My own club transfer window evaluation

It's been a surreal week for me in terms of not only personal but also as a Manchester United fan. You never generally have this level of excitement in a transfer season when you are this team's fan. And it tells how the club fell in terms of overall talent in the squad. But that is just partly the reason.

Manchester United have never had the history of spending so big in a single transfer window which is commonly found for clubs like Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barceelona and PSG. These clubs have the big money to spend on through their owners. The Glazers on the other hand have always brought debt rather than money to the club which is also one of the reasons for the downfall. Now since we are talking about the big transfer window, let's look into it a bit closely.

We made 6 supposed big transfers in terms of not only quality but the also the requirement for some positions the club had after the departures. Now, the departures, god, that's a long list. Let's start of with the old guard - Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs (retired) . I still remember 2007 when the first three became the core of the defense. Barring injuries and suspensions, this was a very stable defense. Although as age caught on to them, you knew they had to leave some time. But then, most expected it to be a smooth transition. And normally, you would think of keeping one or two and getting young talent in so that the newcomers can settle in quickly. But, then the club lets all the three leave which was very surprising. Although, letting Evra go was out of respect for service he gave to the club, it is still baffling to see the amount of experience we let go. Add, to that not getting suitable replacements for everyone, or at least getting some experienced backup in the squad.

Apart from that, the departure that fans really loved was that of Tom Cleverly, and to be honest, I was one of them. I was impressed with Tom Cleverly after he came back from his loan spell at Wigan Athletic and really looked the deal in the first team squad. But that was just for a few games. My understanding was that, since the injury he had in the Bolton game in 2011/12 was serious, it would take him a bit of time to get back 100%. But then, after that, he never really came back. Fans saw a few bursts. But that was about it. Even then, the amount of abuse he has had is way over the top. Criticizing is one thing, but abuse is just plain wrong. No player deserves that regardless of how he plays. But then, now each of the fans hope that either he comes back as a better player or doesn't come back at all.

Danny Welbeck, was, in my terms, a good transfer for Arsenal. Mainly because of their style of play. The idea of a striker for fans is that a striker must score a lot of goals and Welbeck has the ability to but may not necessarily return many goals. The link up play on the other hand is fantastic and with the midfield Arsenal have, it will be no surprise to see Danny Welbeck perform well there. But, it is always disappointing to see any academy player leave the club.

Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez. I still remember the decider Chelsea game in his first season. I got a bit late in reaching home and by the time I reached, he had already scored within the first minute. Chicharito had both sides of the coin in him, the excitement as well as the disappointments. The fans loved the player who could score a lot of poacher goals. But, since the start of last season, regardless of how many opportunities he got, his poaching ability has just not been up to the mark. At times, he looked totally out of sorts, like someone needing help. So, in that matter I agree that a change of scenario was required. Given that, I am still not sure Real Madrid was the answer.  Given that he's still young and can still grow, there's not much room for development in that club. Looking at that, he is still a player who could have developed a lot but then lack of opportunities and then not taking them prevented him from becoming a regular starter. As a fan, I hope that he gets his scoring touch and the ever so potent poacher instinct back at Real Madrid. The other transfers of the window had to be done.  But then again, there are some players present in the squad that have to leave mainly because of the performances. Popular among those are Ashley Young and Anderson. Fans can only hope for it to happen as soon as possible.

The signings on the other hand were, in some parts, excellent and in some other ways, surprising. You generally at signings like Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw as quality and ones for the future. Daley Blind, at 14m, in my opinion is a steal. People, search for videos on him on youtube and you will understand what I mean. The player has talent and one of the necessities the club needed. Marcos Rojo is a signing which can either become a steal or can prove expensive. It all depends on how he develops. The two big transfers of the window - Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao. Now, from march till july, everyone around the world, but mostly non-united fans were confident that Manchester United would not be able to attract big players. A lot of the club fans too had the same opinion. So, for that reason, it certainly looks surprising but also amazing. To be able to get such world class players without actually being in europe is a huge thing for any club. Plus, the club played well by giving them numbers 7 and 9 as all the fans have a sentimental feeling towards them.

But then again, the overall window looks quite unstable considering what we lost and not really replacing all of them. Louis Van Gaal has always been known to be a genius and somewhat of a risk taker. So I don't think the fans would be too worried of that. It does seem as though our attack is going to be the best form of defense with the array of talent like Mata, Di Maria, Falcao, Rooney, Van Persie and Januzaj. It is a kind of talent most teams will fear. There are still doubts about the way the team will set up. There is a possibility one or two might be dropped. But, there is a belief that LVG will pull this out. Only time will tell whether all of this works out. As fans, for now, all we can do is Hope.

The case of an unknown future

Well, I think I finally know how this blog is gonna be in terms of regular posts. I always thought that I should write about the things I am most curious and certainly interested about. One of those things - Manchester United.

It's the year 2014. Now, most of the fans around the world know the club for it's success. It did come as a shock to many, and to a certain extent, even me that this declined to such a low in amazingly less amount of time, which brings to my point - What happens next?

Over the past couple of weeks, we saw a couple of transfers coming in while some of the so called "dead weight" finally moving on. So far, the club has had 4 transfers and yet, the team still looks shaky. Although, it will be interesting to see how the signings fit in and how fast they adjust to the scenario. If you ignore the recent results, one thing is for certain - there is progress.

Now people might wonder what do I mean by progress. Well I would tell them to simply look at the players signed, their positions and their quality. Adding to that, from what I saw at the World cup this summer, Louis Van Gaal is a manager who always has a plan. Whether it be for the player management, tactics, team structure and even the opposition. Take the Krul substitution  as an example. To be able to make sure that the backup keeper is ready for such situations and to make such a decision in a pressure environment. People may think it's a fluke by looking at it from the outset. But what if, it was all planned. I admit that it is mere speculation. But it can be very intriguing to watch a Van Gaal side play.

But, then Manchester United are a fractured club. An Iconic structure that is stuck between it's fundamentals and the emerging new trends. It has been following the the structure of maintaining the youth system as well as bringing in players. People who saw the MK Dons might have felt it. A part of this structure is crumbling. The question everyone following this club always ask "When will the next Class of 92 come through the club academy?" That is a difficult question to answer. It may be a bit harsh on the young players, but it is a point to be noted that the standards have dropped.

On the other hand, the talent Herrera, Shaw, Di Maria and Rojo bring in is huge. If fit for long periods of time, these players have the talent to change the fortunes of the club. Although there are some problems that are still needed to be looked at. It's a big step in the right direction. But, there in may also lie the problem. Is the club's youth system crumbling? As a huge admirer of the club, I certainly hope not. But recent amount of transfers beg to differ.

But, then again, this is just the start of the tenure of Van Gaal. And as history suggests, he is more like Sir Alex Ferguson who would put his faith on the youth of the club which gives fans a lot of hope. Only time will tell whether LVG will bring success or not in terms of not only winning trophies but building a structure at the club that can last for decades. Only time will tell. Till then, it is an unknown future for Manchester United fans.

The Brilliant Idea of "Form 7".... or so we thought

It's been a day after the voting was conducted in Mumbai. And today morning was the time to check how we fared to 5 years ago in terms of number of people coming to vote. It was good to see an increase in voters. But that increase hides the fact that the overall turnout of 50% is still very low. And this comes after there were numerous articles stating that people with non-voter ids will be able to register on the spot by filling the so called "Form 7". Or so we thought.

As my friends were eager to give a vote, I thought,  as a good citizen of this country, I should inform the things I know. As some of them didn't have a voter id, I thought it would be best for them to register on the spot. Also, when I first read about it, I thought it was an amazing idea and would really help in bringing more people to vote. And thus, we went to the polling station that was close to our place, and as many of us saw that we were on this, gave our vote. Surprisingly, when we asked about the "Form 7" and that some of us didn't have a voter id and that they wanted to vote, the officials present gave one answer in their typical tone "List madhe naav naahi tar naahi hou shakat" (If your name is not on the list then it's not possible). When we asked about the Form 7, they didn't have any clue what it was and also said that we were wasting their time. Then, I thought most areas may not have been informed about this, so I tried to make them understand what it was. Instead of help, they started with a ton of abuses and was told to get lost.

Suddenly, one of them had a soft heart and said there are political party cards given at every flat in your area. If you have that, then it's possible or you can go to a party and create a new one. It was astonishing at how ignorant most of them were. So, we tried to find out about the political party cards. Even that was only with those who had registered for the voter id a few months back. To those who think everyone is just not willing to come out to vote, we tried our best but the authorities just didn't let us. Overall,I thought that the way the voting was handled was thoroughly disappointing.

Football clubs and their affairs with the so called "sack"

This may sound like people who don't really have a clue about football may not understand this. But the truth is, if written in a normal language, people may be able to relate this to their field. So, let's see..

Football is a sport built on the fact that there's always a team of 11 which is handled by a coach or a manager. The bigger the stage, the more it is that the manager has to do. Sometimes it becomes to great for the person to handle. This also varies from country to country. While in some of the biggest countries in the world, the managers for both club and country tend to always come under a lot of scrutiny. Which is probably the obvious thing as the football in these countries has been followed in such large numbers all over the world. England and Spain probably are the most sought after.

Generally, in football, like any other firms or even any sport, one of the most important factor is stability. That comes when you have a certain number of people always there working through the years, no matter what success or failure. Same is the case for football. If you have a manager who has been there for 26 years, and then the firm is forced to have a change because of retirement or any other reason, you tend to think that the successor should be given time to adjust and try to understand what it takes to succeed at that particular firm. He may fail, probably bring forth a huge crisis, but, given a certain period of time, he may be able to succeed.

Sir Alex Ferguson was the manager of Manchester United Football Club for more than 26 years. Being the manager for such a long time shows the true value of stability. He retired, was given a brilliant farewell, chose his own successor. Oh wait, yes, you heard it right. He chose the person named 'David Moyes'. He was a manager at a club called "Everton Football Club". This person wasn't really at a big club. As a matter of fact, he never won a trophy with that club. (For those who don't understand, winning a trophy is generally termed as success in Football) And thus began the journey towards the unknown, the uncertainty of success. Since it was such a long time, you never know what might happen. 10 months on, there's a probablity that he will get the "sack" or in normal terms, fired.

This is a bit of a shock considering its just been 10 months. If you compare that with the 26 and a half years before it, its not much. This brings the question I really want to ask - Is sacking really worth it? As a fellow Manchester United fan, even I understand that the quality of play has been poor and there has not been much to really look forward to. But understand this, a club can really reach greatness if there is stability. There has always been sacking, or you can say firing someone. Even in various companies, its not easy for them to work smoothly after firing someone on a higher position. You can say that this is pretty similar.

Aside from Manchester United, there are various football clubs which are prime examples of instability. Chelsea and Manchester City being prime examples. People may think that its easier to just change if you have the money. But it doesn't work all the time. There will always be a time when the club will fail miserably. For Manchester United, this probably might have been the time. If the manager is sacked, its just states that Manchester United have also joined the love affair with the sack. It may look like the best option at time, but its not the smartest and certainly at times, it may look the ugliest.

People and their notions about what it means to succeed (Social networking style)

I have been trying to start writing for the past 20 minutes. Its not really easy to suddenly come up with something. This is something I have learnt over the past few years. And it gets tougher every passing year. And somehow, I get the feeling that its better to just write out whatever the f*ck you want to say and be done with it. So let's begin...

Social networking has become a cobweb around many people's lives. It's so tight that there's no way out for anyone who has snuck into it. For people who think I have become a philosopher or something, you may want to know that I also am a part of this cobweb. Social networking websites like facebook, twitter. instagram and even blogging sites have created a notion that its important to become famous or as people say, be known to as many people in this world as possible. This can also be termed as "success" or "happiness". I say happiness because of the fact that somehow people "liking photos" or "sharing their posts" means a lot and makes people happy. I realized that only after I felt that emotion. This belief that social media has the might to make every person reach heights they have never seen before may actually be part true. I say part true because of the fact that it can really get into the heads portray a mirage of success which may look big, but really is smaller than where they actually stood in terms of success. The social media has evolutionized from being just a socialising tool to something so big that it has become really hard to contain. But there is also a fear that such a size can really make people hallucinate and suddenly, you see it becoming the sole purpose of your life.