Mkhitaryan mess leaves Arsenal, Chelsea with only one option

Ian Watson
<> at Friends Arena on May 24, 2017 in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Boycott Baku
It is absolutley shameful that a player, having reached the final of a prestigious Eurpoean competition, feels that its unsafe for him to travel to the location the final is due to be played in.
Regardless of where its chosen to be played, player and fan safety should be paramount.
For a country to refuse entry to people from certain nationalities (on some cases), should be excluded from hosting such events.

But that only serves to bring me on to my next point. Arsenal, and by extension Chelsea, should boycott this final.

I saw Unai Emery on television last night saying he can’t force Mkhitaryan to travel. If they do not accept UEFA’s insistence that he will be safe, then they should tell UEFA nobody will be travelling. And Chelsea, having an owner who knows exactly what it’s like to be denied entry to a country, should back them 100%.
Its ridiculous that Arsenal should be handicapped by the location of a football game. Imagine it was Eden Hazard that chose not to travel.

Arsenal and Chelsea should show some b*lls and stand up for whats right. Arrange to play the final at Wembley/Old Trafford/Millenium Stadium with a full compliment of fit players, and leave UEFA , their officials, and precious sponsors to watch synthensised Europop, sipping on Pepsi at 11pm local time.
DC, BAC

…OK fellow Arsenal fans, you have two choices. You both win…..or you both lose.
What’s your choice?
(You know exactly what I’m talking about).
Andrew Vince. Gold Coast Australia.

 

Cech, mate
After the whirlwind of rumours surrounding Sarri leaving for Juventus, the absolute disgrace which surrounds the tickets and the hosting of the Europa League Final for both Arsenal and Chelsea fans, it was great news to see Sky Sports report that Petr Cech will be returning to Chelsea as their Sporting Director this Summer, a true legend of our club coming into a role where we NEEDED someone of his experience in football and the club, cannot wait to see how he does in the role, maybe it won’t be “that” bad if we do have a transfer ban.
Mikey, CFC

 

Fair’s fair over FFP
It’s now widely known that UEFA are investigating Manchester City for alleged breaches of FFP regulations, with the word that they are considering banning City from the UEFA Champions League for a season if found guilty, likely in 2020-21 due to the lengthy process and likely legal challenge from City. City have strongly denied the allegations and are insistent that they have done no wrong.

However, if City (or any club – this isn’t a dig at what City may or may not have done) are found guilty of breaching FFP regulations in this way, why is a Champions League ban is appropriate punishment? Surely a club deemed to have gained an unfair advantage via FFP non-compliance has gained that advantage in every competition they enter, and therefore any punishment should extend to all competitions rather than just one? Or if it should only apply to one competition why the Champions League, where clubs are competing on more of a level playing field financially and play a disproportionately smaller number of games than in their domestic league, where the financial inequality between top and bottom is already a chasm and where a club will play the vast majority of its matches, therefore earning the larger advantage?

In the UK, clubs entering administration (usually as a result of incompetence rather than deliberate cooking of the books) are punished by being docked league points, not by being banned from the season-after-next’s FA or League Cup or Checkatrade Trophy. These are usually clubs unlikely to be in contention of winning anything anyway and the points deduction often puts them at risk of relegation (or in some cases makes it an absolute certainty), making their already dire financial situation even more perilous.

Yet if City are found guilty of deliberately manipulating financial regulations they currently won’t be punished domestically and whilst the loss of Champions League revenue for a season isn’t exactly pocket change, the larger clubs are usually more capable of absorbing a big hit and surviving. Take the example of Juventus, relegated to Serie B for their involvement in Calciopoli, who still managed to keep some of their star players (Buffon and Del Piero) and bounce back to Serie A immediately, or Chelsea this season, who have finished third in the league and reached a domestic and Europa league final despite not qualifying for the Champions League.

So I just I’d throw it open to the Mailbox – is a Champions League ban ample punishment for a club being found guilty of FFP violations or should a domestic punishment (the nature of which can be debated – points deduction, fine, transfer ban etc…) be implemented instead, or even as well?
Jonny (Yes I’m a Liverpool fan but no, I’m absolutely unequivocally NOT suggesting that I believe City should be deducted points in order for the Premier League title to be handed to Liverpool. I’d much rather win it on merit J) Dance

 

In Bruges
Steve you unfortunately have confirmed everything that people have been levelling at Man City I.e. You would be nowhere without the oil money. You go on to slag FC Bruges and BMG, this was a time Belgium clubs could retain their players because they weren’t poached by richer clubs abroad after all De Bruyne @ Kompany would be quite useful along with all the other Belgians plying there trade elsewhere. A number of their players played two years later when they were runners up at the Euros in Italy. They also beat theSpanish and Italian champions to get there.
As for BMG I Suppose you will get a few LFC fans pointing this out due to the affinity between the two clubs. This was a team who had won the league of the current world champions on a few occasions, had some World Cup winners in their ranks and a recent European footballer of the year. They are in the situation now they cannot retain their talent because Bayern and other richer clubs just come along and take their talent we could call it the Moneybags syndrome.
Football the sport has died and been replaced by football the business and the ones with the biggest bank accounts win no coincidence the German, Italian,French, Spanish , Scottish and now the English have all got consecutive winners money not football talks.
Gary in Germany

 

…As Steve settles down on the toilet, Id just drop a response to his highly amusing email, commenting on the ridiculously easy European Cup, Liverpool lucked in 1978, beating the mighty Club Brugge at Wembley to lift the 2nd of 5, of the famous trophy, you know the one with big handles. It is true before oil rich states and Russian oligarchs bought clubs and before Uefa, whored out their biggest trophy, only the champions (City 2019) were allowed to enter and Liverpool as holders of the large handled trophy and 1st Division Champs were given a bye in 1st round because they couldn’t play themselves with the draw having 1 team fewer, due to the above.

The mighty Brugge managed to beat both minnows Juventus and Atletico Madrid on their way to an unlikely final, well perhaps not so unlikely, they too reached the Uefa Cup final in 1976 aswell, beaten by errr Liverpool. Steve may not be aware that Club Brugge were managed by Austrian Ernst Happel, who managed Feyenoord to victory in 1970 (big handles) and Netherlands to the world cup final 1978, (not a bad couple of months work), he then went on to coach SV Hamburg to win another big handled trophy in 1983. I think it fair to say he wasn’t a bad manager, obviously not in the class of Brian Horton, Stuart Pearce, or Pep Guardiola, but decent none the less As you rightly celebrate your triumph in Falmer, we are heading off to Madrid for our 9th big handle final, so as you eaze out another bloater make sure you have plenty of paper at hand, if not, don’t forget you could always borrow some banknotes from his highness Sheik Khaldoon!
Regards
John W

 

…I saw a comparison between a certain American politician in how he address a crisis, and what City as a club and their defenders are doing in response to allegations of FFP violations (amongst other things) which I thought was apt. The basic concept it is to attack and discredit the messenger, not the charge levelled against them – an ad hominem argument. City’s official statement regarding the UEFA investigation about how they are “disappointed, but not surprised.”

Reading yesterday’s mailbox, that seems to be the general MO of those defending City as well. Steve’s mail was full of contradictions – the approach of asking everyone to stop attacking City by attacking everyone was interesting, then in one paragraph asking where all the mails objecting to City were, then in another explaining why other fans don’t feel the need to write in. I wont even touch the part about how City don’t need independent affirmation – maybe just look at Pep talking about the media coverage Liverpool have gotten compared to City. I will note that if you have to go back to 1978 to make a point, you may be stretching a bit.

The point I would like to highlight is that of another mail, where a comparison was made between City and the other revolutionary athletes and how they didn’t break the sport the sport, they evolved it. For me a more apt comparison would be Lance Armstrong, who reached the nadir of cycling time and again, but through doping. And this is where the strawman argument has been set up by City defenders – the argument is swiftly moved from allegations financial doping (which considering the charges and pending UCL ban, I don’t think we need to call ‘allegations’ anymore), to general ‘whataboutism’ around how people are just jealous of City’s success, just like they were of United and Liverpool and asking where people’s moral compass was when X happened. Because there is nothing more to see here.

No reasonable person would begrudge success, if success is achieved legitimately. Who didn’t love the Leicester story a few years ago? But that is the point, City’s success has not been achieved legitimately. FFP violations have been hanging over this clubs proverbial head for years now, and the fact that UEFA has been so slow in building their case and charging City does not make them any less valid. And so when the playing field is not fair then yes, people are going to have issues with that. And anyone viewing that as jealousy is guilty of looking at the trees and missing the forest.

Anyway, hopefully we can all move on from this soon and get back to general football chat.
Ben, Oz

 

Why are City fans not giving it the big one?
…Let’s get some home truths out there, you claim city fans are not crowing because you have more class than that? The answer is two fold, It’s because you don’t have any fans and the ones you do have can see something is fishy and are choosing to keep stoom. Then you go on to say Liverpool fans have only got on their high horses about your cheating now because you beat us. Maybe because that’s possibly the greatest season a premiership team have had in the history of football that weren’t a financially doped side. The only two points tallies above is city last year and city this year. It’s a disgrace. I take nothing away from the manager and players of city as they can only do what they can do, but ask yourself this? Would any of those players/manager have chosen city if it wasn’t for the quan? I seen an article yesterday stating managers wages Guardiolas is piss taking at best. When Mancini and Pellegrini where in charge city spent but within reason, so fair enough, congrats. Since Pep has come in, he started with a title challenging team and went on to spend 4 times more than now 2nd place Liverpool over the same period of time. Are city a bigger club than Liverpool, no. Do they have a bigger fanbase? No.
Do they have a bigger social media following? No . Where’s all the revenue coming from? The sheiks sky rocket that’s where, put through as many hands as nessasary as to hide the breaking of rules. This is the ONLY way a club the stature of Man City pre sheik could get to the top so quickly. I don’t blame the city fans players or managers I blame the governing bodies that probably got their pockets lined to turn a blind eye, but mark my words, now city are on Liverpool’s massive fanbase radar, fifa and the like will not be able to turn a blind eye forever. Still at least you can fill your ground. As for Liverpool siding with Utd fans, I love nothing more than giving Utd stick and have done over 30 years of supporting Liverpool. But one thing is for sure, I’ve never had to call them cheats.
John

 

…The question was raised as to why more City fans weren’t crowing about their victory in the mailbox the other day. I’d just like to point out that there is still a large percentage of City fans who grew up supporting a largely dysfunctional club.

My own earliest memory of a game was watching us surrender a 3-0 lead to Bournemouth in the 80’s, conceding a last minute equaliser to be pegged back 3-3. This set the tone for me as a supporter and success was mainly defined by not being battered in the derby or getting to – or staying in – the top division. And that was fine by me. I was a fan regardless.

Like fans of most other clubs, I didn’t start supporting City because they were the best team at the time. United and Liverpool fans, who make up the majority of (dull and jarringly self-awareness-free) contributors to this mailbox seem to have an expectation that their club should be winning things. I would suggest that this is born of their reason for supporting these clubs in the first place – namely that they were the dominant (trophy winning) team at the time they first got into football.

Most City (and other football) fans have spent much of their life listening to United and Liverpool fans crowing about their success, and maybe that experience made them think that when we win, we might just enjoy it ourselves -without the need to rub everyone else’s nose in it.

Nick, MCFC, Melbourne (I’m sure we’ll attract the glory hunters too if our success continues)

 

…Most online City fans I’ve read when this whole boring human rights abuses, humanitarian crisis, financial doping business gets levelled at them tend to counter with a) The classic ‘look over there’ deflection, sure other people do bad things as well you know? And in Steve’s response earlier b) Your not actually appalled you just wanna feel better about losing while City win.

God knows as football fans we find it’s impossible to emotionally detach ourselves from our club. And when controversy arises and abuse from other fans is relentless we can always summon a defence of our club like a loving but alas deluded mother who believes no child of hers could ever do any wrong. And if they did sure forgiveness is sometimes a tough but necessary part of loving soneone.

So it’s easy to see why City fans would rather stick their fingers in their ears in regards the serious nature of what the club is fast becoming seen to represent in the footballing world. A club used to sportswash the image of Abu Dhabi, a regime directly reponisible for human rights abuses and above all else the deaths of 50,000 children last year in Yemen. City fans love of their club has been sought to legitimise Abu Dhabi on the World stage. Their passionate defence of their club weaponised to allow the business interests of their owners a path into the west as it were.

It is surely uncomfortable having to deal with the reality of this as a football fan. City supporters were there before Mubarakk et al and will be there long after. They didn’t ask to be in this situation, to suddenly have all their dreams come true and then be called out for not speaking out on the people who brought them to the promised land. It is a peculiar situation alright but it is not going to go away unfortunately. Just an acknowledgement, an acceptance of the uneasiness they feel about the nature of why the club has been used and the direct links to atrocities in the Middle East is what many will look to City fans for now. Bayern Munich fans unfurled a banner at a home game last year denouncing the clubs link to Qatar. It is possible to love your club, to still support it while disassociating yourself from those who run it. Any defence of those in power at the Ethiad right now is at best not a good look and at worst, practically immoral.
Mac

 

Leicester did it best
Hardly the best ever when it cost them over a billion, and barely anybody turned up to watch them. If their own fans dont care, why should anybody else?

As for Arsenal’s invincibles, if Pires doesn’t dive for a penalty at Portsmouth, they lose relatively early in that run.

Neither side came close to achieving what Leicester did a couple of years ago, let alone Man United’s great 99 and 08 sides.
LP

 

Free-agents in the PL
I saw your “A world-beating XI of players only a year from free agency…” and realised how far the footballing world had come. From trying to sign players on a free (only Juventus seem to be on the lookout for quality free agents now) to Arsenal supposedly willing to sell players who have TWO YEARS left on their contract so that they don’t leave for free TWO YEARS LATER.

How has this situation come to pass? I don’t know. What I do know that if you construct a team of Premier League players available on a free this summer, it will almost certainly get relegated.

Here is my starting 11, with a seven-man bench:

Jonas Lossl, Erik Durm, Cahill, Jagielka, Moreno, Markovic, Herrera, Diame, Mata, Babel, Sturridge

Bench: Caballero, Lichsteiner, Monreal, Bakary Sako, Okazaki, Llorente, Welbeck

Of course, we can argue over the inclusion of Alberto Moreno and Lazar Markovic. But the lack of pace in the rest of the outfield players was so alarming that I decided some injection of speed was necessary for…doesn’t matter, no chance this team will stay up.

But I digress. The quality of players with no contract at the end of the season is markedly higher outside of the Premier League. Just sample the following: Godin, Filipe Luis, Max Cruse, Rabiot, Balotelli (LOL), Hector Herrera, Dzagoev, Brahimi, Victor Ruiz, Ben Arfa, Subotic. And these are just the ones I shamelessly picked from the BBC’s website, along with a few others I recall reading about in the last couple of months.

This proves that the PL is not the best league in the world as far as free agents XIs are concerned. Take that, Richard Scudamore’s successor.
Siddharth full-back Upasan

 

Jose for PSG
I recently read that Mbappe is said he feels that he needs ” more responsiblity ” this sounds like he feels that PSG aren’t going to genuinely compete for the CL anytime soon. PSG is a club of stars that should at least be making semi-finals yearly but despite all the big wages and fees paid I never felt like they had a manager capable of ever getting them to gel and put in a genuine push for the trophy. But now quite possibly the best candidate for the job is available and he goes by the name of José Mourinho.

Mourinho is a man who many feel is finished and the highest level after the nature of his exit from Manchester United but this may not be the case. PSG have a curious player in the form of Neymar he has significantly underachieved since making his mega move to the French side considering what he was brought in to help the team achieve. Mourinho is a manager who I personally feel can reinvigorate Neymar to be the star we know him to be. Mourinho got the best out of many egos like Hazard, Ozil, Di Maria, Ronaldo and many more. Neymar may seem like him and Mourinho are complete opposites but they can reignite each other’s career.

Another player who will most certainly benefit is the aforementioned Mbappe. I heard Mourinhos comments on Mbappe a while back saying that he was an unsellable player. Mbappe is everything Mourinho likes in his forwards aggressive, quick, & dynamic. A coach like Mourinho would get him to achieve more and give him the responsiblity he craves so dearly. In midfield Mourinho would have a gifted and efficient playmaker in Veratti and at the back the cultured and experienced centre back we all know Mourinho to favor Thiago Silva.

The job he had at Real Madrid is where we should look to see the influence Mourinho can have over a team. He took over a team that was underachieving massively and in a trophy drought. As he himself said the task was to dethrone Pep’s Barca. He did so with a superb points tally of 100. The foundations he left went on to be used in future successes by Ancelotti and Zidane. Plus I think Mourinhos style of play does suit the knockout stages of the Champions League instead of Pep’s for instance. Because in the back of the season its all about the wins and not neccessarily playing well or scoring more.

All in all, I think PSG should be making a move for Mourinho this summer with a few tweaks here and there can get them the UCL. Though I wouldn’t bank on him staying more than 3 years lol.
Lewe (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

 

Burns > Hucknall
Sod all this talk about ethics, Gordon Burns from Krypton Factor is a United fan!

I never knew that till I read the afternoon mailbox but I’m thrilled – that easily offsets the shame of Mick Hucknall…
Andy (MUFC)