Life of an Arsenal Fan...

It is really becoming difficult day-by-day during this transfer window to tell others that I am a big Arsenal Fan. When my Friends with whom I play football during weekends starts talking about the transfers that their clubs made so far, I am not able to tell anything from my end.Everyday I hope that Arsenal will announce signing of a big player so that I can defend myself in the coming weekend from my friends. Do we really have the proclaimed $70m transfer kitty?

Signing for the future

The only official signing of Arsenal so far this season is again an Youngster from France "Yaya Sanogo". He is a regular striker for France at U-21 level which won the recently concluded World Cup. I have seen some of the matches which France played in that tournament and to be frank he is a signing for the future. He is tall,technically sound,good first touch and good finishing skills as well. Is he the one Arsenal needs now? NO. We need a established international striker who can adapt to the premier league quickly.

Search is still on...

The first thing which i search daily in Google after reaching office is "arsenal transfer". It really amazes me to find out that Arsenal has been linked with almost every top player since the last day of the 2012/13 premier league but so far nothing happened. 

It is a well known fact Arsenal need a proven striker to help Giroud,Podolski and Walcott , a CDM and a CB. Arsenal have been linked with Strikers like David Villa,Jovetic, Higuain,Rooney and the latest addition to that list is Suarez. We really dont need David Villa becoz of his age and Jovetic is not a prolific striker as well. Thank GOD,they joined Athletic Madrid and Man City. When Arsenal was linked with Higuain, I felt that he can be a great signing for Arsenal but that deal is also hanging in the air and suddenly we are heavily linked the most talented and controversial striker Suarez. Apart from the strikers, we were also linked with Fellani,Ashley Williams, Bernard, Gustavo and the list goes on....................

Mr.Wenger,Please sign someone!!!

If Arsenal have not announced that they have $70m to spend, then I would not have expected a big signing this summer. I can understand the difficulties in signing a quality player but it is time for Arsenal to take risk by spending on players who are really needed to win trophies.

My sincere request to Mr.Wenger, Please sign a quality player before this Friday so that I can tell my friends that "We have Signed XXXXX....."

Fred Perry to Andy Murray - Britain and Wimbledon's wait is finally over after 77 years

Sometimes one has to wait for a long time to realize their dream, in-case of Wimbledon it took 77 years after Fred Perry won the Championship in 1936 to crown a British player in Wimbledon.

Loads of expectation

Whenever Sachin enters to bat,people expects him to score at-least a century and whenever Messi gets the ball in his feet, he is expected to do magic and score a goal. When Murray made his Wimbledon debut in 2005,people in Britain expected a lot from him. They believed that he is gonna be the next Wimbledon champion but some of them didn't realize that Federer and Nadal were ahead of him. Expectations can help in getting motivated and it can also lead to disappointment. Murray was not able to  reach the final stages of the Wimbledon in the first few years. Players like Federer,Nadal and Djokovic have also acknowledged the pressure Murray has in his shoulders whenever he plays in Wimbledon.

Road to Wimbledon 2013

When Murray lost to Federer in 2012 Wimbledon final, many doubted that he will win a Major Championship. During the on-court interview after 2012 final, Murray with tears in his eyes said "I am getting closer" but people felt that this is gonna be the case in the future also.


Everything turned upside-down after Murray won the 2012 Olympics Gold by beating Federer. He understood how to handle pressure in the big matches and how to beat big players in the bigger stages.

With Ivan Lendl (who has the experience of winning major trophies) on his side, Murray won his first Major trophy in US Open 2012 beating Djokovic in an epic final. After his loss to Djokovic in the 2013 Australian open,few people again raised questions. Is he gonna be just a one-slam wonder or the long wait is finally gonna get over? Because of back injury, he skipped French Open but the won the Queens Tournament before the start of the Wimbledon.

Wait is over

The stage was set for him to become the Wimbledon champion after Nadal and Federer lost in the 1st and 2nd round respectively. After recovering from a 2 set down situation to beat Verdasco, the "Djoker" was the only one standing between him and the trophy. 

People expected a epic battle between the World No.1 and No.2. Murray with huge expectations on his shoulders won the first set. He chased down everything "Djoker" sent back. 

Murray played like "Murray" after winning the first set and was able to recover from being down in 2nd and third set. Murray finally got the chance to serve for the much awaited Championship. He was up 40-0 , but "Djoker" played like "Djoker" and forced a break point situation. Murray stayed calm and when Djokovic sent the ball wide of the baseline after 3 hours and 10 mins into the match, the wait has finally ended. 

Few people may still have few questions about his abilities, but he proved that he can beat the best in the biggest stages. Congratzzz Andy Murray :)

Forget Tiki-Taka, Play Samba Style!!!

Tiki-Taka

Football, the beautiful game was earlier considered by many only as a physical game then welcomed a new style of play in 1988. Johan Cruyff, during his tenure as  FC Barcelona manager propagated and implemented tiki-taka style of football to keep possession of the ball. The tiki-taka style of football requires more of a technical skill, movement on and off the ball, vision, passing skills and excellent touch.

Barcelona stuck to that style of football and enjoyed huge success under managers who came after Cruyff like Rijkaard, Guardiola etc.

Tiki-Taka Tackled Hard

Even though it took some time for the top teams in Europe to tackle this style of Football by Barcelona and Spain, eventually they found few methods to counter it.

Chelsea during 2009 champions league semi-finals followed a solid and compact defensive which is called by few as "parking a bus in front of the goal". Luckily Barcelona entered the finals that year with the help of the referee.In 2010 semi-finals of the champions league, Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan team double-marked Messi and Xavi from achieving a passing rhythm.Inter went on to win the trophy that year.

With their style of play,Barcelona were able to beat the teams in their league convincingly until Jose Mourinho became Real Madrid's Manager. Barcelona were not able to taste 100% success against Mourinho's men and also lost the league title to Real Madrid in 2011/2012 season. After Celtic FC 's 2-1 defeat of Barcelona in 2012-13 champions league group stage,the fear that the opponents once had to play Barcelona has gone. 

Change of the Guard???

Tiki-taka style of football faced criticism for the fact that sometimes it is boring to watch that style when they are not able to find attacking alternative against the teams with strong defense.

Tiki-taka 's weekness were exposed fully by Bayern Munich in last year's champions league semifinal. Bayern completely outplayed Barcelona in both the legs and they with their physical advantage they didn't allow Barcelona to play their style. 

The Guardian proclaimed that "some suggested Bayern would attempt to outplay Barcelona at short passing football, but ultimately it was a perfect recipe of Barcelona's traditional problems: physicality, counterattacks, ability to defend against a balanced play and as well and ability to create chances against communicating defenses". Bayern's elimination of Barça had Sports Illustrated suggested that "the changing of the guard has begun".

Spain's 3-0 defeat to Brazil in the FIFA Confederations Cup final once again proved that it is time for Barcelona and Spain to start looking for attacking alternatives.

It is good to see Brazil back to their best with their Samba Style of Football and now Brazil is certainly the favorites to lift the Trophy next year.

"Forget tiki-taka, It's time for Samba".