Capital one cup and FA cup : Make or break competitions for David Moyes

With 22 points from 15 games Manchester United languish at the 9th spot, 13 points adrift Premier league leaders Arsenal . It is evident from this season's performance that David Moyes has found it difficult to get going as United's manager . But all is not lost as of yet for the Ex- Everton boss. 

Manchester United face Stoke City on Wednesday in their Capital One cup Quarter final . In the most recent meeting, they beat Stoke 3-2 at Old Trafford after twice coming back from behind . If they win it will put them through to the Semi final's . The red devils desperately need revival of some sorts to get their premier league season back on track . This match could be what David Moyes requires. A win here will give him a shot at putting some silverware in United's trophy cabinet as his first season in charge .


The League Cup is not a particularly important or even  prestigious trophy. If Manchester United are aiming for the League Cup you could say that this is a sign of just how far they have fallen. But something is always better than nothing. 

Ron Atkinson and Sir Alex Ferguson understood this very thing. Atkinson's first trophy in-charge of United was a FA cup trophy in  1982-83 . Sir Alex Ferguson won the FA cup in 2004 , which was Cristiano Ronaldo's first trophy as a United player. That was the basis for the Rooney / Ronaldo striking partnership which went on the wreak havoc in the years to follow . 



More on that 2004 FA cup victory against Millwall below :
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2004/may/24/match.manchesterunited


On the other hand United have drawn Swansea City as their 3rd round FA cup opponents. This match is to be played in the 1st week of January. The FA cup is a far more prestigious trophy and hence a much more difficult one to win , but i guess Wigan and Roberto Martinez would beg to differ .

It's been ages since the red devils last won the FA cup ( 2004 ). Yes there are more pressing issues at hand right now but Moyes needs to keep the FA cup on his radar as he might need another route into Europe for next season. The normal one is proving more difficult to navigate than usual.


As far as the champions league goes , Manchester United have done quite well grabbing 14 points and topping group A , their best group stage performance since 2007-08 when they ended up winning the UCL . The round of 16 is up next and possible opponents are Galatasaray , Olympiakos , Schalke , Zenit and AC milan . It is too early to comment on what lies ahead in the UCL for the red devils but they have their work cut out in the other three competitons.

Manchested United's UCL opponents and more below : 

http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2013/Dec/manchester-united-potential-last-16-champions-league-opponents.aspx

David Moyes urges Manchester United to raise game in last 16

http://sports.ndtv.com/football/news/218154-uefa-champions-league-david-moyes-urges-manchester-united-to-raise-game-in-last-16



With successive home defeats for the first time since 2002 , the sluggish United side need to regain their lost form and that too very quickly. They face Aston Villa away from home on sunday desperately needing the 3 points to get back to winning ways in the EPL. What United have which other struggling sides in the Premier League do not - is quality and experience of getting out of difficult situations. They will need to rely on all of this and a whole lot more if they want to dig themselves out of the hole they currently find themselves in.

D-day for Delhi , It's 04.12.2013

After following the election news for the past 2 months, the day has finally arrived, it's 04.12.2013 . As everyone in Delhi knows, It's time for change and the Sheila Dikshit led congress must be shown the door , something which the Congress would be aware of as well .



Though i have the utmost respect for Mr. Arvind Keijriwal , but I feel that he will find it very difficult in fulfilling the claims he has made. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) prides itself in being a clean and a non corrupt party with the mission of sweeping the city from all forms of corruption. This claim was put under the scanner a couple of weeks back when a party member was caught on tape taking a monetary donation without giving a valid receipt to the donor. Though the party managed to get a clean chit , it's image did take a dent post this incident.

The campaigning for these assembly elections had been on in full swing and as is the norm, they had to stop 2 days before the elections which came as a relief to us delhities. Loud rallies,  people taking to the streets in their two wheelers and shouting slogans for the party they support , posters thrown on the streets , stickers on every electricity pole and a lot more is what we had to face during the past few months.

But i guess, with time there is a change in the campaigning methodology as well. Technology and social media proved two ideal mediums as for the first time , there was a big buzz on twitter and facebook with people, party members and loyalists leaving no stone unturned to give their party any sort of edge leading into the elections. Hashtags were made use off on twitter , with hashtags like #Vote4AamAadmiParty , #AAPSweepingDelhi filling our home pages day in and day out. The AAP made the best use of the micro blogging site with BJP's Chief ministerial candidate trending for a short time as well with his hashtag of #DrSaheb4Delhi

Read more about this : 
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/delhi-polls-aap-leads-on-twitter-facebook-but-is-it-enough-1264229.html

So now the question is whom to vote for? Definitely not congress, that's for sure. So we are left with 3 options, BJP , AAP or the choice of 'None of the above', though that would just be wasting a vote.
The Congress had a stronghold in east Delhi the last time around but i guess this time it will be a different story with BJP being very confident of a win in East delhi.

#cashforvotes was heard of , but today #boozeforvotes came into the picture. One day before the elections , both the BJP and the Congress were caught red handed supplying Booze to the people in slum areas in return for their votes. So much for their credibility . More on that in the link below .



http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/delhi-elections-congress-bjp-get-delhi-high-a-day-before-voting-day/1/327703.html

This is the first time i will be voting and i was confused between the BJP and the AAP , but the booze scandal has given me the clarity to got out tomorrow and vote for the Aam Aadmi Party. They may not be able to fulfill all the claims they have made , but atleast they will give it their best shot.


Choose your candidate not on past experiences or prejudice , but on credibility and accountability. It doesn't matter who wins tomorrow, the people of Delhi just want to see an anti corrupt government which is willing to work for the people and show their faces to the public a little more often during their stay in power.
Enjoy the holiday and make sure that you vote.