Move to Fierce Rival: A Betrayal?

I don't need to elaborate the extent of rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool. Its one of the most fierce rivalries in the World. The fans hate the rivals more than anyone on the planet. Its transfer season, a season of baseless rumors and sensational moves. On one normal afternoon, rumors of Liverpool being interested in Man Utd's left back Gabriel Heinze came around. It was discarded by most fans as a non sense. No player has crossed the line between two clubs for more than 40 years. A transfer deal between the two clubs is unimaginable. But, this was not a news that would die soon.

Soon, it became clear that Liverpool were actually interested in Heinze. Sir Alex(who had earlier accepted that Heinze wants to leave Old Trafford) came out and said that Heinze won't go to Merseyside at any cost. Liverpool put an audacious bid of 7 million pounds for the Argentine which was rejected by United. Its not a question of money, is it? Heinze never himself claimed that he wants to go to Anfield but his agent created a lot of fuss by threatening to take the matter into court. The saga is still going on and nobody knows what will be the outcome. Heinze can move to Liverpool by invoking the release clause of his contact and Man Utd won't be able to do anything to stop him. But, the question is, will he be able to turn his back on the fans who love him like their idol?

As a fan of Manchester United, I can't imagine one of our players playing for the scousers. The fans must respect Heinze for what he has done for Man Utd. But, if he moves to Anfield, the respect will fade away and he'll turn from a fan favorite to a villain. Heinze is coming back from holidays to sort this matter out. The ball is in Heinze's court. He has the choice of staying at Old Trafford or moving to a club like Juventus or joining bitter rivals Liverpool. Its our choices that make what we truly are and I hope Heinze makes the right choice.

Wonder Kids

The most boring part of the year is about to end. With new season approaching, expectations are high from Manchester United and other rivals. As the transfer season goes on, the term wonder kid is associated with way too many youngsters. Why is it so? Do these kids really deserve the attention or is the media creating unnecessary hype around every other youngster coming from South America? Every year too many new maradonas, new ronaldinhos, new kakas etc come and fade into oblivion.

Seriously, I didn't know about Anderson before he signed for Man Utd. The very next day papers were full of his praises. He is hailed as the next Ronaldinho. Imagine the kind of pressure, the youngster would be feeling when he enters Old Trafford wearing a Man Utd jersey. People would be expecting all sorts of miracles from him and if he fails to live up to the expectations (which I hope he doesn't), he will simply be forgotten. Anderson is not the only player who is labeled as a wonder kid. Nani, Alexandre Pato and Lionel Messi are a few other "wonder kids". Messi has lived up to the expectations so far and might certainly become a player as good as Maradona but its way too early to start comparing him with the legend.

The hype around such players might be created by their agents to attract big clubs but I find it unnecessary to compare a raw talent with a legend. I don't think there is any need of the term wonder kid (before the kid proves himself at top level) and comparing anyone with legends of the game. For me, the true wonder boy is Lionel Messi. Even Maradona would be proud of his dazzling displays last season (like hat-trick against Real Madrid, amazing solo goal against Getafe etc). Lets wait and watch how the so called "wonder kids" perform next season.