Amy Kane

What’s in store for Manchester United?

ooking at how Manchester United played last season, you’d be excused if you thought another team was playing on the pitch. People were so accustomed to United winning at least the Premier League title that seeing them without one last year was a bit of a shock. Just last year, United was able to win the Premiership behind Sir Alex Ferguson’s always masterful guidance. However, that year also proved to be Sir Alex’s last with the club. Everton manager David Moyes was tabbed to succeed Ferguson but could never live up to the club and its fans’ expectations. He was sacked after the club’s abysmal showing in both the Premier League and the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League.

The Successor

Pundits and fans alike have singled out Moyes as the reason why the club was losing but it was really a combination of several different factors. Sir Alex Ferguson’s 26 years as United’s manager had produced 13 Premier League titles which is a wall that’s hard to scale even for the most accomplished of individuals. Moyes, a Scotsman like Ferguson was tabbed to manage the club due to his success as Everton’s manager. He earned a reputation as a team builder with his numerous player acquisitions that helped Everton become one of Premierships competitive teams.

Star Problems

The situation at Manchester United was a little different though. The Scotsman was set to reunite with Wayne Rooney who turned pro at Everton but left in 2004 after numerous controversies. The two men had not been on the best of terms following Rooney’s allegation in his book published in 2006 that Moyes had left him out to dry in Everton. Moyes then filed a libel suit against his former player that saw Rooney apologize and pay a total of £50000 for legal fees and damages. At the time Moyes was set to takeover in United, Rooney was in limbo following the acquisition of Robin van Persie who also plays the forward position. Although Rooney opted to stay in the end, the tension and stir created wasn’t able to help the team in its preparations for the next season.

Moving Forward

After just 10 months of running the club and four games till the end of the season, David Moyes was let go. Louis Van Gaal was chosen as his permanent replacement on May 19, 2014. Van Gaal recently led the Netherlands team to a third place finish in the Brazil World Cup and had also managed a Bayern Munich team that was able to win the Bundesliga in 2009-10. The Reds other notable acquisitions are Angel di Maria from Real Madrid (£ 59.7 million transfer), Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao (£ 29 million), and Luke Shaw from Southampton (£ 27 m). With a renewed commitment from Rooney, the Reds certainly have the tools to bounce back from the disappointing end of last season. As of this writing, after 7 games in the Premier League season they are currently off to a great start. After winning the opener, the club has now won 5 of its matches and is currently on 4-game win streak after two draws. Yes, it seems that as of now Manchester United is on the right track.

Is Sebastian Vettel selfish?

When people think of Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher many negative things are said about him. Schumacher expects his teammates to do everything possible to help him win as the #1 driver and Schumi has been known to crash on purpose just to get his way. He has had many controversial victories of his career and it has certainly hurt the sport.

Now Sebastian Vettel who has the cute face with a nice smile, seems to be just as selfish as Schumacher. He was recently quoted as saying that Mark Webber deserved to finish behind him and that he didn't support the team in the past so why should he support him now. These comments are going to leave a nasty taste in the mouths of these drivers and it could be the downfall of Team Redbull racing this year. 2 teams that automatically seem stronger are Mercedes and Ferrari and if Vettel continues to act like a baby and spend too much negative energy on his current situation, it is the perfect recipe for drivers like Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to do more.

Perhaps Felipe Massa could do better this season as he is now constantly performing better than Alonso for qualifications. Certainly Fernando Alonso has his own nasty history of not being the friendliest driver.  Is this what F1 racing has come to that drivers have to be completely assholes in order to win?  It sounds like a nasty atmosphere in the world of motorsport.

Perhaps the classiest guys around are Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber, maybe Jenson Button too. The rest seem catty enough to be contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race show. 

http://f1-bettings.com/drivers/sebastian-vettel/

Biking is cool

I don't know about you but I love biking. This means that I hate rainy days as well as it makes it tougher to go out on a bike ride. I first learned to ride my first bicycle when I was 5 years old but of course I started with training wheels and was scared at first.

Now I can't see myself without biking and wish more larger cities would become more bike friendly. Four bike friendly cities in the world are Paris, Montreal, Barcelona and Amsterdam. Other cities like London, Toronto and New York are not bike friendly. At least New York has an excuse of not having as much space and being too dense but Toronto should at least wake up and try to smell the fresh air.

With the winter on the horizon it will make it tougher to get any biking done so to stay in shape I'll have to hit the gym and settle for an exercise bike. Of course this is just not the same and this makes the winters longer and harder for me to endure. Sometimes I like to take the seat off of my bike and um, you know.

Now all the world needs is more bikes and cities that are bike friendly with traffic respecting bike lanes then the world would be a better place.