Community Shield Cracker!!

       Its once again time for that one last pre-season friendly before  The Barclays Premier League raise its curtains. Its time for the Community Shield match where the winners of the FA Cup meets The winners of the League. This time its gonna be more than just a friendly as Manchester United and Manchester City face each other making this The Manchester Derby.  United will be out seeking revenge after being kicked out of the FA Cup semi finals by City.
     The game started in a rather unsettled manner as Evra was taken down by Vincent Kompany which lead to a fruitless free kick. The first half was dominated by United however it was City who found the back of the net twice despite the lack of creative play.  Man Utd had problem defending set pieces last season and it seems like this will be their achilles this season as well if the first goal by City is was any indication. Lescott goal might have opened City's  goal account this season, however it was Dzeko's goal that raised questions at United defence. The obvious being David De Gea's goal keeping skills. In my opinion, De Gea's goalkeeping skills is not the problem with that goal. It's his timing. He should have gone for the ball faster. But everyone makes mistakes right?
  Something worth mentioning is the fact that both Dzeko and Anderson received  yellow card  after Dzeko rude challenge on Anderson. In my view, I dont think Anderson deserved that yellow. It was Dzeko's challenge!
 The others who also got themselves into the refree's book are Yaya Toure, Evra,  and Richards . The first half ended with Dzeko scoring on the 45th minute. With Lescott and Dzeko getting on the score sheets, United have to work their way up the mountain. Manchester City lacks the creativity that seem to be flowing out of united effortlessly. Their only creative energy source seem to be Silva who is not getting enough possesion on the ball to work his magic. At this point, It seems like City needs Sneijder way more than United!
  The  second half started with a surprise as Sir Alex made  3 changes all at once! It is very rare for Sir Alex to use up half of his substitution  at the half time mark let alone make a doubtful change by replacing Ferdinand, Vidic, Carrick with  Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones and Johnny Evans. Second half proved to be a cracker as United scored twice to equalise. The goals came from Smalling, 52th minute and Nani, 8 minutes later.  City made changes in a bid to increase their tally by bringing in Clichy in place of Kolorov.  While Man Utd brought in Rafael in the place of Evra at the 71th minute and Berbatove for Danny Welbeck in the 88th minute.  The game seem to be set for penalty shoot- outs  only to have Nani score a screamer at the 90th minute in what seem to be a one-man counter attack! It was an absolutely beautiful goal! Dzeko might have sealed the first half with a goal for city, but united sealed the game with the goal that matters the most!  It seems to be a Red Devils  year again with United lifting the community shield! Who said the community shield is just another pre-season friendly?

Bundesliga 2011/2012 season preview

      Bundesliga season has begun aand this will be the 49th season for the first division German football league. The season promise to be exciting with Mainz debuting their new stadium, Borussia Dortmund trying to defend their title, and Bayern munich being the favourites to win the title this season. Here's a preview of the new season and an insight on what to look out for.

    Last season champions, Dortmund has taken the modest approach to things despite being on the top. Iikay Gundogan is convinced that Dortmund will have a good season despite critics saying otherwise.

      Meanwhile, Hamburg has opened up a new chapter in the club's history. Hamburg has released a number of experienced players including ex-Manchester United legend, Ruud Van Nistelrooy in a bid to bring in the dawn of a new era at the club. Ex-Chelsea sporting director who is with Hamburg now, Frank Arnesen brought 4 young Chelsea players along with him to Hamburg. What is evident from Hamburg preparations for the season is that this is a regenerated club with renewed passion, and starving desire to play good football and raise their standard after being discarded as the underdogs in the league. Winning trophy at this stage is not realisitic, however with hard work and the drive that they have, This could be a team to look out for this season in the Bundesliga.

    Now let's take a look at Bayern Munich. Jupp Heynecheks definitely has his sights firmly set on the title. To achieve this , Jupp Heynecheks need Arjen Robben to be in top form and injury free. Bayern will also start the season without Frank Ribery who is also out with ankle injury. Arjen Robben said that they will be on attack from day 1 of the season as not attacking "leads to nothing but trouble" as they had to play catch up and lose out last season. We will see how this strategy works out for them.

        As for the player to look out for this season, my vote goes to Andre Schurrle from Bayer Leverkusen. He seem to be such a promising prospect for the club as well as the league this season, not to mention he seem to have quite an appetite for playing passionate football!

       With so much going on in the Bundesliga, there is no reason not to get caught up in the excitement! Oh, and did i mention that UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE will have room for the top four team in the Bundesliga by 2012?