This prompted me to look at the list of all-time EPL winners and in particular the premise that Abramovic buying Chelsea in '03 was an inflection point: '92-'93 thru '02-'03 (11yrs): MUFC - 8 AFC - 2 BRFC - 1 MCFC - 0 CFC - 0 LFC - 0 LCFC - 0 '03-'04 thru '23-'24 (21yrs): MCFC - 8 MUFC - 5 CFC - 5 AFC - 1 LFC - 1 LCFC - 1 BRFC - 0 In the pre-Abramovic era it seemed mainly a story about 2 great managers going head to head, with Fergie coming out on top of Arsene. Then Abramovic ushered in the era of lavish unregulated spending, coupled with some of Jose (but not exclusively). Followed quickly by Glazers debt-fueled takeover, allowing Fergie to compete for a few more years until he quit. And of course UAE's arrival, coupled with Pep, for essentially unrivaled unprecedented dominance. Sigh... and you can take me back to the per-Abramovic era any time you like. Or alternatively... Mikel can just get Arsenal to keep punching above its weight and win the feckin thing this season!
Too bad the world didn’t switch from fossil fuels to renewables 30 years ago. No one two punch of Helene and Milton and no Abramovich, Saudi Wealth Fund, or UAE ownership of Premier League teams.
Right but it was a bit of a myth. In reality Wenger could afford the very best players in the world and that is how he could compete until Roman turned up. Look at the Invincibles' side and it is absolutely stacked in a way that was not possible later. IMO the reality is Utd dominated the league for 20 years until City arrived. Chelsea and Arsenal was the closest it got to a sustained challenge over any length of time. it's really always been about financial dominance.
Every team with the same budget forces dumb teams to get smart and embrace analytics, which leads to extreme parity where most matches end in draws. The only thing keeping the league from descending into complete boring randomness, a dull league of coin flips, are not the heroes we want but the heroes we need...the PGMOL. Poised to make the bad calls that will keep City and United on top of the table and Arsenal at the bottom where that scoundrel Mikel Arteta belongs.
They'd rather all pile on Citeh rather than each other. Remember that scene in "The Rocketeer" when the G-man and the mobster were firing on the Nazis, took one glimpse at each other and were like "WTF?!" before continuing to fire? Hell, I can see Liverpool and United fans team up to pile on City...and they hate each other.
Worth remembering the rules aren't about fairness - Man U and Chelsea were happy having way more money than everyone else. The idea was cost control. Which has also been a complete failure. You have to love it.
I guess it would've been nice if Arsenal had held him back like they did w/ Kai. Then again, if Saka's hammie was about to pop, it could've happened in our next game or practice session. So, assuming this is not a trivial injury, we get to see what Arsenal 3.0 are like without Starboy... starting with Pool! Bournemouth thankfully? And maybe also without our MF General if his ankle ain't quite ready. Another moment for Mikel to earn his salary.
Hard to tell with Saka. We've seen him limp off the pitch numerous times and be ready to play the next week. Or it could be like Everton on the last day of the season. Can't really speculate.
Sure. Except when someone says "appeared to be holding his right hammie" Once someone gets a video clip of it, please post. The only silver lining is that he did it 4 days into interlull, with 9 days to go before our next match. AND I was wrong about who our next opponent is... it's Bournemouth away. Followed by Shaktar. Then Pool in 17 days. So that may be another slight silver lining.
Yeah, we don't need him to beat Bournemouth and Shaktar. Just rest him up and hope he can play against Liverpool.
We just have to brace ourselves for a pretty big drop step down in quality, assuming Bukayo's out for a while. (yes I know it's early to say that but it does seem to be a hammie so...) Sterling, Jesus or Martinelli on the right wing... we'd be fairly lucky if they were even 50-75% of what Saka provides on a consistent basis.
I have a hard time imagining pulling Havertz away from the center. I also am not sure Ethan is suited and ready for that particular job, but that said, I’d be willing to give him a chance or two. I’d also be willing to give Sterling the same chance(s). But whoever might deputize, they’ve got big shoes to fill. ps. Obviously we’re jumping the gun a bit. Saka could surprise us with a quick recovery.
Just watched MEX 2-0 USMNT Dos a Cero the other way for a change. And we continue our long fallow period in Mexico. Our naïve defense got schooled. Nascent days for Poch. 1 win & 1 loss. Tiny sample size with virtually no time with the young squad yet. But we can only pray that in the long run he’ll produce a better win percentage. Ps. Raul with a MOTM performance: one stunning FK goal, and one fantastic and rare tackle-pass to assist their second.
Wolves go 1-0 up at 7’ vs Citeh. We should have no illusions that it will stay that way too long, but I for one think that direct, counterattacking football is absolutely thrilling. Their very first chance and they pounced!
Gvardiol… whoosh! 1-1 at 33’ The more I see this guy shoot, the more I imagine he spent most of his life playing forward. True????
Crazy scenes at Molineux. Citeh 30 secs from dropping another 2 points. Stones scores a header. HR says interference? But VAR says wait a minute and sends the ref to the screen. Et voila he allows the goal and the blue meanies triumph again. Ugggggh..,