Managers Philosophy

Labor Day (or the International Break depending on your priorities) has come and gone and now is the time of year when, despite the cooling temperatures, global footy action really starts to heat up!

Along those lines, I feel it is now appropriate to step up my efforts for “The Offsides Trap” and really start producing. As I began to think about what my first legitimate post would entail, I came to the conclusion that I need to have some kind of format (so that if anyone began following the blog they could have a realistic idea of when to expect the goods). Here is what I came up with:

On Friday I will give you my thoughts on the upcoming weekend’s biggest matches, what and who to watch for, and of course my extremely uninformed predictions for the matches I find most interesting/relevant/and not likely to be a blowout etc…

Then after the weekend, on Monday, I will provide the Weekend Recap (an analysis of the footballing events of the past week), as well as brief look ahead to the coming matches and fixtures that will be worth keeping an eye on!

Finally on Wednesday, I am tentatively planning a piece called “Fishing for Minnows” where I will profile, analyze, and publicize players and teams from some of the smaller leagues throughout the world. Obviously if there is a team or league you’d like to learn more about, I will gladly take requests via twitter @bfkesq

Since today is Tuesday and I missed posting anything yesterday, I figured I could spend the rest of this post providing everyone with a little background on myself and why I started the blog.

In 2002, I caught a temporary strain of football fever while I was living in Japan. The World Cup final was in Yokohama that year and we lived nearby…I couldn’t help but get caught up in the spectacle of world football. Add to that, that the US had a great run that year and that experience helped lay the foundation for what some would call a pretty intense obsession with the beautiful game.

Three and half years passed before the symptoms resurfaced in 2006 and became a full-fledged outbreak. While at St. Gregory’s University in Shawnee, OK; a group of my buddies and I started a Sunday league football club called “McLovin FC” (which still exists to this day) while concurrently getting hooked on FIFA’s 2006 Road to the World Cup for Xbox 360. On top of that my summer employment was such that I got to watch every single game of the 2006 World Cup. June and July of 2006 officially converted me from an American Football fan to a passionate supporter of the beautiful game, the real football.

After the World Cup ended, I realized I had to have more the of the sport and so I started doing my research on which club I should call my own and which clubs I would consequently love to hate. It turned out to be an easy decision. I had always known about Manchester United and of course I knew about Beckham, Ronaldo, Rooney, etc… thus whenever anyone would ask who I supported, MUFC would always be my answer; but it wasn’t until I actually watched a Manchester United game with my new found passion for the sport that I became a true Red Devil!

Their tempo, their bravado, their pace, and most importantly their manager! I am a believer in the way Sir Alex does things and I feel as loyal to him as a fan, as I do to the club itself. As long as he is in charge, I will never worry about the club.

I understand those that may call me a “bandwagoner” or a glory hunter (as I often refer to New York Yankees fans), but the fact of the matter is I don’t care and I love MUFC!

Outside of the Premiership, I enjoy watching Barca and Real Madrid as well as almost any team in the Bundesliga and Eredivise, but the only other team I actively support and follow is Udinese as I have family in Italy that are ardent Udinese supporters!

On the international level, as I mentioned early, I’m a patriot through and through, there’s no other team I follow like the Red, White, and Blue (USMNT)!

Anyway, I hope that gives you all a bit of insight into why I support the teams I do and also provides a perspective on why I’ll write some of the things I write. I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you all and hopefully engaging in some lively competitive banter with many of you!