BACK AGAIN!

Am Back!

Hmmm…*clears throats* yeah! It’s me back again after 1 year, 29 days absence! Waoh! How I’ve missed my blog. I must at this moment register my thanks to all (Dave, Chris, Omo, T-Boy, Soj…to mention but a few) who kept pushing me to get back to writing. Sometimes you never know you’ll miss something until you really miss it.

Okay…back to business. Where do I start? Before I figure that out, let me release a secret that Arsenal’s disappointing display contributed to my reluctance to get back. I knew I’ll always be talking about them…and for the wrong reasons most times. I nearly vowed that my next post will come after they win a trophy. But I said “Come off it! That may be in the next century”*just kidding*

Good! I know where to start….I think it will just be so nice to do a recap of the football year (2013). Let’s remind ourselves of some of the Dramas, Thrills and Shrills and this year that’s rolling out. If you permit me, I’ll say this has been one of the most eventful years I’ve witnessed. I guess you’ll agree with me when I round up.

2012/13 Champions

Ok rushing through the last roller-coaster season, we saw as I predicted that Manchester United with Old Alex and ruthless Van Persie won the league comfortably, much to my envy though. We saw on the last day when Arsenal scaled through into the Champions league spot through the teeth…and how annoying it was to see the whole team celebrate jubilantly as if they just won the Champions league. They only got into that position (4^th) owing to the poor run that Tottenham later had. But on a flip side, I must state here that the Gunners actually woke up at the end of the season…owning a record which shows that they would have topped the table if the league was from only January to May…but like we all know, it’s a marathon.

Inside last season we saw Swansea under the guidance of influential Landrup and Michu lifting the Carling Cup; with Wigan surprisingly winning the FA Cup, and Chelsea picking up their 2^nd European Cup in 12 months by winning the Europa league. I must say Benitez really tried to make a statement that he can still hit it in the top league, and was rewarded…not with a contract extension, but with a job at enterprising Napoli. Benitez returns to Italy- that would be another movie for another day.

It was this same year that another Roberto, this time Macini was waved aside by the Arab billionaire at City. His fault? He could deliver in European front, was already losing the dressing room…and an Engineer was brought to replace him- Manuel Pellegrini.

Am Done...

And then came the biggest one! On May 8, Mighty Alex Ferguson dropped the bomb shell…he retires after 27 successful years at Manchester United. What a better time to bow out, after giving United their 21st title. A peep into his career carries a luggage of 49 trophies (38 for Manchester United) – 13 Premier league, 5 FA Cup, 4 League Cup, 10 Charity/Community Shield, 2 Champion league, 1 European Cup Winners’ Cup, 1 European Super Cup, 1 Intercontinental Cup, and 1 Fifa Club World Cup. *sighs* what more can I say….he’s the Greatest ever liveth in English football; the Mohammed Ali of football….we can on and on eulogizing the great man, and words will not be enough. Simply put, he came, he saw, he conquered and bowed out a Champ!

The world knew football was taking a twist…a new premier league without Sir Alex Ferguson! Something I haven’t seen in my Long life time. And for all the stick I gave to this man….he’s someone I respect! But chicky Everton nearly ruined his final match in a 5-5 draw…I know we won’t forget that in a hurry too.

It suddenly became a year of bowing outs…Beckham quickly joined his ‘father’ in waving goodbye to professional football. Liverpool’s military defender, Jamie Carragher also joined the farewell train after 737 matches for the REDS. Phil Neville also didn’t miss the party as he hung his boot after his stint at Everton. Michael Owen took this moment as one he won’t miss also, as he ended his injury plague career at Stoke. And talking about Stoke, they also parted with their manager Tony Pulis, as became the tenth manger to lose his job in the 2012/13 season.

We also remember how poor QPR crashed out of the top league after spilling millions over average and tired players. That must be a lesson to many in future.

How come we haven’t mentioned the surprises of the Champions League? First, Arsenal’s revival this year stated in their victory at the Allianz Arena, when they defeated Bayern Munich, but were a goal short from progressing to the next stage. Barcelona and Real Madrid were unceremoniously flushed out of the completion by two German clubs - Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich- setting the stage for an all-German final. Bayern Munich showed their usual superiority by beating Dortmund in the finals, ending a year with a fantastic treble. This notwithstanding saw the resignation of the influential coach – Jupp Heynckes . This gave way for Guadiola to come in from his One year break.

Chewing Suarez

And how can we recap this year without mentioning Cannibal Suarez, who nearly churned off Ivanovic’s hand in a match that earned him a 10-game ban; this eventually ended his season and would spill into the next one.

This was a year that also saw a certain Gareth Bale sweep all the personal awards at the end of last season, having ended the season with an amazing 21 goals. This set the stage for his whopping big money transfer to Real Madrid.

A year that saw Frank Lampard register his named as a legend, by becoming the club all-time record scorer with 203 goals from MIDFIELD! Can you believe that!

Ozil...a Gunner

Then comes the transfers…Arsenal knew that the youth policy won’t take them far. The fans were baring their teeth…frustration flowed…jeers overflowed. At the beginning of the transfers, Wenger promised breaking the bank as long as he sees the right player. I must confess here that I never believed him…’coz this is what we’ve heard all these fruitless years. The window opened, and Wenger rushed at a teenage Sanogo, then swept in free Flamini. After that he went to sleep…and I thought that was it. But he shocked me! He pulled out an amazing £42m to buy spectacular Ozil…that day twitter went crazy, no, it nearly shut down. He broke his transfer record over three times….he bought the second most expensive player in British football…second only to £50m Torres. As far as am concerned that was the highpoint of the transfers. It soothed the screams of fans, of aggrieved players like Sagna who were already looking outside. It made a statement to all that Arsenal meant business. Even though they lost in their pursuit of Higuain and Suarez…most persons were calmed by this step.

Other spectacular moves were those of world record Gareth Bale who moved from Tottenham to Real Madrid for a whooping £86m. I feared how he’ll manage this big-money transfer….but so far, he’s settled in very well. We’ll do further analysis of his performance at the end of the season.

Tottenham went crazy with Money earned from Bale’s sale…and went into the market drunk, and spent an amazing £121m on average players. Chadli (£8m), Capoue (£10m), Soldado (£30m), Paulihno (£20m), Lamela (£30m), Eriksen (£13m), Chiriches (10m). These players have still struggled to find their feet in English football, leading to a poor start that cumulated in the ultimate sack of Villa Boas.

Chelsea announced the second coming of the Special One, who later added to his title as the ‘happy one’…Jose Morinhno. His coming was greeted by many as the coming of the savior…but some, like me expressed reservations. He also visited the transfer market, but with caution, as his major addition were just his reunion with Samuel Eto and hijacking Williams from the grasp of Tottenham.

Man United replaced the legend Ferguson with his fellow Scot, David Moyes. Those shoes are really big to fill…and so have been the story of the season so far. He has struggled to get the results and the confidence of the players and fans. My take on this is, he MAY get it right if given more time. But they will struggle. He was cautious not to upset the team he met in place and made only 2 additions to the Champion’s squad - Valera and Fellani.

At the other end of Manchester, the new coach Pellegrini, made his mark by, shaking up the squad. He let go of Tevez, brought in Fernadihno, Negredo, Navas, Jovetic and Demichellis. Liverpool greatest transfer pull-off was the fight to retain Suarez, who has gone a long way to define their season with sporadic goal scoring shows.

At other parts of Europe, Barcelona brought in Neymar as they let go of Villa. Madrid’s major acquisitions were Bale and Isco.

In Italy, the arrival of Tevez at Jevantus; Higuain, Callejon and Pepe Reina at Napoli, and Gervinho at Roma, marked some of the big movements.

In Germany, Guadiola resumed office at Bayern Munich, and took along Thaigo Alcantara. Kevin Prince Boateng also arrived Schalke from AC Milan.

In France, Monaco had millions to spend as they set the stage for competition with fellow big-spender PSG. They brought in Falcao for 60m…as this rivaled the arrival of Canvani to PSG for 64m.

The Man...Madiba leaves

A bit outside football was when a great man that waved a final goodbye to the world, a sport lover, an Ambassador to many football Clubs, the mentor of many footballers….the Great Nelson Mandela. The world misses you, Madiba!

How can I end this year review without mentioning the controversial book released by Alex Ferguson. This man stamped his footprint all over year. The book which is an autobiography of his career raised a lot of issues. Top most was his big decision to let go of Roy Keane when he felt he became too big for the club. He also mentioned Rooney’s failure to absorb new training ideas; and publicly confessed his admiration for Ronaldo. He didn’t keep mute on his altercation with Beckham which led to the cut on the player’s forehead. He also took swipe at Mancini over Tevez’s issue, and gave a peep into his relationship with Wenger, one that started as bitter rivals and later improved as they aged. He also made statements on his relationship with Benitez and Mourihno. *am looking for this book to read…sending it to me as a gift won’t be a bad idea*

Waoh…I have written so much – or too long-….can we still call this a summary? Or is it that the year was too big to be summarized…I’ll leave that judgment to y’all.

I’ll like to take my finger off the keyboard by reminding all that Arsenal ended the year on top of the table with a point above Man City. Weather this is because of Ozil’s inclusion, or a spill-over from their perfect run from the 2^nd half of last season, that remains a curious question. As a new transfer window approaches, I’ll advice Wenger that he needs a 2nd striker, Giroud is over-laboured and getting tired…that is if he want to end the 8-year trophy drought.

I hope I didn’t bore you with this my brief summary…catch y’all soon. Am not gonna leave that long no more…I’ll try not to.

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