Reds Back on Their Perch After 30 Years

Boy, does this feel good! And apparently nobody is going to Switzerland. 

YNWA

Win At Old Trafford Could See Reds Lift Trophy on May 4

As per a reasonable scenario where they would win 7 of the remaining games (excluding today's result), draw 3 and lose one. City would get the same number of points from its 11 last games but increase its goal difference by an extra 6 goals compared to Liverpool. Should the Reds get only 1 point from Man Utd today they would have to wait for the final match day and hope to at least draw against Wolves at Anfield.

This would essentially bring us back to a situation like the final game of 1988/89 where the Reds needed just one point against Arsenal to win the League but ended up losing the match (they won the title for the last time the following year). If they lose tonight City would win by a better goal difference on May 12. This assumes for example that the Citizens draw at Crystal Palace one of the four teams that have beaten them this season. Not a given.

Hope your heart is in shape. 

Why Did Zidane Leave Real?

Kind of surprising to see him go as all we heard him say on the topic of quitting after winning the Champions League (CL) was that he didn't think CR7 would leave Madrid. Now that Zinedine has left one might recall that Bale said he needs to play every week. We might add the two facts together and think he was shown the door because the owners of the club probably value Bale and Ronaldo more than the manager. But there are reports that Christiano is devasted by the decision of his coach. But it's true that devastations come in all kinds of stripes.

For sure winning three CL in a row had never been done before but Real grabbed only one La Liga title in the last four seasons – the other three went to its arch-rival, the Barça. And they finished third in the last season. Plus they did look quite vulnerable against Juventus and not very impressive in the final before Mo was brought down. These big clubs don't tolerate dips in performance for too long. 

How Jurgen Plans To Tackle Real's Experience Advantage

Liverpool was never supposed to be in this final. Definitely not after we saw the kind of out-of-this-world football that Man City was playing. Still the Reds beat them in both legs of the CL quarter-final. And then we beat Roma, another very strong side. Plus it is great that Solanke and Robertson scored their first EPL goal in the last game of the 2017/8 season.

Kyiv is in 55 hours.

Go Liverpool! Go!

€222m Later Neymar Appears At PSG

From Barça. He will earn $53m a year for five years making him the best-paid footballer in the world and play alongside an in-form Dani Alves and fellow members of the Seleçao. The Catalan club want to fill the void with Coutinho. That would be a terrible blow for the Reds as the Brazilian is so crucial in enabling Liverpool to produce games that are pleasant to watch. Plus there was some hope that with recent signings like Mohamed Salah and the return of Mane the team would finally find the rhythm that is needed to mount a serious title challenge.

Even if the Spanish club doesn't land Philippe he will be chased by the PSG if their bid to get the sensational Mbappe doesn't work out. But the latest news is that Liverpool might not sell their attacking midfielder even if there's a £100m on the table. Arsenal's Wenger points out that this is a consequence of a country owning a club and reminds us of the time when the first £1m transfer was deemed unreasonable.

Mauritius in 2017

Thousands will again be denied a place in a secondary school because of a badly designed learning experience. Our roads will kill another 140. Eight or nine amputations will be performed every week or about 400 for the full year. Mauritius will shutdown around Saint Valentine as soon as we get some heavy rainfall. The CWA will announce harsher cuts right after. We will send a team to the IMO for the first time and get ready to participate in PISA 2018.

Roughly 1,000 people will be thrown into poverty. Every three months. Thanks to the trickle-down economics which has been going on for a decade now. The flat tax trap will cause the GDP shortfall to reach a trillion rupees about half of which would have happened on Lepep's watch. This will make government increasingly unpopular. Voters will keep on getting smarter. And that will be bad news for our political class. The water supply will improve as Bagatelle dam comes into operation in the second half of the year. Potential tragedy of a horrific number of fatalities during Porlwi by Light.

Quite a few of the bad events don't need to happen or can be mitigated. Like how does Mahebourg by Light sound? We could also avoid several road deaths if Lepep recognises that it might have acted in haste and brings an improved point system back.

Reds Thrash Champions

Kind of pleasant to watch Liverpool outclass Leicester on Saturday. And especially Sadio Mane, Anfield's new darling. Many see in him a Suarez-class striker. It is an interesting performance for Liverpool given that no Premier League team scored more than two goals against the reigning champions in the entire 2015/16 season. Save Arsenal who won 2-5 last September.

City is looking very strong -- they're the only team not to have dropped any points in four games. Everton too is better with Bolasie.

We're in for another very competitive season.

Klopp Pretty Sure of Grabbing EPL Within 4 Years

Or else he's off to Switzerland. It's the first time I've listened to him. Made a good impression. Seems to be disinterested enough to produce the good results that Anfield has been longing for. Like he did with Borussia Dortmund. We'll find out soon as The Reds meet in-form clubs over the next five matches.

Gerrard Leaves Anfield Today

After fulfilling childhood dream of playing for Liverpool just once more than 700 times. He won 9 major pieces of silver including one completely crazy Champions League final in Istanbul in 2005. In a farewell press conference this week he said that one of his other great matches would have to be that time he scored a hat-trick against Everton. The biggest regret is of course not winning the League. Another huge goal is the cracker against Olympiakos which made Istanbul possible.

Thank you for the emotions Stevie G. And good luck!

Fans Shocked Gerrard Leaving Liverpool

For sure at 34 he doesn't have the legs he used to when they won the 2005 Champions League in Istanbul. Carrying the Reds almost single-handedly for several seasons will wear you down. And I don't think it's reasonable to expect him to keep on doing that to compensate for weaknesses elsewhere in the team. They could have adjusted their game to keep him playing as a deep-lying midfielder like 35-year-old Andre Pirlo is for Juventus.

I'm not too impressed either by the recent signings of Brendan Rodgers. The Reds have been playing some really sloppy football recently. At times it seems they can't even manage some really basic passes.

Premier League Season Starts Today

Manu will kick off the league by welcoming Swansea City at 15h45. They got a great new coach: Louis Van Gaal. Arsenal will meet Crystal Palace at Emirates Stadium at 20h30. The two best teams of last season will be in action tomorrow. Liverpool, post-Suarez, will play against Southampton -- a team where it bought a number of players -- at Anfield at 16h30. And City will travel to Newcastle for the 19h00 game. Finally Chelsea -- Drogba has returned and they now have Diego Costa -- will visit newly-promoted Burnley on Monday.

The fun resumes!

Suarez Wins Player of the Year Award

From the Football Supporters Federation. In the midst of a terrific comeback. He is the league's best scorer for now with 17 goals or four more than City's Aguero. That's more than what 10 teams have scored this season. Liverpool is currently second but the top of the table could see more changes this week-end if Arsenal doesn't win. Good stuff ahead!

Coutinho is Skillful Across Ball Sizes

And here's how Luis did.

Manu Wins 20th, Ivanovic To Be Tested For Rabies

After being bitten by the Premier League Top Scorer until last night. Luis Suarez has already apologised, been fined by Liverpool, offered anger management classes and is likely to face more than the standard 3-match ban from the FA. But depending on when the suspension actually starts he could still score more goals than anybody else this season. And win the PFA Player of the Year award. Too. In five days.

Everton Giant Delivers Bad Season Start to Manu

Marouane Fellaini scored a beautiful header in an exciting match last night. He's 1m94 tall -- one cm shorter than Usain Bolt -- and dominated most of his aerial contests at Goodison Park which sent Manu four spots from the bottom of the league table. Not the best possible scenario for Van Persie in the new jersey. But that's two places better than Liverpool which lost against West Brom on Saturday.

City managed to bag a dramatic home win against newly promoted Southampton -- in a bit like the nail-biting fashion it won the last season. They will play the Reds on Sunday at Anfield.

What a good start!

Citizens Clinch Title in Fergie Time

City appeared a bit too complacent in the beginning compared to Manu. I thought they would need at least a two-goal margin to be on the safe side from QPR and given how many matches Sir Alex has won in the last few minutes of a game.

So the cup was heading to United when Rooney scored first. Then it was going back to Etihad Stadium when the Citizens put one in. But afterwards they looked toasted when QPR scored a double. And just when it seemed that the Red Devils had their 20th title in the bag, Manchester City scored two goals in two minutes -- with the last one by Aguero arguably one of the most nail-biting goal in EPL history -- and won the league after 44 years.

What a great season it was. Just hope the next one is as open.

Liverpool lost again. Unsurprisingly.

Liverpool Ends 6-Year Trophy Drought

By winning the 2012 Carling Cup on a 3-2 penalty shootout against Cardiff City. Hopefully this will motivate them to finish in the top four league spots.

Manu Held To Home Draw As The Reds Try To Stop City

City has a chance to widen its lead by 7 points if it beats Liverpool. But that's not going to be easy after what the Reds showed us they were able to do at Stamford Bridge last week. Suarez, Kuyt and Johnson make a very intimidating trio that could hand City its first defeat of the season. And open up an already very interesting Premiership even more.

Let's see what unfolds at Anfield in an hour or so.

Manu 1 Point Away From Premier League Record

Winning 19 titles that is or one more than current record-holder Liverpool. For sure money plays a role in winning titles but you still need an outstanding manager to assemble million-pound purchases into a great side. And a hungry Alex Ferguson has been doing this consistently over the past many years. There is a depth in United's bench that is simply amazing.

Another place where you can see this is in Apple's leadership: although there is a risk that Steve Jobs may not return from medical leave the company he built is unlikely to crash overnight. He has recruited enough obsessed talent to keep it going for a long time.

Here too we had someone with an extraordinary ability to build strong teams: Seewoosagur Ramgoolam.