WHY US?

There has been 18 teams, all competing to be crowned The Barclays English Premier League Champions of 2013. The campaign, like many other before, started in mid August. Nine very long months and 38 very difficult matches decides who walks the King of British Football. Hundreds of men sweat 38 times, each time with at least 90 minutes. They sometimes bleed and in rare cases we see grown men cry!

Then comes the moment that makes it all so worth it! The moment only one team can rightful claim to be the best. The moment grown men don't mind the whole world seeing them cry. The moment they say; 'We did it.' The moment fans all around the world scream and disturb their neighbors. The moment, unless you are a football fan, you will never understand why someone in Tanzania screams 'Sisi ndio mabingwa wa Uingereza (We are the Champions of England)!' How can a Tanzanian be a Champion of England in this free world? If you are asking that question, I will not answer because you will never understand.

But as I was doing my Sisi ndio mabingwa wa England walk, I stopped and asked myself, Why us? And by us I mean Manchester United Football Club. And if you are wondering how me and MUFC becomes a 'we', I will not explain because you will never understand.

We became champions with 4 matches to go and a 16pts gap to former Champions Manchester City! We lost some matches which means there were times when the other teams were better than us. We drew some matches which means, to my understanding of course, that at some point our opponents were just as good as we were! And most of the time, we were a better team and won.

Follow me in this series as we celebrate our 20th trophy and as I explain why I think we won the trophy this year. So, Why Us?

1. David de Gea

 

David was doubted from the beginning by media, fans and playing Lindegaard was SAF way of saying, the goal is still anybody's. But that did not make the very young De Gea call his mommy and cry, he rose up used his legs and hands and now not only is he MUFC's Number One ((Even SAF confirmed this) but to my opinion, the best goal keeper in EPL for 2012/2013.

DDG has proved his maturity especially when playing against the big clubs. Voted man of the match twice when we played Chelsea, once against Real Madrid. Was Player of the Month for February and March in which we had FA Cup and Champions League back to back matches. And with all that pressure, he kept seven consecutive clean sheets in the League between February and April. 

With 78 appearances, DDG is tied at Number 18 for MUFC goal keepers with most clean sheets. Only five keepers above him have less than 100 appearances and only four have less appearances than him!

Muchas Gracias Number One.