9-11 September - Weekend report

Wows

• Our Kind of traitor (typical slow burn Le Carre thriller) & Neethaane En Ponvasantham (On Jaya TV now)
• Pep vs Jose 
• Music of Mirzya - SEL are back !!!!!
• Pizza and Malai Kulfi
• Running/Exercise

WTF moments

• Now you see me 2 & Baar Baar Dekho
• Barcelona vs Alaves
• School hunting
• News about Rail roko on 15th

Last weekend as Bachelor 3.0 is over and while it was good in patches, can't wait to get back to domestic bliss. Yipppeeeee !!

How the mighty have fallen

Its only when a true legend like SAF moves on that the void his departure leaves us truly shows up in epic/massive/gigantic proportions. If yesterday's Community shield game is any indication of the year to come, Utd fans can expect silverware by Feb/May but can kiss their hopes goodbye of seeing A-N-Y entertaining football. Yes, it is still early days but there were 4 things I CLEARLY CLEARLY saw yday which backs up my claim

• During SAF's reign, if a match was 1-1 going into the last 10 minutes, you very much knew what was going to happen. SAF would throw all his fwds in and give his wingers / full backs license to attack and there would be an almighty seige at the opposition goal. Jose Mourinho has never/can never/will never do that and he did nothing of the sort yday. 

• One of the earliest to be substituted was the superb Jesse Lingard. Despite Jose's ridiculous claims that he has brought through youngsters (am still dying laughing at that), he will never place his trust in youth. PERIOD. A leopard does not change its spots overnight.

• The minute Ibra scored, Jose let his guard down for 3 seconds and celebrated but his immediate next reaction was to summon Schneiderlin to replace Rooney. That would have never happened under SAF. Protecting a lead was anathema to the master. He would have gone for the 3rd goal. How joyless must it be playing for Jose. No wonder Ronaldo hated Jose.

• Minutes after Ibra scored, there was a throw-in for Leicester near the players' bench and Jose was furiously gesticulating to Ibra to fall back 20 yards into his own half and defend a throw-in coz of his height. (That was Jose at his best - marshaling his troops to park the bus). The great thing about Jose Mourinho is that Ibra actually did. Imagine Ibra's voice in the head saying "Ibra doesn't defend" and then Ibra coming to his senses and overruling his inner voice and actually doing his master's bidding. Ha Ha Ha !!

Jose Mourinho and his ego (or) How Man Utd have sold their soul in their quest for success? - PART 1

So Jose wants Schweinsteiger out. Why? There are many reasons being bandied about and the one that Jose would like the world to believe most is that Schweini doesnt fit the new style that Jose has come up for Man Utd. Bollocks.

Schweini has played at the highest level for club and country and can fit into any system and style of play. The simple answer is: Jose's massive ego. Jose demands absolute dedication and adherence to his methods and he typically likes to operate with players who will NEVER EVER question him. Schweini is a serial winner (and in my opinion achieved more than Jose) and an intelligent footballer. Jose can put up with 1 prima donna Ibra but too many strong personalities in the dressing room are not his style. By relegating Schweini to the reserves, Jose has made a calculated attack on Schweini's pride hoping that he will  take the affront personally and leave....and I just think it might work, more so if PSG come calling, as life in Paris (despite the bomb blasts) with Ana Ivanovic must surely be better than working in dreary Manchester with nasty Jose. In all this drama, Man Utd have just lost a lot of goodwill as KH Rummenigge rightly pointed out.

Schweinsteiger's trophies

• 8 Bundesliga titles
• 7 DFB-Pokal cups
• 2 DFB-Ligapokal cups
• 2 DFB Super cups
• 1 Champions League
• 1 UEFA Supercup
• 1 FIFA Club World Cup
• 1 FIFA World Cup 
• (2 3rd places at WC and 1 runner up in Euros)

Jose Mourinho's trophies

• 8 league titles (2 in Portugal, 3 in UK, 1 in Spain, 2 in Italy)
• 10 Cup titles (2 in Portugal, 4 in UK, 2 in Spain, 2 in Italy)
• 2 Champions League
• 1 UEFA Cup

EPL round-up

I do know that 4 games is too early to pass judgment on how the season will play out but here are my first thoughts.

Arsenal – lacked creativity in the first 2 games and look bereft of ideas but the performances against Liverpool and Southampton were heartening.  Santi is a real gem, Podolski looks like he has settled well and if we can keep Diaby fit for 40 games, we should be good to be in the top 4 and probably have a good Carling cup run. Not too convinced about the Bould revolution and everytime Per is on the ball, I start praying to the gods. Also need to give Arshavin a run-in during the CL and CARLING cU

Man Utd – have definitely strengthened over the summer and Kagawa looks good L Still waiting for RvP to get injured – maybe it will happen during the next International break. Defensively they look suspect but they  should have enough to score 1 more than the opposition. Definitely top 2 and will surely win a trophy.

Man City – not sure why they sold De Jong but then Javi Garcia is an able replacement.  Yaya Toure will be off to AfCON in January and they will suffer. Also not convinced about the central defence is Kompany gets injured.  Group of Death in Europe will take its toll.

Chelsea – have finally got some fresh legs and youth in the squad. Surprised to see Bertrand starting so often and again puzzled by Sturridge’s lack of playing time. Hazard seems to have fitted in well in Chelsea and if Torres starts firing, Chelsea could even win the league. Wait. I forget their defence. Worse than even Arsenal’s, I’m afraid.

Spuds – AVB is a good coach but he doesn’t seem to have learnt the lessons from his Chelsea stint. Too many changes, striking options up-front seems very bare. Adebayor isn’t gonna set the world alight and Defoe needs a lot of chances to find the back of the net. Won’t finish in top 4.

Surprise package: Everton for their wonderful start. Selling Cahill was a big shock but big Jelavic and Mirallas seem more than competent. With Fellaini and Pienaar, they could actually finish 5^th which would be creditable.