Winter is over (the break bit)

by .

The winter break is OVER and the football can begin.

The good news is the squad will all boast a light bronze tan coming out of the Dubai camp, good for confidence. They’ll also have had some time to mentally recalibrate and they’ll no doubt have a bit more juice in the legs (legal juice).

The injury story is finally starting to look a little less bleak. The Newcastle game this weekend will see the return of Reiss Nelson, Saed Kola, and Bukayo Saka. Three crucial players to the Arteta model. Power and pace. Something we miss too often in this squad.

Pablo Mari is being earmarked for the Europa League game against Olympiacos on Thursday. Cedric has some work to do to get over his problems. Cal and Kieran are still a way off.

Quite a lot of the pre-game chat was about squad rebuilding for this summer. Mikel had this to say on the planning process.

“Absolutely, we have to plan,”

“We need to know the direction we want to head and to do that we need bear in mind different scenarios.

“With that in mind I have to tell the club what we need, where we think we can improve and where we need to aim.

“If we all aim for the same things, we put a plan in place to execute it, and make the process as short as possible.”

I suspect the direction of this summer will be far more pointed than it has been. Mikel seems much more clear in what his plan for the squad is and hopefully that will be reflected in the types of player we bring in, but more importantly, the emergence of Edu should ensure that this summer, things move a lot quicker.

The Mirror reckon we’ll likely move on a lot of the players with one year left on their deals. They expect to see Auba, Lacazette and Leno receive big money offers… and I’d be fine with that, provided we don’t bring in a load of bums in to replace them. Youth, power, pace and elite levels of football intelligence.

There’s a story doing the rounds that Saka is nowhere near on his deal negotiations. I know he’s a top talent, so the interest from other clubs is likely real, but I think he’d be made to leave a club that’s giving him what he wants: trust, coaching, game time. He has a good thing here, the fans love him, and he’s living in London.

The Newcastle game is big. I think we need to see an uptick in output. Arteta has been working his process through the club, he’s spent some time with the players, had some good moments, some bad.. but the squad is united.

Now let’s see what it has to offer.

Mesut Ozil has been taking a pasting from everyone this week. His output has declined at a rapid rate, and he’s under pressure for more than his body language. He needs to turn up, convert the effort into assists, and he has to start influencing games like he used to.

Overall, the team needs to be more ambitious in the final third. We have a very exciting front three however you package them. Better finishing, more ambition, and faster movement.

The next 5 games are about finding the balance. We are harder to beat, no doubt, but we’re not protagonists at the moment. We’re a little bit Wenger of a few years ago. It’s almost a tactical ploy to give us the ball, because we’ve no idea how to use the advantage. I think Nuno said he doesn’t believe in ‘pointless possession’, that’s where we are, we need some edge… and for me, there is no doubt we have the players to move to the next level there at this moment.

We have a pretty fair run of fixtures over the next two months. We need to make it count, get some wins, improve the football, and build some belief going into the summer.

See you in the comments. x

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Valentin

Tom, I have said numerous time, corruption is not necessarily giving explicit instructions. Like it was shown during the calciopoli, some referees knew what their paymaster wanted and did their bidding without being promped. Same in the EPL, referees know what Mike Riley wants and the deliver to him. It is then impossible to prove corruption because no specific order has ever been given. Here is an example. Despite being a team of complete animal Stoke receive less red card under Tony Pulis than Arsenal. How come Blackeye Rover under Marc Hughes have a better disciplinary record than Arsenal? The… Read more »

Guns of SF

I hate fucking liverpool
every game, I think somehow they will lose…
My boss at work loves this team and i hate his ass. so my hate is even more for Pool… Pool of shit

Marc

Graham

“Don’t be too harsh with Marc, at least he “felt a touch of irritation” in 2011.”

I never said that you’ve got the wrong person.

Marc

Valetin

Your take on what Clattenberg did in that game is wrong. He’s admitted that he let the Spud’s get away with murder when he should have sent players off.

Jamie

The level of expectation was set when we were paying the highest ticket prices in world football for finishing 4th.

Nothing ‘entitled’ about being disgruntled by repeatedly paying for a champagne service and being served warm cider.

Marc

Jamie

Don’t believe the media bullshit that Talkshite and the BBC push about our tickets being much more expensive than other PL clubs.

Try and do a little research on the subject.

Terraloon

Dissenter.
I repeat what rules have PSG broken. ?

It’s all very well saying they have done the same as City but where is the evidence to support that ?

There hasn’t been any suggestion that PSG have falsified information in the same way. Like you I struggle to comprehend how UEFA have reached the conclusion that their sponsorship deals are fair value but is there any evidence that the sponsors didn’t pay the full amount as seems to be the case at City.

Guns of SF

FIFA UEFA LA LIGA etc are all corrupt
Dissenter- you are spot on with the entire Neymar transfer… to this day… what the hell is going on??? this was dirty from the get go… Neymar himself carrying a brief case of cash to buy himself out… like WTF

TO this day, its been a hush hush cover up…
If CHelsea can get punished I hope City takes it right on the chin… I want to see them go down.

These teams are above the law and I certainly hope even a one year ban goes into play here!

Batistuta

They’re gonna go invisible aren’t they? They’d deserve it though, been brilliant for the past 2/3 years

Marc

Bati

I assume you mean Invincible!

Guns of SF

Im still holding out hope we can beat them at home…. i pray for this miracle

Words on a Blog

Bati,

Let them go Invisible.

I’d far rather Liverpool were invisible than invincible.

Jamie

Marc –

I know what I paid. Maybe you should try and do a little research.

alex cutter

Liverpool smashing the “invincibles” record would be great for everyone!

Guns of SF

Nice one cutter

alex cutter

I hope your boss doesn’t fire you for being such a simpeton!

Guns of SF

nah ill fire his ass

alex cutter

Yeah. “Fire” his ass.

Is that what it’s being called nowadays?

Terraloon

Dissenter

This article explains in greater detail as to why I ask the question what rules have PSG been found guilty of breaking.
Look I don’t doubt for one second that the value of their sponsorship deals are questionable but it does seem that they fully engaged with the UEFA investigation but more crucially they didn’t try and deceive when i5 came down to who actually stumped up the monies

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/24/sports/psg-uefa-ffp.html

Marc

Jamie I know what I paid as well. I also know for example when it was reported by Talksport a couple of years ago that our most expensive season ticket was £100 more than the Spud’s they went mental about us. What they didn’t mention was that the Spud’s give 2 cup credits and we give 7. The Spud’s have binned off all cup credits since the move to the new stadium so you’re not comparing like for like. It’s similar to the outcry a few years ago when City were changed to an A category match – their fans… Read more »

Daniel Altos

Cracking game of football in Bergamo…I can see Roma getting another pasting if it continues this way

Nelson

“Im still holding out hope we can beat them at home…. i pray for this miracle”

We should find out where they have their meal before the game. 😀

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

Next season
We will deffo have two many centre backs,…

Who goes
Papa
Mustafi
Chambers
Holding
Saliba
Marvanoupous
marlo
Medely

Saliba
Chambers
Mara
Luiz

Are 5he only four I see deffo staying.

G

** you dozy cunt, Wenger should of been sacked 12 years ago..**
Shouldn’t have appointed in the first place eh Ruth

bennydevito

I’m seeing some reports on Twitter that a top sports lawyer thinks City’s players will be able to leave for free because what City have done has breached their contracts. Pep and his staff too, or they can ask for new contracts with pay increases to stay.

Batistuta

Daniel altos

Enjoying the much more competitive and attacking serie A this season aren’t you? Absolutely cracking games all season

Marc

benny

Not sure being out of the CL is a breach of contract unless they’ve guaranteed players they’ll be playing in it.

If it is true it could send them into an FFP death spiral. There’s already talk of them being deducted PL points – it’d actually be good for football if it fucks them badly.

Daniel Altos

BatistutaFebruary 15, 2020 22:14:46
Daniel altosEnjoying the much more competitive and attacking serie A this season aren’t you? Absolutely cracking games all season

Batistuta,it’s been amazing I tell you.I am like a kid in a candy shop,spoilt for choice.I can’t even decide who I like more between Lazio,Inter and Atalanta,though my heart is getting pulled more towards Lazio.Many may disagree but this season serie A has been more fun to watch than the Epl.Every weekend delivers at least two cracking matches…Lazio vs Inter tomorrow is surely going to be a monster match

Daniel Altos

The article posted by Terraloon shows it might be difficult to prove that Psg are in the wrong too but it is obvious they are cooking figures too.The guys must have hired some pretty skilled accountants and auditors

Graham62

Marc

Apologies, my mistake.

Daniel Altos

https://twitter.com/sportbible/status/1228634833661853702?s=19

The guy is called Rui Pinto from Football leaks and faces 90 different counts of hacking and fraud lol😂That said it seems he has stepped on a lot of big toes.Said to have dirt on a lot of people in Portugal too including Benfica and Porto.Also said to be in possession of over 70million hacked documents on dirty dealings….proper Robin Hood this guy

Daniel Altos

He is also the same guy that brought this City scandal to light I might add

Valentin

I have seen multiple reports that Arsenal are ready to cash in on Leicester’s interest in Tierney this summer. I wonder if they are all bullshit copy paste coming from the same Daily Star “report” or if there is some truth in them. Lots of funny reports on Arsenal’s transfer target this summer. Most journalists have no idea who we are going after. The funniest report was that Lille were willing to take Pepe back on loan next season. I can’t see anybody at Arsenal sanctioning such deal. It can only be no sale or a straight sale, not a… Read more »

Valentin

Daniel Altos, The difference between PSG and ManCity is two folds. Yes they definitely cooked the books and their sponsor deals were overvalued. But they were smart enough to do it at a much smaller level and lucky enough to do just before the explosion of Ligue 1 TV contract. By the time the investigation took place football inflation had caught up with them. The value of the contracts were not so extravagant any more. They networked their way in the European elite clubs. Doing favour to big clubs. When Kinsley Coman went from Juventus to Bayern, PSG had first… Read more »

Guns of Brixton

Lazio doing bits!

Always liked them ( bar the Ultras) and I said before that we should of raided them. Immobile, Alberto and ofc my fav CM savic.

Anyway , they won’t win their league tho as much as I want them to.

Any one see PSG? Thought they had nicked it 😂

Valentin

Marc, No, I don’t think my take is wrong. Marc Clattenberg is saying that he could have sent off 3 more players. However ask yourself, how could he know before the game that Spurs would implode to that extend? The only way he could know beforehand is if he knew that the way he was going to referee them would upset them. He let Chelsea goad the Spurs players and let them get away with silly tackles. If he was afraid of silly tackles and trash talk, he could have talked to both teams and address that issue before the… Read more »

Thorough

RSPC.
I think we need 5 actually and I’ll go:
Luiz
Mari
Saliba
Holding and
Mavropanos

I hope that’s not the next big mistake we’ll make – giving Mavropanos away. I’m sure hell be a beast eventually.

Dissenter

Valentin
You said it yourself that PSG were “gaining a friend in UEFA”, that’s the difference – brown envelopes
Both clubs are owned by nations states that are inflating the marketing rights of the club and keeping the business in-house.

Dissenter

Teraloon Did you even read the article you posted? It’s head-lined “In P.S.G. Case, Documents Show UEFA Surrendered Without a Fight'” and goes on to describe the half-hearted investigation that UEFA did. What’s good for the goose has to be good for the gander. If city are being punished for obstructing the investigation then so be it. If city are being punished for the FFP violation then PSG have to be charged for the same reasons. The two clubs operate on the same model. You keep asking what did PSG do wrong? They violated FFP, plan and simple. UEFA didn’t… Read more »

Dissenter

“The details surrounding the decision to clear P.S.G. in 2018 have been shrouded in secrecy, but the documents reviewed by The Times suggest that, at the very least, the French champion had a narrow escape. But the outcome of the case is likely to lead to further scrutiny of the close relationship between the team’s Qatari owners and UEFA. P.S.G.’s president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, sits on UEFA’s executive committee and is also the chairman of beIN Media Group, the Qatar-based broadcaster that has committed billions to secure television rights from UEFA and other partners” The city attorney’s will be licking their… Read more »

RockyRoe

It’s seems like we missed a major trick with Ancelotti. Marco Silva left Everton in shambles and he has them purring in 9 matches with arguably a lesser set of players.

Zacharse

Ancelotti is being paid how many million pounds more per year? His backroom? Bet it aint insignificant

jwl

I wonder if Man City getting harsher penalties because club has been caught dead to rights – execs were emailing one another about how they planned to commit fraud. It is amateur hour to email people about crimes you plan to commit, perhaps PSG weren’t so dim.

Frank C

Mikel Arteta needs to be judged, as any manager should be, based on his results. 1-5-1 with only 8 points after seven games is certainly not acceptable in general and not the type of results you want to see over the long haul. This was certainly not the new manager bounce many expected or were hoping for. Instead, in my view, it’s the establishment of a solid defensive foundation and putting in place a culture in place for sustained long term success in the future It’s not right to be talking about report cards or rating the manager at this… Read more »

Guns of SF

We will win tomorrow 2 nil

Moray

Nice post, Frank.

Joey Deaon

Hey Frank. A really balanced I can agree with.

Joey Deaon

*Balanced post.

Bojangles

Good blog Frank. Agree with just about all you said.

Tony

If it happens, it would be a good time for the Kroenkes to get the cheque book out for any of those 3, KDB especially. Never happen though. “REVEALED: Manchester City’s Premier League title in 2014 is now UNDER THREAT with potential backdated points deduction – and Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and Aymeric Laporte could be sold Manchester City are likely to face difficulties should punishments be upheld Premier League may backdate points deduction should they find wrongdoing This would mean the club could have their 2014 league title removed Any ban would wreck finances and mean star players… Read more »

Graham62

Dissenter

You are 100% correct.

MC’s team of top lawyers will dig up so much dirt, that UEFA will be wishing they’d never taken it this far.

This is far bigger than MC.

We are talking about a corrupt system that UEFA oversee.

Graham62

How windy will it be at the Emirates by kick-off time?

China1

Uefa can throw together their own amateur investigations, mock courts and judgments all they like, if this comes down hard on city then we will see real lawyers go to town on uefa for their blatant corruption re psg It’s for that reason I think they will accept whatever appeal city raise and give a tap on the worst sentence to make this all go away The moment they start trying to apply strict punishments on city they will be taken to the cleaners and rightly so for their blatant corruption Meanwhile I found it funny that the president of… Read more »

China1

Also I don’t approve of stripping city of their title.

Points deduction for next season, sure, but what’s the point in going after their old title?

Chelsea we’re doing exactly the same thing for each and every title they won prior to FFP.

It was legal but morally and in actuality it was EXACTLY the same so who the fuck cares?

Running back to the last to apply historical punishments in this case is a joke

Chris

China all City’s and PSGs trophies have black marks against them anyway, let them live with the shame of having won trophies they bought and cheated their way to.

Would be funny to see City back in the 3rd tier, some of their fans would actually prefer that anyway.

Terraloon

Dissenter. Try reading what I say . I repeat what have PSG been found guilty of ? I don’t know if I can make it any clearer. Of course the article from the New York Times points to massive failings at UEFA but that’s my point UEFA have miserably failed but PSG have been investigated and whilst clearly not innocent in most people’s eyes they weren’t saddled with a second FFP violation Unless PSG are proven at some point to have provided false information then there is no way that UEFA are able to reopen that failed attempt to investigate… Read more »

Habesha Gooner

I don’t get why people are pissed only man city are getting punished. It doesn’t matter is Psg broke the FFP law, Man city on their own broke it too. The two cases are completely independent. If your neighbor broke the law and you did too, you aren’t going to be exempted from punishment just because you said your neighbor broke the same law and he hasn’t been caught yet. For the record I also want PSG to get punished. No way should one team have that much financial seay so as to sign Mbappe and Neymar in one summer… Read more »

Habesha Gooner

is * If. seau * sway

CG

The difference between PSG and Manchester City? Man City have dopey,arrogant Spanish ex Barcelona employees as their executive team. (Ferran Soriano ,Txiki Begiristain) PSG dont. We have followed the City route. An ex Barcelona, Spanish executive running the club. Yet our one is fatter,even more arrogant and even more usless than theirs. (As we have seen in the last 2 seasons since he arrived ) The sooner all these ex Barcelona goons get back to Barcelona and their pompous club the better. We dont need these crooks in English soccer, thank you. As Spanish Dave will tell you. These Spaniards-… Read more »

Terraloon

China. Over the years many of the clubs that actually won things in English football have received cash injections from benefactors/ owners. It was allowed. Little woods ploughed in monies at Liverpool and Everton and at Arsenal money prior to FFP was Danny Fiszman. Some argue that increasing equity is wrong yet that’s just what Arsenal did to end able Granada Media to invest tens of millions. I am all for sanctions post the introduction of FFP but if we look at matters prior to it’s introduction the likelihood is that a majority of clubs would fall foul of the… Read more »

CG

China

“”””Barca have been illegally tapping up players since forever and i didn’t see them complaining when accepting world”””””

They are a revolting, snivelling, cheating, conniving , sanctimonious club of epic proportions.

The sooner they go bankrupt the better.

How sensible clubs fawn over their executives like Arsenal and Man City have – gawd knows.

They are the worst run club in Europe.

þorkell einarsson

I totally agree with some saying we should bring Ramsey back !! He deserves
the respect of the club for being a faithful and productive worker on / off
the pitch .. If he is due 2 or more seasons ; then buy him asap.

Pierre

Just watching a rerun of the Villarreal game. Cazorla,what a player and what a monumental mistake to let him go. Surely the Arsenal medical team are in touch with the management and would have informed them that cazorla was over his Injury problems.. I believe it was a managerial decision to let him go , more to do with lack of athletic ability more than his football ability. Cazorla has everything that we have been missing the last 18 months . Intelligence, composure, technique, confidence on the ball , superb passing and intelligent positional play, is able to dictate the… Read more »

Graham62

Frank C Nice post. Although I agree that any manager should be judged “based on results”, you would be the first to admit that Mikel Arteta inherited a double whammy. A team not only decimated by Emery’s woeful management style and devoid of any positivity but also a group of players still recovering from his predecessors failings and shortcomings. Arsenal have improved since he took over, although we have found winning games very difficult. Many of our players were physically and mentally shot when Arteta arrived and although we are still stuck firmly in mid table, I feel a win(… Read more »

Graham62

I’m just happy to see Cazorla fit and playing great football, even though it’s not for Arsenal.

I like you’re idea of bringing him back, as a coach, to help the kids.

Graham62

your

Terraloon

Interesting read. Uefa have no illusions about the gravity of this showdown. Defeat would not only leave Financial Fair Play in ruins but the organisation’s moral authority trashed How did Manchester City get into this mess? It is obvious how it started. The reigning champions tried to disguise direct payments from Sheikh Mansour, the owner, by inflating the sponsorship provided by Etihad airlines. The two-season ban from the Champions League and €30 million fine is unlikely to be the end of it. A series of appeals will dominate the immediate future and overshadow the rest of the campaign and beyond.… Read more »

Dissenter

Terraloon You like talking past the point. I’m saying PSG practice exactly the same way City does. Two gulf states bought relatively small teams with not too large working class fab bases. They then inflated the commercial value and kept the business in house to cheat FFP UEFA looked the other way for PSG and went all out to get City for various reasons. PSG weren’t found guilty because UEFA administers justice like a mob boss – they looked the other way and didn’t do their due diligence. That’s why city will have the appeal go in their favor. You… Read more »

China1

Terraloon nonpne thinks city don’t deserve this, we just think you can’t have PSG be a thing and city not.

Either there are rules or there aren’t. The rules don’t apply to psg so why city? Because the club is English.

If Barca or real had done the same thing it would’ve been a slap on the wrist at worst bybthe uefa old mans club. They absolutely hate seeing English clubs compete though

China1

The odds of uefa winning any legal challenge from city in light of such patent psg abuses are surely negligible

Dissenter

Habesaha Actually in a court of law, it does matter that your rule breaking neighbor got away free while you were selectively punished. It’s called the principle of precedent. It will be city’s get out of jail card because that all powerful UEFA official will be deposed on camera and questioned on a witness stand. Let’s wait till the case get to the CAS I don’t give a damn about city. It the charge was obstructing an investigation then they should shut up. However if it’s for violating FFP then PSG ought to be in the next jail cell next… Read more »

China1

Pierre you can’t say we should’ve known cazorla was fit

They knew he was fit just like we knew diary and wilshere we’re fit when we let them go. Guy (all three of them) by the end of their time with us were physically glass zombies lol

Cazorla actually staying fit will have surprised him and Villarreal as much as us. They took a cheap gamble on a very talented guy that was technically not injured and it’s payed off handsomely, but everyone believed cazorla was physically finished

Northbanker

Whatever PSG’s misdemeanours doesn’t prevent UEFA from dealing with the cheats at City. If UEFA don’t have access to enough evidence to also deal with PSG, then they can’t act. Simple as that.

W should be more focussed on the law suits that will now go v City by many EPL clubs for loss of revenue – every club that came 5th or 7th during that time – Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton ,Burnley

Also possible class action by all clubs for TV revenue, league position awards etc.

The permutations are massive here

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

Terraloon

Nice but what about PSG ?

What bout Real Madrid selling train8ng ground back to their owners to get 300m.

They are all at it.

Marc

Dissenter

“City should have seen this coming.”

They did they actually made an appeal to CAS a couple of months ago before the verdict came down. It was dismissed because CAS said you can’t appeal a verdict that hasn’t been made yet.

Personally I think that just shows they knew they’d done it and are doing everything to avoid the punishment.

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

Pedro

New post soon?

Pepe first goal scorer
Arsenal to win both halves

Dissenter

PSG are owned by Qatar and we all know how they got the World Cup after promising they will install giant air conditioners to cool the summer air of Dubai.
It’s obvious why UEFA looked the other way for PSG, they had to redefine the shape of the wheel to look the other way. They will have to explain that in court, in depositions and on a witness stand.

Words on a Blog

Dissenter, You are right that in practical terms, the situations at Man C and PSG are comparable. That is to say, the resources of a vastly wealthy mini-state were unfairly put at the disposable of football clubs to propel them to success. You’re also right that UEFA has its “issues” with corruption, and that many big clubs are unfairly supported in contravention with the spirit of UEFA financial FairPlay rules (e.g. Real MAdrid) But the idea behind FFP is absolutely right. And in order to enforce it, UEFA needs hard evidence that the rules were broken. In Man C’s case,… Read more »

Dissenter

Marc I don’t give a damn about city. Of course they cheated, we all knew it. It’s still a small club with.a negligible global fan base. There a disconnection between their success and the natural investments their fans make. It’s like cheating Ben Johnson taking the victory lap in the 1988 Olympics when everyone knew there was massive doping behind it. When they were spending 250 million to fix their defence, their away fans were carrying placards complaining about ticket prices. If the fans weren’t paying for the product on the field, then who was? They deserve to have point… Read more »

Words on a Blog

Dissenter/RSPCA,

It’s not enough to say: “what about Real Madrid, or what about PSG and the Qataris?”

Those guys are better at covering their tracks.

Ultimately the Qataris are much more likely to be rumbled with respect to the award of the World Cup, because there’s much more evidence of corruption there. For PSG, their government just uses Qatari publicly owned companies to sponsor the club, rather than transferring money directly from individuals in their royal family. They then argue that these Qatari companies benefit from the sponsorship exposure. Hard for UEFA to counter that.

Dissenter

Marc
When you read the article Terraloon posted, you see there were exasperated people within the UEFA set-up who were dumbfounded about how this investigator handled the PSG case.
What city will do is not even argue the facts, they will go after the investigator and force UEFA to produce their work material and internal documentation. All the written concerns of people will be fair game.

China1

Rspc yes and Chelsea

Even if they’re towing the line somewhat these days, the infrastructure they have in place as a massive CL and PL competitive team most years was built off the back of all the same shit in abramovic’s earlier years

It’s everywhere you look

Dissenter

Words ‘Those guys are better at covering their tracks’ That’s one of the myths being repeated here. UEFA just prefers to administer justice differently. PSG have had a special relationship with UEFA since the Platini days. The owners of PSG also own BeIN and have bought massive TV deals with UEFA. The owners of PSG are embedded in the UEFA structure for that reason- they are business partners. Madrid aren’t in the same boat as city or PSG. I don’t know why you threw them in. There are $70 Real Madrid jerseys selling out in sports shops all across America.… Read more »

China1

Lol I forgot about the Qatar World Cup!!! Though that corruption was fifa rather than Uefa haha

Sooooo much bribery and corruption in footballs governing bodies

That’s why I’m defensive about city. Have standards or don’t. But don’t preach standards and attack city then take brown envelopes from psg, Qatar and the rest the filthy shits lol

Marc

Dissenter

You seem to think that if we can’t have real justice everywhere we shouldn’t have it anywhere.

For whatever reasons PSG have managed to circumnavigate the rules City blatantly broke them. It’s like the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion. They are at face value very similar although one is legal and one isn’t.

Marc

Just as another random thought the CL is a UEFA competition and therefore aren’t they allowed to invite who they choose or put in place rules that they want?

City knew the rules and took great effort in breaking them – I don’t understand why there’s even a conversation about it. You say PSG broke the rules as well – yes they should be punished but if they’ve managed to bend the rules and get round them then the rules need to be changed.

Words on a Blog

Dissenter,

Sure the Qataris have an unhealthy special relationship with FIFA/UEFA.

That’s meant that they were advised not to do anything stupid and make sure any sponsorship PSG received was through a company/public institution legally independent from the nominal owners.

Whereas with FIFA and the World Cup award it looks like there was cash in brown envelopes and transfers to offshore accounts. If they ever prosecute the ts where they’re more likely to be successful.

Graham62

China

100% correct.

UEFA and FIFA are as corrupt as they come.

Taking bribes and backhanders has been in their remit for years. The Qatar WC as well as Russia’s, were preplanned stitch ups, where governments and government officials stepped in to oversee the decisions. Lots of Rolex watches dished out for those ones.

This is modern day football. Too many people milking the system for their own benefit, whilst the rest of us sit back and wonder, what frigging next?

Anyone going to today’s game?

China1

Ah the Russia World Cup I forgot this too!

Basically you can probably find more cases of corruption than legal/ethical behavior from these organizations. Rotten to the core, both of them

Terraloon

Dissenter./ RSPC Others seem to get the point re PSG. Clearly for one reason or another they have made mugs of UEFA in terms of the value of their sponsorship deals but the point here and something no matter what City advocate they ,PSG , didn’t do is compound matters. Based on that went on it’s pretty obvious that the supposed sponsor didn’t pay City what was put down as a fair value deal. PSG is all probability should have had a chunk of their deals is allowed in reality so should City . The issue now is all about… Read more »

China1

I can promise 100% thatbthe next time England/UK get a World Cup/euros it will be simply because it’s an elephant in the room that can’t be avoided any longer

These organizations absolutely resent us, make no mistake and it’s always been this way

Terraloon

Disallowed

Dissenter

Marc Yes I do believe that you either have the same rules for everyone or quit the nonsense. City did everything PSG did. They spent 250 million on a defense while PSG spent the same on one player. As you stated, they couldn’t wait to go to proper court of law so let’s wait and see. The PSG precedent will be juicy meat for city because it does matter in a court of law. That’s what Chelsea used to get out of jail too- precedence of how it was handled different from them. The tax evasion vs tax avoidance example… Read more »

China1

I’m not a ‘loudly’ patriotic person and I’m the last person you’d find chanting Ingerland frankly, but I’d love nothing more than to see the UEFA and FIFA headquarters gets spray painted with the English national flag lol

Absolutely hate these cunts

Dissenter

Teraloon
Let’s wait and see. There’s a reason the CAS exists.
No such thing as ‘compounding matters’
The investigation of FFP should be a FACT investigation, not based on charisma or whether you played nice.

China1

This is also why as long as there’s no direct impact on arsenal, and apart from Spurs, I support any british team in the European competitions

I may not be a Liverpool fan but seeing them dump on uefalona was SWEET

Dissenter

UEFA don’t like England , that’s obvious.
You see them cranking the gears trying desperately to limit the money influence of the premier league.

Goobergooner

RH
This.

“Can’t wrap my head round your obsession with Wenger’s last five home games in a season we finished sixth and he was sacked. What exactly is that a benchmark for?”

China1

Best case outcome in all of this is if city do get heavily punished but manage to bring PSG and uefa down with them in a shit storm

It’s hopeful I know, but that’s exactly what we should be dreaming of getting out of this

Marc

Dissenter

From my limited understanding UEFA didn’t look the other way with PSG – PSG played the system and managed to stay within the rules. Yes it might be the same thing in practice but fact is PSG were just cleverer than City.

City also need to remember that the average PL fan neither supports City or a team that is financed by a sugar daddy. As you’ve already said City are a tiny team with an irrelevant fan base they could find the PL turning on them as well.