Transfer Window & Prelims Exam

Hello everybody,

I told myself to be more regular in posting articles in the blog, but I couldn't find time. I really really couldn't find time. Anyway, I'll be brief in what I have to say.

Germany won the World Cup and I liked it. I saw the friendly between Germany & Argentina that was played today. Although, it was a friendly & Germany fielded its 2nd line of back four & Messi didn't play, the match was pretty interesting. Had Di Maria played in the WC 2014 final, I am sure things would've been a lot harder for Germany not that they were easy in any way before. We lost International Continents Cup and that is expected only, a lot of 1st team players didn't take part, then we didn't show any motivation to win after claiming La Decima, so it's understandable.

Coming to transfer window, we signed an excellent midfielder in Toni Kroos. Casillas is back after we let Diego Lopez go to AC Milan in a free transfer after paying out his full contract amount and then signed Keylor Navas. Although, Ancelotti didn't reveal who his first choice keeper would be, I guess it will be Casillas. But his poor performance vs Sociedad reignited the debate as to who should start in goal. We signed Golden boot winner of WC 2014 James Rodriguez and took Chicarito in loan as Benzema's deputy from Manchester United. On the flip side, I am really disappointed that we let Alonso leave. But Real has no option other than to let him go. It would be rude of us to make him see out contract; we should respect his wishes after all what he has done for the club. Di Maria was sacrificed for James Rodriguez and I am not happy about it either. He was clearly our 2nd best player of the season behind Ronaldo. On top of that, he wanted to stay and win more trophies. The team was setup nicely, but I guess that's the way things work in Madrid.

CSP 2014 Notification Out

Hello there...

I know, its long. I have been busy, I couldnt find time to write in the blog and I promise I'll try to be more regular. Many things happened in football since the last time I posted, but not much happened with my preparation. I'll talk about football first. I'll also be brief about everything, lest the post be too long.

Real Madrid were in contention for the liga till the 36th match day, but we blew it away. Even after the back to back losses against Barcelona & Sevilla, we knew we had the chance. But, we drew at home against Valencia, then dropped another two points away to lowly team Real Valladolid. Still, we could've won the league as both Barcelona & Atleti dropped points against Elche & Levante and these two contenders have to face one another in the last league match of the season. But we didn't field our full team against Celta and the eleven on the pitch didnt take the match seriously. So, we lost the match and effectively La Liga. Now Champions League has to be won. And, boy did we win it in style... First we had to beat Dortmund, then Bayern to reach the finals. In the two home encounters against the German top two in Bernabeu, we produced master class performance. Away to Dortmund, we suffered. Had it not been for Casillas splendid saves and silly misses by Mkhitaryan, I don't know what would have happened. Then away to Bayern, Sergio Ramos got his revenge against Neuer by scoring two headers as he was taunted by Neuer last time after his penalty miss in the shootout. Our CR7 scored two goals taking his tally to 16, there by beating Messi record of 14 goals in a single CL season. He went on to add another goal in the final. In the final against Atletico, Casillas made a silly mistake by coming forward, then not winning the ball and being caught in no man's land. Godin scored the second important goal for the week. His first goal away to Barcelona won them the league and this header past Casillas looked like it was all that was needed to win CL. But Ramos came to the rescue and scored a vital header in the 93rd minute to take the game into extra time where we comprehensively beat the tired Atletico players. All in all, it was a remarkable performance. Also, we won Copa del Ray against Barcelona, so this year it is double. May be next year treble, although I am doubtful of the players' performances, injury worries as they play the World Cup in torrid conditions of Brazil and come back fatigued this August.

CS Mains 2013 Results Out

Okay... the results were out and I didn't qualify. I took a week off from preparation and went to my friend's place in bangalore for chilling out, if you know what I mean...

Then, I do not feel like writing or posting anything now... so, I'll stay brief.

I finished reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. It's a small book, about 55 pages... Nice book, a satirical comedy on 1917 Russian Revolution. Then, Public Administration classes are going good. We almost completed Paper I. Then, Real Madrid top La Liga and next week we have El Classico. As Jose Mourinho once said, the world stops for this match. So true this time with liga title at stake. Atletico is also a contender, but it's once again Ronaldo & Bale vs. Messi & Neymar, although I highly doubt that Neymar will be in the starting line-up. Then, Bayern winning Bundesliga, Juve winning Scudetto, all expected. In England, any one of the top four teams can win Premier League now... Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City.

Next week, WCT20 starts and after that IPL starts. Then again in July, we have FIFA WC 2014. Oh My God... How do you guys expect me to study... Anyway... Later...

Update

Hello there...

Lately, I've been very busy and hence I didn't have time to post in my blog. Actually, I've read people saying that they are too busy to keep blogging often and I always found it to be a silly reason. But, I realised that they may have a case. Listen to my daily routine. I have swimming classes for 2hrs in the morning, then 2 hrs of Public Administration classes in the afternoon. That's it. Now, if a person like me who's engaged for only 4hrs can't find time to write something on the blog, I can see how most of the others don't have time for this.

Anyway, Public Administration classes are excellent, our Sir teaches Paper I very well. Then in the one month of swimming classes, I could only go for about 20 days. I now know how to swim, but I must practice breathing. You know, the act of lifting your head just above the water to inhale when you've just run out of your last breathe. I am planning to practice swimming at the pool itself where one can pay 80/- for one hour a day and swim there.

Joined Swimming Classes

Hello there...

Not much to tell. I've only 2hrs of Public Administration class daily. Rest of the time I read newspaper, browse internet and stuff like that. Not much useful stuff and a lot of time is being wasted daily. So, I decided to learn swimming. I've been going for the past 6 days and was told that it would take another 10 days for me to learn the basics of swimming. In the first few days, I struggled a lot to get into the water in this winter, but since then I've adjusted. Now, its going on smoothly.

I've finished the book Alex Ferguson's autobiography. I finished writing my review, but I am not sure if I should publish it. Then regarding preparation for GS Paper II, the less said the better. I know I've made plans but I am unable to keep up with it. But I learnt the lesson last time during Mains exams and hence promised myself that I would finish the syllabus within time and not regret later. I will not make the same mistake again and will try to stick to my plan this time.

Ballon d'Or 2013

Hellooo.... Happy New Year 2014 to all of you. I'll talk about Ballon d'Or and other things in this post. First, why Ronaldo deserves Ballon d'Or...

We all know that Ribery won the treble with Bayern Munich, but is Ribery the stand out performer in that team. Schweini, Lahm & Mueller too did well. In fact, Schweini won the Bundesliga player of the year and not Ribery. For me, Ribery is just one more guy in the team that won the treble. Yes, he performed better than most others in their team, but we must all acknowledge that Bayern's defence is far better than their attack. They conceded the fewest goals in 2013. They didn't concede a single goal in both legs of CL semifinal against the much famed Barcelona's attack. Understand it when I say that Bayern's defence deserves more praise than it's attack. So, in that sense, Lahm & Schweini contributed more than Ribery to Bayern's treble winning season. And, Ballon d'Or is an individual award and just because Bayern won three titles last year, doesn't mean that their best player must be the winner. Steven Gerrard didn't have a single league title, but he is best midfielder in England for the past decade. Even though, Ronaldo didn't win titles, it's not like his performances didn't matter. His team finished 2nd in La Liga, runner-up in Spanish Cup & reached the semis of CL. Last year, Bayern was better than Real Madrid as a team. But no player performed better than Ronaldo last year.