The Devil In Me

I have had several very trying conversations over the years with people who don’t like football and have little time for it.  I watched the last World Cup in Australia and saw it unite all of them like none of their national football codes come close to doing.  After they were knocked out of course they went back to deriding the sport which I must admit greatly annoyed me.

Why is this?  Because I firmly believe that football matters, that it makes a difference and that what you go through as a fan makes it more than just a game.

I am not a political commentator but who wouldn’t have clenched a fist and punched the air today when they heard that Iraq had won the Asian Cup with a team Sunnis, Shias, Kurds and Turkomans.  Giving you something to shout about when nothing else seems to be going your way is what this sport is all about.  Seeing the pictures of people celebrating in Baghdad today I almost wanted to be there with them.  Good for you guys, good for you.

Predictions are dangerous things. I confidently said that last season would be Fergie’s last and that we would struggle to finish fifth. I also grumbled loudly about the sale of Van Nistelrooy, ‘where are the goals going to come from?’, and the purchase of Michael ‘the crab’ Carrick for £18m. I did in fact think that if he was worth that much then perhaps I myself might be worth a couple of grand and that I should probably go for a trial.

I am happy to be proved wrong by Mr. Ferguson but admit that I am yet to be completely convinced about Carrick’s contribution to the team.

So what is going to happen this season? Despite the money we have already spent I think it is actually going to be more difficult. We have not looked all powerful against Arsenal Chelsea or Liverpool for a while and the importance of the games against those three will be even more massive than usual.

I feel that we have a responsibility to the sport to beat Chelsea and Liverpool, in particular, to the trophies and I expect them to both provide strong challenges this time out. It is, probably still, a year too early for Arsenal but Wenger should never be underestimated. If Chelsea can win the league and Liverpool the European Cup playing the game they play then entire game is in serious trouble.

I expect Liverpool to be strong this year and Chelsea will be like a wounded beast in the league. It is important that somebody, preferably us, beats them at Stamford Bridge soon. Liverpool, as we know, are desperate for the championship. It is critical, critical, critical that they do not get there. We cannot allow the smuggest fans in the world to become an smugger. So there we have it, it is our duty to win the league for the good of the sport in general, the thought of either of those two winning leaves a sickening feeling in my stomach.

Again it’s important for us not to get too excited. We seem to have spent the national debt on recruiting the world’s finest young players this summer, we’ve done it out of the blue and left all of our enemies in our wake. Or at the least that’s the way the Sun are reporting it.
Much as I like what I see of Nani and Anderson on Youtube I will probably reserve my judgements on them until I see how they handle John Terry bearing down on them with a battleaxe as he is bound to do in September at Stamford Bridge.

They are basically unproven at the highest level but the words Kleberson and Forlorn ping around my head every time I hear how great they are ging to be. Fifty million quid is a lot of money.
I’ll talk about the Tevez thing if and when he arrives but it does seem like Fergie is intent on having a go this year.

Hargreaves should be good, proven in the Champions league, performed as well as any of our other players at last year’s world cup and he’s dug his heels in to move here. Sounds like my kind of guy. He also seems like the kind of dude who, once given his job, will get on with it no complaints. United need this kind of attitude, for once I have high hopes.