious competition without troubling their rivals.  True, they have been unlucky in drawing the elite clubs. Yet that is always the risk you take in predominantly finishing second in the group stages.

It happened again this season, when Arsenal were on the back foot immediately after losing in Prague and then at home to Olympiakos. Yes, they finished second but the risk of drawing a Barcelona was very real.

What was surprising was the way Wenger are '95%' through today and how frustrated Barcelona would be that they did not firmly put the tie to bed with a more emphatic scoreline. Yet Wenger's honourable reaction to the defeat not making excuses and virtually falling on his sword for his players own failings was eyebrow raising.

Following the desperate performance at home to Hull City in the FA Cup at the weekend, which came less than a week after the euphoric home victory against Leicester City, you do wonder why Wenger struggles to motivate his players and why he fails so often with bad selection policies.

From playing Olivier Giroud as a lone striker when a quicker forward like Walcott or even hard working Danny Welbeck to press high up the field and pester the Barcelona defenders would have played into a gameplan. Instead the Giroud selection smacked of tried and tested, failing to see the necessity to innovate or try and disrupt Barcelona's tempo, too much respect was given to the Catalans.

Wenger strikes me as a manager on his last legs, one who is living off of past glories and bereft of inspiration in terms of formulating a plan, a manager too loyal to players who do not warrant it and a man who looks like he is running out of time.

The past two years of FA Cup victories have given him a stay of execution. The golden chalice is the Premier League title, something that has not been in his hands for 11 seasons. And now he stands on the brink of losing that to not only a competitor but his club's fiercest rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. A team led by a vibrant young manager full of tactics and an insatiable hunger to succeed.

Arsene Wenger seems to think he has a divine right to the title and to challenge for it, and yet with the failings of Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool as challengers the title was there for the taking for Arsenal, and yet he slipped on his lines and failed to get the purchases in either transfer window to support his injury prone squad.

Should he lose the title to Tottenham, there will be a huge sense of embarrassment and bemusement at the Emirates. He might well retire or be put out of his misery; and just like Old Yeller, Arsenal and Arsene never saw it coming.

Lonely at the Top

Highly respected French football journalist, Philippe Auclair who wrote the regarded autobiography of Eric Cantona, The Rebel Who Would Be King - returns with another tome on another French footballer who split opinion with his genius and gifts. Auclair this time focuses on Thierry Henry, the most prolific goalscorer in Arsenal football history.

From the front cover you get a close-up portrait of Mr.Henry which like the photo of Andre Agassi on his award-winning biography Open is very non-commital like the Mona Lisa - is Henry smiling or is he a little bit put out by doing this photo shoot?

Auclair takes as his thrust a way to dissect the inner psyche of a wounded genius; liking Henry to an artist who thought too much for his art and was never really understood.  This goes in contrast to the public image of Henry, especially during his glory years of Arsenal, when he bestrode many Premier League pitches as a master of his craft.  Henry shared with Cantona, that outward French arrogance of knowing he was really really good - Auclair has a great memory, this reviewer had forgotten the free-kick Henry had scored at Wigan when he scored looked at the referee - who had asked for a retake of the previous goal-bound effort - and asked, 'Is that good enough?' - a mixture of superiority and theatricality.  For fans of Arsenal, reading this book will be like recalling all your favourite Christmases.

Tellingly, too often in this day and age the stars of today are just that.  Fans of football only care about the here and now, fans are unaware of a player's route to glory, the hard road travelled.  Too often it is a matter of what are you doing for me now.  Just look at Chelsea, Didier Drogba has left and the fans have replaced him in their hearts with Eden Hazard and/or Oscar; the revolving door of football celebrity endorses this.

Henry is rightfully acclaimed as one of Arsenal's great players; he was the great goalscorer that came after Ian Wright.  He replaced Nicolas Anelka who left Arsenal fans heartbroken having won the double, yet he straddled two great sides.  Henry led the line of the side defended by the famous back five of Seaman, Dixon, Bould/Keown, Adams and Winterburn; and then was the fulcrum of the Invincibles in the 2003/04 season who won the league without losing a game, a first for the Premier League.

Auclair shows you all of Henry's stories, his father's journey from the West Indies (this reviewer presumed Henry's genetics laid in Northern Africa), the gift that was apparent in youth football, winning the World Cup in 1998 as a teenager and then the dismal World Cup showings in 2002 in Korea/Japan and ending on a sour note in South Africa 2010.

The only gripe of this book is the general tone of a genius misunderstood, Thierry Henry is one of those rare players who was highly respected from all corners of the globe, beloved by fans of the game so to set him out as woe is me individual who is misrepresented by his on pitch persona, marks him out as something akin to a Hollywood star or Broadway thespian, is it any surprise that Henry's career is ending in the bright lights of New York City where he is undoubtedly the star of the MLS show.

Henry's need to be the best does not make him a misunderstood soul, it makes him much like any naturally gifted athlete a man whose ego needs massaging.  Thierry Henry won every domestic and international competition during his playing career along with personal awards, yet to paint him as an unfulfilled participant in the world's most popular sport is somewhat bittersweet.

Lonely at the Top is published by Macmillan in hardback on 8th November for £17.99RRP
Philippe Auclair has been France Football's and RMC Radio's UK football correspondent for over a decade and is a prolific freelance journalist.  He is also a regular contributor to The Blizzard and Champions magazine.

Premier League Week 2 review

The one thing I hate most about the Premier League and the 24 hour sponsored Sky Sports News coverage, is the need for status and position amongst fans.  After one game, we have to suffer the Premier League table with teams on top based on the fact they scored more goals than other victorious sides.  My belief is that the relegation zone should not be thrust into our screens until the start of December, when the games come thick and fast which can influence the position based on injuries and colder weather.

After the first week, though those happiest with there work obviously were the teams who won, some more convincingly than others; Swansea, Fulham, Everton, West Brom and Chelsea were over the moon; whilst Man City were lucky to get past newly promoted Southampton, with a 3-2 victory but the loss of Sergio Aguero for a suspected month due to a knee injury.

So week 2 is not really week 2 for Chelsea, who played there third weekend game at home to Reading early due to their involvement in the European Super Cup in Monaco on Friday.  After an initial scare and blunder by Petr Cech, Chelsea came back from 2-1 down to win 4-2.

So what else happened this weekend?

1. Chelsea lay down a marker
Okay, Newcastle had less than 48 hours to prepare for this game due to their own European travels.  Yet they came up against a confident Chelsea side, thanks in part due to the creative invention of Eden Hazard who is making everyone look better around him.  Fernando Torres is looking hungry, due to him being top dog and not having to compete with Didier Drogba.  Juan Mata is being given creative licence without doing much with it due to Hazard's great first week in England.  Defensive solidity remains in the form of Gary Cahill in spite of John Terry's neck injury which ruled him out.  Three wins from three is nothing ominous, but is still a good start.

2. Is Rooney's injury a blessing in disguise?
Wayne Rooney suffered a severe gash on his inner right thigh above the knee due to an errant stud by Hugo Rodallega in injury time during Man United's 3-2 win over Fulham.  Rooney started on the bench, as Ferguson granted Robin Van Persie a start on his home debut.  Rooney is set to miss a month of action, including both of England's World Cup qualifiers in September.  Yet for Ferguson, this could be a god send to a side to integrate a new style of forward into the United way without the trouble of rotating and worrying if they can co-exist.  RVP can go about his business, and build up some good links between himself, Ashley Young, Nani and the impressive Shinji Kagawa.

3. Teams refuse to be beaten
West Bromich Albion will consider the first week a great one. Steve Clarke's side followed up their home victory on opening day versus Liverpool with a point at Tottenham thanks to a last minute equaliser by James Morrison that prompted an 11 man bundle in the centre circle, a sign of Baggie resilience and togetherness.  In spite of a torrent of Tottenham attacks from Gareth Bale and Jermain Defoe, Spurs could not get the second goal. Clarke threw on Romelu Lukaku whose size and power worried Vertonghen in defence.  This resilience must be instilled by Clarke, a defender himself who refused to be beaten himself as a player, in contrast to Mark Hughes at QPR who has chosen to build his side from the front rather than shore up his leaky, creaky defence.

4. Arsenal are nearly in crisis
Okay, two games and two points would be fine.  You have not lost a game yet, but you have not won a game either.  You seem to be difficult to break down in defence, yet you have not scored a goal either.  The departure of Van Persie was expected, and the tight wad Wenger did spend money on Lukas Podolski and Oliver Giroud as suitable replacements; yet Arsenal seem to miss that creative impetus in their midfield with the continued absence of Jack Wilshere.  Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain is coming on, yet the enigmatic Theo Walcott is again awol without warning.  Due to recent history, a point at Stoke is not bad considering no players were injured, but the lack of goal threat less than last week versus Sunderland will be a worry.  But only a worry if they go to Liverpool and fail to score next week.

5. Liverpool still can self-destruct
Last season, Liverpool endured a terrible season yet they somehow still won a trophy.  The omens are better for this season, Brendan Rodgers has entered hoping to instil the Swansea ethic to Anfield and bringing Joe Allen with him will be a good move.  Rodgers started in coaching with youth, so Raheem Stirling will prosper under him.  Yet Liverpool with all the belief in them in front of the home faithful played very well against the Champions Man City in a 2-2 draw, yet somehow conspired to throw away victory.  A fumble off of Martin Kelly fell to the feet of Yaya Toure to poke home the first equaliser.  Then having regained the lead thanks to Luis Suarez's beautiful free-kick, goalscorer Martin Skrtel played a blind backpass aiming for Pepe Reina which was both soft and off target, except straight to Carlos Tevez's feet who easily rounded the stranded keeper for his 100th PL goal.

6. Laudrup > Rodgers
Michael Laudrup must think this PL lark is easy, considering he has been at the helm for two games, eight goals and none conceded.  Like Rodgers, Swansea keep the ball in possession making it difficult to win the ball of them, then soak up any pressure thrown their way followed by a brisk counter-attack and ruthlessness in front of goal.  Swansea punched above their weight last season, getting goals from many people but in new signing Michu they have a goal-snatcher in the Lineker vein; who can sniff up mistakes or score crackers as well.  The 3-0 victory at home to West Ham was helped by two defensive lapses, yet the dominance was not something you would have seen from Rodgers' side last season.

Arsenal v Tottenham Preview

This Sunday, Arsenal host Tottenham Hotspur in the second North London derby of the season.  In October, Tottenham beat Arsenal 2-1 at White Hart Lane thanks to a Kyle Walker goal from distance.  My overriding memory of that game was Arsenal's period of possession after half-time which resulted in an equaliser, the Walker winner came against the run of play almost.  Once ahead for a second time, Spurs held on for the win.

Tottenham are having a good season, a great season helped by the up and down performances of Arsenal and Chelsea, and Liverpool's continual ability to draw at Anfield dropping too many points.

Tottenham sit ten points clear of Arsenal in fourth place (for all their moaning, they are still 4th) and still with aspirations of the title although the failure to even take a point from the Etihad Stadium - a combination of Defoe's woeful dive and Ledley King's badly timed tackle - will come back to haunt them, considering they did so well to come back from two goals down.

That was Tottenham's season in the nutshell - a battling performane, exhiliarating comeback, a superb Bale goal, but a failure to take the opportunity that presented itself to you set Tottenham as a pretender rather than a contender.

Tottenham are getting plaudits for their attacking exploits highlighted by the 5-0 demolition of Newcastle in the last League game, yet it is the rock of defence that is getting less acclaim.  A 40 year old goalkeeper, a crippled centre half, a returning defender from injury, a reborn left-back and an English U21 international are keeping clean sheets.  Friedel is Spurs' purchase of the season, admittedly Scott Parker is the headliner but Friedel at 40 years old has been astounding.

Whereas the Tottenham defence is solid, the Arsenal defence has suffered from injuries and suspensions throughout the season.  The lack of stability and continuity has led to a leaky defence, evident in the 8-2 dismantling at Old Trafford.  Yet the defenders from that game have never been able to recover mentally.

Luckily, a whole season of Robin Van Persie has helped Arsenal secure fourth place at the moment.  His goals make him the Most Valuable Player of the season, but for RVP Arsenal may well be 10th or god forbid in the bottom half of the league.

This Sunday, Arsenal will look to contain Spurs counter attacking style which will be back to full tilt with Aaron Lennon returning from another injury.  Emmanuel Adebayor, Rafael van der Vaart are also available after short breaks and Harry Redknapp has a choice upfront with Louis Saha stepping in on loan and scoring immediately.

Arsenal will have to work hard to contain the wing play of Lennon and Bale, and do they have an equivalent to battle with Parker in the centre.  Arsenal could well choose to go for it with Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain bombing down respective wings in support of Van Persie.

The feeling amongst most Arsenal fans is one of worry and nerves.  When was the last time Tottenham went to Arsenal as overwhelming favourites.  Probably the last time they won at Highbury in 1993, when four days before an FA Cup final the Gooners played a second string side in preparation for the Wembley showpiece. Tottenham won 3-1.

My prediction for Sunday is the same scoreline.

Arsene's Questions

Arsenal lost to Swansea. 3-2. In Swansea. So why is it that much of a surprise or treated as the equivalent of when Arsenal last visited Wales for a competitive fixture against a side from the principality, as when they lost 2-1 at Wrexham back in 1992.

Swansea have only lost once at home in the league all season (to Man United, 1-0), they are a well drilled unit governed by the magisterial eye of Brendan Rodgers who gets them to play as well with the ball as when they are without it.

The key to Swansea's football (some call it the Barcelona way) is to get the ball back as quickly as possible once they lose it giving the players Joe Allen and Leon Britton the chance to shine both with and without the ball.  They have pace down the wings in Scott Sinclair (who converted the penalty to equalise for the Swans), Nathan Dyer (who scored the second in a man of the match performance) and up front they have a hard working centre-forward who never gives up a lost cause and scores the odd goal, in this case the winner, in Danny Graham.  The scorers may well get the credit, but the solid defence and impressive Michel Vorm provides solidity at the back, they are difficult to score against - although both Arsenal goals came from through ball played into space behind full backs.

As for Arsenal, this is just another sorry episode in a season that may well go down in history as the worst of Arsene Wenger's tenureship.

Having navigated the quagmire of uncertainty following the 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford, Wenger seemed to have steadied the ship thanks in part to the irresistible form of Robin Van Persie who was winning games single-handedly.  He even got Thierry Henry back on loan for two months to fool people into thinking there were no real problems at the Emirates.

Yet the problems remain, an inconsistent goalkeeper who was at fault for the winner at Swansea as he did not lessen the angle for Graham to shoot at, his back peddling and dithering made Graham's decision to shoot across goal a lot easier.

The defence still is leaky, it did not help that he had four centre backs playing in defence owing to injuries sustained to Kieran Gibbs, Bacary Sagna and Santos during the season.  Laurent Koscielny and Ignasi Miquel looked lost as they combated the pace of Sinclair and Dyer, whilst Per Mertesacker was given the run around by Graham all afternoon, and it was no surprise that he was sacrificied near the end for Oxlade-Chamberlain as Arsenal, chased an equaliser, on 77 minutes.

Yet the midfield trio of Aaron Ramsey (whose lazy pass led to Swansea taking a 2-1 lead), Alexandre Song and Yossi Benayoun could not compete with Swansea's tenacity and resilience.  There is a real sense of belief ringing around the Liberty Stadium at the moment - a team that plays attractive football, and keeps to that ethos even when they concede like they did yesterday.

The worry for Arsene Wenger was the near invisibility of certain players - Arshavin was non-existent and a non-factor until he had to come off for Henry midway through the second half, apart from his well taken goal Theo Walcott could not match Dyer for potency and end product but most worryingly, Robin Van Persie apart from the goal looked flat at times, even when they are chasing a goal at the end where was Arsenal's player of the season to stand up and be counted and carry the team to a point and salvation.

Instead, Arsenal must now re-assess hope some players return from injury as this is not Wenger's best starting XI and this season should be written off as one to be forgotten.  Again after a costly defeat, he looked to deflect blame from his team that were simply not good enough, and instead blame Michael Oliver for awarding a penalty to Swansea.

Frankly the team is not good enough to compete in this league at the moment, be it Man City's superstar line-up, Man United's experience of the big stage, Tottenham's similar Barca-style football, Arsenal have lost to all three of these teams as well as Blackburn, Fulham and now Swansea away from home.  The part-time signing of Henry is an attempt to paper over the cracks of his feeble transfer policy and failure to bring through any quality youth players - how he must regret not signing Tim Krul, nor Gary Cahill in the summer.  Cahill has now gone to Chelsea, Krul's value has shot up now.

Arsenal need to save the season, oddly enough their best performanes have been saved for the Champions League and maybe some glory in that remains, but the League has gone. They need to get back on track, yet they are at home to Man United this Sunday, whilst it should not be a 10 goal thriller again, do not bank on a goalless draw.

The Consistency of Inconsistency

A feeling came over me watching the Premier League action this weekend not of pride and passion but of well being let down.

I love refereeing, with a passion. I love being a part of England's national pasttime. Being out on the field of play during a game amongst the free flowing football is wonderful.  It gives me a reason to stay fit, and for me to back my decision making.  Things are going well so far, yet often I feel that things that happen at the highest echelon of the games means that decisions trickle down to the level I officiate at.

When Chris Foy sends off Jose Boswinga for a denial of a clear goal scoring opportunity when still 25 yards away from goal and a goalkeeper to beat your eyebrows will be raised.  Not because of the decision, I saw the sense in it, just what will happen the following week with a different official.

And so at Stamford Bridge, Ashley Cole is upended by Arsenal goalkeeper Sczezeny when bearing down on goal.  Replays show covering defenders coming back, but if Cole had remained on his feet, he might well have got a quick shot away.  Result from Andre Marriner was a yellow card and a free-kick, from which nothing resulted.  Sczezeny admitted on Twitter that evening he was surprised to remain on the pitch, at that time I believe the score was 3-2 to Arsenal, who eventually won 5-3 with a full quota of playing personal.

The inconsistency remains; but ultimately it is down to how to manage the players and control the high tempo, high intensity game of football.  Foy felt that the indiscipline of Chelsea was probably getting out of hand; yet Didier Drogba's two footed lunge at Adel Taarabt left him no option but to dismiss.  Marriner had the option and refused it, feeling that there was a covering defender, yet how can there be if the last defender on this occasion is the goalkeeper - theoretically the last man possible.

Following, Vincent Kompany's sending off at Manchester City on Saturday, word has come out that from next season such a challenge when he fouled/pulled Kevin Doyle to the floor will not be a red card offence - instead a yellow card and penalty will be sufficient punishment.  Yet a challenge like that by Sczezeny will still be a red card due to the recklessness of it - red card and a suspension.  The feeling being that Kompany and his team is being punished three times - dismissal, penalty and suspension.

Again, this means it is down to the interpretation of the individual official, I think the wording of denial of a clear goal scoring opportunity is clear and most often (unless your Phil Dowd at Anfield this year) the referees call it correctly.

This will only lead to more inconsistency of decisions, but that is the point of this piece, it only goes to highlight the decisions will never be 100% spot on because nobody is perfect, and it will depend on the individual, the players, the game, the pressure and intensity of each and every match.

UCL: Where Complacency meets Inferiority

The Champions League proper is back, following the thrills and spills of Arsenal nearly succumbing to Udinese - the group stage and the smorgasborg of 16 games over 2 nights featuring the stars of world and European football.  However, whereas the Champions League was a unique idea when it originated in 1992/93, now we have a mish-mash of superior teams mixed with teams who although champions they are not up to standard.

And due to the UEFA co-efficients and rankings and pot seedings, you get some dynamic groups.  You need only look at Manchester City's group of death with Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal and then compare it with their city neighbour's snore-fest of Benfica, Basle and Gelati (of Romania, if you did not know). 

United are far and away the strongest English side with the largest depth available and yet Alex Ferguson had some problems following an international week and a PL fixture on Saturday evening.  He made numerous changes, gave David de Gea a much needed 'rest', Ashley Young is tired and he is still without his trusted central defensive pairing of Ferdinand and Vidic. 

United played a 4-3-3 of Lindegaard; Rafael, Evans, Smalling, Evra; Valencia,Fletcher, Carrick; Park, Giggs,Rooney. This side was deceptive, by flooding the midfield and picking Fletcher and Carrick, Ferguson hoped to nullify the emotional Benfica side that would be propelled by the passionate home support.  Giggs played off of Rooney who was very much mute all evening, Valencia rarely ventured forward and posed an attacking threat, whilst Park had to do a lot more defending than envisaged.

The team smacked of negativity, and yet Ferguson will believe he got a lot out of the game.  Players gained match minutes and if injuries do not clear then they can be called upon for the Chelsea game on Sunday, yet he must have a few questions.  What kind of statement does this performance give to the rest of Europe?  Contemporaries Bayern Munich and Real Madrid were both away from home and were dominant against lesser opposition, the difference being those two teams have harder groups.  United should top their group and will do with 3 home wins; and oddly the Champions League offers Ferguson a chance to utilise his squad options yet but for the weak finishing of Benfica's Nolito in the closing stages the campaign might have gotten off to the worst start. 

This complacency might haunt several teams, as it did Barcelona on Tuesday night when they did all the hard work against AC Milan coming back from a goal down to lead 2-1 gain 75% possession and yet concede a late set-piece goal which could be the difference between topping the group and coming second.  Barcelona have injury issues themselves - the first choice centre backs Pique and Puyol were out so Guardiola employed Mascherano and Busquets in central defence, and this lack of cohesion led to Alexandre Pato scoring after just 30 seconds.  Possession led to dominance and Barca had the lead after 50 minutes, yet they could not find the crucial third, as long as the score remained a goal difference Milan must have believed in one more chance.  It arrived in injury time from a corner by Seedorf met by Thiago Silva whose bullet header flew past Valdes who had the whole goal to protect with no markers on the goalposts.  That to me smacks of complacency, the last minute at home and you don't defend as if it is your last, The header went to the far post the most obvious post to cover from this specific set-piece.

Luckily, Barca and AC Milan are in a weak group with Bate and Plzen (yep, me neither) providing little opposition to these superior powers. 

And that is the problem with the UCL, the group stage is deliberate in keeping all the super-powers apart until the knockout stages in February begin allowing them all a thick slice of television money.  Unfortunately, certain big times may not actually start playing their strongest sides until they meet a team they believe to be their equal.

Premier League Review - 15th August 2011

And we are off.  The 20th Premier League season has begun, with less fanfare than recent years.  Perhaps it is because it has not come on the back of another dismal international campaign by our ever failing national team.  The constant rumours of transfer dealings occuring between London and Barcelona, and Manchester and Milan or Argentina seems to have taken most of the headlines. 

However, Manchester now holds two title contenders with one still firmly set in the west of London.  With two more in the northern territory of the capital with a sleeping giant of Liverpool attempting to waken from a season of slumber of last year.  Liverpool aim to recapture glory by splashing out, all for the guarantee of the treasured fourth place.  Seemingly, the season looks like a three-horse race for the title with three gunning for one place.

Arsenal gained 4th place and yet with the departure now of club captain, Cesc Fabregas to his beloved Barcelona, the future seems uncertain at the Emirates.  The talisman has gone, leaving two teenagers to protect a midfield.  The opportunity for Liverpool or Tottenham to snatch fourth is there.

I predicted a top 4 of United, Chelsea, City and Liverpool, if Fabregas was sold.  Now I look assured in my selection.

As for the first weekend of action, well following on from the thrilling Community Shield at Wembley last week goals were hard to come by for the most exciting league in the world.

The most goals came at Loftus Road for the returning Queens Park Rangers, who were dealt a harsh lesson, being virtually abused by Bolton who ran out 4-0 victors with goals from Gary Cahill, Ivan Klasnic, Federic Mulumbu and an own goal.  QPR will have to get to grips quickly, and use Bolton as a model of stability and continuity to succeed in the division.

Wolves who survived by three minutes on the last day last season, ran out 2-1 victors away at Blackburn who look like they may encounter problems due to a lack of potency up front.  Whilst Wolves look stable, have talent and in signing Jamie O'Hara from Tottenham have got their own talisman.

Liverpool for all their money and new faces ran out of steam at home to Sunderland in a 1-1 draw.  For the first half they were irresistible, with Adam spreading play and Downing finding woodwork on dazzling run.  Yet Sunderland, who themselves have splashed out this summer, found an equaliser from Seb Larsson a steal from Birmingham. Both sides need time to gel with the new faces, Liverpool need immediate results whilst Sunderland can have a chance at a Europa League place on either league finish or cup run.

Fulham and Villa cancelled each other out at Craven Cottage, expect more from both sides especially the attacking nature of Martin Jol's side.

At Newcastle, in another goalless draw, Arsenal seemed to have the same problems in any season.  All flair and technical prowess with no finishing touch.  The Gunners had enough possession to dominate but chances went begging and the loss of Gervinho for raising his hands to Joey Barton did not do any favours.  Newcastle have Barton who provides passion, but without Kevin Nolan (West Ham) and Jose Enrique (Liverpool), plus the loss of Andy Carroll it could be a long haul on Tyneside.

Andre Vilas-Boas' first game for Chelsea at Stoke was largely forgettable, but for some penalty appeals.  Typically physical at the Britannia, Fernando Torres found some form but no final quality, but AVB will have the familiar problem of attempting to keep Torres, Anelka and Drogba all happy.  The 4-3-3 formation with Torres leading Malouda and Ramires of him.  Stoke again are a sum of all their parts but with a back four that include Upson, Woodgate, Shawcross and Huth it looks formidable.

The champions returned at the Hawthorns, where last season they had their worst performance and prompted Gary Neville's retirement, on this occasion they ran out 2-1 victors thanks to the work of Ashley Young who set up Wayne Rooney for the first and then his dribble and pass led to the own goal of the winner.  Although new goalkeeper, David de Gea again fluffed his lines in conceded WBA's equaliser, though for a young man to come to a new culture he has still a lot of adjusting and this will come in time.  Otherwise, the movement and passing of United led by the growing maturity of Tom Cleverley in midfield means Alex Ferguson finally has the youth coming through and in Young and De Gea the notable signings to match the demands.  But for their awful away form last year, they would have won the title at a canter.  Last year's team would have drawn yesterday, today's team won, albeit somehow, which shows why they are the team to beat.

Tonight, Manchester City host Swansea City at the City of Manchester Stadium.  United have laid down a marker, can City reply and with Sergio Aguero not likely to feature the reliance will be on Balotelli and Dzeko to lead from the front.

Wenger and the blame game

Being a Tottenham Hotspur fan, I suppose I should not give two hoots about the goings-on and latest title surrender from the Emirates nor care that Arsene Wenger is going a sixth season without any silverware.  But I feel a little bit miffed at his continual approach this season to take the blame, football is fast becoming a blame game more and more.

Players blame the referees, referees blame the clubs for lack of respect, managers blame referees, (okay I am a part-time referee aswell, and yes we do get the blame too often) but sometimes the blame should lay with the players who cock-up, the goalkeeper that drops a clanger, the player that gets needlessly sent off, the lazy defending at set pieces and failure to close out teams.

This has happened too often at Arsenal this season, they have squandered too many winning positions and dropped close to double digit points that have cost them a chance at the Premier League title. The one piece of silverware left to aim for, after being in all four major competitions come the end of February.

They lost the Carling Cup final to Birmingham, and the blame game started; but luckily it was the sort of clanger from Sczeceny and Koscielny that blame could easily be affixed, but it took away credit from a spirited Birmingham display and showed Wenger was out-thought by his opposite number Alex McLeish whose tactical nous prevailed, as he loaded the midfield with his triumvate of Bowyer, Ferguson and Gardner.  Their grit was too much for the Arsenal midfield and but for an offside flag, Arsenal might have had to play the whole game with just 10 men.

Then came Barcelona in the Champions League, a great draw at home gave hope but then followed Arsenal chasing shadows at the Nou Camp for the second year in a row, but the sending off of Robin Van Persie was used as blame in spite of the fact that Arsenal could not hang with one of the great teams of recent years.

The FA Cup dream died at Old Trafford, when Wenger's rotation policy and team selection seemed baffling considering they had the second leg in Spain still to come he chose to pick a weaker than usual side, and Man.United duly won 2-0 without much trouble.  This left the leg which three weeks ago was wide open owing to Arsenal maintaining a game in hand, they just needed to stay in arm's length before the May 2nd showdown at the Emirates against the champions elect. 

Alas, goal shy attackers and long injury times, have ended up with a nine-point deficit with four games remaining, not mathematically impossible but quite possibly that is all she wrote for another season, following a 2-1 defeat at Bolton with Tamir Cohen headed in a winner in the last minute of regulation.  No 11 minutes of injury time this week, and four minutes later Arsenal were cursing their luck again.

And yet following the game, Wenger was at liberty to take blame for another poor showing following a week of three league games, they have picked up just two points from two winning positions but the points at home to Liverpool and away at Tottenham were just indicative of Arsenal's season.

I wrote some weeks ago, about a lack of consistency and I used Arsenal as an example, a team that loses at home to West Brom and Newcastle, do not deserve to be considered title contenders - yet they were still there. And yet the players do not take the intiative, the attackers have gone backwards lacking bite and relying on the prolificgacy of young Jack Wilshere to take them to new heights, and the continual troubles in defence continue.  The lack of a marshalling keeper and the loss of Tomas Vermaelen meant that clean sheets and dominating defence were missing from this line-up.

But for Wenger to take the blame is okay in some respects but not on this occasion, now he has players who do not mind losing and do not take responsibility for their actions and poor performance(s).  Instead they realise, their manager will take the buck and the pressure off of their young shoulders. 

But we cannot keep saying this team is young, Emanuel Eboue's foul against Lucas in the Liverpool game was incredibly naive, he is 28.  Wilshere has looked at times older than 19, but he is growing an increasingly petulent streak for such a young man. Wenger likes to put his staple on a team a combination of youth and expert training; an accusation that has led to rumours of a rift between captain Cesc Fabregas and the manager over comments in a Spanish magazine.  Fabregas asked that Arsenal need to make a decision between challenging for Europe's biggest prizes or develop youth in the future. 

This summer with the funds of Kroenke coming into account, Wenger needs to make a new statement of intent, use money to convince Fabregas to stay and avoid another prolonged summer soap opera.  Arsenal need a goalkeeper, but they may have to fight Tottenham for Shay Given; a central defender to co-operate with the returning Vermaelen and a dominant midfielder who is a work-horse, like a Birmingham City midfielder and a goalscorer, unlike the one Chamakh hoped to be.

I should hate Wenger, but now I see a man who is becoming deluded in his appraisal of the playing staff.  And he is failing to remember that managers are more dispensable than players who command bigger wages than a one annual salary man; and managers are judged by their track record, and as we have seen in the last six years, that resume of success is looking particularly bare.  Even Steve McLaren has won more in those six years than the great saviour Arsene Wenger.