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Day: 21 February 2016

Chelsea 5-1 Manchester City

Goals

Diego Costa, 34th minute.

David Faupala, 36th minute.

Willian, 47th minute.

Gary Cahill, 52nd minute.

Edin Hazard, 66th minute.

Bertrand Traoré , 88th minute

If this game was a song: MGMT – Kids

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

This game saw City field a lot of teenagers! Tosin Adarabioyo, Cameron Humphreys, Aleix García, Manu García, Bersant Celina, Brandon Barker, and David Faupala all featured. Despite the headline, all these players impressed to some extent. Only a few moments of inexperience let the side down, which can be expected for such a young team. In the first half the youngsters didn’t even look remotely out of their depth. The future is bright!

Big Moments

13th minute: Pedro hits the post early on, after Cesc Fàbregas turned on the style to beat the offside trap.

34th minute: GOAL. Fàbregas was at it again, as he played through Hazard, who sent a looping ball in for Costa to head in.

36th minute: GOAL. Faupala equalizes after a 1-2 with Iheanacho opened up the Chelsea defense and he tapped in from two yards for a well deserved goal.

40th minute: A great reaction save from Willy Caballero keeps Pedro’s header at bay.

47th minute: GOAL. Willian runs through the City midfield in a quick counter-attack to lay off to Hazard. Hazard returns the favour and Willian breaks the offside trap to score and set the tone for the second half.

52nd minute: GOAL. The ball drops to Cahill after a Chelsea attack and he hits it hard through Caballero and into the net.

66th minute: GOAL. Hazard sends Caballero the wrong way with a free kick and puts the ball in the far corner of the goal.

69th minute: SUBSTITUTIONS. Pedro and Costa make way for Traoré and Oscar.

73rd minute: PENALTY. In a strange refereeing decision, Chelsea were awarded a penalty on behalf of a Martín Demichelis foul. The harsh decision was met with karma as Cabellero saved Oscar’s penalty.

89th minute: GOAL. Traoré makes it five with a looping header that confused the City defence and keeper to go in off the woodwork.

Stat of the Game

City ended the game with three Mancunians on the pitch: Tosin Adarabioyo, Cameron Humphreys, and Brandon Barker.

CoinGate

Saturday saw West Brom’s firey left back/winger Chris Brunt pelted by a coin from his very own fans. The fan threw the coin in frustration at Brunt and then were met by his fiery response! West Brom’s own fans turned against the fan that threw the coin, as this is something that young children will watch and replicate themselves. The fear as soon as this act had happened was that this could catch on around the game and other idiots would feel it is an acceptable thing to do. Fast forward to Sunday’s match between Chelsea and Manchester City, and it seems the fears have come to fruition.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

As City scored their equalizer, some Chelsea fans pelted the celebrating players with coins. This is a bad example to other fans, an act of idiocy, and an even more disgusting thing to do when you consider that the players they were aiming these coins at were aged 17-19.

Football fans have often been brandished as a bad example through the decades due to violence and disrespectful chanting, but it seemed to have relaxed in Britain over the last five to ten years. Hopefully, this is a slight blip in the relationship between fans and players, and the guilty fans will be given a ban from football grounds in an attempt to combat the football hooligan stereotype.

You’ve gotta be Hiddink me?

Chelsea have spent most of this season playing dismal football that has seen them slump down the Premier League table. The City fans reminded the Chelsea fans of this during the game by labelling them in chants as ‘the worst Champions ever.’ Despite this, Chelsea decided that today was the day they would turn back up to the party! Bad luck for City eh? Fàbregas, Costa, and Hazard woke up from their slumber and turned on the style that we were so used to last season, and gave City’s youngsters a baptism of fire. This is an experience that City’s unexperienced players will remember forever and learn from, as some of Chelsea’s quick passing play was beautiful, and the space that Fàbregas found himself in at some points was nothing short of excellent. It seems that whatever Guus Hiddink has done to his Chelsea side has worked wonders, as he won his sixth FA Cup game out of six. The 5-1 score line is a little bit generous to the London side nonetheless, as City put up a good fight, especially in the first half.

Quote of the Presser

Guus Hiddink on coin throwing: “We condemn it and I condemn it strongly. Those people must not come into stadiums.”

Debut-iful display

Much of City’s team made their debut against Chelsea in this FA Cup tie, or were adding to their one or two appearances. Despite this, they did not seem fazed at all! Errors from experienced players today seemed to cost City, as the youngsters turned up with little fear. Every now and then the inexperience crept in, however this could be expected against a side of high calibre. Let’s take a closer look at each of the youngsters and their game…

Tosin Adarabioyo,—The England U18 player impressed the most out of all the youngsters, as he slotted straight into the back four and didn’t look out of place. He will be disappointed at conceding five goals, however he made a few fantastic blocks and strong challenges. Early in the first half a moment stood out where he battled with Diego Costa when the Spaniard looked like he would storm through any defender to score.

7/10

A.García—Watching the communication between Garcia and Fernando throughout the game was fascinating, as it was evident that the young midfielder was learning a lot from the experience. As a defensive midfielder he played well, and occasionally we saw an added side to his game where he showed skill and an attacking sense. Looks like he could be good enough to make it with a little more time.

6/10

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

M.García—He helped Zabaleta out defensively down the wing, and this was effective in the first half. He had a few surges forward that looked dangerous, however seemed to run out of energy in the second half. This is expected against Chelsea, when the London team were in such a motivated mood, so he shouldn’t let his head drop.                                                                                        6/10

Bersant Celina—Had a great run-out against Leicester a couple weeks back, as he set up Sergio Agüero for a goal. This game, however, City mainly attacked down the other wing and he didn’t see much of the ball. Showed signs of promise however and has time on his side.                         6/10

Sinan Bytyqi: Wikimedia Commons

David Faupala—This French striker’s first half was fantastic alongside Kelechi Iheanacho! He was closing down Chelsea’s back four quickly and throwing himself into challenges defensively and further up the pitch. Early on in the first half he cleverly got the ball past Cahill and Branislav Ivanović using a cheeky nutmeg in the process, to pull off a superb shot that Thibaut Courtois had to save! Didn’t look out of his depth, but City’s attacking threat slowed down in the second half.

7/10

Brandon Barker—When the Englishman made his entrance to the game, Chelsea were already out of reach. However, he still showed what he had to offer with showed glimpses of talent down the left wing! As soon as he came on he created a couple of chances and it looked like City may be able to salvage a less heavy score line. Alas, it was not enough.

6/10

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Cameron Humphreys—Wasn’t on the pitch for too long, however this lad is definitely one to keep an eye out for, as he got his chance at only 17!

Men of the Match

Cesc Fàbregas

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

After a dismal first half of the season, the Spaniard is finally starting to display the kind of form that he showed last season! This game saw him pop up in pockets of space all over the field and pinging balls around that any team would have struggled against—never mind such a young team! A classy display from the midfielder sees him as Man of the Match far above any other player on the field.

Tosin Adarabioyo

It may seem odd to choose a centre-back for Man of the Match after a 5-1 defeat, but this young lad can hold his head high after his display! The experienced and usually reliable Demichelis was having an off day, but Adarabioyo was on hand to help the back four through the game and gain crucial experience on the way. His positioning play was fantastic, and despite his slight stature, he was strong on and off the ball. Don’t be surprised if we see this young lad again this season.

Will it be worth it?

City fielded a lesser team in this match in order to accommodate for the Champions League in midweek. Pellegrini said that his 13 man squad weren’t fit enough to play both games at full strength, so he sacrificed his first team players today for the youngsters. If City lose in midweek this may make this decision look strange, so fingers crossed for the game against Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League this week!

Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird author, dies aged 89

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee created perhaps the most significant literary testament to the racial hardships of the American south in history. It won her both a Pulitzer prize and a presidential medal of freedom in 2007. In July 2015, its sequel Go Set a Watchman was published, even though Lee consistently said that she had no intention of publishing more works. There has been some controversy over whether Lee gave her blessing for the sequel to be published. Nevertheless, it is To Kill A Mockingbird, which has sold over 40 million copies, that has defined Lee’s literary career.

Here are some of Mancunion Books’ favourite quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird:

1. ‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view; until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it’

2. ‘“Atticus, he was real nice.”
“Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them”’

3. ‘They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions… but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience’

4. ‘I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.’

5. “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash”

This following, final quote is indicative of how Lee showed us the racial troubles of the American south through the innocent eyes of a child and how innate human compassion could triumph despite how bad we have treated, and indeed are treating, each other.

6. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

Interview: David Hartley

On Monday 1st of February, I interviewed David Hartley about his upcoming book of short stories, Spiderseed. I was familiar with some of his work, from going to some of his performances around Manchester and was excited to get an insight into his new project. According to David, Spiderseed is a collection of flash fiction with a “weird edge”, illustrated beautifully by Emily Ingle and published by Sleepy House Press. Knowing he had previously self-published, I was interested in what Sleepy House Press had added to the process this time. Hartley praised in particular, their additional editorial eye and fresh enthusiasm. He recounted one particularly amusing correction happened when the editors were reading a story about a Manta Ray had actually been about a Mantra Ray until that mistake had been spotted.

Next, I asked David about his decision in choosing to write flash fiction. A style of writing perhaps less often explored, I wondered how he had come across it and what about it attracted him. David Hartley noted that it seemed the best fit, especially in light of his experiment, upon leaving the University of Manchester in 2008, where he attempted to write a short story every week for a year. So being able to write something complete and in short periods of time would work best. Around this time, he also started attending spoken word events around Manchester, where an average of 5 minute sets meant being concise was important.

As someone who tries to perform at spoken word events regularly, I was interested in his opinion on how reading work out loud changes it, and how his work adapted between the spoken and the read. The most important thing to consider, Hartley noted, is that when you’re speaking to a crowd, maybe halfway through a night, maybe tired, maybe not listening, you have to hook them on the first line. I personally remember being hooked by one of his stories about a fox at a Hallowe’en reading. He also noted the importance of judging an audience.

Next, I wanted to know how he writes, maybe an age-old question, but it is one I think tells a great deal about a writer. Myself being a prolific bus stop writer, I wondered if he ever wrote in public. No, was the short answer, he prefers to write in his study surrounded by his books. And when I mentioned inspiration, Hartley described Adam Marek’s analogy of his brain being like a gambit machine, with the first wheel being formative memories, the second being ideas from places, and the third being what you’re looking at. And every time you try to write, the lever is pulled and sometimes the three wheels  line up perfectly to create something. I think this is a wonderful way of describing inspiration, but I was particularly interested in what kinds of images keep spinning on David’s gambit machine. Animals seem to appear frequently in Hartley’s stories—particularly in Spiderseed—in weird and wonderful ways. He attributed this perhaps to his time volunteering at Manchester’s RSPCA where he became increasingly bothered about the treatment of animals. He also suggested that he had more recently realised how often his childhood experience of growing up with his sister Jenny—who is autistic—and her unique view of the world, appeared in his writing one way or another. His story, Fly faces these experiences head on.

Lastly, I was interested in the role that Manchester and the university had played in his writing.Having studied film, English and drama at the University of Manchester 10 years ago, and choosing to stay for another seven years, Hartley noted that, during his time here, he didn’t venture much away from the Oxford Road Corridor. But when he decided he would be settling here after graduating, he began to explore the city. He realised the diversity and complexity of the city and the events going on around it. He met plenty of older writers and joined Manchester Speculative Fiction Group, who still meet often and perform at events such as Verbose at Fallow Café. The city has much to offer for writers of all kinds and is well worth exploring.

I very much appreciated David Hartley taking time out of his day to meet with me, and being so open and honest with his answers to my questioning. I really recommend both seeking out Spiderseed and his spoken word event in Stretford Sip Club, Speakeasy, the next event being on the 3rd of March, and the writer’s workshop beforehand.

Spiderseed will be available from the 25th February on Kindle, Sleepy House Press’ website and davidhartleywriter.com. There will also be a launch party on the 25th February at The Castle Hotel, Manchester. Both Sleepy House Press and David Hartley can be found on Twitter at @zzzhousepress and @dhartleywriter.