A Journey Back To The Dark Days?

The Manchester derby between United and City took an unfortunate end to it. At the end of a thrilling game of football filled with excitement for the 50,000 odd fans in the stadium and the millions watching on TV, Robin Van Persie struck with a free kick in the dying seconds which silenced all but one small corner of the Etihad. The United players ran over to their travelling support and celebrated with their fans. A win in a local derby against their biggest title rivals – a moment to treasure. But as I said, it took an unfortunate end to it.

Somebody in the home crowd decided to throw a coin at defender Rio Ferdinand, despite him doing nothing to entice or anger these fans – other than doing his job, helping to get his team 3 points and showing how happy he was. This 2p coin almost cost him his eyesight, causing a flow of blood just above his eye. He was lucky not to have been injured more seriously and later laughed it off on the social networking site Twitter. However, still – it shouldn't have ended like this.

Lionel Messi: The Greatest Ever?

24^th June, 1987.  In Rosario, Argentina, the delighted Jorge Horácio Messi and Celia María Cuccittini were celebrating the birth of their baby boy. Little did they know, that little Lionel, or Leo to those closer to him, would become a global superstar and one of, if not the greatest footballer ever seen on the planet.

Fast forward to 9^th December, 2012, and Lionel Messi fired in his 85^th and 86^th goals of the calendar year in just 66 games for Barcelona and Argentina – breaking the previous record set by the legendary German and Bayern Munich striker Gerd Muller in 1972. With 3 more games left to play this year, there’s no sign of his goal scoring stopping just yet. This record means he is officially the greatest goal scorer in the game, and shows just why he is, undoubtedly, the best footballer of the modern era. A true and humble professional, the little Argentine is a great amongst greats. But is he the greatest ever?

What The Return Of Lucas Means To Liverpool

Last Saturday in their Premier League match against Southampton at Anfield the Liverpool faithful saw the return to action of their midfield maestro, Lucas Leiva. After a series of injury problems, the Brazil international will hope to put these behind him and push on and remain a constant fixture in the Liverpool starting eleven like he was before his injury.

Is The Strength Of The English Game Dropping?

With Arsenal finishing 2^nd in a relatively simple looking group (no disrespect to 3 good sides), holders Chelsea dropping into the Europa League and Manchester City dropping out of Europe altogether, questions are being raised about the strength of English teams compared to the other big dogs in Europe. Even Manchester United, despite their point total, had to rely on their resolve to pull through individual games rather than a simple stroll like normal. This follows on from last year’s failure for English clubs to look convincing on a wider stage. Chelsea may have won the competition, and they deserve tremendous credit for achieving this, but it was hardly a compelling win. So what has caused this drop in achievement for a country which dominated the European game in the late 2000’s?