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This Weeks News

Hot Topics

Everything Under Control

FA Justice in Action

Three for Sorrow

England

Arsenal

Did Arsene Get His Sums Wrong?

Arsenal Star Milton Dies

Soho Square Farce

Ashley and a Heavy Dose of the Blues

Arsenal and the Future

Clean Sweep for Arsenal

Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn's European Ambitions Dented

Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wise, Pound Foolish

Downsizing at Bolton

Chelsea

It's Thumbs Up for Lampard

How Chelsea Blew it in Geordieland

Another Fine Mess, Mourinho

Chelsea's Big Mistake

Sideways is Best for Chelsea

Chelsea on the Slide

Chelsea - Play or Pose?

Chelsea Fail Again

All Quiet in the Chelsea Midfield

The Price of Failure

Chelsea Lose Their Title

Liverpool

The Nation Backs Liverpool

Liverpool Make it Big

Liverpool Should Be Cautious

Manchester City

Manchester Teams Worlds Apart

Manchester United

United Narrow Favourites

The Art of Being Bullish

Alex Gets Arsene's Vote

Crying in the Rain

Champions United Make Their Point

Newcastle United

Portsmouth

Record for Portsmouth Keeper

Your Round, Harry

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham, Envy and the Price of Silver

Arsenal Expose Underachieving Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur - You Have to Laugh

Referees

Respectfully Yours

There can be no consolation for losing a game like the Champions League final, but Arsenal players, officials and fans would have appreciated the generous remarks of Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard, who has conducted himself with great dignity during his time at the club.

Unfortunately Rijkaards courtesy and dignity also served to highlight the absence of those qualities in some of his players. In addition to the crowd who surrounded the referee and plied him with card waving gestures designed to reinforce the prospect of Jens Lehmanns dismissal in the 18th minute, there were the kickers (led by that consummate tapper of ankles, the distasteful Marc Van Bommel), the divers (Bommel included) and the flagrant time wasters (which, disappointingly, included Henrik Larrson).

The only comfort for Arsenal is that, in their eccentric way, all of these transgressions demonstrated a degree of respect for, and perhaps even fear of, Arsenal which surpassed anything their coach may have felt and may yet influence Thierry Henrys deliberations about his future.