The Southampton Story

We all love an underdog, someone who just won't back down despite all odds stacked against them, someone who takes on the mighty and powerful with brevity and continues to march on. Southampton have a similar story to tell, a story that has captured the hearts and minds of all those involved with the beautiful game we call football.

  Southampton headed into the new season with as many as seven new players in the squad, including a new manager in the form of Ronald Koeman. The summer of 2014 saw a large exodus of players from the seaside town; Lallana, Shaw, Lambert, Chambers all made way for bigger and better things and Pochettino packed his bags off to Tottenham. The very crux of the team, that had taken years to grow and develop dissolved in a matter of days. They lost key leaders in the form of Lovren and Lallana and players who symbolized the club and its philosophy such as Shaw and Chambers. It is the equivalent of the Beatles losing John and Paul! But the summer will hold a very special place in the hearts of the Saints fans, for it saw the arrival of a certain Graziano Pelle to St. Marys

No one had heard of him before Southmapton signed from Feyenoord, but nine goals and a spectacular over head kick later, he became one of the most talked about strikers in the league. Pelle's record at Feyenoord is sublime, 57 goals in two seasons, its a surprise no other clubs snapped him up sooner. The big Italian has been creating havoc upfront and his daunting demeanor and skillful footwork has been crucial to his exploits. Another man who has been giving defenders nightmares is Dusan Tadic, the Serbian has already notched up six assists for himself and has struck up a good partnership with Pelle. He is the man who has made Southampton fans forget about Adam Lallana

Koeman has been very shrewd in his dealings in the transfer market, and has signed players who have the guile and the skill to perform for the club. Without spending truck loads of money, the Dutchman has brought in young and exciting talent, and has efficient in his dealings. Ryan Bertrand has been fantastic all season; with Bertrand it was all ways a case of being played out of position but under Koeman he has really come into his own and will be hoping to seal a permanent transfer to the club. Fraser Forster looks more assured than the unreliable Gazzaniga between the sticks, and the lanky Englishman has been good without being great. But, possibly the greatest job done by Ronald Koeman was to keep hold off Morgan Schneiderlin

The Frenchman was adamant to leave Southampton in the summer,and despite putting in a transfer request, he was made to stay. So far, he was been exceptional for the Saints, executing that holding role he is renowned for perfectly but has also added to his goals tally, something he has struggled with in previous seasons. The Southampton midfield hs become very tough to break down, with warriors in the form of Wanyama and Schneiderlin guarding it. Nathaliel Clyne has finally broken out from the under the shadows of Chambers and Shaw and his impressive performances could lead to an England cap from Roy Hodgson. Also, how can one forget his thunderbolt against Arsenal? One needs to be reminded that the Saints still have Jay Rodriguez still waiting to come back from his injury, the thought of a strike force of Tadic, Pelle and Rodriguez will be driving Southampton fans crazy with ecstasy

Apart from the obvious skill in the team, it is team spirit and togetherness that has taken Southampton to the heights they have scaled so far. Koeman has instilled fresh belief in the squad and has kept the squad upbeat and positive. It is always hard to claw your way  back up to the ground after losing big players from the team; one look at Arsenal's 2012-2013 season should give you sufficient proof of the same.

It is to be seen if Southampton can keep up their good form and possibly challenge for a place on Europe. Consistency is the name of the game of course, and Southampton will be keen to rectify the mistakes they made last year at a similar position. They are the team every neutral fan is backing,and it will be hoped that the Saints continue to march on.  

Reawakening of the Blue Lion

It's been only 5 games into the Premier League, and Chelsea is already being tipped to win the League. It is still early days but if the Blues do keep their scintillating start to the season, one can only wonder to what heights Mourinho will take this Chelsea side.

To me, Chelsea were the clear winners in the Summer transfer window, they got all their business done well before Deadline Day and in Diego Costa they look to have made one of the signings of the season. The striker has been an instant hit in West London and has adapted well to the Premier League. It was the striking options that lost Chelsea the title last year, and the current striking line up of Costa, Remy and Schuerrle looks much stronger than one of Torres, Ba and Eto'o. Diego Costa has looked sharp and clinical so far, as was evident from his spell bounding performance at Goodison Park, with his 2nd goal displaying all his class. Loec Remy will play an equally important role for Mourinho this year, Costa might be grabbing the headlines but it will be Remy who will get the goals on a cold windy night at Stoke. He is a clever striker and at 10 million Chelsea has got themselves a good deal. 

Cesc Fabregas's arrival at the Bridge sent shock waves all across the footballing fraternity and Gooners all over the world spewed hatred and fumed at this 'betrayal' by their star. It is still difficult to get accustomed to the Spaniard in his blue attire. Fabregas was brought in to fill in the void created by the departures of two fan favourites in the form of Juan Mata and Frank Lampard. Fabregas will have to win the Blues fans over, especially after all those derogatory statements he made against them when with Arsenal. But, the early signs have looked good, and Cesc has been good without being great, although I will grudgingly admit that his pass for Schuerrle against Burnley was beautiful! Fabregas will bring in bags of Premier League experience and will be the creative mastermind for the Men in Blue. Hazard, Oscar and Willian will all thrive playing along the ex Barca man, what with his sublime movement and a wide array of passes. 

One of the main striking features of Chelsea this year is their fluidity; hard as it may be to believe, but Chelsea are sure playing some very attractive football . Last year, they were described as drab and boring, but this time round they have been anything but that. There is finally someone to get on the end of Eden Hazard's crosses and the agile Belgian is looking as devastating as ever. Chelsea are passing the ball around more and one big noticeable change is that the ball remains on the ground more, making them easier on the eye. Nemanja Matic has been Chelsea's silent assassin and adds the steel and power to the midfield. Defense has never been a problem for Mourinho and the centre back partneship of Cahill and Terry is reminiscent of that of Vidic and Ferdinand in their hay days for United. Their form has been almost frighteningly good, killing off teams with apparent ease, scoring goals for fun. 

Confidence is running high among the fans and players, and it doesn't seem anytime soon that the wheels will fall of off their bandwagon. Their form is comparable to that of Man City 2 years ago, when it seemed like they were winning every game scoring four or five goals. Mourinho has re invigorated his team and is not going to leave any stone unturned in their quest for ultimate glory

The Wayward Wizard

Jack Wilshere, once upon a time, tipped to be the ' The next Big Thing' ,  expected to fill into the shoes of Steven Gerrard for the national team and lead Arsenal and England to success on the big stage, but the midfielder from Stevenage has fallen behind since, and has lost out on his starting place for both club and country.

The drive, the passion, the desire, expressions that you would automatically associate with Wilshere all seem to have gone missing. Those driving runs from the center of the park, those beautiful, Scholes-like pinged balls, and those inch perfect passes all seem like things from the past. Wilshere's problems have continued off the field as well, getting caught smoking TWICE, excessive partying to name a few. He has been developing a bit of a bad boy image and Wenger and Hodgson will be taking note of his latest antics.

Wilshere was a firm fan favourite. Local boy, came through the Arsenal Academy and made his debut at the tender age of sixteen , giving it his all in every appearance , Wilshere possessed the rare talent of getting the fans off their seats every time he came on the ball. You could see how much it meant to him to play for Arsenal, to play for the club of his dreams. He was the DNA of the side, a player who all Arsenal fans immediately associated with themselves.He was a player but first a fan. Jack Wilshere was Arsenal personified. He had a fire in him, one that could be seen in his eyes and identified in the way he played, almost Fabregasesque. Those tears after the loss to Bayern in the Champions League in 2012, stole the heart of every Arsenal fan . Jack was one of our own. 

There were games where he single handedly pulled us across the finishing line, games where he was the oasis in the desert, the ray of sunshine on a somber day. Check out some of his videos against Liverpool and Newcastle in the 2012-2013 season and you will know what I am talking about. He took the game by the scruff of its neck and asserted his authority in centre the park. He had Steven Gerrard in his pocket in that game against Liverpool. If you told me then, that one year on Wilshere would be in the bench for the FA Cup final and will be a substitute in the World Cup Finals, I would have had a good hearty chuckle. As it turns out, I didn't have the last laugh.

The slump started in early 2013, after Wilshere's return from yet another injury problem, that kept him out for 3 weeks. He made his comeback against Norwich, and after that performance I remember thinking that this was just an off day for him, and our man would be back soon. Who knew that these were the performances we would have to get used to from our number 10? He has lost that burst of speed that was valued so high, all his passes are sideways, no penetrating through balls, no more audacious long range shots and the lesser the said about his goals, the better. A total of 6 goals in two seasons is less that impressive.  Paul Scholes rightly said that Wilshere hasn't improved since he was nineteen, I will go further and say that he might have become worse. Tony Adams was spot on , when pointing out that the the arrival of Mesut Ozil should be taken as an insult by Wilshere. He seems a very jaded figure on the pitch, almost in reticence. He is no longer the man Arsenal turn to when they are down, Ramsey has long taken that place. Mentally, he seems to be in a different world, meandering around the field, not sure what he is doing there.  

The talent and skill is still present, as was visible from that exquisite goal against Norwich City. We fans still love him, but we loved the older version more. Come on Jack, show us that magic you posses, show us you are as good as ever, we all miss that nineteen year old who gave Xavi and Co a lesson in midfield on ' That night' in the Emirates. 

Living the Dream

Deadline day. Summer transfer Window. 2013. The day Arsene Wenger finally splashed the cash and brought Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid to Arsenal for a sizable amount. But the news that dominated the headlines the next morning was the other bit of transfer news, again involving Real Madrid and North London.

The long transfer saga involving Gareth Bale and Real Madrid had finally come to an end with the a deal finally being agreed for the meager 100 million euros. The Gareth Bale- Real Madrid affair had been the top story for quite sometime, will he go or will he stay  ? Comparisons can be drawn with Cesc Fabregas's move to Barcelona, the transfer rumours continued the whole summer and became quite tedious towards the end, with the negotiations becoming quite messy. Everyone knew Madrid are a rich and ambitious club but no one expected them to shell out 100 million for the Welshman.

Being an Arsenal fan, I was never too fond of Bale for obvious reasons, and thought that he wasn't worth even half of what Tottenham were receiving, and wasn't the only one with this opinion. Despite a goal on his debut, Bale had a rocky start to life in Madrid with constant injury problems and lacking fitness. His first El Clasico, a big stage to show the world that he was worth the money paid for him, ended poorly with him having no impact on the game and was subbed of at the hour mark. He seemed very out of place and almost too eager to impress.

If he hadn't moved for such a sizable amount, things would have been different, but with the 100 million price tag everyone expected him to score and perform each and every game, he wasn't given any time to settle in. It wasn't only the Spanish media keeping a close watch on him, the English media too kept him under close scrutiny, they still considered him their own.Winning over the Real Madrid fans isn't an easy job, even the likes of Ronaldo have fully won them over recently, what chance did Bale have then? I personally didn't think Bale was up to the job and would buckle under the expectations and pressure and would soon make a quick return back to the Premier League. Boy! was I wrong!!

His performances soon started to improve and he started to get among the goals and started settling into the team. But a slight slump in form followed and his place was taken up by the highly impressive Jese and Bale's appearances were restricted to the bench. But a long term injury to Jese put Bale back in the fray, who wasn't going to throw away this chance. The goals started to flow again and we were soon seeing shades of the Gareth Bale we knew all too well from last season. He became an integral part of the team and his pace and agility became a vital asset to the team's counter attacking style. 

The goal that made people sit up and realize what he was all about was in the Copa Del Ray final. Scoring a wonder goal against Barcelona in the final five minutes of the Copa Del Ray Final, it doesn't get much better than that. The speed and strength shown to beat Bartra was truly spectacular, and him charging down the left wing towards Bartra's goal was almost like a bull charging down towards the red flag being waved at him. With Ronaldo out injured, it was up to Bale to take up responsibility, and he sure did so, with some style too.  He had come a log way from that Clasico in the Camp Nou, that night in Valencia re defined Gareth Bale forever. 

Bale's passion and love for Real Madrid is what stands out. Every time he goes out to play, you can see the desire, the willpower in is eyes. He almost seems in awe of all the players he plays along with and how much it means to him to wear that famous white jersey. He seems so overwhelmed by Real Madrid and I think sometimes has to pinch himself to make sure that he is plying his trade in the biggest club on the planet  His performances and passion haven't gone amiss by the fans, and his fan base increases by the day. I am certainly a Gareth Bale fan now. The move to Madrid has taken him from the status of wonder kid to superstar.

His Champions League final goal was scrappy to the say least, but he won't score a more important goal in his career. The joy and ecstasy on his face was more than visible, scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final for the club you supported as a child is the stuff of dreams. Marcelo and Ronaldo's goals took the gloss off his headed goal, but in a Champions League final such things don't matter. If you opened the BBC sports page, it would seem that Gareth Bale had won the Champions League , not Real Madrid. Gareth Bale is still a young child from Wales living the dream with the club of his heart.

Stronger, Faster, Younger

Every four years the British press gives the England Football Team the label as favourites, and start making claims about how this time round the Three Lions will clinch the cup, but their record of no semi final appearance since 1990 speaks for itself. But the fans as always remain optimistic about their chances, and this year is no exception.

Hodgson has been quite brave in his selection for the 23 travelling to Brazil, with youngsters like Barkley and Shaw who have only a year of Premier League experience included in the squad. It will be the first World Cup for as many as 15 players in his squad of 23. In his last major tournament, Hodgson faced many injury problems while selecting his squad for Euro 2012, with Lampard, Barry, Cahill all missing out. Added to this , Rooney wasn't available for the first two games, so Hodgson had to make inclusions who otherwise wouldn't have mad the cut . Luckily for the Word Cup, he doesn't face any such injury crisis , with Theo Walcott being the only one in the injury list. 

England's strongest area is their midfield and Hodgson has enough talent to choose from for his starting XI. Barkley, Lallana, Henderson are all coming off an excellent campaign in the Premier League , and Hodgson will be hoping to reap the benefits of their fine form in the World Cup. Lampard and Gerrard will add the extra experience and steel in the centre of the park. In Euro 2012, Milner was deployed on the wings and although he worked his socks off , he just didn't have the speed required for playing out wide. My guess, is that Sterling and Chamberlain will be the wide men for England , and their speed and ability to put balls in the box will serve the strike force well.

It is the defence that is weak, out of the 7 defenders selected, only Baines and Shaw have had good season's with their respective clubs. Glen Johnson is more attack minded, Smalling's is prone to mistakes and Phil Jones is too inconsistent. What the defence lacks is a leader, someone like a Puyol or Terry to marshal the defence. The England defenders were completely  blown away by Germany's speed and agility in 2010; the likes of Cahill and Jagielka will have to be at their best to keep England in the running.

England's group is the toughest out of the eight. Italy are a compact side, with a defence that can't be broken apart easily, and also the Italian's have a psychological advantage, getting the better of the Three Lions in the Euro's. Uruguay have a strike force comprising of Cavani, Suarez , Hamsik and Forlan and made it to the semi final's last year; Zico, the Brazilain legend even called them the dark horses of the World Cup. The fourth team is Costa Rica, a relatively easy team but certainly shouldn't be over looked. 

England will be hoping to finally break the quarter final jinx and make a push for the elusive golden trophy. It is to be seen if the Three Lions will roar again and if for nobody else, they do it for their loyal fans

                                 

A Class Act

Old Trafford was crackling with excitement and anticipation, the fans were abuzz and and even the players seemed a little bit extra pumped up. The cheer and applause when Ryan Giggs walked out of the tunnel , as he had done for the last so many years was deafening, but today was different, today  was the first time he walked out as the manager of Manchester United. 

As 70,000 pairs of eyes followed his walk to the dugout, and fans cheered him on, the forty one year old who must have experienced such an atmosphere countless times before, couldn't resist a smile as he took his place in the manager's seat. In the dugout, he was accompanied by Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville, part of the legendary Class of 92. The players seemed to have an extra leap in their stride and Manchester United were at there clinical best with a resounding 4-0 win over relegation threatened Norwich. Old Trafford  reached decibels it has failed to reach in recent times yesterday, with chants that hadn't been heard in while now, once again started to ring around the Theater of Dreams. For a while, the recent problems looming over their club were forgotten, and the red part of Manchester finally united to give Giggs a reception worthy for kings.

What a week it has been for Manchester United, losing at the hands of Everton, Moyes getting sacked and the Class of 92 taking over. Moyes's sacking send ripples all around the footballing world, I didn't expect a club of the stature of United to sack a manager to whom they had given a six year contract in 10 months. Stepping into the boots of Sir Alex was always going to be difficult , and even the top managers in the world would have had a run for their money. Sacking Moyes was a mistake but appointing him a bigger one. You don't make a person, who has not won a single trophy in his entire managerial career and who's only experience in the Champions League is two qualifiers against Villareal,  the manager of Manchester United. Moyes lacked the mentality to be a manager of such a high profile club, and just didn't have the winning mentality to carry out such a job. But if  you have chosen him, you don't sack him before he has completed  even one season 

The Class of 92 taking over almost seemed inevitable , but it has caused great excitement , none more so in the United camp, imagine a training session watched over by Scholes and Giggs. They will all command the highest of respect from the players, which wasn't the case with Moyes, with many players questioning his training methods and also his CV. But it will still take some time for the players to get accustomed to taking orders from Giggs, who until Sunday was team member. It's a bit like taking orders in school from a friend who has been made prefect, you joke around with him, but in the end know that he has full authority. He will know what exactly the players feel, being one at the club for 23 years, and what they expect and want from a manager. Giggs and co will be able to get the best out of players like Cleverly and Kagawa.

                                

The decision to appoint Giggs was one well received by the fans, one of their own was going to be taking over their club. The game must have passed in a blur for Giggs, but will live long in the minds of the United faithful. United have had a treacherous season this year, but despite bad form in recent times, the result on Saturday seemed as if it had been decided before, there was no way United could lose. Giggs chose an attacking side, that was very easy on the eyes and yesterday , for the first time this season they played like former champions !  It is still unknown if Giggs will be given the post permanently, or if someone like Van Gaal will take over, and what the future is for United but one thing is certain, the remaining two games of the season are going to eventful for the fans, and more so for the players. 

A Special Breed

So, I was travelling in an auto the other day, when I started thinking about the importance of autos in our lives and what interesting characters these auto-drivers are.

Auto drivers belong to a totally different breed, who show as much interest in their job as I show in politics, which is minimal to say the least. These guys carry over 100  people every day, to different places in the city, but will never have five Rupees change. The auto drivers are the kings of the road; they ride on footpaths, they spit wherever they want, and choose their passengers. Trust me, getting rejected by an auto driver is not a nice experience, but not half as bad as trying to hail down an auto ,only to find it already has an occupant!! In all the times I have traveled by auto, not once have I seen an auto driver admit to a mistake on the road, insulting and mouthing off the driver of the car he has hit seems a better option. When you are travelling in an auto, and he breaks a traffic rule to save time, you bless him, but if the same thing is done when you are sharing the road with him, he is cursed to no extent

Auto drivers are in fact very aware citizens ,and form an integral part of our society. This summer, I went to Delhi, for a week and used the autos extensively to get around the city. One thing that struck me was how up to date the auto drivers were with the whole political scenario , and were up to date with all the ongoing's in the Government. My parents had a good 20 minute discussion with one auto driver about whether a "Modi Sarkaar" would be formed or not, and he was just as knowledgeable as any of us, and raised points that were more relevant than the ones raised by the panelists on the Newshour debate. These guys were very sure they were going to vote and who they wanted to vote for, and their vote wasn't based on past achievements of the party. This other time when we came across a monument in the city and didn't know what it was, the auto guy told what exactly it was, when it was built and who built it.

Over the years, I have had many interesting experiences . There was this one time when I had to go buy some materials for a school project, and by the time I started to head home the Sun had set. After much difficulty I got an auto that was ready to take me home for a reasonable price . Next thing I know he takes a detour saying he needs to pick up someone, and says he will drop me immediately after that, and a minute later I have an unknown lady sitting next to me, and to make things worse, she starts to cry. That useless auto driver didn't even drop me home, he made me walk the last 50 meters home and took the same amount of money. This other time when the driver refused to take my 10 rupee note because there was a small pen mark on the corner of the note and I had to negotiate with him for nearly 15 minutes.

These guys never follow the meter, listen to loud music on their radios,  never clean their auto and basically live life on their own terms, and don't care what others think. But in the end , without them we cannot survive. This idea to write about autos' came to me when travelling in one, and I had collected all my thoughts by the time I neared home, when suddenly the auto was brought to a screeching halt, sending my thoughts in frenzy, my father and I shared a quizzical look, and the driver turned around with a mischievous grin spread across his face and raised his little finger, and went to the wall near the road and did his "job". Just when I thought I had seen everything about auto drivers!!