~ Messi & Ronaldo ~

Two contrasting individuals in the world of football. Both play their games differently and compete fairly on pitch while playing for their respective clubs. 

Last month when the documentary on Ronaldo was announced I was surprised to hear from CR7 that he wanted the documentary made. He wanted the world to know about him. After watching the documentary, it appeared narcissistic, massaging his big ego.

He happens to be so jealous of Messi winning Ballon d’Or four times he states, “To see Messi win four in a row was difficult for me. After he won the second and third I thought to myself: ‘I’m not coming here again.'”

This week I stumbled upon Messi's documentary, which happened to have released in 2014. It captures the life of Messi from childhood to international stardom. The numerous videos of Messi filmed during his childhood show how talented he was as a little boy then, till now at FCBarcelona. He definitely found the right home & coach at Barcelona.

Watch both the documentaries & decide yourself who is the better one :)

Just yesterday, Messi made his 500th appearance for FC Barcelona against Real Betis. After scoring a goal last evening he increased his goal tally to 425. No doubts for guessing, he also holds the club’s all-time leading scorer. The game also was historic coz they have 180 goals for this year, bettering Madrid’s milestone of 178 from 2014.

Here is the club's tribute to Messi on his 500th appearance.

#Messi500 by fcbarcelona

~ FIFA 2014 schedule ~

All footie fans here you go with the FIFA world cup schedule. All events are shown in India Standard Time zone.

Also check out posters of all the 32 national teams who are participating in FIFA2014.

~ Mesmerising Messi ~

A short narration on the character of Lionel Messi. A player who doesn't go down easily like the rest of his La Liga players. His football does all the talking. Just watch the video to know more.

~ Art of running a football club ~

Swiss Ramble rightly nails on all the finer points of footballing economics.  who play such fast paced game on the field also have a clever Manager who has been made the club more profitable. The biggest irony of having good bank balance is that we haven't won any Silverware.

We might be the richest club in  but have failed to land any players this summer. Signing experienced players would definitely help us stay in contention when the team needs to cope with injuries during the season.

A very insightful post, with lots of facts & graphs that doesn't make you sleep, even though it speaks about accounting, taxes, balance, et al. Now is the time for #Wenger to spend some £ and take the challenge to the next level in EPL & Europe. 

Arsenal - Money Don't Matter 2 Night   

~ St Totteringham's Day ~

ArsenalFC beat NewcastleFC to finish among the top 4 in the EPL. As Gooners we aren't happy just finishing top 4 & qualifying 16th time for the Champions League. We want the team to win trophies & silence those the babies of the Million £££ Clubs who love taunting Gooners, offline & online.

We have played very well in the last 45 days of the season winning 8 of the last 10 games.

Reaching the Champions League ahead of Spurs completed a superb turnaround after they trailed by seven points at the beginning of March. Arsenal have now finished above Spurs 18 seasons in a row.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and his team saluted their joyous supporters, who sung "are you watching, Tottenham?" with added fervour. You can read more here.

The goal from Laurent Koscielny in the second half gave us the victory against Magpies.  

The celebrations at the bench on the final whistle speaks for itself for Arsenè Wenger & the players. 

Good to see a happy locker room. The Gunners deserved the 4th place finish. It's time now Arsenal Board & Wenger add some valuable assets for the next season. 

For all you Sp*ds or BaleFC fans, even though this has been your best season in EPL, it ain't good enough to finish above us. The infographic below should remind the reality. Mind the gap & Happy St. Totteringhams Day. For the un-initiated - "St Totteringham's Day is the day when Arsenal fans celebrate the fact that Tottenham can no longer catch Arsenal in the League. It is a movable feast, but usually falls in March, April or May. It is the day to collect on bets made by over-optimistic Spurs fans in the close season who think that "this is the year". More here

All Arsenal FC photographs from Stuart MacFarlane, the photographer at ArsenalFC.

~ The Special One ~

Quite unusual for me to be writing posts on football this week. May be its the season of Champions League fixtures & the Gunners defeat at NLD.

You might like him or hate him, but can't ignore "The Special One" a.k.a José Mourinho. 

1. Has won Leagues cups in four different counties - Portugal, England, Italy & Spain
2. Has won an European Cup
3. Has 21 club titles in a span of 10 years
4. Has won 2 Champions League Cups with two different Clubs from two different nations
5. More honours here

If Real Madrid continues to perform the way they are playing this season's Champions League, am sure they might win the title for 10th time & Jose being the ONLY manager to win the Champions League with 3 different clubs.

He aspires to win the Champions League for an English Club. Am pretty sure that he would one day take control of Manchester United when Sir Alex quits.

Image Source: HDWallpaperBase

Updates

Mourinho headed to MUFC

~ Unusual José Mourinho ~

José Mourinho's behavior or character seem to have changed after yesterday's win at Old Trafford  He was seen comforting Sir Alex when Red Card was shown to Nani. Then during the post-match talk, he said, "The best team lost". 

He even went to say that Real Madrid didn't deserve to win. Real would have at the very least equalized even if Nani was on the field & taking the game to extra time. The outcome might have been different if the game had spilled into extra time. Being the man he is, who cares less about reporters or those who run the club. It is quite suspecting to see him talk differently. Not sure what he is up to.

Read this article - Mourinho defends decision to bench Rooney. He even defends or agrees with SAF decision to bench Rooney.

1. Is he being humble & modest coveing his usual arrogance
2. Is he desperately looking to replace #SAF next season at #MUFC

Your thoughts on José?

~ The Professor ~

Another North London Derby {NLD} tomorrow, feel this time around it ain't important for the fans or the club. The outcome of this match could be the key for Arsene Wenger extending his tenure with Arsenal FC. There might have been managers at ArsenalFC who have won silverware &  brought laurels for the club. But none come close to the calibre of 'The Professor', who has brought discipline, style & art for the kind of game we play today. 

I have followed Arsenal from 1999, kind of Wenger era. During those days, in India, football was being watched or relayed ONLY during World Cups. Star Sports began showing EPL feed & not many people used to watch football in a Cricket Crazy Nation. Add to it, most of the people who did watch club football supported Manchester United or Liverpool or Juventus or AC Milan or Real Madrid. I could hardly find any Gooners in Bangalore. At times, when they did showed football at a local pub and if Arsenal were playing, often ended being a minority supporter. Occasionally would find a couple of Gooners amongst a group of 20 MUFC fans. 2 or 3 of us would enjoy taking on those MUFC fans. 

Over the last 14 years, Arsenal have had a fantastic run till 2007; despite having no silverware. Post 2008, the Invincibles departed and AFC were left with young team to manage & groom. 

There are many fans who are disappointed with Arsene Wenger {AW} for the last couple of seasons for varying factors - letting players go, selling our key striker to arch rival, not bringing reinforcements to those who have been sold, running the club for profits vs silverware, et al. To a certain extent even I have gone through the same emotion & thought process. Our performances have been dismal; Being beaten by non-league clubs, is more miserable.

As fans, each of us feel we have moral right to critique the way AW has been running the club or the board or Arsenal FC in general. We might even be entitled to do so, to an extent. Agreed, our frustrations are at an all time high. I feel it during these tough times, that Mr Wenger needs our support. He is not the only one to be blamed. Our PLAYERS on the field are more responsible to show the hunger & spirit of winning than the MANAGER.

In the current era, were we have seen Oligarchs from Russia or Middle East, who are buying clubs and running them at their whims. We need to recognize the fact that Arsenal wouldn't be the same anymore without Arsene Wenger. I don't want the culture of what AW has established at Arsenal to be lost. 

I wish Gunners who are playing the Derby tomorrow win the game for AW than anyone else to a new direction of AW next season. 

Also read - Tottenham v Arsenal: Arsene Wenger is a wounded warrior determined to come out fighting for the team

Image courtesy - Don'tgiveupworld

~ Kobe vs Messi: Legends on board ~

A lovely advt to showcase the services of an airline. Not sure how good the service is, but Turkish Airlines has definitely got the right Ad agency to get them popular in the world of Football & Basketball.

~ EPL 2012 ~

For the 14 years of watching EPL, I have never seen the frantic last day of business in the league. There is lot at stake for the two Manchester clubs. Manchester United would like to retain the title; where as Manchester City would like to be crowned as the New Champions of English football.

Elsewhere the battle to finish on sweet 3rd place just got bigger between Arsenal, Tottenham & Newcastle. All the three clubs need a win to stay in the next season's Champions League. To end the season with 3rd place is more crucial, as Chelsea controls the destiny of the 4th spot for Champions League as of today.

If Chelsea win the Champions League against Bayer Munich next week at Munich. Then they automatically qualify for the next season, despite finishing outside the top 4 positions in the EPL.

Common Gunners give it a good fight and let's end the season with a 3rd place finish.

~ Stay away Mancini ~

Mr Mancini now wants to sign the Premier League leading goal scorer, Robin Van Persie. Common Man City don't you already have enough forwards in your team? Why target #Gunners every time? 

You already have signed Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor. Isn't that enough? Stay away from Arsenal, Mr Mancini.

~ Euro 2008 ~

European Championship is the second biggest football event after the world cup. Austria & Switzerland are hosting the 13th edition of the championship. The origins & the legacy of this famous event can be read here.

~ Euro 2008: Team Lineup ~

Following are the teams for 2008 championship. Looking at the teams Group C has been rightly called the 'Group of Death' where 3 of the 4 are in FIFA top 10 teams. I'm supporting the French this time. The favorites being the Germans and the underdogs being the Russians.

My next 22 days would be treat watching the best in Europe play for their country. Lets see who will win the battle of Europe. I hope Mr Wenger finds some new faces for Gunners for the next season & want to see where will Ronaldo play, EPL or La Liga.

Whom are you supporting & who do you think will win Euro 2008?

~ Trilogy: Arsenal Vs Liverpool ~

Its not that often that you witness Trilogy in football. It has been one of the rare things that just happen between football clubs. Arsenal face Liverpool @ Anfield in an hour from now. The previous two sequels have ended in draw. Even though Arsenal played their natural attacking game, the Reds never looked dangerous for the Gunners.

Rafael has already begun playing mind games by saying "by saying the Champions League is the only trophy the Gunners can win this season", more here. I know its gonna be a difficult for Gunners to play against Liverpool @ Anfield, because its an away game & u don't have the numbers of fans behind. But we have proved time and again this season that we can win our away matches as well, except for the recent defeat to Chelsea though ;). If Rafael's team is gonna play defensive game, am sure they are gonna have a tough time in their further matches even if they do manage to win on away goals. I am sure Wenger's team would go for the kill right from the word go. They just need to concentrate on their sloppy defending, which seem to be their weakness in their last few matches giving away goals cheaply.

I don't want to see the match going to penalties. It is such a shame to see a game end in penalties. Go Gunners Go!!!

~ FC Barcelona Vs Hearts FC ~

I got to watch my first live football match a fortnight ago, between FC Barcelona and Hearts FC. Even though it was as pre-season match for FCB, it still went into the record books for having the largest attendance for Hearts FC, at 57000. Having been a gunner fan for almost 7 years now, I got to watch my favorite footballer Theirry Henry in flesh and blood. I couldn't have asked for anything more, only disappointment was that he wasn't in Gunners colors, we will surely miss him at the club. But, I am happy to see him play for one of the competitive football clubs in Europe.

The atmosphere in the stadium came alive when the players of the home team made it to the field; it got better when the known faces of FCB - Ronaldinho, Deko, Eto, Zambrotta - made their way onto the field. Henry received a hearty welcome at the MurrayField stadium in his second appearance for Barca in the UK. Messi was one of the players from the barca squad who wasn't in the Scotland visit.

I felt first half of the match had more character to the match, when compare to the second half. Ronaldinho put Barca ahead with his penalty, this however was equalled by Hearts. Ronaldinho scored another goal for Barca before halftime, taking the lead to 2-1. In the second half, both teams made many changes; Deco & Henry were the key changes for Barca. Henry came very close to score a goal, which deflected the goal post. He did put up a good show, before barca managed to net another goal. Barca won the friendly effortlessly, not without filling the coffers of Hearts FC ;).

The joy of watching football live, like any other sport, is very unique. Here are few pics from the match.

Hail the Gunners

You can never predict the result of any game in soccer, yesterday's fixture betweem Gunners & Lions was one of them.

I caught the live action only when Rooney had scored a goal against the Gunners . I knew Gunners would strike back and it came from 2 late goals of Robin van Persie - the current leading goal scorer in this EPL, who substiuted Alexander Hleb & Thierry Henry - the captain himself.
It feels so good to win a match against your arch rivals & even better when you have beaten them twice (home & away) this season.

May be we won't win the EPL this season, but a win against ManU is worth more than the championship.

More news @ Arsenal.com | Arsenal wins thriller