Welcome back King Henry!!! (It could have been welcome back Ginger Ninja too...)

Henry, a player which oozes so much class even at the age of 34. I was elated (yes, I was) when he signed on loan for Arsenal, those who know me know why and my prediction is for Arsenal to win a trophy this season, if not the Premier League.

The stage was set, against a team promoted to the Championship only last season - Leeds with plenty of history and fervor supporters albeit it's Leeds of 2012, not the Leeds of old with Robinson, Kelly, Radebe, Ferdinand, Harte, Bowyer, Dacourt, Bakke, Kewell, Smith and Viduka.

I did not watch the game, but I was with an Arsenal mate, he's Arsenal enough to stay at Highbury (right beside the Emirates) at a non-footie thingy and I told him from the onset before the game started that I am more than happy to see Henry back in the red and white of Arsenal. This is a player, for all the pain he caused against United was just so pleasing to watch. Etched in my memory: That bloody lob against Barthez, receiving the ball with his back facing the goal, 1st touch - flick the ball, swerve of his body, 2nd touch - lobbed it into the far top corner! %^&*()_ bloody good goal!

It was a fairy tale setting, with Van Persie on holiday, Camakh looking more like one of the JLS (Google them) than an all out striker he was touted when he arrived and Gervinho needing plenty of finishing lessons from Henry (maybe that's one of the reason why he was brought back?) it was pretty much all set for Henry to steal the show.

Drab first half, dull game, inferior opposition, I can't fault Simon Grayson, Wenger's sparring partner for the night - the game was lost even before it started. There he is, Henry, King Henry, immortalised in bronze, 11 goals against Leeds of ol', a quadruple in the last match between the sides sitting on the bench. With the hype, the cheer and the reception granted to Henry, it's the classic gamesmen tactic from Wenger, awe your opponents, bully them into submission just by the sheer sight of brilliance, not on the field of the game though with the injuries he has, but the sight of an all time legend. King Henry, glad you are back.

Sir Alex could have done the same had he brought Scholes back in the League Cup match against Palace, legend who left the club, not too match fit, Championship opposition, surely a timely well written script for a legend's 2nd debut? Sounds like Henry's debut tonight? Simillar but not so, knowing Fergie, he will persevere till the end, until needs must before he pulls the trigger, with Rooney's speculation in the press, he needed a diversion to drop it and drop like a hot potato he did, Scholes was the gambit up his sleeve, Rooney was sparred the pre-match hype. Sir Alex has done it in the past, offloading Rudd and Keane when they were too much to handle, giving Hernandez his debut much sooner than expected because of Bebe's flop and Scholes as a foil for Rooney's speculations, brilliant, just brilliant, ruthless, cunning but just brilliant.

Wenger too has the same streak, with Chelsea, Citeh and Spurs losing key players to the African Cup of Nations (yep, it's not the African Nations Cup) Henry's homecoming might just be the boost Arsenal needs to mount a January title challenge. The team just needs leaders, not just one, but one in each defence, midfield, and attack, like the Invincibles of old. I doubt a leader could be found for each 1/3 of the pitch in this January window, but at least he has Henry back, a Gunner through and through, one who will surely galvanise the team with his mere presence. Maybe wake up or inspire some mediocre players?

Scholes could do the same, with United's midfield in tatters, he could be a stop gap solution, but more than that an in-the-face reminder to the midfield foot soldiers-demoted-generals of United that Scholes, at his age, out from retirement will still be first off the bench when needed - buck up Carrick, Gibson, Anderson & Co. BUCK UP!

Arsenal's defeat: Icelandic Volcano Eruptions = Cancellation of flights = Train Travels = Longer hours = Bad performance???

Image above from monstersandcritics.com

As much as I love travelling, I hate long overland journeys (3 1/2 hours to Manchester). I would prefer the plane, but being a student, I can't afford it :(

My longest on land journey to date is the Beijing-Haerbin-Beijng trip, 12 hours each way!

A case of travel lag?

Professional footballers nowadays are quite spoiled I must say, flying to their games and then flying back. It is not only in the BPL that this happen, but certain clubs in the Championship does too (couldn't name the club since I couldn't verify this info).

It make sense, shorter travel hours, more comfy and of course, being part of the BPL gravy train, they could afford it.

However, with the now well publicized flying ban, these little pampered pooches must now travel via coach (bus in our language) or train and it seems one of two players/team were quite affected by this.

Arsenal's destruction

Mr. Wenger puts it down to 'lack of discipline and focus', you can read the article here. But my opinion is the players were rattled by the sudden change of travel arrangements. It's kinda like being used to driving an imported car but suddenly being given a Proton, or worse still a Perodua.

Make no mistake, the coaches they travel in are quite comfy I am sure, but the journey would of course be much more bumpier (coach) and less peaceful (coach and train). Someone might have missed that all important nap maybe?

Proof is in the next game

Nope, not Arsenal's next game against City (if this attempt fails, then Eastland/Blackburn game will be my other chances, also the Chelsea Stoke/Pool game if the flying ban is still imposed then) but a less publicized game in the Championship between Plymouth Argyle and Newcastle.

Here's some interesting facts: Newcastle is way way way up north, they border Scotland while Plymouth is way down south, even further than Portsmouth! That's 740 miles apart, 10 hours by coach or 6 hours by train! Oh yes...

The game would be played tonight, thus let's see the manner the results were achieved.

What I am looking for are:

1. Sloppy goals.

2. Destruction in the closing minutes

3. Beautiful goals, but Newcastle lose

To add a little bit of spice, Plymouth are 23rd, 2nd from bottom, while Newcastle are top of the Championship. This game still hold plenty of significance, if Newcastle wins or draw, they will be confirmed Champions, while at the other end, if Plymouth lose or draw, they will be relegated.

Pretty much the scenario with Arsenal and Wigan, title chaser v. relegation fodder, let's see if my hypothesis would be proven true: Footballers are too pampered to take any change in their travel arrangements, in short, they are pooches :)

Regards,
Ben Lai

Will it be the case of Spurs the King Maker or would Chelsea gallop away with the title?

Wenger was not the only Frenchmen to think Spurs

needs to prove themselves, Patrice thinks so too :)

Those who read my previous post would know what I mean. If you have not, here's the link.

Another weekend of football, a promise of excitement in the BPL (BPL is the proper name, not the EPL ;) ) with the title very much in the hand of Chelsea, but it is far from done and dusted. Any slip ups, and it will again open up. Judging from the already roller coaster ride of this season, I would not rule that out.

Spurs to earn their spurs?

Forgive me for the pun and cliche. But I am not the only one who thinks so. One very irritated winging Wenger agreed as reported here in his post match comment subsequent to his side's lethargic performance at White Hart Lane.

From a neutral perspective, the defeat of Arsenal was quite a performance from a club which invested so much but with very little to show, save for having a decent run in Cup competitions and their customary annual participation in Europe (albeit the 2nd-tier and less coveted UEFA Cup/Europa League). For a mid table club, that's quite an accomplishment.

Wind of change - new (ex)players, new manager

They were the largest spender outside the top-4 (and City) in the previous 3 seasons (signing plenty of ex-players) and the closest they got to breaking the dominance of the big-4 was in the 05/06 season where some dodgy lasagna denied them their 4th place finish and more crucially, handed the said spot to their hated neighbours. Would the defeat of Arsenal be the cornerstone of better things to come?

The goal scorers themselves were novice cowboys with a lot to prove. A first start, a stunning goal, Danny Rose's strike was indeed top-draw, so much so, he was as suprised as the shell-shocked-static Arsenal defence when it flew in. As for Gareth Bale, an unlikely goalscorer but more astonishing was the fact that throughout the earlier part of this season his name on the starting lineup was a bad omen to some quarters - Spurs did not win a single match in which he started. A goal for the critics perhaps?

Q&A time!!!

1. Was the performance just a one-off North London derby performance? Or;
2. Was it to gate crash Sol Campbell's return? Or;
3. Was it the most obvious question - bouncing back from the FA Cup defeat to Pompey?

I would answer NO to all the above. They are currently 5th in the League, just a point behind 4th spot City, with plenty to play for. Champions League is what they want and if anything, their gritty defending in the 2nd half against Arsenal showed how determined they are to take the final berth.

Now then, let's look at Spurs's remaining games: Chelsea (H) - Manchester United (A) - Bolton (H) - City (A) - Burnley (A).

As compared to City's: Manchester United (H) - Arsenal (A) - Villa (H) - Spurs (H) - West Ham (A)

Both team would be playing against title contenders tomorrow afternoon which could very well influence not only their own destiny, but also the BPL crown. Tasty encounters indeed, fireworks and seeing red, the card and maybe even blood is quite a possibility. The same goes for the following match for both teams, with Arsenal and Manchester United as opponents, notwithstanding this weekend's results, playing a Big-4 team would always be tricky.

City seems to have the upper hand thereon, with both team playing home matches in the 3rd game, it would be the penultimate game when they meet at the Eastlands which would ultimately decide the 4th place if they match each other's (or +/- 2) points in the first 3 games. I am quite sure it would not go to the wire and be decided in the final game or at least City would aim to put some space between them and Spurs by then.

My prediction for the week

Spurs to beat Chelsea at White Hart Lane with City at most taking a point (a very unlikely scenario) against their Red city rivals. Biased? No. Spurs are well known weak travellers, and if they do not take full points this weekend, it would take quite an effort to take full points when they visit Old Trafford next week. As for United's game against City, it would be tough no doubt, but with the recent lacklustre displays, I think they player themselves know that the finish line is near and it's all or nothing for the final push and I expect a slim win for United.

Manchester United has blown it...

Dear all,

First and foremost, the last week has been one of the toughest week being a Mancunian. Europe, then domestic, then the European exit was quite a week.

I am however, not disheartened, there are plenty of positives to be taken from this season, the most important of all is that we are still pretty much coping with the loss of one CF7 (CR9 is his new moniker).

Title race all over???

Oh, forgive the negative title. It's a marketing ploy to attract viewers to read this post :)

Let me make it clear, the defeat against Chelsea and the less than commendable draw at Blackburn has of course put Chelsea in pole position, but I am still hopeful as my analysis would reveal below. Never give up till the fat lady sings as they say, come on you DEVILLLLSSS!!! :)

Remaining Games

Manchester United - M. City (A) - Spurs (H) - Sunderland (A) - Stoke (H)

Arsenal - Spurs (A) - Wigan (A) - M. City (H) - Blackburn (A) - Fulham (H)

Chelsea - Spurs (A) - Stoke (H) - Liverpool (A) - Wigan (H)

So, with a 4 point lead, with just 4 games to go, it seems like Chelsea would win it with a game to spare. Pretty simple, just 3 wins and a draw from the remaining 4 would win the the league. Stoke and Wigan should be walkovers, while 4 points from Spurs and Pool should be a little tricky given they are both vying for the 4th Champions League spot.

Arsenal meanwhile, easy wins against Wigan and Blackburn, but they will face stiffer competition from firstly Spurs, then City, who are currently looking the more likely duo to battle it out for the coveted 4th UCL spot. Fulham too should be a test, if the places for the Europa League is still up for grabs come the final game.

As for Manchester United, City away is always daunting as shown by our first leg defeat in the Eastlands. We scored first through Good Ol' Giggsy, but Twat-vez came back with replies and almost twat-ed our Carling Cup push. But I still see us nicking a slim win from it, hopefully with Rooney leading the line. Spurs at home should be less daunting (I hope), with the Chelsea defeat and European exit of the past week, I am pretty sure the players need not any reminder from the Stretford End that they owe them a performance! Sunderland and Stoke should be 6 points in the bag, no disrespect, but let's just assume that for now since I do not have a magic ball in hand.

Pretty boring analysis, very balanced view, stating the obvious, bla bla bla... Continue reading and you be bored no longer :)

King Maker - Spurs

Yes. Spurs to decide the title. Bold prediction indeed. But having spent most of the weekends of my life watching the English game, I must admit for once, Spurs look right to break the Big 4 and stake their claim at being taken seriously. Having invested heavily every season and having changed more managers than Britney Spears changes costumes in a show, two critical factors missing in the previous seasons are now in place: a manager who's a wheeler dealer and some decent players showing their worth week in week out (the FA Cup exit was a surprise).

No other team in the run up could have more impact on the outcome of this year's title race - Spurs will play all 3 teams!!!

So yeah, whoever they beat or nick a 2 points from in the upcoming games is yet to be seen, but with M. City breathing down their necks, themselves with 2 top 3 clashes, the incentive is there to be party poppers whichever top 3 team they play. Parking the bus tactics? Or would the infamous poisoned lasagna come back to haunt Spurs? Only time will tell, so let's see :)

Remember, you read it here first :)

Regards,

Ben Lai

FOOTBALLERS!!! Come on guys! You can spare 1 day's wages for Haiti!!!

Haiti a tragedy

Not one, but two major quakes to hit such an improvished country. Lying just 700 miles off the US mainland, however the gap in income disparity is way way larger than the water which separates the two land.

There have been a lot of calls to help, with the US leading the way and not suprising, twitter and facebook.

And it is nice to see that plenty of idols helping out, with White Cleft Jean being the most prominent.

Footballers are rising to the call

Sometime last week, the Germans took the first initiative. The national team, the GBL teams and even Audi & Volkswagen chipped in. Read more of it here .

It is heartwarming to see such a gesture, moreover since footballers are usually branded as nice cribs-flashy cars-spoilled brats. And guess what, not only the footballers are getting involved. Fan initiatives are urging these footballers too.

Diego "Forlone" Forlan

Forgive me for the title above.

In no way I am taking a dig at Forlan himself, but to those detractors who wrote him off when he was offloaded from MU. I like him, he reminds me of Tevez, willing to run, scores an occasional goal and being South American, has flair in his blood.

Forlone no longer, with a European Golden Boot in hand (which he shares with one very prominent Samuel E'to) and with apparently Barca looking at him, I guess a change of climate did make him a better player.

What more suprising is this: HE WAS THE FIRST TO RESPOND TO FANS CALLS TO DONATE A DAY'S WAGE TO ASSIST HAITI! YES HE DID!!!

Read more about it here.

Forlan, as ever, you amaze others around you, humble, never one for the spotlight and an honest, hard working model professional. Kudos to you, and to those who used to call you Forlone, I guess they must be choking themselves now ;)

Regards,

Ben Lai

RESIGN SIR ALEX: Would Sir Alex lead us us to victory?

This morning while getting my daily dose of football updates I was taken aback by an article calling for Sir Alex to resign!

To common football fans or non-football fans, just reading the title of the said article alone might be a little misleading. Read further and you will see why.

Football clubs are more than profit!

A club of Manchester United (even Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal) is more than a profit making machine. It's a revered as a religion, it's something that connect with the fans and it was put into its current zenith standing by the fans.

Ever since these major buy-outs by foreign owners, experts in the football and business world alike have given their own views about the intentions and viability of such purchases. Not only the top-4 and BPL clubs were subject of these LBO (Leveraged Buy-Out), QPR, Notts County, Newcastle, West Ham, Man City and Pompey and more recently the buzz is even BPL chaser, Cardiff might soon be in private ownership.

The success of these takeover varied, of course, with a change of owner, the fans would be reasonable to expect that these new owners would pump in money, invest in infrastructures, get new players (even managers) and hopefully propel these clubs into greater heights. This is true to some extent for Chelsea and Arsenal, with new training facility (Chelsea) and a new stadia (Arsenal) and a lot of coming and goings in the playing staffs (turnstile managers and countless big name signings for Chelsea and Man City).

On the other end, you have basket cases like Newcastle, West Ham, Pompey and the worse of the lot Notts County.

Basket cases - Who's to blame (Or rather WHO THE HELL ARE YOU???)?

There's lots of finger pointing, the blame game, or passing the buck(et) as they call it in the US - the League admin, the previous owners and of course the new owners themselves, 3 different parties but at the center of this blame game is the issue of transparency of ownership. Take Notts, with Qabak investment listed as their owners, no one knows where the funding comes from nor the ultimate identity of the shareholders of this investment vehicle (an accounting term). Also, the merry go round of owners for Portsmouth, what a pity that a club which as recent as 2 seasons ago lifted the FA Cup only to see it now languishing at the bottom of the table with 7/8th of its Cup winning squad now plying their trade elsewhere!

Let's see what each of the 3 accused above could have done more to avert the current agony:

The League

There is so called 'fit an proper test' which applies to directors of clubs and since owners appoint directors it would be fair to assume that the owner themselves are subjected to such a test. I am not saying that the League failed in applying this rule, but the process could be done in a more transparent manner, with the outcome (not the details) of the assesment to be made public to assure the fans that indeed the owners are reputable and are indeed 'fit and proper'.

The previous owners

They form part of the transaction and to a certain extent should be hold a certain level of responsibility if the club fails after the takeover. Did they dispose off the club to the highest bidder? Or did they dispose the club to the party which serves the best interest of the club? Were there proposals tabled by these parties? Secured financing? I am pretty very sure these were in place when Ken Bates (now at Leeds United) divested his stake in Chelsea to Czar Roman, but what about Notts, Newcastle, West Ham and Pompey?

New owners

You came, you bought and you think you have conquered, but it is far from job done once the ink on the agreement dries. There's still plenty to do, and lets start by revealing who the heck you are and the plans for the club! More often than not, huge promises were made by these owners which they fail to follow up, and when there's trouble, the *poof* and just vanish into thin air (Pompey, West Ham, Notts County and to a certain extent Newcastle)!

Manchester United: What next???

I must applaud the Americans (Notice that I never once call them by name, I shall NOT!) for being transparent, however, loading the club with so much debt will hamper our growth and is no way to run a club. You are basically taking hard earn money, monies paid throughout these honest, hard working fans lives to support a team they love and finance the purchase of the club! The move should have been blocked, just like when Sky tried to purchase us many years ago. NO WAY it should remain in private hands, we were self sufficient, we have success and there was no need for any change, not least to be used as a mortage to finance some silly American dream!

I have a gut feeling that Sir Alex would love to have Tevez in red rather than the blue of the other half of Manchester. I believe the lack of funding was the key issue. Here's how I arrive at my conclusion: Although he tried his best to support the owners and with the the 3 stooges themselves coming out and openly declaring that the 80 million received for the sale of CR7 is still there if Fergie needs it, the recent financial statements of the club reveals otherwise. A loss of 49 million before taking into account the Ronaldo windfall is surely a course of concern. The timing of the restructuring exercise, which is supposed to release funds to Fergie further contradicts the availability of the 80 million war chest. As much as we hate to be compared with Liverfool (intended) we are indeed in a simillar position as they are, chocked out of the transfer market because of some stupid American who came with a LBO (Loads of Bullshit Offer).

United was built by the fans and of course a great manager, we dont need no YANKS to screw us up and impeed our growth now. As a Knight, and a person of which the fans would always associate with United, be it now, be it 100 years to come, I too plead for Sir Alex to resign just like Kevin Keegan did at Newcastle. Let the club take a fall if that is what is needed to drive those profiteering Americans out of Old Trafford.

We could have done it without you Sir Alex, please do not let our dreams fizzle, please lead us to victory over them YANKS!!!

Regards,

Ben Lai