So what’s up?

Since I last wrote…Fergie finally knocked the Scouse bastards off their perch, lost yet another European Cup to the logical impossibility that is El Messiah. Pretty much business as usual these days at Manchester United. Whatever. We got that 19th title. That’s why most of us Red Devils have been watching for years hasn’t it?

More significantly, we lost the pillars that have defined this club for decades. First to go was Gary Neville, born Red, retired Red, ever reliable. Then, Edwin Van Der Sar, our Dutch giant that finally replaced that seemingly irreplaceable Danish Giant. Lastly, the one who I was most devastated about, Old Trafford’s finest, our one and only ginger prince, Paul Scholes. I thought I was feeling pain when I saw Becks, Butt, and Phil leave. But these guys retired here, and that made it so much worse. But I won’t get further into that as I have mourned weeks for them and thinking more about it will only depress me further.

In brighter news, we acquired the future of Manchester last year in Javier “can score with my ass hair” Hernandez, Chris “swear I’m only 21″ Smalling and Anders“whothefuckisthisguy”Lindgaard. We banished Bebe“yeah, i’m really just a hobo”nolastname to Turkey, and released Owen“i can run now, check youtube“Hargreaves. Sick of these middle names in quotations yet? Cuz I’m not done yet. Don’t worry, it’ll catch you by surprise.

This summer the Glazers really showed that they could give a rats ass about our $1.5 billion debt, and Sir Alex brought in Phil Jones and Ashley Young. Good signings, I’m really happy about them. Having the Young Lions center half pairing in the same team is genius. Leave it up to Sir Alex to make that happen. Ashley Young’s arrival was inevitable, but it remains to be seen whether an agreeable rotation to all the ambitions of our wingers can be created. Giggs and Park have the experience and effectiveness, Nani has our x-factor, Valencia our consistency, and now Ashley “Ihaveachick’sname” Young. We’ll see what happens but I am nervous about this.

In the 15 odd transfers seasons I have seen as a fan, this has proven to be the most annoying. At some point, Sandro Rosell needs to pay 15 million pounds to own Fabregas’s waist to legs, while Wenger can keep his head to abdomen. That’s probably the only acceptable deal at this point. While the French Voyeur/Pedo continues to pleasure himself with how many tween wingers he can stockpile before August 30th, Chris Samba will stay at Blackburn, Gary Cahill at Bolton, and the Gunners will not qualify for Europa League at the end of the upcoming season.

No genie comin out of that bottle.

More to come as the new seasons of EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 draw near (cuz really, who gives a shit anymore about the Italians), but all I can say at this point, is that it has been an amazing 12 months of soccer, and I hope to document the upcoming 12 months to the best of my ability.

 

I’m back

So I checked back in here after a long hiatus brought on by the stresses of life. I genuinely enjoyed writing on this last year, but steadily become discouraged as this in itself became a stress. Thinking about the world of football has become so natural, and a large part of me, but I came to realize how easy it is to daydream and muse about it, versus actually putting down cogent thoughts on a blog. Fearing criticism of poor writing, it eventually turned from hobby to burden. What I imagined would only take half an hour a day turned into two-three hour endeavors to make sure whatever I wrote read well. So I stopped.

I logged in tonight out of curiosity, only to find a inbox with some 53 new messages. I was so shocked, and flattered at the comments and responses I had  received. There were actually people out there who had been kind enough to read my stuff. For those of you who indulged me in doing so, I cannot thank you enough for your insights and kind words.

It is in this spirit that I think maybe its time for me to do this again. I won’t strive so much for propriety or great penmanship from this point. It’s the only way I will continue to enjoy this and sustain a rare writing habit for a long time. Please check back in once in a while, and I hope that perhaps my perspective on this new upcoming football season will interest some of you. With much appreciation in advance – Darren.