Soccer Blogs Posts Tagged Opinions/Columns

Don’t Hate Daniel Levy

2008-08-20T15:14:26+00:00

[Ed: This may be a little, shall we say, contrary to general United fan opinion. But sit back and try to wrap your heads around it for a change.] "God, don't we all just want Daniel Levy to fuck off? I mean, I can't see why he doesn't just accept defeat and sell us Berbatov. He [...]

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United On The Edge Of Greatness

2008-08-15T09:00:50+00:00

We start this season on the edge of true greatness. Not the fleeting greatness that gets bandied around weekly in the tabloids - proper, timeless greatness. The sort that people who are not born yet will look back on in forty years and rave about. You can put together "great" teams, you can have "great" players, [.

Manchester United 08/09 Season Preview

2008-08-14T09:00:39+00:00

I thought of doing a three part preview, but then decided against it because it could be rather long drawn and tiresome. Also, I'm sure, I wouldn't want to bore you with a three part preview because I really don't get the point of stretching a preview to three parts. So let's see how I [...]

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Ronaldo Speaks… Finally

2008-08-07T08:52:51+00:00

About time, innit? I think this was nearly a good month and a half late, but it did come. Of course, it could be said that he knew, by now, there was no way of moving to Real Madrid and he had to lay it bare some time. However, what he did say here was [...]

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Shallow Squad or an Injury Crisis?

2008-08-06T16:23:42+00:00

The team we pick to start the first "competitive" game of the season (if you can call the Charity Shield competitive) is going to be pretty threadbare. Prospects aren't so hot for the Newcastle game either. This has caused a lot of debate here recently about whether our squad leaves us too vulnerable to injury [.

Ten Indicators For United’s 08/09 Season

2008-08-01T09:38:58+00:00

Apologies for the extended period of quiet from my side (note, please, that I am not RR, who has done an admirable job of keeping the site going and everyone interested during what has the most boring, repetitive, inconclusive and tedious close season in living memory). When I say that the cricket has been far [.

Irresponsible Media Stir Up Another Storm

2008-07-24T07:00:58+00:00

Various media outlets, including the Guardian, have run up headlines like 'Tevez: Let Ronaldo go to Real' or 'Ronaldo should be allowed to go to Real - Tevez'. Here is what the actual quotes look like, in English (considering these have been translated from Spanish, surely): "It is clear he is a very important player for us [.

Fergie Comes Around On Rooney

2008-07-23T09:00:42+00:00

Alex Ferguson, according to a story on the Guardian today, admitted that Rooney's real position is through the middle either upfront or just behind. On first glance it may appear like an admission of past mistakes but it could also mean that he's fairly confident about snaring Berbatov from Spurs. That Rooney's not a wide man [.

Spurs, Levy, Ferguson and Berbatov

2008-07-20T00:22:50+00:00

Till yesterday, I thought Fergie's comments, as quoted by the Sun were out of line. And since the quotes were attributed to Fergie, no less, I thought, either they must be true or the Sun ought to have some nerve running that story. So, unless Fergie came out to rubbish them, I had no other [...]SHARETHIS.

Conflicting Reports Cast Cloud Over Fergie-Ronaldo “Meeting”

2008-07-18T09:00:17+00:00

Everyone has been going on about Fergie holding talks with Ronaldo over the past few hours. The Guardian, for example, report that Fergie held talks with Ronaldo on Monday as he flew to Lisbon. Here, let me quote: Sir Alex Ferguson has met Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time in six weeks in an attempt to persuade [.

What Happens When A Player Doesn’t Get His Move?

2008-07-17T08:30:18+00:00

Three top Premier League clubs Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United have players that have been agitating for (or as they say these days: trying to engineer) a move to another club. With Arsenal it's Adebayor, with Chelsea it's Drogba (and Lampard) and with us it's you know who. In the cases of Adebayor and [.

Is Manchester United’s Youth System Redundant?

2008-06-27T09:06:52+00:00

[Warning - this is a longer than usual post, since this is too big a topic to cover in a few snappy paragraphs. Still, I think it's an important area, so if you have a few minutes then settle in for a read and a think.] There's no doubt that we have been spoilt in the [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Is Manchester United's Youth System Redundant?

Should United Bet on Ronaldinho?

2008-06-23T09:00:29+00:00

I know this question has been posed before, but I think it deserves a separate space of it's own. [Why you ask? Because I think it does!] On a day where the likes of Zizou have jumped in on the Ronaldo should go to Madrid bandwagon I'd rather sidestep Ronaldo talk for a day and talk [...]

United’s Transfer Strategy — Is There More to Their Denial?

2008-06-21T18:03:34+00:00

[Warning: Highly speculative article involving yours' truly thinking out loud for most part. Kindly bear and do add your 2 pennies' worth at the end.] Yesterday, following Ronaldo's interview with Guillem Balague Manchester United Football Club, issued a statement on its official site reaffirming what it's been saying all along: that Ronaldo is not for sale.

The Wayne Rooney Debate

2008-06-18T09:00:03+00:00

In an attempt to move on from the Ronaldo saga, I want to go back to the topic that was getting most "blog inches" (if that's a phrase) before we descended into the current quagmire. What's the deal with Wayne Rooney? I've tried to phrase that as openly as possible, because the spectrum of opinion is [.

Playing Devil’s Advocate on Ronaldo

2008-06-11T09:10:07+00:00

By that, I mean Ronaldo's advocate. I don't view him as the Devil, but some of you do so I thought you'd like the connection. A lot has been written on this blog alone over the last couple of weeks about the Ronaldo situation, culminating in Red Ranter's superbly passionate piece. I have stayed out of [.

Breaking the Silence on Ronaldo

2008-06-07T06:10:59+00:00

[Warning: Long article.] It's been one hell of a week. I finally get to break my self-imposed silence on Ronaldo. So I'll start without too much of an elaborate prologue. The story so far Ever since the Champions' League final Ronaldo has been constantly linked with Real Madrid, and the link, which last season was tenuous, at best, [.

Why Fergie Is So Precious to United

2008-06-05T09:00:07+00:00

Talk about longevity; talk about loyalty; talk about a man who values the club and you have the knight from Govan. Yesterday I managed to finally get my hands on Sir Alex Ferguson's full length interview with Sir David Frost [for those who haven't seen it yet, here's the Megaupload link. Download it before it [.

Nani and Anderson — Managed

2008-05-31T13:00:47+00:00

Roy Keane wrote in his autobiography (or at least said to the Ronaldo-hating Eamon Dunphy) that even though Sir Alex Ferguson is not the best coach, he is an incredible manager of men. And he's proved it again this season with his exceptional handling of Nani and Anderson. On the face of it, this was a [.

On Sepptic Bladder’s 6-5 Plan

2008-05-30T22:17:04+00:00

I wanted to actually title the post: "Sepptic Bladder's Piss Poor Plan" [hope you get the pun], but decided against it at the last moment. Oh well. So it's official now, at least from the folks at FIFA. Some 155 members voted in favour of what could change the dynamics of the sport. Now we usually don't [.

Will United Meet Great Expectations?

2008-05-29T09:00:45+00:00

Two years ago, few people would have predicted Manchester United's return to the top of world football. Ferguson had just sold Ruud van Nisterlooy and then refused to replace him with another striker, while Cristiano Ronaldo's future at Manchester United was under a cloud of uncertainty following his antics against England in the World Cup [.

Manchester United 07/08 Season Review: The Defence

2008-05-27T09:00:59+00:00

This is the concluding part in our three part series on Manchester United's 07/08 season. [Read: Part I | Part II] Today we review the defence and to clear the confusion, by defence we mean the back four as well as the 'keepers. So here goes... Tomasz Kuszczak: Was always expected to be number two to EVDS.

Manchester United 07/08 Season Review: The Midfield

2008-05-26T13:36:47+00:00

Yesterday we talked about the attack and got a good response in the comments as well. For those who missed it, head over and have a look at the ratings and do drop in your comments. Today we discuss the midfield, and as I mentioned earlier, we mean the central midfield. Paul Scholes: As with Giggs, another great [.

Manchester United 07/08 Season Review: The Attack

2008-05-25T09:00:55+00:00

This is Part I of our three part series on Manchester United's successful 07/08 season. We've broken it up into three parts: the Attack, the Midfield and the Defence. Now we must also be clear about what I mean by these; the attack comprises of our strikers and wingers; the midfield is strictly central midfielders; [.

Some Sober Reflections

2008-05-23T14:53:59+00:00

It's hard to step back and look at the whole final without being tainted by the result. The temptation is to exult the good bits and ignore the bad bits, on the basis that it was all part of a masterplan. It's also hard to give any new perspective, given the pages and pages of [...]

Ronaldo to Madrid — Again

2008-05-16T09:07:56+00:00

Real Madrid have Robinho, Reyes and Robben, off the top of my head, for wingers. They also have a fairly bloated squad, which again, isn't very new. They just won their 31st league title. They are also among the richest clubs in the world. So, surely they would have some class? But no. Why would someone want [.

What if Fergie walks away? (Part II)

2008-05-13T09:00:54+00:00

Thanks for all the comments on the first part of this topic. Very interesting and, in a couple of instances, really informative. As you know, Fergie has made it quite clear that he won't be retiring at the end of this season, come what may. I'm therefore going to curtail this slightly - I'll [...]

What if Fergie walks away? (Part I)

2008-05-08T09:00:02+00:00

Before I start, thanks for all your comments on my previous article. I hope you'll appreciate the irony when I say that the best thing about this blog is the spectrum of contributors from all across the world, and it was great to hear your take on my Anglo-centric views. I tried to pull together [...

The Glazer Debt — Dark Truth or Mere Paranoia?

2008-05-06T09:00:18+00:00

Ever since the Glazers took over Manchester United Football Club, plunging it into severe debt on a scale as large as they come there was hardly much to cheer about if you were a United fan; at least in the early days. The first full 'Glazer year' in charge was the unfolding of, [...]

The British Element

2008-05-01T11:00:25+00:00

This post could create a lot of controversy, so I want to make it clear that I don't have anything against foreign players per se. Many of the United greats have been from beyond these shores, and I revere them as much as anyone else. That said, I have always been proud that United has had [...]