The Winner takes all

The talking is over. Let the games begin. Tonight’s game is the ultimate Gladiators warfare. Two protagonists with little love lost between them.

Chelsea will take the mantle of the wounded animal in more ways than one. Having let the Premiership slip away, the London club will be seeking revenge. And no better place than on the biggest club stage in the World.

And preparations have not been ideal. Initial injury worries surrounding Didi Drogba and Terry were further compounded by Claude Makelele’s reckless challenge on Ashley Cole during yesterday’s run-out. How such incidents will sit in the dressing room is anyone’s guess.

But if Cole starts and is slightly hampered by the ankle injury, this could spell trouble as Cristiano Ronaldo will seek to exploit any weakness. In recent matches Cole has kept Ronaldo quiet. When he was at full fitness. And while Ronaldo has scored 41 goals this season, he is not the only match winner for United.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s team will take the role of the Champion Gladiator who will proudly strut around, chest out, owning the arena. With the experience of European Finals more prominent in their ranks, ‘United will go into the Final with a better knowledge of what to expect.

There will be much shaping-up between the two teams but for the neutral supporter there must be a hope that the two warriors do not cancel each other out. A dour affair like last year’s FA Cup would be everyone’s worst nightmare.

For the manager’s, it may well be a defining moment in their careers. For Ferguson, a win will confirm him as one of the greatest British managers and for Avram Grant, he can only hope that a win will confirm his position as Chelsea manager for next season.

With defence at a premium, the gladiator who can spring the surprise attack will take all the spoils.

Underdogs fail to ignite FA Cup fire

In a week when more British teams are competing in European finals than ever before, Portsmouth and Cardiff City must be wondering what they have to do to bring attention to themselves and their FA Cup Final on Saturday.

As the top teams fell from grace in the FA Cup, the tournament was once again being talked up and that the old romance in the competition still existed. And yet, with Manchester United and Chelsea competing in the first All-England Champions League final only four days later, there is almost a case for all involved in the FA Cup Final to throw their hands up in desperation. The focus continues to be on the other final.

Ever since they reached the final both Cardiff and Portsmouth’s focus has been on Saturday’s final. While the welsh tried in vain to push on at the end of the season for a Championship play-off, their heart was never fully in it, as they awaited their day in the May sunshine in Wembley. Portsmouth took their foot off the pedal even earlier, satisfied with their lot and aware they could not realistically challenge those ahead of them for a UEFA Cup spot in the Premier League. A win on Saturday was seen as an easier road into Europe.

The romance of tomorrow’s final will not be lost on the two teams, their managers and their players. But to others it might not be the same. The winner will be the first outside the ‘Big 4’ to win the FA Cup since Everton in 1995. The winner will go into next year’s UEFA Cup. But because there is no great love amongst the neutral fans for either club, the romance and the big build-up has simply not materialised.

And when Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba all hint at moves away from their clubs, it is not hard to see why the FA Cup has been pushed down the headlines.

BBC and Sky Sports will build it up tomorrow with pieces about the ball being used, Wembley, the suits, the hotels the teams are staying in and the dressing room superstitions. But it won’t matter because the neutrals won’t be watching.

Manchester United and Chelsea have not finished their seasons yet. They’re still the headline grabbers and as long as they are still in contention for more silverware, they will continue to grab the headlines.

Titles on a shoestring. But for how long?

When Arsene Wenger first arrived at Highbury, a relative unknown, the greatest talking point was the similarity of his first name to his new club. Very much a thinking-man’s manager, Wenger quickly moved on to demonstrate he is one of the most astute managers in Europe and has brought the London club success on a shoestring, but has not reached the next level of a European title.

Now more than 12 years at Highbury, there is no sign of his motivation waning and indeed in the midst of another team re-build, this latest team could well be one of the most talented in a number of years.

Most striking about Wenger’s time at Arsenal has been his astute purchases of young, relatively unknown players and his ability to maximise their talents and provide them with a playing philosophy within which to display their undoubted talents.

Some of his first signings included Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka. The following year, as the Arsenal back four began to break up, the French-man controversially signed Tottenham Hotspurs captain, Sol Campbell, as well as Frederik Ljungberg and the French duo of Thierry Henry and Robert Pires.

These signings along with the existing English players in the squad developed into one of the best teams to watch play football in the Premiership; a trait that continues to this day.

And while these signings have thrived under Wenger’s tutelage, it is their exit from Highbury that is most telling.

There has often been uproar from the stands when word circles that particular players are being let go or sold. However, in the years that follow their exit, not many of the players have maintained the same level of success from both an individual or team perspective.

Overmars and Petit, two of the mainstays of the Arsenal midfield, were sold together to Barcelona. Overmars lasted four years with the Catalan club, but it took him a number of years to settle into the club. Petit only lasted a season before returning to London and Arsenal’s arch-rivals, Chelsea, where he did not have any like the impact he previously had in the Premiership.

Nicolas Anelka moved through so many clubs that they are not worth mentioning, and while continuing to be a goal-scorer, has not reached the same heights of success when at Arsenal.

This season Wenger kept his wick dry and did not dip into the transfer market during the January window. This ultimately was to the detriment of their Premiership challenge. While their nearest rivals Manchester United and Chelsea both suffered injuries, players of equal calibre were able to step into the fold without too much disruption. And it was they who ultimately finished first and second.

As the wheelings and dealings of the summer transfer season begin, but most likely to intensify further after the European Championships, Arsenal’s comings and goings will make for interesting viewing.

Already gone to a bigger paymaster is Gilles Grimandi. Will others follow or be pushed out and who will be brought in?

Players like Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor want to play at the highest level. If this Arsenal team does not step up to the mark in the Premiership (last won in 2004) and Europe in the next couple of years, it may be the end of the team or the manager. Only time will tell.

Advantage United

Manchester United hold the advantage over their London rivals, Chelsea, going into next week’s Champions League Final in Moscow. Seeing off the stern challenge of Wigan 2-0, the Red Devils clinched their 10th Premier League title in 17 years.

At the end of a long season, injuries to key players have been critical to both United and Chelsea for their league run in as well as their Champions League semi-finals.

Sir Alex Ferguson had the luxury of welcoming back both defender Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney into his starting 11. Both lasted 90 minutes.

In contrast, Chelsea started without defender Ricardo Carvalho and ended the game without captain John Terry, who left the pitch with a dislocated elbow after a clash with goalkeeper Petr Cech. Didier Drogba also suffered an injury at the end of the game, jarring his knee, and now both are rated doubtful for Moscow. However, Terry did believe he would be in a position to play in the final.

So with United at full strength and Chelsea potentially missing at least one of their talismen, not to mention the United players with Premier League medals around their neck, it is advantage United as they travel to Moscow for the first-ever all-England Champions League final.

Respect the Ref? Two chances!

Hands on hips. His chin lowered to his chest and back to the referee, the player refused to look at the official. Only when threatened with expulsion from the game did the player petulantly make half a turn to receive his yellow card. Having looked the referee in the eye, he was already running away by the time the official’s arm was fully outstretched.

If this was an under ten’s game in the Phoenix Park, the emotion and frustration of the player may be understandable, but when it happens at White Hart Lane and the player is Ashley Cole, any feelings of sympathy toward the player quickly dissipate.

Only four days later Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano received a second yellow card and was dismissed. His offence? Charging more than 20 yards to dispute a challenge made on one of his team-mates.

The issue of player-official respect has once again been brought to the fore.

But a trip down memory lane is not a long one to discover when this was last the favourite bar-stool topic of conversation. It is less than 10 years since Paolo Di Canio infamously pushed referee Paul Alcock to the ground after being given his marching orders. Before being banned for 11 games and fined £10,000, politicians and former players were outraged at the Italian’s behaviour. “Chuck the book at him,” said then Sports Minister, Tony Banks MP.

Such fines are nowadays not going to hurt the top professionals where many in the Premiership will be earning about three to four times that amount a week.

Players like Cole now earn more in a week than the referee earns in a year. The Chelsea player believes he is a minor celebrity – he’s not – and therefore has a right to look down his nose at anyone who dares challenge him. Likewise his team-mates.

In football, the players believe they have a God given right to challenge every decision made by the authorities, it doesn’t matter if it took place five or 50 yards away from them.

Indeed, it is not only the players who find themselves in trouble, clubs are increasingly being brought to task for not being able to control their players or 'bringing the game into disrepute'. Arsenal and Chelsea are most often at the top of the list, with the Stamford Bridge club already fined three times this year and assistant coach, Steve Clarke, also fined for abusing an official.

How often in the past number of years has a referee made a decision, or not, and is almost immediately been surrounded by a large number of players. The jostling, barracking and abuse is now seen as a valid tactic to seek to sway the decision about to be meted out. Such incidents do not take place by accident.

In the past week the Football Association (FA) launched a grass-roots campaign to recruit more referees but also improve player behaviour towards match officials. Such a campaign is not an over-night solution but must be welcomed.

Everton manager David Moyes was one of a number of Premiership managers to come out in support of the FA’s proposal to tackle the issue. But he believes respect is a two way thin: “We know they want us to give them respect. They have to give us respect also.”

However Sunderland manager, Roy Keane was highly critical of Premiership managers preaching about players respecting referees. The antagonism shown by players does not happen by mistake. And it is no co-incidence that the teams with the most vociferous managers are those with the most vocal players.

“There are a lot of hypocrites out there. The same bosses talking about players showing respect have been sent off themselves for abusing officials,” said Keane.

The Cork-man who was one of the fiercest competitors on the pitch has been one of the calmest man patrolling the touchlines and believes it is his job to set the example in the club: “I’ve made it clear to everyone here – from the academy to the first team – that a lack of respect towards referees will not be tolerated. How can the players show respect if their managers does not?”

While the FA are seeking to hire the referees at grassroots level, they would do well to include a chapter in the document for managers.

Chief Executive of the Professional Footballer’s Association, Gordon Taylor has called for an exclusion zone around referees to stop players’ dissent. “I have made it clear referees should be a no-go area. It is time managers and players did accept a responsibility because what happens at the top level happens lower down.”

While an exclusion zone is good in principle, any comments can still easily be shouted from five yards away.

If the message is to get across to the players that dissent will not be tolerated, then they must be hit where it will hurt most - on the pitch. Why not take a leaf from the rugby rule-book? Any lip or back chat – ten yards.

If Cole had 10 team-mates shouting at him to shut up as the referee moved a free-kick a further 10 yards up the pitch he might just listen. He respects them.