Tag Archives: Manchester United

The hidden dilemma of United

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LOUGHBOROUGH, Oct 8: Today I read a blog on ESPN in which the writer talked about Rooney being the answer to Ferguson’ midfield  woes, the words written describing the situation was pretty much appropriate but on the other hand being a fan of ferocious Rooney ‘the striker’ left me with many unanswered questions.

World Class Striker or Make Shift Midfieler?

There is no doubt since the time a 17-yr-old Evertonian joined the ranks of Manchester United; he has been nothing less than a revelation. He has been that complete package whose service will be acquired by any club with a simple blank cheque and without a blink of an eye. There have been times when Wayne Rooney has been the Scholes, the Ferdinand and the Keane for Manchester United. But all this doesn’t mean a man who scores goals at such ease should be pushed to midfield to create glory for a finished article like van Persie to just to bite on. With that statement I am in no way trying to undermine the prowess or ability of the amazing Dutchman. All I am trying to say is, Rooney is still too young and still a lot to conquer before he can be just pushed aside for another player to take his role.

No doubt Wayne Rooney has taken up to use the ‘global speak your mind’ platform Twitter to make it clear that he is happy playing in the midfield. Neither is there any doubt that Rooney previously has confessed, that he wants to end his career as a midfield. But my question is, is it that time when Wayne Rooney retires?

Was the magical left foot needed?

This leads me to another question; did United actually need Robin van Persie? I know your answer must be any club would want van Persie in their squad. But there is a very thin line between wanting and needing. When you have players like the established striker- like Wayne Rooney, the not so in-use but a classy striker- Berbatov, the offside breaker- Welbeck and the revelation of 2011-12 season Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez already in your squad, why add a player whose prime might just last for this season?

Rooney is not the only reason why I feel addition of Robin van Persie has given Ferguson more questions than answers, as he would have earlier thought so. With Rooney picking up the playmaker role, where does that leave the Japanese sensation Shinji Kagawa? Or what plans does Ferguson have for Nani? If I do presume that Kagawa would be given the more deep lying midfielder role, where does that leave the growth of Tom Cleverley (please don’t extend Scholes contract again, give the guy a rest)?  If Ferguson decides to let Cleverley and Shinji share the holding midfielder roles, I fear Carrick should take the role of defender more seriously. So how I see Manchester United right now is like a chain of dominos, and that one trigger might bring about a catastrophic reaction.

So for me as a keen observer of the game, I would keep my eyes on Manchester United this season. I would either learn how to keep a boat sailing or how to drown a boat when it can easily sail across the seven oceans.

Imaginary retirement accepted by Owen

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In summer of 2004 I was a happy Real Madrid fan; after all we had signed a prolific goal scorer, a Liverpool legend at an age of only 25 and man who would soon enter his prime. Yes, I am talking about former England and Liverpool #10 Michael James Owen. But that is not how Owen’ stay turned out to be at Santiago Bernabeu, lack of opportunity and injury prone were the baggage the English striker had to carry during his one year stay in the Spanish capital.

Then came his move to St. James’ Park and football fans like me really thought this move would help Michael Owen to re-find himself after all he was only 26. But again these pray and hope didn’t turn out the way we fans actually wanted.

In 2009, Stoke City and Hull were the English clubs chasing Owen’ signature but now the 29-year-old striker decided to move to ‘the Mecca of football’ Old Trafford where first team football wasn’t guaranteed.  And a player entering his 30’ first team football is all he wishes for until you are a one club man who is loyal enough to just be there for your much loved club, which obviously wasn’t the case for Owen. In his three years at Manchester United, a one-time goal scoring machine just scored five goals in his 31 appearances for the Red Devils which includes mere six starts. If this is not shocking enough hear this out, in his last seven years as a pro footballer, Owen has managed only two season where he has had 20+ Premier League starts (one of which includes Newcastle’ relegation season).

Now, it has been three months since Michael Owen declared on twitter that United were not going to offer him a new contract and still with the new EPL season starting tomorrow Owen is still a club-hunting free agent. All this leads to only one conclusion this Michael Owen is not the same person who won the Ballon d’Or in 2001, I repeat person not player. What I am trying to point out is not based on his physical condition (which is another aspect that Mr. Owen is not ready to accept) he is in but it is based on the love for the game which keeps a footballer ticking all throughout their career. Owen has been offered a contract by Stoke City which he has put on pending mode and he is not ready to move to the Championship which would have easily given his career a push of 2-3 years. The Michael Owen we see now seems like a player who has now hung his boots and is happy taking caring of multi-million dollars’ worth racehorse stable which surely is a pity sight to see.

The sorry story of Michael Owen

Owen’ United teammate Ryan Giggs, now 38-year-old, is happy playing at United and still scoring goals and providing assist. Danny Murphy, Owen’ former team at Liverpool has just signed a two-year contract with relegated Blackburn Rovers. Scholes came out of retirement last season just because Manchester United needed him to be there. All these guys are much older than Michael Owen but they still have the fire burning in them to be connected to a game which has given them a life, which has made them who they are today and which has made them legend not for scoring 200 goals or coming up with 250 assists but for hunger and dedication for the world’ most loved game.

It is sad but true Owen’ lack of hunger just proves that his playing days are soon to end.

Follow me @SrijanChoudhary

TOON ATTACK – I

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Wile ‘Gunner’ Coyote

For those who don’t know Wile was one of the smartest and fastest Looney toons and this character totally suits one Gunner. Yes you guessed it right it has to be Theo Walcott. Walcott is fast and he is extremely smart player but you know there was another side of Wile and that was he never knew how to use his smartness in the right way. And yes I see that side in Walcott also he has a habit of overdoing his smartness and then looking like a lost child. Wile used to bring in all the ACME gadgets fix it up, and all this to catch up with the Road Runner but was never successful. One of the important reasons for this was Wile never used to think about the final step. Same is the case with Walcott he runs and runs and does tricks and stepovers but when he gets into the box 7/10 cases he has no idea how to give his run a face of a goal or an assist. But as in the case of Wile, Arsenal’s Walcott is an amazing talent and imagine a player who could change the conversion rate from 3/10 to 7/10.

White Nemo

With Oscar fever still around us, me a football freak dreamt of Ozil getting the Oscar for best actor for the movie ‘Finding Ozil’ directed by Jose ‘the Special one’ Mourinho. Yes for me Ozil does look like ‘Nemo’ especially with those crazy eyes seeing passes which most of the defenders don’t think are possible. Yes he does glide across defenders with super fast flipping of his fins. Yes most of the time he can’t last on the land for more than 75 minute for obvious reasons he needs water to get some air into his lungs. Yes he is funny too when he beats 4 defenders and the goalkeeper just to roll the ball on to the post which Benzema ‘the cat’ pounces upon. On a serious note there cannot be a better director than Mourinho because he saw the elegant footballer in the punk looking Bremen’s Ozil. Only difference between Nemo and Ozil being Nemo eats fish food where as Ozil feeds on assists and goals and in angry mode he only feeds on Villa’s blood.

Magical Jerry

Jerry from the Tom and Jerry show is surely one of the most loved and most favourite cartoon characters around the world. And I see all the attributes of Jerry in our very own magical player Lionel Messi. Jerry is fast, Messi is also fast and that also with a ball in his feet. Jerry knew how to utilize the situation when in trouble (obviously due to Tom) be it using the frying pan to leave Tom bamboozled or using the door to bang it on Tom’s face. Same is the case with Messi he will never fall (God knows where is his centre of gravity), he will use one defender to fake the other defender, if you are lucky enough you might just see him use his gliding powers to get through the defenders without they even knowing and finally he does get into those little holes left in the defense.

Bugs ‘coelho’ Bunny

In this case I am going to first tell you the characteristics of Bugs in such a way that I will leave you with no option but to identify the players. Bugs was surely one of the smartest and ambitious character that Warner Bros. ever created. He would use his smartness and cunningness to achieve whatever he has aimed for, be it by hook or by crook. There have been scenes when Bugs has faked his death to finally get the gold (read Goal) out of his enemies. Along with all this Bugs had an aura of elegance and self-best attitude and never cared what others had to say about him because for him he was the best in all possible ways. Bugs also loved fame and being the centre of attraction in a crowd of other famous people so yes Bugs was also very flashy. I would want to end this section with two words Cristiano Ronaldo.

Red Granny

Obviously this fictional character has to be a player whose talent on the field makes you feel ‘Old is actually gold’ and if you haven’t guessed it till now I am talking about Ryan Giggs. This guy has actually been tearing defense apart since 1991 and all this in his very same red jersey. Like the Granny who used to use her wittiness to keep saving Tweety on a regular basis Giggs has been playing like a street smart footballer and beating defenders with the very same ease as he used to during his debut year 1991. When you look at Giggs you actually feel some players turn into a legend for what they did for a club but as for him he is already a legend because he keeps on and on doing whats best for the club. As Granny sometimes used to be one hell of a naughty character our Giggsy is also very well known for his naughtiness. Granny was a character who whatever be the situation used to take pretty good care of Tweety same way Giggs has been influential enough that many young players over the years look up to him for inspiration and that feeling of being protected.