Battle of the Bridge

Game 4 for United. Screening no 3 for the Manchester United Fan Club of Mumbai (MUFCM). I missed the earlier screenings of the Newcastle and Liverpool games. This game promises to be a cracker and we all are geared up for it. The Working committee will meet couple of hours prior to the game followed by some pre-match videos and then the screening!

United haven’t got off the blocks…yet! United know that a win here will surely kick start their season. The mood in the camp is of quiet confidence after a good opening game in the Champions League against the “drawing” team Villarreal. Ronaldo’s return gives us that extra bite we need in midfield and upfront, Dimi’s doubtful, this will be a blow as he scores (while playing for Tottenham) against Chelsea. Fletcher is going great guns and Tevez is in mesmerizing mood. Rooney has tried but not hit the target and will be geared up to put a few past Petr Cech.

Chelsea have been knocking in the goals (9 in 4 games). They are unbeaten at home – 84 games if I’m not mistaken. That’s some record!! Deco has settled well at the Bridge and Scolari will go all out to ensure the record is intact. The battle will be won or lost in midfield, this is precisely where Giggs, Ronaldo, Owen, Fletcher, Nani, Anderson and Park (scintillating form in the CL) will have to be at their ‘Sunday best’. It all boils down to who Fergie has in the starting line up. All the players will be eager to put 1 past their closest rivals of last season (at home and Europe) and sure shot title contenders this year. On the other hand I strongly feel both keepers will play a key role in their respective side’s success.

All in all the game will be critical for United and drawing away to Chelsea will not be a bad day at the office for SAF’s Red Army.

From the look of it a healthy no of fans will be turning up for the screening. It will be a sea of Red, come 21st September.

Go on you Reds – the Devils from Mumbai are will be singing in Unison, GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED!!!


Julien Menezes

MUFCM Screening – v/s Liverpool (A) – Sep 13

My Screening Feedback

I spent the last week worrying if enough people would turn up for the game. Many of us at MUFCM spend a lot of time organising events & we were worried if the screening would really be good.

When I woke up today morning, I saw quite a few had registered so I was relieved that at least many would be turning up for the game. Quite frankly, its the biggest game, I always look for both the Liverpool games when the fixture list comes out.

I entered the hall, news came through that 'there was NO ESPN'. Had me worried a little that something like that could possible ruin the evening. However, we got ESPN soon enough.

As the crowd started building, 2-3 people brought their flags. The huge MUFCM poster was unveiled and it was BRILLIANT. It was awesome and just gave me a picture of what we have managed to achieve at MUFCM.

The videos were playing as I was doing some small paper work & talking to some guests from Liverpool Mumbai. The Kick-Off came pretty soon & I was sat on my seat ready for a humdinger. There was fair bit of noise and everything about the screening seemed perfect.

The ambience for football was amazing, we even had rival fans over and there was lots of banter. Some amazing videos were played at half-time. Some passionate fans even knew a lot of chants sung at Old Trafford. Every now and then you would hear someone shout United!! even when we were trailing. Many joined in when 'Glory Glory Manutd' was sung. It was fantastic.

Even now, the terrible United performance and the loss still did not sink in. However deep down I felt a deep sense of satisfaction in the way the screening was conducted.

I want to thank each and everyone of you for making it a great event. I'd like to thank the Screening team members, Sunil, Sumit and everyone who contributed in every little way. Hope to see you'll next week.

It would've been wonderful had we capped it off with a win. Nonetheless.

Glory Glory Man United!

Srikanth
MUFCM




Screening Review: (Body Count = 40)

Well Srikanth has summed up pretty much everything. After so much work in the off season, it was great to see the first really big screening go so well.

The membership has started rolling & slowly we should be ever increasing in number. I will still appeal everyone to come & sign up for either of our (Premium or Basic) Memberships. For marketing purposes its really important to have a definite number of registered members.

The official flag/poster looks awesome, I cant wait to take it to pubs & other football events. The website will be up & going by this month end. So we can really step up publicizing & marketing our website, till the next set of screenings in Nov/Dec.

Having 'Liverpool Mumbai' certainly helped create an even more electrifying atmosphere. There was not one moment when people were quite, there was constant chanting & bantering going on, it was like sitting in a stadium. If six Liverpool fans can help create such an amazing atmosphere, we can imagine when we have equal number of rival fans. Joint Screenings are certainly the way to go in future, provided there is no personal abusing & fighting.

The food was amazingly good last night & almost never unendingly served. It served as a great chakna for by Booze.

Unfortunately I was a bit late, due to traffic on my way, so couldn't play all the pre match videos, specially the 20 minute special video on Manchester United. However I promise to come on time next time & surely play that video.

Overall it was certainly one of the best screenings, except for the result ofcourse.

Sunil Thakur
MUFCM

Liverpool vs Manchester United (A) - 13th Sep .

With a draw and a win from their first two games of the season, Manchester United find themselves 9^th in the premier league table and travel to Anfield to take on bitter rivals in the form on Liverpool on Saturday, 13^th of September . With players like Carrick, Giggs and Hargreaves returning from injury, Nani returning from suspension, Anderson returning from Olympic duty and new signing Berbatov all set to make his debut for the reds, Manchester United are looking at their strongest best .

On the other hand , things don’t look very good for Liverpool. On big occasions like this, you need your big game players to step up and with Steve Gerrard and Torres fighting a race against time to be fit for the game, their absence could make it even more difficult for Liverpool. Albert Riera, the 26 year old left sided winger completed his move to Liverpool from Spanish side Espanyol on the last day of the transfer window and will be hoping to play some part in the game.

United won the corresponding fixture last season by a goal to nil and will be looking for a similar result whilst Liverpool on the other hand will leave no stone unturned to make sure they put up a good show in front of their home fans . This one promises to be an absolutely brilliant tie as two of the most successful teams in the history of English football lock horns. Its pretty obvious I'll be rooting for the team from Manchester .

Hope to see you’ll at the screening on the 13^th. For more details :

http://www.orkut.co.in/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=53483970&tid=5242509984288331608&start=1

http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=38577536557

- Rohit Ramachandran