There Is Only One Sinnacle

While watching Manchester United and Chelsea this weekend a thought occurred to me. I hate all these top teams this year. If either Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal win this season there will be something which bugs me about it. I do have a lot of respect for each team but below will be the reasons why winning the EPL title will bug me.

Chelsea – I picked Chelsea at the start of the season and I would still kinda like them to win just to pat myself on the back but a Chelsea victory would bug me. The John Terry saga has left me with a bitter taste in my mouth and I’d love to see him not pick up another major title the rest of his career. The picture of lifting the EPL trophy over his head just rubs me the wrong way. I do like Carlo Ancelotti who is a class man and class manager but he still is in Mourinho shadow. It makes me smile when I hear Mourinho talking about winning big titles and Chelsea winning some things since he has left. I’m hoping this continues.

Manchester United – Sir Alex Ferguson said he’d love to knock Liverpool off their perch onto of English football way back when. Well, I’d love to see Manchester United fans quiet down a bit and get served some humble pie like Chelsea did to them this weekend. I have all the respect in the world for Sir Alex Ferguson and the way he runs a football club but Manchester United fans who take on this personal sense of superiority over cheering for a club who sees them as little more than cash registers is something I can’t stand.

Arsenal – I generally like Arsenal fans. I’ve yet to met a dumb one. Biased I can understand but I never hear an Arsenal an say something over their club which makes me roll my eyes. That being said I take a sick pleasure in watching Arsenal not win a thing over these last five years. Few coaches take losing worse than Arsene Wenger so I enjoy his finger pointing at everyone but himself routine when Arsenal come up short. It also bugs me if Arsenal would win the league because they have come up short time and time again when facing Manchester United and Chelsea. I know a season is 38 games long and it says something about Arsenal who don’t drop points often against weaker teams but a Championship club should not go 0 for 4 against the next two top teams in the league.

Ahhh…..what could of been. Mourinho back in the day when he was coach of Benfica for a brief time.

I still have a bounce in my step after seeing Inter advancing in the Champions League. While Retro to most of you as this never appeared on this site, someone wrote an opinion (which he is entitled too) that Mourinho was over rated a couple of weeks ago. This was my reply

He won everything at Porto. Turned cast offs into European players of the year and players Porto would make huge profits on. He has already proven he can win on a shoestring budget.

Look at Frank Rijkaard, do you think he is going to win a Champions League anytime soon at Galatasaray as an example? It takes someone truly special in this era to win a Champions League with a club not playing in an elite league.

The fact he has already done this makes him better than 90% of the managers out there.

The whole let’s discount what he did at Chelsea thing cause of all the money they have behind them is also foolish. How many teams spend major money only to end up failing? Mark Hughes was given all the money in the world and couldn’t hack it. It’s one thing having money, it’s another turning a group of men into a group of winners. Let’s face it, Chelsea were a group of professional losers out there. Yeah they were a good team but you always knew in a big game they would come up short pre-Mourinho. They had no real history. He gave them that swagger and the believe no club is better than them. In his first year in England, in a new league, in a new country he changed the rules of the game and made Arsenal play catch up (which they are still doing) and Manchester United (who too there credit, did.)

You can even make the case Mourinho is partly responsible for the explosion of the EPL. Every good story needs a bad guy and he plays the bad guy role to a tee. Combine that with a certain charisma and it made him the perfect lightning rod during his time in England. His arrival came at a perfect time when some people were starting to get tired of Manchester United and Arsenal flip flopping league titles with Liverpool, well being Liverpool. I’m not here to pour anymore salt on the wound.

At Inter, the team already won successive league titles when he arrived. line is also laughable. One of the successive league titles was given to them on paper thanks to Juventus cheating. The second league title was won with Juventus in Serie B and A.C Milan docked points to start the season. Then the last title Inter almost threw away as they had a double digit lead at x-mas only to win it on the final game of the season with a victory against Parma. Besides Mancini sealed his faith wanting to quit after the Liverpool defeat in the Champions League.

Again, new team, new country. No excuses, no “three year plan, or it’s going to take time.” Mourinho is all about winning now and as a fan you respect it. His team’s will always be tough to beat, another sign of a great coach.

Inter isn’t tired of his act. Massimo Moratti loves his act. Inter were another club who were known as professional losers. Again another example of a club who spent a lot of money at the turn of the last decade with little to show for it. Now Mourinho comes there and turns Inter into the top club in Italy. Again Mourinho sets the bar right now for A.C Milan and Juventus to try an jump over when in year’s past it’s always been the reserve.

Mourinho also likes to mess with people’s heads. Any talk about Liverpool is just to mess with Rafa Benitez since the two are unlikely on each others x-mas card list. Why would Mourinho no matter who owns Liverpool want to go there considering he still has a job to do at Inter, plus if he really wanted to leave he could of sought out the Real Madrid job again last summer. Going to Spain has also been on of Mourinho goals. He throws out the return to England but the English press love hearing it.

I’m not going to say Mourinho is the best coach in the world as these things are subjective but I can say with his resume they is no club in the world who wouldn’t consider themselves lucky to have him if a coaching job were to open up.

Every top club has black marks, no coach is perfect, well unless your name is Pep Guardiola but he doesn’t have to deal with the “oh your a great coach because Barcelona spends a lot.”

You can point out Wenger has never won a European title or S.A.F in close to 25 years at a major club like Manchester United has only won two as examples. Both are still great coaches. I can understand why people don’t like Mourinho, he is easy to dislike but I don’t care if he has devil horns there is no denying he is one of the world’s best coaches.

Finally got around to watching the Chelsea Blue Revolution documentary which covers Chelsea rise in English football from 2004 to 2007. Don’t ask me why it took me so long to finally get to watching this. I was entertained by the documentary but in the end I felt so much more could of been told.

The first thing which bugged me about this documentary is that’s it’s only 90 minutes in length. Why in the world is this documentary 90 minutes? This isn’t Fahrenheit 911 which is a documentary meant to have commercial appeal. Blue Revolution is meant for hard core Chelsea/Football fans. It simply doesn’t make sense to really only give 30 minutes per year considering all the news Chelsea were making during this time period.

Events such as Luis Garcia goal against Chelsea in the Champions League, The battles between Barcelona and Chelsea were all touched upon with archival footage from press conferences most of us have already seen before. The best parts of this documentary is when the players sit down and talk about their experiences at the club. The problem is there was too little of that. You had John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba but what about the rest of this club? Everything about this documentary felt hurried where really this should of been three hours in length. What Chelse fan would complain about the extra time for a behind the scenes look at the club?

Also no Roman Abramovich. Would it of been too hard to ask him these two questions which started the Chelsea Revolution. What made you want to buy a football club? What then made you then decide to buy Chelsea? That’s all I wanted. Peter Kenyon did a good job in this documentary but he can’t answer those question.

My favorite parts of this documentary where some of the behind the scenes look at the club. Chelsea were in Los Angeles preparing for the season and they had this huge house party where you saw John Terry on the staircase with Snoop Dog of all people walking down the same stair case as examples.

But of course my favorite parts of this documentary were the ones during with Jose Mourinho. During this one clip where he is in a video training session he goes to his players, “I’m not saying you have to win this game…..pause…..but you can not lose.” The way he delivered that line for some reason killed me. The other moment which I enjoyed was when the camera followed Mourinho to Madame Tussauds where his wax lookalike was being unveiled. After all the press were gone Mourinho and the Madame Tussauds people where in a back office and they were like anytime you want to bring your family by to the museum just let us know beforehand and we can arrange a tour for you. Mourinho was like no, can’t do that. My family doesn’t like to be out with me cause it always turns into a commotion, then explained a story of him and his family being hounded by the press at Euro Disney now his kids prefer to go out without him. Now I know this is a documentary about Chelsea and not Mourinho but that was the insight I wanted to see more out of from the players/coaches with regards to all the things football wise which occurred at Chelsea during 2004-2007.

Below is a clip from the documentary

Obviously this article is being writing after today’s news on the passing of Robert Enke. My first reaction was of course shock and a somewhat numb feeling. After all this isn’t the type of news one can ever brace themselves for. My second reaction was much more curious. It dawned on me, I’m shocked this type of news doesn’t happen more with professional athletes.

No one may ever know why Robert Enke did what he did. People can speculate about never being able to recover from losing his daughter who at age two passed away from a heart defect, troubles at home or even pressures of being a top flight footballer. This article is less about speculating why Enke took his own life. Instead it will look into the fragile state of being a professional athlete.

People like me and you will never understand this but most athletes are crown kings before they can even spell throne. At a young age many athletes are tapped for greatest. Of course most don’t end up making it but for the few who do all their lives the only thing they have ever known is people praising their skill and being left in awe over their talents.

With this comes a warped sense of reality. They say fame is fleeting and in professional sports even more so. Sylvester Stallone can pump out Rocky’s and Rambo’s well into his 60′s. A footballer is considered middle age at 26 and fitting for a retirement home soon after 30.

Speaking of thirty, to most of us, turning 30 represents settling into the rest of our lives. Gone are the reckless and wild days of our teenage years. So too are the curiosity and wonderment of settling into our careers and relationships of our 20′s. Thirty is suppose to represent looking ahead to the next forty years of our lives. Be it getting married, having a kid or in my curious case deciding to create a website.

Looking back on footballers turning 30 represents seeing the end of your career drawing near. Coaches start to look for a younger replacement, it’s harder to stick with a new club as coaches are reluctant to give a 30 year old another crack due to thinking there is little left in the tank. These athletes have had their asses kissed their entire lives up to this point, from hangers on, to agents and even parents. All telling the athlete they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. By this point these athletes have been valued in the millions of dollars and have earned contracts to set most people up for life.

What happens next? How does a player adjust from the roar of the crowd to silence? These players are going from the lifestyle of a rock star to the mundane aspects of daily life. Let’s not even get into the what if the player hasn’t saved his money, thinking the millions will always be there. Let’s focus on how the player has to go on with the rest of their life. No longer do they have everyone waiting on them hand and foot. The best table at a restaurant now goes to the “it” player of the day. Fan adulation has now simmered from the fever pitch of a player’s prime. How does one get use to being a common man when they have only been geared to think there are special?

I’m not looking for sympathy here. I know people living pay cheque to pay cheque are not going to shed many tears over how a professional athlets worries about living off of millions of dollars for the rest of their lives. How do you handle living a normal life when nothing up to this point has ever been normal? Clubs no longer trip over themselves to sign you, the hottest women at a club no longer want you to knock them up, the press begins to ignore you, etc. It’s not like these players have had 9-5 Monday to Friday jobs. All these players now have is time which can be a dangerous thing. Mix in the feeling of no longer being at your best and add to it the loneliness which comes from knowing whatever you do for the rest of your life will never match the high of playing professional sports and I’m left thankfully stories like Robert Enke don’t appear more often.

A new round of debate regarding diving in football has taken place thanks to Arsenal’s Eduardo swan dive to gift Arsenal a penalty against Celtic. Below is a clip for those who may not of seen it previously.

Arsenal Cheats – The best bloopers are here

Did this in the end effect the outcome of the game? You can make the argument however Arsenal were in full control of the contest and it would of taken something special for Celtic to back into the game considering they were already down 2-0 on aggregate. It did however spike the final nail in Celtic’s coffin and cost them a place in the Champions League.

What annoys me about diving in football is not so much the act itself but the hypocrisy most fans have towards it. When fans see an opposing player do it they want to hang the player for treason. When it’s their own player a blind eye is turned or even worst the excuse “well everyone else is doing it comes into play.” For three years I use to get a big kick out of Liverpool fans and even English fans in general blasting Cristiano Ronaldo for diving. They would speak ill towards him then in the next sentence claim English players are tough but honest and would never do such a thing as dive. Then of course Steven Gerrard blows that theory to bits with his antics.

I’m not even going to condemn Steven Gerrard for his blatant dive against Atletico Madrid which cost them a win in the Champions League. Nine out of ten players in that position will try to gain an advantage fair or unfair. That is just the way it is. With football matches being decided by the slimmest of margins players are going to do whatever it takes to gain that edge.

While I approve of UEFA opening up charge against Eduardo which has less to do with a witch hunt and more to do with sending a warning to other teams not to repeat those actions come the group stage. It does not go far enough. Football has always been behind with the times. Considering UEFA and FIFA are sitting on billions of dollars you can’t really blame them but the last progressive change they made was awarding three points for a win instead of two and that occurred ages ago.

The yellow card for diving simply does not go far enough because it’s rarely awarded since referee’s do not like to change the outcome of a match but awarding a yellow card in that spot. This rule needs to be enforced more. Let the referee decide if it’s a penalty or not. Every time a player falls to the floor the player himself and the entire team are ready with arms in air trying to convince the referee to give a penalty. Often convincing the referee to give it. These appeals should be the first thing to go. If a player goes down in the box, then tries to lobby the referee to give the penalty and the referee didn’t feel it was a penalty a yellow card should be awarded for simulation. I know it’s not all so simply and it wouldn’t remove diving completely from the game but if players truly risked taking a yellow card for trying to con a referee into awarding a penalty less of it would happen and players would instead play on and leave the decisions up to the referee even after going down in the box.

For the few people who may not know who Bill Simmons is he’s a highly influential writer and all around ESPN personality. Judging from the 650000 twitter follows he is an immense voice in the U.S sporting landscape which even his detractors must admit.

After giving soccer a brief fling during the 2006 World Cup and even writing a great article about picking an EPL Team. Sadly it was not to last as Bill Simmons interest in soccer took a back seat to family matters until this past summer.

Thanks to the U.S run in the Confederations Cup it appears his candle has been rekindled towards soccer. Simmons has already mentioned the allure of watching soccer in HD and even going to Mexico to pen an article about his experience watching the U.S-Mexico world cup match at the Azteca stadium. Right at this moment I’m listening to his B.S report podcast talking soccer with Alexi Lalas

Minus the jersey sales this is almost as bigger then David Beckham’s arrival in the United States. Here you have a columnist read by millions displaying an interest in the game, something rare with U.S sports columnists. It’s about time as far as I’m concerned. The big difference now between soccer’s growth today and previously where there was always this promise of a soccer explosion which never came to pass is television coverage. If it wasn’t a World Cup highlight the only soccer clip you’d see is something stereotypical like Dida’s dive against Celtic, Rivaldo grabbing his face when it’s clear the ball didn’t come close to touching him and crowd violence.

Now you catch a handful of EPL and Champions League games with most cable packages. Anyone who would have an open mind towards soccer can judge for themselves by being able to catch many of the biggest games on TV. Once you catch a game in HD and see two teams of the highest quality play with the passion which soccer can offer it’s something no sport can match.

David Beckham brought more publicity than American soccer could ever dream of but Bill Simmons may start a trend soccer in the United States has long been seeking. Respect.

The night before the EPL season opener and NFL week one are just about the best times of the year for a sports fan. As I don’t not have an NFL website my sole focus will be centered around the upcoming EPL season.

Below will be my predictions for the upcoming EPL season. I’m sure a couple of these predictions will come back to haunt me later on.

1. Chelsea – Carlo Ancelloti is one of the few coaches who can claim to have success against Sir Alex Ferguson. While this Chelsea team has pretty much stayed the same and being a year older is often not a good thing these same Chelsea players know what it takes to win over a demanding 36 game campaign.

2. Liverpool – Liverpool seem to be the it choice to win the league this season. While it will be a day late and a dollar short but until Liverpool actually get that monkey off their chest I won’t be picking them to win. Liverpool did give their fans hope last season that they can keep it together over the course of an entire season going neck and neck with Manchester United until the final weeks of the season but I still question how they would react if they were leading down the stretch with a couple of teams breathing down their neck.

3. Manchester United – How do you replace the irreplaceable? This team spent the last three years relying on Ronaldo to grab United a win when they weren’t at their best. What will happen now that he is gone? I’d put nothing past the brilliance that is Sir Alex Ferguson coaching techniques but I feel it will take another season for these United players to get use to the fact that Ronaldo is gone.

4. Aston Villa – In Martin O’Neill previous three seasons at Aston Villa the club has gotten better each season and I’ll buck that trend to continue. O’Neill clearly has a smart game place remaking this team signing some the best and brightest young English players before they catch the eye of the traditional big four. Featuring the likes of Young, Milner, Downing, Agbonlahor, Davies, Reo-Coker and new recruit Fabian Delph from Leeds. Villa had a taste of life in the top four last year before fading towards the end of the season. Hopefully they learn from that experience and are ready to play at a high level over the entire season.

5. Arsenal – In a move I quickly regretted Arsenal were my pick to win it all last year. I’m not repeating that prediction going into the 2009-2010 season. Just can’t see how the loss of Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Adebayor make Arsenal better even if they have several young promising players. Arsenal have been promising these talents for many a year but unless they are named Beckham, Butt, Giggs, Scholes, and Neville just see their lack of experience playing a big roll in their downfall this season.

6. Manchester City – May actually regret picking them this high in the standings. Many people are looking for Manchester City to break into the top four but I’m taking a wait and see approach to this. There is no question Manchester City has shaken up the EPL by signing establish players from other top teams but I still question Mark Hughes being able to mix and match all the talent he has into a winning starting 11 at least right off the bat and in England if you don’t come out of the gates quick you usually get left behind.

7. Tottenham – All things considered it’s been a pretty quiet summer for Tottenham who haven’t been in the headlines this summer unlike last with Robbie Keane’s ill fated move to Liverpool and Dimitar Berbatov is he or isn’t he move to Manchester United playing out until the final day of the transfer window. When Harry Redknapp took over last year his first goal was to get Tottenham out of the regulation spots, once that was accomplish have a feeling he took the rest of the year planning what he wanted his club to look like going into the 2009-2010 season. This should start to bear fruit for Tottenham this season as it wouldn’t shock me to see them finish higher in the standings but as it seems something always goes off the rails for Tottenham I’ll keep them in 7th place.

8. Sunderland – Few coaches did a better job last season as Steve Bruce did with Wigan which earned them a move to Sunderland and the ability to spend money on the likes of Frazier Campbell, Darren Bent, Lee Cattermole and former Marseille captain Lorik Cana. Still question which midfield player will supply the creativity for the strikers upfront but unlike Roy Keane if I was a Sunderland fan I’d trust Bruce to get it right at some point this season.

9. Everton – When you have a few clubs moving up in the standings a few clubs have to move down as a result. With Everton having to spend so much time fighting off advances from Manchester City over Joleon Lescott feel it will distract them at the start of this season and they will struggle as a result.

10. Blackburn – Sam Allardyce knows how to get the best out of his teams. While they may not be pleasing on the eye playing a Ewood park is never easy for the opposition and can see this Allardyce side taking enough points from their home matches to place them comfortably in mid table this season.

11. Fulham – Last year thanks to some great Roy Hodgson tactics Fulham earned themselves a place in European football catching many teams by surprise and being very difficult to break down. Just don’t see clubs over looking Fulham this season and unlike past seasons many clubs are going to gear up when they see Fulham on the calender.

12. West Ham – Considering all the uncertainty at the ownership level with West Ham if Gianfranco Zola can lead West Ham to another mid table finish both club and fans alike should be quite happy with the result. It was clear last year that just about all of these West Ham players both liked Zola as a person and coach. When you have that going for you players trend to run through a wall for their coach which should avoid any regulation fears this season.

13. Bolton – When I think of Bolton the first thing which comes to mind is does anyone like Gary Megson? If you are happy with the status quo Megson isn’t the worst choice but feel this will be the year where his players will start to turn on him. With their EPL experience still can’t see them dropping out of the league considering the question marks other clubs have to deal with.

14. Birmingham City – Didn’t like how Alex McLeish steered this club into regulation after taking over from Steve Bruce during the 2007-2008 season. Credit to McLeish however who did get Birmingham back up a year later which isn’t always easy to do. After McLeish’s six month taste of the Premiership back in 2008 just feel that he will learn from his mistakes and see Birmingham to safety this season.

15. Stoke City – Tony Pulis didn’t get his due last year managing Stoke City to safety. Not a glamour side by any means Stoke did the two things you must do when you are new to the top flight. They took points from their home matches and a very tough side defensively to break down. Neither I see changing this season.

16. Wigan – I hope Roberto Martínez gets a chance to succeed at Wigan but when you are changing the football culture at a club it takes some time in order to do so. Steve Bruce was able to cover up the departures of Emile Heskey and Wilson Palacios last season but when to add the departure of Antonio Valencia to Manchester United this is the season those losses will start to show in the standings.

17. Hull City – They hung on last season by the skin of their teeth and feel they will do so again this season. The main thing was that Hull were able to stay up so if they can get off to another decent start it should put away memories of there horrible finish to last year.

18. Portsmouth – Portsmouth fans must be cruising their luck having the only owner from the middle east who isn’t pumping money into this club. With just about every valuable player sold off during the last eight months just don’t see the players remaining being able to maintain a top flight status with a Championship budget.

19. Wolverhampton – The last time Mick McCarthy was in the top flight his Sunderland side managed only 15 points the entire season. A season he didn’t see out. Don’t see him getting the sack or only getting 15 points but I’m not going to pick Wolves to avoid the drop.

20. Burnley – Picked Hull last year to finish last and they avoided the drop. Maybe I’ll be wrong again this season and Burnley stays up.

I’ll also include my list of who will be included in the PFA Team of the Year

Goalie – Pepe Reina Liverpool

Defenders – Jose Bosingwa Chelsea John Terry Chelsea Rio Ferdinand Manchester United Ashley Cole Chelsea

Midfielders – Steven Gerrard Liverpool Frank Lampard Chelsea Andrei Arshavin Arsenal Ashley Young Aston Villa

Forwards – Fernando Torres Liverpool Robinho Manchester City

The intent of this article isn’t to detail what went wrong with Newcastle United as they prepare for life in 2nd division football. Those mistakes could be turned into a novel and not a right fit for a website such as this. Nor is it meant to knock Newcastle fans. At this point it would be a little cruel to knock them when they are down. I know many non Newcastle fans are not shedding a tear since Newcastle supports have never been known as the most patience fan base but few fans have to deal with one stomach punch after another over the years.

It just amazes me how a big club like Newcastle can make just about every possible mistake on and off the field with no current end in site. From coaches out of their element to owners who had little business running a football club Newcastle has seen it’s share of misfortune these last five years.

One of the root causes of Newcastle’s struggles have been this catching up with the Jones mentality. Newcastle tried to identify itself with the traditional England big four and despite having a devoted fan base who regular pack fifty thousand for games at St James park Newcastle showed a glaring lack of foresight to display their own identity and brand of football. With one coach being the polar opposite of the previous coach and neither were either able to or given the time to put their stamp on this football club.

Newcastle are in a pivotal period in their history right now. It is not as easy for a club going down to the Championship to make their way back up. All you need to do is ask former Premier League mainstays Charlton Athletic and Leeds United currently playing in England’s League One, the third tier of English football or Leicester City who after a year in League One won promotion back to the Championship last season.

Sadly for Newcastle you can’t change the past and if they could I’d love to see the long list of decisions Newcastle would reserve. The worry here is the complete lack of vision currently on display with this football club and the sad state of Mike Ashley’s attempts to sell this team.

For the most part fans can deal with losing provided their is hope for the future. The worst thing that could happen with a club in regards to their fan base is when they can no longer provided them with a glimmer of hope that things will get better. It’s one thing to have the fifth highest payroll in the Premier League with the Premier League TV revenue coming in. It’s another support such a payroll with only parachute payments coming in for the next three seasons if Newcastle can’t find a way to make it back to the top tier of English football. This club is simply unable to turn in a new leaf when the likes of Joey Barton, Alan Smith, Damien Duff, and Fabricio Coloccini stuck with this club since few teams are going to make a move for highly paid under performing players. A telling sign of the way things are currently being run at Newcastle is the signing of promising defender David Edgar by Burnley. Edgar left on a free transfer since his agents had little idea who is running the club or making day to day decisions.

Then there is Alan Shearer who is stick between a rock and a hard place. Here you have the face of Newcastle who tried to keep this club in the top flight in vain last season. By that point it was just too far down the down for a coach with no previous experience to pull this club out of. There is no denying Shearer affection for Newcastle who would of stayed on as coach if everything with the currently ownership wasn’t so messy.

One person who I don’t feel sorry for is current Newcastle owner Mike Ashley. A football club isn’t some vanity toy. It’s a devotion for the millions of fans who live and breath with every weekend result. From bringing back club legend Kevin Keegan then cutting him off at the knees by hiring Dennis Wise to be in charge of player transfers too not selling this club when it’s crystal clear Ashley should not be near a football club unless he buys a ticket has cost himself and this football club millions possible hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Ashley is never going to recoup his invest in this club when you take into account the perfect storm of buying Newcastle before the recession to losing their Premier League status. The least Ashley can do is sell Newcastle before the new season starts so Newcastle fans can try to put the past behind them and look forward to the hope of a better day.

No one player is bigger than the team.

The above statement is something I’ve heard regularly since Real Madrid’s bid to land Cristiano Ronaldo was accepted. Is Cristiano Ronaldo bigger than Manchester United? Well the simple answer to that is no. Manchester United has 100 years of history behind them and will have 100 more. Trophies will continue to land at Old Trafford in the future.

This is the point where things get murky. Name me another three year run in Manchester United’s history where they had three EPL titles, one Champions League victory, Another Champions League finals appearance to go along with a semi final defeat to the team who went on the win the Champions League. Throw in a Carling Cup in the mix along with a FA Cup final appearance and all that adds up to an impressive three year run.

Now name me the player who was the driving force behind Manchester United’s recent success? Granted Manchester United will still have world class players but that aura which Ronaldo had around him where United fans knew things would turn out alright provided number 7 was out there playing is now gone. Even a Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal supporter would concede, possibly in private that the difference between United and the rest of England was they had Ronaldo in their lineup. Now with him gone Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal must be excited thinking about the fact they have a golden chance to unseat United at the top of English football.

Manchester United had 80 million reasons to sell Ronaldo. The fact is 80 million pounds is good business, but good business and titles do not always mix. Despite behind over backwards for him nothing United could do to stop Ronaldo from thinking that the grass was greener on the other side of the fence so in that respect cutting your losses and still cashing in on 80 million pounds is pretty good. Wonder however if Manchester United management will start to feel they have never had it so good as when Ronaldo was racing up and down the flanks for United. Can safely say that Ronaldo doesn’t feel the same right now but five years down the road he may look back at his time in Manchester and realized how good he had it himself.

This is the problem which Manchester United can’t solve with losing Ronaldo not even an extra 80 million in the bank. Not only are United losing arguable the best midfielder in the world but United are also losing one of the best strikers in the world. Unless you have the last name Messi no one player can fill those roles. Manchester United if they are committed to spending the entire Ronaldo transfer fee they would have to bring in two players instead of one. The scary thing for United was how over matched they looked against Barcelona who can easily claim 4 out of the top 10 players in the world. Leaving out Goalies and Midfielders below will be a rough list of the top 10 players in the world.

1. Lionel Messi – Not Leaving Barcelona anytime soon.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo – Madrid bound

3. Kaka – Also Madrid bound

4. Andrés Iniesta – See number one.

5. Fernando Torres – Wasn’t tempted by Chelsea last summer, don’t see him leaving Liverpool for dreaded rivals Manchester United despite their interest.

6. Xavi – See number one and four.

7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – While better Ibrahimovic is still too much like Dimitar Berbatov. Also unlikely that Manchester United wishes to deal with another high strung player.

8. Frank Ribery – Has already dismissed life in England. While money talks Bayern Munich are not going to do Manchester United any favours price wise.

9. Samuel Eto’o – Would give Eto’o six months but he becomes unhappy living in Manchester.

10. Frank Gerrard (done on purpose) – Neither are at the right age for United to make a big money move for and besides both players are the face of their respected teams.

There are players such as David Silva and Sergio Aguero who on their day can be in the top ten but the point is despite who Manchester United decides to buy that player is not going to be the sure thing Ronaldo was for United. Another argument which has been made is that selling Ronaldo will free up the likes of Rooney and Berbatov. This is not a knock on Rooney’s game but when was the last big goal you can recall him scoring for United? It’s not the best sign when his best game in European competition for United was his first game when he scored a hat trick against Fenerbache. Ronaldo on the other hand scored the second goal against Inter to put them away. Knocked Porto out in the quarterfinals with his 40 yard stunner. Then put the final nails in Arsenals coffin scoring the second and third goals in the semi finals. Who is going to replace this output when United have been a completely different team when Ronaldo is in the lineup compared to when he isn’t.

Will Ronaldo be a success at Real Madrid? Manchester United fans surely hope he won’t be and looking back Ronaldo might miss the fact Manchester bent over backwards to fulfill his every whim something which may not be the case in Madrid. Part of me also believes Cristiano Ronaldo loves being the bad guy. He feeds off the boo’s and using that to motivate him to greater heights. After the 2006 World Cup an entire country hated him and he responded by winning the PFA player of the year. In comparison having the red half of Manchester now hate him can’t be that tough to deal with.

One thing I’m happy not to be hearing about is this question of loyalty. In a better interview than a coach Carlos Queiroz summed it up best.

”When you talk about loyalty, you must understand the loyalty has two directions,” Queiroz, who enjoyed two spells as Sir Alex Ferguson’s number two, told BBC Radio Five Live’s Sportsweek programme.

”Once in a while some of the top players have the capacity and the power to create their own motivation.”

Nobody could question Ronaldo’s performances on the pitch nor his drive to get better each and every day. For Manchester United fans to hope for a kid from Madeira to love wearing the United uniform like a Ryan Giggs or Gary Neville is nice to picture but was simply never going to happen.

Let me start off by saying if you look around over the next week or so you’ll find several great articles relating to the career, both good and bad of Luis Figo. This article is mostly a personal reflection looking back on the greatest Portuguese player of my generation.

In a lot of ways you people have Luis Figo to thank (or blame) for this web site. Let’s rewind nine years ago to Euro 2000 where Portugal took on England to open up the tournament.

Up to that point all I ever knew from Portuguese football was some flashes of brilliance but in the end it would all fall apart and end in disappointment. Down 2-0 against England 20 minutes in I was already preparing myself to a long 90 minutes. Figo’s wonder goal changed everything for me in a lot of ways when it comes to football. Something changed at that moment. Finally I was seeing a team whose sheer will to win match their skill level. Growing up in Canada, hockey players are celebrated for their grit and toughness something I have never seen watching Portuguese football. Here I was watching someone who couldn’t care about being golden as part of the golden generation of Portuguese. Instead I was watching someone who was tough as nails doing everything possible to will his team to victory.

I’ve always wonder why people, myself included identify with a sporting figure who could be thousands of miles away. You know what? I really don’t ever wish to find an answer as to the reasons why. Part of me would feel it would spoil some of the connection to the game if I just use rational thinking instead of letting emotions take over. Back to Canada, being Canadian everyone knows Wayne Gretzky. The great one might as well be our representative to the world. Is this because of his jaw dropping career within in the game of hockey? Partly, but it’s a much bigger picture. Wayne Gretzky to Canadians represented everything we like seeing in ourselves. Gretzky was humble, yet the very best player on the planet. Polite yet no push over, calm on the exterior yet you knew there was this inner fire within him that drove him to success. Everything said previously achieved with a lot of hard work. All these staples many Canadians wish to strive towards. Luis Figo in comparison would be the same when it comes to being Portuguese. Talented yet rugged, stubborn to a fault but always trying to better himself no matter the cost, majestic and madding all wrapped up in a number seven jersey.

Whatever happens at this point will just be a footnote in his career. Few fondly look back on George Best time playing for the San Jose Earthquakes towards the end of his career as an example. Come this weekend once his final game for Inter Milan has been played the main story of Luis Figo’s football career will be written. One of the hardest parts of growing old is realizing the people who you looked up to growing up are growing old right along with you. In your youth, it’s all about the 90 minutes being played between the white lines and enjoying the players who make the game beautiful. Living and dying with every weekend result. Things like money, contacts, transfer rumours didn’t come into play.

Ask someone who is 50 years old his favorite player. I’ll bet good money most will go back into their childhood for this player. Like the saying goes you never forget your first love, well to a lesser extent you never forget the first player(s) who made you discover the love of any sport. Once those players move on, sure other players replace them. For every Luis Figo will come a Cristiano Ronaldo but it’s never quite the same to the first person you connected yourself too. Come the weekend a certain innocent ends for me. Bittersweet to a point knowing the end is near but would I trade all the memories of the last 15 years watching Luis Figo play football if it meant not having this connection to someone who kicks a soccer ball 5000 miles away? Never.