MLSE looks to buy English club

My coffee maker broke the other day, so I took a walk over to a local convenience store to get my morning fix. I stopped in front of the news rack and one of the headlines caught my eye:

"Leafs owner eyes U.K. soccer"

(Toronto Star, 04/24/2008, A1)

For those who aren't from Canada, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment is a sports/real estate conglomerate based in Toronto, Ont. They are the owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs (National Hockey League), Toronto Raptors (National Basketball Association), Toronto FC (Major League Soccer) and the two facilities where these teams play, the Air Canada Centre and BMO Field. The estimate value of these clubs and MLSE's other holdings is $1.75 billion (Cnd.)

The thought of MLSE buying a English club is intriguing, but I believe U.K. supporters of some clubs should be wary. I say some clubs because MLSE is not an organization with a winning tradition. No MLSE sports franchise has won a single bit of silverware since the Leafs won the NHL championship in 1967.

Even Tom Hicks, the reviled part-owner of Liverpool, can claim his Dallas Stars of the NHL won a Stanley Cup in 1999.

So the article goes through a series of teams MLSE supposedly has interested in acquiring. MLSE President Richard Peddie said he recently visited Tottenham, Reading and Southampton. Peddie also went to Stamford Bridge to see the Chelsea operation, but I'll discount that as a purely informational session.

The article also suggests MLSE could be interested in Everton and Newcastle.

Of these clubs mentioned, I think it's safe to rule out two at the outset. I'm sure Everton has learned a lot from the plight of their rivals across Stanley Park and the owners would be very hesitant to sell to anyone even remotely related to an American (or Canadian for that matter).

The other would be Reading. Reading have a relatively new stadium built in 1998, but it's small if Premier League terms, with a capacity of just over 24,000. I understand it is a very nice facility, but not the sort of revenue maximizing vehicle MLSE will seek.

I'm sure Tottenham is the club that will most interest the MLSE folks, with its history, Premier League bona fides (as it were), decent stadium and relatively consistent European presence. I'm not sure how this would proceed, since Spurs are a publicly traded company, but I'm sure it could be done.

The purchase I would make if I was MLSE would be to snatch up Southampton. The Saints would be a bargain owing to their bottom-half Championship performance, but they are well supported and have a fantastic stadium in the St. Mary's. Southampton also has suffered from some financial instability since they dropped from the Premier League, so a fresh infusion of cash could be just what the doctor ordered.

Of course the perfect match for MLSE would be Newcastle, even though they seem unlikely to be sold by Mike Ashley any time soon (or...?). Newcastle has a huge stadium that is constantly filled by deluded fans who haven't seen a trophy in decades ... sounds just like the Maple Leafs to me. This would be such a perfect match, you could hardly come up with a better scenario. Back to reality...

At any rate, the American Invasion seems set to continue. I must admit that the chance for Toronto FC to have a ownership partnership/relationship with a top-class English club would be of unfathomable value to both North American football and Toronto FC. With TFC's summer schedule, it would be conceivable to see some top youth talent spend a few summer months playing on this side of the pond.

Watch this spot for this sure-to-be-ongoing saga...

Back to square one for Arsenal and Wenger

At the beginning of the season, I predicted Arsenal would finish fourth, behind the other members of the Premier League elite, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.

I believed at that time, Arsenal had done little to improve on a squad that failed to impress in the last campaign, really adding only Eduardo and Bacary Sagna. Their team was relatively inexperienced and they would struggle to keep up with the other big sides.

By about December, I had finally come to admit I was wrong, with Arsenal the class of the league, seemingly poised to make their mark, winning Arsenal's first title in four years. Their skill was unsurpassed in England and they were breezing along in Europe and the League cup competitions.

Well, I think I was wrong then too. At this point, Arsenal are about where I pegged them in August, in somewhat of a fight for fourth with Liverpool, sitting only five points ahead of the Merseysiders and still mired in a stretch of wretched form.

I think what I missed in December, and what most commentators missed since August, is Arsenal's distinct lack of depth. Beyond the first 11, Arsenal simply lack the talent to fill in when a starting player must be rested or is injured.

Looking at the number of games started from players of the top four teams, Chelsea have one player Joe Cole (I had to look at that twice to believe it) who has started 25 or more Premier League games. Liverpool have three players in this category and Manchester United, who likely have the deepest well of talent from which to draw, have started six players 25 times or more this season.

Arsenal have started a whopping eight players 25 or more times in the Premier League. Its no wonder Arsenal have suffered through absences of their top players and have began to fade down towards the end of the season.

When it came time to play Liverpool three times in ten days in the Champions League and the Premier League, followed by Manchester United (also in the league), the tank was empty for Arsenal's talented squad.

Arsene Wenger, who had the opportunity to strengthen his side in January but took a pass, will need to look much harder at his team in the summer if he still holds ambitions of winning silverware in this the most demanding of football leagues.