Toure's Birthday is coming. Manchester United 4 - 2 Manchester City

My Tata Sky has been down for the last 12 days, with the Tech support telling me every time how important my problem is with them. They actually managed to make me feel like the most important person in the whole world, for, after all even my wife has never told me how important I am to her for 12 consecutive days. To my horror, just an hour before the match I found out that my subscription I created with Star Sports was not working for some unknown issue. I had no hope at all when I sent an email to their tech support asking to look into it, but voila, within 75 minutes not only that I got an email reply and call, they resolved the issue as well. That is what you call customer support.

So all I missed from the game was the first 15 minutes in which, as I found it later, City started like a run- away train with a goal from Sergio Aguiro, only to be pegged back by a scrambled effort from Ashley Young.  Then onwards, United’s midfield took control of the game and I am pretty sure that I am writing this sentence only for the first time in the last 3 years. I thought I will never see the days when United’s midfield over running a City team which contains Yaya Toure.  Toure played like a man whose is having sex with his ugly wife while thinking about his gorgeous fling. In all probability he is already thinking of his upcoming birthday and wondering whether the cake is a round or square. Based on his performance in the last month, he will be lucky to get a cookie from the City hierarchy.

Marouane Fellaini scored a typical Marouane Fellaini goal from an Ashley Young cross to give United a 2-1 lead a t half time.  Those are the two players who received much flak in the last year for United’s form, but fair play to both of them for having the balls to face it and overturn it. A word on LVG too get both of them playing in the way they do now. Nobody, not even Ashley Young’s mom, would have thought that he will keep the British transfer record signing Angel Di Maria out of United’s starting eleven at some point this year, let along consistently for the last 2 months.

When Rooney turned and found Mata free on the left flank, the Spaniard ran towards Joe Hart, and for a moment I though he got too close to him, but slipped the ball between his legs to the Stretford end goal. Even at 3-1, the match was alive but City players did their best to hide it. Had players’ body language been the only parameter, Manuel Pellegrini would have been sacked midway through the second half.  It is fair to assume that there is going to be a clear out at the Etihad this summer and I will be surprised if Pellegrini is not part of it.

In the previous Manchester derby Chris Smalling managed to send himself off within 33 minutes with two clearly bookable offences, but this time he was commanding in defense and scored the 4^th from a a freekick to put the result beyond doubt. With 5 minutes remaining after the second goal from Sergio Aguiro to make the score 4-2, the lack of celebration from City players told the story of the night, shone of hunger and fire, lack of energy and fun. Not that  any of those 70000 fans in red shirts inside Old Trafford was complaining.

Spared all of us from the chicken dance. Manchester United 2 - 1 West Ham United

 On the 10^th year anniversary of signing for Manchester United, Wayne Rooney chose this match to encapsulate his 10 years at the club. On the 5^th minute of the match, Rafael’s overlapping run found himself with time and space on the right wing and he delivered a perfect pass for the oncoming Rooney to sweep the ball to the far corner, a sweet classy finish in itself. Rooney was really fired up for the match, for you could find him behind the strikers and you could find him in central defense as well. Then with half an hour remaining in the match and United leading 2-1, Rooney made a high kicking challenge on Stewart Downing who was on the break. It was a crude and unnecessary challenge as Downing was still in the United half and there were 4 covering defenders. At first my reaction was it was professional challenge which warranted an yellow card, but when I saw it again it appeared that Lee Mason was spot on to send him off. As usual there are over the top reactions around to suggest that Rooney shouldn’t be captaining United again. I don’t think that is going to be case here. First of all, in the current squad, he is only one (probably De Gea too) who is guaranteed a spot in the starting eleven, which makes him the only probable candidate for captaincy. And he is not the only United captain who was sent off. I can immediately remember Cantona, Keane and Vidic. I can’t remember any hue and cry of this magnitude when it happened with those players. Ofcourse he let his team down, ofcourse it was a bad challenge, but he has already said sorry and he will have his punishment over the next 3 weeks.

Between Rooney’s first goal and his red card Robin Van Persie got his customary goal through a neat finish from Falcao’s assist. When the half time dawned De Gea came out for a punch which never happened, for a West Ham corner, which then allowed Sakho to head in to an empty net. After United were reduced to 10 men, the tension was unbearable on the ground. The crowd went quiet, Hammers put numbers forward and United had everyone defending except Van Persie. Considering United’s luck this season, there was inevitability about West Ham finding an equalizer. With 4 minutes remaining Kevin Nolan poked the ball into the United Net but the linesman’s flag spared all of us from the chicken dance. The relief around the ground was there for everyone to see when the flag went up. The moment of the match came when United’s debutant Paddy McNair craned his neck and headed backwards to clear an incoming cross which looked like it will end in the goal. He was solid throughout the match and had the audacity to take the ball forward a couple of times. It was the worst kind of a match any debutant defender would have wanted, to have a man down and had to battle for the dear life for the last half an hour of the match. But the fact that the kid had come through it unscathed will bode him well in future.

The one concern from United’s point of view after the match was Ander Herrera’s back injury which forced him to get substituted on 74^th minute. Further reports suggested that he has suffered a broken rib and he would spend some considerable time on the sidelines. Fortunately, the latest news is that the injury is not as bad as it was feared initially. He is definitely out of this weekend’s clash with Everton, and further assessment will be carried out only after the forthcoming international break. Get well soon Ander!

It is time to deliver. Manchester United 4 - 0 QPR

David De Gea is the player who can be called the most improved in the last 2 years at Old Trafford. Of late, he is getting close to the final package and the only glitch in his armour is his reluctance to come forward in the box. Today, on 32^nd minute, with United leading by a single goal, he charged straight out of his box to tackle a long ball, to only completely miss out, presenting Matt Phillips a clear sight of the open goal. Fortunately Johny Evans was at the right place to divert his shot to safety, which preserved the lead. Angel Di Maria scored on his home debut, curling a free kick past Robert Green, the former City keeper who was present at their goal when Micheal Owen toe poked that 96^th minute winner. United went into half time with a 3-0 lead, with the game as good as won against a staggeringly poor side.

The second half saw the introduction of United’s new number 9, Radamal Falcao in place of Juan Mata, but only after he scored United’s 4^th and final goal of the match. By any standards, it was a stroll in the park for United against a staggeringly poor QPR side. At times QPR’s resistance was next to none, but those who saw the way their players celebrated with the City team when they won the League on goal difference would not mind that. No united fan in his right sense of mind would think of QPR as the toughest opponents to come to Old Trafford this season, but there were noticeable differences in terms of power, passion and precision compared to whatever United dished out last season.

26 years ago Sir Alex Ferguson took charge of Manchester United and promptly lost his first match against Oxford City 2-0. His first victory came with a 1-0 win over, none other than, QPR. Louis Van Gaal will enjoy that similarity but he was anything but bullish while assessing the performance of the team. He rightly pointed out that improvements are still required for this to provide this kind of performances week in and week out.  David Moyes was dismissed only 6 months ago, but his actual death bell rang in the last summer, when Ed Woodward failed to land quality signings for him, of which the reasons are various. This time, it is fair to say that, he compensated for that. He first delivered his now famous “watch this space” dialogue and then proceeded to spend 150 odd millions of pounds on Daley Blind, Angel Di Maria, Marcos Rojo, Radamal Falcao and Ander Herrera. History shows that, given the right resources, Van Gaal invariably achieves results. Woodward has kept his promise and brought a fleet of world class talent to Old Trafford. Over to you Louis Van Gaal, it is time to deliver.

New era starts with a defeat. Manchester United 1 - 2 Swansea

Louis Van Gaal started his Old Trafford reign with an unwanted record, United losing the first home match of the season for the first time in 42 years. If ever he needed an indication that this squad needs addition, the 90 minutes at Old Trafford provided that. He had his share of injury problems which forced him to give debut to Jesse Lingard and Tyler Blackett for the first game of the season. While Blackett had a reasonably good game (though he gave away the foul which led to the second goal ) at left back, Lingard had to come off midway through the first half, coming worse off a challenge.

I would like think that it was illusion, but there appeared to be lot off empty seats at Old Trafford, strange for the first game of the season. United started the game at a lively pace and bossed possession at 65-35 by the end of first half, but there was a lack of clear cut chances. Ashley Young appeared to have left his pre-season form back in the United States and Fletcher was largely ineffective in the midfield. Herrera managed to strike an understanding with Mata, who was playing behind Rooney, but Swansea kept their shape and composure. Van Gaal’s first half time talk in a competitive game had to be a morale raising one, as Kim Sung-Yeung gave Swansea lead on 28^th minute, driving to the left of De Gea after he was given too much time and space, as he could literally walk into the position.

Adnan Januzaj who came on for Lingard, and Nani, a half time substitute for Hernandez, showed much needed urgency at the start of the second half. Januzaj had some incisive runs down the right flank, and one of them, resulted in the corner which led to United’s first goal. Swansea failed to deal with the first time ball which Jones could only head back awkwardly. By the time it reached Wayne Rooney, he was past it but his overhead kick was precise and found its way to the goal. Later Rooney’s freekick, from just outside the box, struck the outside of the frame and flew wide after Fabianski had already given up. Though he scored one and almost put in another, his passing was off the mark, resulting in breaking up a lot of attacks in the final third. The wave of attacks at the Stretford End did not arrive at all after Swansea regained their lead and United had to settle for second best at the end.

There is a long way to go before we can judge Van Gaal. Today showed that he is not afraid to make changes and ready to put faith on youth, something United are known for. But there is no doubt that he needs additions at CB and someone in the holding midfield role too. It may turn out to be a blessing in disguise that United are not playing in the Champions League this season. We would have been badly exposed in Europe with this squad and that would have affected the League form and confidence as well. Now it is all the more important that United get hold of some decent players before the transfer window closes, and make strides domestically.

A word on Swansea too. Not many survive a player – manager role in League, especially when it is done midway through the season. Gary Monk had done a good job last season achieving survival, albeit with only 2 games left, and he seems to have grown in the role of a full time manager. There will surely be tougher days and tougher tests to face, but he looks like he has the belief and ability to face them. His players put in some heavy challenges today, high on intent though none of them can be termed as malicious. They seem to be responding to his instructions and absorbed his calmness and composure in their play as well.

It was the first Premier League game since its beginning when Ryan Giggs is not a player! Let that sink in and hope that he will see better days as an Assistant Manager.

The MAN who UTD us!

How do you recollect the best moments of your life? You usually associate them with a particular period of your life, or some special person you came across, or even relate to some beautiful places where you had been. For me it is easy, for almost all of them have been provided by one man, Sir Alex Ferguson. If you define happiness as that sudden surge of elation, ecstasy, relief and above all that blissful feeling of 'don't care' about your surroundings, i have had many of those such moments since I started following Manchester United.

For people like us, born in the 80s he is all what we know when we talk about Manchester United. We were spoilt, for we never needed to be worried about the stability of our club while we were mocking Chelsea and City. Even when we occasionally berated some of his squad selection, we secretly hoped the "Sir Alex knows' saying to be true. We reveled in his genius when, 2 years ago, he put 8 defenders in his team against Arsenal in an FA cup tie and still won. The collective sigh of our relief were immense when he backed away from his planned retirement in 2002. From Cantona to Ronaldo, RVN to RVP, Andy Cole to Wayne Rooney, he has always been there.

When Sheringham and Solksjaer prodded those 2 goals past Bayern Munich in the last few seconds in Barcelona, he took all of us from the depths of despair to the promised land. When Macheda transferred the ball from his left foot to right, stopped momentarily, swiveled in a flash and shot past a diving Brad Friedel, we all danced with him, however comic his 'grandpa in party' dance steps were. Incidentally those little jig is something which remained in him from his initial days till now, remarkable for a man who changed his tactics, rivalries, formations and management style to bring success to Old Trafford. The fact that he was ready to change and accept the change on his way was the main reason behind the unbelievable success over the last 26 years. A mere glance towards Arsene Wenger and his almost childish commitment to his methods is the proof of that.

His legacy lies not only in the unmatched supply of trophies since 1986, but making Manchester United a global beast of a football club than just a football team. In the Australian outback or Arabian deserts, the African deepwoods or subcontinental streets, wherever you are, the name Manchester resonates with United. Irrespective of your colour, country, language, religion and ethnicity you can wear a Manchester United T-shirt and become part of a global family. When he took over in 1986, Manchester United was still big but not the money making, trophy winning, awe inspiring giant of today. His vision and courage made all this possible.

And more importantly, he made our lives better too. Even when we miserably failed in jobs, relations and life in general, we found success and solace in winning the premier league. When deadlines missed and hours in office stretched, we somehow found happiness in waiting to watch those 11 men in red play over the weekend. Staying in a far away street in India, we pride ourselves in having the bragging rights in the City of Manchester, when United win a derby. He made winners out of each one of us pathetic losers. Feeling bored, we login to twitter and find a person who we have never met to passionately talk about United for hours as if we were best mates for decades. He united all of us.

Thank you Sir Alex. Thanks for all those wonderfully blessed moments.

Flashback 2012

From 2012 these are the moments which stood out for me from what I have watched or read. Here is hoping for another wonderful year ahead filled with sporting drama.


Best signing of the year: Robin Van Persie. He just beats Michu because of the quality and importance of his goals.

Most inspiring moment of the year: Oscar Pistorius competing with able bodied men in the Olympics.

Worst coach of the year: Duncan Fletcher.

Most dramatic sporting act of the year: Manchester City winning the title with the last kick of the season via the swish of Serio Aguero's right boot.

Most painful memory of the year: The look on the face of Manchester United players after they came to know that City have scored in the injury time.

Most humiliating performance of the year: India losing 8-0 to England and Australia, during which they plummeted from No.1 to No.4 in Test rankings.

Most poignant moment of the year: Andy Murray giving a teary eyed speech after losing the Wimbledon final.

Most beautiful moment of the year: Andy Murray finally winning a Grand Slam at the US open, following an epic final.

Most enthralling sporting occasion of the year: London Olympics 2012.

Most comic moment of the year: John Terry lifting the European Cup in his full kit after sitting out of the entire match through suspension.

Coach of the year: Ivan Lendl

Best article I have read: "A sportswriter’s love letter.." by Rohit Brijnath. Here is the link for all of you.

http://nonstriker.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/a-sportswriters-love-letter/

Team of the year: Spanish football team. Battered everyone in sight.

Stupidest act of the year: Joh Terry sticking his right knee at the back of Alexis Sanches right in front of the linesman.

Goal of the year: Zlatan Ibrahamovic's overhead kick against England.

Best statistic of the year: QPR having more red cards than wins in 2012.

Most dominating performance of the the year: Rafael Nadal in French Open.

Best rumour of the year: Arsenal's talisman striker Robin Van Persie to join Manchester United. Oh wait..

Player of the year: Radamel Falcao. Even after considering what Messi has done, this kid has been nothing short of sensational.

Most heroic performance of the year: Fernando Alonso's title challenge in an evidently inferior car.

Worst sacking of the year: Steve Kean, because he should have been sacked a good 12 months ago.

Worst signing of the year: Fernando Torres. Yeah, I know the he was not signed last year, but some how he wins it hands down, just like the last 2 years!

Best celebration of the year: The Gangnam style by the entire West Indies team after their T20 WC triumph.

Worst style statement of the year: Djibrill Cisse's haircut.

Retirement of the year: Shahid Afridi. Though he may have made yet another comeback by the time you read it!

Best quote of the year: " I am quite bad at analysing technique. You have seen mine". MS Dhoni when asked to comment on Rohit Sharma's technique.

Athlete of the year: Usain Bolt. He somehow had the talent to live upto his own modest claims of being the best in the history, in the biggest of sporting stages.

Disgrace of the year: Lance Armstrong being found guilty of doping and stripped of his 7 Tour De France titles.

Achievement of the year: Sachin Tendulkar's 100th century. Sure, it did take its time to come but it is a monumental achievement, enormity of which we all will fully grasp only when we see the expression on the face of our grand children when we tell them about it.

A NIGHT IN AMSTERDAM

Ajax Amsterdam vs Manchester United, Europa League, Round of 32, 16-02-2012

45 minutes to KO: The Europa league music is not as good as that of Champions league but no choice here. Still can't believe that MUFC crashed out of THAT group to land in Europa league.

35 minutes to KO: if anything is worse than having to watch Europa league, it is listening to those idiotic comments from the so called pundits on Ten Action.

30 minutes to KO: The team news is out. The trio of Jones, Nani and Cleverly return from injury and walk straight in to the starting eleven. Paul Scholes is on the bench though. Surely SAF is saving him for..err..we don't have a weekend game this time, do we? Struggling to identify anyone from the Ajax starting eleven, except, of course, Christian Eriksen who was a summer target for MUFC.

20 minutes to KO: Haha.. Ten Action is busy showing the feud between City and Tevez. I seriously hope that he comes back to the City team and derail their title charge. So much for that ' Welcome to Manchester' banner.

18 minutes to KO: Oh yeah, Ashley young comes back too. Lots of pace down the flanks with Nani and Young.

5 minutes to KO: First view of the Amsterdam Arena. It is big. It is intimidating too. Fans are very vocal and MUFC players are coming out of the tunnel in their blue and black away kit. Good to see Cleverly back. The kid has got real talent.

KO: It may be a packed stadium but nothing comes anywhere near the Old Trafford atmosphere. By the way Ajax enjoying the lion share of initial possession and to top it all, Nani sends a corner kick out of play straight.

12': It is not a 4-4-2 combination as initially thought. Rather it is more of a 4-4-1-1 with Rooney in the middle.

20': like the look of the team though it still lacks the final ball. Once Vidic comes back and we get hold of a world class forcing midfielder, this lot can very well emulate the class of 92. Both the sides with some slick passing moves but a clear chance is yet to be seen.

29': Nani's decision making still needs some improvement. He blasts one over the bar when 3 were waiting in the box. He surely gets an earful from Rooney and SAF shakes his head on the sidelines.

32': Build some muscles and make your presence felt in the box. That is what De Gea needs to do to become the World's best. Every other aspect of his goal keeping is fabulous as shown by his acrobatic save from a long ranger which was heading in to the top corner. But that save from Juan Mata free kick at Stamford Bridge still remains as the save of the season.

HT: Scoreline remains the same but my twitter timeline is going crazy as if MUFC have a 5 goal lead at half time. That is the best thing about being an MUFC fan. Zambia or Zagreb, Mumbai or Massachusetts, Atlanta or Antarctica, you will find an MUFC fan at any corner of the world and trust all of them to be awake and watching when MUFC play, whichever time zone they are in.

50': MUFC come out of the blocks with pace and purpose. One day I want to know what SAF talks during half time. Or does he really talk anything at half time? Or just distribute a case of Redbull to everyone in the team? :D

58': The crowd has gone relatively quiet as MUFC start to enjoy consistent possession.

59': That is the prized away goal. Ashley Young gives MUFC a 1 goal lead through a drilled shot from inside the box. And with that Paul Scholes replaces Tom Cleverly, a case of master slotting in for the student.

69': The 3000 odd away supporters making the Amsterdam Arena feel like Old Trafford. Not for nothing that we are called the best fans in the world.

75': Antonio 'the motor' Valencia replaces Ashley young at the right wing as the game moves at a furious pace. Ajax has no option but to attack and MUFC relying on the counter attack to inflict more damage. Real box to box stuff. De Gea has been outstanding tonight.

86': MUFC have one foot on the next round with Hernandez slotting in from a Rooney through ball. At 2-0 up and second leg at Old Trafford, the tie is as good as over. Surely?

FT: it is all over in Amsterdam. A perfect European away night for MUFC. Clean sheet, 2 goals scored and no injuries. Bye Bye Amsterdam. Old Trafford awaits. It is already Friday here and time to crash in bed. A day of red eyes and sleepy hours to look forward at work!