2009 - Another Treble?

Wednesday 26th May, 1999...

A date forever etched in footballing and particularly Red Devils' folklore. The date when Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United capped off a fantastic season with winning the UEFA Champions League final at the Nou Camp in Barcelona. 10 years hence, a much changed side with the same manager at the helm is looking to repeat that performance come 27th May at the Stadio Olympico in Rome.

Yes there are a few differences. As opposed to '99 Man Utd are not in the finals of the FA cup having been knocked out on penalties by Everton. Yet in turn they have won the Carling Cup this time keeping the possibility of the treble alive. With the Red Devil's on top of the Barclay's Premier League by 3 points and with a game in hand on old rivals and 2nd placed Liverpool, and with just 4 games left in the season for Liverpool, the league title looks set to be staying at Old Trafford for the 3rd year in succession.

With a 1-0 lead heading into the second leg of the Champions League semis against bitter rivals Arsenal, Man Utd should be able to get the job done in a weeks time at the Emirates stadium. After all the rich mix of experience and youth, individual talent and great squad players and the overall depth of the squad should come through against the young Gunners. If they do reach the final at Rome, a mouth watering tie against free-flowing Barcelona or Guus Hiddink's tactically astute Chelsea will be in store.

Yet after a season of early dominance on all fronts which prompted realistic hopes of a quintuple (including the FA Cup and the World Club Championship which they won in December) United have lost their game a bit over the last month. Conceding 15 goals in 9 games is hardly a catastrophe. But for a team that had gone on a record run without conceding a goal for 13 straight games just before this, the contrast makes for a bit of a worry. The fact is that without the central defensive pairing of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, United have looked a bit shaky at the back. This was evident when without Rio, United conceded two goals to F.C.Porto in the first leg of their quarterfinals at Old Trafford. But with Ferdinand back in the squad for the second leg they held on to a comfortable cleansheet at the Dragao stadium in Porto.

Can United be halted en-route the treble?

I don't see it happening but it is possible. In the BPL if Liverpool pick up 12 points from their remaining matches and manage to hang on to a better goal difference than United, the Red Devils will have to pick up 10 from their remaining 5 matches to win the league. These 5 matches include 2 against Middlesborough and Hull both of whom are fighting for survival in the top league of English football. These two teams will definitely not be lacking in motivation. The added danger is that United have to travel to both these clubs. Middlesborough at the Riverside is capable of upsetting any teams applecart. A last day match against Hull at the K.C. stadium with Hull needing to win to stay up, might provide anything. It would be wise to remember that Hull went to Old Trafford and scored 3 goals only to loose narrowly 4-3. Memories of when struggling Leeds United cost Arsenal the title back in 2002 come back to mind!

The last 5 games for United also include 2 big games against local rivals Manchester City and Arsenal. The 5th game is against former Red Devil Steve Bruce's Wigan Athletic who have done quite well in the league this year. Picking up 10 points from these 5 games? Should be possible with United's depth in squad. Wins away at 'Borough and Hull will be crucial. Wigan away again should not be a difficult proposition except for the fact that 3 days before they play City and 3 days later take on Arsenal. If the Red Devils' can continue to fight off attrition as well as they have done this season then the league title should be bagged easily.

The Champions League scene sees United up 1-0 against Arsenal after the first leg. Arsenal can easily overturn this deficit at the Emirates in front of their fans. United have never won at the Emirates yet. United should be looking to score early on in that game or otherwise there might be an upset on the cards.

If they do make it to the finals, they'l most likely meet Chelsea for the second time running. Chelsea went to the Nou Camp and just like United in exactly the same position last year, they held Barcelona to a 0-0 draw. Now it remains to be seen if Lampard or Ballack can step up and be Chelsea's Paul Scholes in the second leg at Stamford Bridge. But from a footballing purist's point of view I would love it if Barca made it through to face United; another meeting of arguably the 2 best and most consistent teams in Europe at the moment.

My take on results:

Middlesborough (A) 2nd May: 0-2 win
Arsenal (A) (CL) 5th May: 1-1 draw (United win on aggregate 2-1)
Man City (H) 10th May: 3-1 win
Wigan (A) 13th May: 0-2 win
Arsenal (H) 16th May: 2-1 win
Hull (A) 24th May: 3-0 win

Barca/Chelsea (Rome) 27th May:

Well how about this scenario...

Barcelona lead Man U 1-0 till the 87th minute. On comes super-subs Carlos Alessandro Tevez and Fredrico 'Kiko' Macheda. Tevez scores to equalize and then Macheda turns in a Ryan Giggs corner in injury time to do the treble (not counting the club world cup of course) for United 10 years on since '99! :D

As Ferguson said before the game in Porto, United are good at being the 'first' to do something. They were the first to win the EPL, land a treble, first English team to win at Porto and so on... It is only fitting that they'll be the first team to retain the Champions League!

- BiBinhio

A GRAND Sunday...

23rd March 2008: Sunday... And what a Sunday it proved to be. For 1 it was Easter...but that was not the reason why this particular Sunday rocked.

Grand Slam Sunday - that was the term ESPN gave to this special day. On this day champions and league leaders Manchester United were playing their greatest rival Liverpool and straight after this second placed Arsenal were playing London rivals and third placed Chelsea. The title race of the Barclays Premier League was quite easily the tightest in recent years, prior to this particular Sunday. But as expected the whole championship scenario just got a whole load more tight after it.

In the early kick off Man U faced archrival Liverpool at the Theatre of Dreams, Old Trafford, Manchester. THe game was built up as the Cristiano Ronaldo vs Fernando Torres clash. Both these young superstars have taken the world by storm ever since moving to England from the nearby nations of Portugal and Spain respectively. Looking at the rich goal scoring form that these two had been showing in recent games, the media had a good point in building the game around these two players. But still the whole rivalry between the Red Devils and the Reds was never left out either.

I was feeling distraught by around 6 in the evening as the game was starting at 7 and i had a train to catch at 7 25. I was returning to Manipal from Trivandrum and there was no way i couldn't get on that train and yet i seriously contemplated it!!!... Finally on the train i was recieving updates from my sis-in-law. God when I got the msg saying manu-1 liv-0, i was over the moon. I sat and had my dinner and then waited and prayed. Finally the mobile starts vibrating again and i open the message rather apprehensively. But then i read: Man U 3 - Liv 0.... I read that 1 line over and over again for abt 5 times and then get up and punch the air (the chechimar sittin nxt 2 me must hav thought tat i was mad!!!)...

Chelsea also beat Arsenal 2-1 later on in the day, taking over second place in the league. Now they are 5 points behinh Man U and still have 2 play the Red Devils at their home ground of Stamford Bridge. But still my bet now (as it has always been) is on the exciting team of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Grand Slam Sunday was also a Grand Prix Sunday as the Malaysian Grand Prix was taking place at the Sepang International F1 Arena. The second race of the 2008 F1 calendar was emphatically won by another team in red - Ferrari. For the first time since the Belgium GP last year, the front row of the grid was all red as Felippe Massa took pole alongside his teammate and reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen. In the end, Massa ended up spinning put mid-way through the race and Kimi won. A full 20 seconds ahead of Robert Kubica of BMW who finished second. Heikki Kovelainen of Maclaren took third while the young pretender to Raikkonen's throne and winner of the 1st race of the season, Lewis Hamilton, came home in 5th place.

All in all, for me Sunday was GRAND!... My favourite football team and F1 team racked up wins and I was also on my way back to Manipal with my new laptop. Especially coming after Friday on which day I broke up with my girlfriend (Yes I knw - the post 'Is it 2 young 2 fall in love' was actually abt me, I admit now!...), Sunday was fabulous. But now I have to say, the world seems a wider place than it used to seem........ I guess we broke up at somewhat the right time for both of us.

Anyway enough about that sorry episode...this post is suppossed to be about a GRAND Sunday... and that it sure was....

Ending with - Lets go Red Devils and Prancing Horse!...

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

- BiBinhio

Blowing with the wind of CHANGE...

'I follow the Moskva, down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night, soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change

The world is closing in and did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers
The future's in the air, i can feel it everywhere
and Blowing with the wind of change

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change'...

- Wind Of Change by Scorpions

The winds of change are defenitely blowing everywhere you look, the world over. From the United States' politics to the cricket action Down Under, change is the overwhelming constant that smiles down upon u like the large hoarding of Shane Warne that dominates the sight screens of all the cricket grounds in the Oz with his large cartoony smile...

While there is no use in writing abt the politics of the states (they are doomed neway:D) there always is other useful stuff 2 write abt, ain't there?... Hmmm... mayb not... One can argue that there never was ne point in just going
online and blogging about sports or my school or love or watever...but that didn't stop me then and it ain't gonna stop me now!... :D

To look at things in a broader perspective there couldn't have been a better time for me to get back onto the blogosphere. Yesterday night Man Utd thrashed their long time rivals Arsenal in the 5th round FA Cup tie held at Old Trafford, Manchester. While the term 'thrashed' has often been misused in relation to the world of sports, exaggeration is minimal this time around. 4-0 was the scoreline echoing in every Arsenal players' mind when a bruised, battered and 'red-carded' Gunners team took the long trip back to London from Manchester which suddenly must have seemed to them to have become abnormally cold (even 4 this time of the year), like the effect a couple of dementors would cause if they were swarming around the place. In all reality if you listened to the rantings of Arsene Wenger(manager of Arsenal) at the post match press conference, then one could be forgiven for calling in a baby-sitter for such were the manner of his complaints that he appered to be like a kid trying to play an adult in a game like Monopoly.

Liverpool fans were also rewarded for keeping faith in their 'LEGENDARY' manager Rafael Benitez, when they lost in their 5th round FA cup match to Championship side Barnsley. For those ardent fans who had guts enough to sit up and watch this game, the result might not have been such a big shock considering the last two rounds of the FA Cup that the Reds had played. The third round match against Luton that went to a replay and the next round match against non league side Havant and W in which they struggled at the beginning before finally winning 5-2 had both given enough signs for fans at Anfield to feel justifiably worried. Yet as a few of my friends tell me, 'Liverpool fans know football much
better than Man U fans', and I have to agree with them coz they are out of the FA cup and we are not. That sure is a great achievement to be rated alongside every one of their - don't b frightened now - 18 League titles!... I feel that I have said enough about Liverpool but one last thing u can be sure of is that whatever mediocrity the players (or managers) give they still dont have to worry bcoz - " You will never walk alone "...

Elsewhere in the world of sports, turning back a few pages, Novak Djokovic finally ended Roger Federer's streak at all Grand Slams minus the French Open. The lanky Serb got the better of the graceful Swizz Fed-Express at the new and blue courts of the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne during the inaugural grand slam of the year - The Australian Open. Finally!... The Swizz 'maestro' looked rather out of sorts during the whole tournament and as far as I am concerned he should have fallen earlier on to another Serb Janko Tipsarevic who stretched him to 5 sets and to 10-8 in the 5th set.

As I am blogging on a Sunday and as I am expecting a couple of calls, I keep glancing over to my mobile phone and yet it blatently refuses to ring. I guess the winds of change are blowing a bit too much in my life as well... Memories of what appears now to be a long time away when I was in school back home in Tvm come flooding back and i wonder what i am to make of all of it....The answer comes to me again in another second and that is that i will blog abt it 2.

My blog '4thebots' where i blog abt my school life has been redundant for a long time now. Guess its time to spark some life into it as well. College life here in Manipal seems rather dull compared to the devilry we used to get to back in school and yet unfortunately i hear from friends that the winds of change are blowing far too heavily against the fortress of fun and at times education, that is Loyola.

I have almost exhausted my capacity to sit in front of a computer and go on typing mindlessly without any specific objective in mind so i guess its time now to bid adieu... atleast until next time :D

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

- BiBinhio

Back for more.....

BiBinhio is back for more....

I do have this funny habit of blogging avidly and then dying off for a few months 2gether......I jst hope i dont do it again.....

I'm in Manipal now...Manipal Institute of Communication 2 b more precise....And life sure as hell is rockin....

Times change and I've also changed slightly.... I jst dont knw wat 2 blog on now!!!....

Neway sports is 4ever present.....

Manchester United are finally gettin there... the 4 match streak of 4 goals with a 2-2 draw against ARSEnal (which we shuld hav won) and then another 4 goals against Kiev, followed by a 2-0 win over high flyin Blackburn.....yes, The Red Devils are playin their best football of the season... rooney and Tevez are gettin on well but the 4 week injury layoff for Rooney is a bit of a worry.... Ronaldo is gettin back 2 his best...but i miss Scholes's presence on the pitch...But 1 last word on Man U....the way Giggs played against Blackburn was breathtaking......I love ya Giggsy....

The Baron Davis vs the Dallas Mavericks shootout I saw while I was back in tvm was 2 good....
All the shots that Baron was makin....shit man....and then Jason Terry, J-Stack and Dirk comiin back and doin the same....it was 2 good....

And finally.....Federer's foundations r beginning 2 shake....its abt time!!!!....Lets go Nalbandian and Djokovic and Ferrer and Nadal and Canas and Roddick and Davydenko and every1 else.....Stop the Swizz express....

So much 4 now.....

Jst abt had enuf....

b back soon...

BiBinhio.

T20 - 'Feverish' excitement...

Its been a long time since my last blog post, but during those months of 'inactivity' i've been busy with other things...

For 1, i've been busy with photos and posting on flickr.
My Page: http://www.flickr.com/bibinhio

For another, I've started college life and am enjoying life at Manipal Institute of Communication! But from Manipal i've been forced to come back to trivandrum with a fever that has taken me 2 and a half weeks to shake off. I'll probably be leaving for Manipal again tomorrow, and since this is the last day when i have access to the net without having to pay 4 it, i thought i'd blog again!

Now since the title goes T20 - 'Feverish' excitement, I've got 2 mention the world cup, don't I?...But i hope by now, everyone would have understood the 'feverish' part!...

But 2 say T20 has consumed the imagination of legions of cricket fans around the globe, would be putting it light, very light!!!... Frankly speaking, the inaugural match between the hosts S.A and the Carribean 'Kings' was a bit boring - cricket wise. Slap bang cricket, but still, it was a no contest between the bat and ball. Yet, Chris Gayle's massive hitting deserves a mention... a 101 m 6!...How Sir Viv Richards wuld hav enjoyed this form of the game!... Hate to think of the bowlers who'd have to bowl to him though!!!...

India vs Pakistan, a game that never fails to shock you every time... and yet this one at the T20 world cup was a shock bigger even than 9-11, one could say!... The fact that the Pak skipper Shoaib Malik and the coach, the 'experienced' Geoff Lawson did not know about the possibility of a shoot-out is something remarkable and even more foolish!...

But the game of the tournament so far, just because of the unbelievable nature of it, has to be little David(Zim) slaying the mighty Goliath(Aus)!... In there first ever world cup match back in 1983 an inspired Zimbabwe defeated Australia, and now in their first T20 World cup match, they've done the same, and to the same old adversary again!...Its a shame they were knocked out though.

Its a bit early to say who's gonna win... India is in a strong group along with the Black Caps, the hosts and the brewery happy Queen's men!!!... The mighty kangaroos look ready to hop back into form and the Lankan Lions are roaring led right from the front by the 38 years young Sanath Jayasuriya!... Pakistan could yet be a force to reckon with as long as Shahid Afridi fires and the Bangladeshi Tigers are as much a pushover as USA or China at the Olympics!!!!!...

Any of the eight teams could win it from here...but two things are for sure, I'll be supporting India and I'm not likely to at all get bored in the process...T20, Cricket's answer to the global brand of football...

Cheers.

BiBinhio.

Anyone but Federer....pls.....

The pre-emminent tennis championships of the world....WIMBLEDON!!!... Wimbledon Male Single's Trophy(Challenge Cup)
ALL THAT MATTERS!

Roger Federer.... what can I say about him, but, superhuman... And yet, when I sit back and think about that statement that I have just made, I begin to think...superhuman?....Federer???

Take a look at the times when tennis was played the way it is supposed to be played....The era of the greats...the era of the fine art called 'serve and volley'. Names of legends spring to mind...Borg, Edberg, Becker, Mcenroe, Connors, Lendl, Courier and finally the peach of the lot - Pete Sampras...

Well yeah, Nadal reached last years final...Yeah Roddick plays best on grass... Yeah Djocovic could turn out to be a young pretender...but still the fact remains...none of these players are,at the moment of the same class as say a Becker or a Macenroe or a Connors or an Agassi.

But that does not mean that I am questioning Federer's talent...no way...All I'm saying is, to say that he is a better player than Pistol Pete or Borg, based on these four(and maybe five) crowns is rubbish!...

People compare Federer's four year unbeaten streak at Wimbledon to that of Sampras and Borg. But while Borg battled the likes of Becker and Edberg and Mcenroe and Connors and Lendl en-route to winning those five crowns and Sampras went through Becker and Ivanisevic and Courier and Agassi and Rafter among others, Roger Federer has as major opposition - no one!!!!...

Would he have displayed this same level of consistency and domination had he come up in the time when Sampras was at his peak???...People could debate yes, but I very much doubt it. But do remember...a young Fed-ex with long hair held up by a bow, did stop Pistol Pete's attempt at one last hurrah at Wimbledon, back when Sampras was looking to equal Borg's record of ruling the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club Championships for five straight years.

But by that time, Sampras was past his best...Without a doubt Federer defenitely isn't at the moment...But still that same dream of Sampras that a young Swizz by the name of Roger Federer thwarted, is the same one that he is going for this time...Could we find a new, young dark horse, springing up and spoiling the Swizz maestro's party???...Again, I very much doubt it.....But I sure hope so!!!...

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

- BiBinhio.

Is it 2 young 2 fall in LOVE???...

It is quite a modern fashion statement for a bloke to say to a girl...Heh, I love you... Many say it so many times that finally its just like wishing someone a good day for them... And the extraordinary stuff is that girls take it in that way as well....well, most of them aneway....

U know Malayalis and Indians at large are so proud and boastful of our great and rich cultural heritage... But the way the present upcoming generation is headed, the ancient customs and beliefs will soon become just that - EXTINCT!!!... Arranged marriages are already a thing of the past...And at the rate of modernization that we are going through, sex before marriage(and plenty of it) will become just as customary as brushing your teeth before sleep(well if that is the case, then maybe there's a chance - coz i'm not 2 particular abt that!!!...but then u get the idea!!!...)...

Nowadays if a guy or a girl in their early twenties goes home and tells their parents that they're in love with someone, then 9 out of 10 times the parents will be ready to listen and go along with the wishes of their 'mature' wards...Just take the example of my brother.... One fine morning, (well night actually) he calls our parents together and tells them that he is in love with a classmate of his and that he wants to marry her. There is no caste difference and anything, so pretty soon his marriage is fixed and 3 years later they're married and have already completed a year of being together(God save my sis-in-law!!!!:-D)...

But still the question remains...When does a boy and a girl decide that: "Yeah, we've got something good and serious going on here...Maybe this should be more than just another relationship..." some oldtimers will say that falling in love is not good at any age, until and unless one is engaged to the mate in concern. Any modern-day, practical parent you ask will probably say that you have to be atleast 21!!!... To them I say - I respect your views a lot, but if I can help decide who rules the nation at the age of 18, then why can't I make this decision at that age as well???...

This has got all the hallmarks of being a great topic for a national debate, but then there's yet another point I'd like to make...

The Indian judiciary has named 18 as the minimum age for marriage for girls... Now does that not mean that girls have the right to decide who they wanna live with(i.e. who their lover is) by that age???... The government and the judiciary has also toyed with the idea of bringing down that age limit to 15 for girls and 18 for boys...That idea was even implemented for a few days in a state... Now if that idea has gone through such scrutiny, then does that not mean that the idea has some sort of factual basis behind it???... Then, maybe we can say that yeah kids around the age of 15 can decide whom they wanna fall in love with...

Now, there are a lot of views expressed above, of which I believe in none!!!... I believe that there is no age for falling in love...One 'can' fall in love at age 18 and just as surely one 'can' fall in love at age 81!!!... Why everyone who is born into this world falls in love from the second that they open their eyes... The first love of any man, woman, boy or girl is defenitely their mother...

But when one talks of love as being the emotion that one feels towards a life partner, age I believe, is no barrier... As Gregory Robert Joseph says in his book 'Shantharam', when one meets the person you are meant to be with in your life, you just know it... The first time you see each other, or the first time you speak or whatever, you feel a sort of connection, an invisible bond, just like the one a newborn baby senses towards its mother... Now, my seniors will probably think, God how did he come to know all this.......................

To them I say:

I READ!!!...

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.

- BiBinhio.