A very sad state of affairs

Wednesday. 8pm. Pub. Manchester City v Manchester United. A great match in prospect.


End result?


A boring, lethargic 0-0 draw. One of the worst football matches I have ever seen.

In the days leading up to the match,there was the most unbelievable hype shown by the press and the two respective teams. It was all building up to a mega game with lots of goals,controversy, drama and unbelievable skill. At the end of the match, I saw none of these. Not even close.


This match was meant to be the pinnacle of the Barclays Premier League, full of pace, power and ultimately goals. Fans and neutrals were instead subject to absolute rubbish. There were many reasons for this. Firstly, both teams didn't have the ability to pass the ball to their team mates. These are international footballers who struggled to pass throughout the entire match. Also, Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini set up their sides in a 4-5-1 formation, meaning they only played one striker showing both Manchester clubs were very defensive-minded. None of the teams wanted to win the match, they were happy not to lose and happy to settle for a point, a very sad state of affairs.


The match was so drab that the first offside of the match was in the 60th minute. This isn't due to forwards timing their runs well, it's because it was the first time a team got round the back the defence. How can that be right? How can that be right that two very good teams with star players take 60 minutes to get round the back of a defence? It's just not right.


Fans and pundits have been trying to make excuses for why the match was so bad. Some have argued that both sides were not at full strength. This is true but despite this City played Carlos Tevez and David Silva, while United played in-form Dimitar Berbatov and Nani. As a West Ham fan, I would love to have any of those players in my side and it is rubbish to suggest that these players couldn't have produced a match-winning performance and won their side the match.


Premiership, you're having a laugh.