Fans & following: EPL

The English Premier League has started its fresh season. With new season come new fans. Because they have decided to follow the game, they have to choose a club to support. Fans mostly are armchair experts fooling themselves to believe that their vociferous ‘support’ from Hill Road, Brigade Road, Salt Lake or GK-II in anyway makes a shard of a difference to the proceedings in England. It doesn’t. Yet they choose. For all the fellow collegians are choosing and all the office employees are too. Besides, girls respect a football follower more. Every boy and his uncle knows that.

The game run by BCCI Mafioso is too mainstream and to show that you are in a different league, club football especially EPL is the way to go. In doing that, people end up making the wrong choices. Then again, the reason to choose maybe varied– say your crush on a star player or that your arch enemy supports club A so you end up with Z or that you follow that your group does. Doesn’t matter, you can do a switch to the opposite camp and no one will call you fucking Van Persie. Maybe this list will help in going through the options.

Arsenal is an underachiever, at the same time the club is an over-achiever. The sort of team that just guarantees to give you heartburns with their unpredictability, as they oscillate between prodigious brilliance and school boy faux pas. The Invincibles of 2003-04 have long gone. Each year they built something and see their players lured by deep pocket clubs. It is as easy as luring kids with candy. You can’t win the league with a bunch of kids, except if the kids are Manchester United’s Class of 92’.And Sir Wenger, O Professor, you don't win anything for financial fairplay and non abuse of capital. In Arsène you trust, in Arsène you will rust. So will the trophy cabinet.

Chelsea, masters of parking the bus. Or in John Terry’s case barking racial slurs. Yes, finally they are Champions of Europe.. but wait till they crash out of Champions League or play against Barça, whichever comes earlier. Like a rich playboy who doesn’t settle for one glam girlfriend, Chelsea doesn’t settle for the best of coaches. How else would you let José Mourinho, Gus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti go? Their game is not visually attractive, and they are not even the best club in London, leave alone England or Europe. And one more thing, they aren’t the richer club in the deviously, sinisterly labeled El Cashico game vs Manchester City. A legacy of financial profligacy – Roman Abramovich and Stamford Bridge. Some one make him watch Moneyball.

 White Hart Lane is a breeder park for bigger clubs. A bed and breakfast inn until you find a cozy apartment. Quite similar to their North London neighbours Arsenal, they play with visual flair only to end up as unlucky losers. I digress. The important question is – how long are Gareth Bale and Scott Parker staying? Shall we ask manager André Villas-Boas? What i learned from Titanic is that rats jump a sinking ship and try to find a Parisian bakery. Seriously, Tottenham and Arsenal have much in common. It’s just that they have been perennially warring siblings…alright cousins…alright neighbours who can’t see the other succeed.

June 08’was a time when the crude oil prices hit $140 dollars/barrel. It was also a time when you could fill the entire of Manchester City supporters in a single Etihad flight. Then came Sheikh Mansour to build the most expensive collection of horrendous looking players you can find- Lescott, Tevez, Balotelli, Zabaleta and the works. City fans in India should not complain about an oil price hike, if they have some moral fiber, because that is what finances their ‘great’ club that has won a grand total of 2 EPL titles in 44 years. Naturally, there has been a sudden sprouting in City fan base and they can give United fans a run for their money in terms of being obnoxious weeds. City have stolen the Poznań and have ruined a song like Hey Jude. It’s true, what they say - petrodollars can’t buy you class.

Liverpool. You can’t say I support them because they win. And they are not even underdogs, you can root for. Liverpool are just have beens who only occasionally really show up for their big games. They play to cancel other team’s advantage and not to maximize their own. When they can’t, they wail and moan. Even Sir Matt Busby would be tired of this bunch who still live in the 80s when a pint was much cheaper and they were still at the fecking perch that Fergie knocked them off. Honestly if you want to pick a team from Merseyside Liverpool, pick Everton. David Moyes is one good guy. 

 Manchester United has a philosophy of intimidating referees unless he goes by the name of Howard Webb. United is not a bad club, they try and try and try until they have the injury time goal- by hook or crook or sinker. You want to irk them, just say Paul Scholes is not the greatest midfielder of his generation. They have a youth program, they use home grown talent, have financial strength and a decorated recent past. But the fans are snooty and give the club a bad name. You will seldom find a United fan who will not be a jerk. Most have never kicked a football farther than 50 yards but would still buy overpriced official jersey that looks like a table cloth. The original Glory hunters whose tweets end with #GGMU.

And remember,anybody can beat anybody in EPL. It is just that sort of a league, just look at last season’s circle of results.

Barcelona Campeóns!

Yesterday’s final was a neutral’s dream match.The best team in the world v the best team in England. Pep Guardiola’s FC Barcelona v Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United at Wembley.

Barcelona is widely regarded as the best club team assembled. Barcelona turn up and unleash their butterfly brand of fluttering moves and defence splitting passes of such accuracy ,while expertly keeping the possession that it drives the opponent to chasing shadows .Having won only 3 UEFA Champions League compared to 9 of arch rivals Real Madrid they wanted to desperately win more.

Madrid’s philosophy of ostentatious money is loathed and rightly so by Barcelona as it is diametrically opposite to Barcelona’s focus on youth academy and not for nothing is the claret and maroon brigade home grown, it is fiercely Cataluñan and prides itself for being ‘Més que un club’.

Something of that rivalry is in England. Liverpool’s tally of 18 league titles has been surpassed by Manchester United this season. That is something that United wanted to do for a long time. But because of their stunning history, Liverpool have 5 UEFA Champions League titles which Sir Alex has categorically said he is not comfortable with. Liverpool have not been knocked off their perch yet. United want to have that honour in their name too.

Hence Barcelona and Manchester United both were driven by that desire to win and be the top club locally in Spain and England respectively.There is no doubt that at the moment that these two are the most followed clubs in the world .It was a fitting finale with 4 high quality goals.The final score read

FC Barcelona 3- 1 Manchester United

Pedro Rodríguez 27’ Wayne Rooney 34’

Lionel Messi 56’

David Villa 71’

Manchester United can only draw solace from the fact that they equalised Pedro Rodríguez’s opening goal and at least they competed in the first half. Wembley was Barcelona’s night to celebrate and be champions of Europe ; twice in 3 years as they took another step towards becoming the team of their generation and the club to beat .

The first goal was created by an incisive pass from Xavi who sold the United defenders a dummy by looking the other way and passing from the outside of his right boot. It was cancelled by 1-2 move by Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney which was United’s highlight of the match.All thought that a fightback was on the cards. But from then on , backed by the surprisingly dominant Barca fans, it was all Barcelona as they went on to give United a hiding . Incidentally, Messi had not scored on English soil until now. And lo and behold..in a run of genius befitting him and the stage, Messi curled it past the retiring Edwin van der Sar.

Messi was not done yet as another move initiated by him left striking partner David Villa in perfect position to turn in the third and final nail in the coffin, drowning any faint hopes for the Red Devils. And that was it , there was no comeback from there.

At the final whistle, Sir Alex Ferguson while shaking hands with Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola, had a benign smile of resignation to having lost the best side in the world , twice in two years now in the finals. The favourites justified their billing by their mesmerizing and relentless display of the beautiful game . And as they continue to improve , it is difficult to imagine any club challenging them next season.The reason Barcelona don’t ever tire is because they play most of their game in one half- the opposition’s half.They played an attractive and buoyant game and after a while United could only sigh to the inevitability of the outcome.

The cream has come to the top! Felicidades Barcelona !!

EPL - Chelsea or Manchester United

The EPL points table is increasingly looking like a two horse race after 2/3 of the season has run its course after Chelsea slammed in Arsenal 2-0.The league is now for Chelsea’s to lose,because surely they have more depth and latitude in their squad.

Manchester United only have Rooney ,Giggs and some other fringes.Apart from that nobody is having an outstanding season. Anderson and Berbatov have been massive let downs; and Nani and Valencia for me don’t make the cut yet and some of them will surely be let go after this season. United need to buy someone cheap and someone to support Rooney, in the mould of Arsenal’s Fabregas,for Rooney is even more dangerous floating in the midfield as the playmaker .

If someone comes up from their youth programe, nothing better.

Although there’s talk of the United gaining moment; for me, it’s a surprise that they have not lagged away from Chelsea as yet . But really, if United clinch the title, Chelsea will be themselves to blame.They still have to take on United at Old Trafford on April 3- potential decider,so its all in their hands.

But this season, I would have been delighted to see Arsenal win after their ‘invincibles’ squad of 2004.They are such a young team and I like most of their front half.Fabregas,van Persie,Rosicky,Arshavin, everybody .They are a team that play positive football, even when they lose, as on Sunday to Chelsea in the London derby of massive significance. The gunners fell back 9 points off the pace, yet they earned praise from Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelottti .Ancelottti would never do that to a team like Liverpool.

Frankly I hate their brand of football. They shut out the rivals. Liverpool believe in canceling out the strengths of their opposition and its not worth watching them .And I don’t think they will add to their trophy cabinet anything this year or the EPL any time soon and remain at 18 titles.

It would really have been great if Arsenal had won, as Sir Alex wished and then we would have been witness to a tight as ever top three dogfight for the title. More so because each team is playing well. Arsenal will surely claw back, and the top two will drop points too. Here’s hoping the rest 1/3 of the season delivers the anticipated thrills.