Ras' Football World

 Manchester United beat Brentford 3-1 and with that, we became the first-ever Premier League club to win 300 away matches in the league. But I am not breaking my long draught of not writing about Manchester United to write about the game. I don’t even know where to start and what to say about Manchester United anymore. Is Manchester United cursed? Did someone put a curse on Manchester United Football Club? It sounds ridiculous but it does feel like it now. Did Sir Alex Ferguson have a magic formula with him and brought it with him? So many pundits are trying to put a finger on what is the issue at the club but honestly can only speculate. Ex-players can only talk about the past and past glory. Sometimes, I feel these former players should just turn up for the training sessions at Carrington unannounced to watch the training sessions, study the body language of the players and the rapport the players have. There have been so ma ny reports and rumours of unhappiness and negativity ...

Inter has ended 2021 on a high as Winter Champions. Personally, it is not a title that I cherish as it means nothing in the grand scheme of things. I would have been happy finishing the year in second or third but within touching distance of the top but I will take whatever good that comes my way. Dark Clouds In The Summer We impressively clawed back a deficit on AC Milan and Napoli who both had perfect records in the early months of the season to get to where we are now. Inter didn’t enter the season with an air of optimism after losing our manager, Antonio Conte, one of the best wing-backs in the world, Achraf Hakimi and when we thought that is all we would lose over the summer, we lost our most prolific striker in the last two seasons, Romelu Lukaku. We had also lost a key player in our title charge over the summer in the European Championships, Christian Eriksen, due to a heart issue. Composure Of Inzaghi The jury was out on Simone Inzaghi on how he would manage this Inter te...

 Michael Carrick ended a 15-year stint at Manchester United as a player, coach and interim manager at the end of Manchester United’s win over Arsenal. It came as a surprise to me but it was the right thing for him to do and it is nice for him to leave on a high. Michael Carrick, the player, I felt got better as he aged like fine wine. Today, we deeply miss a player like him in our midfield. He was a great servant to the club, a classy top-quality player but under-appreciated. If he was an Italian, Spanish, Argentine or Brazilian player, he would have been appreciated better. Carrick, The Coach As a coach, he worked under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at a time when the club lacked stability and there were higher than usual expectations placed on the team to deliver silverware. In his time at the club, the club failed to deliver any silverware and the jury is out on player development; there might have been one or two players that have improved but not enough to bring t...

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the player gave us a lot of joy. He was one of the best finishers in the Sir Alex Ferguson era and played a massive role in helping us win the Treble – not just the winning goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final but also the winning goal against Liverpool in the FA Cup 3 rd Round. Besides that, he has contributed to United winning trophies in his time at the club with his goals. At this point as well, I want to point out that aside from the goals, he was a team player. In the 2002-03 season, he played a part in United winning the league title playing out wide on the right as an outside forward. That is Solskjaer, the player. Solskjaer’s Entry As a manager, he came at a time where I hope a former player would be the manager but I didn’t think that Solskjaer was the right profile but was open to being surprised. He did a great job when he entered a fractious dressing room; he improved the team’s mood, united the team and gave the team a feel-g...

 Italy was playing against Switzerland in a playoff for top spot in the group and with that came automatic qualification to the 2022 World Cup. I remember the first time I heard of Switzerland and found out that they were no pushovers in the qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup. We drew 2-2 and lost 0-1 at that time but qualified top of the group. Fast forward to 2021 and we beat them well in Euro 2020. We drew 0-0 in Switzerland, missing a penalty. After the result in Euro 2020, I was confident that we could win and seal the deal but that wasn’t the case. Sluggish Start, Lacking Intensity In The Final Third We were held to another draw. Since beating Belgium in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals, we have drawn four matches over 90 minutes, lost once and only won twice. We were not at our best and were sluggish from the start. Our control of midfield and possession has been a key feature of this new-look Italy and that was what was lacking in the game. We kept misplacing passes and our ...

Inter needed to beat Milan if they are to close the gap on their neighbours who have started the season unbeaten and on-fire. Inter’s start to the season has not been too bad, but it pales in comparison to the frantic pace Milan and Napoli have set this season. We did not win the latest edition of the Derby Della Madonnina but at least we did not lose and the gap between the two teams did not get bigger. Common Theme In Big Matches Inter’s performance in the derby warranted a win but after a very good recent record over Milan, I always fear Inter might lose to Milan as they did last season and because in derbies, the form book goes out of the window. However, it has become a theme for Inter in big matches this season; play well but fail to score enough goals to win it. Inter has failed to beat Atalanta, Lazio, Juventus and Milan in Serie A and Real Madrid in the Champions League despite playing well in most of these matches. The only match Inter struggled in was against Atalanta and ...

I am not going to write about how the match went. Everyone saw it and if you missed it, I am going to paste the link to the highlights of the match below so if you are interested, you can check that out. My Desire To Hire A Manchester United Man What I am going to write about is my feelings and thoughts about the situation Manchester United finds itself in. After the disarray and toxicity of the Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho stints at the club, I wanted someone who was associated with this club; someone who understood what it meant to play for Manchester United, the ethos of the club and the playing style that made us successful. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was not the first name in my mind although I did struggle to think of the right name considering the less than impressive record of ex-United players turned managers. But Solskjaer it was and if anything, it could have been an interim appointment to stabilise the club before an elite manager of the right profile was available to take ...