A Wonderful 2015

I still don't really know what to make of the festive fixtures. Was it a success when we played away to Stoke ( Arsenal lost there), Southampton and Tottenham, and only 1 home fixture against our neighbours West Ham and picked up 7pts out of a possible 12? Or was it a disappointing one starting the new year dead level with Manchester City and only leading by alphabetical arrangements after leading by 8pts?

The team did an amazing work at the Britannia and against West Ham at home, which was expected. Southampton had their plan and almost succeeded but for the brilliance of Eden Hazard to get us the equalizer. The game at White Hart Lane was just an anomaly. It's that simple. We know it, they know it, Phil Dowd knows it and incidentally, Barcelona (who managed to tweet that they have nothing to do on their break but follow Chelsea scores) also knows. Cheers mate.

The simple truth is that those 7pts were hard-fought for at very difficult grounds and it could have been worse had our rivals from Manchester had the balls to maintain a 2-goal lead against Burnley. So it really wasn't the worst results we've had over the festive period, if you can ask Andre Villas Boas, so we look ahead to a wonderful 2015.

And just a week later things are looking better. We are 2 pts and +2 goals ahead, Diego Costa is leading the golden boot race again, Cesc Fabregas has almost forgotten he is competing for the assist king, we only have the Emirates waiting as the only tough grounds left in the league and we are still competing in all competitions.

It really will be a wonderful 2015.

How on earth did Luis Van Gaal manage to fool us all that he has been a better manager than David Moyes for Manchester United?

We know Moyes broke some unnecessary records at United, allowing some teams who normally came to just surrender at Old Trafford have the hope of winning, but the last time Southampton won there was in January 1988 before the Premier League was born.

After last weekend's match we know Van Gaal has not really fared any better than his predecessor. After playing the same number of matches (21) both managers had 37pts from a possible 63. Moyes actually had more wins (11 to 10) and more goals (35 to 34) than Van Gaal.

What Van Gaal has managed to do is lose less, draw more and string together 6 straight victories. Oh and he has United at 4th compared to Moyes' 7th at the same stage, but we all know that is largely due to the Merseysiders forgetting how to win this season.

So Louis van Gaal has not actually bettered the team from last season. Rooney is still the main man, Van Persie is wasting the chances he is being given ahead of Falcao and the team is crap without Fletcher. All this with an over £200M spending.

Question is; how did he fool us?

WINNERS AT 2014 BALLON D'OR GALA IN ZURICH

Ballon d'Or: Cristiano Ronaldo
Women's world player of the year: Nadine Kessler
Puskas award: James Rodriguez
World coach of the year for men's football: Joachim Low
World coach of the year for women's football: Ralf Kellermann
World XI: Neuer; Lahm, Ramos, David Luiz, Thiago Silva; Di Maria, Iniesta, Kroos; Messi, Ronaldo, Robben
FIFA presidential award: Hiroshi Kagawa
FIFA fair play award: FIFA volunteers

And this is what the man had to say after winning:
'I can see my mother, my family. I would like to thank all those who voted for me. My coach, my fellow player, the President of my club.

'It's been an unforgettable year. To win this trophy, a trophy of this kind, is something unique and all I can say is I want to continue working as I have so far, trying to go on to more titles - individual and as a team - for my mother, my father who is up there looking at me and my son.'

'I want to get better as the days go by. I want to say to all the Portuguese that I never thought I could win this trophy on three different occasions. Of course it is something that is always with me, I want to become one of the greatest players of all time, and this requires a lot so I would like to thank you for all this evening.'

He is the best player in the world.
Congratulations

And this is how England manager Roy Hodgson voted; 1) Mascherano 2) Lahm 3) Neuer.

How could a man be so off target with 3 chances?