Musings of a Curious Mind

This week once again highlighted the depth of the English Premier League. United, Everton, Tottenham and Liverpool all lost to teams who are expected to finish in the lower half of the table. After last week’s euphoria, United got a reality check at the King Power Stadium, where as Liverpool continued to struggle against a superb West Ham side. Elsewhere, Mesut Ozil finally showed that he is still a force to reckon with, provided the plays through the centre. And at the Etihad, it was the stuff of legends, as Frank Lampard equalized late as 10 man City earned a well deserved draw. The nightmare continues for Van Gaal Van Gaal tactically exposed at Leicester The 4-0 win against QPR was a false dawn. The humiliation that Nigel Pearson’s boys inflicted on the Reds will not be forgotten in a hurry. Goals from Van Perise, Herrera as well as another piece of magic by Angel Di Maria meant that United were 3-1 up after 60 minutes. Everything seemed hunky dory and with the attack

With the transfer market distractions behind us, the premier league was up and running again after the international break. As I write this, another manager( Alan Pardew) finds himself on the brink of getting fired after yet another hapless Newcastle performance. And if Liverpool needed a reminder of how difficult life is going to be without their talismanic striker, Aston Villa provided that. Elsewhere, while Manchester United recovered from their false start to the season, Chelsea continued their superb run. Arsenal and Manchester City were involved in a thrilling 2-2 draw at the Emirates. Diamond does the trick The injuries to both Smalling and Jones came as a blessing in disguise for Manchester United and Louis Van Gaal. It forced him to go back to playing 4 defenders. And with Rafael and Rojo playing as full backs, United looked much better as a defensive unit. And the diamond in the midfield suited Di Maria and Mata perfectly. When Juan Mata has players in the team who

With time, people have to change and adapt. And footballers are no different. Ever since that stunning goal against Arsenal that left David Seaman clueless, Wayne Rooney has been one of the most destructive forwards in modern football.   Over the last 10 years, he has terrorized defenders all over the world. Within the next few years, barring injury or a Torres like fall from grace, Wayne Rooney will end up as the highest goal scorer for both Manchester United as well as England. But statistics have never been a good substitute for judgement.   In spite of his goalscoring prowess, I think Wayne Rooney, at this stage of his career, would be a better footballer for both club and country if he plays in central midfield. First things first, Wayne Rooney is still a great goalscorer. Although he is nowhere compared to Ronaldo or Messi as a goalscorer, but if he plays as a forward for the entire season, he will end up with a reasonable return. And the fact that a forward of his calibe

The drama is finally over. For any average football fan, the transfer window is almost as exciting as the game itself. And for people like Jorge Mendes, this is what makes him who he is. World Cup years throw up new talent, and as a result the activity in the market is a tad higher than the other years. And 2014 was no different. ·          United-The new Galacticos? More than a hundred and  fifty million pounds spent, but United failed to address the needs that they had set out to at the beginning of the season. United bought players who were available, not players who they needed the most. Thanks to the growing friendship between Mr Woodward and Mr Mendes, what should ideally have been Vidal and Hummels, became Di Maria and Falcao. Make no mistake, these two are absolute Class A players, something that United have lacked ever since Ronaldo's exit. Along with the signings of Rojo, Blind, Herrera and Shaw, this may prove to be a masterstroke and catapult United to a top