City Must Be Stopped!

Sorry I haven’t kept up with my posting recently. College is taking its toll and slowly killing me. The workload is beyond belief at times. Then, added to that the amount of ridicule I get on a daily basis, I simply have too much on my plate these days. Seriously, people who moan about high school work will be pleasantly surprised by the time A-Levels come around.

Still reeling with the feeling from the epic events of last Saturday, I don’t think there was much on my mind come Monday evening, anyway. I must have replayed the highlights dozens of times, mainly to convince myself that we actually did slaughter Chelsea at the Bridge. I’m still can’t believe the same Arsenal that stumbled past Swansea not long ago were so prolific against Chelsea. Just goes to show we’ve come a long way since the 8-2 catastrophe.

Man. United have also gone a long way since that day – presumably in the other direction as they were thrashed themselves by rivals City, who I’m starting to get a little worried about. They’ve began winning too many games for my liking and their team is gelling far too nicely, far too quickly. They already have a five-point lead at the top and I’m worried they’ll take away the drama of the Premier League title race (whether Arsenal are in it or not) if they carry on like this.

I don’t care if another team other than the Gunners can properly challenge them for the title this season. I haven’t given up hope for Arsenal just yet, but as long as it doesn’t end up with Mancini and his class of overflowing talent (and Samir Nasri, of course), then there won’t be too many hard feelings. Technically, we don’t really deserve to win it judging by the start we had. It’ll be interesting to see if they’ve got enough talent for our kids in the Carling Cup, though something tells me they’ll be desperate for trophies and play their strongest XI – maybe even a certain Carlos Tevez?

Okay, be honest, were you surprised as I was when Robin Van Persie wasn’t included in the Ballon D’or shortlist? Probably not. Some of the names on there didn’t achieve half the things RVP accomplished last season (barring trophies, of course)! Someone needs to remind FIFA that the World Cup was last year – Diego Forlan and Thomas Muller have been virtual nobodies since then. Other shocks were players like Aguero – a third of a decent season at City does not make you one of the world’s best – just ask Nasri, who knows about that sort of thing. And even so, when you’re the star striker of a team in a very uncompetitive league, you are going to get goals – but it doesn’t make you Messi by any means.

Messi looks like the only deserving winner for me. Not even the goalscoring genius that is Van Persie could push him too far. He has scoring records that are truly incredible, mind-boggling. 202 goals for Barca? Anyone who tops that is the best player in the world. I’m not sure some of his teammates deserve to be there, though. Xavi and Iniesta, sure, but it really says something about the world’s footballers when Eric Abidal, as overrated as he may be, has beaten cancer on the way to getting on the list. If I had one, I’d take my hat off for him.

But if FIFA are going to give awards out for overcoming certain events, then one must go to Billy Sharp. Not only did he go through an experience that just sounds terribly awful, to play in his dead son’s honour and score a goal that Messi himself would be proud of takes guts. And he’s got plenty of them.

How d'you feel, Tevez?

The most shocking inclusion has to be Wayne Rooney. Well I suppose if having affairs with grannies, swearing into cameras and jeopardising the nation’s already slim chances of success with acts of violence gets him on the list, he comes out the winner, in that respect. So, if Chamakh if you're reading this – you know what to do.

On the subject of Rooney, the FA are going to appeal his red card from last month. This is great, except if UEFA reject the appeal it could increase his ban, which is just ridiculous. What they’re essentially saying is that if someone kicks another player and someone’s argument against it is considered invalid, it makes the incident worse. It basically turns a kick in the leg into hacking it off with a chainsaw. Well, that’s UEFA for you. I still think we should pick him for the Euros; just to spare Colleen a beating for if he finds out Capello’s decided not to take him.

Looking forward to the West Brom game on Saturday, and I’ll be sure to review all the weekend’s action in Monday’s post, provided I can finish my assignments, pronto. Wish me luck!

Come On You Reds!