Taking the Mickey!

Walk up stairs, walk across dignitaries shaking their hands, smile, lift trophy, listen to crowd applauding- the banner said it all "Not arrogant. Just better" and after 90 minutes of cup final football you couldn't really argue.

Yes I am talking about Manchester United and them winning the first trophy of the year, one often called "The Mickey Mouse Trophy", and it was a tense and exciting final against Aston Villa.

The Carling Cup had had many names down the years but it is always patronised as a competition, either by the media's name calling or managers resting vast amounts of their players. But, other than mocking for mocking's sake, does the Carling Cup really belong to Mickey or is it slightly more dazzling?

There is the obvious, that some of the best teams in the country could not care less about winning the fourth best trophy of the season, these teams do not play their best available 11 in any round. Arsene Wenger has come closest to winning the trophy that he clearly holds no feelings towards whilst playing his often over complimented "kids". This never fully works though as the poor little kiddies get kicked all over the park by the overly cynical big boys (tongue firmly in cheek). Heck back in October we witnessed the children of the Emirates take on the reserves of Anfield or wherever they usually play. Two teams who don't care about minor competitions and only care about the big ones.

Fast forward four months and perhaps both managers, or at least Rafa, may want to reconsider their stance over the trophy Sir Alex and his men picked up at Wembley. Rafa's men can only win the Europa League, and there is certainly better sides than theirs left judging on their latest performance in that competition. Whilst Wenger's men can only win the Champions League, although they are in an even worse position than Liverpool's Europa League campaign, and an outside chance for the Premier League.

Perhaps the second thing against the cup is the lack of a place in Europe for it's runners up should it's winners already be in Europe. But should this really detract from a competition that does still give away a place in Europe? I mean no one's aiming to lose a cup final.

But didn't the Premier League champions win the league cup yesterday? And last year as well? Weren't Chelsea in the two finals before then? So Wenger and Benitez don't value the competition- does that mean it has no value?

Clearly not! Ask Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers, both beat members of the 'big four' in their cup quarter finals and both led their semi finals at one point. They would have done anything to progress to the final and gave a shot at winning some silverware.

The same can be said for Aston Villa, not just content to battle for that illustrious forth position, Martin O'Neil and his players are hell bent on picking up some silverware. And had Nemanja Vidic not somehow escaped a red card they may have come away with some. O'Neil was rightly annoyed at the decision but didn't want to make the game all about it- perhaps is blow softened by the fact he still has the race for forth and the FA Cup to play for.

But the men who clearly think the Carling Cup is worth winning were the ones with the biggest smiles yesterday. Firstly the man who's been there and done that- Sir Alex himself. Having rested some players in the early rounds his selection has strengthened through the matches against Spurs, City and then Villa. Fergie understands that silverware is silverware, something Wenger seems to have forgotten, and that the momentum of a winning team will carry over to the league. Above all though Fergie still plays trophy winning rookies in the final so they know what winning in big matches is all about- every United player NEEDS to know how to win.

The second biggest smile was strung across the face of a United substitute- and let's face it that wasn't the first time this was true of a United winning team, it's just usually the sub isn't Wayne Rooney. The Englishman was dying to start but his manager was dying to rest him and so it was that he started on the bench. Unfortunately Michael Owen left early and so the inevitable match winner entered. Rooney knows how to win trophies and it all started with the league cup.

Above all else is some of the most exciting matches of this season in the earlier rounds of the league cup- the 2nd leg of both semi finals, the quarter finals at City and Blackburn, the topsy turvy giant killing of Burnley by Barnsley and Stoke's 96th minute winner against Blackpool.

Sure the League cup might not be the most important trophy but it's certainly worth winning the final, walking up stairs, walking across dignitaries, shaking their hands, smiling, lifting the trophy, listening to the crowd applauding and getting used to winning more trophies. And so the Mickey Mouse trophy is won! Will United also be the kings of the Magic Kingdom?

No I in Team

It doesn't rain, it pours (or snows in the case of the MJSL- third time this season we've had a game cancelled because it's snowed Saturday night). It's bad enough that you have a moronic owner but then fortunes on the pitch couldn't be worse. Bad results, bad luck and having to sell your best players for relatively cheap prices.

When once it seemed the only way was up now the only way is down and pretty damned fast, you may even be lucky to still be around come the end of the season. Oh how I feel for Portsmouth. Of course you probably knew I was talking about the 2008 FA Cup winners, I guess I could have been talking about Crystal Palace...

... Apart from the fact I feel sorry for Avram Grant, the same can't be said of Palace's manager.

Neil Warnock is the head of the whinge brigade of football managers. Don't get me wrong every football manager is allowed a whinge now and again but when it happens so often it gets annoying. And I should know the manager of my beloved Manchester United is one of the kings of it. This season Sir Alex's moaning has been unbearable, mainly because it's always about the same thing- the amount of added time in matches. Arsene Wenger is another moaner who frustrates, mainly because every week something other than his teams poor performance is at fault for dropped points or cup losses- Wednesday's comedy of errors against Porto for instance. Rafa Benitez is now hilarious, not because he moans, but because he doesn't, a simple "the ref was excellent" seems to do for the Spaniard.

Now to Warnock, a man who's past as the man who nearly put Bury- a club close to my heart and home- into administration a few years back, is clearly not my favourite manager at the best of time but his moaning pushes me over the edge. The former Sheffield United manager consistently blames officials if anything goes wrong and is so far over the top it's ridiculous, last weeks FA Cup match against Aston Villa was a major case in point. I don't argue that the officials got it wrong, clearly a corner was wrongly given but giving a corner wrongly is hardly the worst decision in any game. Instead of perhaps making a passing comment and accepting a draw with one of the Premier League's top sides as a decent result Warnock instead complained, but it wasn't a normal complaint, no Warnock suggested the official should be suspended- for giving a goal kick as a corner, utter ridiculous!

If this was not bad enough Warnock decided on Thursday, after Mick Mcarthy and Wolves had been wrongly, in my opinion, been charged for changing 10 players for their trip to Old Trafford, that this matter needed his opinion. Warnock is not a manager of a Premier League club, he hasn't been since May 2007. Warnock is not a manager of Wolves, nor has he ever been. The matter had nothing to do with the Palace manager or his current club. Warnock instead decided that this matter reflected 2007 when both Liverpool and Manchester United played weakened sides against Fulham and West Ham and thus Sheffield United were relegated. What he misses out is the fact that the reason Sheffield United went down, contrary to the courts blaming purely Carlos Tevez, was that Sheffield United weren't good enough to stay down. Furthermore he even asked the question "Were Liverpool or United docked points?", well no but neither were Wolves.

Above all the moaning and nearly running Bury into the ground my main problem with the former Oldham manager is his clear selfishness. Everything Warnock says is to do with him. He does not feel for the club, or the fans he only cares what impact it has on him. Sheffield United went down and it meant he was no longer a Premier League manager. Palace drew with Villa and so it meant he was not in the next round of the FA cup- never mind the fact a replay was most important for Palace.

Selfishness is what kills a club. In this team game there is no room for a "me" attitude in any team, never mind one that is in financial danger. And this is where Pompey come back into play.

Portsmouth have been destroyed by several acts of selfishness. From chairman to former players. Perhaps one of the worst cases is Sol Campbell. Sol enjoyed a good period at Portsmouth, moving for free from Arsenal, he was amongst the clubs top earners and lifted the FA cup as captain. Now, back at Arsenal, Sol had decided that this is the time to claim the image rights he is owed. An argument for Sol is that he's just claiming what is rightfully his from the contract he had with the South Coast club. But has he not made enough money in his career that he can't avoid putting yet another nail in the Portsmouth coffin?

Look beyond the moaning, look beyond the character's involved and see just what is left. The sad truth that two football teams, with fans like you and I, are on the verge of extinction and that is truly sad!

Oh for some excitement!

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!

Title down to two?

"And then there were two!"

Phil McNulty's words not mine.

Sunday's match wasn't your normal cagey affair between two of the big four, instead it was as open a game of football as you could wish to see. Well it was open in the way that Arsenal's defence opened up for the United attack, especially Messrs Rooney and Almeida da Cunha (or Nani to most of us).

This of course was not the first time that another member of the top four exposed Arsenal’s defence to looking like it had more holes in it than a Swiss cheese, oddly enough Philippe Senderos was already on loan at Everton. Back in November Chelsea exposed Arsene Wenger’s side in the same way, at least Wenger could be happy Thomas Vermaelen didn’t break his leg last week otherwise it would have been Rooney and Nani running at Sol Campbell, the match may have been even more unbearable for Gunners everywhere.

I for one had picked out Arsenal as a good chance for title success just a few weeks ago. United had just lost to Leeds and Chelsea had just lost their African players to their continental competition, Arsenal had a tough run of matches coming up against Aston Villa and United followed by Chelsea and Liverpool. “If they win those four I think they’ll win the league”, this time they were my words, I need to stop predicting stuff- “Marouane Fellaini must be one of the worst midfielders in the Premier League” just before the Everton vs. Man City match and “I can’t stand Park Ji-Sung he just doesn’t add anything to the attack” before Sunday’s match- are both amongst my latest observations before watching football.

Of course United seem to have picked up some form since losing to Leeds, Chelsea look excellent even before their African players arrive back in the Premiership and Wenger’s ‘new animal’s’ have looked like very tired sloths in their matches against Villa and United. That last comment may be slightly harsh, certainly against Villa they weren’t all that bad but certainly against United they showed that perhaps they hadn’t grown up as much as the Frenchman thought since last year’s Champions League exit to the same opponents. So are Arsenal out of the league already?

Clearly there is still plenty of time till the end of the season and they are only 5 points off Chelsea’s top spot, a gap which could be diminished at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. There is also the fact that last time Arsenal lost in the league, against Chelsea, they reacted by going 10 games without losing. Last but not least in Arsenal’s favour is the return of most of their previously missing players- Alex Song’s return from Angola is essential, as is Nicklas Bendtner’s return from injury to give Wenger an actual striker to pick up front instead of rotating the skillful but short midfielders who have beern occupying that area of the pitch.

There is though the other side. For one Arsenal’s best striking option, Robin van Persie, is still out and most likely till April, unless someone else can start scoring the goals by the time the Dutchman is back it may be too late for the title to head to the Emirates. Secondly is the question of the squad. We all know in this day and age it is not about the first 11 but about the whole squad, and Arsenal are definitely third in these stakes. Only a few weeks ago you would have argued Arsenal’s was stronger than United’s but take a look at the champion’s bench on Sunday and you’d find Valencia, Owen, Berbatov, Giggs and Gibson- there was no room for Anderson or Diouf and there is still Ferdinand and Vidic to return from suspension and injury respectively. Finanlly is Arsenal’s recent record in winning the Premier League- unlike their two rivals it is some time since they managed it. Last time they challenged was two seasons ago, Arsenal looked good in the league and travelled to Old Trafford in the FA Cup fifth round on February 16th 2008. They were outplayed in every deparment, losing 4-0 and being embaressed by a young skilfull Portugese winger named Nani. Arsenal never recovered mentaly from that hammering and United went on to win the league.

Football doesn’t always repeat itself but then again Robbie Keane has just gone on a temporary transfer to the team he supported as a boy!

Then there were two? Sunday may just have the answer!

So many questions...

It's been a busy few weeks for the Sidler and I've seemingly got a little lazy with my blogging. Just as I looked for some inspiration to start up again the Premier League came up with a weekend of unpredictable results followed by a midweek full of action drama and talking points. You can't fault midweek football when it's like it was this week, that is of course unless your name happens to be Arsene and you happen to be be unhappy about some manager's team selection. I wonder if Arsene would be so arsey if his team had won... no need to wonder he probably wouldn't have cared less.

The truth is Mr Wenger shouldn't be too unhappy after his team's performance against Burnley yesterday. Don't get me wrong they didn't defend well enough and they didn't finish some of their early chances but Burnley were excellent and may have won had Stephen Fletcher's goal not been ruled out, what happened to the offside rule where the attacking side got the benefit of the doubt?

The last few days in football have certainly thrown up more questions than answers, and much debate will of course be on Mick McCarthy and his choice of team to play against the champions. Having secured 6 points out of 6 his side travelled to United, most would be hopeful of an outside chance of nicking a point or three. Mick though decided to play a team full of his non regulars and admitted afterwards he had pretty much already decided his team would lose no matter who played.

The former Sunderland manager perhaps had a point. His side were coming up against a United team scorned after losing to Aston Villa at the weekend, and the reds rarely lose two league games in a row, especially at Old Trafford. And in the side's defence this wasn't a team of no hopers nor were they overrun by United, until the opening goal that is of course, but then how many times has that happened to even the best of side's at Old Trafford. Also in Mick's defence isn't football a squad game in these modern times? Long ago of course players played every game in which they were fit and available for, these days though the title isn't won on who has the best 11 but on who has the best 25 or so and it's the same down at the bottom. And though Mick may have technically broken the Premier League's rule on picking your best available side, has he really done anything worse than the United's and Arsenal's of this world who rest players for the league cup, it is simply prioritising. On the flip side is the fact that Wolves did break a rule and that it in turn gives United an advantage in the title race. Added to that there is the obvious annoyance to fans who had to pay £45 for the ticket alone just to see Wolves turn up with a second string, they arguably turned up at Old Trafford with a stronger side for the Carling Cup game. For me the defence out weighs the prosecution against Wolves and the only ones it harms are Wolves themselves, for the fans of course all will be forgotten if they beat Burnley and go on to avoid relegation come May.

There was of course questions for United as well, the first being why didn't Fergie play two up front against Aston Villa. I don't want to take anything away from Villa but United aren't the kind of team who should play 4-5-1 at home. For me though the real question for United and the Scottish knight was asked not at Old Trafford on Tuesday but at White Hart Lane on Wednesday. Why didn't you sign Niko Kranjcar? The Croat was the picture of perfection as his team ripped through the static defending of fellow 4th place wannabees Manchester City. He created lots, he scored twice and he scared the living daylights out of defenders. United have been lacking this scare factor many times this season, other than the boy Wayne of course, who became 2009's top Premiership scorer on Tuesday. Up until recently though United have lacked enough creativity in midfield and there has been lots of talk about who Fergie might invest in during the January transfer window, especially with £80 million of Ronaldo money still hanging around. Yet Wednesday's destructive play by Niko not only highlighted that Spurs look far more likely than City to be in the top 4 it also highlighted him as the best value transfer of last summer, at £3 million it's a wonder why no one else tried.

Wenger said this week that eight teams still had a chance of winning the league, and though mathematically he may be right there's surely no more than four who have an actual chance. Outside of the usual Chelsea, United and Arsenal there is of course the wild card, Aston Villa. Martin O'Neil's side have started asking the question, why not? Wins this season against Liverpool, Chelsea and United have caught the headlines. Draws with fellow Europe chasers City and Spurs and wins over Birmingham and Fulham mean they have gathered valuable points where City and Spurs have dropped against similar opposition. With Stewart Downing finally fit after his summer move it is like Villa have made a new signing just before the busy December period, added to the fact Emile Heskey has scored a few goals and Martin O'Neil has replenished his squad before next month's transfer filled period, Christmas come early if you please.

At Anfield my 2nd favourite headline maker (behind Arsene of course) was up to his favourite pastime, creating headlines of course. Guaranteeing a 4th place finish for his team may well end up being the moment Rafa started writing his own resignation letter and it leads me to ask, why?. Liverpool currently lie 5 points outside the top four, this is of course a pretty small margin, especially at this time of the season, but as it is only December it's also a long way to go before you start guaranteeing anything, never mind turning your season around. In their 2-1 win over Wigan, Liverpool may have grabbed 3 points but they hardly set the world alight or gave much proof that their form from now till May can be better than Villa, Spurs, City or even Birmingham for that matter. Liverpool's defence is still weak, the midfield still aren't creating enought and the strikers, outside Fernando Torres of course, aren't up to much, despite David Ngog's goal on Wednesday. Of course Benitez will luck an absolute genius should his side get in to the top four but his previous as far as mid season press confrences are concerned suggets they won't... and that's a fact!

It would be remiss of me not to mention the wonderful run that Birmingham find themselves on. Can it last? With money to come from their new owners in January it is indeed a possibility. The Blues from England's second city have one of the league's smaller squads and yet Alex McLeish has seen his side win 5 Premier League games in a row and sit behind Liverpool on goal difference alone. Like many pundits I predicted that Birmingham would be mere relegation fodder, a decent side who would struggle to find goals. And yet Cameron Jeremoe and changed man Lee Bowyer have proved that theory very wrong. I can't imagine Birmingham being in the European places come the end of the season but a top 10 finish is certainly a possibility and Birmingham fans could have hardly asked for more than that in August.

One last question lingers following the midweek football- were Arsenal playing claret and blue or white in their match against Burnley last night. Of course I know the answer, it was claret and blue right? Ok ok I'm joking but the point stands. We often purr over the beautiful football Arsenal play, and rightly so, with players like Fabregas and Arshavin at their disposal it is unsurprising. And yet last night they were outplayed, out passed, out Arsenaled. Burnley were fantastic. Mcdonald, Fletcher, Elliot, and Eagles caused the Arsenal defence all sort of problems and they came within an offside flag of a yet another unlikely home victory. Arsenal were of course very good themselves for periods of the game but as soon as Burnley didn't concede a second and then won themselves a penalty the result always looked to be going Burnley's way if anything. If Burnley can learn to defend better away from home they'll almost definitely be in the Premiership for season 2010/11.

Wenger of course had to complain not only about Wolves choice of players for their trip to Old Trafford but also that his team had to play three times in one week. With action as good as it's been I have to answer his question with a question.... Can't they all play seven times a week?

Just Fab-ulous!

Whoa! Bad nights sleep last night. Never mind the fact I've been sleeping on a blow up mattress with a broken sleeping bag for the last couple of weeks. But last night, when I eventually got to sleep, my mind wandered and I start dreaming, well it was more of a nightmare, after United's dreadful performance, and may I add, Sunderland's excellent one, I was thinking of when United last played so poorly. Suddenly it came to me, that horrible night last May! The night of Iniesta, of Messi, of Xavi, of Guardiola, the night of Barcelona. They were awesome, and in my nightmare I saw them all celebrating with the trophy in hand. And suddenly I shot up, wide awake, and in a cold sweat, it was horrible.

It got me thinking about all walks about football, specifically I was thinking about Barcelona, about the midfield with Xavi and Iniesta and how good a pairing they are, last week I wrote about two good midfielders and their passing ability, there isn't many better than the Spanish duo though.

And then I got to thinking about England, who play Ukraine this weekend- a game I won't be watching due to the farce that the match is only being broadcast online for a fee- and how the last time England played particularly poorly they came up against the same duo. By the way these three paragraphs are all just leading up to the actual thing I'm writing about, which hasn't even been mentioned yet! The point is that Barcelona's youth academy is awesome, has already produced Iniesta, Xavi and Messi into their first team and will also be responsible of Bojan when he eventually breaks through. "So what?" I hear you cry! You already knew all this

But think again, who of you watched Arsenal's match on Sunday? There was a man on that pitch, only just a man, who ran the game like someone of many more years experience, at the heart of nearly everything his team did right against Blackburn was yet another Spanish central midfielder, one of only 21 years of age, one who, had history played out differently, could have been in central midfield back in May for Barcelona, of course Cesc Fabregas.

Fabregas was simply awesome against Blackburn. The passes were sublime, coming straight out of a text book and onto the foot of a more advanced player, usually leading to a goal or at least a shot saved by the excellent Paul Robinson. Fabregas is 21, just 6 and a half months older than myself, which is both scary and unfair. He has been handed the captain's armband very early on in his career and though it is far from the best part of his game it is unfair to judge him on it and he can only grow into the role.

The squad around Cesc is young and inexperienced and, certainly Premiership wise, he is one of the most experienced players in the squad. Having a player of Andrei Arshavin's quality will only help to mould the Spaniard into a better and better player. A match winner he most certainly already is, the curling volley against Blackburn proved that he has the goals in his arsenal (pun intended) to win any match. If Fabregas can add a little more consistency into his game, something that will no doubt come with age, then he could become one of the best players around, if he is not already.

It is this last sentence that must frighten Arsenal fans. Not because he is frighteningly good, or because they're scared of great footballers, after all they've already had one of the best players to have graced god's green earth play for them (Thierry Henry before you ask) but because he may become one of the world's best playing for the club you might say he was born to play for, Barcelona.

Being one of the best in the world you expect to win trophies, Arsenal are trophy less since 2005, not good enough for one of the "big four". Arsenal have also recently been the most likely of this quad to fall out of said quad, although maybe not this season. The fact remains though, without trophies both Cesc and the man who has changed the face of Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, will eventually decide that the Emirates is not the place to ply their trade, for the latter it may mean retirement. If Wenger does not retire then there is a chance Fab could follow the Frenchmen but Cesc may leave sooner than that with rumours of a return to Catalan unwilling to go away.

I for one, surprisingly enough, hope he stays in England. It's nice to have the greatest players on earth playing in front of our eyes week in, week out. The Spanish league can't measure up for all round brilliance, even with this seasons additions of Kaka, Ronaldo and Xavi Alonso (yet another world class Spanish central midfielder- hardly fair). Don't get me wrong, the Premiership will still be great to watch without him, but you can't say the same for the brand of football his team play. Arsenal are brilliant to watch, in both their positives and in their failures. The loss of Cesc will not be the end of their lovely football, but the loss of Wenger will be, and once Cesc is gone there may only be a matter of time before the Professor is gone to!