Is Manchester United Really Bad Or Simply Unlucky?

This is the question one can ask himself after watching Manchester United lose yet again this season. The Red Devils lost on their home field to Sunderland (0-1) on Saturday, May 3. 

This was the 11th loss for Manchester United, making it the worst season in the history of the club. The club will not qualify for any European Cup: A first in 20 years! 

So is Manchester United simply terrible this season or very unlucky? If you watched their games this season you could ask yourself the same question. It seems that the team does everything it can to win, especially at home, but just can't score. The team averages a possession of 60 percent, shots on goal at least 10 times in a game, and has a 1.44 goal for average, which means the team scores at least one goal every game. 

Against Sunderland, Manchester United players tried and tried, over and over, but never found the net.  The full-backs played many balls in front of the goal, but no one was there to finish. The Red Devils only had one clear opportunity to score when Van Persie deflected a cross coming from the right side and missed the net for a few inches. This is surely not enough to win a game. 

The main issue with the Red Devils this season is their defense. Sunderland could have won the game 3-0 if they hadn't hit the post two times in the second half. Manchester concedes an average of one goal per game, and lost seven games on a one goal margin this season. As a comparison, the team only lost five games last season. However, they still allowed 43 goals (for 40 this season), which shows that the defense was already terrible last year. 

The injuries of Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney could explain the bad showing this season. Van Persie had 30 goals last season for 17 this year. Without them, Manchester struggled to score goals. 

On top of that, Manchester had some really unlucky days, sometimes hitting the post two or three days in a game, or getting strange refereeing decisions. Many games should have gone their way, but slipped away from their grasp. That's also the beauty of football! 

United is having the worst season in the history of the club. A season that led to their brand-new manager, David Moyes, getting fired. Manchester will have to start over again next season with yet another manager. 

It seems that the departure of the legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson has dried out United's thirst for victory...         

Cabaye Sign To PSG; Major Blow For Newcastle?

It's official! French midfielder Yohan Cabaye signed for the 2013 Ligue1 champions Paris St. Germain. The club was interested in Newcastle's player for a while and after one £17 million offer that Newcastle turned down, PSG got what they were looking for with a second offer around £20 million pound.

English press are still late tonight, saying that Cabaye is simply "on brink" of joining PSG. However, French newspaper L'Equipe made it official, saying "Cabaye in Paris, it's done!"

Cabaye joins PSG and reconnects with his former coach with France, Laurent Blanc. One question remains: Whose player is going to lose his spot to allow Cabaye to play?

PSG midfield is becoming one of the bests in Europe with Matuidi, Veratti and Motta. If you doubt it, just watch PSG play in the Champions League. So what is going to happen when you add a star player like Cabaye in the mix? It's a chinese puzzle that Laurent Blanc will have to fix!

This transfer could be a major blow for Newcastle when you know the impact Cabaye has on the field for the Magpies. The French player has been outstanding so far this season, helping his team staying in eighth place, only seven points behind Liverpool, fourth.

Will the Magpies survive Cabaye's departure? Will the other French players feel lonely without their leader? Newcastle coach Alan Pardew did admit that it would be really hard to keep Cabaye at the club. He was right!

The coach loses there one of his star players, one of his "captains" and leaders. Pardew knew that he did not have a saying in Cabaye's transfer and had to simply accept the outcome, good or bad.

But Magpies fans should not worry! The club is already looking for a replacement. Indeed, the club is on the verge of signing, on loan, Borussia Munchengladbach rising star Luuk de Jong. The 23-year is traveling to Newcastle for a medical exam and a possible loan deal today.

Another target is France and Lyon midfielder Clement Grenier. The 23-year old is one of the best players in Ligue1 and could be consider as the future Cabaye. Same profile, same style, Grenier would be a perfect fit to replace Cabaye.

Let's hope Newcastle finds a new player before the end of the transfer window. And who knows? Maybe a new Frenchie will join the Premier League!

Will Monaco Survive Without Falcao?

Falcao injured himself on this challenge. He suffers
from a torn ACL and could miss the World Cup.

It was a bitter-sweet night for Monaco on Tuesday, Jan. 21,  as they easily defeated Chasselay, a fourth division team, 3-0, in the French Cup and suffered the loss of their striker, Radamel Falcao for many months! 

The Colombian striker suffers from an ACL injury and could miss the 2014 World Cup! If it is a huge loss for Colombia, it could also be a terrible thing for Monaco. Indeed, the club had a lot of expectations from their expensive striker, but unfortunately Falcao has not been at his top so far this season. He just came back from a thigh injury a week ago, after being kept off the field for more than three weeks. And now, an torn ACL! 

Monaco might have trouble to qualify for the Champions League next season without their striker, especially against the unstoppable PSG and the impressive Lille, Lyon and Marseille this season.

Many players could leave if the club fails to qualify for the major European competition.

However, Monaco showed that they could play without Falcao, thanks to French striker Emmanuel Riviere who really stepped up and scored crucial goals for the club. And Monaco is--a little bit--lucky that Falcao injured himself during the transfer window! With its huge budget, Monaco is already targeting replacements for the Colombian. 

Among targets are Brazilian Hulk and Juventus striker Mirko Vucinic. The Brazilian was already on Monaco's radar last summer, but decided to stay at Zenith. Will he change his mind now? As for Vucinic, he does not play as often as he was last year with Juventus since the arrival of Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente. Maybe he will be attracted by some playing time on the French Riviera! 

Let's hope Monaco finds a way to fix the problem and let's hope that Falcao will be fit before the start of the World Cup! No one wants to see Colombia without their main offensive threat! 

   

UCL review: Goals, Records, And Snow Storm!

Eight of the 16 UEFA Champions League Group stage final games were played yesterday, Tuesday, December 10. Five teams involved were already qualified for the next round. The rest had to battle out their way in the last 16. 

The most interesting game was the duel between Galatasaray and Juventus as the Turkish side needed a win to qualify while the Italian simply needed to bring one point home from their trip to Istanbul. If fans and intensity were present at the Turk Telecom Arena, they were, unfortunately, not the only one as snow and hail join the party right from the start. After 30 minutes of an intense and entertaining game game under a dreadful snow storm, officials decided to stop the game and clear the snow off the field. But it was a lost cause and the game was finally postponed to a yet to determined date. Both teams will play this decisive game already knowing the result of the other game as Real Madrid defeated Copenhagen on the road, 2-0. 

Two goals for Madrid and two records! Real Madrid becomes the club which scored most goals in the history of the Champions League group stage (20) and Cristiano Ronaldo the best goal scorer in group stage history as well with nine goals.

Both Manchesters won today with a 1-0 win for United at home over Chaktior and an impressive 3-2 win for City over Bayern Munich in Germany! Both teams were already qualified. Let's hope for English fans that Arsenal and Chelsea will do the same tomorrow.  

Finally, Benfica defeated PSG, 2-1, but it was not enough to clutch the last ticket as Olympiakos dominated Anderlecht, 3-1, on the road. The Greeks join Paris in the round of 16. 

Results are as follows:

Group A

Manchester United 1-0 Donetsk / Real Sociedad 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen

1- Manchester; 2- Leverkusen; 3- Donetsk; 4- Real Sociedad

Group B

Copenhagen 0-2 Real Madrid / Galatasaray 0-0 Juventus (Postponed)

1-Real Madrid; 2- Juventus (-1); 3-Galatasaray(-1); 4- Copenhagen

Group C

Benfica 2-1 PSG / Olympiakos 3-1 Anderlecht

1- PSG; 2- Olympiakos; 3- Benfica; 4- Anderlecht

Group D

Bayern Munich 2-3 Manchester City / Victoria Plzen 2-1 CSKA Moscow 

1- Bayern; 2- City; 3- Plzen; 4- Moscow