Onion Bag: FA Cup Setbacks and Batshit Greek Soccer Fans
By Ty Duffy
Age fells everyone. Chelsea’s core had to decline at some point and that time appears to be now. Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard are both 32. England’s Brave John Terry is a calcifying 30 and no longer guaranteed a starting place. All three have struggled with form and fitness. The swanky club has become as vincible as its stars.
Chelsea have little depth and a lot to overcome. For the first time since Abramovich pumped in the petrodollars, the Blues face a fight to qualify for the next season’s Champions League. Lined up against FC Copenhagen, they should reach at least the Champions League quarterfinals. Not having a third front would let Chelsea consolidate. Not playing the FA Cup should benefit them.
Not so with Arsenal. The set back adds to an already grueling set of fixtures. The Gunners now play six matches in 18 days from Feb. 23 to March 12. They face two broken leg merchants Stoke at mid-week and Birmingham in the Carling Cup Final on Feb. 27. If they emerge with limbs intact, they then play the FA Cup replay with Leyton Orient on March 2 followed by a Premier League match with Sunderland on March 5 and the second leg of the Champions League tie with Barcelona on March 8, finishing with a probable FA Cup Sixth Round match with Man U on March 12.
Arsene Wenger’s dilemma is where to prioritize. They aren’t robust enough to field a full-strength squad all six times. A stiff breeze could send Robin Van Persie tumbling to the ground with ruptured ankle ligaments. The Carling Cup is the least important competition, but Arsenal have to win it. Their young team must win something to “pop their cherry.” They can’t go a sixth year empty-handed. They are already in the final.
The Premier League is the most important prize and attainable. The Gunners are only four points off Man United. Every match is crucial. Arsenal can beat anyone with Fabregas and Van Persie in the side. They can also drop points against anyone without them, especially against physical teams such as Sunderland and Stoke.
Arsenal has the worst chance to win the Champions League, but they can’t throw away a lead against Barcelona heading into the second leg. They have to play a full-strength squad there. That leaves the FA Cup. A weakened Arsenal squad should beat Leyton Orient at home. Manchester United might make whatever happens irrelevant. However, if an under-strength squad lost at home to Leyton Orient, the psychological impact might devastate them entirely.
The Gunners have a chance in all four competitions, but battling for all four at once could be disastrous. Arsene Wenger has a decision to make.
Viva Las Vegas: Nothing could trump the undoubted magic of an FA Cup moral victory, but Leyton Orient players will receive more tangible spoils for earning the lucrative replay with Arsenal. Club chairman Barry Hearn promised the players a group outing to Las Vegas after the season if they could get a result. He now has to pay up. Premier League players would be nonplussed, but for League One guys making about $110,000 per year it’s still kind of a big deal.
Resignation: Roma coach Claudio Ranieri resigned after a three-match losing streak, capped an already dispiriting season. The Giallorossi lost to Napoli at home 2-0. They all but eliminated themslves from the Champions League at midweek, allowing three away goals to Shakhtar Donetsk, who had not played in more than two months. They then blew a 3-0 lead to Genoa in the second-half, losing 4-3. The loss left them nine points behind Lazio for the final Champions League place. Rumors had embattled Chelsea manager Carol Ancelotti returning to Italy for the job, but Roma instead hired L’Aeroplanino, Vincenzo Montella as their new coach.
Speaking of Italian decline, Juventus scuttled their second-half resurgence losing 2-0 to Lecce. They went down to ten men after Gigi Buffon was sent off in the 12th minute. The Bianconeri are now seven points behind Lazio.
Tempestuous Derby: Olympiakos beat arch-rival Panathinaikos 2-1, assuming a commanding 10-point lead in the Greek league. Things got a bit heated. Olympiakos fans invaded the pitch following the win, attacking four Panathinaikos players, including French star Djibril Cisse. The sharp dresser, who was also taunted with inflatable bananas during the match, has pledged to leave Greece after this season. [1st video via Dirty Tackle]
Vasilis Torosidis, an Olympakos defender and Greek international, was forced to issue a public apology after being a combative jerk and eventually being sent off for headbutting an opponent. There have also been calls for Olympiakos president Dimitris Gontikas to resign after he embroiled himself in a verbal altercation with Panathinaikos players after the match.