To Arsene Wenger: These Things Happen

Yesterday another young man's career was thrown in jeapordy by a horrific tackle. Aaron Ramsey could do nothing as the the boot of Ryan Shawcross came careening through his leg, leaving his lower extremity shattered and bent at a right angle. His career may be over, but only time will tell. However his coach, Arsene Wenger, is disgracing his club and Aaron by bitching and moaning about how all the horrific injuries happen to his club. He needs to understand that such things happen in a physical sport, and that a club built upon quick skill and tricks may receive a few more crunching tackles than the more direct-oriented Stoke City. Overall, I just wish Wenger would show some respect for Ramsey by keeping his mouth shut and getting on with coaching, not bitching.

Photo Credit: Matt and Kim Rudge

A Three Horse Race?

It looks like Arsenal are back. After having been nearly counted out of the title race some couple of months ago Arsenal find themselves 6 points off leaders Chelsea and 2 points off Manchester United. And Arsenal aren't even playing their best football yet. Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas are managing to hold together a defense that has had nightmares on the flanks, most notably regarding the situations of Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna. With Nicholas Bendtner finally back from injury, and with Cesc Fabregas enjoying a rich vein of form, this could be the year that Arsenal shocks the world and rips away the title from the boys in red and blue.

Premier League Moves to Create Playoff System for Fourth Champion's League Spot

This past week the Premier League's top Officials set a date for a meeting in April that would decide whether or not the world's top league would take on a playoff system for the fourth Champion's league spot. Teams that finished as low as seventh could no compete for the riches and glory that are associated with the coveted spot. Personally, I think this proposal should be thrown out immediately. Backers of the proposal state that the playoff system will break the current monopoly that Manchester United, Arsenal,Chelsea, and Liverpool have on the top four. I say outside factors including financial health of clubs and foreign investment are already taking care of the old dynasty, which is crumbling. Introducing a playoff system will only reduce competitiveness for that fourth spot. If you take this season as an example, there are 4 teams all within 3 points of each other competing for that fourth spot. Now if that's not competitive, I don't know what is. The premier league should ignore this ridiculous proposal before the integrity and hunger is removed from the chase for fourth place.

John Terry has Captaincy Stripped

Two days ago Fabio Capello stripped John Terry of his England captaincy, a position he had held for 3 and a half years. The crime? Having an affair several months ago. Normally I would say that athletes are paid to be athletes, not husbands, and off the pitch issues shouldn't affect on field status, but this was no ordinary affair. This was an affair with a teammate's ex-girlfriend. Moral issues aside, the fact that Terry cheated on his wife with someone directly connected to a teammate breaks down the barriers of trust that are necessary to have a successful team. Therefore, I couldn't agree more with Capello's decision to remove him as captain.

Photo Credit: Free-ers