I knew one day Arsene Wenger would say something that not only didn't annoy me but I also agreed with. Of course it wasn't his comments after Arsenal's game against Porto. I mean that was hilarious- the incident and Wenger's comments after.
Wenger's undying refusal to ever blame his players is getting beyond ridiculous now. How he could possibly blame the referee for Arsenal losing last night was too far. The ref made an error in not awarding a penalty when Tomas Rosicky went down in the box, but then the commentators on both ITV and BBC Radio 5 live thought the midfielder had gone down easily, it wasn't till they saw the replay that they reckoned ref and linesman had got it wrong and neither these men had the fortune of seeing the replay. Other than that the man in yellow did nothing wrong when it came to the big decisions despite Wenger's thoughts.
Anyway enough of all that, Wenger complaining and me not agreeing is hardly worthy of blogging about, after all I'd end up doing it every week if that were the case. Now to what me and Arsene agree on- and to add to the madness so does Rafa.
I'm sure most of us would claim that the English Premier League is the best domestic competition in the world, but I'm also sure we'd like some changes perhaps. I for one would like more English players- I have nothing against the foreign players I just wish there was more talented Englishmen to mean we didn't always have to go abroad. I'd also like video refs, for decisions on goals and penalties, I'm not asking that the refs ask for someone to review which way a throw in should go but can't we eradicate mistakes like the ones which ruled out recent winners for Bolton and Stoke by simply asking a man in a booth "can I award a goal?" waiting 30 seconds to a minute and then awarding it.
Two things that aren't on the top of my list, or anywhere near, are the need for more excitement or the need for more money in the Premier League. Richard Scudamore seems to disagree with me.
I am of course referring to Mr Scudamore's new idea that there should be an end of season playoff between the teams finishing forth, fifth, sixth and seventh in the Premier League to decide who will qualify for the Champions League. This idea of course comes one season on from "Gam£ 39", as it came to be known.
Hold on! One of the reasons for the play offs is so the season is more exciting?!? I've missed something here. Is the Premier League somehow not exciting enough?
We have a very even title race, a very even race for forth and a very even relegation battle- not just even but bloody exciting. I would take a quick look at the table and suggest only Birmingham, Everton and Fulham can be all but sure they won't get relegated and be looking at too much of a deficit to get into the top 7 but I'm sure fans of these clubs would argue with my assumption- and rightly so. This all means, that with 3 months and 12 or so games to go, the Premiership is at it's most exciting in years, and it looks like the next few years will only shorten the gap between the 'big four' and those jostling for position behind them.
And what of those jostling for position? What if one did earn 4th spot? Would they be happy to then have to go through play-offs to re-earn what they already have? I think not, especially as the member of the 'big four' who got knocked away from 4th spot would almost certainly be in the top 7 and who would bet on them not winning those play-offs- not me!
The proposal would also be hugely detrimental to any future success in international competitions that England may be aiming for. Take this season for example- heading to a World Cup the teams in the play-off would be Liverpool, Manchester City, Spurs and Villa. So in essence players such as Gerrard, Barry, Bridge, Lescott, Wright-Phillips, Adam Johnson, Defoe, Crouch, Lennon, Huddelstone, Dawson, King, Warnock, Milner, Young, Agbonlahor, Heskey would all be playing in highly competitive matches for a further 2 weeks after the F.A Cup final, possibly even Champions League final. Fair enough I've over exaggerated the amount of players but those listed all have at least an outside chance of making the plane to South Africa.
Quite frankly other than lining the pockets of men like Scudamore and the other 'suits' in charge of our beautiful game there is simply no reason to add play-offs to the Premier League. Rafa himself suggested that if we do this why not a play-off for the last relagated team as well.
You could argue of course that Wenger and Rafa (and potentially me as a United supporter) have most to lose from the introduction of these play-offs but the truth is that the managers who usually complain the most about nothing finally have something to complain about!
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