The Beautiful Game

Alen Halilović, remember this name. You are going to hear this name a lot in coming years in the football world. You might have already heard about this Croatian wonderkid that plays as an attacking midfielder for Dinamo Zagreb, the most successful club in the Croatian football world. The Dinamo Zagreb’s youth academy player is also considered as one of the greatest young talents of European football. The Croatian starlet already has a stack of records to his name, though he is just 17 years old, after having an impressive youth career. He is his team’s youngest player. He is the youngest debutant and the youngest goal scorer of the Croatian league (just 16 years). He is also the youngest debutant of Croatian national team. He is the second youngest player to feature in Champions league. He has already made 44 appearances for his club as a senior player and has 3 senior international caps despite being just 17. But majority of his appearances are from substitutes’ benc

Manuel Pellegrini took over from Roberto Mancini only a season after the Italian managed to win the Premier League title ahead of local rivals Manchester United. An unsuccessful 2012-13 season saw the blue side of Manchester lose their title to Sir Alex Fergusson, knocked out from the Champions League group stages and also lose the FA cup final to Roberto Martinez’s Wigan Athletic owing to a late Ben Watson header. It seemed the investment put into the club and the return was not something the owners appreciated and it seemed inevitable that Mancini would make way. Manuel Pellegrini played his entire career at Chilean side Universidad De Chile. He retired early at the age of 33 as he believed his skill at Civil Engineering would be essential in rebuilding after the earthquakes that had just taken place.  After managerial stints in Chile and Argentina, Pellegrini was recruited by the yellow submarine. He led them to their record 3rd and 2nd place finishes in the

Hes got the whole world,,, at his feet. Wayne Rooney. As rumours have started to take pace regarding Wayne Rooney finalizing his contract extension with Manchester United, the fans have different sets of opinions on whether the terms demanded by the United star are worth fulfilling. If the reports emanating from different sources in the footballing world are to be believed, the Red Devils’ star hitman will be offered a new contract lasting for around five more years with a hefty 300,000 pounds a week wages which will make him one of the top earners in the game. That is not all. They also claim that he is has expressed his desire to wear the captain’s arm band and have the information on any transfer plan the club is considering. So is it worth investing such a vast amount of money on a single player and let him enjoy some form authority over the club? A Fractious Relationship           No player is bigger than the club. That was something that Sir Alex Ferguson ensured d

Remember the season of 2011-12 when Chelsea FC won the UEFA Champions League? Many impeached Chelsea’s defensive strategy. They accused Chelsea of ‘Parking the Bus’. What Chelsea exactly did was they occupied almost all defensive space by letting the opposition have possession and then countered as fast as possible without committing too many men forward. Some may call it ‘Parking the Bus’ but it worked unlike AC Milan who failed miserably. The Scenario changed when Chelsea signed Oscar from Internacional and Eden Hazard from Lille. These signings brought a drastic change in Chelsea’s playing style under Roberto Di Matteo. Chelsea’s attitude changed from defensive to attacking. The mid-field trio MAta-haZAard-osCAR had been life saving substantially after Drogba’s exit and signing of Torres being a flop. They provided young and fresh legs with quality play making resulting into an influential mid-field partnership. Chelsea scored 147 goals, their best ever in 2012-13.