Today was the final Premier League match of the season at Old Trafford, with Manchester United defeating Brentford 3-0. As alluded to in the title, this was the best performance from the Red Devils in terms of effort and energy expended in months. They were running more, putting in strong challenges, and generally had more energy in this match than any in recent memory. It’s amazing what they can do when they actually bloody try!
United opened the scoring via Bruno Fernandes, who notched his 10th Premiership goal of the season and his first in several weeks via a good cross from Anthony Elanga. He ran hard down the right wing to get onto a through ball from right back Diogo Dalot, and his cross was inch-perfect. All Bruno had to do was re-direct the cross with his right foot, and Brentford keeper David Raya could do nothing about it.
United had more opportunities later in the first half as well, and had the ball in the back of the net just before halftime thanks to good work from Cristiano Ronaldo and Juan Mata, but VAR determined Ronaldo to be offside by maybe half an inch when the ball was played to him. That was the best chance of the rest of the half though. There were moments when Brentford would build some good possession and passes, but their final ball was usually lacking in quality. Brentford midfielder Christian Eriksen was causing problems with his runs and range of passing.
United got the second goal though, and this time there would be no denying Ronaldo. He ran onto a pass just outside the box and out-muscled his marker to win the ball. The Brentford defender then decided naively to plow into the back of Ronaldo while he was on the ball in the box. Ronaldo went down in a heap, and a penalty was given. Many penalty decisions are controversial, but this one was not. Stonewall, as they say in England. Ronaldo stepped up to the spot, and sent Raya the wrong way with a powerful low shot. At 2-0 you felt the match was mostly over unless Brentford got one back almost immediately.
Despite creating some more half chances and the occasional moments of worry, Brentford could not find their way through the United defense. United got the match-sealer on 72 minutes, shockingly from a corner. Our set pieces have been abysmal for most of the season, but they have improved a little bit in recent weeks. This one was about as straight-forward as it gets, as well. Left back Alex Telles played a high cross directly into a sea of bodies near the mouth of the goal, with center back Raphael Varane on hand to steer the cross home with an outstretched leg. Nothing fancy about it, but no one cares how you score as long as you do. This was also Varane’s first goal from the club since joining last summer, so well done to him for that.
On 73 minutes there was a planned fan protest against the club’s ownership, during which many fans in the stadium got up and walked out. While a few hundred did noticeably leave, the effectiveness of this protest was probably lessened by the fact that United were winning comfortably when it was due to happen. One victory against a club like Brentford does not undo 17 years of financial mismanagement and neglect of course, but it’s been so rare for United to be comfortably winning this season that many probably wanted to stay behind and just enjoy the moment. Still, Glazers out!
It was a bittersweet day as well, as it was probably the last time that Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata would be on the pitch at Old Trafford in United red. Matic has already stated he will be leaving in the summer, and while Mata has not publicly announced what he’s doing, he is 34 and out of a contract once this season ends. The both of them can still play well as evidenced by today’s match and a few previous ones, but neither of them really fit into new manager Erik ten Hag’s style of play. Also, Matic is 33 and Mata is 34. It is extremely difficult to keep up with the pace of the Premier League at that age. Matic is likely going to Italy, and I could see Mata returning to his native Spain if he were inclined to continue playing. Thank you both for your services! Old Trafford will not forget the positive contributions made by the both of them. My only regrets are that we didn’t get Matic sooner and that Mata was criminally underutilized in his time at the club. It’s also possible that this was the last match in United red for Ronaldo, but he does have another year left on his contract and there aren’t many other clubs in the world that can afford his wages. If he wants to play still, it will be in the red half of Manchester. Logic tends to suggest that Ronaldo comes back for one more year to help Ten Hag right the ship and get United back on track towards winning trophies.
There are only two matches left this season, and United have been all but eliminated from the top-4 race. Arsenal need only 1 point from their 4 remaining matches to eliminate United from Champions League play next season, which they are overwhelmingly likely to achieve without too much difficulty. This squad is going to change a lot over the summer, but today was a nice occasion to see the old guard play well one last time.
United are away to Brighton and Crystal Palace for their last two matches of the season. Time to finish professionally, get some youth players involved, and prepare for next season. As for this blog, there will be posts for the FA Cup final and Champions League final when it’s time, and I also want to try to cover Nottingham Forest a bit more. Their match away to AFC Bournemouth tomorrow is their most important fixture in over 30 years.
I apologize for the tardiness of this blog but it’s been a very emotional 24-48 hours since the final penalty was taken in the match. The loss of course is one thing, but then there was the resulting fallout from it as well. I think it’s probably best to discuss the match itself first and then go over the shitstorm that happened afterwards.
The atmosphere at Wembley on Sunday pre-match was electric, and it must be said that the overall vibe was a positive one. There had been some skirmishes with some idiot England fans trying to get into Wembley without tickets, but again those were minor when compared with the overwhelming majority of fans who were there to have a good time. Choruses of “Sweet Caroline” rung out around the ground in the lead up to kick off, as England fans celebrated their first men’s final in 55 years.
And things went from a reserved frenzy to a raucous celebration just 2 minutes into the match when left wingback Luke Shaw was found in the box by a cross from fellow wingback Kieran Trippier the right hand side. He hit it towards the Italian goal and keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma could not get to it as it crept in just inside the left-hand post. It was clear from the outset that Italy’s initial tactical set up was all wrong. They had come out in their usual 4-3-3, while England manager Gareth Southgate had changed his formation again and set up England in a 3-4-3. Shaw and Trippier were overwhelming them in the space on the wings, and the Italians could not figure out how to mark them with a back 4. Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips were also dictating the possession and tempo in the middle of the park, and for the entire rest of the first half Italy looked rather toothless. Italy forward Federico Chiesa put a shot just wide of Jordan Pickford’s goal after a long run with the ball, but that was Italy’s best chance. The one negative from the first half is that England did not score a second goal, but the way the match was going you figured there would be an opportunity for another one.
But Italy manager Roberto Mancini is no stranger to adversity, and he made some key changes that really swung things back in Italy’s favor. He took off ineffective striker Ciro Immobile and brought on attacking midfielder Federico Bernadeschi, which immediately gave the Italians more fluidity in attack. Along with the urgency of knowing they needed a goal and fresher legs in midfield, Italy really pressed England for about a 10-15 minute spell in the early second half. They were unfortunately rewarded for their efforts after they won a corner, which was tapped in to the back of the England net by center back Leonardo Bonucci after a mad scramble in the box. England failed to clear the ball and Bonucci was in the right place at the right time to make England pay. Sometimes, that’s all you need.
Italy continued their dominant spell for another 10 minutes or so but could not find a second goal. England had a little more possession in the final 10-15 minutes, but solid Italian defending and closing down in midfield prevented England from mounting a serious attack. Southgate had indeed brought on help in the forms of Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish, and Bukayo Saka, but I felt that those subs were too little and too late (more on that below). In the end no more goals were scored and extra time would be needed.
Extra time in a major final is nothing new of course, but I was worried about our fatigue levels given the lack of substitutions. I thought that Mancini had done a better job of getting his tired players off the field, even if one or two of them were necessary changes due to injury. I was more than relieved to see Chiesa go off injured late in the second half. I don’t wish injury on any player, but he had been tormenting England all match and was Italy’s best attacking player on the day.
Italy dominated the first 15 minutes of extra time, but England fought back a little in the second 15 minutes with some better possession and movement around the box. Center back John Stones barely missed getting his head on a cross from Shaw, but there were no serious attempts on the goal. There was a moment where I thought defender Giorgio Chiellini would be sent off for a foul on Saka, but the referee only showed a yellow. I felt it probably should have been a red given the egregious manner in which Chiellini grabbed Saka’s shirt color and yanked it back, but I am not sure how much of a difference it would have made that late on in the match anyway. The referee definitely let a lot of contact go in this match and generally tried to let both teams play. That is fine when it helps your team and it’s what the neutrals would be happy to see, but it’s maddening when it cuts against your team.
Forwards Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were indeed subbed on, but only with about two minutes to go in extra time. I was happy to see those two come on, but it was far too late for them to get involved in the match. Penalties loomed and a nation held it’s breath. Once penalties were confirmed, I was trying to be optimistic. This group of players beat Colombia in a World Cup elimination game on penalties in 2018, so they knew how to win one this way. Higher stakes this time of course and England do have a long history of penalty failures before that, but there was reason for a degree of optimism going into the pens.
I won’t go through it kick by kick because most people saw what happened and it’s too painful to type out anyway, but Italy won 3-2 after a save from Donnarumma on Saka with the fifth and final penalty. Rashford and Sancho missed penalties as well, with Harrys Kane and Maguire converting theirs. Pickford produced two fine saves to keep England in it, but Saka’s penalty was too low and lacked power. Donarumma was the hero on the day, and Italy were crowned European Champions. I turned the stream off and walked away for a bit. I was absolutely crushed, and you could tell Saka, Rashford, and Sancho all felt horribly too. I think it is fair to say that having a 19 year old take the fifth penalty, which is often a decisive one, was an error in judgment from Southgate.
But that was not his biggest error on the day. Saka and Sancho hitting a weak penalties and Rashford missing altogether were also not the main reasons for the loss. Penalties are a crap shoot and anything can happen when the match gets to that point. The principle reasons for the loss were not killing off Italy when we had them on the ropes in the first half, and then failing to respond quickly enough to their tactical changes in the second half. Mancini did not play a perfect match tactically, but his adaptability and willingness to take risks was what won his side their first European title since 1968. He saw that what he set out with wasn’t working, so he took a gamble or two and it paid off. Of course, it does become easier to gamble when you have the defense that Italy has. The center back pairing of Bonucci and Chiellini is world class, simple as. They were excellent at keeping Kane and Raheem Sterling at bay for all 120 minutes. Those two have been England’s best attacking players all tournament, but they were largely anonymous for most of the match.
If England are to win a trophy with this current crop of players, Southgate must be willing to be more adventurous when the time is right. Yes, the conservative approach got us through the first six games, but in a final sometimes you have to take risks and go for the goal. I do not trust England on penalties and we should never try to play for penalties. We were not explicitly doing that in the final, but Southgate was unwilling to change things despite conceding a goal that looked like it was coming for at least 7 or 8 minutes. Sancho and Rashford should have been brought on in normal time, not 2 minutes before penalties. Grealish should have been brought on before the 70th minute. There should have been some kind of tactical plan for more outlet passes from the back to relieve the pressure the Italians were pouring on the back line in the lead up to their goal. The goal may have still come anyway, but England would have been much more suited to getting a second one if he had been less rigid in his approach.
So yes, to lose a major final at home like that is heartbreaking. It’s not an enjoyable experience in any way. But what was even more heartbreaking was the response to it from fans, the media, and even the British government.
Within minutes of England being eliminated, hate speech and vile racist attacks came pouring in from supposed England “supporters” on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. I won’t repeat what was said but suffice it to say that it was just some of the nastiest things one could say to another person. Rashford, Sancho, and Saka got most of the attacks and many (false) correlations were made between the race of those players and their ability to take penalties. There was even an Australian newspaper that ran a later-retracted headline about England’s Black players missing while the white players scored. A mural of Rashford in south Manchester was also defaced with racist language and symbols.
It’s fucking disgusting. That’s all there is to it. You would have thought that by the year 2021 we would be done with the farcical concept of racism, but the reality is that it has only gotten worse in recent years. It definitely seems to be worse at the least, due to the fact that every idiot with a pair of thumbs can express his/her asinine opinion and share it with the world instantaneously. Social media platforms claim they are trying to fight back against hate speech online, but that’s a hydra that is difficult to slay. As soon as you shut down one idiot, two more pop up elsewhere. It should be no wonder why England players took a knee before the kickoff of every match at this tournament to protest against racism. It is clearly still needed.
England fans already had a reputation before this tournament as being rowdy and block-headed, and we’ve done ourselves no favors with all this idiocy. Immediately after the wave of racist nonsense came in, another of wave of hatred pervaded the internet in response. This time though it was a different set of people calling out the racism of our supporters and generally lampooning England as a nation. It was hard to see that as an anti-racist England supporter, but a lot of it was justified. This country does have a problem with racism and it must be addressed. If it takes national embarrassment to get that done, then so be it.
I am no sociologist and I do not know how to fix the problem entirely, but one thing that would help immensely is if UK politicians like Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel stopped stoking the fires of discrimination among their constituents. Politicians like those two were elected on nationalist/exclusionist principles, and in the past they frequently targeted dark-skinned immigrants as being the source of many of the UK’s problems when pushing for Brexit. Both Johnson and Patel were quick to condemn the racism from social media, but that was a very hypocritical position to take when it’s primarily those two and their party responsible for a good portion of the racism in the first place. England center back Tyrone Mings was correct to point that out, and his tweet response to Patel went viral almost instantly. You cannot claim to be against racism when you’ve spent the last several years subversively promoting it!
But in the darkest hour for England, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Kane, a white man and England’s captain, posted a condemnation of racism on his social media that provided me a sense of relief in it’s strongly-worded tone. Kane is normally somewhat tepid and lukewarm on issues that don’t directly involve football, but the message of “we don’t want you” re: racist supporters was unequivocal and it was the exact message needed. I echo his words now: if you are racist, you are not an England supporter and we don’t want you.
I was further emboldened by the response of Rashford and the support for him on social media. As toxic as some people were, the real England fans showed up to support the lad when he was being attacked. Rashford admitted his penalty wasn’t good enough, but he refused to apologize for being a Black man and of course he shouldn’t have to. Rashford is 1000x the man any of the racists are. He’s spent the past 1-2 years feeding schoolchildren and funding literacy programs. He even went toe-to-toe with PM Johnson himself when it came to school meals during the pandemic. He has donated roughly £20m to charities in the past year, which is more than his entire net worth. He was recognized for his services by the Crown as well, who awarded him an MBE. Rashford is the shining example, but many England players have made great contributions to the communities they grew up in.
The support for the statements of Rashford and Kane was overwhelmingly positive. For every idiot racist sounding off, there was 10 more people in full support of everything these lads have done and are doing for this country. It was absolutely vital that they got some support from English people, as that has not always been the case in the past, even for extremely popular (white) players like David Beckham and Wayne Rooney. Becks was hung in effigy outside pubs in London after his red card against Argentina in 1998, and Rooney was the target of threats and personal attacks after his own red card against Portugal in 2006. Yes England lost in disappointing fashion, but the cycle of attacking our players when they don’t perform for England seems to be breaking. We need to be encouraging these players and helping them remain positive. Having them terrified of playing for England will not result in success. Toxicity only breeds more toxicity.
This team’s run to the final captivated and united the nation, for the most part. We played well for long stretches in the final as well, and for 60+ minutes we were European Champions. I could not be more proud of them and the manager, and that sentiment is shared by many. In many ways, this whole incident showed both the very best and very worst of social media. You had the vile racism at first, but the swift condemnation in response to all of it was nothing short of positive. Even the normally-alarmist British tabloids were mostly supportive of the lads post-match.
The damage to Rashford’s mural was covered with messages of support written on bits of paper and England flags, and earlier today the street artist who initially did the mural was out there repairing it.
If we want England to have any degree of success over the next 10-15 years, we have to continue showing support like this. If the players are able to put their club tribalism aside and play for one another, then so can the average fan. This tournament and the subsequent fallout I think created a strong bond among these England players; a brotherhood of sorts. They know they’re good and they know they can do well at tournaments, and if they can get through this level of fallout they can get through anything. All we need to do as England fans is keep supporting them and they will eventually bring us another trophy. Getting to the final was a huge step in the right direction and I think there will only be more growth as the team grows and matures. Many of our players this tournament were still very young, including Rashford, Sancho, Saka, and Jude Bellingham. They are only going to get better. If they know England fans are going to be behind them even if they lose a close match, that will only make success more likely.
This England team under Southgate might be the one to bring us success on the pitch, which is why I titled this post as “It’s Not Coming Home (This Time)”. We will have more chances to win with this group, as we have shown that we can play with anybody. Reaching the semis in 2018 and a final in 2020(1) is already the best I have seen England do in my lifetime. At this tournament we beat the Germans, scored four in a knockout match, and went to our first major final in 55 years. More importantly, their efforts off the pitch may end up being a catalyst for real societal change in the UK as well. Mark my words – these players will make history one way or another.
Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone who read these blog posts during the Euros. My readers are of the utmost importance to me and I hope it was informative and entertaining for you all. It truly was a great tournament marred only by the actions of a small amount of knuckle-draggers.
I shall now be taking a few weeks off from the blog as there is a lull in competitive football matches in late July/early August. United’s pre-season gets underway soon, but I’ll do a full season preview for that once the Premier League is closer to returning.
My deepest and sincerest apologies to all readers of this blog for the long hiatus between posts. It has been over 6 months since I last wrote, and my last post was about an England match of relatively little significance. There are many reasons I haven’t been posting, but the main reason was that I was just not feeling creative enough to provide the level of quality content I strive for. I try to teach while entertaining, and it can be difficult to muster the willpower to write in a way that does both of those things effectively. It didn’t help that United were having an up-and-down season at that point and England weren’t really doing anything inspiring either.
But, having said all that, I feel a sense of renewed vigor to continue with 4-4-2 and provide breakdowns and analysis of the remaining matches this season and maybe inspire a few new fans in the process. That was the original idea at least and I think I got away from that.
Anyway, it would be impossible to recap the up-and-down-but-now-going-up nature of this season in full detail, so I will just provide the important points. I think I’ll do a separate post about the complex puzzle that is the England national team later.
Manchester United:
Are currently second in the Premier League. 11 points off Manchester City in first but 7 points clear of Leicester City in third. There are 8 games left to play.
Secured passage today to the semifinals of the Europa League, where they will play AS Roma.
Have been eliminated from the Champions League, League Cup, and FA Cup.
Have FINALLY appointed a Director of Football and Technical Director, John Murtough and former player Darren Fletcher (respectively).
That last bullet point is the most important one. I have been complaining for years both online and off about the need for a DoF at this club, and now we finally have one. It was stunning that a club of this size didn’t have a football person at the helm of the transfer policy in the first place. It was however equally as stunning when the announcement was made. I thought Hell had frozen over given the owners’ stringent reluctance to improve the overall structure of this club. It remains to be seen how much deference and autonomy Murtough and Fletcher are given by the Glazers, the Board of Directors, and CEO Ed Woodward; but I am cautiously optimistic. I don’t know a ton about Murtough other than he has served in various capacities with the club for over 20 years, but I strongly believe that Fletcher wouldn’t have gotten involved if he wasn’t going to be listened to by the bosses. Anyway, perhaps the overall strategy behind our transfers and contracts we give out to players will be sorted out now, and we can build a team that challenges for trophies year after year.
Speaking of trophies, the best chance United have at winning one this year is in the Europa League. The second leg of the quarterfinals that was played just today saw United already ahead 2-0 on away goals, and the match was actually fairly boring. Edinson Cavani got a goal for United in the 6th minute, and with things 3-0 on aggregate the result of the tie was never in doubt. The match was merely a passing and possession drill for the next 84 minutes and we even got another bonus goal thanks to an own goal from Granada. United cruise into the semis! AS Roma are a tough side who can cause problems for any team left, but I like our chances to progress to the final. Let’s get ourselves a trophy!
In terms of the Premier League, I think this might be our best season post-Ferguson. It is true we finished second under Jose Mourinho in 2017, but I think the club is headed in a better overall direction than it was under Mourinho back then. We aren’t just buying random superstars and hoping they can carry us to trophies. That strategy can work for a season or two but it is not a strategy for sustained success. Clubs must be able to develop talent at the youth level to sustain success, and that’s what we are beginning to see. Academy products Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba, Axel Tuanzebe, and Dean Henderson have all seen significant playing time this season. Second place isn’t bad and we technically could still catch Man City in first, but the odds of that happening are pretty slim. Next season we have to challenge for the title though. I think our stumbles in the early part of the season and the dip in form we had in late January 2021 doomed us this year, but to be fair City have been in absolutely scintillating form and are in contention for 4 trophies still. We will almost certainly finish with more points than we did last season though and we are looking comfortable in second place, which means Champions League qualification next season. Leicester City, West Ham, Chelsea, Liverpool, and possibly Tottenham will duke it out for the final two qualification spots.
In lieu of breaking down a match for this post, I’ll instead highlight some players who have done really well for us this season. Luke Shaw is in glistening form and is currently the best left back in England. He is solid in defense of course but where he really shines is in attack. He gets forward with ease and can pick out some positively sublime passes with that left foot of his. United attack primarily down the left side and find success there thanks to his link up play with the likes of Rashford and Anthony Martial.
But, in spite of the surge in form from Shaw, easily the best United player for the last season and a half or so is none other than our “Portuguese Magnfico” Bruno Fernandes. He is easily one of the best attacking midfielders in the world and has proven to be the best signing during the tenure of manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. His vision and passing are second to none in England and his goal involvement stats (assists and goals) are off the charts. He is the creative engine of the team and when he doesn’t play the team looks completely different and simply not as good. I worry about him suffering from injury due to overuse, but so far he has adjusted to the pace of the English game splendidly and is handling the COVID-congested fixture list well. He’ll definitely be in the Team of the Season when it all ends.
I think lastly I should recognize the defense, in particular Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Eric Bailly, and the aforementioned Shaw and Tuanzebe. The attack has looked questionable at times this season but the back four, in particular the pairing of Maguire/Lindelof, has been largely reliable. Maguire has played a ton of minutes similar to how he did last season, and he has continued to be a very vocal and capable club captain despite some of his off-the-pitch issues about a year ago. Wan-Bissaka is the best defensive right back in the league. He isn’t great going forward and that’s slowly improving, but again I don’t think I have ever seen anyone as good at tackling and winning the ball cleanly as he is. It is a luxury to know that he can lock down an opposing team’s left side and not let anything past him.
I think in the summer when the transfer window re-opens United need to be active early and often. Let’s get our business done and bring in who need to promptly so they can meet up with the coaching staff and get ready for the season. I want to see an overall strategy where the team’s needs are met but we also spend our money wisely. I think a defensive midfielder is needed, as Nemanja Matic is aging rapidly and cannot play every match while still being effective. He’s very good still, but he needs help. I’d like to see us sign a young and athletic guy who goes out and hunts the ball down like a bloodhound, in the style of an N’Golo Kante. We probably can’t/won’t get him specifically, but someone like him would be great (Declan Rice?). The situation on the right wing still hasn’t been solved either. Are we getting Jadon Sancho? Are we not? Yes? No? Maybe? Whatever we do, I hope we don’t pay the king’s ransom that Borussia Dortmund are asking for him. It is not wise to spend £100m+ on a single position. Is the teenaged Amad Diallo the answer out on the right? He has shown flashes for us but hasn’t had enough time to really show what he can do. If we get a CDM and sort out the right wing I’ll be happy enough. Anything on top of that would be a bonus.
All locked in for the rest of the season and excited to see what happens. Glory Glory Man United!
The horrible pandemic occurring due to a worldwide outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has suspended football and basically all other sport worldwide until the end of the April at the very least. Of course, the health and safety of everyone is more important than any game or sport could ever be, so I’m not in any position to be upset about it. Mass gatherings of people at sporting events would be ripe grounds for the spread of this nasty virus, so everything must be put on hold for the time being. Wash your hands and stay inside, everyone! A swift and speedy recovery to all those afflicted and affected by this nasty contagion.
That said, many questions remain unanswered. What happens if the Premier League, or any of the leagues across Europe, don’t resume? The questions relating to just the sporting aspect of this postponement/cancellation are numerous and complicated to be sure, but they are nothing in comparison with the financial and economic questions that need to be answered. TV contracts must be paid in one way or another, and many jobs depend on this multi-billion pound industry. Many clubs have pledged to pay employees as normal through the end of the season, Manchester United among them. On a brief side note, I was happy to see United and City coming together as clubs to donate £100,000 to local hospitals to help with the coronavirus response.
I do hope that this virus is eliminated soon so life in general can resume as normal, but until then 4-4-2 will be updated less frequently. Semi-hiatus; if you will. This is a football blog after all, and there’s currently no football to write about 😦 I think what I want to do though is perhaps to reviews of classic United and England matches. It could be fun to write an article about the 1999 Champions League Final or the 1966 World Cup Final. There are only so many of those that can be done of course, but it’s an avenue to explore nonetheless.
It is kind of funny that Liverpool were basically guaranteed to win the Premier League title for the first time in 30 years this season, but now they probably won’t get to. They were 6 points from winning it mathematically and had a massive 25 point lead overall. I haven’t seen any Scousers realistically or genuinely angry about suspending play, but there is definitely a strong undercurrent of bitterness from them about the whole situation. If I was one of them I’d probably be incredibly bitter as well. First title in a generation (a generation!) within grasp and a global pandemic comes along and wipes out ALL of world sport? Talk about bad luck. Can’t say as I blame them for their bitterness; not at all.
But in these very trying times, maybe a laugh at Liverpool is just what United supporters really need. Couple that with our other rival Leeds United now probably not being promoted to the Premier League, and the fact that City might be facing a ban from European play next season from UEFA, and you can’t help but feel bemusedly happy about it. I have seen the phrase “God is a United supporter” written by many across the various internet forums (lol). Of course it does suck that United were getting into good form just as the virus shut it all down, but the bad outweighs the good from a purely-sporting and United perspective I suppose.
The Football Association currently says that football will be back at the end of April, but I feel that’s overly optimistic. I will keep this blog updated with news on the resumption of football as it develops, but again I’d be highly surprised if there was another ball kicked this season.
I can’t believe I’ve been writing on this blog for a year already. Time flies when you’re when you’re having fun, and even though it wasn’t always fun to write about England or Manchester United losing, I find writing this blog to be very therapeutic. I have a stressful job, so focusing my mind on this is a welcome distraction even when I have to analyze a loss.
I’d like to start off by saying thanks to everyone who encouraged me to start a blog last year during the men’s World Cup. I wouldn’t have done it without that encouragement. I’m sure many of my Facebook friends are also happy they no longer have to read a wall of text on their timelines as well after a big match. Eventually, I’d like to become a part-time football/soccer writer for some kind of internet publication, so this blog has been great practice for that.
Goals
One objective or goal I have for this blog is to get more people interested in football/soccer. The game is rapidly growing in popularity even without my help, but I want a place where non-fans or casual fans can read up on the sport and hopefully develop an appreciation for its tactical complexity and emotional involvement. I try to keep negativity to a minimum, but I am not afraid to lay down some sharp criticism of a team, player, ref, or organization when it is warranted.
I also want to dispel the common notion that football is boring. Even though there is the occasional dull match, this sport as a whole is fantastically entertaining. It’s full of incredible feats of athleticism and often high drama, both on and off the pitch.
Stats
In the past year, I have published 68 individual posts with this one being number 69 (nice lol). I have had 235 views on the blog from 179 different visitors. They come from all across the world, and I love all my international readers. I have had clicks/views from USA, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Taiwan, France, Hong Kong, South Korea, Spain, Zambia, and Brazil. Most people found my blog via Facebook, but it seems some people also found the blog via searching on WordPress.
The most viewed post was my very first one, where I did a breakdown of the Round of 16 of the 2018 World Cup and welcomed everyone to the blog. The most viewed post of calendar year 2019 was the one about Man United’s miraculous comeback versus Paris St. Germain in the Champions League. What a great moment that was!
Sources
I form my opinions primarily on my own first-hand analysis of each match. If I am able to watch the match live, the analysis is usually more in-depth. If I am not able to watch a given match due to work or due to it being on incredibly early in the morning, I will watch some extended highlights and glean opinions from other sites such as BBC, Reddit, and Deadspin. To be clear, there are many incredibly asinine opinions on each of those sites mixed in with good ones, so I really have to critically evaluate which opinions I agree with and which ones I don’t. Even when I agree with an opinion I see generally, I often phrase it in my own way. No copying/pasting around here!
Tips? Suggestions?
Alright readers, what would you like to see more of? Less of? How can I make this blog more appealing to more people? Videos? GIFs? Photos? More/less tactical analysis? More/less Hot Takes? I’m open to virtually all suggestions of course but I do retain ultimate veto power.
I am excited to see where this blog goes in the next year. I hope more people continue reading and find the same joy from this blog that I get from writing it!
Edit: In a moment of great idiocy I forgot to include shoutouts and thank yous to my friends Jesse and Jose for their contributions in the past year. I hope to continue working with them and others for analysis and Hot Takes on the USMNT, Barcelona/La Liga, and Mexico.
4-4-2 