This post originally appeared on the Sport24.co.za site.
At this very moment – for most of you reading this piece – it is a
Monday morning and you’ve just about made sense of the crazy events that
occurred yesterday in the Barclays English Premier League (EPL).
Goals, goalkeeping errors, flying elbows, coaching masterstrokes, and
loads of drama. What more can you ask for? What a finish from the man
they call Kun, and what an end to the season.
You could not have scripted this better. The commentators repeated
this statement often. Every time they said that, the harder it became to
believe what was happening on my small TV set. One does not need high definition
large screens to experience the breath-taking drama which one was
exposed to last night. Most soccer fans and “experts” predicted
victories for both Manchester United and Manchester City in their
respective games but anybody who predicted that finish before kickoff
would have been labeled “insane” or “ambitious” at best. But, what we
got from the EPL last night not only reminded us all why we love the
league so much, it also reminded us why we love the game of football so
much.
A few heart attacks, strokes, tears, screams of jubilation and
frustration, and maybe some broken chairs in few people’s homes – all of
this within the space of a mere 90 minutes. The cricket and rugby
executives must be wondering how and when (if ever) they will match the
drama and viewership that only football can generate. Even the shortened
cricket version of T20 – great innovation, it must be said – has not
managed to come close to matching the drama and various scenarios that
can occur within less than 2 hours in football.
Anyway, today is City’s day and I have to congratulate the whole City
team for their attitude, for never giving up (even when there was an
eight-point deficit), and for the beautiful football they dished out
(the Old Trafford special being my favourite pick as Arsenal fan!) and
their self-belief and never-say die attitude in that memorable final
league match of the season. Even Roberto Mancini, the City head coach,
admitted after the game that he himself had lost belief that they could
snatch victory. In the age that we live in, where managers are fired
within the blink of an eye, one has to give credit to the suits at the
Etihad Stadium who did no pull the trigger as soon as the ship hit
stormy waters. They let the captain of the ship handle his business. He
did what needed to be done. He “recasted the outcasts” (Tevez and
Balotelli), dealt with various egos within the team, and for us
neutrals, he unleashed great attacking brilliance from the likes of
Sergio “Kun” Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tevez, Adam
Johnson, David Silva and former Arsenal darling, Samir Nasri on poor
Premier League defences. It has been a great season and when the going
got tough, the mind games got going. Since City can now be called Champions,
can we agree that his there was a certain science behind his sometimes
mad quotes and mind games? Well, that might be a topic for another day.
Jose Mourinho gets a lot of respect, deservedly, for winning trophies
wherever he goes, however, Mancini also deserves credit for taking this
team to the top despite the various personalities he had to deal with.
Let us not forget that he won three Serie A titles on the trot, thereby
laying the foundation for Mourinho’s success later on at Inter Milan.
It must have made the victory even sweeter for City fans when you
look at how the scene unfolded on this Sunday evening. Manchester United
players and supporters alike thought they had the title wrapped up
before Kun stole it back dramatically in injury time. Manchester City may be referred to as the noisy neighbours
but go to most countries and you will realize how loud and arrogant
Manchester United supporters are (and you will find any of them, trust
me). City fans have every right to brag and be in your ear all week
long. They suffered 44 years of banter and teasing from their
neighbours.
I, for one, cannot wait for next season. Let’s hope the PSL, this coming
weekend, can also provide more drama. And, guess what? After the PSL
finale, we still have Euro 2012 in Polkraine to look forward to next month! It sure is great to be football fun, huh?
That’s all from me. ‘Til next time.
Thomas Monyepao
Follow me on twitter for more football debates, @Tom_18yards.
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