Just when Chelsea looked to be marching unhindered to their third title in six years, along come Tottenham to remind us, on a day of high drama at White Hart Lane and Old Trafford, of football’s capacity for the gloriously unpredictable.
And few will have enjoyed it more than Arsene Wenger as he prepares his Arsenal side for their match at Wigan Athletic, suddenly handed a championship lifeline by the north London rivals he was cursing, rather than thanking, just a few nights earlier following their own derby defeat.
His pleasure will be all the sweeter as he remains a firm opponent of the kind of spending that has taken Chelsea to the top of the table.
In fact, Wenger thinks Chelsea should be stopped from what he sees as buying titles.
The Stamford Bridge club’s newly released accounts reveal that they spent a staggering £142.6million on players’ salaries last year, the highest sum in English football history.
It is over £20m more than Manchester United’s playing budget and £40m more than Arsenal’s. ‘What is not normal is not our wages bill, but their wages bill,’ said Wenger, who resents Chelsea being able to continue to splash out more than his club — and United — despite not bringing in the same revenue.
‘That should not be allowed.’ Indeed, the Arsenal manager believes the game’s governing bodies should legislate to prevent Chelsea spending the record sums on wages that could carry them to the Premier League and FA Cup Double.
Chelsea and their fans will be shocked by Wenger’s comments. After all the big spending in the early years of Roman Abramovich’s ownership, the club has been positively frugal by comparison this season as the Russian seeks to rein in the spending.
Only Yuri Zhirkov and Daniel Sturridge arrived this season, at a cost of £23m — just £4m more than United paid for Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan and which does not begin to compare with the £80m Real Madrid forked out for Cristiano Ronaldo alone.
But the belief that English football at the top level is impoverished as a result of the recession is undermined, not just by Manchester City’s spending power but also by Chelsea’s wage bill.
Wenger’s attack on Chelsea and lament for the financial imbalance may have something to do with his frustration at his perception, before Saturday’s new (slim) hope, that his side had fallen short in a trophy campaign for a fifth season in a row. It also had much to do with his chagrin at the authorities failing to act quickly to prevent what he sees as unfair spending.
New UEFA rules have been drawn up aimed at preventing clubs accumulating debt while still spending heavily, which is why Abramovich converted many of his loans to Chelsea into equity and also one reason why Liverpool’s indebted co-owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, are seeking a new buyer.
Recently, however, the big clubs of Europe persuaded the governing body to delay implementing the rules from 2012 to 2015. Wenger turned 60 this season. Time is slipping away for him.
Dredging up defiance after recent setbacks, he insists, however, that his club can compete on the field with Chelsea and big-spenders United, despite having lost twice to both this season, and even surpass them next season.
‘We cannot compete for wages but I believe we can realistically compete on the pitch,’ he added. ‘I’m convinced of that. As well, we can overcome them. We were for a while not investing, maybe because we were building the stadium. But I think now our financial situation is much stronger and that we will be capable of buying the players we need to buy.
‘Not all the top players can go to Chelsea. There are top players Chelsea don’t want to buy who are still good enough for us.’
And few will have enjoyed it more than Arsene Wenger as he prepares his Arsenal side for their match at Wigan Athletic, suddenly handed a championship lifeline by the north London rivals he was cursing, rather than thanking, just a few nights earlier following their own derby defeat.
His pleasure will be all the sweeter as he remains a firm opponent of the kind of spending that has taken Chelsea to the top of the table.
In fact, Wenger thinks Chelsea should be stopped from what he sees as buying titles.
The Stamford Bridge club’s newly released accounts reveal that they spent a staggering £142.6million on players’ salaries last year, the highest sum in English football history.
It is over £20m more than Manchester United’s playing budget and £40m more than Arsenal’s. ‘What is not normal is not our wages bill, but their wages bill,’ said Wenger, who resents Chelsea being able to continue to splash out more than his club — and United — despite not bringing in the same revenue.
‘That should not be allowed.’ Indeed, the Arsenal manager believes the game’s governing bodies should legislate to prevent Chelsea spending the record sums on wages that could carry them to the Premier League and FA Cup Double.
Chelsea and their fans will be shocked by Wenger’s comments. After all the big spending in the early years of Roman Abramovich’s ownership, the club has been positively frugal by comparison this season as the Russian seeks to rein in the spending.
Only Yuri Zhirkov and Daniel Sturridge arrived this season, at a cost of £23m — just £4m more than United paid for Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan and which does not begin to compare with the £80m Real Madrid forked out for Cristiano Ronaldo alone.
But the belief that English football at the top level is impoverished as a result of the recession is undermined, not just by Manchester City’s spending power but also by Chelsea’s wage bill.
Wenger’s attack on Chelsea and lament for the financial imbalance may have something to do with his frustration at his perception, before Saturday’s new (slim) hope, that his side had fallen short in a trophy campaign for a fifth season in a row. It also had much to do with his chagrin at the authorities failing to act quickly to prevent what he sees as unfair spending.
New UEFA rules have been drawn up aimed at preventing clubs accumulating debt while still spending heavily, which is why Abramovich converted many of his loans to Chelsea into equity and also one reason why Liverpool’s indebted co-owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, are seeking a new buyer.
Recently, however, the big clubs of Europe persuaded the governing body to delay implementing the rules from 2012 to 2015. Wenger turned 60 this season. Time is slipping away for him.
Dredging up defiance after recent setbacks, he insists, however, that his club can compete on the field with Chelsea and big-spenders United, despite having lost twice to both this season, and even surpass them next season.
‘We cannot compete for wages but I believe we can realistically compete on the pitch,’ he added. ‘I’m convinced of that. As well, we can overcome them. We were for a while not investing, maybe because we were building the stadium. But I think now our financial situation is much stronger and that we will be capable of buying the players we need to buy.
‘Not all the top players can go to Chelsea. There are top players Chelsea don’t want to buy who are still good enough for us.’
