Yesterday Arsene Wenger made it quite clear we were a team that was far too reliant on the goals of Robin van Persie.

Yesterday Arsene Wenger said there was nothing we could do about it until the end of the season and he urged the captain to drag us over the line into third place.

Yesterday, he did something about it, for next season at least, by finalising the signing of Lukas Podolski from Cologne.

The art of Arsetrology

With days to go before our next ‘must win game' I thought I'd pass the time by examining the factors that have combined to deliver us to where we stand today in this rollercoaster of a season. Since karma is definitely involved, and the footballing gods have stepped in to restore the natural order of things, I have decided to use the mystic power of Arsetrology (the ancient art of using an acronym to explain events) to reveal those factors that have guided our fate so far this season.

The art of Arsetrology

With days to go before our next ‘must win game' I thought I'd pass the time by examining the factors that have combined to deliver us to where we stand today in this rollercoaster of a season. Since karma is definitely involved, and the footballing gods have stepped in to restore the natural order of things, I have decided to use the mystic power of Arsetrology (the ancient art of using an acronym to explain events) to reveal those factors that have guided our fate so far this season.

Derby du Rhône

Week 28, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard

Tonight's main event is six pointer of a game. Saint-Etienne (46 points) now looks down upon Lyon (43 points) with strength that has placed it very firmly in the race for the final European spot. At 7th place in the standings, Lyon can only reasonably expect to fight for Europa League.

Yes, there are two more 2nd leg Round of 16 matches today, but unlike yesterday's Super Tuesday matches, we probably won't tune in for either of today's two matches. But if you must, check here & here for your local listings for today's fixtures:

More » Barcelona 20:45 Leverkusen Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR) – Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona (ESP) More » APOEL 20:45 Lyon Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP) – Stadium: GSP Stadium, Nicosia (CYP)

Why not?

Nope, nothing to do with Ryan, Babel is an acronym for the island province of Bangka Belitung. Flushed with the success of a local movie, Laskar Pelangi, the islands have become a popular tourist destination for locals looking for a bit of peace and quiet basking in the glamour of fame.
The Depati Amir Stadium in Pangkal Pinang normally hosts local amateur team Persipas but this coming weekend will see the glamour of the Indonesia Super League descend with Deltras and Sriwijaya from nearby Palembang competing with a Babel Stars for the inaugural Babel Cup.

There aren't many bigger clubs than Barcelona and AC Milan, so it's quite a pleasant surprise to have them meeting on Matchday 1. Unless there are some serious surprises over the next couple months, they should finish 1-2 in their group it's hard to imagine either of slipping behind Zenit St. Petersburg or Cyprusians APOEL FC (see our run through today's fixtures for a full account of what APOEL is an acronym for) so their two matches should be crucial, determining who finishes atop the group and gets the better seed going into the knockout stage (which doesn't start until five months from now, in Februrary).

There was great excitement when it became evident that there was a genuine possibility of Manchester City a one in two chance, if I recall could land in a group with Barcelona and Milan, who'd already been paired. This was followed by tragic disappointment when Citeh was sent elsewhere.

Nope, this is not a piss taking post.
Malaysia has young players in Slovakia mixing it with local teams but Indonesia has had a young team in Uruguay for a few years now and, rather unusually for Indonesia, they have been working under the same coach all that time.
Unfortunately named SAD, it's an acronym that works better in Spanish I believe, the young Indonesians have been on a tour of Chile where they achieved a level of consistency no-one will appreciate
v U De Catolica 1-3v C D Higgins 1-2v Audax Italiano 0-0v Union Espanola 1-2c Colo Colo 1-2v U De Cile 1-2

The Vitória Sport Clube, also known as Vitória de Guimarães, or by the acronym VSC, is a sports club based in Guimarães, Portugal. The club currently campaigns in the top flight of Portuguese soccer, La Primeira Liga. Vitória's fifth place league finish last season saw the club qualify for the Third Qualifying Round of the [.

The Sons of Ben were #DTF last night. Not in the Urban Dictionary definition of the acronym, but rather "Defend(ing) The Fort."

As a show of solidarity for their fellow supporter groups in New England, the Sons of Ben decided to have a minute of silence during the twelfth minute of the Philadelphia Unions' goalless draw with Sporting Kansas City.

ASquared left Mayfair's Colony Club Sunday night following his team's win over Manchester United. He's getting dangerously close to Guti's closet.

We usually make an effort to be understanding of football players' fashion choices, based on their lack of schooling and comprehension of social cues.

Is anyone else sick and tired of the whining and childish petulance from both sides of El Clasico?

Apparently UEFA is not. In fact apparently UEFA is having a bit of fun with the whole thing.

In one of Jose's many ludicrous rants the man's descending into Sir Alex levels of delusion he listed, or rather blacklisted, several referees he thinks are 'pro-Barca'.

For whatever reason, Michel Platini celebrated four more years at the helm of UEFA by pointing to his teeth, which he's apparently quite proud of. They could probably use a touch of whitening, even if it's nice to have the head of an acronym who isn't wholly concerned with the appearance of matters.

Also file under: Things I wish were different

The CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals begin tonight, and I have just one itty-bitty question for you loyal Daily Soccer Fix readers: Do you even know what this heavily acronym-ed beast, this CONCACAF Champions League thingy, is in the first place?

Andy Carroll's £35 million move has surprised a lot of people, particularly in the light of the Liverpool owners' reputations as careful, smarter investors. NESV, as you'll know, famously took over baseball's Boston Red Sox and won a long awaited World Series, and in so doing used what were termed "moneyball" principles.

AFR's Editor-in-chief Eric Beard will be checking in from Barcelona until June whilst studying abroad. He'll be sharing his (mostly) football-related experiences while exploring the city and beyond.

I have only been around in the Catalan capital for a little less than two weeks (I touched down in BCN on the 15th), but after 4 days I managed to get a tryout with a local team here in the outskirts of city.

The word "WAG" was created to function as a plural: English players' wives and girlfriends, roving through Germany in a sort of mass or pack, terrorizing shopkeepers, coming out at night to run up horrifying collective restaurant tabs beneath the light of the full moon. Yes, there was an added s as the word was commonly used, but rather than implying a group composed of individual members, it was clearly meant to serve as part of an overall abbreviation: wives and girlfriends, glimpsed by unbelieving townsfolk on the edge of the Black Forest, or near the Hohenbaden Castle ruins.

This sounds more like spoon-feeding some of the internet's finer football satire sites, and if Sepp's legacy is overwhelmingly known for one thing, it will be providing the internet and blogdom for an incessant stream of content.

But yes, FIFA will be creating an "independent" anti-corruption committee.