What If (1)

What if

”What if” is a phrase that is usually associated with regret and second thoughts mostly from missed opportunities. You know that feeling you have when you fail to talk to that beautiful girl, when you oversleep and go late to work as a result, when you go in for that test without studying etc. In this article we will be taking a look at the “what if’s” of this week.

Mourinho/Moyes

What if Manchester United opted for José Mourinho rather than David Moyes. I know for sure that most Manchester United fans have had this thought in their heart. Even you…Yes You! I mean Manchester United had the opportunity to snatch up the Special One and Transform him into the Chosen One before Chelsea did. But Sir Alex opted for his fellow Scottish man. The transition from Sir Alex has been anything but smooth. Three successive defeats at the turn of the year have transformed an already tough situation into a crisis. A friend of mine likened it to riding a formula 1 car on an uneven road. Surely the trip will be bumpy. With the Special one on the verge of his 100^th win one cannot but wonder “what if” he was the replacement for Sir Alex. Would united be 7^th on the league?

January Transfer Window or Not

”The Professor” a special title reserved for the ever pragmatic and wise Mr Wenger said this week what he has continued to say for a very long time that the January transfer window should be scrapped (maybe replaced with a  Door). Arsene said the window was “unfair” and “Either you leave it completely open the whole year or you close it completely for the whole year,”  I know you are probably thinking “Mr Wenger stop being cheap and spend some money”. Before you crucify The Professor let’s look at his logic. “It is like running a relay, then in the middle of the relay you change your runners ”. “It gives teams a chance who are already convicted, it gives some teams hope ”.

I really think Wenger is right. The January transfer window also affects the attitude of players. Kenwyne Jones had the “balls” to send a text to Mark Hughes that he will not be available for Stokes home fixture against Liverpool simply because he thinks Everton were interested in buying him. Fair enough he has made only four premier league starts this season but you can’t help asking what if the January transfer window did not exist.

Well guys till next time ... Stay true to the Beautiful Game...

Who really is the best?

It’s Friday!!!! And quite honestly the weekend is just a mirage, barely there and then it's gone. Never never enough. However, after a long week , it's always nice to chill and relax and support your team. Nothing better than weekend football (for us football fans), this weekend promises to be a good one looking at the fixtures but this week has left me with some questions, some of which I might have answered and some that I will answer when I eventually stop thinking about what my Friday night is going to be like? Any suggestions? Well, if you are willing to help me,I would start of with just a pint and when you come up with an idea for my Friday night, 3 pints for you.

This week saw Cristiano Ronaldo crowned best footballer of 2013,finally beating  Messi (and Ribery) to it. He shed a few tears of joy(man up Ronaldo) before giving us the usual speech. When these awards come up, there are always  the usual arguments. Did he deserve it? Was he the best player in the globe and all that. And with the last 6-7 years being dominated by the short man from Argentina (Messi) and the gel-haired Portuguese (you know who)…camp Ronaldo and camp Messi were at it again.

I have done a little research in trying to pinpoint who really deserved the award, so brace yourself and try not to insult me too much.

For those of you that love your statistics do remember, statistics are like a mini skirts, reveals a lot but doesn’t show the final package.

Players	Messi	Ronaldo	Ribery
Appearances	45	56	52
Minutes on the pitch	3346	4542	4018
Goals	42	66	22
Shots on Target	87	160	56
Shots off Target	59	136	36
Chance Conversion	28.8%	22.3%	23.9%
Assists	15	15	18
Dribbles	331	252	1084
Dribble Completion	51.4%	46.0%	45.6%
Trophies	1	0	5

So now I have managed to satisfy the statistic junkies (maybe, hopefully), let us begin,

Arguably….

Cristiano Ronaldo had a wonderful 2013 with goals and was by far the most influential player for club and country. His goal record for the year was second to none and he was responsible for Portugal’s qualification for the world cup ensuring that Portugal maintained their record of always qualifying for all major tournaments. He equalled Pauleta’s goal scoring record for his country, scoring 47 goals in 109 appearances but with all this, he has nothing to show for it. He won no trophies and his performances in terms of play can be argued with the other two players in mention. And before you tell me about his goals, Ruud Van Nisteroy scored a lot of goals but his in play game was never mentioned.

Ribery on the other hand was the most influential player for his club (Robben fans may disagree) and country. He helped France qualify for the world cup finals and won every club competition Bayern Munich played in. It can also be said that Ronaldo and Messi both play as top men making the sole concentration of their teams, all supply end up on their feet where Ribery who is a wide man does a lot more defending, more dribbles(as the stats will show) and definitely his trophies should count for something or maybe not....

Messi finished 2013 with one trophy, helped Argentina qualify for the World Cup, got kicked out of the Champions league by the Bayern, whom eventually won the tournament. He was hit with loads of injuries but still stood out as the star man for Barcelona by match winning performances (e.g. 2^nd leg against AC Milan). He still has the best chance conversion rate in Europe.

If only…

If Messi wasn’t injured and went toe to toe with Ronaldo and Ribery in terms of games played, would he have been the runner up?

If Ribery with all his trophies had scored the winner in the champions league, would it have gotten him more votes? or if the votes are solely on 2013 as they say, shouldn’t he be crowned world best player?

If Ronaldo didn’t outshine Zlatan in the play off and Messi wasn’t injured, would he have been crowned worlds best player?

And if my aunty was male, she would be my uncle right?

Personally…

I think Ronaldo deserves to win it, regardless of lack of trophies. His performances over the past couple of years have been outstanding. He has remained a world class player proving that he is way beyond just being on form. In the past couple of years where he has finished as a runner up to Messi, his consistency, high class performances sets him apart from the rest, somewhat superhuman. And Messi is as close to super human as it gets.

Ribery has been unlucky to have such a wonderful year in the same era as Messi and Ronaldo, he did win every competition he played in but even that wasn’t good enough to out class Ronaldo and Messi. If he can keep up the performance, the pendulum will eventually swing his way.

Messi, He was injured….

Well I hope somebody has made up their mind what is going on tonight because I am already on my third pint!!! Enjoy the weekend football coming up people. I sure will....

In more words to come…Sabi Boi

Winners and Come Back Kings

Yaya the king of Africa as Ronaldo rules the world.

Welcome to the new year when expectations are very high and when we plan how to achieve more than we achieved in the past...For footballers it’s a winner takes all time especially when it comes to awarding the best of the best...

Days before the CAF award, I got to know that it will be held in Lagos which suggests that the winner should be MIKEL OBI...well that is according to some very biased Nigerians......I couldn't believed the argument that Mikel is a better player and won more trophies than Yaya Toure.....Yes he won more trophies than Toure in the past year but I can never be convinced that Mikel is a better player than Toure unless Toure retires when  Mikel is still playing and that leads me to  Drogba......Double D as he is fondly called by Chelsea fans was once a great in Africa but to finish 3rd in the CAF awards speaks poor of African football.....we need top players to emerge A.S.A.P from Africa o....lest I forget Congrats to YAYA TOURE and also to C. RONALDO who beat Messi and Frank Ribery to be named the best player in the world on Monday while FIFA pro XI proves once again how stupid the voters are....more on that later on.

Mr Champions League

As the only player to have won the champions League with three different clubs, Clarence Seedorf is a name well known to football fans. Some 20years back, he never imagined he could be on the verge of becoming the next Milan boss but fast forward two decades later and a stunning playing career, Seedorf is about to enter the Managerial hot seat... This however hasn't gone down well with some top names and managers who believe that his lack of experience of coaching any level of football will see him struggle at Milan. A good horse doesn't always make a good jockey it seems - former players like Maradona, Shearer, Paul Ince, Ruud Gullit- can testify but Seedorf seems to have an advantage of having a flawless reputation when he was at Milan though there is no guarantee that Seedorf will become a success as an appointment of an unproven and inexperienced coach always remain a risk. So its now up to him to show that a good horse can turn out to be a good jockey....Sir Ferguson proved it whispers a Man united fan.

Forgotten Man

Arsenal's midfield has been superb so far this season with the likes of Ramsey, Cazorla and Ozil dictating the play. However, there is one man everyone has forgotten about and that man is Abou Diaby. But this time, to get him fit for the second part of the season the Arsenal medical staff have pulled out all the stops by literally wrappiing him up in cotton wool (well bubble wrap). With Arsene Wenger being renowned for his innovative ideas, many of which have changed English football forever, it’s only a matter of time before it catches on...I just hope they have enough bubble wrap for Andy Carroll......

The New 'Old Trafford'

The New "Old Trafford"

I would like to first of all say a very big HAPPY NEW YEAR to you guys.
Hope we all have our new years resolutions written down and have
already started defaulting on it as is the yearly ritual. Its funny how we
write a very long list of do's and dont's and only manage to follow
through on January 1st. Once its 2nd January its back to business as
usual. Well, personally after some years of failed new year's resolutions
I decided to call it quits. As the popular saying goes 'Doing the same
 thing over and over expecting new results is insanity'. So I guess you
can say that my new years resolution is  'not to act insane'.

Speaking of new year rituals. I had one ritual that I usually do at the
beginning of the season which like my new years resolutions no longer
holds. Not for the fear of insanely repeating the same event but simply
because things have changed. At the beginning of every season. I would
quickly go through a list of all the matches to be played, 'fearfully' mark one date
and cross it off 'shamefully' as a loss. That's the visit to the  dreaded
'coliseum of Nightmares' a.k.a. The Theater of Dreams.

Having seen team after team come to Old Trafford, play excellent football
and still fail to leave with anything. Just when teams thought they would
take something away from one of the worlds footballs true footballing
fortresses United would come from nowhere and snatch points from under
the oppositions nose. Those were the days when draws were extravagantly
celebrated as wins. Its all been replaced by a heightened sense of optimism
by opposition teams perfectly happy to attack a wounded animal.

This season another North West Team is instilling fear into the hearts of visiting
fans and as 'most' would agree (excluding the die hard united faithfuls)
Manchester City has given a lot of managers sleepless nights and broken the
hearts of a lot of fans this season.

I would suggest the Etihad be renamed 'New Trafford' just to keep up with
the tradition. The Noisy Neighbors have won every home league game
with an average of four goals a game. Not to forget the ever increasingly
intimidating squad of Manchester City 'Gladiators'. There really should be
a limit to the number of top footballers in a team. I mean City's bench has
more quality talents than most first teams in the league.

Coming from an Arsenal fan, you can understand that I have not yet recovered
from the six 'knife wounds' to my heart dealt by Aguero, Negredo, Silva, Yaya Toure
and fernandinho. But on a more serious note, with most teams piling up injuries like
sand on the beach, this city run might just be a sign of things come.

Finally, no one can rule out further additions to the already talented squad considering the infinitely deep pockets of the ever smiling Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan this January. I just pity the teams who are yet to visit the Etihad(New Trafford) there will be in for probably the longest 90 minutes of their careers.

Till next time guys, Stay TRUE to the BEAUTIFUL GAME.

Weekend Sights

Hello people, Happy new year. I am glad to be back and trust me I’ve missed you more than you’ve missed me. Hope you had a good weekend? I am not quite sure I did but I will tell you what I saw...

Finally, Happy new year…

Losing three games in a row is probably not something most united fans are used to seeing, but 2014 greeted the united supporters with zero points from 6 and a defeat in the capital one cup first leg. The banner that shows David Moyes face as the chosen one brings up the debate of if he was chosen to take united up or down. The united fans finally got to see 3 points and no goal conceded as Swansea returned to Old Trafford, a week after Kicking united out of the FA Cup. It is clear to see that with a new year and the transfer window open, United need a midfield resolution...this weekend may have relaxed some fans but with Chelsea away next Sunday....don't say I didn't warn you.

SAS returns…

Imagine Usain Bolt asking for more speed, in my opinion, that would be beyond greed. The most inform striker, by name Luis Suarez got a late new year’s present, the return of Daniel Sturridge. Suarez had already scored before Sturridge was on the pitch but the telepathic understanding between both strikers doesn't seem to want to end and the rest of the league may just suffer from it. They both managed to score and both strikers assisting the other in their goals...must be a long night as a defender, knowing that your next game would be against the SAS.

Hot on Top, hot at the bottom.

The relegation battle in the premier league actually shows how wonderful the league is. There are 5 points between 12th place and the last team in 20th.I personally think that trophies should be given to those who stay up at the end of the season because it is as nerve racking as the fight for the premier league title. The most joyful fans would have to be the Hammers, after humiliating cup defeats, they welcomed back Andy Carroll and got 3 points away to Cardiff. It is going to be a long long fight for premier league status but at least it’s hot both ways...

What really is Offside?

I know that if we stay on this topic, a lot of trees would have to be cut down because we can go on and on and still not have enough books to take down the explanation of what offside really is. The Newcastle v Man city game had a perfectly good goal ruled out because of some interpretation of an offside...Tiote hit the ball sweetly after a corner from Newcastle, the ball takes a slight deflection from a Man city player and goufrann avoids the ball and it goes in the back of the net. The assistant referee gives it as a goal and the referee says it’s a goal kick, try imaging that especially with my explanation....haha but I think a new set of laws for offside should be made or scrap the law and let football end up having rugby score lines…

Who will be crowned footballer of the year?

Well ideally, we will find out Monday 13th of January and I think Ronaldo should get some tissues because even as Messi has been injured, it might just go to Ribery. I might be wrong and Ronaldo might finally win it. but if he doesn't....well they say women always like men who cry..I think

In more words to come...sabi boi

How to beat Spain BY Luiz Felipe Scolari (Parody)

Scott Heavey/Getty Images

Dedication:

I would like to dedicate this “book” to all football managers and team coaches. I would like to specially dedicate is those managers and coaches that have endured continual thrashing in the hands of Barcelona and Spain. The tiki taka style of football has for years now denied coaches sleep and has made players unnecessarily anxious and scared

Acknolwdgement:

I would like to thank all the members of the Bayern Munich team and my Brazilian team without whom the writing of this book would have been impossible. I still feel the need to mention a few players whose contributions in one way or another have made the writing of this book and other subsequent ones (I believe that people will write) achievable.

First, I would like to thank the Bayern Munich team, who first demonstrated to the world that the very entertaining and attractive tiki taka football style is not an end-all and be-all. I would like to at this stage state that I don’t believe that the tiki taka style of football has lost its potency. The men from Tahiti will attest to its effectiveness. My point is this, if you press with aggression, move as a team, take shots whenever possible, hold your position and most importantly believe then tiki taka style of football can be beaten and judging by the score from all three matches (Barcelona v Bayern Munich (both legs) and Brazil v Spain) beaten very well.

Next, I would like to say a very special thank you to my main muscle men in the midfield- Paulinho and Luiz Gustavo who made sure that even when they missed the ball (which was very rare) they didn’t miss getting both the leg and the ball.

Big shout out to Oscar, who spent most of the first half of the game following Sergio Busquets around in the very deep areas of the midfield. He made sure that whenever Busquets received the ball he found it difficult to make a good pass or dribble often starting attacks very close to the goal. Well as much as I would like to take credit for this fantastic tactic I must confess that I copied it from my dear friend and fellow coach Jupp Heynckes (by the way thanks a lot mate ) who, put Mario Gomez and later Thomas Mueller on ‘PI’ duties on Busquets thereby removing him as an option to pass to. By sealing the source from which Iniesta, Mata and co are fed thereby starving the playmakers of the much needed ball.

Another big shout out to David Luiz for being able to switch from centre back to left back position, freeing Marcelo to occupy the wide midfield position. It worked like a charm Pedro was now stuck between attacking Luiz or Marcelo. In one of his (Pedro) confused states Luiz could now hit the pass to Hulk that created the first goal.

This acknowledgement would not be complete without mentioning the man I really owe some of this victory to. Stand up ALVARO ARBELOA. Thanks to your inability to keep possession and love for playing out of position we found great joy in strolling in and out of that very porous right back.

In conclusion, I would like to offer some questions to the Spanish national team and Barcelona.

-       What about going into a game with more than just a plan a? (I mean there are still 25 other letters of the alphabet after ‘a’ to pick from)

-       Can you rely on Xavi and Iniesta come the world cup next year?

-       What about fresh legs like Isco and Thiago Alcantara? Can they spice things up?

Till we see again in Brazil next year please reflect on the lessons of this book.

Extracts from “HOW TO BEAT SPAIN by Luiz Felipe Scolari (Parody)”

Till next time always stay TRUE 2 the beautiful game. Later…

STOP-WATCH FOR ARSÉNE

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

First of all I would like to offer my sincere apologies for the break in communication. It was all done to improve the quality and structure of our articles for your reading delight.

A few days back I was surfing the net and came across this site name www.sincearsenallastwonatrophy.co.uk. First I thought it was some fake site trying to attract visitors only to open it and see a giant stop watch counting 8 years, 1 month 9 Days, 21 hours, 49 minutes and 3 seconds. Even down to the second?

Arsenals transfer activity so far this summer has left little room for excitement for fans. July is around the corner, meaning Arsene Wenger and company will have two months to complete the necessary deals to strengthen the squad. With Higuain almost all but confirmed an arsenal player.   

Arsenal's need for a true defensive midfielder is obvious, especially with the oft-injured Abou Diaby struggling again in 2012/13, Mikel Arteta aging, and question marks over Francis Coquelin and Emmanuel Frimpong. In truth, Wenger should take the ruthless route and rid himself of Diaby, as he needs to do with others.

There are good options for Arsenal in the defensive midfield department, with Real Sociedad’s Asier Illarramendi likely to join the emirate boys next season.

In the dead-weight department, Sebastian Squillaci, Denilson and Andrei Arshavin have already parted ways with the club, but a handful remain. Those include Marouane Chamakh, Park Chu Young and Andre Santos

Along with those players, the futures of Gervinho and  Lukas Podolski  seemingly up in the air. All those players have been linked with moves away from the club. Johan Djourou already on loan to Hamburg it still remains to be seen how the club will deal with the others.

The likes of Chamakh and Santos won't be missed, but Wenger will be scrambling for replacements should Gervinho or Podolski go searching for greener pastures.

If the Higuain rumours are true, then Arsenal can be forgiven for seemingly playing the waiting game. It does render them subject to a more disastrous transfer folly, though, which is failing to pull the trigger.

Should that deal continue for another week, or longer, Arsenal will have less time to complete other incoming transfers. Then there's also the dead weight and possible departures to consider.

That may result in a similar situation to the Gunners transfer situation at the beginning of the 2011/12 season. The Gunners may have more money in hand this time around, but that won't necessarily play in their favour.

The Gunners may get a big signing by the end of next week, but that's still not enough to get excited about.

There will still be plenty for Arsenal to sort out before the transfer period ends in order to really change the status quo.

Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United are all welcoming new managers next season and its only normal for new management to invest in new players. This will only make arsenal's hunt for players a bit more difficult given Arséne Wengers record of penny-pinching spending.