Another case of gutless officials only punishing the weak

FEB 20 — While the English media give all the limelight to a certain Manchester United (MU) player, who I must admit has been in terrific form, there seems to be a nonchalant attitude towards news of the £25,000 fine that the English Premier League (EPL) had imposed on Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this week for fielding an under-strength team against MU a couple of months back.

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has not spoken much of the matter, however, I do feel some sympathy for him. The ten changes he made for Wolves’ December trip to Old Trafford, to rest players for the six-pointer against Burnley, brought him three points, he would argue, but also the wrath of the Premier League and some managers of MU’s title rivals.

This decision and punishment by the Premier League has brought up an interesting debate on who is to determine whether or not a manager fields his best squad or an under-strength one. My main curiosity is that since the nature of the league is all about tactics and gathering more points than your rival, then why the fuss if a manager resorts to these tactics to capitalise on possibly earning a point or three?

As I recall too, three years ago Fulham played against an under-strength Liverpool side, and a win that day helped to keep (then manager) Lawrie Sanchez’s side in the Premier League.

While McCarthy is quiet, Phil Brown was happy to argue that the manager, whose job was on the line, should be free to pick his own team. This is not surprising of course, coming from the manager of a team that nine months ago played a weakened MU team on the last day of the season.

MU won that day and Hull City only survived because Newcastle United lost at Aston Villa. But like Rafa Benitez in 2007, Ferguson was resting players ahead of the Champions League final.

So, isn’t there a double standard here, the Premier League punishing the poor and running scared of the so-called bigger clubs?

This week Wolves welcome table toppers Chelsea who go into this match with a formidable record against the boys in gold. They have won all three Premier League matches and scored 14 goals in the process.

The good news for Wolves is that Chelsea have several of their stars sidelined. Having the likes of Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Michael Essien, Alex and Deco would surely add to the likelihood of a comfortable win for the Blues, so it’s left to be seen if their replacements can cut it.

The Blues are really quite vulnerable away from Stamford Bridge. They have scratched just one win in their last six away games, and this run includes defeats at Manchester City and Everton, besides unlikely draws at Hull and West Ham United.

With one eye on the midweek clash against Inter Milan, Chelsea could be facing another disappointing result away from their fortress.

Any Chelsea slip and MU will be waiting in their shadows to climb to first place. MU play Everton at Goodison Park. The Red Devils go into the match unbeaten in their last eight matches, taking 20 points out of a possible 24.

Wayne Rooney who has been heading the front page of every sports page in England will again be in the limelight. Ten goals in his last eight games makes Rooney no longer simply a possibility for scoring in every match he starts, but instead a near certainty.

The question tonight will surely be how will the Goodison faithful treat his return to Everton. The indications so far are that the Evertonians will not be friendly to him, to put it mildly.

The atmosphere will be more personally intimidating than the San Siro and his new much-vaunted self-control will be put to the ultimate test. I reckon we could see an ill-tempered performance from him if he does not get on the scoresheet by the hour mark.

Everton are certainly no pushovers too despite having not beaten MU in the last nine league fixtures at Goodison Park and Old Trafford. After beating Chelsea 2-1 last time out, it’s time for the Toffees to bring MU down to earth.

Winning 2-1 against  Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday in the Europa League, meant that Everton have now won four of their last five league matches.

This game will surely be a spectacle to watch. I suspect MU’s former No.9 Luis Saha could possibly rise to the occasion similar to how former Red Devil Carlos Tevez ‘paid back’ MU for their lack of faith in him.

The two goals scored by Saha (who also missed a penalty) against Chelsea took his overall league record in England to 100 goals from 181 league starts plus a further 69 appearances as substitute. If only he wasn’t so injury-prone.

Current third-placed Arsenal host Sunderland at The Emirates tonight hoping for a victory that will help to put their midweek defeat to Porto behind them.

Arsenal first-choice goalkeeper Manuel Almunia was undergoing a fitness test on h

is injured finger on Friday to see whether he could take over from under-fire Lukasz Fabianski against Sunderland.

Should Fabianski play, given his lack of experience, it would be interesting to see how he handles this match. If he fumbles again then Arsene Wenger better be looking for a new goal keeper in the summer.

My hope is that Wenger will acquire Guillermo Ochoa, the national goalkeeper for Mexico. He was after all named South American Goalkeeper of the Year - 2007. He currently plays for Mexico’s Primera Division. You can Google his name to see what a great shot-stopper he is.

Sunderland have never won at Arsenal in the EPL, having lost six and drawn two in eight attempts.

However, the Black Cats beat them earlier in the campaign and are unbeaten against the Gunners in their last three matches overall. The Gunners definitely need the win after the recent shaky spell and I see them doing just that. A comfortable home win.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.