Can Manchester City Break the Big Four Monopoly at Arsenal's Expense?

Wow! The second “Blues Revolution” is here! And Manchester City seems to be riding the waves this time. Guess What? Manchester City seems about to break the Big Four Monopoly!!

Too much money, they say. But in this case, the money (or modestly put, Manchester City’s newfound wealth has earned them the ability to overtake the rest of the Premier League financially. Many of us are enthusiastically shouting “Go, Go!” as we believe that they may take over on the pitch in the next season.

Talk about the Big Four Monopoly: Manchester City is set to bring it all crashing down!! Take the eighty million pound outlay by Mark Hughes, and you can already see Man City buying Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry and adding to their ammo stock Carlos Teves from Manchester United. Whoopee!!

It might seem a general attack; a free for all brawl, but it seems that our nouveau riche club has a primary target: Arsene Wenger and his loyal boys. Yes, Manchester City now has the power to break the Big Four Monopoly in the Premier League. Smashing!

One reason why we have come to this conclusion is Man City’s buying of star player Emmanuel Adebayor from the Gunners last Saturday. Yeah, some Arsenal fans may jubilate that finally, the pain-in-the-ass player who always plays a game of come-get-me with their favorite club is finally rid of, but the basic thing is this: they have been further deprived of their top net-finder since Henry Thierry’s departure to Barca in 2007.

Fans of the Gunners are also becoming nervous as Arsene Wenger has failed to strengthen up front of their team. This has led them to believe that their position on the top Four position is weakly placed, and may soon come crashing down with the wind of change.

We know that Arsenal was recently threatened by the Spurs, but they were unable to follow through due to lack of financial clout, but this newly rich club, thanks to Sheik Mansoor’s cash, won’t have to lose a night’s sleep over this: they can take it head-on. They would never have to complain over squad depth or ability.

I am enjoying myself immensely: I like this. However, I don’t think that writing the Gunner’s off as a non-issue at this point would be considered as football wisdom. Infact, it would reek of folly. Yeah, I know that the Gunners have been down when compared to the other top Three in the last season, and there has been little activity in their transfer market in all four top teams. However, Arsenal should not be written off.

For one: Manchester is considerably weaker that the Gunners’ strength. In fact, all rivals for the fourth place are inherently weaker that Arsenal. Man City may have the stronger set of strikers up front, but they cannot make up for their weak defense as well as their inferior midfield.

One other thing: Arsenal’s team consists of players of high ranking and should therefore be given their due respect.

Bottomline: toppling the Gunners from the Big Four won’t be easy, although I sure would love to see it happen.

What do you feel about this bit of news? Comment, Please.

“Sharks, you are warned!” NFF Yells

What is it with people that make it impossible for them to accept no as an answer? The average man in the streets finds it quite almost impossible to take rejections gracefully. That is why they pester the souls of the hapless young gals they profess undying love for. But I digress, forgive me. I am here to speak football (We all speak football!), not to explain men’s seduction deficiencies. You would acutely remember the last post regarding the Sharks versus Warri Wolves Saga that degenerated into a fiasco of name-calling, back stabbing, and dung throwing. I even commented that they were dragging the name of Nigerian football in the mud at that time. That was when allegations of the Wolves bribing NFF officials for their position crept up. I heaved a sigh as the NFF said they were set to clear up the mess (not oil spillage), and I thought that would be the last I would hear of the ugly situation. But alas! Some folks just won’t just let sleeping dogs lie , and have been up to enthusiastic antics to create unwanted excitement. Of course I am talking of the Sharks of Port Harcourt. Now that they have decided that mama NFF won’t sleep, NFF has decided to make it worth their while. Last I heard, the NFF has issued a threat to the Sharks, since they stubbornly continue to press their claims for a position in the CAF Confederation Cup.

Let’s go over this one more time: the Warri Wolves finished fourth in the League, and so they were awarded the ticket to the chagrin of our dearly beloved Sharks, and they are bitterly refusing to see the light.

According to the mighty Sharks of Garden Club, they should have been the ones with the ticket, and not the Wolves of Warri. They have even cited CAF regulations and all its precedents. However, NF secretary, Bolaji Ojo-Oba said they were in the wrong, and even went a step further to issue a tacit threat to them.

He expressed unhidden surprise at the recent behavior of the Rivers State Football Association. He said their communication pattern recently had been totally disapproving and debasing, and that their correspondence with the Nigerian Football federation was totally appalling. He emphasized that the NFF had hierarchy and structure, and not a kingdom of apes.
He said that the Sharks have been saying that the CAF Confederation Cup did not make permission for a fourth-placed team in the League, but they have also not been able to show where CAF permits a second-placed team.

He said that their arguments were born of desperation, that their have been citing vague and irrelevant contexts, and that their language has been grotesque and utterly bizarre. He said that the NFF would not debase itself by rolling in the mud with the Sharks, but that the Sharks should be very careful at this stage. He said everything the NFF was doing was in Nigeria’s best interest.

So, Sharks, guess you are warned!

What do you think? Please Comment.

Battle of African Legends: Amokachi Opts out.

Come July 25th 2009, several past African legends are slated to file out to showcase some of the skills that saw them achieve so much influence in the African game of football.
Some of the names expected to feature are:

Ghana's Anthony Yeboah, Tony Baffoe and Nii Lamptey;=
South Africa's Phil Masinga and Lucas Radebe;
Guinea's Titi Camara and Kalusha Bwalya of Zambia.

Others include,
Ivory Coast: Youssouf Fofana and Abdoulaye Troare
Cameroon's Roger Milla and Stephen Tawtaw.

These are the people who willdo battle with a Nigerian team made up of players who featured at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.

Nigeria:
Uche Okechukwu, Taribo West, Victor Ikpeba, Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha, Tijjani Babangida and many more yet to confirm participation.

This is not as. The organizaers will be parting with an appearance fee of $5,000 per player.

Meanwhile, Daniel Amokachi may not participate in the events as according to him, he has not been invited. No official invitation has been extended to him.
The former Everton and Anderlect star claims he might be in the stadium on that day but will not be playing as he is yet to hear any thing official about the said game.

“I have to be honest with you, I don’t know anything about this event,” confessed Amokachi in a telephone interview from his base in Kaduna.

“Yes, I have heard about it, and I have been called up by a lot of my former Super Eagles team mates but I don’t know anything more about it as I have not received a phone call or letter from the organisers.”

Many other Nigerian stars have already confirmed their participation.