The gateway to hell is slippery with oil; the team are clones, Uefa is bowed. AFC v Oilmen « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager

By Tony Attwood

Manchester: gateway to hell where the roads are slippery with oil, and the downward path leads inexorably to Hades, or Liverpool as it is known in popular culture.

Manchester City will have quite possibly Samir Nasri playing.  While Mr Nasri doesn’t seem to have had it quite the same as Flamini did before him when he left Arsenal, there are similarities.  Mr Nasri has had some time with a Champs League club – although this may be coming to an end, as the club slide into the Europa League, where Mr Flamini spent many a happy few minutes – playing for example in the AC Milan v Porstmouth match in that competition after leaving Arsenal.

As far as I can see Mr Nasri has made 8 appearances for Man City this season including those as a sub, in the EPL, Champs League and League Cup  – but it is hard to work out because the Man City official web site doesn’t give a record as (for example) Arsenal.com does.  Ah well.

In our team Arsène Wenger has said that Frimpong will get a game, plus Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Yossi Benayoun and Park Chu-young.  We’ll also have a change of goal keeper I expect.  I also expect Coquelin will get a game.

Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey are unlikely to play.

In terms of the Financial Fairplay rules clubs are allowed to lose £38.5m in total over the three years starting with this year.  Last year Man City lost £179m, and had a player salary bill that was £21m more than their total income.  According to some of the usual humour in the tabloids they are going to sell 20 players this summer.  Anyone fancy Mr Nasri?

But then, maybe it will never come to that – maybe by the date of FFP the whole fabric of football will have fallen apart.   After all Sion of Switzerland have gone to the EC concerning their expulsion from the Europa League.  If they get away with that, then by and large Uefa is done, its authority removed.

Arsène Wenger sees a new force in Europe with Chelsea Mafia, Manchester Oil, Paris St-Germain and Málaga spending anything and everything they want.  If Sion beat Uefa on the issue of player regulations, then the financial dopers will just sweep Uefa aside.

In effect players like Mr Nasri have become poodles, paid a fortune to occasionally step onto the pitch, and not caring much whether they play or not.  The Manchester team tonight in fact is clear:

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan   Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan  Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan

playing of course in the regular 4-3-3 formation.

Just for the record, during the 2010-11 financial year Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan  bought Jérôme Boateng for £10.5m, Edin Dzeko for £27m, David Silva for £26m, Yaya Touré for £24m, Aleksandar Kolarov for £19m, Mario Balotelli for £24m and James Milner for £26m.  Total £156.5m.Our team might be…

Fabianski

Djourou Yennaris Mertersacker Koscielny

Coquelin Frimgpong Benayoun

Gervinho Ju Young Park Oxlade-Chamberlain

or maybe not.

After all, what do I know?