Porto enigma / Video technology / British managers

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
09 Mar	7:45 PM	CL	Fc Porto (H)	5	0	Win

It seems then, that Cesc Fabregas will almost definitely miss the game against Porto tomorrow.

In my opinion, this makes the game a bit of a mystery; are Arsenal any good without Fabregas? Are Porto any good at all?

The first leg was a bit of a freak result, so there's not much we can learn from it. Porto didn't look dangerous, but scored from two nightmare moments from Fabianski, who shouldn't be playing tomorrow night. We didn't look dangerous either, so we can only improve, but can we do it without Fabregas?

The three key men for us will be Nasri, Bendtner and Walcott, and Alex Song if he plays (I have no idea whether his two match suspension counts in Europe).

I've been a critic of Nasri this season. He's usually too slow and unadventurous. He looks nothing like the player he was for Marseille, who ran at players, passed the ball forward and had shots at goal. Against Burnley, however, his pass for Cesc's goal was a thing of beauty, and a sign of what he's capable of. Without our captain, Nasri will be one of our most creative players on the pitch, and he'll have to step up tomorrow night and show that he can provide us with more passes like that.

Bendtner will need to find his shooting boots again. Before the Burnley game I had a lot of praise for him, so naturally he had a bit of a nightmare following that, but I'm confident it was just one of those days. He's a good goalscorer, and even if he doesn't score, he gives us options, and a presence in the box; something for defenders to think about, allowing the likes of Arshavin and Walcott to play with more freedom.

Onto Walcott, another player I've been highly critical of; he looked very lively against Burnley and scored a good goal, but to be fair, it was against Burnley, and Porto will be a different class of opposition. His pace is useful and he does occasionally look good against poor opposition, but he usually stands out as being far too poor technically in the bigger games. I'm not a fan of his, but there's no doubt he'll start tomorrow, so I hope he proves me wrong.

I don't think Porto are that good, but they have a lead to protect, and that will always be a challenge. They won't be as bad as they were when we beat them at the Emirates last season. That night they showed up like they never expected to get anything out of the game.

To conclude, these too sides are far too unpredictable, so I have no idea what will happen, but I feel confident nevertheless.

Listening to Sky Sports News this morning, there's been a lot of talk about video technology and British managers.

I can see why people want video technology, and although I don't have strong opinions either way, I lean slightly more towards the fact that this is a human game. Referees make mistakes, just like a goalkeeper can fumble an easy shot into the net, or a striker can miss an open goal.

Still, it might be wise to experiment with it in the Europa League next season, as they have done this season with an extra referee behind the goal.

British managers don't get enough chances? If I've counted correctly, 13 out of the 20 top flight clubs are managed by Brits, so I'm not sure people like Harry Redknapp have a leg to stand on when they make claims like that. Redknapp, Moyes, O'Neill, Hodgson and McLeish have done really good jobs with their sides this season, and that has been well-recognised. Are people still annoyed because Mark Hughes got sacked and replaced by Roberto Mancini? Get over it, Hughes wasn't doing a very good job at City, despite being given a lot of time and money to invest into the team.

Here's my question to all these 'great' British managers (and this applies to a lot of top players as well): why do you never try your hand at managing abroad? You could learn a lot and expand your knowledge of the game. If you think you're missing out because your name doesn't sound exotic enough (Redknapp genuinely said that, by the way) then go to Spain or Italy where you'll definitely stand out in that respect.

Along with that, you could win some trophies. Apart from Ferguson at United, the recent record of British managers is shocking, and that's not because everyone hates you for having a boring name.

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