Showing posts with label man utd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label man utd. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Carlito's way

He came under a cloud. Gave an all action performance. Endeared himself to the fans. Scored a fair amount of goals. Worked his socks off .... and two years later, went Blue. That's Carlos Tevez for you.

His arrival in England was nothing sort of sensational. Both he and his fellow countryman, Mascherano were signed up by West Ham in what can only be called a sensational coup. In truth, it was one of the most complicated deals in the history of the game in which both players were bizarrely, not owned by a club but by a company, or in particular, one Mr. Kia Joorabchian. After a slow start to life in the Premier League, he quite came alive in the second half of the season and helped West Ham beat the drop with some sensational performances, and a particularly stunning goal against who would turn out to be his future employers. After helping West Ham to beat the drop, he did what any player in his position would have. He answered the door when Manchester United came calling.

A two year loan deal, with an option to make the deal permanent, was signed and soon Carlos Tevez was the new number 32. His first goal for United was a super one. A diving header at the near post against Chelsea. More goals followed and he, along with Wayne Rooney and a certain number 7 were the fulcrum of the United team that went on to retain their Premier league crown and also won the Champions League (in which he scored a penalty in the shoot out in the final). All was well.

Then came what could possibly be called the beginning of the end. Berbatov was signed and was put straight into the first team. At first, it wasn't much of an impact as Ronaldo was injured and so Rooney, Tevez and Berbatov were accommodated. But soon, Ron was back and Carlos was, more often than not, relegated to the bench. His frustration was for all to see and this was compounded by the fact that Berbatov did not seem to adapt to the United playing style well either. Soon, cracks began to emerge with Carlos stating that he wasn't too happy with the situation and who could blame him!

As the season progressed, it became evident that he would, more likely than not, be plying his trade away from the theater of Dreams very soon. His last appearance for Manchester United was the Champions league final, in which he was introduced as a second half substitute. In his last few games, he performed to the hilt, as ever, and scored a few.

Then came the announcement in the summer that Carlos Tevez had declined the offer of 25 million pounds that United were offering for his services and would be moving out. Duly, he was signed by Manchester City for around the same amount and will indeed wear the number 32 jersey.

All the noise he was making was that he had not been treated with respect, and that he was not getting enough game time, hence feeling unwanted. Fair enough, until you consider his decision to join City. Apart from Tevez, they have 6 other strikers on the payroll. Now if Mark Hughes decides to rotate his squad from time to time, it'll be interesting to see what happens.

At the end of the day, Red became blue. Tevez became a cityzen. All the best mate. Lets just hope for your and everyone else's sake that you win at least as many, if not more trophies in your ENTIRE spell at City than your two glorious years at Man United...
Cheers

Monday, June 29, 2009

That boy Ronaldo !!!

6 seasons. 292 appearances. 118 goals. 49 assists. Now he's gone, and United are richer by 80 million pounds. Thats Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United career at Old Trafford. He came in as a "phenomenal talent" and left as a "superstar", probably the biggest of 'em all. A stepover here, a nudge there. A dive here and a fantastic strike there. This was pretty much what he was about.

When he was bought for 12 million pounds six years ago, quite a few eyebrows werre raised as he was quite an unknown identity. No sooner than he had made his sparkling debut, than people realised that the unknown 'X' was quite simply the 'X-Factor'. His first couple of seasons, or the first three even, were quite inconsistent peppered with flashes of brilliance. He was still growing.

Then came the first of three brilliant seasons in which he so famously won the wager with Sir Alex when he scored more than 20 that season. The season started off on a sour note with the Rooney red card incident at the world cup. He was getting stick wherever he played( Well, except OT of course !!). But then he won over the fans with a series of stunning displays. He was developing his game and with it learning to deal with superstardom too. He was still growing.

Then came the season to end all seasons. 42 goals in 49 appearances to go with a Premiership medal and a champs league medal. He simply decimated all and was crowned both the European and World Footballer of the year. He was quite simply on another planet and well, vini vidi vici. Inevitably Real Madrid came calling and quite frankly, United were lucky to hold on to him for another season. But the signs were ominous and it was only a question of when rather than if he would leave. He had grown.

Then was his last season at OT. His supposed "not so good" season. Yeah, it produced only 26 goals. Not so good indeed. Well, the season started off badly as he had a surgeory on his ankle and was out of the game for the start of the season and when he got back, he did look more than a little jaded. Worst of all, he looked as if his heart was quite simply not in it. His attitude did improve as the season progressed and so did his form. Another premier league medal and a Champs league runners up medal. Towards the end of the season, the signs were ominous. The pure petulence on being substituted was well, inexcusible. But then the second half against Tottenham showed us the boy's class and well, it was one last swansong.

Then came the inevitable. Manchester United had accepted a world record 80 million dollar bid from Real Madrid for the the services of a certain Cristaino Ronaldo, and just like that, he was off. The worst part of it was the reaction of all the United fans all over the world. A "we dont need him" attitude. I'm sorry guys, have a li'l respect for the guy and for all that he gave us.

He was brilliant. He was infuriating. He was arrogant. He was pure genius. He was quite simply the guy you would just love to hate. He may well be a whigner. He may well be a spoilt rich brat. He may not have defended or worked hard enough for the team. He may have thrown tantrums and dived on the slightest contact but you know what?? All we can do is look back and say..."That boy!Ronaldo !!"

Adios amigo. Its been a good six years. Thank you for the memories and... Godspeed
Cheers

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

An ode to United

Here's a man who goes by the name Arunaldo..
True to his pen name, he is as fleet with his pen as Ronaldo is with the ball at his feet ...
So without much further ado,
I give to you ...

http://urstrulyarun.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-ode-to-man-utd.html


An ode to United ...
A must read for all United fans ...

Cheers

p.s By the writer's own high standards, this is still work in progress and should be called version 1.0 ..
For the rest of us, a treat !!!!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

After the demolition of Spurs

The two goals were soft,
The defence completely lost the plot.
Then Roo and Ron scored two each,
At four-two, Fort Tottenham was well and truly brached.
Berba added gloss and put United in fifth heaven,
Too bad neither Wazza nor Ronnie could complete their hat-tricks and make it seven.

Cheers

Saturday, April 11, 2009

After The Villa rollercoaster

Liverpool left it late,
United were far from great.
The defence leaked and the attackers werent in their pomp,
Does it matter? Three points and we're back on top !

The backpass was comic,
The finish, classic.
The'keeper was left marooned;Normal service, it seemed, had resumed.
Villa's first was simple enough,
Gary marking the giant Carew was always gonna be tough.
For the second, Carew's cross was perfectly on cue,
Gabby gladly obliged and got the goal he was long overdue.

After 80 minutes, the game looked lost ,
United needed a victory at any cost.
Up popped Ron, and with his left, he scored,
At 2-2, parity was restored.

Stoppage time, and the scores were still tied,
Looked like the title was inching toward Mersyside.
Up stepped Macheda, with a turn and a shot,
The back of the net rustled; the final twist in the plot.

Old Trafford erupted,
O'Neill's men were devastated.
Ron and Kiko orchestrated an improbably Houdini act,
Well done United, a pat on the back !

Glory Glory Man United

Cheers

Friday, March 27, 2009

After the demolition at the Cottage

The Scousers beat us in our backyard,
Craven cottage turned into a graveyard.
The Villans are next up at OT
Will Ron and co please come to the party ???

Cheers