The Manchester United Conundrum : Transfer Blues of the Reds

With the Olympics coming to an end and the greatest sporting spectacle in the world thus now out of the way, the world gets set for another season of the English Premier League. It's that time again when the transfer window draws to a close and the first gameweek of the season inches closer, instigating debates and arguments within fans and pundits alike as to who will be the team to beat.

In the midst of all this argument, there is this one team (that I absolutely do NOT support) that is currently enjoying one of its best ever spells domestically and in Europe (bar last season): Manchester United. Every season, come what may, one thing is of general consensus - that the Red Devils will be tussling for the top spot come the end of the season. All this seems to paint a very rosy picture. The financials even back that claim, with Manchester United being the most widely supported club in the world, and the richest! So sound the trumpets and scream from the ramparts you may think, but within all this success on and off the field, there is a huge conundrum that rears its head every transfer window.

Ask yourself these question:
1. Which was the last bona fide superstar to join Manchester United?
2. In your Dream Team, how many Manchester United players would actually have a chance of competing for a starting spot?

Apart from Rooney, I would stick my neck out to say that there is not one world class talent in that Red Devil  squad. Ferdinand, Evra are past their prime and Giggs and Scholes are somehow trying to get those creaking limbs to function like they used to more a decade ago. The rest of the team? Unproven talent like Phil Jones, Cleverley and good but not world class Nani, Young et all. So you now have this team, with arguably one truly world class player, and they still manage to be there at the end before anyone else! Man to man, the team from Old Trafford is arguably the weakest among the top clubs in Europe (Milan removed).

However let's have a look at the results of the last 5 seasons :
2006-07 : League - Winners, Champions League - Semi Finals
2007-08 : League - Winners, Champions League - Winners
2008-09 : League - Winners, Champions League - Finals
2009-10 : League - 2nd, Champions League - Quarter Finals
2010-11 : League - Winners, Champions League - Finals
2011-12 : League - 2nd, Champions League - Group Stage

So, you have 3 CL final appearances (1 won) and 1 SF and 4 league triumphs in the past 6 seasons. That is an incredible record. I would dare you to find, Barcelona aside, another club as successful as United over the last few years, infact, the last time United finished outside the top two in the English Premier League was way back in 2004, when Arsenal actually mattered! So you have one of the most successful clubs on AND off the field in the world. Naturally all the top stars should be lining up to join United, right? That's where you'd be wrong. United's transfer windows have always been about a brief flirtation with top, marquee names like Benzema, Sneijder, Nasri, Hazard and most recently Lucas Moura all turned their heads elsewhere. On the one hand you have a club that is insanely successful and guarantees you trophies, on the other hand no marquee star has recently signed  on. Young, Kagawa, Chicharito, Jones, De Gea are all astute buys, but not the names that bring the crowds or even turn a match on its head with a moment of genius. So what are the reasons why the top names are not coming?

The argument that Manchester United do not need to splash money and buy stars, instead they create stars is just glossing over the fact that over the past few years, one of it's most successful years, United have been unable to attract the marquee names.

Financial troubles with the Glazer family are well documented, however, not being able to buy ONE star a season? I don't buy it. If you spend 20m pounds each on De Gea, Jones and Young,  you cannot argue that you did not have the funds to secure Sneijder. Also, he was available at a cut price due to Inter's woes! And had the transfer been so financially unfeasible, such a long approach would not have been made.

The reason I believe that players like those I mentioned looked elsewhere is the style of play. Manchester United, to be brutally honest, are not easy on the eye. They are effective, yes. They are efficient, yes. They are ruthless, yes. But are they elegant? The answer I'm afraid is a resounding no. Manchester United are all about fast, efficient counter attacking via wing play. A midfield of Fletcher, Carrick and Park (who's left) can never be sumptuous. They will run their socks off and win you the game, but they won't make you stand up on your feet and shout "Ole!", as cliche as that might sound. Maybe this is the reason some players would rather ply their trade elsewhere?

Financial troubles, playing style, whatever the reason might be, what cannot be repudiated is that next April, the red half of Manchester will still be up there at the top of the table. Teamwork, immense belief, whatever it is that drives every group of players that dons the red jersey, you know they are here to stay. Even when down, they believe they WILL (not can, will) get the winning goal in the dying seconds. Whatever formula that wily Scot is using, is working, however, therein lies the Manchester United conundrum... compete with the best on the field and off it, but come the transfer window, the Red Devils remain second best.

What would Jesus do ? :D

Been a long time since I last posted, however, it seems my blog keeps getting a regular read thanks to a previous post I made about a nice ghazal some time back. Anyway, so recently I was asked to write a story and was given 5 words with which I had to go about it. Pretty interesting, I thought, and took it up. To cut to the chase, these were the words I got : ability, accelerate, inquiry, enormous and corporate; and following is the story I came up with. It is a bit weak in some places, I agree, but I love how it showcases my randomness... so here it is :

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Dear Diary,

Hi, my name is Jesus. You know, as in the Son of God. Yeah that’s me. It’s not easy let me assure you. They had nails put into my hands, made me carry crosses and stuff, oh the things that you must do when you are me… it’s a bummer. So my journey began when people started to discover my awesome abilities. Like the ability to walk on water, yeah that one was priceless… always the biggest drawer. Then there were the small matters of curing illness, teaching people the moral codes, basically trying to get everyone’s lives in some sort of shape.

As I kept travelling, and working, my popularity grew. Man, did it accelerate! You know like Danica Patrick at the Indy… oh wait, that’s not supposed to happen till 2000 years from now. Forget I said that. I mean, really, forget that! So my popularity ran through the charts. I had these twelve cool guys following me everywhere, basically doing whatever I told them to. Yeah, being the Son of God does have its own privileges. Anyway, coming back to my story, people then started following me and listening more intently to me. Of course the healing incurable diseases shtick and walking on water does do wonders for your credibility. But then the inevitable happened… the rulers got pissed. And as common sense dictates, that NEVER ends well.

It’s sort of like a big corporate getting threatened by the new upstart in the market. The big corporate either acquires the upstart or runs it into the ground. It’s simple economics really. Don’t worry, a few centuries from now someone will write a book about that. Spoiler Alert! Ha ha. So that led to all the hullaballoo and public inquiry into what I was doing, blah, blah, blah. Man that did not end well for me! This is where we come back to the whole crucifixion angle (which, by the way, is totally going to go out of fashion in a few centuries), having to carry a huge cross, getting nailed down onto said cross and all that.

Anyway, so that happened three days ago, and now I’m here among these dead bodies, in what seems to be a cave. Damn, I am NOT having a good week. You know what would be creepy? If one of these cadavers got out of their coffins and started walking! Hmm, I think I just invented a whole new line of stories, must remember to call them something. Something starting with Z, yes that sounds right. Ok, before any creepy stuff starts getting to me, let me just remove this enormous boulder that’s covering the entrance of the cave (with my awesome abilities!) and get out of here. I don’t want to be late to the gathering they’ve kept for me. I’ll fill you in on the details later, till then, ciao.

My Job, Home, Tests (!) and People

As I sit in my new home on a random Saturday afternoon and go through my previous post, I can't help but look back at this last one month. From the time I stepped out of the airport, to the guesthouse, to the home, to office, it has been a rollercoaster ride.

Ofcourse a lot has to do with the people here, new and old. The first person I met here apart from Nitesh (hereafter referred to as motka), was my 3rd "apartment-mate", a tall 6'4'' guy with size 15 shoes from IIT Bombay, Vishnu Narayanan Suresh, who we christened Uppu II (in honour of the original Uppu) within 30 minutes of meeting him. Looking for and finding an apartment was an unexpectedly much easier affair to handle than 1st expected... It took us a mere couple of days to finalize on the one we are staying in right now. And within a week motka, Uppu II and I had shifted into our new "penthouse".

The first day of work, the new office, new people, a new environment to adjust to.. all seems to have happened just yesterday, as the days just seemed to fly by and life fell into a routine (sort of :P). One month down the line, with a bank account containing the remnants of my first salary, it all feels a bit unreal. Before I continue, I need to mention a funny Parthiv Patel look-alike from Patiala, Sidharth Dixit, who has been one of the constants in this crazy time in Gurgaon, always helpful and fun to hang out with. Also a shout out to all the guys in office (17 names jot down nahi karna :P). Its been fun, all the training sessions, and the tests... not just the ODCs, but other tests as well (eh motka ?) , and all the plans made sitting peacefully on our terrace after a long day at the office (yeah right :P). I never thought I would have to sit for so many tests once I left Kharagpur (though atleast that gave some sadistic pleasure to a few people :P).

Now obviously, not everything has been hunky dory, because life just loves to throw in a sucker punch or two to mix it up doesn't it ? And so I've had my share of curveballs thrown at me as well, but its something that you need to take in your stride. Its always tough to walk away from something that has been a big part of your life, but there are things that are out of your control and there is only that much you can do. After that, its out of your hands and really depends on factors out of your control.

But moving on from depressing thoughts, its a whole new life that's just begun and there's a whole new world of people out there to encounter, (also a lot of friends to meet up with yet) and a whole lot of planning to do on our rooftop terrace-garden. (Yes we have a rooftop terrace-garden... and yes its awesome to sit out there at nights looking at the Gurgaon skyline, under the stars :D). So here's hoping that this time things keep going smoothly, without hiccups like certain tests and walking away... and a big thank you to all the people who have been here (baniya, THE ankit singh, ek pavitra aatma and all) .

PS Lest I forget, one of the most amazing moments, el toque del espana, para celebracion de una amistad.

My Rollercoaster

Well what a whirlwind of a month this has been since my last post !! From (the now seemingly) mundane stuff like clearing my dues and walking out of college for good to the really mindnumbing feeling of the possibility of losing a close friend forever, its been a real rollercoaster ride. Atleast we still have our friend !

Such an incident, and its aftermath, makes you stop and think; think about what is important in life, think about what choices should be made, basically just think about life. Is it not too precious to throw away due to the whims and fancies of a perceived "loved one" or due to expectations and burdens that other people put on your shoulders ? Sometimes taking a drastic step makes no sense if the reason of that step is not affected by the outcome... actually it never makes sense, forget that "sometimes". Stuff like this makes you realize that its never prudent to get too carried away by ones emotions. Also to not get so close to any person that you get hurt.

Well you'd think that people would learn... but then again, I guess Darwin was correct and so we continue playing with fire and we keep getting burnt, again and again and again, every time thinking that this time it will be different ! We've all been there. But still such an incident, so close to home, makes you think twice... is it worth playing ? Once you get burnt, it does take time to heal, sometimes a lot of time, but then you need to think... how far away from that fire can you bear to be ? Such an incident makes you question yourself, your beliefs, and most importantly how much of yourself are you willing to expose... and to whom ? We all know that we would not take such extreme steps, but I also know that our friend was not one to take such a step either. So who are we to say what went through his mind, what thoughts were running through him, what emotions had he been fighting ?

So once again you find me pessimistic and utterly cynical about people, relationships, and just life in general. As you would say in poker, after this incident do I have the sack to ante up again for another round ? Or do I walk away from the table, busted ? I believe this time, its not solely upto me, but its upto my friends, people that care for me. It is they who can give me the assurance to ante up again, to buy in to the table for another round again, because this is one poker table that CANNOT be handled alone...

Be that as it may, the days keep going by and I inch closer to my joining date at EXL Services (formerly Inductis), Gurgaon... my first job! Again a whole new beginning, not unlike the first day at college, a new town, a new environment, new people. And you can't help but think, What will my job be like ? What will Gurgaon be like ? What the people I encounter will be like ? etc. etc.

There are a few people I know in Delhi, will I meet them ? Will they remain a part of my life or will they just phase themselves out ? Will a couple of particular friends remain a part of my life ? What about other friends, from school and college ? Will they remain or will they, too, get phased out ? Will I make the same mistakes that I made earlier ? Will I go through on my dream a couple of years from now ? What I can't deny is that the apprehension is far outweighed by the excitement.

The wheels are in motion now... and I have a feeling that this rollercoaster ride is just getting started....

My Small Moments

With just over a week left for this chapter of my life to close, I cannot help but feel nostalgic about the four years I spent here, at one of the "premier engineering institutes" of this country. I still remember the mixed feelings I had while coming here, not unlike those I'm having now. A sense of accomplishment at having cracked arguably the toughest entrance examination, a sense of apprehension about what awaits me in an "IIT", a whole gamut of emotions too complex to explain.

Four years later, I must say that I have learnt a lot here. Though I do not have much to show regarding my prowess in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, which incidentally was my major here, I leave with something a lot more important.... friends and experiences. From the most random and unplanned trip ever to a scenic Gangtok to a visit to IIT Guwahati on a "debate" that turned out to be much much more for reasons I had never expected, to being able to visit Spain, Italy, France, Singapore... places I had only dreamed about. I made a lot of friends, some close, others closer...while people entered my life and left, some being my fault while others of their own volition. All in all its been one heck of a rollercoaster ride, scary, exhilarating, with a lot of ups and downs, but on the whole a lot of fun.

But you ask what are the memories that I take back from this place ? So which are the memories I cherish the most out of all the myriad of emotions faced...? Because, after all, as said in El Secreto de sus ojos, "Its only memories that you take to your grave" :) . Well, I had initially expected it to be tough to pick out single incidents but surprisingly I find that a few memories stick out the most.

For example, Spring Fest this year was very happening for me. Making new friends, meeting up and hanging out with old ones, going for salsa, hockey et all... but surprisingly its not any of these that stick out in my mind as much as one single moment, one plain and insipid act that didn't even warrant much attention. Now I don't know why that stands out so much for me, but it does. Because when it comes down to the basics, its not the Indian Ocean concerts that I'll remember or even my first and only "EX" in IIT (yes I just put that in there to show that I got one :P). Its the small things that will stay with me, the small moments that I shared with various people, whether it be the time when a friend popped an innocent Melody into my mouth catching me unawares (yes somehow THATS the memory that stands out the most for me this Spring Fest.. weird but true), or the time when you just sat quietly alongside someone special with a beer and a B52 in front of you, the time when you exchanged a knowing glance with a friend across a table in Gangtok, the times when you came out of a viva (always with the same guy and the same marks, Shishir and 0), the times spent sitting in Cheddis and Tikka and Shady's with a cup of tea and no intention of getting up, the time your Jacks and Aces full house got beat by an Aces and Jacks full house, the time when an awkward question (or two) popped up for a friend during a Truth and Dare session, the time when a friend laughed so hard that sauce spurted out the nose, the time when a lunch box was handed over at the train station, the time when a friend and I were forced to practice stopping hockey balls at 5:30 in the morning (still half asleep), the moments are as innumerable as they are innocuous.

As I said before, there have been ups and there have been downs, some moments that hurt a lot and some that didn't, some that made me happy and some that left me nonplussed. But overall I would like to think that all this made me better and stronger for any trials and tribulations that this world has to offer because, and believe you me, I have done almost everything that could be done in my time here. I'd heard that college life would be fun and something to remember, but I never knew it would be this awesome. From the people in my first year, Uppu, Chor, Ledi, Sunil, Chom, Baniya, Majdoor to the people I met later Prateek Agrawal ("jcb anyone?? vs ??"), Thusuda ("wooo"), Bubs ("kyaa"), Urmaliya, the whole poker house, Dubeyda, and a whole lot of people.. the gadhis, the losses and mona... these are the people who made this "trip" memorable.

A lifetime of experiences that I take from this small nondescript place called Kharagpur. Four years that taught me more about life than I could have imagined, four years that taught me (to use a poker analogy) that even if you have a strong hand and suffer a really bad beat, you have got to have the sack to ante up again. Four years that I will cherish forever, for the small moments that made the ride worthwhile, four years that now I will never get back but will always have with me. Four years that taught me more about myself than I could have imagined, four years made up of moments of a lifetime.

My Faults (?) :)

Every couple or weeks or so, some new thing comes up which inundates your "Walls" and "Status Messages" on the various social networking platforms that are there. There used to be random shit like "Tag your pals" where you could wake up one day to find out which pokemon or which other equally redundant cartoon character your friend thinks you are. Then there was the "tough-questions-about-friends" app and the various manifestations of it, and the list sort of goes on.

And nothings changed. One thing or the other continues to crop up and catch your eyeballs everywhere. Now again, leaving aside the millions... AND THE MILLIONS (the rock reference there :) ) of photoshopped images of the Indian cricket team beating up the Australians and the Pakistanis, its another small webpage that has caught the fancy of people everywhere... a page rather innovatively named "What is wrong with me", which (if you didn't get by the web name) gives people an opportunity to tell you what is wrong with you. Anonymously too, if I may add.

What is this fascination that people have to know what other people think ? I think its everyone has a hidden narcissist inside of them that just WANTS to know... ( yeah thats right I said it, YOU SIR/madam (as the case may be) are a narcissist TOO... I just choose to wear it on my sleeve :P :D ).
Anywho, moving along, I decided to take a pot shot at the thing meself and went ahead and got my very own webpage where YOU can tell ME whats wrong with me.

http://whatiswrongwith.me/protik (Just in case you didn't see it yet...)

So I thought I'd dedicate this post to the wide gamut of, ummm interesting answers that I got.. all anonymous of course.

1. Anonymous says: nothing :)

I say : Brilliant. As we say in the "poker house" :D... "pura love rahega" :)

2. Anonymous says: oh no! you're perfect..

I say : Thank you... I sort of get the feeling that this was supposed to be sarcastic but I'll take it at face value. A certain part of me wants to believe that this answer was written by some pretty girl, say Angelina Jolie or Elisha Cuthbert.. :) :D

3. Anonymous says: you're a bong

I say : Hahahahaha... I don't know how that is my fault but I'll be damned if I say I didn't find that funny. :D

4. Anonymous says: smartass

I say : Ok I know who wrote this so " :P ". Maybe sometimes I am... I'll try to tone it down. Or not :D :P. No seriously I will. Maybe. :)

5. Anonymous says: Your mom was worried you are very Lazy.

I say : So the point that is being made is that I'm lazy, I think. Well actually I am, because you know, if there was a contest to find who the laziest guy in the world was.. I would lose. You know why ? Because I would have been too lazy to even enter. But more seriously, in my defense, I can be quite active while doing something that I like or WANT to do. Plus I like to be cozy and comfortable and preferably asleep.

6. Anonymous says: kyu..kyu..kyun yeh sab kyun...

I say : ainwayi

7. Anonymous says: 1+2=3

I say : Yes, I am a bit weak at maths. For people who don't believe me... just ask any of the guys who play poker or my closer friends. Well its not maths per se.. its basically basic arithmetic that I almost always mess up. Don't like it but its true. Coming to the comment made, "like rahega is answer pe dada.. kaafi innovative way mein bataye ho".

8. Anonymous says: sab peace hai be :)

I say : Thanks rahega dost :)

9. my name is..yes it is says: u r a loss...........pong!

I say : Haa Haa Ekdum.. NOT. LOSS :P (Its an inside joke.. I know who this is :D)

10. Anonymous says: u brag a lot.. act as if u r the most imp person around.. thoda humble ho jaa

I say : I don't know where you are coming from about the brag a lot thing, because I don't. About the other part, yes I do have a bloated ego and maybe it sometimes rubs off wrongly on other people. Sorry about that. But the bragging part is just outright wrong.


And a lot of other similar and some.. lets just say spam comments. Which brings me to the most interesting answer that I got and am dying to address...

Anonymous says:
You are smart, but you lack direction. To add to that, you are extremely narcissistic. Those are things that don't go together. It is probably the bengali in you. Try to think less selfishly, and whatever you do in life, make sure at the end you can look back and say, at the very least, 'Hey, I made a positive change in my environment and the people in it.' I am glad you decided to do this.

I say : Thank you. Now I know that there is someone out there who actually took the time to write down all this for me.. which means a lot. And most of the points hit home. I don't know who wrote it, but its evident that you know me really well and I would love to know who wrote it so I can thank him/her personally, though that would beat the whole point of it being anonymous ! But then its really eyeopening if someone does not mince his/her words and speaks the truth, and I know its meant for my good only. So thank you and I shall keep what you said in mind.

When I made the page, I thought of it as just a lark and evidently so did all other people who answered except for the last one above. I was actually quite touched by that one answer.

Anywho, be that as it may, it was good hearing from people what they think :). And if you still want to tell me a few uncomfortable truths.. go ahead and maybe I'll answer them here... :P :)

Peace.

India Shining or The Not so Secret Seven events of 2010

Taking a look back at 2010...seven points :
1. Ruchika case - The man (SPS Rathore) still walks free.
2. Arushi Talwar case - CBI closes case. Will there be any answer for the inhumane Narco tests on the innocent servants ? Where is that SC judge who claimed to know the criminal's identity now ? Will the wrongdoers EVER be brought to book ?
3. Suresh Kalmadi - Still not even questioned !!! While minions are languishing in jail. Where are your Narco tests now CBI ???
4. Nira Radia - .....ok...
5. A. Raja - What ?! *cough*Narco test*cough*
6. Arundhati Roy - Sedition charges ?! Are you f$#@#! kidding me ?? Doesn't democracy mean freedom of speech and opinion ?!
7. Binayak Sen - Life sentence ? REALLY ??

So basically, if I have money and clout, then I can get away with murder, rape, embezzlement, bringing shame to the country, .... Or if I am Nira Radia, I basically run the country.

And these are only a handful of cases that jump out at you. There are innumerably many more cases that can be read about each day where the gross miscarriage of justice is apparent. Which begs me to ask...where is that India Shining ? Who cares about the bloody GDP when you can't assure the common man justice ? Who cares about the bloody economic shenanigans when you can't let a person air his/her opinion ? For every superficial step that India takes forward it seems that out society and our judicial and political system yanks us five steps back... to which I just want to ask...

WHAT THE PHAAACK INDIA ??????????? WHAT THE PHAAAAACK ?????????????