Wednesday 30 October 2013

Arsenal Exit The Capital One Cup

Arsenal were beaten 2-0 at home by Chelsea in the Capital One Cup last night and I can't say the result bothers me too much. It's the least important of the four competitions Arsenal play in every season and has caused too much grief and heartache in the past for my liking. Of course it's always been a good opportunity to blood some of the younger players, but their exit cannot be viewed as a serious blow to their season.

In the past under various guises this competition has seen Arsenal lose in the final to both Chelsea and Birmingham. While the Chelsea defeat was not easy to take at least it was against a good side and we had the added bonus of Abou Diaby's boot doing the world a favour. The defeat against Birmingham was one if the low points of Arsene Webger's reign at Arsenal and still hurts to this day for me.

Never mind that Birmingham were virtually incapable of playing football as we know it or that they ended up getting relegated that season. That game showed Arsenal still hadn't lost their knack of pressing the self destruct button which we can only hope has finally disappeared. The mix up between Laurent Koscielny and Wojciech Szczesny that led to Birmingham's last minute winner was the stuff of nightmares.

Who can forget Arsenal going to League Two side Bradford last season and losing on penalties or losing a semi final over two legs to Wigan a few years ago. The boss has put an awful lot into this competition at times and his return in 17 years is zero in terms of trophies. 

The biggest positive from last night for me had to be that plenty of players got a much needed rest ahead of the upcoming week with three huge games in competitions that really matter. I suppose Mesut Ozil and Olivier Guroud had to be thrown on to try to chase the game but I would have preferred to see them sit it out. I wasn't overly happy to see Aaron Ramsey start either but somebody had to play and he seemed to come through intact.

It's never easy to lose to Chelsea or to hear their fans' songs echoing through the Emirates Stadium. It's also never easy to lose to the thoroughly detestable Jose Mourinho and I long for the day he leaves Chelsea in controversy again. I have no doubt it will happen as no club owner or chairman can stick him for more than three years.

Chelsea had a stronger second string than Arsenal and despite a few injuries narrowing Arsenal's options it's hardly surprising. As long as financial fair play fails to be installed propey teams like Chelsea and City can run their clubs at a huge loss and suffer no consequences. It's very hard for properly run clubs to compete in the transfer market or pay the wages these clubs pay when money doesn't seem to matter to them.

Chelsea signed Willem in the summer and it looks like they did so merely to stop him joining either Liverpool or Spurs. When they can afford to blow that sort of money what chance is there for other clubs to try to build a competitive squad. Arsenal have a fantastic first team and some very good back up but they cannot stretch to the squad size Chelsea and City do.

If defeat last night means Arsenal are properly prepared for the challenges of the next three games and players are sufficiently rested then it will certainly have been well worth it. At 5.30 next Saturday we should get a chance to see exactly how much they have benefitted from the break. I for one hope they can come through those challenges intact and then last night'a defeat will be well and truly despatched to a bad memory.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

15 comments:

  1. I don't think Chelsea are operating at a loss anymore are they ?
    I think they have a slightly higher revenue than Aresenal as well ?

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    1. Their aim was to start to break even by 2010 but the money spent in the last 2 summers has been huge. With the wages of all those players too they are losing money again. They might possibly have a higher income than Arsenal but Arsenal have a sound financial basis and are making a profit.

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    2. Chelsea made £1.4M profit in the last financial year on trunover of £260M. Just like all the other prem clubs, their revenue will grow by at least £35M this year due to the new TV deal & Chelsea have actully lowered there wage bill in the past two seasons. CFC are well on course to meet the criteria required for the UEFA & prem FFP rules.

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    3. I think those figure are prior to the fortunes AVB and then Mourinho splashed out in the last 2 summers and I have no doubt their wage bill will shoot up as a result.

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  2. Why do you hate Mourinho so much? The players seem to love him.

    "Mesut Ozil risked the wrath of Arsenal fans and manager Arsene Wenger as he gave his Gunners shirt to Jose Mourinho, reportedly labelling the Chelsea boss ‘the best coach in the world’."
    Mourinho and Ozil worked together at Real Madrid and the German playmaker was seemingly unrepentant afterwards, with 101greatgoals claiming he later explained: ‘I gave my jersey to Mourinho because he’s the best coach in the world and I love him like a father.’

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    1. Look at Mourinho's behaviour on the side line for every club he has managed. Didn't he gouge the eyes of the Barca coach last season. Did you see him wave an imaginary red card at the referee last night when Vermaelen and Eto'o came together. The over the top celebrations on Sunday led to Pellagrini not wanting to shake his hand. I could go on and on as the list is endless and the man has no class at all no matter what his players think of him.

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    2. The so called over the top celebrations was for his son, get over it.

      Also what you are saying has nothing to do with what you are replying to.

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    3. You asked why I hated Mourinho so much and I cited a few reasons but it would take a lot longer to list them all. How do you defend his gouging of the Barca coach or is that just part of the game.

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    4. Your best player thinks of him as a Father figure, he loves Mourinho, has Ozil got no class then ?

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    5. Ozil has played for him and loves him and is entitled to his opinion but I don't like the man and never will.

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  3. Funny how it's a competition you don't care about when you go out of it. What a load of rubbish. You are gutted just admit it.

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    1. I didn't care about it last season or in the last round when I said it would probably be better if we went out on penalties to West Brom. Read my preview of last night's game and you'll see how I thought about it beforehand.

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  4. https://twitter.com/Lizutd/status/395403617030922241/photo/1/larg

    ....

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    1. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BXzBfqAIQAAmqUd.jpg:large

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    2. What's your point - they're not my comments or opinions. You found an Arsenal fan who changed his mind after the game but point out where I did it and you'll prove your point

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