The Full English

Tonight needs no introduction. The return of a British battle in this year’s Champions League quarter final, Europe’s most elite competition. This time, Tottenham and Manchester City battle it out in what will be just the second game at the all new White Hart Lane.

 The home team go into the game off the back of some rocky form either side of the recent international break, however, a week ago they christened the return of White Hart Lane with a 2-0 win against fellow Londoners Crystal Palace. Tottenham will undoubtedly be looking at Harry Kane to come up with the goods tonight having only scored 2 in his last 7 games. Despite this, the Englishman has bagged 14 goal and 3 assists in all 17 of his Champions League career games.The importance of this match for Tottenham is huge, their first Champions League night at the new stadium and with how tight the race for top 4 is in the Premier League, I’m sure they would like to make sure it isn’t their last for a while.

City, who are on a 14 match run of consecutive wins, progressed into the final of the FA Cup last Saturday after narrowly beating Brighton 1-0. The Sky Blues are still on track to win the quadruple come the end of the season, or as manager Pep Guardiols called it, “the impossible”. Having dispatched Schalke 10-2 in the round of 16, City will be likely to carry their incredible form into this tie, however the injury doubt to talisman Sergio Aguero could prove difficult to City. Despite this, a City’s player of the tournament so far without a doubt has to be Leroy Sane. The 23 year old has scored 4 goals with 5 assists in the 5 Champions League games he’s played in this season and his pace on the attack will be a tough test for the less mobile Tottenham defenders.

It has to be said that with the two teams facing each other 3 times in a fortnight (once in North London and twice in Manchester), the chance of Tottenham losing all 3 does seem slim and if they are going to get a result in any of them, you’d fancy it to be tonight at their own ground.

The winner of this 2 legged clash will most likely play Juventus (who would be expected to beat Ajax in their tie) in what could be Tottenham’s first Champions League Semi final, and only City’s Second. Spurs manager Mauricio Pochittino has called it  the “most important match as a coach” but he will have to wait and see if it goes as he would like later on.

To TMO, or not to TMO?

As football fans, we are always demanding and hoping for world class refereeing, but rarely get it. Increasingly over the past few years, the idea of a football Television Match Official (TMO) has been on the radar very much but after decisions to put it off from the top of football, that idea is yet to materialise into a reality.

Would a TMO disrupt the flow of the beautiful game? Has technology moved on so far in recent years that a TMO should be formality of football? Who knows?

The argument against it is simple. Football is loved worldwide because of the free flowing and rapid pace of it, right? So a TMO would only stop that, making matches less exciting and more stop-start. Although bad decisions in matches are made regularly by the refs, they are part of what we have grown to know. One of main reasons so many people pay their money to watch their team is because they love football and there should be nothing in the world to stop that. It's true, we all love football, so why not leave it how it is? 

The highly supported counter argument to this is that technology is moving at such a high pace and football is being left behind, much like football is moving on and Arsene Wenger is being left behind. The fans who pay £50+ for every match to watch their team expect the best from referees and unfortunately they are regularly let down. If you are paying that much money, you want to see a high quality match with high quality refereeing but if that is not the case, are you the fool for paying that much expecting far to much or are the FA the fool for not adding a TMO into matches?

In recent months the demand for a TMO has been tremendous with serious chats about a TMO being introduced for the next FA Cup. We have seen glimpses of it in recent years with ex-referee Howard Webb analysing key decisions in matches shown by BT Sport. In one instance, Harry Redknapp was asked whether a foul should have been a penalty or not, his response being "stone-wall penalty, Jake". They then went to Howard Webb who then said that the attacker forced the contact with the defender therefore the original decision of it not being a penalty was correct. Redknapp then said, "well no one knows the rules of football anymore!" 

In light of the recent International break, the fixture between France and England was one of the first high level matches to have the TMO involved in it. A decision was overruled by the TMO giving not only a penalty but a red card to the offender. The interruption took less than 40 seconds and proved its efficiency in a high pressure situation. 

As an Arsenal fan, I have experienced many frustrating refereeing decisions and believe that a TMO could only improve the beautiful game. The question is, why wouldn't you want correct ruling in a match?

Unai's up and coming Arsenal or Sarri's sporadic Chelsea?

As we reach another international break, the race for survival, the title and the top 4 are as hot as we have seen for quite some time. With Fulham and Huddersfield needing a miracle to survive, Cardiff, Burnley and Southampton are all fighting to stay out of the relegation zone. At the top, Liverpool and Manchester City are neck and neck with each other and due to Tottenham going into free fall, or as some might call it "doing a Tottenham", and the final 2 spots for the illusive Champions League qualification are still up for grabs. Arsenal seemingly have the easiest run in to the end of the season without having to face a top 6 opponent again however Spurs, United and Chelsea all have 2 more top 6 sides to face. Due to losing 2-0 to Everton, Chelsea missed out on the chance to join Arsenal on points after their game in hand leaving Chelsea 3 points off the Top 4. 7 or 8 games remain depending on which teams have a game in hand and anyone who would predict the outcome of this seasons Premier League would require a lot of bravery!

2 of this seasons new managers, Unai Emery of Arsenal and Maurizio Sarri of Chelsea, have had big impacts on their respective clubs. Emery led Arsenal on a 22 unbeaten run from the start of September through till December, in the process picking up points against Liverpool and United as well as winning his first North London Derby 4-2 in one of the games of the season. 

Continuing his excellent record in the Europa League from previous jobs, Emery has led Arsenal to a Quarter-final tie against Italy's high flying Napoli. It is safe to say too that Emery has done a stellar job in bringing the love back to the club after the toxicity within the fanbase during Wenger's last months in charge. He has found no trouble in turning the players into a team as well as bringing out the best in them. Under Unai Emery, the striking combination of Alex Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has proved pivotal in his first season with the pair scoring a total of 29 league goals with 11 assists.
The two seem to be Unai's best men for the job however one thing that must be mentioned is the improvements on the defensive side of things. Last year Arsenal showed vulnerability at the back but with the arrival of Sokratis Papastathopolous, the men in Red have displayed their togetherness, especially in recent weeks among which they put in a top performance away to Tottenham, only to be robbed of the 3 points and clean sheet by some shocking refereeing decisions. The fans seem to love what he has done for the club and how the players seem to want victory more than they used to; Unai could be on track for a hell of a first season to the Premier League.


Maurizio Sarri has not had it as plain sailing though. He joined Chelsea following the departure of Antonio Conte, a man who in his two year spell won the FA Cup and the League title. At the start of the season, Chelsea were flying high with the big boys, staying unbeaten for the opening 13 games, picking up a win against Arsenal on matchday 2. However, Chelsea fell back down to reality after an embarrassing performance away to Spurs at Wembley, losing 3-1. This was the start of Chelsea's collapse as a season. A few months later they lost 2-0 at the hands of Unai Emery's Arsenal, which sparked Sarri to say 'this group of players are extremely difficult to motivate'. 

Having gone away from home to their two biggest London rivals and lose in such a convincing manner left Sarri no choice but to call out his players. The comment caused havoc around Chelsea and parallels were being drawn to the fall out he was having with the players to the one Mourinho had a few years ago. Since then, we saw Chelsea losing 4-0 away to Bournemouth as well as 6-0 away to Manchester City. The attitude players have on away days clearly is a big issue Sarri will have to rectify by the end of the season in order to get into the Top 4. Chelsea did go on an all but successful Cup run, albeit in the Carabao Cup; beating Tottenham on penalties in the semi-final at the Bridge proving the highlight of the campaign. They were up against Man City in the final, worthy winners in many eyes. However, Chelsea put up a great fight showing resilience and desire but failed to get a goal before it went to penalties. In the final seconds on extra-time, Sarri decided to use one of his tricks he might have preempted. He was about to bring substitute keeper Willy Cabellero on to replace Kepa, the number 1, as Cabellero has an astounding penalty saving record. Kepa refused to leave the pitch even after being confronted by David Luiz leaving Sarri amazed and looking like such a fool. In the shootout, Kepa ironically missed a very easy save which could have led to a Chelsea victory, giving Sarri his first ever major trophy as a manager. 

This put even more significance on Chelsea's progression in the Europa League as it could turn out to be a Chelsea vs Arsenal or Napoli final, the significance of a Napoli tie being that it was his former club. It is clear to the naked eye that Sarri has had many difficulties in his first season, but he seems to have put that behind him in order to get the best out of this group of players, afterall, he's going to be stuck with them for quite some time due to Chelsea's transfer ban!

As it stands, Arsenal sit 3 points clear of Chelsea, with both still being in the Europa League. The season is far from over with lots of games to change the dynamic in London, but up until now, it seems that the effect Unai Emery has made on the club and the fan-base has been terrific for Arsenal whereas Sarri's for Chelsea seems less so. We still might be yet to see the defining moments in the season with the Europa League hotting up and sone huge Premier League fixtures for both.

Weekend Round-Up - Liverpool Klopping points again

As the weekend's sport draws to a close, i'll be looking back at the key moments in title races among different leagues, finals, beginnings of new tournaments as well as reflecting on the recent news regarding Emi Sala.

Friday night saw the return of the hotly anticipated Six Nations tournament as France hosted Wales at the Stade de France in Paris. After a dominant first half, France let a 16-0 lead go as they lost 24-19 courtesy of two George North tries. As Saturday approached, it was set out to be a busy day of sport from all areas. Tottenham were victorious over Newcastle in the early kick-off as recently returned Hueng Min Son got his second goal since his arrival back from the Asian Cup. At Murrayfield it was the Wooden Spoon decider as Scotland were facing an Italy side who hadn't won any of their last 17 Six Nations games. Again, the Scots won, this time winning 33-20 but soon all the attention was shifted onto Chelsea at the Bridge who were up against a poor Huddersfield side; in the spotlight this week was the Blues' new number 9, Gonzalo Higuaín. He didn't disappoint with two very well taken goals on his Premier League debut. Chelsea won 5-0, somewhat recovering the deficit of the humiliation midweek against Bournemouth.

At 5 O'clock it was the choice between the title decider in the Championship or the biggest game of the Six Nations. Ireland were in Dublin up against an England side who were wanting to put the demons of the previous tournament behind them having lost at Twickenham to the Irish, this time, it was the other way round. Ireland were played off the park in all areas of the pitch, England's defence was nothing but rock solid yet the transition of defence to attack could not have been deadlier. Henry Slade caught the eye, scoring two tries on what was a famous victory for English Rugby. He said afterwards "we knew exactly how we wanted to play, we executed it perfectly" summing up the tale of the game.

Starting half an hour later was Leeds against Norwich at Elland Road. Leeds, who have dominated the Championship this year, were sitting 3 points clear at the top of the table and Norwich were 3rd at the start of play, only 3 points behind; victory for either would change the dynamic for the race for automatic promotion. An intense atmosphere at Elland Road was not enough for Leeds who were for the first time this season, completely outplayed, losing 3-1 only for a late Patrick Bamford conciliation. Norwich leapfrogged Leeds to take the lead at the top whilst Leeds slipped to second after what was a significant weekend in the Championship.

Sunday, depending on who you support or where you support was a big day. Liverpool fans praying Arsenal would do a job on Man City was however a step too far as the Gunners were unable to see out the game after a hectic opening ten minutes in which the score was left at 1-1. A Sergio Aguero hat trick was enough for City who were 3-1 winners closing the gap on Liverpool to only 2 points ahead of the Reds' trip to the London Stadium. The other half of Manchester continued the rich run of form with a Marcus Rashford goal proving decisive in what was Solskjær's 9th win in 10 games as United boss. The 53rd Super Bowl was held in Atlanta between the Patriots and the Rams and for the 3rd time in 5 years the Patriots won. Some might call it as a dull game with the score as 13-3 but it doesn't really matter how you win as long as you do. 

Monday night saw Liverpool travel to London to face West Ham, a team who have enjoyed lots of success against the big boys this season at home beating Arsenal and United, as well as taking points off Chelsea. After dropping points midweek against Leicester it was crucial that Liverpool picked up all 3. However a Michail Antonio equaliser left Liverpool wanting more after missing out again on 2 extra points  for the second time in 6 days. 

And lastly, it was discovered that the plane with Emi Sala onboard was found at the bottom of the seabed of the English Channel with a body found in it. It is yet to be confirmed regarding the identity of the body but in the coming days, the plane will be lifted and forensically examined to determine the outcome of his death. 

Your Diving me mad!

Ever since the Italians introduced it in the 90's, diving has become a point of discussion throughout the world of football. It's something which every football fan can agree on; diving is wrong. It is blatant cheating. 

Take Victor Moses, Chelsea wing-back. He was given a second yellow card in this years FA Cup Final, which Arsenal won 2-1, for diving in the hope of getting a penalty for his efforts. After the game, the Blues' manager Antonio Conte defended Moses claiming that the Nigerian was just tired, 'Moses is an honest player and if he did this it’s only because he was tired. He didn’t want to cheat the referee.' 

Maybe its just me, but is it not bizarre that the manager was unable to see that his player dropped to the floor after no contact from the defender? There is the possibility that Conte did see the dive and is merely defending Moses. Although that would be a perfectly rational response, in such a high profile sporting event and considering the outcome of the match, shouldn't Conte have just said his player was in the wrong?

In a situation like this, the referee, Sir Anthony Taylor must take a lot of the credit for not only noticing the diving but punishing it regardless of the circumstances. Which leads me on to the next part of why diving is still in football. There have been multiple times where the referee has been at fault for not acknowledging a dive or punishing it. It seems that they aren't able to see that 'forcing the contact' and diving is the same thing. Just because there has been contact between the attacker and defender does not mean it isn't a dive. There have been countless occasions of minimal contact in the penalty area that have proven to be game changing.

However, the referee shouldn't have to be criticised for not making the right decision every time, after all, they are only human. In the matches, it isn't the officials who dive, its the players. And so fault should lie with them.

So why do the players escape being slaughtered by pundits and angry fans on the BBC5Live 606 phone-in every Saturday?
There seems to be a belief that the players are just "trying their hardest" to win and that they will do "anything" for it. To me, that is just taking pity on the players. There are a lot of footballers who are there for the money and couldn't care about anything else.

Despite how frustrated referees make us, there should be some form of acknowledgement for how tough their job is.

However, I'm sure as football fans, we all hope diving is stamped out from football as quickly as possible. Whether that is done through stronger officiating or through the clubs, I don't think anybody cares as long as it is gone.