A regista among registas: Andrea Pirlo

So the Ballon d'Or shortlist is in and it's a mighty fine shortlist too. Barcelona's Lionel Andrés Messi features, the man who competes with Diego Armando Maradona and Edison Arantes do Nascimento. Then there's the goal machine Ronaldo (no, not that one) who competes with Lionel Messi. Finally, Barcelona has another representative in Andrés Iniesta whose feats for Spain in Euro 2012 drew merited praise. A fine trio indeed: Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Iniesta.

165 days & 159 days

I last posted an article up here 159 days ago. I'm wondering whether that's a long time in life. It can be. Some things change, some things stay the same. Sometimes you learn things. For example, I found out that I love cats and I now have two. I found out that for some people, you're just some people even if they're not some people to you. What about football? Specifically, a direction of a football club? Brendan Rodgers took over Liverpool 6 days before my last post and the only thing I wrote about his appointment was the following:

"I believe he will provide a progressive footballing philosophy which will make an impression on the club and fans. There'll be a post on this later but hope is a dangerous thing."

I still believe that and here is the "post on this later" albeit 159 days later. A couple of days ago, on the way back from a wedding, a very good friend of mine asked me about my blog. I said I didn't have time but that was a lazy hangover-induced lie. I just thought that maybe I should focus elsewhere yet I kept writing and posting my thoughts on the Guardian, the Times and elsewhere so I had plenty to say. So, here we are. 159 days later.