All The Money In the World Can't Buy Class

Robin Van Persie after his mauling

Look familiar? haha


Well...yesterday was a fabulous day for my beloved Reds, but across town at the Eastlands (home to Manchester City), the game of football took a blow to the head...literally.

Manchester has two teams. United, through their successes, have firmly grasped the world's attention for many years. Champion's League victories, Premier League championships (3 in a row and counting...) world-class players winning individual trophies; they don't need to toot their own horn. Their fans do it for them.

The other team in Manchester, Manchester City (who have a nickname I won't repeat here), are the pretenders to anything owned or claimed by United. They don't get the attention through their football so they spend an inordinate about of time throwing stink bombs at their successful counterparts in the boro of Trafford (United).

City's recent purchase by a Saudi sheikh has given them the financial backing to act like "new money" in footy. If City were a person, then he would be a fake-baked, white-toothed, moron walking around the country club telling everyone how much he spent on his Ferrari (that he can't drive) and his new condo in Aspen (soooo two weeks ago). United, on the other hand, would be personified as a hard-working, well-dressed everyday guy, who doesn't need an Hermes scarf to be noticed. Because they're owned by a sheikh, City's football grounds are now affectionately referred to as Middle Eastlands....hahaha....but I digress...

City splashed an obscene amount of cash this summer (during the transfer window) on several high-maintenance players. One such player who used to play across town for a successful team (I will refer to him as Trollvez) made a fool of himself in the press about how "I wasn't in the starting XI when I should have been," and "Sir Alex didn't kiss my feet like Ronaldo.." blah blah blah. Good riddance to us...

The other purchase this summer was one Emmanuel Adebayor, a centre-forward for Arsenal (a club in London). Ade, a native of Togo, has always been a lightning-rod in the Prem League. Last year, Arsenal had yet another so-so season that saw them end up fourth in the league, far away from the champions (United) and runners-up (Liverpool). The Gunners' fans (referred to as Gooners by opponents) put their blame firmly upon the shoulders of Adebayor. Now in all fairness, it wasn't just his fault. A footy side is made up of XI players (one keeper, and usually a 4-4-2 formation for the remaining 10; 4 defenders, 4 midfielders, and 2 strikers). I believe that a team wins together and loses together. And although a side may have a star (like Ronaldo for United), those stars do not play by themselves. They depend upon the good service from others.

Well...Ade's one-way ticket from London to Manchester did not sit well with the Gunners. His loose-tongue in the press, blasting the fans for never supporting him (although true) was not a good idea. The teams meet twice a year (one at home, one away). Yesterday the Arsenal faithful traveled to Manchester to meet City and their high-priced side. And what happened next only solidified my belief that United are the classiest club in the world, and everyone else is just pretending to be them!

Robin Van Persie plays for Arsenal. The Dutchman has a great foot and scores many a goal for the Gunners. Yesterday he tangled with Adebayor and the latter seemed to stomp on his former teammate's head...intentionally. The stomp left Van Persie stunned and bleeding (see above photo...and am I the only one who thinks it resembles Michelangelo's Pieta?). Adebayor, who scored a goal, then ran the length of the pitch (a no-no according to the FA...Footballer's Association), and pointed to the Arsenal away fans...obviously to say, "haha...you will miss me"...or something like that. Well, the Arsenal fans had to be physically restrained from entering the pitch (to pummel their former centre-forward) by dozens of policemen. What a great day for the Prem League.

Now the FA has said they will look seriously into the incident involving Van Persie AND Adebayor's baiting of the Arsenal fans (he was given a yellow card for that). You might think, "what's the big deal?" Well, several weeks ago two teams met (West Ham United and Millwall), and suffice it to say...they brawled with their fans. The FA doesn't want that to happen again, and Ade's actions yesterday could have sparked a melee at the Eastlands. With all of this crap going on, the football was almost completely forgotten...City won 4-2......whatever.