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I’ll start this week by reflecting on the late drama between West Ham and Arsenal last weekend. I think that the officials got there in the end in terms of ruling out Callum Wilson’s goal, but there are still a lot of things which happened beforehand which VAR needs to sort out heading into next season.
When looking at the replay, you can see that Leandro Trossard isn't even looking at the ball when he blocks Pablo inside the box. If you're not looking at the ball and you're holding onto someone, that should be a penalty.
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But fair play to Darren England and the VAR team, as they came to the right decision and determined that Pablo does catch David Raya in the face. It took several minutes for the outcome to be decided, and I'm glad it took that long because it was a pivotal decision which could have decided the Premier League title and someone's relegation.
They got it right, but the shirt pulling and grappling in the box needs to be cut out for next season. The inconsistency is so frustrating; one week it's a penalty, the next week, the exact same offence goes unpunished.
That result means it would be a huge shock if Arsenal threw away the title now, but I've been around football long enough to know there are always twists and turns. They play Palace on the final day of the season, but I’m still backing them to win at Selhurst Park because Oliver Glasner won’t be risking their key players three days before the Conference League final.
Of course, the outcome could’ve been very different had Mateus Fernandes scored when he was played through one-on-one with Raya. The title race would’ve been wide open again, but Arsenal are the favourites now.
Turning attention to matters on the west side of London, and it seems that Chelsea have started talks with Xabi Alonso about becoming their next manager.
He’s a very good manager and has what it takes to turn Chelsea into a top team. The problem is that I think he has his heart set on Liverpool. But how long do you stay out of work waiting for a job that might not come? If Liverpool stick with Arne Slot and he starts next season well, that door might not open.
So what does Xabi Alonso do? If a big job like Chelsea comes along, it's hard to turn that down. If he takes it and doesn't stay long, the Liverpool door might reopen anyway. But Liverpool fans won't take kindly to him managing Chelsea first though, given the rivalry between the two teams.
I feel like Andoni Iraola would also be a great appointment for them, even though I’d personally love to see him at Palace next season! We could end up having a big managerial merry-go-round this summer, and it’ll be interesting to see who replaces Glasner at Selhurst Park. If I had a crystal ball, my prediction would be for Iraola to end up at Chelsea and for the Fulham boss to end up at Palace – that’s what I’m hoping for anyway!
I also want to talk about the spying episode that has overshadowed the Southampton-Middlesbrough play-off semi-final. I don’t get it. Why are you spying on your opponents’ training session for a two-legged tie? You've already played Middlesbrough twice this season. And their best player, Hayden Hackney, was injured anyway.
It leaves a nasty taste. And under this cloud, instead of talking about Southampton the football team and what Tonda Eckert has done there - and it's been brilliant - we're talking about Spygate.
As for the punishment, a fine isn't enough if the EFL are looking at hitting them with a sporting sanction.
But if you kick Southampton out, you're punishing the players and fans, who've done nothing wrong. It's a mess. The EFL have to make a decision before the final on the 23rd. I don't think they'll kick them out, but Middlesbrough fans will want them gone.
The Boro manager Kim Hellberg handled the situation with total class, and he deserves better than to be part of this absolute mess of a situation.
Finishing on a lighter note, and we have the FA Cup final to look forward to this afternoon. I have to say that if Chelsea play like they have been over the last few weeks, they'll get battered. But they did turn up in the semi-final against Leeds, and showed they can raise their game on the big stage. I think it'll be a decent game of football and they'll be hard to beat, but I’m backing Man City to shade it in 90 minutes.
If Rodri is back fit and in midfield, then I think that's where the game could be won and lost. And Erling Haaland will fancy his chances against Chelsea's centre backs too. Jérémy Doku has also been outstanding recently and will fancy going up against Malo Gusto if Reece James doesn’t start. My prediction is: Man City 2-1 Chelsea.
