That's On Point: The Web Site

"It's nevah you, Jim." -- Mike Francesa, WFAN host/sports talk radio icon.

Highly recommend clicking on that link. Not sure who's got the more unassailable ego, in their own mind at least, Francesa or Arsene Wenger? Both are two men who've never admitted they've made a mistake, earning the respective nicknames of the Sports Pope and the Professor.

In a recurring theme in 2011, Arsenal yet again couldn't seal the deal in a surreal 1-1 draw with Liverpool at the Emirates, featuring each team converting a penalty deep into the longest stoppage time you'll probably ever see, 12 minutes.

Arsenal gagged away its chance to keep its nominal pursuit of Manchester United, even when given a lifeline from the otherwise excellent Jay Spearing and referee Andre Mariner in the 96th minute when Cesc Fabregas was tackled inside the box -- going down very easy to sell the call, mind you. Robin van Persie's "sure"(*) winner was offset on the other end on a wild sequence, started by a foul on the edge of the area on Luis Suarez, followed by a loose ball foul of Lucas inside the area by Emmanuel Eboue. Goonies never say die, Dirk Kuyt converted and Arsenal again had egg on its face.

(*) If I only had a penny farthing for every time one of the EPL Brit announcers declares a match "surely" over only for something crazy to happen at the other end ...

This wasn't the fault of the much-maligned Arsenal defensive core. And, yes, this was a bizarre once-in-a-lifetime ending. Does it look weird to announce an already-whopping eight minutes of stoppage time -- mainly due to Jamie Carragher being knocked out cold -- and see Liverpool equalize from the spot with 102 showing on the clock? Sure, but it's at the ref's discretion.

All things being equal a draw was the fair result for the majority of the 90-odd minutes of actual action.

Still, Arsenal just don't have it in their DNA to find a way to win. There's always something.

Wenger likes to promote this, too. There's nothing wrong with Wenger's youth policy or low-budget transfer policy. What's disquieting is the constant blame of the refs or the opposing teams tactics, the weather, the pitch, the alignment of the planet Jupiter.

That's why it probably brought a smile to every non-Arsenal fan's face to see Kenny Dalglish to blow off Wenger when he struck his "Christ the Redeemer" pose on the touchline. What was Liverpool supposed to do? Down to the bare bones, youth academy defenders, Liverpool hung tough as Carragher and Fabio Aurelio each limped off. Was, at some point, Liverpool simply supposed to lay down and cordially hand Arsenal the three points?

There's no accountability and way too much coddling at the Emirates.

And if Barcelona comes calling for Cesc Fabregas, let him go while his value is still high.

Real, Soccer:

Vis-a-vis my informal, observational take on the ongoing "soccer as a popular sport" in the American consciousness, here's the worldwide events that hold relevance to most stateside fans:

* The World Cup
* The U.S. National Team, mostly games against Mexico or high-profile friendlies.
* The Premier League
* The Champions League
* Real Madrid/Barcelona

Those are the soccer events that move the proverbial needle in the America.

For the next two weeks, that last item is the most important as kids in coffee shops were streaming the game on Saturday, regardless if the only thing they know about Franco's fascist regime was the Clash song, "Spanish Bombs."

Not much to say about the 1-1 draw between, apparently, the only two teams in continental European soccer that matter, considering the two-horse La Liga race was already all but determined before the match.

My hope is when the dust settles after the Copa del Rey and two-leg Champions League semifinal there's some memorable moments beyond Ray Hudson's disinterest in statistics.

FA Cupping:

One of those soccer events that's not exactly big-time relevant is the FA Cup. I've discussed this thought in this space plenty of times. The value the FA Cup still retains is its place as an English institution, which can tie together multiple generations and century's of soccer. It's hard for this to translate across the Atlantic, much like the pomp and circumstance of most NCAA sports don't exactly fly outside the States, beyond the built-in gambling aspects.

This weekend the FA Cup semifinals felt like a big dud. On the one hand, Saturday you had a dream matchup of Manchester United and Manchester City, with storylines a plenty. Old money vs. nouveau riche. United seeking the treble. City shooting for a trophy -- any trophy. Roberto Mancini's job security. Star, marquee players on both sides, even with the top-billed coverboys, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez on the bench for various reasons.

Instead this game boiled down to four things:

* A bad pass in his own defensive zone from Michael Carrick, the proverbial little girl with the curl, if there ever was one.
* A solid finish by Yaya Toure.
* Paul Scholes studs up Liu Kang from "Mortal Kombat" finishing kick on Pablo Zabaleta, which resulted in a warranted red card.
* Rio Ferdinand trying to choke out Mario Balotelli after the game ended.

Once again, to use a strained (frankly strange) metaphor, United showed that they're not quite the natural beauty they once were, where they could step out and win hearts without much effort. The Red Devils need a little more makeup, or to wear flattering clothing to resemble the knockout of years past. Saturday, Sir Alex Ferguson's eye for fashion failed him.

With Rooney reduced to wearing a tie in the stands and with Dimitar Berbatov fluffing two easy chances, United didn't have anything much in the tank after the first 10-odd minutes. But of course the irony is, United might have nominally been seeking the "treble", but the FA Cup is a distant third in priority compared with the Premier League and Champions League. United didn't field a poor lineup, but the Red Devils never found that extra gear to beg, borrow or steal a result.

City, to their credit, did what they do, pouncing on a goal and then playing solid defense, with both Toure and Vincent Kompany bossing around their areas on the field. What made this tough was that City aren't exactly the plucky underdogs to United any more. I fully respect the hardy, passionate, long-suffering City fans, who try to bill themselves as more "authentic" than their United counterparts. These folks deserve a Cup final.

Yes, even the Gallagher Bros.

The actual City team? A collection of high-priced mercenaries ... and Jolean Lescott, who like Roger Dorn is just high-priced, aren't exactly readily lovable. Admittedly, it's not a player or team's job to exude a high Q-rating, or find a place in our hearts, but City ranges from the dull -- Gareth Barry -- to the crazy -- Balotelli -- to the patently unlikeable -- Nigel de Jong. Throw in their oil-rich tycoon owners and City sort of exists in their own sterile bubble.

And with Stoke City thrashing Bolton 5-0 in the other semifinal, the FA Cup final in May will be pit two teams that will be difficult to embrace. The Potters are the underdog, but since they don't try to play like Barcelona with a tika-taka style, they are almost universally reviled by the media. In my eyes, Stoke should be lauded for doing things their way -- albeit the dreaded, not cool "Route One" soccer -- and playing into a Cup final.

Results are results and now Stoke is 90 minutes away from it's first trophy in over 40 years.

If anything, I've always appreciated the work of Matthew Etherington. Fortunately his return trip to the FA Cup Final cannot be ruined by an extra time Steven Gerrard Thunderbolt.

PFAs are banned:

This is coming from a guy who coined the term, "Gareth Christ," but there's no way Gareth Bale is the best player in the 2010-11 Premier League. None.

As discussed last week, when guys like Luka Modric and Nani weren't even eligible for the award, while a guy like Berbatov was, well, it's a foolish award. This PFA nonsense probably carries more weight in England anyway so it's not worth fretting over. Getting upset over the folly of this award is like working yourself into a lather over who makes the Pro Bowl. It seems to be a blatant popularity contest.

More importantly, why does the PFA pick it's Player of the Year and team with five or six games left for teams to play? Would it be that hard to release a team at the end of May?

I'll reserve my best XI for when we've got the whole body of evidence to look at.

Around the League:

It's become abundantly clear, when the apocalypse finally arrives all that will remain on the scorched Earth will be cockroaches and Wigan Athletic. The Latics won away to Blackpool and are now out of the bottom three. Good job by Roberto Martinez to get a result from a team which could have easily rolled over and played dead the rest of the way. ... Another weekend, another win for David Moyes' Everton, which sit two points behind rival Liverpool. Remember when both these teams were in crisis? ... Probably time to put the idea of Aston Villa getting relegated to bed, after their 2-1 road win at West Ham, with Gabby Agbonlahor scoring a late winner on a header thanks to some non-existent Hammers marking in front of goal. ... The bottom keeps falling out on Sunderland, which actually out-played Birmingham City, yet lost 2-0. The Black Cats welcome Wigan to the Stadium of Light on Saturday. ... Chelsea won 3-1 at West Brom, after going down 1-0 thanks to the unstoppable Peter Odemwingie. The one big thing here is that Didier Drogba looked lively and scored, furthering the question of who should be the Blues No. 1 striker going into 2012. ... Shocking performance by Bolton in the FA Cup loss to Stoke, as coach Owen Coyle and captain Kevin Davies questioned his team's effort. Coyle has done about everything right since coming to the Reebok Stadium and had a chance to win a major trophy. Now? He's back to square one, fighting for a Europa League spot thanks to the Premier League's glass ceiling.

Fantasy Team O' the week:

In an otherwise low-scoring week, Mark Chamber's Turtles take top honors with 81 points. Leighton Baines, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba were the big point earners.

Midweek Madness:

* Newcastle United v. Manchester United -- (Tuesday, 2:45 p.m., ESPN2) If there's one thing Manchester United has done masterfully this season, it's been Ferguson juggling his lineup. Newcastle's lack of scoring options should allow him to rest Ferdinand and maybe Vidic. Figure Chicharito is again the hero here. ... Newcastle United 0, Manchester United 2

* Tottenham v. Arsenal -- (Wednesday, ESPN2, 2:45 p.m.) Oh, and this photo of Harry Redknapp is awesome. Does any more need to be said? Do Spurs have it in them to beat the Gunners in back-to-back seasons at the Lane? A win here pulls them even with Manchester City. Paging Danny Rose ... ... Spurs 2, Arsenal 1

* Chelsea v. Birmingham City -- (Wednesday, FSC, 2:30 p.m.) Hard to believe I read an AP report from the Chelsea/West Brom game that still mentioned the Blues as a title contender. Eight points with six to play? That's pushing it, fellas. ... Chelsea 3, Birmingham City 0

Last round: 2-6
Season: 136-185

One Other Thing:

New on the Netflix instant, "The Other Guys." Didn't think much of this movie, but the bizarre character Will Ferrell plays is worth the price of admission. If you're not in on Farrell, skip it, but otherwise it's worth 90 or so minutes of your time.

One Other Sports Thing:

Watched basically an entire NHL hockey game from start to finish for the first time in well over a decade on Friday.

In a weird way, it's actually fun to watch a sporting event where you have zero rooting interest, zero knowledge of the players, zero knowledge of strategy, etc. It's fun to be a layman, every now-and-then. One thing that struck me was the production of the NHL on Versus, which Fox Soccer Channel could learn a thing or two about, namely closed collars on their studio analysts.

First and foremost, unlike a sporting event televised by ESPN, the game came first on Versus. There wasn't a ticker on the bottom telling me what LeBron James ate for dinner. Nor did they cut away for "SportsCenter" in-game, to update who held the pole in a NASCAR race. It was just hockey and just the game going on. Refreshing.

And to my knowledge, a complete lack of Katy Perry ProActiv ads at halftime intermission.

Labels: Arsenal, arsene wenger, EPL, manchester city, manchester United, Monday recaps, Soccer