CL First Round

Nani seems to be playing for Doncaster Rovers or maybe Plymouth Argyle!
What exactly is he trying to achieve by NOT looking up while running, his passes are going everywhere and hitting everything everything except the goal-net.
And
Mike Phelan needs to go.
Seriuosly.
I just think he is the real( No Pun Intended) reason behind our rather laborious displays in the last one and half season. At times the team selection has been bizzare and completely baflling.
As long as Carlos Quiroz was the Coach,we did reasonably well on the tactical front.
But these days, somehow i feel the "extra bit" is not working for United.
Old Man is perfect as far as Man-Management is concerned. He can write a book on that,but European football has moved from my being " won cause of the half-time hairdryer" to becoming rather cagy,tactical battles where Mike Phelan`s john bull type football wont help.
What is needed is someone like Gus Poyet who will provide the tactical onus without being too intrusive and will be plotting and strategising the whole thing.
Last seasons CL final with Barca proved beyond doubt that we are lacking the extra edge in the tactics and stategies dept. Need stacking up there.
Then again, with Portugal`s current form the World Cup qualifiers, it seems Carlos Quirox will be back very soon.

Team Formation: Real Madrid

Scene 1:Real Vs ABC Club
Venue: Santiago Bernebue
Players: So Boss, whats the strategy and formation ?
Coach Manuel Pelegrini: err...well today we shall
Fierentino Perez:( thrusting his face into the frame) : { snarling and grinning, imagine a cross between the Joker from Dark Knight and Col Hans Landa from Inglorious Basterds} : Who gives a fuck,you are the blood best players in your position in the world, just go out and play!!! while i go check the jersey sales counter...
Manuel Pelegrini gapes and grimaces and looks up to see a familiar bald figure sniggering back at him...

Footie:Tevez( Long overdue for posting

And Mr Carlos Tevez for all hs running and hsssling and bull-fighting instincts is never worth $25 Million. For far lesser money one can buy a proper attack-breaker and passer like the out-of-favor Mahamoddou Diarra from Real Madrid and Diarra will give any team the height, the legs and the steel very few players can ever hope to match.
And

He called the Gaffer an old fool and a vain man.
No wonder Argentina doesnt win anything with this guy as their main striker.

Teams: formations rather!

After the hullaboo about That Boy being sold to the White Castle and the consequential impact on the formation of United,one thing is very clear, no way we can play 4-4-2 and win in Europe.I say this with conviction cause the more successful teams in Europe( read Chelsea and Barca) are all playing a very fluid system wherein the midfield adjusts and breaks up into different formations depending on the opposition and the sad consequences of playing a ridig 4-4-2 when we dont have a creative world-class Central Attacking medio like Diego or Kaka is there for people to see. Even Michael Carrick for all the praise heaped on him by Sir Alex is no Pirlo and lately Carrick has developed a habit of fading and getting lost in big crunch matches.
Furthemore, we dont have 2 out and out strong Centre Forwards like Zlatan-Henry at Barca or the Raul-Ronaldo- Kaka trinity at Real.
Plus Sir Alex is in a building and consolidating mode right now and he has more than 3 promising wingers at his disposal and it is a criminal waste of resources to keep the likes of Tosic,Nani and Anderson on the bench since the formation is all wrong for them to play.
So we need to basically follow a fluid 4-2-3-1 system wherein the front 3 behind the main striker goes into attack every time and atleast one or two of them falls back to support the deep-lying sweepers.
The backline at United sort of selects itself with Rio and Vidic the first choices for the Centre-back spots and Wes Brown and Johhny Evans being rotated regularly.
Ever since arraving from Monaco in Jan 2006, Patrice Evra has slowly but steadily made the left-back spot his own and now is the first-choice for France ahead of the brilliant but error-prone Eric Abidal at Barca.
At right-back we have a long-term problem since Captain United Gary Neville has suddenly become very injury-prone and John O`Shea at best is a stop-gap. For all his heart-bursting efforts O`Shea is a good sweeper-Libero at best and in the right-back role his passing leaves a lot to be desired. What we need is someone like Glen Johnson or Maicon to run and pull back or put in a cross for the attacking players to head-in/ tap in.
In the centre of the park, Hargreaves and Fletcher form the holding and attack-breaking midfield two and they will be also pushing up the line when required.
The 3 players just behind the main strikers is the main area where United will have all the action and the combinations being worked out.
In the centre we have Carrick in an advanced attacking role and Scholes coming on for the big matches.Nani and Park can be the two wide options with Valencia slowly adapting to life at United and Tosic to be used to European matches against light-weight but skilled continental teams.
For premier league, Park and Valencia will be the best options on the wings and even Obertan can have a go once he is fit and running.
Up front we have Ronney who is the main striker or maybe Berbatov as the main striker with Rooney just behind him with the two attacking wingers for home games and Park and Valencia for away fixtures. For away european fixtures we need to have Micaeal Owen coming in around 70 mins when the defenders are tired and also since Owen has been out of Europe both in club and England matches many of the defenders havent ever played him or are not sure of his current form and role.

So basically for home matches.
Ben Foster( TK )-Evra-Vidic( Evans )- Rio( Brown) - Neville- Hargo-Fletcher- Carrick( Scholes/Giggs/ Rooney) - Nani( Park) - Valencia( Tosic)-Berbatov.
For Away matches
Ben Foster( TK )- Evra- Vidic-Rio-O`Shea( Rafael)-Hargo-Fletcher- Carrick- Park- Valencia-Berbatov( Owen).
This will give us the fluidity and dynamic movement and also the extra yard of pace in Counter-attacks we seems to have lost after Ronaldo left. But with so many skillful and fast players like Rooney,Valencia. Obertan,Nani and Tosic in the ranks, speed and skill in attacking and converting wont ever be a problem for United.

The Saga of "That Boy"

He wanted to leave.
He didnt want to leave.
We wanted him to leave.
We wanted him to achieve greater glory for the Red shirt.we hated his antics.We loved his flicks and step-overs dummies.
In the end That Boy has been sold to the merry circus over at Madrid who cant produce even a single half-decent player from the academy but desperately tries to get all the best talent from around the world to re-create the halycon days of the 50s and 60s.But what Messers Perez and his cronies forget is that those glorious years were possible because Madrid were mostly playing home-grown players who loved the jersey and were ready to shed blood and sweat for it.
The neo-Galacticos like Kaka and That Boy and Villa are extablished stars who have won everything they could have as a club-level footballer and are now looking forward to a nice retirement with high pension in Madrid.I dont think Madrid will manage to reach even the semis of the Champions League this coming season inspite of having Villa,Kaka and That Boy in their ranks. This is because of one single reason. Inspite of scoring goals all throughout Madrid has alwyas had a suspect defence which conceded more than what the attackers could score. To win big tournaments you need a solid if not spectacular defence and this is one area where Messers Perez has nothing new to show for all thier buying spree.

Now that Ronnie has been sold lets look at what we can do with $ 121 million.
Options:
1.Antonio Valencia of Wigan- he will be perfect if not the most spectacular replacement for Ronnie. Solid and skillful with premiership experience and at 23 he can only get better.Asking price 14 Mill lbs.
2. Rafael Van der Waart- this Dutch master needs a good coach and a good set of attackers to unlash his full skill set.Unfortunately over at Madrid settling into a team is something they cant and usually dont afford. So inspite of being a proven campaigner in the Bundesliga,he is ready to be sold. Asking price - $ 12-14 Mil.

Sad but True

Its Sad that we lost an FA Cup final. our very first loss in 26 semi-finals. It does hurt. what hurts more is something else. It hurts me to see $ 65 million worth of assets walking around the park doing precious little. What hurts even more is that we paid all this money to Spurs for two players who in my opinion dont add any value to the system at United.
Who on earth paid $ 17 million for a dud named Michael Carrick. He is just not good enough for that amount of money. $ 5.5 Million yes. $ 17 Million- absolute lunacy. For all the good money we get a guy who is never ever going to be first team for England, cant dictate the pace of a good European game and cant just drive the team forward. And to top it all, he is not any good in dead-ball situations. So for all the show what we get are couple of chancy goals against a hapless Roma and the occassional flashed shots against the relegation-threatened clubs. I cant recollect one match where he has driven forward, taken the game by the scruff of its neck and have made a lasting impression the minds of the viewers. People might say he is not the Keano-types but we DONT need a Keano, we already have one in the shape of the fast-improving Darren Fletcher. He wont ever have it and cant ever be first-choice for England. The fact that he is still first-choice for United tells us the Gibsons and Andersons and Tosics are not yet 110 % ready.

Nani is one more player about whom i have very mixed feelings. someone who was once touted to be the next Ronaldo is sadly relegated to the bench at United. The fact he didnt get a start at the Wembley on sunday points to just one thing. This is going to be his last season at United . For all his flicks and tricks and step-overs he just cant fit into the United system of trying for every ball till the last moment. Nani as a rule,never looks up before passing and is generally very poor in tracking back. he barely gets involved in the scrapes in the attacking third and are mostly interested in show-boating and taking the occassional pot-shots at the rival goal. Ok agreed he has had some spectacular goals against Spurs and Liverpool but we need a player who has better vision and is a team-man. With the arrival of Tosic, a full International with Serbia and having european league experience, it seems Nanis` day at United are seriously numbered.
Now we come to the LazBoy aka Berba.
Him.$ 31 Million...who..wer... what...how ?
I know the recession set only in Sept 08 and we bough him in July but even then money is not that cheap. he doesnt belong to United.Ball-holding at the attacking third..hah...pooh...
for that money we could have got Roque Santa Cruz( full International too ) who wont have sulked about sitting on the bench and also made Tevez` loan permanent. Instead what we have is a sulky Bulgar ambling around the pitch looking lost...lost at probably the speed of things happening around him,perhaps enjoying the sites and sounds of english countryside along Old Lanc Road, but we DIDNT buy him to do that. We bought him to add some much needed goal-scoring prowess to the United attack and instead what we have is zero penetration in counter-attacks cause Berba cant match the pace of Rooney and Ronnie and thus the pace of the counter-attacks are gone. Cant recollect a single sweeping United move in the last 6 months and all because of the " New Dimension" - a sulky Zebra who is not good enough to be part of the system. He may be good enough for Spurs and Werder Bremen but not good enough for top-flight european football.

With so much of wasted resources i wont be suprised if DONT manage win anything more this season.

Conversations with GOD:3

Me: Dear God, how were your college days ?

GOD: My college days were all about Sex,Drugs and Rock n Roll...

NO sex,
little bit of drugs
lotsa Rock n Roll!

RIP...

Conversations with God:2

Me: Am sitting in office and listening to CCR and Rolling Stones...n i cant listen to Iron Maiden and Metallica and such alike loud bands anymore...
God: well, it means you are growing old...

( am turning into a fat old Fart...bald too )

P.S: Chakraborty..so long and thankks for all the fish( Munierre).

Some More random

" And I met a girl who sang the Blues"...

Fotus: Random

Baganbaari: One day in the woods...with a lil bit of fluid dynamics thrown in.

the Original Sin: If you ever see a very fat Speedy Gonsalves-waanabe wheezing past you, you know somewhere this sin has been committted.

Flight of the Pigeons: CP...New Delhi...somehow i have started liking the city...


From a bygone era:I had heard the same from my Dad but this was the first time i have actually seen an ad...


The Poet- he takes the path less travelled


Walk of Life: Somewhere in the Middle Himalayas...am trying to cross a dry river bed...the "Bridge" is barely a feet wide and sways from side to side.

Conversations with God:1

Me: How on earth did you manage to fuck up your voice? Where you chatting with Sir Alex without the benefit of a phone! Anyway am so down. Seems like United is the most hated club in town. my pals are drinking Carlsberg and poking fun at me
GOD: Tell `em that a real man drinks vodka. Not some stupid danish beer! And don't bother.Everyone hates a winner.Let em have their moment.We`ll have the last laugh . And the best laugh.Chin up.Sir Alex would not expect this behavior from a Manchester United fan! Whats the fun if we win too easy! Lets give the others a chance to smile for a few moments ! Just a few moments. Then we hit em so hard they`ll say
" Did you get the license plate of that truck?".

As strange as it gets!!!

A month back, Liverpool was at the top of the league, they had everything going perfect for them and United was far awayin distant Japan trying to win a trophy nobody in England gives a Rat`s Ass to.

And then, 2 days prior to the Red Devils` very difficult home game against Chelsea when United as on the verge of dropping out of the race if they lost, and Villa and Everton on a roll, Rafa suddenly loses it.He loses it with a rant against the oldest of the Old Foxes – the king of the Mind Game Sir Alex.

Next Day Liverpool draws a perfectly winnable game at home: The very next day United put three past a very unpredictable Chelsea and suddenly faithfuls were reminded of the now legendary “ We love it when we win against them” of Kevin Keegan which cost the Magpies their title.

After that the Merseysiders have gone from being runaway League leaders to being the laughing stock of the league with their draws against Everton in the Derby and drawing a game against Wigan.

And instead of pulling his act together, this is what Rafa Benitez declared: "We had control of the game in the first half and didn’t kill it off. In the second half it was a crazy game.

"When you don’t control crazy games you don’t win points. I don’t know what is happening.

"Actually I do know, but I can’t say anything about it. It is just crazy.

"You can’t control what you can’t change. It could be like this for years.

"Alex Ferguson has been here for 22 years and you can see what it means when you have been here for so long. The past three games have something in common I don’t like."

So what exactly is bothering him? That Sir Alex instead of ranting like a Old Fart just got his Lads to put 3 past Chelsea, scrape results past the championship sides in the League Cup and FA Cup ?

Is it that inspite of the Pre-season and early season hype, his team of “ Horses for Courses” men cant get the results they need ?

I think it has all to do with the fact that Rafa suddenly sees his motley crew unable to keep up with the blistering pace of the League. also Rafa has assembled a team which doesn’t have much of Home Country representation, so the significance of Derbies are lost on them.( Sir Alex had Ryan Giggs- Wales and Darren Fletcher- Scotland manning the middle of the park for the Chelsea game) .Then Stevie G is not the same force he used to be and they don’t have anyone of the same presence in the midfield area to give them a much needed stability. When Liverpool is good, they are very good. But somehow they are having mostly bad days and Rafa you need MEN to get past the opposition on a bad day.