Club Bashing

I just don't understand why some people have to bash other person's club up for some reason or another.  It is understandable to not like another club because of rivalry but to go to the extend of publicly bashing another club when the opportunity arises is just not on.  It seems to me like their hatred for another club supersedes their love of their own club.   That is just strange to me.


Oh well. 

There's been some discussion on the Net about putting together a team that would defeat Barcelona. Here's my contribution to the cause:

Forwards:
Rooney Ronaldo Aguero
Midfield:
Modric Wilshere
De Jong
Defenders:
Coentrao Jones Silva Maicon
Goalkeeper:
Neuer

Barcelona 2011 = Football Masters

Its been 2 weeks since Man Utd lost to Barca in the CL finals. It still hurts but I have to admit, Josep Guardiola did an amazing job putting together a squad like that.

Some of the interesting things he did...

1. using a withdrawn striker like Messi pull midfielders and leaving central defenders with nothing to mark.
2. using 2 strikers (Villa and Pedro) as wide men to receive Messi's passes. Confusing both opposing full backs and central defenders and allowing its own full backs space to run up and down the sidelines.
3. finally, and this is a genius... using a defensive midfielder (Mascherano) as a defender. Having Pique as a lone central defender is no problem as Man Utd had deployed a lone striker and having 2 defensive midfielders (Busquets and Mascherano) in front of and beside the main defender allows maximum protection to the keeper.

Brilliant! Now if we can find a way to negate all that...

Getting there

2 more matches, 1 more final... you think we can do it?

Cross our fingers... hope the players are not complacent!

Attendance

I just noticed that Germany's Bundesliga clubs consistently scores high for highest average attendance in a match. How come their clubs don't seem to be rated as highly as Spain, Italy or England??? Hrm...

Fabio oh Fabio!

How in the world did Fabio Capello turn from a world-class manager to a world-class loser so quickly?! Never have I seen someone become so inept so quickly before.

I had been wondering why Man Utd is so quiet this season. I wonder if the 25-man squad limite has anything to do with it???

On another note, if Man Utd do want to sign a playmaker to replace Scholes, will Mezut Ozil fit the bill?

Worrying times

Its time to worry when players DON'T want to come to your club...

And the Reds go marching on...

Manchester United wins with 10 men. Rooney and gang brilliant.

World Footballer of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, a substitute at Real Madrid.

Heh. Funny how things are...

Ronaldo should go

I know this is difficult to say and its almost incomprehensible for a Man Utd guy to say it...

but Cristiano Ronaldo should go...

I really treasure his talents but if his loyalty lies elsewhere... he should go.

Finally... its in our hands

The suspense was so thick you can cut it with a knife.

1-1 after extra time... penalties!

Ronaldo misses, Terry misses... sudden death!

Giggs shoots... goal! Anelka shoots... saved by Van der Sar!

Man Utd are champions of Europe again!

Congratulations! you deserve it!

Perfect 10

Man Utd are champions again... for the 10th time! Congratulations!

Bring on the Champions League trophy!

Ball to feet?

If Man Utd manages to get the services of Carlos Tevez, it will be very interesting to see how a South American style of attacking play will blend with the defensive steel of a European defensive line, and how the rest of the clubs are going to cope with that.

Quiet

Man Utd is very very quiet again after the shock signings of Nani and Anderson.

They were also very quiet before the signing of the Portuguese-based pair.
I wonder whom will they sign next?

Brazilian styled Man Utd

Looks like we are going to have a growing Portuguese-speaking contingent in Man Utd with the likes of Nani and Anderson joining Cristiano Ronaldo.

I really am drooling over the prospect of a South American-style attack and a European-style defence combining with great effect. I mean, its the best of both worlds.

I forsee Man Utd going for a 4-2-3-1 attacking formation in the near future. 2 central midfield strongman supporting the 3 attacking midfielders who will interchange with each other, using Rooney as the pivot.

Can't wait!

Wembley Stadium Design - Bland and Generic?

Do you realise how the Wembley stadium looks so much like Arsenal's Emirates Stadium? The styles of each stadium looks so so similar.

They should take a look at new stadiums such as Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena or Beijing's new Olympic Stadium. Even the renovated Athens Olympic Stadium or Berlin's Olympic Stadium looks much better. As for older stadiums, have a look at Camp Nou and the San Siro.

Have they run out of ideas in making each stadium unique? I guess why the atmosphere at Man Utd's Old Trafford stadium is so different from its city rivals. Old Trafford was upgraded bit by bit, and so even after the renovations and expansion, it still managed to retain most of its character and uniqueness.

Oh well...

Whome should Man Utd get for the next season?

A left-back = Gareth Bale?
A right-back = Micah Richards?
A defensive midfielder = Owen Hargreaves?
A left-winger = Nani?
A striker = David Villa/Fernando Torres/Dimitar Berbatov/Michael Owen?

Congratulations Man Utd!

After 3 years of waiting... Man Utd has finally won the Premiership title again!

It is no mean feat considering the quality of the opposition, especially Chelsea.

It took the whole team all of their skills, understanding and effort to be at the top this season.

The young 'uns came of age this year: Rooney, Ronaldo and even Fletcher... and the old ones, its was as if they found their 2nd wind and had a great indian summer: Van der Sar, Solskjaer, Larsson, Neville and especially Scholes and Giggs.

And of cos... the way Sir Alex put all these elements together, persuading Ronaldo to stay, recruiting Carrick to protect the back 4 and kept the team playing attacking, exciting football that sometimes put our hearts in our mouth, and other times lifting us up to "7th" heaven!

Lets hope they have enough in their tank to finish with a bang and end the season with a double. Here's to the next season!

Depth of squad...

The problem with Man Utd this season isn't not having a great 1st team, its not having a good 2nd team. With a long, tiring league like the Premier League, you need to have at least 2 good first teams in the squad if you want to succeed on all fronts.

With 1 domestic league, 2 domestic cups and 1 European league to compete for, you need a really big squad, comprising of a good mix of youth and experience, with at least 2 players per position in the team. However, as with every big squad, the biggest headache is to make sure that everyone is happy and that morale is high. The cost of maintaining such a big squad is also enormous.

Unless Man Utd's owners can back the manager is maintaining a big squad and ensure that each player recruited are skilled, team players, an assault on 4 fronts is near impossible.

Now, if only Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Laksmi Mittal and Ingmar Kampard would be persuaded to buy Man Utd from the Glazers...

Too good to be true

They were poor. The very game Man Utd were expected to stand up and be counted for, they did not turn up. :/

At least Fergie had the guts to say that they were poor. Jose, you sore loser, learn from him will ya? :P

Oh well... there's always next season...