Podcast: Jonny's Premier League week

What future the angry man of Arsenal?

It’s been a week to forget for Arsene Wenger – out of the FA Cup and now staring Champions League exit in the face too.

Kick the bottle, Arsene.

He was in a strop ahead of the Bayern Munich news conference too.

Arsenal have become the world’s biggest selling-club. Wenger developed amazing young talent – but sold them to major clubs.

Now the Gunners' model of always qualifying for the Champions League, putting winning trophies in the shade – has come home to roost.

Bayern Munich were so much better than Arsenal - so what future for the club and their manager?

listen to ‘It's @smoothbreakfast Sport pondering Wenger's future’ on Audioboo

BEWARE: This podcast contains nuts!

Each morning on Smooth Radio at 6.30, 7.30 and 8.30, I give you the sports news straight! Well, as much as is possible when Arsene Wenger goes off on one.

Because after defeat to Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup, it's the Champions League which remains as the only trophy Wenger can win this season. It's a trophyless streak which has lasted eight excruciating years.

Since the FA Cup win in 2005, Manchester United and Chelsea have both won eight trophies apiece - including the Champions League.

Wenger lives and breathes his Arsenal life. It hurts!

Here's my bulletin the morning of the Champions League last-16 tie between Arsenal and Bayern Munich, as the strain definitely showed on the Professor!

listen to ‘Good Morning Sports Fans! CONTAINS NUTS (audio with Wenger) @smoothbreakfast’ on Audioboo

Also on Soccermongery:

Arsene Wenger is football's Basil Fawlty!

Reading doomed, Arsenal ascend.

"You can only beat the opposition put in front of you", goes the old saying. But Arsenal did it with a panache and style as they thrashed Reading 5-2 at the Madejski. They have creativity and goals all over the park.

Wenger and McDermott are at opposite ends of fortune

So Jonny asks, "Crisis, What Crisis?". Instead, it's more apt for Reading who look deep in the mire.

If you're bottom at Christmas, only once has that team ever avoided the relegation trapdoor. For Reading,  they're the only team yet to break into points double figures.

listen to ‘Reading doomed, Arsenal ascend.’ on Audioboo

"Sacked in the morning" chants won't move Wenger

Arsene the magic dragon

Calls for Arsene Wenger’s head from sections of the Arsenal faithful have a more resigned than hysterical tone. Despite fielding big-hitters, Wenger's charges were knocked out of the Capital One Cup quarter-finals by Bradford City from the fourth tier of English football.
 
In bygone years, the Professor would experiment with kids as his starting eleven grappled with winning the Premier League. But it's no surprise Cazorla, Wilshere and Co appear now. This was a clear opportunity to land silverware to end an eight year drought.

But there've been darker moments in the barren years since winning the FA Cup. This might indeed be the Gunners' worst start to a Premier League season but last year was pretty ordinary too. At one point, they had a -15 goal difference having lost 8-2 at Manchester United and 4-3 at Blackburn. The bookies quoted shorter odds for relegation than winning the title. But in the end, Arsenal finished third above Spurs and European Champions, Chelsea.

Remember the feeling boys, the highlight of your career!

So Bradford taunts at Wenger of “you'll be sacked in the morning” won’t be vindicated. Wenger's web of influence and planning is too thick at the Emirates. It's no exaggeration to describe him as a director of the club.

There's murmurs from Arsenal fan groups like the Black Scarf Movement that Wenger carries out the will of the ownership with scant regard to the supporters, to defend his multi-million pound salary.  

But I’ll stick a caveat in here. He isn't unsackable. The Alsatian won’t be retired at least while the Gunners are still in the Champions League and the FA Cup. 

After the heady days of the nineties and noughties, winning the Premier League is a step too far but as long as Wenger’s tussling for any silverware, he’ll remain fresh bread – not toast.

United will quell the Noisy Neighbours

I don't have to stick my head above the parapet and pick the deposed champions and second favourites in this season's title race. But I'm gonna.

There's a serene determination to Sir Alex Ferguson's preseason that other protagonists cannot reach.

He always looks the same in victory. This from 1993.

Setting the priority to winning the title was the canniest management the old hand could muster. Having lost it in dramatic last seconds, United's squad, weaker than previous incarnations and lighter in midfield, have been swiftly set the challenge of overturning the Noisy Neighbours.

listen to ‘The #epl title race? #mufc have the firepower to edge #mcfc’ on Audioboo

No grand gestures about winning a fourth Champions League, no challenges on all domestic fronts, Fergie knows full well his squad will have to use every sinew of its dynamic and capability to go just for the big one.

And Robin van Persie's £24m arrival from Arsenal provides Manchester City with much food for thought. Not only did they lose out to United for last season's top scorer, but he preferred Old Trafford as a football destination.

United boast an enviable strike force as RVP links up with Rooney, Welbeck and Chicharito. There's goals there.

Compared to the volatility of the City regime, here's why Fergie's single focus is so clever.

City will want to retain the title and show significantly more Champions League mettle.

Fergie's calm in a confusing high-end world looks favourable to the regime of Roberto Mancini, who's rarely more than 90 minutes from the next crisis.

City were conspicuous by their absence in the transfer market as Brian Marwood failed in bids to sign anyone but Jack Rodwell. But now the Evertonian has a big stage to clear injury hurdles and realise his potential.

Last year's headline-makers.

People are talking up Chelsea's chances, but I think the best they can hope for down the King's Road is third. Hero Roberto Di Matteo who steered them to an unlikely cup double before taking the reins full time, has been asked to improve on their sixth placed finish, undoubtedly caused by the priorities of glory.

He'll jump that low hurdle with an array of expensive signings but whether the uncompromising impatience of Roman Abramovich will afford him a further season is open to question.

Andre Villas-Boas has struck career gold by joining Tottenham. His seven-month Stamford Bridge car-crash might've left his reputation in tatters, but Daniel Levy recognised he had an able young coach who scaled Mourinhoesque heights at Porto, and now he has a super-talented squad bequeathed to him by the vanquished Harry Redknapp

Arsenal have gone seven years without a trophy yet they're the nation's most consistent Champions League performers and title also-rans.

RVP's gone but Arsene Wenger's replaced him with world class talent in the form of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud.

Remembering their disastrous start to last season but very strong finish to claim bronze, why can't the Gunners contemplate a title tilt?

There's nothing wrong with Wenger's stubborn resolve, most recently shown in holding out for big money from Fergie for his wantaway Dutch creation.

Newcastle United have come a very long way under Alan Pardew - and as long as Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba keep scoring, they can still dream of finishing high up, but any misfiring or injury layoff will see them fall behind. There's just not enough about Coloccini, Ben Arfa et al to sustain them in the higher echelons without the goals.

Can Everton break their usual routine of a slow start to rousing finish? If so, the Toffees could bid for the top four again. They've a settled squad and will do more than repel the losses of Cahill and Rodwell.

The two most improved teams in the league will be Aston Villa and Stoke City. Paul Lambert will galvanise a good squad and the returning Darren Bent will score when playing. Ron Vlaar and Matthew Lowton will be linchpins in a new look defence.

Tony Pulis just keeps doing things the right way. Stoke have been roundly criticised for uncompromising ugly football, but while they strengthen their squad with better players, confidence and quality will grow. Sometimes this season, they'll win games playing cutting edge football - habit forming. Etherington, Walters and Crouch give them a solid look.

If you photograph them from below, they look fierce.

The biggest managerial gamble in the Premier League belongs to Liverpool, who secured Brendan Rodgers from Swansea. Jose Mourinho gave him a glowing endorsement as a staffer at Chelsea, but spells at Watford and Reading proved less than stellar.

Swansea's football wasn't all his vision and though Steven Gerrard's praised him for his man management qualities, the Reds look shorter than ever in the big club stakes. Andy Carroll's not wanted, so what kind of message is that to send to your main man particularly after a good season-end and EURO 2012.
I'm one of the jurors who's out on Rodgers.

WBA may struggle in games under Steve Clarke. He may be found wanting as he steps up from coach to manager but he'll produce tough-to-beat teams. His attrtional football will keep them up.

Samneric

West Ham have arrived back in the big-time with one of the most-respected and experienced managers in the game. Sam Allardyce may be from another planet to the jellied eel culture of east London, but he'll make the Hammers competitive in the league.

Michael Laudrup is a gamble for Swansea, who might succumb to second season syndrome. He comes with a reputation for great football at a small club in Spain but that assumes an Iberian square peg fits a Welsh hole. At least, they continue to stay faithful to their reputation for playing football the right way.

Southampton and Reading should be content to stay up but one of them will return from whence they came.

The Premier League will continue to captivate us, provide headlines and gather momentum abroad even though the Olympics promises a wider sports agenda for the avid fan.
Underpinned by an even bigger pot of rights gold from next season, English football seems in rude health indeed.

MY FINAL TABLE:

1. Manchester United
2. Manchester City
3. Arsenal
4. Chelsea
5. Tottenham Hotspur
6. Everton
7. Newcastle United
8. Fulham
9. Stoke City
10. Aston Villa
11. Liverpool
12. Sunderland
13. West Ham United
14. WBA
15. Swansea City
16. Wigan Athletic
17. Queen's Park Rangers
18. Reading
19. Southampton
20. Norwich City

There's no substitute for experience

The old boys are certainly ruling the roost as this season's trophies are dished out.

It's been a season of two halves for Chelsea. First up, Roman Abramovich got behind a coach barely older than Frank Lampard before getting back to what he knew. The talent to win cups was already at his disposal in the dressing room - not on the drawing board.

33-year-old Andre Villas-Boas was told to grasp the thirtysomething nettle and build a new team.

About-turn: the two faces of Chelsea's season.

But it turned out more revolution than evolution as the The Unspecial One was fired - and though Abramovich has firmly kicked the rebuilding can into the close-season for a squad overhaul, Chelsea suddenly find themselves in the FA Cup Final and at an advantage over mighty Barcelona in their Champions League semi-final.

And they couldn't have made it this far without Plan B: caretaker Roberto Di Matteo and his insistence on letting experience run games.



Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard have played with renewed freedom since Villa-Boas' departure, and granted licence to do so by Di Matteo. The Italian said as much after the Champions League semi-final first-leg win over Barcelona: experience won through. 

Still winning!

Are you wondering how Liverpool reached both domestic Cup Finals despite an appalling league season? It's Gerrard, Carragher and Kuyt's ability to win individual matches over 90 minutes.

Manchester United may be short of European aspiration, but how much has Fergie had to rely on Ryan Giggs and the returning Paul Scholes to see off the Noisy Neighbours in the title race? I'd say a lot.



Aye, I told you so!

Arsenal looked decidedly one-dimensional before the deadline arrivals of Yossi Benayoun and Mikel Arteta, but it's carried them through a turbulent season to finish strongly. Arsene Wenger suspended his principles in the transfer market to bring in that vital ingredient that can only be gathered by years in the game.

This has been a season where the oldies have been decisive. Maybe Alan Hansen's famed "win nothing with kids" comment was made sixteen years too early.

Arsenal must keep Van Persie at the Emirates

Hair today, gone with Adebayor tomorrow?

Before Arsene Wenger takes a holiday this summer, he must complete one piece of business as important as finishing in the top four: to ensure Arsenal's best player, Robin Van Persie remains a Gunner next season.

I'm puzzled by the term "marquee signing". It's origins are manyfold, but in Arsenal's case, I picture Van Persie as the metaphoric tentpole keeping their marquee upright.

Mancini tempts Gunners stars north

Because over the past three years in particular, it seems every time Manchester City come knocking, they sell them a decent player. Adebayor, Nasri, Toure and Clichy's moves have all conspired to earn Arsenal an unwanted reputation as the world's biggest selling-club.

Add to that the (inevitable) departure of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona and it's no wonder the Gunners have had Tottenham snapping at their heels for that final Champions League place, which is why it's essential Arsene Wenger puts a stop to that this summer.

When did it stop being fun, Arsene?

Roberto Mancini covets Van Persie. Who wouldn't? After years of stop-start injury problems, the Dutchman has stayed fit and scored a hatful of goals to give the Gunners added impetus toward the business-end of the season.

Arsenal's ex-vice chairman David Dein uttered a simple truth: one of his principles was a successful football club started with a successful starting eleven. As Wenger tries to rebuild team dynamic after a couple of years of trading players, it's the world-class quality of Van Persie who'll help rekindle that.

Because it's not just his immense on-field contribution that counts, it's off-field, on-line and through every media outlet that perception counts too. Perception that Arsenal are still a club who can feast from football's top table, that they can still compete for League and European honours.

So whatever the Dutchman wants to fend off the attentions of City, Barcelona, Real Madrid (and Machlakachla-schmachla), the Gunners should match it. Van Persie wearing the red and white of Arsenal next season is non-negotiable.

Wenger is dicing with his job

Watching a demented Arsene Wenger patrolling the technical area at the Emirates on Sunday was to witness a man locked in a spent ideology.

My frustrations really help put my boys at ease... not!

In the latest instalment of Arsenal's self-destruct season, a 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa, Wenger only succeeded in transmitting his own frustrations to his talented crop but they couldn't play for toffee because of it!

And at six barren trophy years and counting, Wenger must adapt or die. With Manchester City en route to third place and the final automatic Champions League place, the barking Alsatian's piled still more pressure on himself at the start of next season. The Gunners will have to fit two more games into their early season to confirm qualification.

A place at Europe's top table was seemingly an Arsenal rite but as Liverpool have found out, not anymore. So Wenger needs to take a long hard look at his ideals and change; his attitude to the transfer market and his ways of looking at his own players.

By signing Jens Lehmann and Sol Campbell, it's as if Wenger wants dependable old generals in the dying embers of their careers, so as not to upset the development of his classy youngsters.

It's too easy this, fitba' bloody 'ell!

Trouble is, his classy youngsters aren't all that. Gone are the born team leaders; no Vieira, no Adams, no Henry. Instead we're left with fine young talent, none of whom assume the alpha male leader's role. They're like Yorkshire terriers dribbling the ball round in semi-circles with their noses.

Scott Parker mightn't be a classic Wenger player, but he'd inject craft and experience into the Arsenal midfield. I'm sure Darren Bent would've been the focal point of many Arsenal goals from January onwards and probably a title tilt too.

Put it this way; when November comes, if the Gunners aren't in every competition and challenging for the title, then the new owner, Stan Kroenke will be taking a long, hard look at the manager.

Wenger needs only to look at another great boss, Sir Alex Ferguson. His generations of teams are pragmatic enough to win titles and cups throughout time. I mean, would a Roy Keane, Steve Bruce and Eric Cantona be part of today's quick, fit and mobile teams? I contend not. Fergie moves with the times, even accepting that player's mentalities are different to how they used to be.

David Dein believes that every manager has his shelf life. Now that Arsenal has changed again, is Wenger willing to change with them?

Allardyce is right to slam Wenger

Big Sam in his Sunderland playing days

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce has accused Arsene Wenger of using the media to influence referees and make Arsenal players untouchable.  

The Gunners boss again hit out at heavy tackles on his players after Abou Diaby was injured against Bolton on Saturday.

Allardyce (left) said: "He's a very clever man in terms of influencing referees, officials and everybody in football.


"In saying people are trying to injure players he's trying, through the media, to influence referees."

Big Sam is absolutely right in this case. Bolton's Gary Cahill was sent off at the Emirates for that challenge which may well have resulted in only a yellow card with another referee.

Allardyce and Wenger have often clashed over their teams' style of play.



Sam and Dioufy reunited at Ewood

The Frenchman accused Allardyce's players of targeting his goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski at set-pieces during a 2-1 defeat at Ewood Park towards the end of last season.

Allardyce reignited their verbal feud, before Arsenal avenged that loss with a 2-1 win at Rovers in August, saying: "I have to remind Arsene about his team, which used to win the league, that was the dirtiest team in the league.



"If you cast your mind back to when they were winning the league, they had more sendings-off and bookings than anyone else."

And in his latest swipe, the former Bolton boss said: "Arsene is almost, almost, affecting the officials so that you can't tackle an Arsenal player.

"That's something he's very clever at working on and it's almost working in his favour, you can see that.


"There is a perception that we kick everybody and Arsenal's motivation is that you can't tackle us as you aren't supposed to." 

Wenger and Carlos Kickaball or somesuch.

There's definitely an arrogance to Wenger's comments. By insinuating rough play, he's comparing his Beautiful Game of pass and move, intricate skill and youthful touch with the barbarian spirit of lesser teams as he sees it.

But Allardyce insists that the days of players trying to injure their opponents are long gone.

"Wenger is deflecting attention from the situation which says the game of football is a contact sport. You have to try to win the ball at all costs and if someone doesn't get it quite right people get injured," he added.


"It was much more apparent in my day when people used to go out to try to hurt an opponent every week, but today it very rarely happens. 

"I completely deny that my team deliberately injures players, certainly not. In the Premier League the commitment and speed unfortunately brings players together at such pace that it's almost impossible to avoid injuries."



Wenger doesn't always see the other side of the argument.

Wenger said in his programme notes ahead of Arsenal's Champions League victory over Braga that Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan should have been given a straight red card for his challenge on Diaby as the Gunners beat Allardyce's old club 4-1 on Saturday.

"My regret is that video evidence cannot be used in these cases afterwards," he said. 



"I can understand that the ref did not see it, because he was in a bad position, but frankly the Premier League should be in a position whether they can suspend players who do this kind of thing."

Earlier in the week, the Frenchman stated: "I love the way the English game is played in England, the one restriction has to be full commitment with the intention of going for the ball and only for the ball.



"Then, I prefer English football 10 times as much to the European game. The English game becomes dangerous when the players go to hurt each other."

They don't like each other. End of. Ne-e-e-e-xt!

Wenger's plan has a design fault - Fabregas.

For 188bet's podcasts previewing the Premier League weekend, click here.

"That Arsene Wenger? he's a genius, mate! He doesn't resort to splashing the cash. He patiently cultivates his international teenagers into twentysomething worldbeaters!".

And his plan certainly stacks up. Arsenal are the big four's only financially viable club who are otherwise saddled with unmanageable debt or funded as a billionaire plaything. Arsenal's £250million overdraft is Good Debt. It's attached to the building cost of The Emirates, which incidentally generates the biggest matchday revenue in the world.

Yes, Wenger and his board visualise a few seasons as also-rans behind Chelsea, Manchester United and the European giants but soon, they'll inherit the world!

But there's one major, major, (major) design fault to the Professor's Grand Plan.

The man Wenger wants to build his team around is a Catalan who dreams one day of returning home to his one and only. Of course, I talk of Cesc Fabregas and Barcelona.

How can Wenger plan around a player who WILL leave the Gunners in six months, two years or some other undefined time?

Speaking in the aftermath of Arsenal’s hard-fought 1-nil win over Liverpool, the Alsatian coach responded to media questions on the transfer speculation with his usual wit:

“Nothing plus nothing, is nothing,” he stated after he was informed of the denial issued by the Barcelona hierarchy.

Wenger holds the 23-year-old star in the highest esteem: "Cesc's vision is comparable to Michel Platini's. It's a compliment but Cesc has it all in front of him, but he has a vision.

"He will still develop. I remember Platini was more of a striker and Cesc is more of a midfielder. He is adding that element to his game, but Platini had more of a striker's mentality. He could stay quiet for a game, then think, 'I will score a goal'. Cesc is a guy who likes to be at the heart of things."

But Fabregas, who's issued a fresh denial about leaving Arsenal, has said in the past he'd like to play for Barcelona some day. It would be a way of Camp Nou nullifying the error of losing their youngster as a teenager to Wenger and Arsenal. It's rumoured Arsenal capitalised on the power vacuum at FCB during the last presidential elections.

You can never say that a single player is bigger than the team, but as Wenger's experienced before, losing big players plots the team's progress backwards. How ironic would it be if Fabregas returned to Barcelona as part of an electoral promise - by Joan Laporta!

At Arsenal where the ethic is: if the first-team is successful, then the rest of the club's success stems from there, Wenger needs to adopt a Plan B - and go into the transfer market.


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Arsene Wenger: The Basil Fawlty of Football

That Arsene Wenger, always in a mood, isn't he? Here he is on the left, Angry of Old Trafford, resorting to the bottle after his Arsenal charges have a late equaliser chalked off. Manchester United ran out 2-1 winners after the Gunners had nosed in front.

His conduct on the touchline can bring on constipation in even the most casual observer - at fifty paces!

It seems each time Wenger's on telly, he appears to me like Basil Fawlty the day his car wouldn't start. His interviews are terse and he's dispensed with even the relative charm of "I did not see vee incident."

"Right, that's it. I've had enough of y-o-o-o-ou!"

Wenger insisted the bottle-kicking was over his frustration at the Gunners failure to equalise rather than the refereeing decision! Very subtle: only seasoned bottle-kickers would be able to tell.

Referee Mike Dean sent Wenger off, and the Alsatian didn't know where to sit. Boss Ref Keith Hackett later apologised to the Arsenal manager. Hackett's carefully worded apology went something like, "Sorry Professor, I know Mike looks like Jasper Carrott, so he sometimes gets carried away.

Seriously though, he's going to do himself an internal mischief. I worry for Arsene's sanity. In Wenger's Doctor We Trust? I hope not.

I know the top managers employ the language of siege mentality to gee up their players - but Wenger's allegations are increasingly unhinged in their delivery.

Wenger's strops and temper must surely be expressing an inner turmoil. How much more pressure can one man take?

Arsenal need to keep winning or they'll be carrying Wenger out in a straitjacket - at an away stadium near you soon!

Wenger's not retiring. In his shoes would you?

Arsene Wenger's the latest top manager insisting he won't retire anytime soon despite turning 60 next month.

The highly-strung Professor Genius, who's cluster of teenagers weave pretty patterns without winning silverware, concedes life without football would be inconceivable for him.

Do you remember when Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement as Manchester United boss? That was EIGHT years ago! Since then, United have won another Champions League and a hat-trick of titles. Even Fergie's Fledgelings, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs remain key United figures - in their mid-thirties.

If you look at how Fergie jigged along the touchline as United edged City last Sunday, retirement must be as far away in his mind as ever. The Gunners chief is going to be around for a while too. He once said he'd stop at 50. Now the Alsatian's barking another tune.

"I don't believe in retiring unless you have to. I have never had a day when I think I could live without football. I know one day it will happen but you shouldn't live every day knowing you are going to die - you live knowing that you want to live."

Wenger went on to point out that other people will let him know when to call it a day: "In our job you need physical strength and to be a bit of an animal to convince people it's important to win.

"But once that physical strength goes it's a handicap, although you can compensate to an extent with experience.

"But you need in some way to be an animal and you need physical power. You will know if you are not hungry enough any more but other people will tell you if you are not good enough any more.

"It's not for a manager to know - it's for other people to know and to tell him."

Wenger still classes going the whole season unbeaten in 2003/04 as his lasting legacy in football.

"Without a doubt going the whole season unbeaten is my greatest achievement. If you win the championship you feel someone else can come in and do better than you.

"It was always my dream to go the whole season unbeaten because there's not much more anyone can do to beat that."

Football is a constant challenge for top managers, the strategy keeps their minds active and goal celebrations must the best possible feelgood buzz. Even Sam Allardyce's setback at Newcastle couldn't keep him down. Blackburn Rovers are the beneficiary of his desire and will to win.

Despite years of success at Arsenal, Wenger's job is far from done.

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Forget it! Arsenal's search for the perfect goal, and Spurs' obsession with a glorious past!

By JOE MORRIS.

Arsenal, it seems, are determined to score the perfect goal. There are moments when they try to walk the ball into the net. Somebody, you feel sure, ought to give them a paint brush rather than a football!

Maybe too many cooks do spoil the broth. Then again, Arsenal fans have probably had too much of a good thing in recent years.

During their 1-0 win against Roma in their Champions League qualifier last week, Arsenal were over-elaborate to the point of absurdity. At one point in the first half they strung so many passes together that you almost expected them to trip over.

Everybody knows about the classical passing game and of course it's a feast for the eyes. But now and again it seemed that Arsenal were over-egging the pudding.

Over the years, European giants such as Barcelona, AC Milan, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have devised a game for their supporters that is beyond our understanding. Their defenders move the ball out of defence effortlessly, midfielders look for incisive through passes and strikers try to blast home the final product. Simple really.

The longer the game went on the more it seemed likely that Arsenal would end up in a cul-de-sac. There can be no doubt that some of Arsenal's football has a breathtaking artistry about it. Under Arsene Wenger they are deliciously well co-ordinated and technically exquisite. If somebody took their artist's easel away they'd probably go home and cry. Besides, you'd hardly snatch an ice-cream away from a child if they were actually enjoying it.

At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Argentina came as close as any international team to scoring that perfect goal. In one remarkable sequence of 27 passes Argentina quite literally toyed with Serbia and Montenegro before scoring.

Thirty-six years earlier, the masterful Brazilian side of Gerson, Tostao, Rivelino, Carlos Alberto and the incomparable Pele dragged Italy from one side of the pitch to the other in the 1970 World Cup Final. After one gloriously giddy passing movement, Alberto crashed the ball into the net.

Tottenham, of course, used to be the flag-bearers for stylish and imaginative football. Whatever the outcome of their Carling Cup Final against Manchester United the fact is that Spurs are not quite the same any more.

The general feeling along Tottenham High Road is that since the heady days of Bill Nicholson and, to perhaps to a lesser extent Keith Burkinshaw, the glitter and glamour has moved across London.

The likes of Aaron Lennon, Tom Huddlestone, David Bentley and Robbie Keane are still pleasant to watch. But in a season of struggle and strife, Spurs are like a creaking ship without a decent captain. After a disastrous start to the seaon with only two points from eight games, Spurs almost capsized.

But no longer are Spurs the floating cruise ship of the Swinging 60s and 70s. When Bobby Smith, Danny Blanchflower, Cliff Jones and John White picked up the ball it was as if somebody had sprinkled stardust over them. They passed and ran with the ball as if it were a carefully-rehearsed dance routine. The ball seemed to be attached to them like an umbilical cord.

A decade later and Spurs were still strutting their funky stuff. Alan Gilzean, Ralph Coates and Martin Peters from West Ham made more than the sweet music of their 1960s predecessors. Gilzean and Coates were natural water carriers and playmakers while Peters was just years ahead of his time. Like Glenn Hoddle and Osvaldo Ardiles they made the ball do all the work. Hoddle would often stop, dwell on the ball and have a cuppa tea - but he knew where Spurs were going.

Now Tottenham find themselves in desparate trouble at the wrong end of the Premier League. The more succesful teams over the years have always been able to trust their experienced players. At the moment Spurs are simply finding out more about each other. When Juande Ramos was driven out of the club Spurs didn't know what day or month it was.

The appointment of Harry Redknapp has stabilised the club in a way that only he could. Redknapp is one of those reliable footballing men who calls a spade a spade. He'll buy players who fit almost seamlessly into the team, maintain discipline within the club and then buy himself the cheapest suit on the market. For Redknapp, smooth continuity is almost essential.
But as he demonstrated at West Ham and Portsmouth, once poor and mundane players become putty in his hands. Luka Modric may have been a notable exception but both Modric and David Bentley have now flourished. Modric is an excellent player but it became obvious that he needed a comforting arm around his shoulder.

Both Roman Pavlyuchenko and Darren Bent are fighting for places in Spurs' forward line while Robbie Keane continues to give his impersonation of a travelling gipsy. Rejected and spurned by his boyhood dream team Liverpool, Keane is a goal-scorer extraordinaire who would score for any side in the world.

But for Spurs the season remains in a state of chaotic uncertainty. At this point in the football seasosn, the crocuses come out, managers look tense and terrifed and Sir Alex Ferguson just checks his watch.

The top four of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Aston Villa are like immovable lorries. Manchester United are beginning to disappear into the sunset and the rest are just gasping for breath. Business as usual in a way.

Soccermongery's all about your feedback, so write away, right away!

Also on the Soccermongery: A powerful piece from James-Guy Jacobs on football under Nazi Occupation: Dynamo Kiev's Death Match

Big 4 massive debt will produce change we can believe in!

Most of the Premier League's twenty clubs are up for sale - URGENTLY! Keith Harris, who's sold five top-flight clubs in his time admits to having two hopes of selling Everton:

No Hope and Bob Hope.

Toffees chairman Bill Kenwright instructed Harris of merchant bank, Seymour Pierce, to find new investors after admitting the club couldn't keep borrowing. They've yet to finance the new stadium at Kirkby.

Harris explained it's not a rich city and Everton's cause isn't helped by sharing it with Liverpool either. Which brought him onto Liverpool and the subject of this piece: Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United really do play in the red!

Harris is concerned that the Reds' huge £350million debt with two stricken banks Wachovia and RBS, are due for repayment in a few days. They've an option to renew for another six months - but time is running short for Liverpool owners Messrs. Hicks and Gillett, to transfer the debt from done-for banks to other super-rich individuals.

Manchester United are £two-thirds of a billion in debt, following the Glazer takeover although United is probably the most multi-layered football business in the world, so it should be okay. They've just got to keep winning!

Chelsea's debt is owed to Roman Abramovich and is interest-free, so they're either here to stay or will fall like a house of cards.

So as the swirling winds of economic turmoil threaten to blow the tops off football's leading houses, it's time for a lofty prediction!

Football's great believers and idealogues will start winning trophies at the expense of debt-laden monsters.

Who couldn't have been immensely impressed by Wenger's kids in the League Cup this season? And by the time they're 21-year-old first-teamers, Liverpool's debt will have been re-structured and some of their best players may have been sold off.

Arsenal with "only" £260million of debt, and that to pay for the Emirates (at 5% per annum) are well-poised to dominate - if they can keep patient with Wenger's average team right now.

That's "good debt" compared with the other big three. It's secured against the world's bigget matchday revenues, increased sponsorship opportunities and secondary rights sales. Looking good, Arsenal.

I take them to win the title either next season or definitely the year after. And once they do, they can dominate for a while.

Aston Villa can take advantage too. The very best chairman - supportive, committed, low-profile. A manager who's been there and done it, as both a player and a boss. Huge supporter-base. Non-controversial. Aston Villa have also done it before!

As football evolves from a debt-led orgy of win today to a more egalitarian lesser-leveraged future, football's great planners and dreamweavers will win the day.

We may never return to a period of such austerity that allowed Nottingham Forest to jump from 3rd in Division 2 to Champions of Europe in two years, but one thing is for sure, football men with football ideas will have more chance of producing winning teams without always being trumped by Big Spending Giants.

In the spirit of Brian Clough, the sport may be about to become much more competitive. As football fans, can we raise a glass to that? Yes We Can!

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Furious Wenger's losing it - and I'm worried for him

It seems each time Arsene Wenger's on telly, he appears to me like Basil Fawlty the day his car wouldn't start. His interviews are terse and he's dispensed with even the relative charm of "I did not see the incident."

"Right, that's it. I've had enough of y-o-o-o-ou!"

And his conduct on the touchline brings on constipation in even the most casual observer - at fifty paces!

He didn't want to talk about the removal of William Gallas as skipper last month, and his mental state looks to have hit an all-time low following the tense draw at Aston Villa.

Admittedly, the two-all stalemate was high stakes indeed for The Professor and his ailing Gunners, but mumbling a monosyllable on Arsenal's title chances followed by outlandish allegations about the referee leave you concerned he's about to enter a Fat Elvis stage. He'd have to go some at the cheeseburgers, I admit.

The Professor got a cob on after Villa's John Robertson visited the ref at half-time. Martin O'Neill said his assisant had asked Lee Mason about a first-half decision.

Wenger said: "I know how it works here. At half-time the referee gets stick and then in the second half every little 50-50 decision goes the other way.

"I waited at half-time to see what happened and I was not disappointed." He added: "That's what happened. It's not only here."
Asked if he was implying that someone from Villa influenced the referee, Wenger added: "I have nothing to explain more than that."
O'Neill said: "John I think spoke to the referee. I think John asked him to explain a decision that Gabby Agbonlahor didn't get, that was all. Simple as that.

"He only asked him to explain the decision and the referee chose not to give an answer."

"That's nothing new", I hear you say.

I know the top managers employ the language of siege mentality to gee up their players - but Wenger's allegations are increasingly unhinged in their delivery.

Wenger's strops and temper must surely be expressing an inner turmoil. How much more pressure can one man take?

The top two managers in the Premier League at the moment, Scolari and Benitez, have co-incidentally suffered with kidney stones at the same time this month. Gerard Houllier's career as Liverpool boss was effectively ended by a serious heart problem and Glenn Roeder popped a cork (or something like that) while West Ham manager.

I'm concerned for Wenger's health. I wonder if he is? I would hate to see something happen to him.

Also from Soccermongery back in August '08: Has The Wenger Project Reached Its Autumn?

Soccermongery's all about your feedback, so write away, right away!

January's transfer window needn't be a spending orgy

Despite global ecomonic woes, this January's transfer window could be as financially explosive as ever.

Saturday's Times (22/11/08) reports Manchester City are preparing a world record £50million bid for Juventus' Gigi Buffon, widely regarded as the planet's best goalkeeper. Even his wages could break all barriers and City set a new bar only two months ago, paying Robinho £160,000 a week to choose Eastlands over Stamford Bridge.

As the best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry, clubs are vying with each other to gain that competitive edge. Liverpool may be toe-to-toe with Chelsea at the top, but have they got enough in reserve to maintain the challenge? Manchester United are unexpectedly adrift and Arsenal's prospects seem akin to John Sargeant's plans to setup a dance school.

For all of the flag waving at Tottenham's turnaround, Harry Redknapp's charges are still in danger of the drop.

Aston Villa were among the summer's big-spenders but Martin O'Neill might well judge another few million might be needed to bag the Champions League dream.

But it doesn't have to be like that. The cash needn't have to fly out the coffers, Alastair Darling-style.

There's enough proven world-class quality in the Premier League going cheap.

Who's going to rescue Michael Owen from Newcastle United? At 29 next month, no one's going to tell me his best days are behind him. Even lacking match fitness, you always fancy him to bag a goal. Chelsea and Aston Villa both know it. Owen coming off the bench for either of those clubs would more than serve their season's remaining ambitions.

Would £5million cover it? Probably.

And then there's William Gallas, stripped of the responsibility of captaining Arsenal, the Frenchman remains one of the world's best defenders. He was imperious under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and he's not been bad at Arsenal either. Arsene Wenger and Gallas are miles apart but that doesn't mean a new manager with a new club wouldn't whisper different sweet nothings in his ear on matchday.

If Harry Redknapp were still at Portsmouth, you could well imagine Gallas going to Fratton Park. Redknapp's a master of re-focusing and motivating the misfit to former glory.

Harry took Paolo di Canio to West Ham after his refereeing shove ha'penny at Hillsborough, and he tempted Sol Campbell from Arsenal (via Bruges). Perhaps he told Sol that as Portsmouth was by the coast, it'd be easy to Lunn Poly when he needed to.

But would the Gunners be tempted to sell Gallas to Tottenham of all clubs?

The fact remains that if you needed a quality defender with a proven Premier League record, you'd never find anyone cheaper than Gallas at the moment. Like Citigroup, his stock is down. What a potential bargain. Even David Dickinson might be interested.

Then there's goalkeepers: I can't remember a higher standard of stoppers in the history of the Premier League.

Manchester City's Abu Dhabi Babby may have a fiscal point to prove or a splash-da-cash deathwish as he limbers up for Fantasy Football Window.

But is Buffon that much better than Shay Given, David James and Jussi Jääskeläinen? They've all been Premier League stars for over a decade and none of them would cost even 10 percent of the total funds to secure the Italian.

Imagine Mark Hughes or Harry Redknapp having any problems integrating them into their club? I'd put the Buffon brochure back on the shelf if I were you, Babby.

Changing times demand a different outlook. There's real quality misplaced in the Premier League and it's available for record low transfer fees.

Managers may ponder recycling homegrown talent instead: it may well get their team further as the race for honours heats up in the second half of the season.

The Professor IS the beating heart of Arsenal's Beautiful Game.

If proof were needed of a manager's profound influence on his players, the leak of Arsene Wenger's team meeting notes to the Daily Mail confirms the genius of a man, who's done as much for Arsenal as anyone has done for any club anywhere. Ever.

To gauge just how much The Professor's changed The Gunners, recall how rival fans taunted them with boring boring Arsenal - a chant now employed ironically by the home fans each time their team's won a game by halftime. Never has an old song been consigned more soundly to the dustbin than that!

Arsenal's Wengerness manifests itself so frequently in lengthy unbeaten runs, two-dozen passes leading to Goal Of The Season and sound thrashings meted out to lesser-prepared teams and their array of transient managers.

And it's all down to The Man.

But just how does The Professor keep such basic tenets of belief so fresh for his players when the challenge is just to keep winning?

The answer to that lies in his constant desire to keep adapting to the conundra set by differing opposition - by succeeding.

Players come and go, in the case of Hleb and Flamini, sometimes faster than he wants them to.

But Wenger's principles remain steadfast in the face of a changing football world - and the ultimate insurance policy against have-a-go billionaires who think they can buy glory.

There are many ways to skin a cat. Compare The Professor with Fergie with The Special One and you'll unearth a multitude of routes to a Winning Formula.

The greats are often mavericks with seemingly unorthodox methods. From Shankly's “If you're not sure what to do with the ball, just pop it in the net and we'll discuss your options afterwards.” to Cloughie's "When I disagree with a player, we talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right."

But there's a science and logic to Wenger, who's way of management has changed its face forever.

His principles on diet, fitness and a team ethic now in the public domain, are universal, for all time and should be adopted by any coach serious about success, now or in the future.

I really hope Arsenal win the league this season, not just to propel Wenger to the game's summit again, but also to show the wave of billionaire owners that football's dreams can still be made of Stars - not just Cash Cows.

Sorry Geordies: Keegan's exit is a positive for Newcastle United!

I know this is unpalatable to Toon fans but Kevin Keegan is a proven loser and totally ill-equipped to lead a Premier League team in the 21st century. Newcastle, you're best off without him. The next thing for the Toon to pray for is a Manchester City-style change of ownership and rid themselves of Oyk Ashley too.

It's time for Newcastle United to extricate itself from the past. The last time Kevin Keegan led Newcastle to (near) glory in the 90's, he was merely pitted against Arsenal's Bruce Rioch, Liverpool's Roy Evans and Chelsea's Ruud Gullit.

Who beat Keegan to the title? the ultimate football winner, Alex Ferguson. Aside from the total one-off that is The Govanor, the game's moved on.

Now Arsenal are led by Arsene Wenger, at Liverpool it's Rafa Benitez, Chelsea have a World Cup winner in the shape of Big Phil and it's still SIR Alex Ferguson of United. Then there's Martin O'Neill at Villa and Tottenham's Juande Ramos. Keegan can't hold a candle to any of them.

"We cannot possibly understand the fabled north-east football mentality", we're told as outsiders.

It's that mentality which propels Kevin Keegan to its summit as some sort of messiah. A romantic figure, a Pied Piper leading Newcastle to Wembley wins and open-top bus celebrations around Sid James' Park.

WAKE UP!! If Newcastle played Blyth Spartans, Hartlepool(s) and Darlington every week, the north-east mentality would be all that was required. But Newcastle doesn't operate in isolation.

In fact, the fabled north-east mentality comes off the rails every time its pitted against the north-west mentality; clubs from there win big pots every year - and have done so for 50 years.

Keegan was never the man to lead Newcastle out of the mire. Even with a supportive Geordie board rather than Ashley, he'd have found a way to quit.

Not that Ashley's any better. He's even worse to be honest; he has a track record of division and riding roughshod over anyone in his way.

Newcastle need a strong man the fans recognise and who they'd get behind - BUT someone without the baggage of a triumphant return. Someone to wipe the slate clean, to look to the future not the past. To really be in charge without board or middle-management interference.

Jose Mourinho, Martin O'Neill and Fabio Capello fit the bill. They're not available and would never be under the current circumstances. Who'd work for Ashley? The severance clause would be the most important part of the contract!

Keegan's Long Walkout of Fiefdom is hardly going to encourage a top coach to replace him. It might even leave Dennis Wise in the boxseat for the hotseat.

Still, as indigestible as that might be to every Toon fan, at least it would simplify the lousiest management structure in the Premier League.

And until they sort that out, there's no future for Newcastle United at all.