Victors among the Equals...

For decades, they sulked in the shadows, as their cross-town rivals reveled in all the glory the footballing fraternity could offer. Manchester City watched with envy, as Manchester United built one of the biggest brands in the world. Infamously dubbed the "Noisy Neighbours" by the all-conquering Red Devils, City fans lived through the agony of always being the "Other club in Manchester". When Manchester United were on the top of the world, winning the Champions League in 1998-99, City were fighting to earn promotion to the Second division of the domestic league.

 More than 3 decades, the fans waited, and then came a promise of revolution. Acquired, first by a Thai billionaire, and then by multi-billionaire Sheikh, City could finally dream of things that United considered their own birth-rights. And yet, they were still considered second-best, their victories an aberration rather than regularities.And then, a fine afternoon at Old Trafford, the home of their fiercest adversaries, changed it all. Sunday, October 23, 2011, was the day Manchester City have ever dreamed of. It wasn't just about beating Manchester United, that feat had been achieved plenty of times already. It wasn't about attempting to steal the crown, they threatened last year as well. It was all about stature. Earlier, City's victories over Manchester United were thought of as David beating the Goliath. On Sunday, Manchester City were the victors in a battle of equals. No one dares considering them inferior now. No one writes off their meteoric rise, even if it was built on the never-emptying of their Abu Dhabi owners. Manchester City are no more just a force to reckon with. They are THE team to beat.

Manchester City have arrived on the Centre-stage, and it'll take a lot to give them a beating!

The 6-1 Story :
Of course, Manchester United contributed massively to their own downfall. Watching the game, it was shocking to see how badly United folded up in last 5 minutes. Yes, they were down to 10-men, yes, City were running rampant. But the fact was that, United simply seemed to give up. It was so uncharacteristic of a team, who's success was built on the foundations of grit and the devilish approach, rather than beauty. Ferguson later lamented that his team went all out in pursuit of a favourable result at 1-3, rather than going into damage-control mode. I strongly disagreed. They hardly threatened for a moment, since Darren Fletcher curled the ball in to give them a glimmer of hope. There were simply no excuses. Not a single United player seemed bothered, when Dzeko scored City's fourth from a corner. So often we have seen United getting galvanised after a sending-off, attacking with even greater menace. But no one came charging in, as first Silva and then Dzeko ran on goal, and coolly shot past the hapless David de Gea.

The Score-line said it all....

So where does this leave us? The footballing world may have felt the mighty tremors of the result on Sunday, but that doesn't mean Manchester United's stature has diminished even by a bit. Yes, they will have to cope up with the taunts by the rivals, having supplied many of their own after that 8-2 mauling of Arsenal in August. But one horrific defeat hardly makes the 19-time Champions a bad team overnight. Does that defeat mean Nani or Welbeck are bad prospects for future? Or that Wayne Rooney is suddenly a mediocre player, rather than a genius as he is considered to be? Empires just don't crumble overnight. For the outside world, Manchester United still have the charisma, still have the recognition as the biggest club in England. And then, Chelsea are always there, lurking in the shadows this time round, but always ready to pounce.

We may have witnessed a massive paradigm shift in English and European football on Sunday, but count the established ones out at your own peril. Having said that, City have again showed that spending money on logical footballing brains can indeed get you to success. For all those still scoffing, there should be no naive belief that Manchester United and Barcelona's success were built without an ounce of financial strength. Love them or hate them, the other team from Manchester are no more the Noisy push-overs, they are now the ones with the loudest roar!

Nine Proud Men...

       First of all, apologies for being away so long. I'm fully aware College exams and Journal submissions hardly count as excuses, when compared to the monumental importance football holds in our life. I know no one's life was affected, just because I didn't write a new post for a month, but I hope (or rather I dream),someone, somewhere missed my blogs. Enough of these sweet dreams though, let's get straight into serious business.


           It was a sense of deja vu for the Chelsea fans. A trend that was set on a chilly night at Anfield in May 2005, and followed on many such as that fateful one at Stamford Bridge in May'09. The fact that it was rather a fine sunny afternoon didn't seem to matter. Nor the fact that they were up against a rather measly-looking QPR, rather than the Barcelonas and Manchester Uniteds. But for all the disappointment, the vigour with which Chelsea carried the fight will not have been lost on the Blues faithful. 3 priceless points may have been lost, but there were far too many positives to gain from it.

AVB's Tactical Genius :
When your team plays with 9-men for more than a half, and still commands nearly 60 percent of the possession even against QPR, you just know they are destined for big things. As you must have already read, the 9-men system that AVB set-up was thoroughly impressive,and it nearly paid off too.

Lampard almost played a forward-role as the game wore on, even as the full-backs burst forward at every possible opportunity.

 Chelsea nearly sacrificed their entire midfield, as they chased that unlikely equaliser in the second half. Only Raul Meireles stayed in his mid-fielder's role, trying to thread the passes, as Lampard drove constantly in the penalty area, to support the lone forward Anelka. Whether there was an injury to Mata or not, Villas Boas' decision to bring on a conventional forward in Anelka for a play-maker, that too in first-half- stoppage-time was brilliant. It so reminded me of Mourinho's daring changes in an FA Cup tie vs Spurs 4 years ago., when he found his team trailing 1-3. The decision to sacrifice Sturridge for Ivanovic, although it may sound defensive, also was a much beneficial one. He, along with Ashley Cole on the other flank, worked tremendously to cover their entire sides of the pitch.

Mikel sat deep, allowing Terry and Luiz to  take turns to bomb forward.

It's also worth noting that the Chelsea defense didn't capitulate under the pressure, as most teams do even with 10-men. You require a great amount of co-ordination to play that high defensive-line with 2 players down, and they pulled it off nicely. Cech just had one good save to make in the entire second half, as his defense ran marathons to stop the onslaught. Every time John Terry made a lunge-busting run forward with Cole or Ivanovic in advanced wide positions, Luiz smartly tracked back to accompany Mikel, who sat ultra-deep to provide the shield to the defensive-four. After an exemplary deep-lying midfielder's performance by Oriol Romeu in mid-week, it was a solid performance by the Nigerian to stake his claim for a regular starting berth.

Of course, a more accomplished opponent that Queens Park Rangers could have exploited Chelsea much more. If Manchester City showed how strongly you can punish your opponent's weaknesses, QPR  miserably failed to replicate that. But then, from a team, who consider a win earned by a diving-penalty and failing to dominate a 9-player team as their best performance for 30-40 years, you can't expect too much more than mediocrity. Watching Shaun Wright-Phillips' wayward-to-say-the-least shooting, you have to admit the referee got the Bosingwa incident horribly wrong. It's simply not a goal-scoring opportunity, if Wright-Philips is through on goal.

Jokes apart, AVB did not mince his words after the game. "I was aggressive to him (the ref), but I think I have to be.Is he okay with it? I don't care",said the Portugese."It was not a bad day for us. It was a good day for us, but a bad day for the referee". He knows the importance of what was lost. But still, he refused to criticise his own players, instead applauding their determination to fight, and very rightly so. There are big games coming, and he'll charge up his troops to battle, even if it means taking on the rest of the world. There's another shade of Mourinho in there. But, Villas Boas is different, Jose would attack the opposition, taunting the "small clubs". Villas Boas made himself clear and moved on, ignoring the arrogant (AND reckless!) comments from Warnock and of course, the footballing saint, Joey Barton. There are bigger things to achieve.

The English League has never been tougher in recent times. City are running rampant at the top. United may have had the thrashing of a lifetime, but there should be no doubt they'll bounce right back. Devilishness is a virtue integrated in the Red-side of Manchester. And yet, the atmosphere is buzzing around the Stamford Bridge like never before. The chance to gain valuable ground on the Mancunian rivals may have been lost, but to use the cliche again, The Blue Flag has certainly kept flying high.
Adios!