On a very calm and serene Wednesday night in the capital of the Scandinavian nation of Sweden, the red half of Manchester by winning The Europa League, completed the final jigsaw of their trophy puzzle.
THE ANGLE OF THE CITY UNITED IN GRIEF
The Coupe UEFA (The Europa League trophy) will now head to Manchester, a city just recently hit with one of the most cold-blooded acts of terrorism. An attack on Ariana Grande’s kids-themed concert.
The trophy represents the only reason Mancunians (natives of Manchester) can even hazard half a smile.
“When he shall die
Take him up and cut him out in little stars
And he will make the face of Heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun”
- William Shakespeare; Romeo and Juliet: Act 3, Scene 2
This column and its writer joins with the rest of humanity to pray for a perfect rest for the lost souls and fortitude for Miss Ariana Grande.
THE MAN UNITED ANGLE
United fans ever since the great Scottish Elder swapped the bench for the boardroom have been treated to a stomach-churning cocktail of absolutely shabby football, laziness in title chases and a general unwillingness to prosper as a club.
Now make no mistake, united fans would rather the club won the more prestigious and ‘More Senior’ Champions’ League trophy. The Europa league was a downer for most fans.
But sometimes Leah can make for a very decent company before Rachel arrives.
That’s exactly what happened. With a sorry excuse for a season that the club has had and with them at some point becoming a ready source for orthopaedic patients, the trophy couldn’t have come at a better time.
Not for a second does it hurt their confidence going forward.
Well deserved.
THE JOSE MOURINHO ANGLE
The Don of the Real Madrid dynasty; Florentino Perez once described Jose as “toda una garantia de exito”- a veritable guarantee of success. Love him or Loathe him, Jose’s a serial winner. A trophy hound. Like the boxing icon Muhammed Ali, winning is not optional for him. It’s all he has going for him. It’s the only counter for the ‘arrogant’, ‘talkative’ and ‘nasty’ image he has created for himself.
In what has been a ludicrous season for United, he’s managed 2 trophies and a community shield.
Put that in some perspective and of all managers that finished above him (Klopp, Guardiola, Wenger and Pochettino), only Antonio Conte will end up more successful this season.
Taking a very huge risk by effectively and willingly throwing away any chance of top 4 and keeping all eggs in that one basket that was a one-shot, one-time Europa League final.
A dangerous football Russian roulette only reserved for those with nerves of steel.
It could’ve backfired however and he should get some stick for shipping out squad players (Bastian, Memphis and Schneiderlin) mid-season with a congested fixture schedule on the horizon without recalling players on loan nor signing replacements.
He’s a Champion now though. Let’s not sour that. Actually we can’t.
QUICK MESSAGE TO AJAX
The Johann Cruyff cute and fancy total football’s all great but would hardly cut it against Europe’s top dogs. European finals are knife fights not football pageantry.
As we welcome Khaleesi to Westeros and The Underwoods back on our TV screens, we’d do well to welcome a prodigal son back to the Champions’ league.
Great to have you have back among the big boys Manchester United FC.
See you after the Champions’ League final but until then, live, love and enjoy football effortlessly.
Bye for now.
