SEMIFINALS BOILING...

Fans of the Champions' League are in for an exciting time, with the pairings of the Semi-Final known.  You can imagine the headlines and "beer parlour" knock out punches already. From, the comparism of Jose Mourinho and Diego Simone, Diego Costa facing the team he might likely join, Thibault Courtois imminent return to Chelsea, whilst the politics of playing against them is still boiling. Atletico Madrid/Chelsea has taken shine off the legendary pairing of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

That Mourinho badly wanted this fixture is an understatement, especially with the issue of Courtois playing against Chelsea. But Atletico will be a very tough opponent as we know, they remain unbeaten in the Champions League,they are top of the Spanish Liga. Remember, they beat Mourinho's Real Madrid in last year's Copa del Rey, whilst winning the Europa League and the European Super Cup in 2012. The way they destroyed Chelsea in the Super Cup is very fresh in the memory of Chelsea fans, though they have lost the architect of that victory in Radamel Falcao to Monaco- but the way Diego Costa has stepped up to the plate is fantasizing to faithfuls. I would rather say this is a tie Chelsea should not have wished for. 

The technicality of the Atletico boys is astonishing. they combine graft with finesse in an amazing way. I wonder how Mourinho will deploy Lampard and Ramires against Gabi and Koke. The only way i see Chelsea come clean in these two-legged match is to continue with the politics of Courtois, which will hit against them in the long run. 

It's going to be a amazing match up but one thing is certain Simeone's boys will fight hard.

FA Cup... Arsenal has a fever.

I don't know of any Arsenal faithful really confident of winning the game against Wigan or Wenger signing a new contract, or if they will win "4th place" or if Ramsey will be sold at the end of the season...it's that bad, even when Arsene Wenger is not sure of himself. 

Irrespective of tomorrow's result,  If Wenger loves the club has he lays claims to, the next few days should tell of his future for the club. He's weakness is robbing off on the team. Whilst he can lay claim to re-positioning the statute of the club especially in the new stadium and finances, the playing philosophy MUST be revamped, but not by Wenger- the failings of the last 8 years has shown he can't carry on. 

The inevitable will still happen if Arsenal fans are thinking of the situation of David Moyes in Manchester United, the remedy is to get a worthy replacement.  It hurts to see Patrick Vieira coach the next generation in Manchester City, he should be back in Arsenal, why is  Dennis Bergkamp not coaching the young ones?. These guys should be back to make Arsenal great again. Arsene Wenger has made the club evolve around him and it has to stop. Whenever the board needs to replace, they shouldn't look past Jurgen Klopp and not Everton's Martinez. Martinez still has to prove he is the real deal in his second season at Everton.

In all, i savor a win against Wigan, and i expect the boys to step up.

My Squad to face Wigan: Fabianski- Sagna, Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Monreal- Arteta, Ramsey, Cazorla, Chamberlain, Rosicky- Sanogo. 

Arsene Wenger Must Become a Pragmatist Again to Bring Arsenal Success

By Stan Collymore (Former Aston Villa Player)

Arsenal don't need a new manager, they need Arsene Wenger to become a new man. He needs to go from being a dreamer to a pragmatist and revisit the past to understand how he earned his reputation. Wenger's early teams at Arsenal were physically imposing. you'd stand next to the likes of Martin Keown, Patrick Vieira, Emmaneul Petit and Co. in the tunnel and you know there was a fierce battle ahead. they had a mob of street fighters back then-- tough players who stood upon  to be counted.

But at some point Wenger decided on a change of philosophy. perhaps inspired by the rise of teams like Barcelona on the continent, he turned his focus to signing smaller, more mobile players. it might be the right approach for Europe, but it neglected the fundamental requirements of the Premier League.

Fans in England want to see physicality. They want players who can win aerial battles, thrive in close-quarters combat and handle themselves in a challenge. The Premier League is a reflection of that, and you can't win without those elements to your squad.
Manuel Pelligrini and Jose Mourinho know this only too well, Sir Alex Ferguson was well aware of it also. That's why Mourinho bought Nemanja Matic to Chelsea. And why he has John Terry and Frank Lampard in his squad, with the likes of Michael Essien and Didier Drogba. Ferguson had Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher, Carlos Tevez, Ronaldo in the squad that won the Champions League in 2008. 

These are street fighters, born and bred. If you held a WWE smackdown with all the 20 Premier League, these are the guys who would be standing at the end of it. Where would Arsenal be? they'd be a the end of the pile, having taking a pounding.

Arsenal is fine with 80 percent of the teams in Premier League, but when they play the big teams, they get rolled over. Chelsea outplayed and out-muscled them last week.
The only way back for Arsenal is for Wenger to appreciate the fact, and act on it. Arsenal can play all the beautiful football they like, but without the core of physically dominant individual in their squad they wont be challenging for the Premier League anytime soon.
Wenger could start by signing a powerful striker-somebody in the mould of Diego Costa, who will sweat blood for the team and put himself about. Arsenal also need a Matic type in the midfield to set the tone and make them hard to beat.

If Wenger needs inspiration he should watch the clips of Keown jumping arounding wildly in front of Ruud Van Nistelrooy at Old Trafford. Arsenal had a mean streak back then. Tobe successful, they need to discover it again, and Wenger needs to fundamentally change his outlook.

"When failure starts to be cliched, as it does at Arsenal this season, a manager needs to act"



culled from the Bleacher Report.