Here’s The Tin Opener – Too Late, UEFA Open A Can Of Worms & Old Trafford Beckons

Platini – Small Man, Even Smaller Mind

No sooner had the UEFA President spoken than a lackey announced that the Croat would be charged. Ever the populist, Platini lacks the intellectual verve to consider the wider implications of his organisations actions. They do not have the stomach for a fight with the former G14 clubs yet that is exactly the outcome of UEFA’s actions.

UEFA must now intervene on every occasion in which a dubious interpretation of an incident takes place. Failure to do so renders them even more impotent on the world stage, a point that will not be lost on those who wish for the clubs to take more control of the game. It will be a fascinating month or two in the Champions League. Will the powers that be have big enough cojones to charge Messi, Henry or Ronaldo? They won’t.

Bringing about disciplinary action gives UEFA the moral high ground in PR terms. A failure to deal with every single incident where a player is accused of diving creates a moral vacuum. There are few enough morals and scruples within football as it is, the potential here is not for cleaning up the game, more to create a cheat’s charter.

Arsenal, Arsene in particular, has made it abundantly clear that they will vigourously defend Eduardo. With the disciplinary committee already undermined by the referee reiterating his belief that he called the decision correctly, Arsene outlined the defence that will be applied:

To single out a player who is coming back from injury like he had, when he was hit in the way he was, for going down… well I don’t blame him. When you saw his leg after that tackle I don’t blame him for getting out of the way of the goalkeeper

It is a defence that must succeed in theory. Suffering a horrific injury will affect someone whenever the chance of a similar outcome presents itself. In practice, UEFA will not care one iota about that. And therein is the rub for UEFA. The past is the point that they cannot escape; Eduardo was brutally assaulted on a football pitch yet they did not take further action against Taylor. Pleading that the Football Association has ultimate responsibility for domestic matches does not wash; UEFA and FIFA ultimately sanction all professional football matches and can interfere wherever.

The flaw in UEFA’s proceedings was highlighted by Wenger

It is completely [a] lack of logic in this case. Why? Because people have reacted emotionally, which I can understand. Secondly, because this case has been ruled by the media

The media drives football’s revenues from all sources. Now they drive the regulation of the sport. Platini’s lack of intellect was rammed home by Wenger:

Usually a situation that has been assessed and judged by the referee can’t be touched again. Now every single decision made by a referee can be challenged. So for me they’ve opened a very dangerous door here

Crucially, Platini has not spotted this. If he did, then his wider motivation is apparent since this is at direct odds with everything that Sepp Blatter and FIFA has declared. Referees have a greater infallibility than the Pope. No longer. Moreover, the only logical conclusion if this is the case is that Platini wants to rule the world, the footballing part of it anyway. A Napoleon complex perhaps?

If anyone truly believes that Eduardo will escape this charge, they are delusional. Platini has chosen to immolate Eduardo in order to establish his own credentials as the saviour of football. Disconcertingly for the English game, and Arsenal in particular, they are the sacrificial lambs to be slaughtered.

The Visit To Old Trafford

The tea time kick-off presents Arsenal with a genuine opportunity to inflict some damage on Manchester United’s defence of their title. It will not be fatal but a victory will put considerable pressure on United in the same way that Liverpool are now similarly afflicted. Two defeats in the opening five games is a considerable mountain to overcome.

Having won all four of their games thus far, with a vastly superior goal difference, the Arsenal squad should be brimming with confidence. And in fairness, there is no doubt that they are extremely so. The crucial thing is to keep that confidence in check, stopping it from dissolving into arrogance and over-confidence.

Yet if Arsenal win, it will be in tough circumstances. A by-product of UEFA’s actions ought to be to instill a sense of injustice amongst the players. This is a useful psychological tool for Arsene to exploit, particuarly in the absence of Cesc for this fixture. His absence will be detrimental; players of that quality are always missed. Yet for once, Wenger has options, most of which revolve around his deployment of Andrei Arshavin.

The obvious solution is to drop Abou Diaby into the midfield and move Denilson to a more central role. That would not impact on the attacking third of the pitch whilst bolstering the defence. However, there is a chance that Wenger may sense that United are vulnerable. The defeat at Turf Moor creates a sense of doubt. A win at Wigan does little to alleviate that.

Playing Arshavin in central midfield, a crucial role in the 4-3-3 deployed this season, would be a bold attacking move. Arshavin has the vision and ability to carry out such a role. How Arsene must be wishing that Tomas Rosicky was further down his road to recovery. It would essentially mean a forward line at kick-off of Eduardo, van Persie and Bendtner with no-one in reserve as an outright attacker. For that reason, I do not believe he will be so bullish and that Diaby will come into midfield.

Technically gifted, the midfield has purred. Retention of the ball has been good, leaving opponents chasing shadows at times. Forcing them to rush their passes has been a marked change this campaign. In other words, United can expect everything that they throw at teams back. In spades.

One of the reasons for increased confidence is the form of the defence. The partnership of Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas has, so far, looked formidable. However, they have yet to be tested. None of the forwards from Everton, Portsmouth or Celtic has worked them hard. Part of that is the positional and overall defensive play of the Arsenal duo, the rest is the paucity of talent in the opposition.

The Belgian is not over-awed by the prospect of Owen, Rooney or Berbatov:

No I’m not nervous, every player looks forward to playing these types of games. I think if you play for Arsenal in the Premier League, every game is a hard game…You are looking forward to every game but Man United is a special game. I think they are a good team, they might have sold Cristiano Ronaldo but still they have very good players.

The start he has made has silenced the doubters about requiring a neanderthal in the centre of the defence. His distribution and positional sense are reminscent of Beckenbauer and Krol. Certainly, there is a strong case for him being not just the Arsenal player of the month but also the Premier League player of the month for August.

I would expect the line-up to be:

Almunia; Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy; Diaby, Denilson, Song; Bendtner, van Persie, Arshavin

Having these fixtures this early in the season is invigorating for the supporters and for the players. A win builds belief on and off the pitch. The flip side is that defeats allow plenty of time to recover and in that respect, the result is not season shaping for Arsenal. It would be different for United and that is why a reversion to the physical approach that ended the unbeaten run in 2004/05 should not be ruled out. Yes, you guessed it, that defeat still rankles.

Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ’til Tomorrow.

Sauce