The Footy Tales

 The Saudi backed takeover of Newcastle United, yes, the controversial £305 million purchase which marked the end of Mike Ashley's 14 years reign at the St. James' Park sparked much debate last year. Human rights groups were strongly against such a takeover while the Newcastle fans were over the moon. And why wouldn't they be? They are a set of fans who have seen it all, from being title contenders at one point in their history to being relegated, and now struggling to stay up, its safe to say thee set of fans have endured a lot. It was no surprise that the Magpies faithful were overjoyed, visibly wearing masks of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, when the deal of the takeover went through. Newcastle United Football Club became the wealthiest club in the whole world, and along with their finances, their ambitions also skyrocketed. The new owners promised to take the club back to the Champions League.  But things don't improve overnight in football. Since the takeover, N...

  Football, the sport we love, the players we adore. Football gives us strength, courage, hope, a plethora of emotions like anger, happiness, sadness all within a span of 90 minutes. Football, as we know should always be for the fans. Fans or as I like to call them, the supporters should be the heartbeat of our wonderful sport. But lately, in the last decade or so there has been a shift in power in the footballing landscape in Europe, the hotbed of football. Its not a surprise that whatever happens in the European football scene is likely to influence the world football in some way or the other. Amid a raging pandemic and the rise of economic power houses entering this domain of the beautiful game, here are my views on the shift in power that has been so apparent in the last few years ; 1. The Economic Condition of the Players Football is for the players who play it, there's no two ways about it. For a footballer, its his job. They are lucky enough to turn their passion into their ...

  Manchester United bounced back to winning ways and top 6 after a 3-1 win vs Burnley at home. The win came at the back of a solid 1st half performance where they scored 3 goals but conceded a one in the process. The 2nd half was lull without much goal mouth action with United seemingly focused on securing the 3 points. Here are my takeaways from last night's match ; 1. The Changes Ralf Rangnick made as many as 6 changes from the starting eleven which drew at Newcastle. It was one of the rare occasions of seeing Cavani and Ronaldo start together. Luke Shaw and Aaron wan Bissaka came back into the line up, as did Jadon Sancho and Nemanja Matic. And the changes bore fruit. Burnley though attacking and creating good chances in the first few minutes, were completely blown away by a 30 minute storm. Bailly started at the heart of the defense in place of Varane. Greenwood started on the left side of the midfield while Sancho was on the right, although both the wingers interchanged their ...

MANCHSTER UNITED VS NEWCASTLE UNITED : MY VIEWS Manchester United finally played a league game after a gap of 16 days, though they would have asked for a better return. The Mancs played the Magpies in an away game they were expected to win with ease. Newcastle, the richest club in the world were far from intimidated by the big name in the opposition squad and were the better team for most of the game. Varane was returning from an injury and his return was thought to provide the much needed defensive stability, yet it were their less fancied rivals who were on top for most of the game. Here are my thoughts on yesterday's match ;- 1. United's defensive woes Lets get the elephant out of the room, United's defense was utter shambles. Maguire, as usual was making costly errors leading to chances for the opposition. Varane, returning from his injury, looked rusty and lost the ball in the build up to the 1st goal. In all both Maguire and Varane lost the ball 11 times, a combined 2...