WDF Post Game Analysis — Game 38, The Finale

Three thousand, four hundred and twenty. That’s how many regular game minutes there are in a Barclays Premier League season, almost thirty five hundred minutes of soccer to feast our eyes on. “Football crack” as I call it (I’m a serious addict, ask my girlfriend). In all my years, I have never seen a season as dramatic as this one. It had it all: the goals, the glory, the violence (see Joey Barton, wank), the heartbreak. The Luis Suarez affair, the Cisse supremacy, the Torres revival — you name it, this season had it. We look at how this finale played out and how three minutes of extra time decided this season. Manchester City’s incredible fight back will become legend. Stuff that will have Hollywood producers licking their chops, imagining Daniel Day-Lewis playing the coy and smooth talking Roberto Mancini and Christian Bale portraying United great Ryan Giggs (alright, I’m fishing here but you get my point). Probably the most dramatic football story ever, and we all saw it first hand. Where to begin? Let’s start with the title decider. United took on Sunderland as City were home to QPR. The United game was tepid for the most part, the men in red fully in the drivers seat. Though only a one-nil affair, it was one-way traffic. Rooney’s superbly taken header had United on course for their 20^th league title. Having only three minutes of injury time, United had to wait 120 seconds, which probably felt like hours, to see if their efforts were in vain. Even with the score leveled at the Etihad Stadum, the United players would never had foreseen an outcome like this one. Sergio Aguero had ideas: ideas of grandiose of glory for the billion-dollar squad City had assembled. The last kick of the game decided the season and it was the Argentine, the son-in-law of Diego Maradona, which penned his name into City history. Elsewhere, Arsenal secured third and Tottenham pulled off fourth. Newcastle couldn’t put the finishing touches on an already incredible season, losing to Everton, finishing fifth with Chelsea right behind them. Liverpool’s game against Swansea summed up their season: abysmal. If Kenny has his job in September, I will be very surprised. Finishing below Everton is unacceptable, nothing against The Toffees. Another surprise was the promotion/relegation battle: all three teams that were promoted stayed up. Great to see the level of the First Division and all it’s quality trickling down the echelons.

We will return with BPL coverage in August but until then, stay thirsty my friends. Live football, love football, play football.