The Passing of a Season

And so it is becoming increasingly evident that Manchester United will end the season with nothing to show for their battles this season. Unless ya’re one of those United fans residing in Mars and is certain of more silverware this season. Many will readily furiously point towards the Carling Cup we lifted in February. This is a moot point. The Carling Cup cannot be mentioned as a competition worthy of trophies this great club should be winning. The Champions League, Premiership and the FA Cup (yes, I consider the world’s oldest knockout competition worthy!) are trophies we should be winning to be hailed as champions. None of these trophies are up for grabs, barring the Premiership, which hinges on Chelsea suffering a catastrophic fallout with goal-laden form.

I find myself increasingly at odds with the United faithful. Not the prawn sandwich munching Park Ji Sung fanatics (it’s an entire country!) who are the only ones who snap up the No.13 jersey nor the original apparel chaps who sport United’s latest gear during a game of football and yet can’t tackle to save their mom, nor is it even those who look for United related news in the entertainment section. I’m talking about the ordinary folk who sacrifice sleep in this part of the planet to catch a United game or the guys who plan their weekends around United’s games. The real fans who only really subscribe to sports cable channels for United games. The United fanatics. Nearly every United fan I’ve spoken to since the beginning of the run of results that has placed us in this miserable spot, seems to be of the firm belief that United have been unlucky this season.

Firstly, I think it’s fair to have unbridled belief in your team. Fans should always have faith in their teams. But blind faith is an ethos I just can’t subscribe to. Complacency in borne out of such blind faith in mediocrity. Liverpool’s fans are a testament to that. Secondly, we all know football fans tend to have a very short memory span. Anyone who thinks United have been unlucky this season has got be high on methane gas! Our joint second highest goal scorer this season is this chap we never bought, Mr. Own Goals! We have a guy who cost us in excess of £30 million who shares second spot with Own Goals. And we’ve been unlucky?

Berbatov has been the bane of many a United fan. United let the vastly more suited Tevez go because of their belief in Berbatov. Tevez has moved onto the greener pastures of the other half of the divide to consistently prove that Ferguson’s assertion that Tevez is not a natural goal scorer to be a hoax. Personally, I have always stuck my neck out for Berbatov because I think that he’s an exceptionally talented player.

But now, even my patience has run out. Berbatov is an exceptional talent, but he belongs in a club who don’t harbour hopes of the top prize. He was at ease at Tottenham because he was their superstar. Any striker who hit 20 plus goals at Spurs is a revelation by their standards. At United you are expected to be world class week in and week out. Spurs are the epitome of inconsistency. Some players just don’t have the bottle for the biggest of stages. Unfortunately for United, Berbatov is one of them. He is now what Juan Sebastian Veron was for us in 2003, an expensive accomplished failure. Brilliant player at the wrong club.

When Ronaldo left, a void the size of a crater was left in the United squad. A player who plies his trade on the wings and scores a whopping 42 goals a season is part of a very rare breed indeed. But Rooney has really stepped up to the plate. He took some time to get in stride as he developed his game to suit his new role, but when he got going nothing was going to stop him. Ronaldo’s departure has paved the way for Rooney to develop his game beyond that of just the epitome of a team player. He now possesses the predatory instincts to regularly hit 30 plus goals a season. The biggest beneficiary has got to be the England squad. He is peaking just in time for what will be an ultimately futile bid to lift the World Cup.

United’s primary weakness is the squad itself. Neville, Giggs and Scholes are still the finest we’ve got. Their experience is vital in the biggest of games, but they should not be counted on to produce the goods when it matters most. They’ve already lived that life in United’s glorious years. It is the job of the rest of this supposedly world-class squad to do the talking on the pitch.

Very few stand alongside Rooney as excused for United’s failings this season. Valencia has matured admirably as the season progressed to be a dependable supply line. Fletcher has literally manfully carried the United midfield throughout the season. He has to rank as the most improved United player of the last decade, if not of all-time. He certainly is the closest we have ever had to Roy Keane since the Ulsterman’s departure. However, he lacks the ferocious voracity of Roy Keane the captain of Manchester United. Evra’s probably the best left back we’ve had since Dennis Irwin. He has always produced a performance even when the team is struggling. Alongside Fletcher, he has to rank as our most consistent player. Defensively, he does tend to get caught, but he’s an absolute peach of a player. Van Der Sar is a man who hardly gets a mention. But there have been many games where he has single-handedly kept us in games. He has been consistently brilliant for us.

Nani, through Sir Alex’s legendary man-management, has started to display the reasons for which we purchased him. However, I’m of the school of thought who believes that Nani is not reliable first-team material. He’s flashy, quick and a decent crosser but his mental awareness is glaringly lacklustre on many occasions. He is also never going to be a big game player, for his confidence is too fragile. He will always live in the superiorly confident Cristiano Ronaldo’s shadow.

United possess no other players who the fans can mortgage their houses on to place a bet. Surely the fans didn’t expect to become European champions when a team like Barcelona play the football they do. We’re disillusioned minions of hope like that. We don’t score from set pieces anymore, we grind out results more that pummel opponents, we lose to the plot to inferior opponents, we get outmuscled in a scrappy game, we need Rooney to bail us out every game and we concede too many goals! This is the team you prayed to many gods to be champions of Europe? A prayer is all we had!

A look at the statistics between this year’s challengers and last year’s champions will point out where we’ve lost the plot. Last season’s league table stands at 28 won, 6 drawn and 4 lost. This season, in 34 games we’ve lost 7 games already, of which 5 defeats came when faced with opponents from the top half of the table. We’ve definitely hit a golden scoring patch this season with 77 goals (Rooney getting the bulk) but our defence has leaked in 27 goals as opposed to 24 for the entirety of last season (partly due to our wretched defensive injury crisis this season). You may think of a mere 3 goals as nit picking, but it’s put into context when you realise that’s 3 defeats! However it can be argued that this has been an exceptional year for the Premiership, further evidence that the league has gotten much tougher.

The brutal truth is that when it counted most this season, we didn’t produce the goods. In the league, we’ve lost to Chelsea twice, an under par Liverpool, Burnley, Villa (who got hammered by Chelsea), Fulham (given a football lesson in the process) and Everton. We got dumped out of the FA Cup by effectively a struggling 3rd Division side. Then came our insipid Champions League exit.

Bayern exposed our over-reliance on Rooney while Chelsea exposed the mediocrity of our squad over the span of a week. Over the span of that week, the wheels to glory came off. During the first leg against Bayern, we were extremely lucky to have even got a goal. We were taking a lesson in passing from an average Bayern side. In the second leg, especially in the second half, we again gave them ample space to pass us off the park. Robben’s wonder goal would not have settled the tie had someone bothered to track him. He had an eternity to plan the strike as it fell. On arguments that Drogba’s goal was offside and we should have had a penalty, I point out that Chelsea has just as valid a penalty claim and Macheda’s fluke goal had a strong hint of handball. So I don’t really buy the whole “unlucky” argument. Champions make their own luck! Whatever happened to that?

Sir Alex surely knows the fragility of the United squad in respect to the ambition that the club harbours. He cloaks the mediocrity astutely with Mourinho-esq statements that shifts the critical focus away from his players. We just don’t possess the quality of players to execute the Manchester United brand of football. We have entertained, surely, but in such sporadic patches that we don’t deserve a champion’s medal. Either there really is no money available or United really can’t lure the world’s top players. Either way, we’re finally starting to come to terms with what increasingly looks like the end of the glory days. We might just begin to understand the sufferings of being a Liverpool fan.

Unplanned Crash

Everyday is the same. Ever wonder why we get up every morning moaning about the lack of sleep and whilst brushing out teeth, promise that you’ll hit the sack sooner at night. Yet when night comes around, you can’t seem to sleep early enough. There’s always something. In our wee lil minds we hatch grand plans to be the next billionaire or start a cause worthy of a Nobel peace prize, yet we don’t even have the basic discipline to hit the sack early every night! There’s always something. Maybe that’s the difference between greatness and us.

Last night while I was driving along this narrow two way street, I decided to be the good Samaritan and let a mom and her kids cross the street. So I held up traffic and brought my car to stall. The mom thanked me as she crossed the street with her young uns. Out of nowhere this motorbike comes screeching as he crashes into her daughter. For that split second, you can only watch in unbridled horror as velocity meets friction. The next few seconds, you just hope everyone is all right. On this occasion, the girl just suffered minor bruises and a shock. She was, thankfully, alright.

As I drove home, I questioned if what just happened could be construed as my fault. I deliberately stopped traffic to allow people who would have waited by the shoulder of the road to cross. I thought I was being courteous. I guess I was. But for an impatient motorist, I’d have gone home with no chronology of events to ponder. Of course, it’s ridiculous to think it’s my fault! But the bigger picture is that in the micros of our daily lives, there lies one obvious truth. That nothing is certain. We can’t plan to not get hit by a bus tomorrow. We can’t plan on it raining when you forgot your umbrella.

What does happen is a crash. A crash we call life. Be it the mundane existence of a data entry clerk or the glamour of a film superstar, we all exist in this crash. We can’t plan on not getting hit by a bus, but we can get an insurance policy to cover us in case we do get hit by a bus. Although, you really can’t tell these days if insurance policies themselves aren’t really a sham! We may not have an umbrella on a rainy day, but we could wait the rain out. Plans exist because it is easier to believe that we’re in control of everything. We’re control freaks like that.

Everyone plans on being happy, yet no one really knows what that really is. Today it could be that fancy car and that leggy woman-of-your-dreams. Tomorrow you find out that fancy car has a faulty gearbox and that woman is only sleeping with you for your money. Tomorrow you could lose a parent, get fired, get food poisoning, lose your wallet or it could just rain till the next day.

You can only plan tomorrow so much. How much older do we get till we’re old enough? While planning tomorrow, maybe living today wouldn’t be such a bad idea. You can’t plan for a crash, you can only prepare for it. In anticipation of a crash, don’t forget that dreamy eyed ambitious 5-year-old kid you once used to be. Dance the dance when innocence was a word you didn’t understand. We’re all crashing into each other anyway. That doesn’t really mean that crash has got to end badly, does it?

The Dawn of a New Seven...

A team is the sum of individuals working collectively towards one goal. No man, superstar or demi-god, is bigger than a team. This is the ethos from which many a great team over the lifetime of sport have been built. Manchester United lost 8 first team players in the 1958 Munich air disaster. Amongst the dead was Duncan Edwards, at 22, considered such an exceptionally gifted player that it has been said that it was him and not Bobby Moore who would have lifted the 1966 Jules Rimet trophy as England’s captain had he survived to fulfil his potential. Manchester United lost a player on the threshold of greatness to the cruel fate of slush on a runway. It took United ten years to bury the ghost of Munich culminating in winning the 1968 European Cup.

Come end of June 2009, Manchester United will bid adieu to yet another young player who graced the Stretford End with awe-inspiring guile. Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro will depart Old Trafford as the most decorated footballer on the planet for the 2008/2009 season. Having joined United in August 2003, he has scored 118 goals in 291 games. Some of these goals still leaves us thanking the stars that we were alive to witness such sheer audacious genius. All the more remarkable is that this comes from a man who plies his trade on the right wing!

Ronaldo has never had the full faith of the Old Trafford faithful, however. His role in getting Wayne Rooney sent off in Euro 2004, his play acting antics and his public courting of Real Madrid have always left many wary of him despite his unquestionable talent. Rarely have the United faithful been as wary of one of their own geniuses as they have been in the Portuguese’s case. Eric Cantona, Ruud Van Nistlerooy, David Beckham, George Best, Roy Keane, Paul McGrath are amongst some great players who bring fond memories for many Red Devils the world over, yet they all were hardly uncontroversial. Somehow we tend to forgive them like a mother her child. My guess is that Cristiano Ronaldo will never have the same affectionate adoration in the aftermath of this transfer. Genius he may be, but many had already likened him to Judas long before this summer.

Ronaldo is certainly one of the world’s top three players by most people’s accounts, but his faithlessness discounts his merit of true greatness. When Kaka refused the mega-bucks move to Manchester City in January, he struck a chord with many in the footballing world. Robinho will never understand the economics of principles, yet Kaka is still revered in all of Milan and beyond despite his £59 million move to Real Madrid. We fans, sitting in our couches the world over, are a fickle lot but can never be accused to have a short-term memory. Whilst players like Kaka bring a smile to many football hearts, Ronaldo and Robinho give the stench of cat litter for their material greed.

Ronaldo will move on to a team that traditionally buys its success. He has the right to be ambitious and after serving Manchester United gloriously for six years, he’s allowed the luxury of a new challenge. No one will ever deny that many a times, he has single-handedly won us games. He is almost the complete footballer. His skill, guile, audacity and pace have left us breathless in these six years. For his service we thank him. As for his future, we bid him well, but not success.

Success belongs to the throes of Old Trafford. Manchester United were considered by many to be the second best club team on the planet after the amazing Barcelona last season. I beg to differ. Manchester United were by far the luckiest team in the European stage as they were on home soil. It has always been said champions make their own luck. I ask only that you look at Barcelona to believe that champions don’t make their luck, rather play impeccable attacking football. Last season, in my view, Manchester United were the most effective team in England, not the best! The best team last season domestically was Liverpool!

Many amongst you Devils are sharpening your axes and making your way to my abode I’m certain. Let us look at the statistics of last season. Liverpool finished last season as the Premiership’s top scorers at 77 goals in 38 games. That is an average of 2 goals per game. Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United finished on 68 goals. Where Manchester United won the title was not their fabled attacking ethos, rather a new found defensive solidity, as they conceded the least goals in the league. In the 2008/2009 season United scored 80 goals and conceded 22 as opposed to Liverpool who scored 67 and conceded 28. While Liverpool are making great strides forward, we are beginning to embrace a culture of caution, long believed to be Benitez’s football characteristic. Not anymore if our last meeting between the great rivals is anything to go by.

United’s record against the teams in the top half of the table for 2008/2009 is won 9, drew 5 and lost 4 whilst their record against the bottom half is 19-1-0. Liverpool’s record against teams in the top half of the table is 10-7-1. Which means their performance against the better teams in the league outstrips ours. Where we won the league was against teams in the bottom half of the table! These are hardly awe-inspiring statistics.

For all that is said of Manchester United’s awesome defence last season, we failed when it mattered most. When we lost 4-1 at Old Trafford to Liverpool and 2-0 to Barcelona in the Champions League final, our defence was left looking like novices! Nemanja Vidic is an amazing center back, but his worst games this season have come against the teams that came to attack United. Manchester United are used to attacking teams from kick-off, but it was a case of role reversal in these two defeats.

United had Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez and Berbatov in their stable of attackers for last season. While Berbatov can be excused for having a transitional season at Old Trafford, Ronaldo again finished United’s top scorer this season. Rooney has scored 12 goals in the league for the second consecutive season. This is not because Rooney does not know where the goal is, rather it’s not having a fixed position in the team. Half of the games he has played last season he was chucked on the left wing. Rooney being Rooney will never complain and does an effective job even if you play him as a goalie. On paper we are one hell of a fearsome team. On evidence on what transpired last season, we leave much to be desired.

Manchester United is a team built on the tradition of attacking football. If we’re going to go down, we will go down fighting and with all guns blazing. The swash-buckling raids on the wings have been replaced by playing a more patient brand of football. There are teams in the Premiership who are starting to out-pass Manchester United! Both Barcelona and Manchester United fought the Champions League final, but no one in the right frame of mind will begrudge Barcelona, as they deserved their title. In the group stages, Barcelona scored 18 goals as opposed to United’s 9! Messi, Eto’o and Henry scored a combined total of 21 goals throughout the tournament. United’s awesome foursome scored 13.

Barcelona were there for the taking having had both their first-choice full-backs suspended, however we chose to hit Barcelona on the counter with Park Ji Sung, Carrick, Ryan Giggs and Anderson. We honestly believed we could out-pass Barcelona! When we needed fighters out there, we left the most prominent of all our terriers on the bench, Tevez, instead opting for a Korean who’s just not European Final material.

Manchester United are losing a man who can score goals with both feet, from any distance and with his head whilst also being the supplier of a bucketload of goals. Whilst we are happy to see the back of the ‘winker’, we must also be aware that we’re losing our top scorer for two consecutive seasons. While the £80 million will come in handy to building a new phenomenon, we must also brace ourselves for maybe playing second fiddle next season. We need to revive the Manchester United of lore and play uninhibited attacking football. Manchester United must return to its roots of keeping us at the end of our seats. We are fast becoming the Chelsea that Mourinho left behind. That is a cursed fate that will have even Sir Matt Busby turning in his grave. Today’s Manchester United must honour the tradition of the Manchester United legacy, we must build to attack.

Etching Tomorrow's Memories Today...

The sunlight pierces through the foliage of leaves on a tender spring day as you lay idly under the solace of an old oak tree. Amidst the wide range of sunglasses that rest on many a smiling cheek and bright floral spring dresses that accentuate many a feminine figure, you smile as the melody of laughter echoes all around you. A lush gentle breeze rustles the leaves above as you congratulate the higher powers on a job well done for the afternoon. Surrounded by friends from all corners of cultural diversity, you breathe in celebration of love and joy. The day is perfect. Or is it?

Amidst all the multiplicity of cultures and continents, you forget that you stand under the shade of protection of a learning institution. Their purpose is to both educate and nurture. The lessons you learn here aren’t just confined to classrooms and powerpoint slides. They thrust you into a world where you must swim to survive. However, the waters here aren’t as deep as they are in the deep blue seas of circling sharks. Swimming comes with the comfort of life jackets.

Despite all the lessons the cloudy days of yesterday provided, a university assumes the charming ability to usurp you from your glass house into a reality check. The reality check being there is a world around you to live with. The choice lies in determining whether to greet the sunshine and occasional rain of diversity with open arms or with the forlorn tears of many a phone call back home.

There are four seasons in a year, yet some of us dwell on the dreary cold winter nights all year long. For the many that miss their parents or partner or sun and sea or friends or Californian Starbucks or dog or cat or monkey, there is hope. The rays of sparkling hope are embodied by one action, and only one action. Opening the door.

Open the door to meet people, talk to people and embrace humanity. Sitting brooding in a corner will never rid us of the pain of loneliness. Spending eternity behind the shield of books and Facebook or MSN won’t encourage the heart to grow less fond of home. Get out! Open that room door, walk out and just say hi to someone. Don’t judge them for where they’re from, what they do or how they look. Just embrace the fact that you are here for a learning curve. Allow that curve to give you a lifetime's experience. Give yourself a chance, and you can’t do that by brooding. Live a little, dance in the rain, drink till the sun rises, make some friends to last a lifetime and just plain ol give yourself a break.

One day we’ll all look back at our days here and both wear a smile and shed a tear. Digital cameras have made it immensely easy to capture the moments in pixels, but memories will ensure that we take true bonds back home. Friendships that may or may not last the test of time, but nonetheless they will be chapters that shape our future selves. How many chances will we get to make friends from all corners of the globe? How many chances will we get to have an excuse to visit all corners of this wonderful planet? Not many I reckon.

Outside of here, we’ll have to grow up and face reality. The commitments of the real world will burden our shoulders till mortality calls time on us. We’ll have to grow up. Acting like a 5-year-old in snow covered fields will be acts of a past life. We’ll smile when our 5-year-olds come back sneezing from all the snow fighting and you spend the next 10 nights regretting as they cough your sleep away. It’s a whole world away for some of us and a not-so-distant reality for others. Society will expect you to grow up and act your age. Even the sunshine will seek that you spend less time mulling around smiling and be more productive with your existence.

One day we’ll all go our separate ways. It’ll be a tearful end to a glorious chapter. These are the chapters that will linger forever in our hearts as we set about shaping our respective futures. The empty beer glasses will ring hollow. Till that day, we have got today. So embrace it before it’s too late. Regret is tomorrow’s antithesis of living today...

A Pessimist's Antithesis...

Where is the hope in the future if only tears weep today? What is the point of tomorrow if today cannot be lived? Where is the legacy in hiding the adventures to read a book on another man’s adventures? For god’s sake, live a little! Wake up and smell the roses or go bloody skinny dipping in sub-zero weather! But for the sake of your sanity, get out and live!

Everybody walks troubled paths. Everybody has skeletons in their closets. Everybody misses somebody. Everybody has a bloody backache or a splitting headache. But that never stopped the brave from acts of pure idiocy. Yes, it’s true, blondes and idiots or drunken fools have the most fun! There’s no reason to fear the future for if the future fears you, then the world seems a lot more comforting. There’s always a solution for everything or, at least, a breather. Live today like you have always dreamt of living tomorrow. You’ll end up grinning like an idiot.

In a world full of doubters, don’t expect handouts of merciful self-esteem boosts. There will always be sunshine if you only you allow the dark eclipse engulfing your world to be eclipsed. The constant nagging feeling is that you just ain’t good enough to cut the cheese. If the world says you’re a prick, say thank you very much and live the dream. Being a self-absorbed prick is any day better than a depressed home-sick puppy. Don’t look back in anger, but forward in hope.

There will be the days when the sun refuses to come out and the rain just doesn’t stop being dreary. The weather is there to be weathered. Quit thinking that home is a place far away that can only be accessed on an expensive economy-class ticket. Home is where your heart is. Lay your heart down right here right now, for there is the comfort of change even in change. Don’t let your environment dictate your mood; let your mood dictate the environment. If for nothing else, smile more often. At least you give your facial muscles a workout.

Look not for an escape but for the wings of freedom. Except to face the unexpected and accept that the unexpected will always be unexpected. To fly, you don’t need the dosh of Bill Gates or the suave of James Bond. All you need is belief. All you need is faith. Not in the world or the weather forecast or even the Lord almighty. He put you down here so you can face the world not with grim grit but with optimism and hope. Believe in the man in the mirror. Trust his instincts. Embrace his warmth. Confide in him.

Everyday we will fight battles we hardly believe in, think of loved ones but never call them, dream of a vacation and never actually take them, fantasize about that hot brunette by the bar but never approach her or plain ol dream of dancing in the rain but it’s always freezing. Well, it might be time to wake up and actually start crossing off the crap you’ve never done in your life. Or, at least, make a list of crap to do that others might think border on a desperate call for counselling. Yesterday is another day lost to tomorrow, and today is another day wasted regretting yesterday. When is today really today then?

Someone once said, “The pursuit of happiness is the most ridiculous phrase because if you pursue happiness, you’ll never find it!” And that’s it basically. Don’t pursue it or look in dark corners of the world for it. It’s right there in front of you. Confidence is over-rated. Listen to your heart, open your mind and talk to the world. The funny thing about the world is it talks back to you.

Drink alcohol by the barrel. Smoke like a chimney. Act like a complete idiot on your first date and charm your way to another one. Pick up a random card trick. Talk to the next hot stuff that walks past. Greet complete strangers with a hug; at least you’ll have some neat bruises to show for it! Learn a new sport. Pick up a foreign language. Do whatever it takes to bring the magic back. Do whatever it takes to kick-start the magic. But live, for having regrets are bad for your 50-year-old future self. If not for anything else and you end up an old drunk in the local bar, you’ll have stories aplenty to fill the nights of loneliness. Let it not creep in too soon. There’s still half a century to regret yesterday.

Cultural Differences...

In every race, there's a winner and a loser. The wondrous human mind is as fickle as it is fascinating. We'll leave the wondrous bit to the adoring I-need-to-know faithful of the Discovery Channel. Fickle because, despite it's mammoth capabilities, leans only to remember the winners. No matter what a great loser you are, history favours the winners. The losers are chucked into the dark dungeons of failure. But there is a small loyal population who remembers the losers and even sits depressed and forlorn for weeks, the ever faithful, the fans.

Manchester United is everybody's favourites to win the Premier League. The people, who used to cuss at the very mention of Manchester United, embrace them now! Liverpool fans are probably digging out their hockey sticks to have a real go at me right now, but the truth is you would any day take the Red Devils to the rejuvenated Chelsea. Anyone who is a neutral prefers United to Chelsea, solely because many feel that United played the better football. Chelsea have ridden their luck so many times, you suspect Avram Grant sleeps with Lady Luck herself!

There is a stark difference in culture between Chelsea and Manchester United. Despite the fact that Chelsea boast a sea of international superstars, they play a rather laboured style of football. They'd rather play a lone striker to lead the line and flood the midfield to cut short both central and wing attacks. They huff long balls forward to the dramatic yet magnificent Didier Drogba, who is the brilliant player he is due to Chelsea's system of play. You put Drogba in a classic 4-4-2 formation and he won't be as much a threat. Further back they have an excellent defence which is also blessed in depth of squad. Their midfield is workmanlike and operates like clockwork. There is no fuss about these guys. They get the ball and either pump it up or use the ball efficiently. It is a meticulous system that has served them wonderfully over the years and pioneered by the charming Mourinho. This is the Chelsea culture. They have had many a continental manager over the decades and their style varies depending on the man in charge. Their culture is rather cosmopolitan and chameleon-like.

Manchester United is a whole different proposition. They believe that the boring football should be played by the blue half of Manchester. Even when do play a single man up front, the goal-scoring threat is from all fronts. In Ronaldo, they are blessed with a man in the form of his life and who has thus far plummeted close to 40 goals. That too from the wing! In Sir Alex Ferguson, they have a manager who has managed them for more than two decades. Their cosmopolitan culture is derived from the many legends that have graced the luscious greens of the Theatre of Dreams. They have a culture to always attack. They are successful and to a certain degree short ended because of this culture to play swash-buckling football. Sir Alex has always remained loyal to tradition that is Manchester United, to attack.

That is, until now. In a space of a week, he has demonstrated that the many failures after his maiden European title, he has embraced caution. Caution is actually a good thing, because you can get carried away with the euphoria of the chase and end up empty handed. Arsenal are closest example to playing absolutely breath-taking football, yet having nothing to show for their efforts. Maybe playing Barcelona in cauldron that is the Camp Nou is intimidating even to the likes of the lion-hearted Rooney. Maybe playing going for a draw is throwing caution to the wind. Maybe risking a half-fit Rooney in a defensive formation is Fergie's idea of intimidating the opponents. Maybe Ronaldo isn't superhuman after all. Maybe from where Carlos Quieroz comes from, the men wear the skirts! A scoreless stalemate is the worst kind of result to bring back to Old Trafford! Barcelona are the gods of attacking football, and their arsenal is way way prettier, fancier and more lethal than the best on the planet. They may be having an off season, but they aren't going down quietly!

Many amongst the United faithful were aghast at the display and tactics that was put forward by the genius that is Sir Alex Ferguson. Credit where credit is due, the man is the reference text for success and reinvention. But for once, he shrunk at the possibility of grabbing the bull by its horns. Their display was pathetic! Carrick, Park, Rooney and Tevez appeared lost every time they touched the ball! Carrick's distribution, in particular, kept feeding the ball back to the hungry Catalan wolves. Park looked like a small kid lost amongst grown men. Tevez and Rooney, who should not have been risked with his damaged hip, seemed to be stuck in their own half. Ferdinand and Scholes had an absolutely stellar game. Ronaldo was unlucky but ever enterprising.

If that wasn't depressing enough, Saturday happened! In every United fans' hearts, they knew that the kill was there for the taking and what pride they wore their bedevilled colours! When the team sheet came out even dumbfounded were dumbfounded! On the day when United could put lay to rest that they are the best in the land and do it on the very ground Chelsea call home, Sir Alex dug the burrow of caution. Of course, United lost and now Chelsea have gained all the momentum to go on an grab the league title from under United's noses. United were out-played and out-fought by a very efficient and courageous Chelsea team. The fact that Rooney scored was due to an uncharacteristic blunder from Carvallo. Their goal was coming and for all Sir Alex's arguments, it was a clear handball from the idiot that is Michael Carrick! Carrick had a howler of a game against Barcelona, yet his just reward was a place in the starting eleven for probably the biggest game in the Premier League calendar for United. The fantastic Evra, superhuman Ronaldo and growling Tevez were sat out of this monumental game. In all fairness, Darren Fletcher, as much as he is maligned, had a stellar game. There were two fundamentally shocking decisions that must have left even an idiot pondering, what exactly was going on! The first was the fact that Nani actually lasted beyond half-time and the second was United's non-chalant attitude at risking Wayne Rooney. He is now a serious doubt for the Champions League encounter with Barcelona as is the stellar Vidic.

These men will now head into the most crucial phase of the season with their spirit battered. When the time calls for the brave to stand, this team were ready to play everyday if they had to. They were ready to play through pain and with their heart on their sleeves immaterial how bloody the war gets. They were ready to be counted on. They were ready to be crowned champions as John Terry wept his heart out. He now sits smirking, at the change in culture. Arsenal's fate is creeping up Manchester United's shoulder…

Yesterday's Heroes...

As the days age and our years advance, we realise that life is there for the taking. We tend to believe that we’re capable of achieving that raw dream. The freedom of choice is a liberating experience. The choice of having 3 girlfriends or a weekend trip to Bali for a change of environment or even a night out with the lads for a few hundred glasses of beer. These are the days of looking forward. But what of the days that lie at the back? The days when you were part of a system. The system of a family.

We choose to spend time with a whole legion of dim-wit idiots in a bar, but we can’t spend enough time to have a chat with the woman whom we spent nine months in? You are comfortably able to go for yet another meal with a rude wanker with blood only rushing to one head and it ain’t up north either. Yet you have qualms about sitting down for dinner with your folks at home. The eclipse of rationality happens more often than the moon comes out! Your decision making skills are at an all time low if you still subject yourself to the idiot with all the money and none of the intellect. You want intellect, tradition, and culture and still not scour the planet in hot pursuit? Look no further than those photos back when you were a young little rascal. That is history and they are your legacy.

Every man has a backbone to weather many a storm and mine is family. I have always said I’m blessed with great parents. We may not see eye to eye on everything but they are and will remain in the top bracket of my priorities. I’ve always said, I don’t deserve the people around me. For some odd reason though the big man sees it in his own little perspective light.

My parents have always supported me in everything I’ve done from the plain stupid to the extraordinarily insane. They’ve voiced their concerns when they’ve had to, but always stood there to welcome the bruised ego back with open arms. They’ve sacrificed their lives for the sake of their children. People always ask me how is it that I’m not in the least bit a god-fearing man when I’m surrounded, at times, by the extraordinarily religious. My answer has always been simple, as I’ve never really had a reason to chant mantras in an altar in a bid to get god to listen to me or be kind to my soul. See, I don’t need to, because I have god’s avatars in the form of my parents. We may have our spats and disagreements, but my gratitude is eons beyond the failings of my monumental ego. For as long as I’m able, I will do everything I can to make them happy.

I believe there isn’t a season for loyalty. You can’t be loyal and disloyal as and when it suits you. You are either loyal or disloyal, there isn’t a grey area as neither is there switching sides to suit your whims. In my eyes, a man who can’t be there for a parent is hardly a man. You can blame the modern lifestyles we lead as excuses for your shortcomings, but the fact is you have a choice. A choice to do what’s right, not what pressure dictates. When your parents pass, you must not regret then at the magnitude of your folly.

Maybe the view is too skewed, as many have disagreements with their folks that make that impasse of loyalty impossible. There are grey areas and we must accept that not everyone has the same priorities. It is true that it’s impossible for every child to worship their parents like I do. Having said that I strongly believe that you must at least try, to find a solution to keeping the relationship harmonious.

Many amongst us find a reason to be kind to strangers, yet we are snappy or impolite to the very people who spent their lives raising us up. We may argue and fight but at the end of the day, at least with your parents, don’t carry grudges. Leave that ego at the door. Realise that you stand the man you are because they molded that man.

However, there are some parents who are like little kids themselves and make it impossible to be an adult. Maybe then just like any other relationship, it’s best to keep your distance. Lack of communication can be interpreted both ways. A lack of communication is usually seen as a bad thing as it leads to breakdowns in relationships. A lack of communication can also be interpreted as good if in the long run it is beneficial. Beneficial because it creates the space that allows you to carry on without the distractions of conflict.

We’re all intelligent in our own right. We’re all mature in our own right. Sometimes parents can be conventional in their thinking and unreceptive to change. But if ever there is a need for patience, practice it in abundance when dealing with your family. Don’t succumb to the folly of youth and dismiss their advanced years as inexperienced or backward. Always give them the benefit of the doubt. Listen more than you speak.

In a world that is shrinking at a ferocious pace, let’s not lose out our identity. Our parents are family and family should always remain on the forefront of priorities. When your children ask you tomorrow where you came from or who they are, you will regret not having an answer. The key to those questions lie in the grasp of our parents. They are your identity. Civilizations are judged on their history. Ignore that at your peril for you could get lost in history.