When Sir Alex Fergusson broke the bank to buy Robin Van Persie from Arsenal, it came as bittersweet feeling for the Manchester United fans.Van Persie is undoubtedly a world class striker, but he is also 29-years old, meaning, he has less than three years of good service to the Red Devils.His purchase, in my view, was done blindly without considering the best two young strikers at United coming out to stamp their mark on the Premier League, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez.However, that could have passed, if Fergie fairly rotated the players, so that each gets a shot at starting; unfortunately, he has completely ignored Chicharito, like he did to Dimitar Berbatov.Besides, Chicharito’s goal ratio is far better than Welbeck’s, yet the English striker has suddenly found favor.Chicharito is a humble kid, doesn’t make noise but didn’t look happy when he was substituted in the Champions League game against Braga, he didn’t look anything positive- he was obviously frustrated that Fergie opted to substitute him even when had scored a brace.If he hands in a transfer request at the end of the season, I’ll not be surprised.Arsenal’s certain woes beginArsenal cruised easily through the first five games of this season much to the delight of their fans, and certainly the London media. They even started to flirt with thoughts of going unbeaten the whole season, like they did in 2003/4.When they walloped newly promoted Southampton 6-1, jokes started to fly around how Arsenal no longer needs Alex Song or Van Persie. Some fans had the audacity to even believe that the team is better without the duo. Some of us who know Arsenal pretty well, just kept quiet, patiently, knowing that a time like this would come sooner or later.As of now, they’ve been punished by every worthy opponent they faced in the Premier League- that is, only managing a draw against Manchester City, whereas Chelsea walked over them like Mike Tyson did to his opponents in his hey days.Norwich City, however, probably summarized Arsenal’s fall from their short-lived glory- Lukas Podoslki already look tired and blunt, Olivier Giroud isn’t better than Nicklas Bendtner and Gervinho is unreliable.The only spark, Santa Carzola, can’t run the show alone because he is surrounded by mediocrity. Looks like the season is unfolding to its real nature and once again, for the ninth season since their unbeaten record, Arsenal might be forced to eat humble pie and settle for a top four finish as their “trophy”.Ferdinand’s stance on racism should be supportedRio Ferdinand refused to support the anti-racism campaign in the Premier League because he believes it’s hypocritical, much to the surprise and criticism of many people including some black players.His refusal warranted him rebuke from his hair-dryer boss Sir Alex Ferguson, although the manager later admitted that he somewhat understands Rio’s stance.The United defender believes that despite anti-racism campaigns, the people in power are not doing enough to stamp it out. Racism in English football has dropped tremendously, when you look at statistics and probably, this is what Rio’s critiques are looking at. They are also criticising him for not joining fellow black players in this campaign.But looking at the recent racism incidents, I understand Rio’s frustration.Luis Suarez was strongly supported by Liverpool even after they were told to stay neutral in his case with Patrice Evra. When he was found guilty, Suarez was fined and banned for eight matches. The matches passed by like lightning and he started playing again.In this case, if the FA was really committed to fighting racism, they shouldn’t have just fined and banned Suarez for only eight games- they should have slashed some of Liverpool’s points.Fines are nothing to these rich individuals - what really hurts is point cuts in this football business. The same goes for John Terry vs Anton Ferdinand case.The FA should stop targeting individual but rather instil a sense of responsibility in the clubs instead. If the clubs are punished alongside their racist players, they would be forced to take serious action against the culprits.
