“I’m in a bad mood,” said Pep Guardiola. “Because in net expenditure in the last five years we are seventh in England.” Smiling, like someone playing with his audience, England’s leading coach threw a shot this Tuesday. He pointed towards his club’s duels, towards the sports management that does not invest what it should in strengthening the squad, and put pressure on the six rival clubs that despite having been adding fuel to the boiler for five years, still do not clearly dominate the scene.
The steam engine that drives English football, the richest and most disputed in the world, threatens to burst. It could happen in the Premier, in the Cup or in the League Cup, whose semifinals began to be played this Tuesday in the conference room of the Manchester City sports city on the eve of receiving Newcastle, when Guardiola went off the rails to undertake psychological guerrilla warfare. When asked by a journalist, reminding him of the “excellent” signings that his sporting director Hugo Viana had made this season (Semenyo, Reijnders, Aït Nouri Cherki, Donnarumma, Trafford, Guehi and Nipan for more than 300 million euros), the coach seemed to stir indignantly. “I’m a little sad and angry,” he said, “because in net expenses in the last five years we are seventh in the Premier. I would like to be first. I don’t understand why the club doesn’t spend more money.”
“Now,” Guardiola said, “the six that are ahead in spending should win the Premier, the Champions League and the Cup, because they have spent more. This is a fact, it is not an opinion. It is not a subjective judgment. Now it is the turn of the six teams that have spent the most in the last five years. We will see what they do!”
Surreptitiously, Guardiola pointed to Mikel Arteta‘s Arsenal, along with United, the club that occupies the first place in the ranking of those that have invested the most in signing talent since 2022, leader of the Premier with 53 points, six more than City, and finalist of the League Cup after beating Chelsea this Tuesday night with an agonizing goal in the 98th minute of a match that Jamie Redknapp, Sky commentator, defined, with gentleness. kindness, as in “hard to see.”
Chelsea showed up at the Emirates with a monumental speculation plan. Against the most solid defense in Europe, the work of the meticulous Arteta, the team led by the novice Liam Rosenior dug a real foundation hole. Like an iron mesh, Trevoh Chalobah wrapped the entire structure of three centre-backs, two full-backs, and two pivots. Up front, alone in the midfield, Enzo Fernández acted as universal administrator, and up front, lost in opponent territory, Delap and Joao Pedro, invariably recipients of the long ball, were worn out. The 30-50 meter pass from the centre-backs to the forwards was the basic planned output and the receivers found themselves in a bind. They didn’t have a chance, subjected to Rice, Zubimendi, Saliba and Magalhaes. There isn’t a stickier quartet in the world.
Chelsea needed a goal to level the tie. It was 2-3 from Stamford Bridge. It was enough for Arsenal to close their goal. But as Chelsea came out to wait and Arsenal came out to wait too, the match went through a long process of skirmishes. For an hour and a half there were barely two shots on goal. One from Hincapié, another from Enzo. Both from outside the area. They were deflected by the goalkeepers, Samuel Sánchez and Kepa.
Opulent teams if ever there were one, Arsenal and Chelsea put on an ostentatious display of stinginess in the first semi-final of the Carabao Cup. They proved Guardiola right when he called attention to the return on their rivals’ investments. “Data!”, the Catalan repeated in his conference, “they are data!” The coach was angry, perhaps because he was outraged by how little is said about it in England. Since the 2021-22 season, the clubs that have spent the most money on footballers have been United (780 million net expenses, the result of the balance between purchases and sales), followed by Arsenal (770 million) and Chelsea (755). Much below are Tottenham (665), Newcastle (492), Liverpool (488) and City (460). In the ratio of euros spent per title won, and, above all, per spectacle offered, the balance tilts decidedly in favor of City. Especially when you look at this Arsenal.
Havertz goal on the counterattack
Arsenal had a relatively quiet night. Rosenior waited to change gears with 20 minutes left. Then he brought in Palmer, Estevao and Garnacho, and removed a center back, Jorrel Hato, a tankDelap, and a pivot, Santos. Immediately, Chelsea began connecting passes inside. Enzo joined Estevao and Palmer and the reaction was immediate. Arsenal’s defenders began to arrive late to balls that were previously taken from the street. The local public experienced moments of anguish. The tie in the tie was, for the first time, a plausible threat. But with so little time to change the mood, and after having consumed so much of the game stuck in the foundation pit, the Chelsea players found the undertaking exasperating.
Chelsea were desperate to score a goal and completely neglected their goal in the last action of the match when the counterattack occurred. With the entire defense thrown into the open field, Declan Rice received on the left side and left Havertz alone in front of Samuel Sánchez with time to think about the definition. The German, who had entered a few minutes ago, dribbled past the goalkeeper and pushed the ball into the goal. It was 4-2 overall.
The result that projects Mikel Arteta’s team to Wembley. There awaits the winner of the City-Newcastle semi-final, which will be played this Wednesday with a 0-2 advantage in the first leg for City.
