Before, I get bombarded with hate messages and my mother’s name is tainted with obscene curse words, at least read the whole article till its end, understand my logic and then attack me, if needs be.
Imagine: It’s the 3rd of May 2014 and it’s a brilliant sunny day in north London. We’re at the Emirates stadium where a scintillating Arsenal side is beating a dogged West Bromwich Albion side 1-0 with a minute remaining in the penultimate game of the Premier League Season.
Going into the second leg of the Final World Cup Qualifying Round against Ghana, the Egyptians knew that it would need a triple miracle if they were to stand any hope of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1990, having been comprehensively beaten 6-1 in the first leg. However, as is usual with these brilliant people, many of them were still optimistic, they still believed!
Now that we know that the three favourites for the World Cup will be there next year, I thought that I would take a closer look at them.
Arséne Wenger’s Arsenal side has surpassed all of their expectations this season, so far. The Gunners entered the season with pundits and rival fans all claiming that they would be a failure, and that their lack of significant signings would surely lead to them falling out of the top four in favour of their arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Indeed, the Gunners’ shock opening day 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa seemed to confirm that it would be a season of doom for Arsenal, but lo and behold, it would turn out to be a whole different story.
I have to admit that having seen overly-hyped players from leagues other than the Barclays Premier League arrive and either flop miserably, or fail to show their previous form such as Gervinho, Marko Marin, and more recently Jozy Altidore, I currently tend to be a bit more skeptical when it comes to believing and hyping players who I haven’t seen enough of to judge well. However, after seeing some bits and pieces of the mercurial Juan Cuadrado, as well as some games he played in, I have come to believe that this is a player who has all the necessary qualities to be a huge success in the Premier League.