Hopes that FFP might be effectively implemented were given the footballing equivalent of a wet fish being slapped across the face with FIFA readmitting Barcelona to the transfer circus. Despite holding a ticket that clearly stated, “Strictly No Readmittance“, the Catalan club managed to finagle their way back with a well-timed appeal which left world football’s governing body with insufficient time to play out the legal process to its fullest extent. Of course it is not FFP but highlights the lengths to which clubs can go to secure their best interests. The summer was shaping to be interesting with Barcelona seemingly stuck with Pinto in goal and unable to replace departing players properly. Now that avenue is open to them once more.

UEFAs attempts to punish clubs will be met with similar stalling tactics and exhausting of the legal avenues; it’s one of the reasons that the compromise of fines was introduced. It averts the prospect of a legal coach and horses being driven through the financial regulations by lawyers more streetwise than those employed by UEFA, underlining that serious breaches will still not be met with the bans from the Champions League that were hoped for when the notion of FFP first surfaced. What was always a remote prospect at best, seems even more distant now.

In an era when cash is so plentiful, the concept of fines in football seems pointless. The sums involved are pitiful by comparison to the money’s earned through transgressions. FFP, for example; the sin of overspending, of operating a loss-making club, brings a greater reward than UEFA’s punishment will be. It is a problem of their own making; the concept of the Champions League was to generate more moneys for the clubs to the extent that it induces non-compliance with the rules. As Jerome Champagne observes, that is perhaps the least of the financial problems the restructuring of European club competitions caused.

The Premier League in days gone by, were ready to fine clubs who fielded weakened sides in their competitions. I think it was Blackpool who prioritised matches, presumably on the basis of achieving more points, and found themselves on the wrong end of a £25k fine. The sum was derisory given what they could have earned by staying up, it was a gamble worth taking. Bear in mind, this happened in the season when the 25-man squad system was introduced into the Premier League. Using the fullest extent of his squad, Ian Holloway was fined for not fielding his strongest XI. Compare that with statements this week from Chelsea about the side they intend to field at Anfield, knowing they have a better chance of winning their Champions League semi-final than the Premier League title. Will the Premier League fine the club? £25k or presumably inflation has bitten and it’s now something like £30k. What is that compared to the money the club will make from reaching the Champions League final? Surely the deduction of three points is a more ‘creditable’ punishment, one which make clubs think about transgressions?

Of course Arsenal benefit from a points deduction, most likely they would finish third. I wish Arsène had to think about fielding a weakened side because of Champions League commitments next week. [There now follows the blogging equivalent of a wistful sigh and pregnant pause whilst staring in the distance, lost in a moment's reverie]

Qualifying for the Champions League is now Arsenal’s duty, according to Yaya Sanogo, treating the fourth place trophy as if it is a right. No doubt he will be carted off to the headmaster’s office for claiming such things; Arsenal have no right to expect any silverware or so I am regularly informed. Talk of the youngster inevitably turns to the necessity for adding depth and given ’tis the time of year for season tickets to be renewed, we will see plenty of targets being interested in joining Arsenal. If that’s a touch too cynical for you, oh well, you’ll get over it. Perennial target Karim Benzema added a couple of million to his and Luis Suarez’s price tag by giving Real Madrid and slender first leg advantage in the Champions League. [Cue another blogging equivalent of a wistful sigh and pregnant pause whilst staring in the distance, lost in a moment's reverie] The comparison of Benzema and Sanogo, well, don’t make it, there is a painful gap. And no fault of that is the player, Arsenal need the depth that experience brings and the alternative style / options the Real Madrid striker brings as opposed to the rawness Sanogo brings, the potential. It doesn’t have to be Benzema of course; any experienced, international striker will do, successfully trivialising the transfer strategy and policy of the club in the course of a dozen or so words. No more than the club did last summer, some wag will no doubt observe…

There are stories abounding about Bacary Sagna being close to signing a new deal whilst other outlets claim Arsenal are in for Luke Shaw to replace the French right back. The observant among you will have already noted that Shaw is a left back so unless Arsène is planning to retrain the Southampton defender on the other side of the pitch and the other foot, it’s a bit of a non-starter. Unless Nacho Monreal is off and Shaw is replacing him. That still leaves the problem of right back but let’s not worry about details. Depending on who you ask, the club will be busy this summer with everyone flocking off to Brazil to seal deals whilst taking in a festival of football or they will sitting up half the night watching matches and catching up with the latest YouTube videos of their targets. Whether the club or doesn’t, there isn’t any point in fretting whether or not United will spend £250m repairing the damage Moyes / Ferguson wrought last season and this, whether this will impact on Arsenal. Of course it will; it’s up to Arsenal to do what is best for the club and the squad. Sanogo’s observations about a top four finish echo those of senior squad members since the end of the last campaign; it’s up to the manager and directors to ensure that the investment is made for the club to move into a position of title challengers.

’til Tomorrow.

If a week is a long time in politics, it’s a lifetime in football. Arsenal’s world has turned once more, three consecutive wins with injury striking Everton’s forward line changing the complexion of the battle for fourth place. There are more twists and turns to be had, defeat at St Mary’s on Saturday might see The Toffees come unstuck, especially if Newcastle remain true to form on Monday night at The Emirates. What was a close run race can become a canter in the blink of an eye.

As Everton’s woes begin, Arsenal’s ease. The weekend saw the return of Mesut Özil to add strength to a midfield already bolstered by Aaron Ramsey. The cavalry is thundering over the hill with Abou Diaby leading the way, closely followed by Jack Wilshere ahead of the World Cup. Inevitably thoughts turn to ‘what ifs’ when the injury list begins to shorten to the point where Theo Walcott is the only first team regular who is likely to miss Wembley. As he sat on the stretcher being given his cab fare home by the visiting Tottenham supporters, I doubt the prospect of not being back before the start of next season had crossed his mind. As the teams walk out at Wembley, spare a thought for the England international. Having been at the club throughout the lean years, the chance of a winner’s medal once more eludes his grasp.

The combination of injuries has affected the season, nobody questions that and enough of those have been posed about the January transfer window so there is little to be gained in rehashing old ground. In any case, Diaby is back (yay!) so we have a new signing. It is impossible not to have sympathy for the player on a human level. There is a good midfielder in there, frustrated by the continued run of injuries which have not so much curtailed his career but chopped it off at the knees. Judging by the photos released yesterday, somebody has chopped at the lad’s knees on a regular basis. Whether Diaby is as good a player as the mythology which has built around him suggests is another matter. That is built on the short bursts of games he has played in recent seasons on top of a promising start; whether any substance is added to that legend is another matter.

With the ruthlessness Arsène has shown in the past to others, will that ever been seen at Arsenal? Can he maintain the fitness levels needed for the English game, the rigours of which have surely hindered his recoveries in the past. Which is before you consider the brutality which brought on the sequence of events of the past seven or so years. To put that into context, at the age of 27, he has played twenty-odd fewer games that Ramsey, who is four years in his junior and missed a year or more of his own career through injury. The manager’s patronage has benefited his compatriot and I am not convinced that another regime would have been so amiable, such is the nature of the professional game. I don’t think Diaby is ever going to be the player he threatened to be four seasons ago. The cameo he provided in 2012/13 hinted at that but again, he was struck down. It is up to him to decide whether his career would be better served by a less physically demanding environment.

That crystallises the what-ifs; there are so many of them going back to 2004, a footballing mental torture if you want to embark upon that journey. Injuries run as a central theme and this season is no different. As he has returned to the midfield and generally continued where he left off, Ramsey is the focal point of attention. What if he had stayed fit, think of what might have been achieved. Not bad for a player who was roundly abused as his manager played him in positions he is not naturally suited to as he strove to regain fitness levels. But I don’t think his injury was the one which has killed off any ambitions for loftier Premier League status than fourth place.

To me, Theo Walcott’s absence has been more critical. That is not downplaying Ramsey’s importance to the side, he offers drive to the play and a goal threat from midfield. But Walcott offers pace and more goals, neither of which has been consistently replaced in the starting line-up. Despite the comfortable win at the weekend, there were some moments which encapsulated the problem Arsenal face without Walcott’s pace as an outlet. If Giroud cedes possession or looked for support, the ball invariably went back and into a congested midfield. There was no ball over the top on the right as an outlet, possession was retained and came infield. Not that it was too much of an issue with Özil, Cazorla and Arteta quite comfortable at keeping the ball and making the opposition chase shadows. But when they wanted an outlet, their options were diminished and as with past matches, you could see that they were looking almost wistfully at the wing.

You can get carried away with that game though. The performances at Anfield, Stamford Bridge and Goodison Park were not as a result of one or two missing players. After all, we had conceded six at Eastlands with a strong XI; the potential for those disasters was already there but crucially, I think the matches following, the ones were a point was gained and not victory achieved, those were the ones where the difference could and would, have been seen. Not enough to launch a title challenge, losing at the homes of our rivals scuppered that, but enough to make Mourinho’s bizarre threat to play kids at Anfield at the weekend, a decision which might push Chelsea down into fourth place. That I think is where the difference would have been made and that is an issue of depth in the squad, a weakness to be addressed this summer.

’til Tomorrow.

In days of old, the cigar smoke would have filled the oak-panelled room. The fate of the manager decided as the brandy slid down the throats of the local great and good. The decision on whether (or perhaps when is a better word) to replace David Moyes would not have been so convivial nor based on solely on footballing reasons. Manchester United is a business first and foremost; their board concerned with the implications for the brand as much as the squad.

That decision, according to reports this morning, was taken as long ago as February. There may be financial reasons for not acting then but the sums involved are trifling compared to the potential rewards of finishing in fourth place. As it is, United are fighting for the chance to play Europa League football, hoping Tottenham replicate their collapses of previous seasons when push comes to shove. That cannot be ruled out as United play three times at home in the same time Spurs play twice away, leading into the final Sunday of the season. Perhaps the Old Trafford board accepted that once Champions League football was beyond them, there was not much of an issue in not making European club football at all. After all, no midweek games offer plenty of opportunity for lucrative friendlies to be arranged to underpin the brand in the Middle East and Africa.

As quick as the speculation about Moyes’ future came so did the view that unless Arsenal acted swiftly, there will be a dearth of managerial talent available should they need to replace Arsène in the summer. That theory presumes the board have not already made their contingencies and acted upon them. After all, if the United directors can quell the speculation about their own manager’s future until now, it is not inconceivable that Arsenal can maintain silence about the club’s actions in a similar respect. Indeed, they have; there is not much speculation about Wenger’s future despite the surface appearance of uncertainty. I am sure that the board know of his decision. Whilst not a certainty, it would be surprising if a man who has invested so much of his working life in one club, would leave them hanging in the air over his future.

Perhaps he has set criteria for renewing his deal or the decision to leave in the summer is being kept quiet so that it does not distract the players from the task of a top four finish. Perhaps the thought is that the players will be boosted by a renewal or fired up to make the FA Cup final a swan song if the announcement is made in the week leading up to Wembley. I don’t know, very few outside of the board and manager do; it’s speculation, the fuel which fires football.

The ability of the board to find a replacement is openly questioned by some. What hope, the theory goes, have they of getting it right with the hash of transfer activity being made? How can they be trusted with the lack of footballing experience in the boardroom. To be honest, neither is relevant. After all, there is plenty of evidence from football’s history to suggest that knowing the professional game inside out, is the biggest bar to appointing a manager. Every club gets managerial appointments wrong at almost every turn. Howard Wilkinson astutely observed that there are two types of manager; those who have been sacked and those who waiting to be sacked. It captures the modern game but is equally apt for the previous century and a half of professional football.

Whatever the decision made is, United’s woes are far from being proof that a change in manager is not good for a club. Indeed, Arsenal would do well to appoint Arsène’s replacement by doing exactly the opposite of their former rivals. Don’t go for Wenger-lite, don’t let the manager appoint his successor. Moyes had few obvious credentials beyond being seen as a younger version of Ferguson. Having been managed in a certain style, United obviously felt that it would be less challenging to the club for this course of action to be followed. The logic is easy to see but in the case of Ferguson and Wenger, acolytes are not the answer. The infrastructure will survive but crucially Moyes biggest mistake seems to have been in replacing a huge swathe of key coaching personnel. Arsène, when he took over, recognised the importance of having a conduit to the players and the club’s history; Pat Rice filled that role admirably.

The world of Arsenal will change when Arsène Wenger leaves. That he will do so is inevitable, the brutal truth is that the question is only in the timing of that eventuality. We have to face facts and accept that the frequency of managerial change will increase at the club. Whether it will be a hire-and-fire mentality which takes over or continuation of the patience that has marked Arsenal differently to most of the rest of the professional game, remains to be seen. Bruce Rioch might rightly believe that the former is the Arsenal way given the shortness of his tenure but he and Don Howe were the exceptions to the rule. Arsenal have only had seven managers in the last half century. Compare that to the 23 who have sat in Chelsea’s hot seat over the same period or 19 at White Hart Lane. Those changes say as much about the clubs in question as they do about managerial ability.

But the key lesson from United’s woes is not the change itself. Fear of change is inertia and as damaging as change for change’s sake. My view is that this summer is the time for that to happen at Arsenal, others differ in their opinions. The board have made it clear they want Arsène to stay, the decision is his. Whatever you think, making a point politely and respectfully is incumbent upon us all.

’til Tomorrow.

Hull City 0 – 3 Arsenal

A late post today, courtesy of the nation’s northern favourite car park. Curiously enough, the result of a weekend’s football tournament not much further north than Hull itself. Close enough for them to be considered the local team.

If Hull thought winning this fixture would accrue some psychological advantage for the FA Cup final, what will the manner of this defeat bring? They huffed as the wind puffed but Arsenal blew the home defences away with two stunning first half goals from Aaron Ramsey and Lukas Podolski. The German sealed victory with his second brace of goals in consecutive games.

Events at Goodison Park underlined the importance of Arsenal’s victory and as much as the three points were vital, the manner in which they were achieved confirmed the timely rediscovery of form in this season’s race for fourth place. There was much that will have pleased Arsène about the performance, particularly in the manner Wojciech Szczesny handled the aerial threat in the opening twenty minutes or so.

Just as the conditions seemed to be dictating safety hats needed to be declared an essential piece of playing equipment, Arsenal produced two masterclasses kin attacking football to decide the match. The passing from the moment that the Hull move broke down, was fast accurate and entirely in tune with the movement of the players. Ramsey’s finish provided a goal to rival Jack Wilshere’s against Norwich City earlier in the season. It was simply a joy to watch the move unfurl and see a well-taken finish at the end of it.

And I personally believe Podolski’s first was better. Giroud’s pass emphasised the value he can bring to the squad. He does not score as many goals as Arsenal need at the moment but in providing, his value as part of a forward pair is immediately apparent. Crucially Arsenal had been engaged in a physical battle for the minutes between the goals and did not shirk from the challenges, winning a fair number as well.

After the match, Arsène underlined the important role the defence had played as Hull sought to expose the much-reported brittle defence. Yes, the woodwork saved them when Szczesny didn’t but both full backs stood firm in their confrontations and battles. In short, the first half was a return to the pre-December form. It’s too late for the title but as the chase for the fourth becomes tighter, to shake loose the cobwebs at this moment is most welcome.

When Podolski added a third ten minutes into the second half which ended the contest, as if it hadn’t been put to bed already. The remainder of the match was an exercise in keeping their hosts at bay and as cup-tied players departed the field, Hull offered less threat. It’s an entirely different scenario to the FA Cup final and no more than the natural arrogance comes from yesterday’s performance. Three wins in a week has changed the outlook around the end of the season; in no way does it wipe away the failings of the last few months but it does make the sky bluer, the sun shinier and the traffic congestion on the M1 today a little lighter.

The return of Mesut Özil as well as Aaron Ramsey’s continuing rehabilitation offer positive thoughts for the future. Maintains their fitness is crucial if Arsenal are to progress under whomever’s guidance. It may be that a winning end to the season, including lifting the FA Cup, will tempt Wenger to go for the two-year extension reportedly on offer. He may decide that it is the opportune moment to sign out on a high. Having two players of that calibre returning in the final weeks of the season can only be of benefit; the responsibility if managing them back to fitness is just one of the burdens that the manager must bear.

With Everton’s win, Arsenal taking three points was vital. Next weekend, Everton play on Saturday, two days before Newcastle United arrive at The Emirates. The pressure remains on the Merseysiders until the final whistle at St Mary’s. Whether they can handle it is another matter; the same questions will then be asked of Arsenal. Experience of previous seasons will stand them in good stead and wins -performances-such as yesterday are vital. The manner, the confidence made it stand out. That the defending wasn’t panicked or haphazard in encouraging, breeding confidence among the players. Is it any coincidence that this is the return of Koscielny to the side, restoring his partnership with Per Mertesacker.

Whatever the reason, it is welcomed, coming as it does at the business end of the season.

’til Tomorrow.