The Red Devil's recent loss to Norwich City, and the earlier to Bournemouth, both teams highly unfancied, did not bode well with their fans and also the management at Old Trafford. MU boss Van Gaal definitely had to bear the brunt of the team's recent misgivings, and more importantly, his job at Old Trafford is clearly at stake. The manager was recently given just 2 more games to redeem himself as the right man for the job and with other highly coveted managers such as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola currently without a club, Van Gaal surely has reason to fret about his job. With a star studded team and rather generous financial capabilities at the club, Van Gaal has no reason to let the team fall again, this time against Stoke City and subsequently against bottom of the table dwellers Chelsea. Fair to say, Louis Van Gaal did have a positive impact on the team, with more clean sheets under his name and also instilling in the team a more tactical defence line, which has evidently meant that most games the red side of Manchester has so far played in, are low scoring matches. Nonetheless, sitting 7th on the table, pressure is on Van Gaal to prove critics wrong, because if he doesn't, he would soon become another victim of the Premier League's recent manager sacking escapade!
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| stats here clearly show Van Gaal's patchy managerial record with the team photo credits: worldsoccertalk |
Is ASEAN football finally emerging as real contenders in this lucrative world of football?
Just like how after Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa became an overnight sensation for his magnificent and out of the world saves against Brazil in the World Cup, Singapore's Izwan Mahbud made headlines for similar reasons.
In the World Cup Qualifiers, when it was announced that Japan would take on Singapore at the Saitama stadium in Japan, there was not much of a hype. Japan was ranked more than 100 places above minnows Singapore in the FIFA rankings, it was no surprise that most would have expected a massive goal difference between the both sides. However, in just 90 minutes, punters and even the ordinary Singapore fan was left in disbelief when the score showed 0-0. Japan was playing to a home crowd of about 60,000, and with the likes of Shinji Kagawa, Keisuke Honda, Shinji Okazaki and many more, the Singaporeans would have definitely been contented to at least concede just a few goals, but it wasn't the case. The game ended in a draw, and the footballing world should just snap out of their reverie. What actually happened? Japan fielded its best players, and played attacking football as well, peppering the Singapore goalkeeper's goal several times. The Singaporean side played the defensive card, hoping that they will try to concede as few as possible. The Japanese registered 18 shots on target but surpisingly, not even one found the back of the net, all thanks to Izwan Mahbud. In just 90 minutes, he proved to the world his goalkeeping capabilities and momentarily, revived the local footballing scene once again, still reeling from the semi finals defeat from the SEA games for the u23s. Just days after, newly promoted J League side Matsumoto Yamaga announced that they were interested to see Izwan play.
That was just Singapore.
In Thailand, we see young midfielder Chanathip Songkrasin emerging as a football star. Dubbed "Messi Jay" by Thai supporters for his small stature and skills, his skills did not go unnoticed. He has received call ups from J League sides as well as Hamburg from the Bundesliga
Over to Myanmar, we see its U21s participating in the U21 World Cup. Though they may have entered it as underdogs, the fact that Myanmar's youths could be in the World Cup playing against big countries suggest that the country is possibly in a midst of witnessing a refreshed football scene.
Is ASEAN football finally heralding new era of players, ready to step onto the international stage and go head to head with some of the best?
Let me here your views!!
Is the Premier League failing?
The English Premier League has always been the vanguard in terms of popularity in world football. But today, things are somewhat different. The premier league is evidently losing the best players. Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Arjen Robben, Neymar as well as most of the 2014 World Cup winning German team all do not play in the Premier League. They have either plied their trade in the Spanish league or the German league.
The top teams have also seen mixed results recently. Louis Van Gaal, although buoyed by Manchester United's win over Southampton at St Mary's which gave them the full 3 points, has in fact faced criticism for his use of the 3 5 2 formation. Suffering from several injuries, Manchester United seem to lack the smooth flowing play they once had. Looking over to the blue side of Manchester, we see how Manchester City though through to the last 16 of the Champions League, was in fact struggling when they faced Roma. Chelsea faced mixed results and provide too many inconsistencies, evident from their loss to Newcastle at St James Park. Arsenal too looked rather uncertain despite their comfortable 4-1 win at Galastasaray. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has seen fans turn against him ever since for their lacklustre performance evident from their loss to Aston Villa. As for Liverpool, they seem to suffer from a rapid decline. The selling of Luiz Suarez seemed to have dealt a severe blow to Liverpool, and their exit from the Champions League after only managing a draw against FC Basel only attests to this verity.
The premier league as a whole seem to be losing its relevance and popularity it once enjoyed. But ultimately, having big names aren't the solution to the EPL's woes. The EPL has irrefutably good players. They just need more convincing managers who can provide a convincing approach to each and every game. The 2014 Champions League will definitely pose a challenge to the EPL teams and it will be no surprise if none of the English teams got into the finals and win the coveted Champions League. Nonetheless, if the EPL teams can play with more conviction and with the help of some luck, the English Premier League will be able to enjoy the glory it once had again!
The Merseysiders fail once again
The Red Devils welcomed Liverpool to Old Trafford Sunday. As highly anticipated as the match may be, so are the stakes for both sides. Brendan Rodgers knows he needs his team to win. Liverpool's record thus far has been rather patchy at best. They needed to win. Manchester United on the other hand, bouyed by their recent spate of wins are too hoping that they could impress on their home ground. Nevertheless, 90 minutes did pass very quickly and the score was an impressive 3-0 win to Van Gaal's men, credits to goals from Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin Van Persie. De Gea too, who eventually won the Man of the Match was also credited for making 5 impressive saves, leaving the Merseysiders empty handed. The win thus puts Manchester United in 3rd place, just 8 points behind leaders Chelsea. As much as it was a great win for Van Gaal, it also holds some significance as to the tactics adopted by the newly appointed manager. After a poor start to the season, Van Gaal's tactics seems to be taking shape. As for Liverpool, they have to go back to the drawing table. A more influential player will be needed if the Merseysiders want to turn the tides in their favour.
Izwan Mahbud set to go for trials in Japan
Just merely a few days after being unceremoniously dumped out of the Malaysia Super League (MSL), LionsXII are in effect, left with no league to play in, and the hardest hit are its players who have enjoyed much fanfare and glory in the past 4 years, coming out tops in the league back in 2013 and more recently winning back the FA cup. Now, players are scrambling to find an Sleague club, which is a far cry from their more lavish, jet filled lifestyles in the MSL. Nonetheless, the players can gain some relief from knowing the the FAS will continue paying them salaries for the whole of the next season, and that the LionsXII will continue to play as a team in the Sleague for at least the next season. Whether they will play in the ASEAN super league in 2017 has yet to be confirmed.
However, amidst the turn of unfortunate events for Singapore football, fans can gain some respite from the news that LionsXII shot stopper Izwan Mahbud will be going for trials in Japan for second tier side Matsumoto Yamaga. Having impressed in international matches against Japan, Izwan's heroic saves have caught the eyes of the club and they have been keen in using his services ever since. Izwan, having confirmed these much anticipated reports, feels the need to step up his game and in fact also refuted reports that Thai Premier League side Chonburi is also interested in him. In addition, there have also been reports the the Japanese side is keen to get the services of fellow teammate Safuwan Baharudin, who has yet to confirm if he is willing to go for a trial as well. As for now, pressure is on Izwan's shoulders. Should the move to the Japanese side be successful, it will mean a lot to the football fraternity here, and also, encourage more local budding footballers to succeed in the sport as well!
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