The footballing world has really changed since the last time I wrote. It has had some crazy flops, flips, and fouls the past few months and many of the competitions have been thrilling to watch. I went to an FC Dallas game in person which is the closest I've been to a professional pitch in a while. It was a pretty entertaining game in which Dallas secured 3 points against the Timbers by winning 2-1. Right now Dallas is tied for 1st in the Western Division with Seattle. In more Europeanish news Man Who... Oops Man U has fired their coach David Moyes and the Madrid Derby will take place in Lisbon.
"Glory Glory Man United" is not a song that should've been heard at Old Trafford this year unless United fans support boring, tasteless, and bad football. Whether it was Moyes fault or not, the former Everton and now former United boss is gone. Fired by the club for a season which will end with Manchester United out of the top four. There are many Moyes haters out there, and whether I think he should've have been fired or not, I think Sir Alex left Moyes with a sinking ship. Yes they did win the EPL last year but that does not mean the next season you can be mediocre. A lot of players at Manchester United seemed to be getting a little old, Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, and Darren Fletcher were a few names. On the other end, there seemed to be a lack of experience from a few players. Mostly young players like Januzaj and Buttner are not quite Premier league level yet but might be in the future. A person that I would've like to see Ferguson get into the line up more was Kagawa so maybe he would've been ready for Moyes to use. Kagawa was always exciting to watch in the Yellow and Black, but maybe he was not cut out for the more challenging English game. Not everything can be blamed on a "sinking ship" left for Moyes. He had opportunity to spend big bucks in both transfer windows but only brought in Fellaini and Mata. I'm sorry, but Fellaini was never a Manchester united player. I thought that before United bought him he would never work out. Of course he would've already known Moyes coming from Everton, but he wouldn't fit in on the field for the Red Devils. Mata on the other hand might work well in the United system later, but for now I cant see him making much of an impact. Although, the first game he played for United he made some good passes and looked like he was ready to play. Other things we don't know about could have affected United's football, like if the players got behind Moyes' messages and coaching or if they didn't like anything he said. For a while at the beginning of the season Wayne Rooney seemed like the only player interested in winning at all. Robin Van Persie has only participated in 18 games out of the 35 United have played due to injury. They probably needed the services of the Dutchmen very bad. In the end, I probably wouldn't have fired him because most managers need more than one year, but oh well, I don't like United anyways, hopefully they'll keep falling.
A manager that I would like to see fired is everyone's favorite Pep Guardiola. I hated him when he was at Barcelona (a team I don't really care for so it didn't matter then) and I hate him even more at Bayern (a team that I actually like). Why would Munich fire Jupp Heynckes, I think that story about early retirement is just partially true, when he won the treble is crazy. Yes they had made the agreement to let him go before he won the Bundesliga, German League Cup, and Champions League, but they should've given him till the end of the season. Now look where they are, out of the Champions league. You know who I blame it on? That's right everyone's favorite, Guardiola. He went into Bayern, changed their interesting, entertaining play to ticky-taca, possession ball. Yes they have won the Bundesliga title but they just haven't looked as good. This can be highlighted by their Semi Final exit. Real Madrid defeated Bayern Munich on a 5-0 aggregate score to advance to the finals in Lisbon. I was really hoping the German Giants would win back to back Champions league trophies but Real was just too good for them. After an impressive performance in the first leg at the Bernabeu, Madrid pulled off an even more impressive second leg at the Allianz.
Something I am thrilled about in terms of the Champions league is that Atletico Madrid knocked Chelsea out of the champions league... AT STAMFORD BRIDGE. "Oh they'll never beat us at the bridge, we are too good there." HA! A quick note about the last game: Many people criticized Mourinho for playing the way he did, not because they got a bad result out of the game, but because it was boring. Who cares if it was boring, yes I want a match to be fun to watch too, but if that's the best strategy for a team, then let them do it. They are here to win and if they think that's the best way well let them do it. With Chelsea there are many more things to complain about, trust me.
A year after the all German final, this final will not only be all Spanish, but both teams are coming from the same city. A derby for a final! The atmosphere should be tremendous and absolutely deafening. I'm pulling for Atletico although Real are the favorites. Atletico manages to surprise us over and over again with thrilling victories. It should be an exciting match. Both mangers are very good at what they do and both teams have attacking players that should create many chances. Atletico better win this year, because like Arsenal, I have a feeling a few of their players will be departing next year.
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