Sir Alex Ferguson: End of an Era

The tributes will start pouring in now on those social networking sites. There will be tons of stories, tons of analyses of his glorious 26 years at the helm of the most successful club in English history. But what I cannot stop wondering about is how it must have exactly been to be him. I mean, isn't that the ultimate life one can ever dream of? Getting over 70, and still having that boundless enthusiasm to do what you love? And to still be the freaking best at it after 39 years?

I won't talk about the stats and all the trophies he won and everything. Pretty much everyone knows about that, and if even if you don't, you're going to be bombarded with all that information anyways. The only statistic that tells the story of his life for me is this: 5 times Manchester United finished as the runners-up in the Premier League under him. On each and every occasion, they stormed back to win back the title. The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will, said Vince Lombardi. Willpower was never a problem with Ferguson. Every goal scored was cheered with the same childlike enthusiasm, that must have been present right from childhood. Every defeat was met with a burning desire to return to the winning ways.

The speculations are already rife about who shall succeed him at Old Trafford. For all we know, that might be the greatest managerial challenge one has ever faced. The kind of legacy he leaves behind, how do you compete with that? And yet Ferguson might not be gone just yet. They say he'll continue on the football board and as an ambassador. You wonder if there's one final challenge left for him. History tells us its a monumental task to continue the same level of success, when a team loses a legend like him. It took decades for United to get over Sir Matt Busby. Liverpool met with similar fate after Bill Shankly. I wonder if that's why Ferguson wants to hang around, albeit in an upstairs job. To ensure that Manchester United continue to move forward with the legend that he has built in last 26 years.

That, might just be the ultimate triumph for the Wily Old Scott.

Bilbao’s supremacy or United’s frailties?

After a hiatus for more than 2 months, Football Freaks finally returns.. Akash Nair takes a look back at the hugely entertaining clash between Manchester United and Athletic Bilbao two days ago, as he praises the project Marcelo Bielsa has undertaken at the Basque club....

I will confess now and here that I am a fan of Marcelo Bielsa. This is not a consequence of Athletic Club de Bilbao’s triumph over my beloved United, but a gradual appreciation from the time I first saw him manage a side – Chile against Spain at the world cup, the only match where Spain was threatened.

Now coming to the original question – was it Bilbao’s supremacy or United’s frailties? The answer in my opinion is a combination of both.  Disagree? Agree? In any case read on !!

Athletic club de Bilbao and ‘Vertical Football’:

Believe it or not, Athletic club de Bilbao under Marcelo Bielsa is not your typical Spanish team, it’s an English team with technically good players. How many times do you see a muscular tall centre forward in a Spanish team? They don’t strut around with their tiki-taka and don’t obsess over possession of the ball. They follow a philosophy called "Vertical Football". Many of you may be familiar with it. There is tremendous importance attached to winning the ball high up the pitch (a tactic employed by Pep Guardiola and  AVB) and then launching quick attacks, either through the middle or with the help of galloping fullbacks who occupy the space left by the inverted wingers.

Bielsa’s start at Bilbao wasn’t a great one, but whose is? He has created a team which suits his tactical methodologies to the hilt. Nimble-footed young players with great stamina who never stop running. His training routines are arduous and revolutionary with a maddening attention to detail. Enough drooling over Bielsa and Bilbao! So what did they do when they played at old Trafford? Simple, they pressed hard....Really hard. Fernando Llorente closed down both Smalling and Evans with effective ease. At times, you could see Evans or Smalling high up the pitch. The reason was a single striker left one free defender who could move ahead with the ball. The same happened at the other end. But the problem for United was Hernandez and Rooney aren't habituated to the pressing game Bilbao play. Rooney drops deep and hence his marker is usually the CDM of the opposing team, whereas Hernandez sometimes just can't keep himself outside the offside zone, let alone pressurizing defenders (oh Tevez .. I remember thou!). Welbeck would have been a better choice since he had done the closing down job well at Anfield and in many other games this season.

This left a Centre-back free and on top of that, Rooney’s tracking back was pathetic in the first half, which left their deep-lying midfielder free to roam ahead into the United half. Bilbao kept it simple, played at high tempo, didn’t give United centre-backs and midfielders any time on the ball and United quite evidently struggled. Bilbao’s system though, has certain chinks in the armor. All it needs to exploit Bilbao is a midfielder who is adept at dribbling (Modric), leave one or two of their players in the lurch and find vast amounts of space behind their defenders and a pacey striker to latch onto them.  Unfortunately in Giggs and Jones, we didn't have a specialist midfield pairing and their positional naivety was exposed very badly.

Do United miss a certain Portuguese?

Okay. Most of you know Manchester United’s midfield conundrum like multiplication tables. What I would like to focus is the change affected by the introduction of Carrick and Anderson in midfield. Anderson's energy helped us launch 3 counter attacks while Carrick's passing range nullified Bilbao’s pressing threat. Those counters were expertly bottled by Chicharito who should have scored at least one.

SAF favors the 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 . the problem with a midfield two is that when you play against a midfield 3,  you are outnumbered. Add to that, 3 young ones hunting you down like a pack of wolves .. you are in for a nightmare. United’s midfield 2 consists of a runner and a passer. At present united have 2 passers (Carrick, Scholes) while our runners are absent ( Cleverly, Anderson, Fletcher ). One of the best examples  of a perfect 2 is Modric(passer) and Parker(runner). So now you know the present predicament at Manchester United.

Coming to title of this section. The Portuguese we are missing badly as most have guessed is not Cristiano Ronaldo, but the mercurial Carlos Queiroz. SAF, I will have to concede was never tactically brilliant in Europe. We have many occasions that this has come to the fore .. most notably the 2 finals against Barcelona ,  semifinal against Milan and matches against Real Madrid. Ferguson, combined with the tactical acumen of Queiroz then adopted a shape which loosely resembled that of Juventus of Marcelo Lippi. With Scholes playing as the regista(deep lying playmaker .. like Pirlo) with a midfield destroyer along with him (Hargreaves). Sadly we don’t have such players around and nor do we have Carlos Queiroz around.

What United need to do is play a 3 in Europe till we get the perfect combination, but again we rarely adopt such a shape in the league. We did play a midfield 3 against Bayern in quarters, but that is the only match which lingers in recent memory.

Concluding my piece, it would be interesting to see what Ferguson does at St. James' next week. With an away trip to Wolves looming, I don’t see him playing a strong side. I wouldn't want us to compromise the league in any case. Manchester United are in a transitional period. The sooner we come out of it, the better for us. As for Athletic club de Bilbao, I hope Biesla holds onto his stars. The legendary club’s rise will do a world of good to the Spanish league and Europe in general.  

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!

Landing the Big Fish : Ashley Young

     
            Friends, this week we're beginning a new Series titled "Landing the Big Fish" to discuss about all the Big acquisitions by the top European clubs, with the club's very own ardent fans explaining exactly who's their best buy of the summer and why.
          So for the very first post, we welcome Akash Nair, a die-hard Red Devil, as he talks about Fergie's summer dealings and who might end up as United's best buy this summer.
                                              

Ashley Young....the next United super-star in the making??

                                     

After  the mauling suffered at the hands of Barcelona at Wembley, plus the impending departures of some vital cogs of the first team, Manchester United FC needed some reinforcements…quickly.
The question was whether United had the money to invest and after  the circus by Rooney (the small matter of handing in a transfer request saying the club lacks ambition!!), this was going to be a summer which would clear some doubts.

The fans clearly wanted a midfielder(out of desperation) and a goalkeeper(out of necessity) and after numerous scouting reports,hard negotiations, some failed bids, countless spotting at airports and Bridgewater hospital and 2 months later we have a goalkeeper, a defender and a winger.

In David De Gea we have a 20-year old goalie with truckloads of potential, in Jones an inexperienced defender but a born leader ;a player who can marshal United’s and England’s defence for years to come, and in Young, we have an established Premier league winger. The best signing of the summer for me is Ashley Young.While DDG and Jones have lot of potential, whether they will fulfill it is another matter of fact. 

While much has been said about United’s need of a creative midfielder or a midfield destroyer,there is also a need for a left winger who can bomb down the flanks, put in crosses , cut inside and track back to help the fullback. This has been highlighted due to the fact that Ryan Giggs has become old now--old is an understatement—so much so that he is almost exclusively used in centre midfield by Ferguson as his pace has decreased. Some may argue that we have Nani or Park who can do the job in the left, but the fact is that none of them are primarily left footed.Nani tends to drift inside while deployed on the left forcing Wazza wide or Hernandez to run behind the fullback.

Technical  attributes of Ashley Young:

Young has searing pace, with a bucket-load of tricks to match. He's a great dribbler of the ball, who can tantalize the opposition. Even though being primarily right-footed, he has an excellent left-foot, which makes him an awesome "Inverted Winger" to have.Add to that his deadly Set-piece skills and pinpoint crossing, and you have a genuinely world-class winger in your ranks.

Mental attributes :

For a player who rose through the ranks at Watford offering to play without a contract just so that he can train, will and determination comes easily.
The desire to win is always there in a player who only has held the community shield aloft. 

Young is fast and deceptive, which is deadly attribute for someone who plays for a team known for super-fast counter attacks

                                             
The important thing for me is Young’s versatility.
He can play as left forward in a 4-3-3 ,as a second striker in a 4-4-1-1, on the right as well as the left wing, in the hole behind the front two in a 4-1-3-2.
This versatility opens the door for a revolving front 4 last seen during 07/08 season when the likes of Roo, Ronnie, Giggsy and Tevez  wreaked havoc.
Young was also employed by Gerrad Houllier in a more central role during his last season at Villa helping them to steer clear of relegation and also Fabio Capello’s England during the Euro 12 qualifying  campaign.
All this versatility won't be much visible during the initial stages of the campaign but it will be prominent during the latter stretches when games come thick and fast and injuries enter the picture.

If you still think he's not a Marquee signing United needed to formally replace the legendary Paul Scholes, just check out some of his stats in the English League.

• Ashley Young is10th on the list of all-time assist makers in the Premier League with 53 assists to his     name.
• In terms of assists per games, Ashley Young ranks 7th in Premier League history with 0.46 assists per game, behind Giggs, Bergkamp, Cantona, Fabregas, Henry & Beckham.
• Only Cesc Fabregas has more Premier League assists than Ashley Young since the 2006/07 season
• He has scored 62 goals and made 70 assist in 300 appearances in all competition.
• Ashley Young has scored 33 goals in the Premier League – 32 on his right foot, 1 on his left foot, 34.4% from outside the box & 37.5% from dead balls.
• From 07/08-10/11, Ashley Young has provided 30 dead ball league assists: 7.5 per year. #MUFC’s best Nani has averaged 4.25. Improvement.
• Young’s dead ball assist rate from the last 4 years of 7.5 per season is better than Beckham – who averaged 4.77 per season in his Man Utd career.
• He has only been sent off once in his premier league career.
•  Incidentally Young is also one of the most fouled players in the league, which creates more set piece opportunities  and also gets injured very rarely.

I m sure some United fans will still feel we could have done with an attacking midfielder in the moulds of Sneijder--- but that’s mainly from the need to match Barca after the dressing down they have given us last two times. It certainly would've added to the oomph factor, but the defeat was much more of a result of a midfield that was unable to initiate lightning fast counters which United are known for.And Young is much more likely to bring back those counters rather than a Sneijder or any such creative midfielder. 

Glory days are here to stay at Old Trafford. Let's just hope Ashley Young owns the left wing of United first team for years to come !!

Written by:

Akash R Nair

The Eccentric Genius of Sir Alex Ferguson...

                     At the final whistle on Sunday,which curtailed Chelsea's much-threatening come-back, English Football was still grasping the legacy, on the brink of which Manchester United now stand.One point from the remaining last 2 fixtures,and Manchester United will become the Best Football Club in English history.Officially.2 Decades ago, this would have seemed unimaginable.And there's one single man,responsible for this upheaval.Do I have to say out the name?

                    Most of our generation perhaps don't fully understand the magnificence of this achievement, even those who proclaim themselves to be hard-core devils.
But the Old Guard of United will certainly do.You have to go straight back to 1986 to fully realize his achievements.When Alex Ferguson(yeah, he wasn't a "Sir" at that time) was appointed as the manager of Manchester United, the team languished at 19th position in the league of 22,while Liverpool FC were THE Ultimate team,not only in England,but in whole of the Europe.They say it's a myth that Ferguson actually said at that time, that he wanted to upstage Liverpool. It would have been ridiculous to say that,on the backing of 7 League titles,all achieved quite a long way ago.But Ferguson admitted, that once they won their first title in 92-93, "it just started to flow".

Any words required here??
Are the Merseysiders watching?

            

10 Best Quotes in Footballing World....

                        Football's not just played with feet,but also with your head (and it's more than just using your head as some sort of a baton to hit the ball,mind you!). I thought of doing something different from usual for this blog.We always come across many catchy quotes in the footballing world,sometimes genuinely funny moments,while some are the attempts at mind-games.Anyways,here are some of the best I have come across.They are not all of same type,some are teasing,some classy quotes,while some plain dumb ones.Feel free to add your own,if you have come across better.So,here they go.

1.One of my all time favourites,this comes from the Liverpool Legend, Bill Shankly,and I think it sets the tone nicely for what football means to us.
"Some people think "Football is a matter of Life and Death.Well,they are wrong.I can assure you it's much more important than that."
Resonates with most of us,doesn't it?

2.This one comes from the "Special One" himself,and the guy is know for giving out "Special Quotes" too.Here's what he said,when he was asked about toughness of his job at Chelsea, when he had just taken over:
"If I wanted an easy job,I could have stayed at Porto-a beautiful Blue chair, the UEFA Champions League trophy, God, and after God, me!"

Jose Mourinho hasn't been media's darling for nothing,his witty comments always making the Headlines. 

3.Now,here's a funny one.It comes from a Liverpool Legend, Ian Rush, who was transferred to Juventus from Liverpool. Here's what he had to say about his stint in Italy:
"I couldn't settle in Italy - it was like living in a foreign country."
Hmm,Italy  WAS a foreign country for an Englishman, wasn't it, Mr. Rush?


4.Now,here's what Norther Ireland midfielder Steve Lomas had to say about his team's defeat vs Germany:
"Germany are a very difficult team to play - they had 11 internationals out there today."
Err, what else can you expect from an International team,guys?


5. Now, here's one more from Bill Shankly, that sums up the Merseyside rivalry between Liverpool and Everton:
 "There are two Great teams on the Merseyside, Liverpool, and Liverpool Reserves."


6. Here's one more classic quote,although it comes not from a prominent Footballing personality,but from one of my dear friends, Akash Nair. This was his take on Lionel Messi's almost magical goal vs Arsenal in this season's Champions League:
"People struggle to dribble with the ball on the ground.This guy does it in air!!"





7.Now,here are Sir Alex Ferguson's general views on Football.No wonder that guy has stayed in the sport so long.
"Football. Bloody Hell!!"


8. I can't resist putting one more from Jose Mourinho here.Catania President Pietro Le Monaco claimed he wanted to "smack Mourinho in the mouth" following Inter's win over his team in 2008,here's what Mourinho had to say upon that:
 “As for Lo Monaco, I do not know who he is. With the name Monaco, I have heard of Bayern Monaco (Munich) and the Monaco GP, the Tibetan Monaco (Monk), and the Principality of Monaco. I have heard of any others.” 
Classic Mourinho this one,isn't it?


9. Here's another cool one from Duffy Daugherty.....
"Football isn't a Contact sport.It's a collision sport.Dancing is a contact sport."
I'm sure Roy Keane and Nigel de Jong will agree!


10. Finally to finish off,it's a Bill Shankly one again.He was accused of staying at Liverpool only during their good times.His reply? A classic.
"It's not true,not at all. I was here (at Anfield) when we finished Second."

So, these are the ones that caught my eye the most.I'm not, by any means, claiming these are the catchiest ever.Please feel free to add yours in comments too.But each one is here,is a little gem, I think.
Hope you enjoyed them. Till next time, Goodbye.

Chelsea vs United : Five things we learned...

             Okay.This is not an attempt just to celebrate Chelsea's win over Manchester United on Tuesday night,nor it's just another platform to defend the team or the refereeing decisions after all the controversies.I'll try my best to remain impartial here.But,then you have to take one stand on some matters,even at the risk of refuting others.So forgive me,if I have strong opinions on few things,but here are Five big things I noticed after the Showdown at Stamford Bridge.

1. Fergie may be a Genius,But we shouldn't bother much about his Post-match comments :
     It was almost comical,Ferguson calling for the referee's head,just 2 days after his Right hand man publicly said "We should not interfere too much with refereeing,and let the Powers that be take the control of the game." Yes,David Luiz deserved to be sent off for that tackle on Rooney,but Ferguson had no moral right to talk about it,after shamelessly defending Rooney's antics vs Wigan.And whatever he calls the Penalty decision,from 'Soft' to 'Simulation',It WAS a penalty.Smalling was unlucky there,with the ball ricocheting off Zhirkov after he had successfully intercepted Lampard's pass,but he did clash with Zhirkov,causing him to go down.I know he can't just vanish from there,but that's not an excuse to deny Zhirkov a run towards the goal.Even Ball-handling BY MISTAKE results in penalties,and referee had no choice but to point to the spot.But then Fergie knows all this too well.He has done it for years,taking the focus away from his team's defeat.And guess what,most of the times,It's worked.Will it work even this time vs Liverpool,we will find out by Sunday.

2. David Luiz: A Legend in the making,but he needs to control himself :
          David Luiz was outstanding versus Manchester United,apart from one moment of madness.That could've cost him and his team the match,but, it didn't.Just one month into the EPL,and the guy has looked terrific from the beginning,solid in defence,with brilliant Ball-playing qualities,and an amazing finishing technique too,as we witnessed on Tuesday.I guess the Brazilians are just born with it.But the lad should've got red-carded,after the late challenge on Rooney.It was cleverly disguised,and yeah it seemed totally intentional.Luck will not favour him always in future,but he deserves some appreciation for a brilliant performance versus the League leaders.

David Luiz already looks a future Superstar

3. The Old Guard still has Life left in them :
          This is not just about Chelsea,but also for United.Van der Sar showed his class with that superb triple-save to deny Ivanovic in first half.Scholes was the orchestrator again in the first half,as United dominated the Opening period.John O'shea looked comfortable too on the right,as Malouda failed to trouble him much.As far as Chelsea were concerned,Terry was fantastic alongside young Luiz, Drogba was menacing ever since he came on,and Frank Lamapard showed why he's still so vital in that Chelsea set-up,with Ice-cold nerves to slot the wining penalty.You just don't save those.Well,not unless you are daring enough to just stand in the middle,and prepared to look utterly foolish,if the taker shoots even two inches to either side.

4. Come May,the Title is heading to Old Trafford :
           Now,this looks a strange conclusion to draw,after watching them falter in the Second half.Bu,still there were signs that United were returning to the deadly form they have missed so far this season.Honestly,United have almost played pathetic at times this season,but they still lead so comfortably because others have been even more pathetic.But,United did show flashes of the brilliance we all know they posses.Rooney is getting back among goals,which is a massive bad news to EPL defenders.And don't forget, they were playing versus a team fighting to save their season.All teams will not offer the same intensity,nor the kind of quality that Chelsea posses.So even though,it's a setback for ManUnited,anyone still willing to bet on the "Barcelona-beating-Birmingham-losing" unpredictable Gunners?

Rooney is getting back to his devasting form

5. Carlo is here to stay :

        People may find it foolish to talk such things just on one big performance.But the reasons for which I make this statement are much deeper.Carlo Ancelloti dared to keep the Dynamic Didier Drogba (Triple D,we can say!) on the bench for arguably club's biggest game of the season,and He did not suffer any backlash.It's quite an achievement at a Club like Chelsea."Big Phil" Scolari was sacked because he tried to sideline the Big Stars at Chelsea like Drogba and Ballack(I suspect the horrific results under him were also a reason!!) .Even the "Special One" Jose Mourinho fell out with the Chelsea hierarchy over his treatment of the then record signing, Andriy Shevchenko.When Scolari kept Drogba on the bench, he looked totally uninterested even after coming on as substitute.That was Scolari's downfall.After coming on versus United on Tuesday, Drogba looked as hungry as ever,as he virtually threw Nemanja Vidic into submission late in the game.Finally,Chelsea seemed to have found a man, unafraid to take bold decisions,and still having his team's full support behind him.After 3 months of utter craziness,finally it seems, exciting times are nearer for Chelsea.