Niche Area

I realised that if I wanted to scale the Google rankings, then whatever I wrote about has to be a niche area. That’s why I set up footballmanagerguru.com

In a short period of only 1 month, footballmanagerguru.com achieved almost 3000 page ranks. It took me almost 4 months on x0dus.com to get that kind of traffic. I guess blogging about a niche area really helps in Search Engine Optimization.

Fuffilment of my Goals

When I started x0dus.com, I so desperately wanted my posts to make a difference to this world. True there were a few articles that achieved 22 digs on digg.com, but that was hardly the impact I am looking for. Football Manager Guru, fuffiled this wish of mine, till date, I am ranked 2nd page on Google for the keyword “Football Manager Blog”. In addition every post I make generates, 5-6 comments from people all over the world without fail. Talk about an impact. Sure there’s along way more to go, but I am enjoying ever single post I made on that website.

Being paid to do what I like

Another motive of starting up x0dus.com was to see whether I could really make revenue off the Internet. Well in short, it was tough. But now that I am paid by the Health Sciences Authority to do up two websites for them, I finally know what it is like to get paid for doing something you really love. I am really loving my working environment and if not for the terrible flu that I am having, I probably would have went to work every single day since I got contracted.

If you are interested in the work I do, you could take a look at my website portfolio.

As a result, I no longer need x0dus.com to be that website that I always dreamed of making money off. It can now retire into being my own personal blog. Cheers to a new era.

My New Domain. A Football Manager Blog. http://footballmanagerguru.com

Originally, the articles that I’ve written on Football Manager 2010 are all hosted on my own domain/blog over @ http://x0dus.com

I decided to set up a new domain and site for all the articles that I plan to write on Football Manager due to to the immense popularity of several of my posts back on my old domain.

1st Page of Search Result on Google

The above is an example of one of my post that made it to Google’s top searches. Thank you for everyone’s continual support, I hope that this new domain could bring even greater FM articles to readers out there. Cheers.

http://x0dus.com will continue to be my own personal domain/blog. Thank you for your continuous support of FM articles on my old domain.  Do give my new domain a look at http://footballmanagerguru.com

Nani sees red. Is that the end of his revival at the club?

What a rollercoaster ride it has been for Nani. Performing so spectacularly against Arsenal and a good performance against Portsmouth after performing so horribly at the start of the season. Just when everyone has hailed his revival at the club, he commits a needless foul to earn himself a red card. Why, Nani? Why do you have to sabotage your chances at the club? Just when you have won over some of the fans, you are right back at square one, and the Nani-bashing will probably resume again. You will get banned for three games, and I sincerely hope your confidence does not suffer as a result, because we all know too clearly how bad you will play when you lack confidence.

Starting Lineup

As I’ve guessed in my previous post, should SAF start with the 4-3-3 against Villa, it will be the exact same squad he put out to play Man City in the Carling Cup semi-final, except Wes Brown will be replacing Ferdinand. I was right.

VDS
Rafael-Evans-Brown-Evra
Fletcher-Carrick-Scholes
Nani-Rooney-Giggs

Once again, Vidic is missing from the starting 11 and from the substitute bench. Vidic’s future at United does not look good at all at the moment. Gibson gets to start ahead of Anderson on the bench. Anderson and Vidic to be heading out of United after the season?

Ferguson seems to be favour the 4-3-3 more and more for crunch games. Recall, Arsenal and the Man City games. 4-3-3 against AC Milan next week? Probably.

Villa starts with the 4-5-1. No big surprises there? Their tactic confirms what I also predicted about them parking the bus in front of goal and pumping long balls to Agbonlahor.

Early Stages

In the early stages of the game, United had no luck trying to break the Villa defence. That’s one big  bus they have parked in front of their goalpost.

In the 19 mins, Ceullar puts a inch-perfect looping header past Van der Saar. United now have a mountain to climb now. We absolutely cannot afford to lose here. Letting Chelsea have the chance of pulling away at the top of the table might prove really costly. We have to at least keep within 3 points of Chelsea, so we could at least attempt to leapfrog them if they come to Old Trafford and lose.

Within 5 mins, United hit back, via their new strike they bought for this season, “Own Goal”. Giggs volley resulted in Own Goal turning the ball into the net, equalising for us. 1-1 the score. United look on course to smash the own goals record this season.

Nani’s red card

Shortly after the equaliser Nani commits to a ridiculous and reckless tackle in the 29 min, and was shown the red card as a result.

WHY DID YOU DO THIS, NANI? WHY?

Just when everyone thought Nani has turned his awful performances for the club around, and have been playing as though he’s on fire recently, Nani sends himself crashing back to the ground. I sincerely hope this doesn’t affect his confidence too much. No substitution made, and fletcher covers Nani’s position on the right. Was it a red card? To be honest, I felt it could have went both ways. The referee wasn’t exactly wrong in showing Nani the red card. Nani went into the tackle one-footed, got the ball, and got the man as well. It might have been a yellow card for this reason, which is what the LIVE commentator of the game thought as well. However, you could argue he was off the ground when he committed to the tackle and could have resulted in an injury for another player.

Is it a red card? Watch the video and judge for yourself.

This was what SAF had to say about the red card.

“It was a sending off. It was a red card. It was a naive tackle. He (Nani) is not a malicious player but he has gone in with his foot raised off the ground and we cannot complain about it. We should have had a foul seconds before when Agbonlahor came in with his foot up on Wes Brown’s ribs. That was disappointing but we have no argument at all with the red card.”

Whatever the case is, it was a rash decision and an unnecessary tackle. The sending off has made United’s task of winning so, so much harder against a resilient Villa squad. Nani has really let his teammates down here. In addition he has gotten himself banned for three matches. Nani also got himself sent off in the 2008 season run-in. Same mistake. Same person.

A few mins after the sending off,  news came in that Chelsea has went 1-0 up from Malouda’s goal. Now the pressure for United to get a win has been increase. Draw this and Chelsea extends their lead at the top.

It’s going to be a long 60mins considering we are 1 man down.

Just before half-time Villa is playing ridiculously defensive, for a team that has a 1 man advantage. We eventually manage to hold out to a draw at half time.

During half-time, word came in that Louis Saha, a United old-boy, has equalised for Everton against Chelsea. Nice, now we have even more motivation to win. If we do we will leapfrog Chelsea and go to 1st in the league table. Hopefully Everton holds out for a result.

2nd Half

At the start of the 2nd half, Scholes was substituted by Valencia, and it was clear SAF wanted to have some pace down the flanks and Valencia could provide that after Nani has been red carded. And shortly after the restart, further news came in that Saha had miss a penalty. For Everton. Damn, Chelsea could have been 2-1 down.

The way we started the 2nd half was amazing. We were keeping possession and pressing even though we are 1 man down. If you switched on the TV for only the 2nd half, you would never have noticed we were playing with only 10 men on the pitch. Such was the workrate of the 10 players on the pitch.

Berbatov eventually replaces Giggs after Giggs got injured.

Giggs got injured and his hand was seen in a sling

Apparently, after the game Giggs was sent for an X-ray to check on his arm. We could only hope that it is nothing severe because with Nani suspended for three games, we cannot afford to be short of wingers. Berbatov comes on but hardly produces any magic as expected from a guy we paid $30 million for.

As the clock ticks down, Villa hardly even bother coming out of their own half, and they seem more than happy to play for a draw. At a point in time the shots on goal was 8-1 to united in the 2nd half. That was how one-sided it was.

As the 4 mins of injury time flashes at Villa Park, SAHA SCORES AGAIN. Chelsea goes 2-1 down, that means if we draw, we close the gap between us to just one point. What a hero Saha!

Eventually, Everton manages to hold out for a win. What might have been a disastrous night for us, turned out to be a positive one.

Great effort from the 10 men who put up an amazing performance. Had we have 11 men on the pitch, Villa would have been history, and we would have been 1st in the league. United must resume their winning ways at Goodison Park this Saturday because Chelsea will definitely win Wolves in their fixture on Saturday. It’s a pity we lost Nani, one of our more influential players in recent games, for the next three games, but let’s hope Valencia could step up and fill his role.

A good performance, but a frustrating night nonetheless.

So I guess, we might have to take matters into our own hands then, when we eventually meet Chelsea at Old Trafford. But to even get there, United cannot afford to slip up against Villa. Tomorrow when we head to Villa Park, Chelsea heads to Goodison Park, and there is a slight chance of an upset in both matches. Everton is a relatively strong team when playing at home, although they never looked like scoring against Liverpool in their recent derby, you could expect them to play resiliently at home. Villa was a team that we failed to beat at Old Trafford, and also, they are known for their 2-part tactics.

1) Park a bus in front of the goalposts.

2) RUN AGBONLAHOR. RUN.

I support this awsum 2-part tektik.

Importance of the Villa Game

The reason why there is a slight chance of Chelsea slipping up at Everton is due their poor performance against Hull City, and their uncreative display against Arsenal. We can only hope Everton will do us a favour.

If that does happen, we have to make damn sure we win at Villa Park. And I am sure United fans all know that it will not be an easy game. Villa along with City are the stronger teams this season to challenge the Big 4. Stewart Downing, Ashley Young and Agbonlahor, James Milner have been their creative force this season.  United are 2 points behind Chelsea at the moment, and if Chelsea does slip up regardless of a draw or loss, United will leapfrog them to be 1st in the league table.

Probable Tactics and Lineup

Given the fact that Rooney and Berbatov was taken off early in the Portsmouth game, I have a strong feeling that SAF might consider playing 4-4-2 from the start against Villa. IF we are to play 4-4-2, the team lineup will probably be as follows.

VDS
Rafael-Evans-Brown-Evra
Nani-Carrick-Fletcher-Giggs
Berbatov-Rooney

Rafael will probably take over the as right back after Neville did not exactly play well against Portsmouth other than a nice pass to Berbatov, leading to a chance he squandered. Neville does not look very confident in defence at the moment. Evans, Brown did well last Saturday and there’s no reason why they will not continue to play. This is unless Vidic, who has mysteriously been missing on the bench is restored to the starting 11, which might force Brown to be dropped in his place. But I doubt this is likely, we haven’t heard about Vidic for a while now. Evra which has started every EPL game will continue to play LB.

Valencia might have a good game against Portsmouth, but seeing how SAF loves to play his old guns Giggs and Scholes against big clubs, I am guessing Nani will be restored to his favourite right wing, and Giggs will play on the left. There’s no way SAF is going to drop Nani right now, that boy is on fire at the moment. Valencia might have to sit this out.

Nani is finally playing like a true red devil.

Carrick has been a delight to watch recently, his passing and distribution was a joy to watch in the Arsenal and Portsmouth game. Fletcher’s taken a load of defensive duties off his shoulders and he seems to be able to dictate play much better that way. Fletcher is definitely going to start, considering how he has been the engine of the midfield in the last few games. Scholes will probably start on the bench for this.

There is no question about the front two strikers if we are playing 4-4-2. Berbatov will start alongside Rooney, who has already passed the 20 goals mark this season, a feat even C.Ronaldo did not achieve. Rooney is in the form of his life, and I hope he will continue his goal streak in the Villa game. Berbatov scored an amazing goal against Portsmouth that made all his critics in that game embarrassed. Me, included. I was complaining how he missed that open goal when Gary Neville made that square pass. He also made a brilliant chip over the head of two defenders that landed perfectly at Valencia’s feet to set him through 1-on-1 with the keeper. I hope this is a sign of good things to come.

There is also a slight possibility we might start with the 4-3-3 again.

Deja Vu?

Only exception is Ferdinand will be replace by Brown or Vidic. The 4-3-3 has worked brilliantly for the first few times in this season against Arsenal, and I think there is a slight chance of SAF wanting to crowd out the Villa midfield like what he did against Arsenal. In the 2nd half of the Arsenal game, we saw the 3 midfielders take turn to join in the attack upfront and it worked like a charm. Arsenal had troubles picking up Fletcher’s run into the box.

However, I think the fact that Ferguson rested Berbatov and Rooney by subbing them out early in the Portsmouth probably means he will go with the 4-4-2 on Wednesday.

United is on a roll here, and considering the fact that Villa did not play exceptionally well against Spurs in their last game, this might be the best time to play them. Iif we do beat Villa, and Chelsea do drop points, the title will be in sight. It’s a pity I might not be able to watch the game LIVE considering it’s 0345 local time, and I have to get up for work early in the morning, but I hope to wake up to great news. I expect United to win by a slender goal lead.

Take me home, United Road.

Better Off Ted, my new sitcom to watch

Better Off Ted, is sitcom that centers around Ted, who works at a company called Veridian Dynamics, a very powerful company which is involved in cutting edge technology. Problem is, the things that the company comes up with might not be ethical at all times. For example, Ted is required to lead a team of scientist to figure out how to make pumpkins, into lethal biological weapons, and engineer mice that could withstand high temperatures.

Better Off Ted, is narrated from Ted’s point of view, which makes it really hilarious, because when Ted narrate, he seems to make everything that is ridiculous seem really mundane in the office.

Ted's two subordinates trying to invent a chair that makes people really uncomfortable, so that they won't daydream at work

In the pilot, Ted was tasked by his boss to find a use for a piece of fabric with a strange texture. Eventually, his team invented a chair that was lined with solely that fabric. And they proceeded to test it on human subjects.

In the initial phase of testing, Ted was told that the chairs were very uncomfortable to sit on, however further testings revealed that people’s productivity increased on such chairs because they were unable to daydream and get comfortable. Ted’s team then proceeded to think of ways to make the chair even more uncomfortable and tested it out on the subjects. It was rolling-on-the-floor-funny to see the human live test subjects squirming and doing work in their chairs, and one guy eventually stood up, and yelled “I can’t take it anymore!” and ran out of the building.

The biggest experiment however, was when Ted was asked to freeze one of his employee simply because the company has developed a way freeze humans rapidly.

Ted's love interest, Linda

One of the employees in the midst of being frozen

While it might seem like a really dumb and corny sitcom, I think it is Ted’s narration that makes the whole show comes off as witty and humorous. Definitely a keeper!

Better Off Ted, is one of the better sitcoms I have watched recently. If you have any other sitcom to recommend, be sure to drop a comment or contact me. I would love more alternatives to How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Better Off Ted. Cheers!