The Winners of 2007: Manchester United, Fabio Capello, Inter Milan, Cesc Fabregas and Iraq
While football accomplishments and failures are usually measured season to season, the end of an year gives an opportunity to view a team’s (or a player’s) performance from a different perspective.
Here’s a look at the teams and people who deserve to be nominated as the best performers in 2007, even by their own high standards.
Manchester United
Ending Chelsea’s two-season hegemony in the Premiership and bringing Jose Mourinho crashing down to earth were two things that football’s purists, neutrals and non-Chelsea fans most wanted when the year began.
Manchester United produced a brilliant season and were arguably the best club side this year. They steered well clear of Chelsea and it wasn’t one of their trademark Jan-to-May comebacks that won them the title. It was all-round brilliance in the team, built around the genius and instincts of Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo almost single-handedly brought United glory in England and even Europe. If it wasn’t for Milan’s magical home performance(which is a rarity nowadays), we might well have seen him named as World Player of the Year.
KUDOS RATING: Well done, United. The glory days are back for sure. With the arrival of some more attacking talent to the ranks, they can press for only their second Champions League title.
Fabio Capello
The Italian taskmaster was cruelly sacked by Real Madrid, just days after delivering their first trophy in four seasons and ending Barcelona’s then-deserved dominance in Spain.
But he was a winner nonetheless, rescuing Los Merengues from their dormant phase and injecting the kind of optimism that may have actually helped Bernd Schuster launch the campaign for their 31st league title. Capello did have the last laugh when he secured the England job, which probably should see him lead a very comfortable post-retirement life.
Oh, I am talking money. Life may not be all sweet and sundry once Capello comes face-to-face with the monstrous English media and the expectations of the fans.
KUDOS RATING: Good work Mr. Capello, whether Madrid appreciate it or not. But brace up for what is set to be the most challenging period of your managerial life.
Inter Milan
The Champions League still eludes Roberto Mancini’s side, but they have done enough to be named as one of the teams of the year. After the controversial scudetto “win” in the 2005-06 season, Inter went all guns blazing to conquer Italy for the second straight time.
Mancini might well lose ambition at Inter if they finish champions of Europe this season. But he has done the hard work, setting up a side that just can’t stop winning matches and, to the bitter disgust of their arch-rivals, the Milan derbies. The Nerazzuri have expressed interest in Barcelona’s wonderkid-turned-superman Lionel Messi, but do they even need him? The depth in the current squad suggests that Inter don’t even need to splash out anymore.
KUDOS RATING: Fans of Milan, Juventus and Roma could argue that Inter were the largest beneficiaries of the Calciopoli scandal, but Mancini deserves credit for creating a tough-to-beat side.
Francesc Fabregas
The emergence of Cesc Fabregas as Arsenal’s new star turn couldn’t have been better timed. Fabregas showed promise when Patrick Vieira departed the Gunners and has now stepped up to be the next icon in the wake of Thierry Henry’s exit.
Fabregas is no longer about potential and fans have embraced him with open arms. He is one of the most complete midfielders plying the role today, and that at a meagre 20 years old! He has within him all the qualities that traditional cantera from Barcelona’s famous production line had and even more. He added goalscoring to his repertoire this season and results for Arsenal have evidently been influenced by this “latest attraction” in his vastly-talented inventory.
All that remains is for Fabregas to be seen with a winners’ medal. Because Arsenal haven’t won anything since his meteoric rise.
KUDOS RATING: Arguably, the best player in the world today. If he starts winning trophies for Arsenal, then rumoured interest from Real Madrid could turn into record-breaking transfer bids.
Iraqi Football Team
Not a winner that triggered debates within football pundits or resulted in Arsene Wenger scouting for young Iraqi talent and not even a world-altering winner as such, but the Iraqi national team’s emotional 2007 Asian Cup triumph deserves our sentiments and applause in overflowing quantities.
The war-torn nation produced a remarkable campaign to inspire their fans back home and elevate them from crisis, at least spiritually. The win in the final over heavily-favoured Asian giants Saudi Arabia was one of their all-time greatest victories and sparked widespread celebrations and finally some fireworks that didn’t cause bloodshed.
KUDOS RATING: They say football can influence life in ways that nothing else can. The Iraqi win is, so far, the best exponent of that and we can only stand up and salute them for the triumph that may have given hope and pride to the thousands of people ravaged in battle.
Notable Mentions
World Player of the Year Kaka would have been top of the list if it weren’t for his team’s poor performances in Serie A. Liverpool enjoyed a good, decent year. Roma captain Francesco Totti was the year’s comeback king. A special thanks to Lionel Messi of course, who is giving me and many others out there hope that we haven’t missed out on the brilliance of Diego Armando Maradona completely.
Happy New Year, and let us know your picks as winners for the year 2007.
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What about Cristiano Ronaldo?
the lameass that missed the pen last week?
how about pippo inzaghi.he won the champo league final pretty much by himself AND he is now the all time leading goalscorer in euro competitions.i mean if that doesnt make him a winner then what does?
Yeah for Iraq! Boo for not mentioning the success the MLS saw this year, generally. It was a banner year for the MLS - not just Beckham but the other DP’s like Blanco. More people started to take notice and talk about the MLS, in the good and the bad, which can only be positive for the league itself, in an “all press is good press” sort of way.*
Inzaghi is a old fashion striker and that’s why he is playing in serieA, a old fashion league which no longer attract fans worldwide.
Ronaldo can only play against relegation teams in the EPL. He was shit in every CL game, especiallly against AC Milan.
AC Milan deserve a mention for proving Serie A is the best league in the world, at least better than the EPL. Gattuso, Kaka, Maldini, and Inzaghi in the CL final, deserve the most credit.
MLS is a joke and forever will be. I’m delighted Figo stayed at Inter.
As good as we did in the league last season, we were shit in Europe. And you still can’t tell any of that to Juventus or AC Milan fans, they still say Inter cheated. No sense in them!!!
Yeah for Iraq. Fully deserved. AC Milan won the CL. What they have been doing since then is anyone’s guess(other than the Club World Cup, but how many of us watched that?). No major additions to the squad, no standout performances(other than Dida’s collapse) and certainly no home victories in a long time.
[…] Manchester United started the match with Ronaldo partnering Tevez up front with Rooney out with a virus. […]
Major shout out to the Iraqi National Team. You showed the world what kind of spirit & talent your country truly has despite being in the middle of a war zone. Made me a permanent fan.
Regarding Inzaghi, yes he pretty much won the champions league “final” for them. Not the whole tournament. It was Kaka who actually played the key role. Milan have been very unpredictable throughout the year and they cannot be deemed the best team in Europe, despite winning the UCL.
Last season’s stats-
Cristiano Ronaldo:
49 games
23 goals
20 assists
Francesc Fabregas:
54 games
4 goals
16 assists
Wayne Rooney:
51 games
25 goals
16 assists
It juz’ shows hw much both Wayne Rooney & Cristiano Ronaldo is betta’ than Cesc Fibreglass!
dumbfuk wanker,wat r stats when compared to the real game….then being a football fan,u just ve to see the result and goalscorers……..fabregas is not abt scoring goals.its the spirit,flow and creativity he brings to the game…..though i must admit fab has been doin amazingly gud this season in front of goal…..
one more question,where did u get the assist stats…
Pretty new here arent you wanker? It shows in your comments and good for nothing stats…………..
iqnadir - aw, not so much fun when stats are used against you?
Maybe, but how relevant are those anyway?
AC Milan are a cup team. They have the experience to rise for the big games but in Serie A they are disappointing.
Serie A is not the best league in the world. Sure AC Milan managed to win the European Cup, but all the other contestants were knocked out pretty early on in the competition, and outside the best four clubs the standard is well below the Spanish and English leagues. The best players are in the Spanish and English leagues.
It’s from Le’Arse-Anal or Gooners(depends on hw u call it) & Manchester United’s official website.
here r this seasons stats……
name played goals assists
rooney 18 8 7
ronaldo 23 18 3
fabregas 23 11 12
ahmed(dumbfuk wanker u dont even feature in my scheme of things coz u r so retarded),these stats dont reflect what influence n flow the wonderkid brings to the game……still i think he comes out on top of the other two….another important fact is that ronaldo takes a penalty every other match and that adds to his personal stats….i dont feel scorin a penalty(if someone else made it)count as much as a regular goal……….
one other thing i ve to add is that i never said ronaldo and rooney r not gud….just that fabregas is better……
WTF?! Cesc Fabregas better than Cristiano Ronaldo & Wayne Rooney?! U gotta’ be kidding me mate! Wazza scored 8 goals in the first half of last season,yet he still managed to finished on a total of 25 goals meant that he scored 17 goals in the second of last season! Also,the current season haven’t end yet,I can bet that if Wazza didn’t surpassed last season’s goals & assists tally,I will nvr ever visit soccerlens again! Pls,oh pls,take a look at all these videos first even before you say anything!
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/wayne+rooney+compilation/video/x3murz_rooney-compilation-part1_sport
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/wayne+rooney+compilation/video/x3mw0y_rooney-compilation-part2_sport
ArseneWanker Don’t bother with returded Arsenal fans. We gonna win the EPL again so fuck them. Ronaldo wins not only with stats, but also with overall impact on the team.