Me and my mates stayed away from the Manchester derby game at the weekend, as usual, preferring to watch it in the comfort of my TV room with some cold beers and no angry City fans shouting at us and throwing things around. Purely from a football point of view, it was a cracking game – 2-0 at half time, then 2-2 with just minutes to go and ending with an injury-time goal to make it 3-2 is going to be a good game of football whoever’s playing. The fact it was United v City, and United won, made it all the better – especially for us United fans.
That win (and City’s lack of points) takes us six points clear at the top of the Premier League, which is a great place to be mid-December. If we can take the winning run through for the next couple of games we’ll have really stamped our authority on the title and you’d have to say it would be ours to lose from there. Although, as we know from last year, anything can happen.
Sadly the talking point after Sunday’s derby game wasn’t the football but the injury Rio Ferdinand sustained from a coin thrown at him by a City fan. It hit him just above the eye, making him bleed quite a lot, but the most worrying thing for me was the fan who got on the pitch immediately after and had to be stopped by Joe Hart from confronting Ferdinand. How did security not stop him? Perhaps more to the point, what makes people act like this in the first place? I’ve said it before and will no doubt say it again, but it’s only football. It amazes me that people take it so seriously.
Anyway, on a more positive note our 3-2 win over City marks a landmark occasion – I actually got a prediction right! If I get the other two from my previous blog correct as well… well, I don’t know what. I guess I’ll just be kicking myself that I didn’t put any money on all three.
I saw on the news this week that David Beckham is leaving LA Galaxy and wants to play one last season with another club, as a final ‘challenge’ to end his career on. Having been a Man United fan for many years, I obviously remember when he was with us. I’ll be honest and say that I never actually rated him particularly highly – he’s pretty good with a dead ball and scores the odd decent strike, but he never stood out as the hard-working, talismanic player that many desperately wanted him to be.
In the end I think he succeeded in creating a persona and brand the preceded any talent (or lack of) that he had (or didn’t have). He played in many of the biggest clubs in the world throughout his career, moving to Real Madrid after us and also playing a stint at AC Milan, on loan from LA Galaxy. I think it’s fair to say that he was never the best player in any of the teams he played in. You could be cruel and say that Real Madrid and AC Milan got more out of signing him through replica shirt sales than football performance, but I wouldn’t go quite that far. What he lacked in all-round skill and football ability he must have made up for in experience and, through his presence alone, motivation and inspiration, particularly for the younger players around him.
We’ve not been told who Beckham’s going to for his final season as a professional footballer. There has been talk of some French clubs but there’s also a chance he’ll come back to the Premier League for one last taste of English football. It would be interesting if he did do that, but who for? I’m not sure putting him in a Man United shirt would be a good idea to be honest but you never know, it might just happen again. And he wasn’t all that bad when he was with us…
I shouldn’t be surprised that my claim last week that Man United ‘seem to be on a pretty good run at the moment’ is followed by us losing away to Norwich, being knocked down to second place in the Premier League and losing 1-0 to Galatasaray in the Champions League. That last result doesn’t really matter to us because we’re through the group stage anyway but it’s never nice to see us lose, especially in Europe. And, of course, the other results didn’t go in our favour, as I’d hoped they would. Man City beat Aston Villa 5-0, which put them at the top of the league, and Chelsea lost to West Brom, which was about the only positive thing for us all weekend because it meant they didn’t gain any points on us.
Speaking of Chelsea, the surprise news yesterday was that they sacked Roberto Di Matteo immediately after their loss to Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday night. I have to say I was really shocked – he revived them after a really bad spell last season and took them on to win the FA Cup and the Champions League, which is a brilliant achievement by anyone’s standards. So to just sack him after a few losses in the middle of this season seems really harsh to me.
Looking at their previous form, though, it shouldn’t be that surprising – they’ve been through nine managers in the last nine seasons, with their owner, Roman Abramovich, apparently not taking any kind of failure very well. That’s what football’s like these days, unfortunately – big money, big stakes. It’s a funny old game but it’s a tough old game too, especially if you’re a manager and your team loses. Still, I expect he’ll be getting a couple of million quid in compensation, so it’s not too hard a life being a football manager.
Two good wins for Man United over the past week but we certainly don’t make things easy for ourselves. I thought we were going to completely collapse in the Champions League game last week against Braga, having gone 2-0 down, but we brought it back to win 3-2. I suppose I should have a bit more faith and believe in the team more.
We did the opposite against Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday, going 2-0 ahead in the first 12 minutes only to see them bring it back to 2-2. We won 3-2 in the end, with Chelsea moaning about the referee losing it for them. I generally believe that the luck of the decisions evens itself out – we might get awarded an offside goal one week (as it seems we did on Sunday) but in a week or a month we’ll get one scored against us, so it comes back around. I have to say though, if I were a Chelsea fan I think I would be disappointed in the decisions that went against them on Sunday. They did seem to unfairly stack against them and ultimately helped decide the game.
The other thing that came out of that game is something that’s looming a little too largely over football at the moment – the issue of racism. It seems we’re set for another ‘who said what to whom’ episode, with Chelsea accusing the referee this time of using ‘inappropriate language’ towards two of their players – the implication being that it was racist language.
I don’t know what was said, obviously, but if the John Terry episode taught us anything it’s that the language used on professional football fields is, in my opinion, completely unacceptable. In what other working environment would it be okay to bait, swear at and generally abuse a fellow professional? I’m not excusing Terry at all – I actually think he should have been punished more severely – but you do get the sense that what he said was a ‘step too far’ on a field that is awash with insults, foul language and abuse.
Cut it all out, I say – swearing, disrespect, abuse… and, of course, racism, in all its forms. Get tough – reduce offending players to a salary of £20k a year. That’d soon shut them up.
I mentioned last week that the Champions League starts for us next Wednesday, with a home game against Galatasary. I’m a little nervous after we failed to show any form in the competition last year, going out in the early stages and being put in the Europa League instead – which we got knocked out of as well. I’m hoping for a better run this time and thought I’d have a look at the draw, to see what our chances are like. Here are a few thoughts/observations:
Man City have Ajax and Real Madrid in their group so could find it tough.
Arsenal have a relatively easy group and should get through no problem.
Chelsea are in a group with Juventus but should also get through quite easily.
Galatasary are probably the toughest opponents in our group but the others could be wildcards, especially if our Champions League form carries over from last year.
Barcelona are in a group with Celtic but should go through easily. They have to be the favourites this year, of course.
I’m going to take a risk and make a bit of a prediction for this year’s Champions League. I know my sporting predictions haven’t been up to much in the past but you never know, I might get one right at some point. I predict that we’ll lose in the semi-final to Real Madrid, Man City and Chelsea will lose in the quarter finals and the final will be Real Madrid against Barcelona.
Right, that’s given me a bit of a break from my busy week so I’d better get back to work now. Only this afternoon and tomorrow to go then I’m free for the weekend to watch football and take my daughter out on Saturday – she’s looking to lease a Peugeot 308 so we’re going to see what sort of deals are out there.
I’ve already talked about the start of the season without really mentioning the big story for Man United – the signing of Robin van Persie from Arsenal. This was seen by some as an aggressive move by Sir Alex Ferguson, signing an out-and-out striker, clearly with the intention of helping us score more goals this season and making a firm challenge for the title again. That should be no surprise to anyone, if I’m being honest – we always make a challenge for the title.
For others, particularly Arsenal supporters, it was seen as a controversial move. English football culture is such that many clubs have big rivalries between themselves, with some more passionate than others. Southampton and Portsmouth or West Ham and Millwall, for example, have infamously heated relations. Man United and Liverpool is one of the big rivalries up here but there also isn’t much love lost between Man United and Chelsea, or – in this case – the other big London club, Arsenal. Some Arsenal fans see it as an insult for Robin van Persie to move to one of their big rivals. He has said publicly that there will be ‘no hard feelings’ with Arsenal, but the reception he gets when we play at the Emirates Stadium will make him see things a little differently.
For me, it shows the pathetic side of football that I don’t take much interest in. It is, at the end of the day, his job to play football. As with any job, if you’re not happy where you are and someone offers you more money to move, you’d take it. People get too obsessed about football being a ‘religion’ or a ‘way of life’. It’s not – it’s 22 men kicking a ball around a pitch and some people would do well to remind themselves of that sometimes.
I’ve been trying to take my mind off the football this week. I’ve had a band in the studio Tuesday to Thursday so that’s kept me busy but now that’s finished I’ve got no choice but to start looking forwards to Sunday. It’s traditional for me and a couple of mates to go into town to watch the last game of the season and it’s particularly special this year, for obvious reasons. So we’re going to make a bit of a weekend of it I think – some bars in Manchester on Saturday afternoon for a few beers then probably for a curry on Saturday night. We’ve been trying to get to all of the Indian restaurants Manchester has to offer over the years but new ones crop up all the time and it’s hard to keep track of which we’ve been to and which we haven’t. I think this time we’ll just go to one we know we like.
As it’s an away game on Sunday, up in Sunderland, we won’t be going to the actual match so I think we’re going to watch it at my place. We’d normally consider going to a pub I think, especially as it’s the last game of the season, but it’s so important we’re going to want to concentrate and listen to everything that’s going on, and that would never happen in the pub. I’ll fill the fridge up and get some decent snack food in then we’ll just have to sit it out and see what happens – and keep an eye on the Man City result as well, of course.
Oh, and I’ve gone with the prediction from the last post and placed a bet on it – Man City to win 2-1 at QPR and us to draw 1-1 with Sunderland, giving Man City the Premier League title. I figured if Man United don’t win the Premier League, at least I might win some cash to soften the blow a little.
Regular readers will have quickly realised that my football results predictions aren’t the best and I’ve proved myself once again with that last one on the FA Cup Final. At least I got one thing right – Chelsea won. No Torres goal though and no 3-1 battle. It was a bit of an average game but that’s fairly common for a Cup Final I think – there’s a nervousness in the teams and a bit of a fear of conceding the first goal that holds them back. Quarter or semi finals tend to be more exciting.
With FA Cup Final finished, I had no choice but to focus on the Premier League finale. Man United and Man City both had their penultimate games on Sunday and we both won, meaning we’re still level on points. With just one game left each, both taking place next Sunday, it really has gone down to the wire. We’re level on points but City have a much better goal difference than us so we really need them to lose or draw and for us to win to make certain of it. If we both win, we’d have to do it by at least a nine goal margin, depending on how many they won by, to take the title, so you have to say that Man City are the favourites. I’d rather take my chances going to play Mega Jackpots online than put any money on the Premier League title but I thought I’d have one last go at a prediction, to see if my lack of success might work the other way.
So I predict that Man City will win 2-1 at home to QPR and we will draw 1-1 away to Sunderland, meaning City take the title. And I’m really hoping that, like all my other predictions, this one won’t turn out to be correct.
And so it seems Barcelona can be beaten. Once again, it’s a good job I didn’t put any money on my predictions – I’d be a very poor man by now. All credit to Chelsea though; they deserved the victory having held off Barcelona with ten men for most of the match. Some people say there is no luck in football but you can’t help feeling they were a little lucky that Barcelona didn’t get another goal or two – Messi missed a penalty and hit the post but I suppose the aim of the game isn’t to nearly score goals, you have to actually do it.
I also watched Bayern Munich v Real Madrid last night, which was another great game. It never feels quite right when someone has to win on penalties but they can’t play on forever. Jose Mourinho blamed the defeat on tired players, as his side had played Barcelona at the weekend in a crucial game near the end of the La Liga season. Bayern Munich, on the other hand, were able to rest their key players. I’m not a fan of managers making excuses like that – they got beaten, sometimes you just have to accept that, even if it was on penalties.
This week in the studio has been really good. Lots of people in and out and a real variety of work as well, which has made it interesting and been great experience for the student I’ve had helping me out. One more day then I’m gearing up to the Manchester derby weekend. As I’ve mentioned before, a few mates are coming back for the game and to have a bit of a party on Saturday and Sunday. We’ll all be heading to our Manchester serviced apartments on Saturday afternoon then hitting the town, going to a few bars and restaurants and maybe even a club afterwards, if we can handle it – we are all getting on a bit now. And Monday, of course, is the day of the big game – Manchester United v Manchester City, potentially crucial in deciding the Premier League 2012. Next time you hear from me, it’ll all be over and I will either be the happiest man in Manchester or… well, not.
I only managed to catch the highlights from last night’s Carling Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Man City, but it looked like a cracking game. As a United fan, neither team winning was ideal for me so I guess a 2-2 draw was about right! Liverpool obviously go through on aggregate and good luck to them – we may be rivals in theory but… well, it’s only football at the end of the day! Looking forward to our FA Cup game with them on Saturday though – and I hope we stuff them!
I’ve invited quite a few people round to watch the game at mine so I think it’s going to be quite a party – a 12.45 kick off means it could be a long day too as I expect we’ll head into Manchester afterwards for a few beers around the bars. That’s if we win anyway – some of the lads get really depressed when we lose big games and the party spirit really goes out of them. I can understand why but I never let it affect me that much; I’d rather still go out and enjoy myself than sit at home moping!
I managed to go and look at that Mazda 5 yesterday and I must say I really liked it. They’re really well made cars and it’s a good size for me – definitely given me something to think about. Anyway, just one more day of work this week – finishing a band’s demo off tomorrow – then the big FA Cup weekend. Here’s a little reminder of some United magic to get me in the mood – a classic Bryan Robson goal against Liverpool in the 1985 FA Cup:
