Musa Okwonga

Football writer, social commentator, poet, musician, published author… there’s not much Musa doesn’t do.

We’re delighted to have him on The Premier League Owl, and he can also be found blogging for the Independent, fronting The King’s Will – who can be seen on YouTube here, and doing pretty much anything else that he pleases. Sickening…

A Cultured Left Foot

‘A delight to read … an exuberant and intelligent footy book’ – Simon Barnes, Chief Sports Writer, The Times.

‘Probably the most intelligent football book of the year’ – Independent on Sunday.

‘Full of insights’ – Independent (No. 1, ‘Ten Best Sports Books’)

‘Endless fascinating details and anecdotes’ – Simon Kuper, author of ‘Football Against the Enemy’.

‘A work of insight from a young writer trying to solve an old problem, the definition of that much over-used word in football vocabulary; great’ – Martin Tyler, Sky Sports

‘Quirky and exuberant’ – FourFourTwo

‘Hilarious anecdotes … a scintillating read, brimming with rich detail … one book that should find its way onto every football fan’s bookshelf. Join the greatness debate’ – The Crack (Book of the Month)

Will you manage?

‘Sports book of the week’ – Simon Redfern, Independent.

Intelligent, fluent and cosmopolitan. By the end you’re very aware of what a clever and able writer Okwonga is.’ – When Saturday Comes.

Five reasons why Manchester City deserve to win the title – April 30th 2012

They have played the best football.

On several occasions this season, and notably against some of the league’s leading teams, Manchester City have been magnificent. They eviscerated Spurs 5-1 at White Hart Lane, and utterly humiliated Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford. Swansea and Norwich have also been similarly dispatched in the course of this season. When Manchester City are at their most effervescent, there are few teams in Europe that can live with them.

Mancini has shown excellent man-management.

Roberto Mancini is used to dealing with big egos in football – indeed, as a player, he was hardly less than forthcoming – but even he cannot have imagined the difficulties that he has faced this year. Mario Balotelli’s fine contribution with crucial goals was always going to be offset by his erratic decision-making both on and off the pitch, but there’s a strong argument that Mancini has got as much out of the mercurial Italian as anyone could be expected to. And let’s not forget the supreme pragmatism that Mancini has shown in welcoming Carlos Tevez back into the fold, after an autumn during which he could scarcely have shown more contempt for his employers.

Mancini has handled the media superbly.

Mancini knows that the media battle is an essential one in the Premier League war. On many occasions, he has fought it masterfully: most notably when his side lost 1-0 to Everton at Goodison, a result that many in the press began to interpret as Manchester City’s faltering nerve. But Mancini smartly changed the media narrative, by blaming himself for failing to take Everton seriously; it was he, and not his players, who was at fault. With this red herring – or blue herring? – he drew attention away from his anxious squad, allowing them to regroup and ultimately to regain their confidence.

They have mounted a title challenge not like newcomers, but like old hands.

Very few of the players in the Manchester City squad have won a league title before. And they are going up against Manchester United, two of whose players (Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes) have won the Premier League twenty-two times between them. Despite that deficit in experience, they – quite remarkably – have kept the contest close until now. It is that perseverance which should see them rightly rewarded with the league trophy come May.

They have given Sergio Aguero the platform to fulfil his potential.

By the start of this season, every football fan in the country knew of the genius of David Silva. Sergio Aguero, although he had a £38million price tag, arrived in England as seemingly something of a gamble. After all, a sceptical public had seen big-money foreign strikers flop before, Andrey Shevchenko being the most obvious example. Those in the know, or simply those with any sympathies at all to Manchester United, shuddered at the thought. By the age of 22 Aguero had scored over a hundred goals for Atletico Madrid in five seasons, during which time he had thoroughly and memorably outplayed Leo Messi in a 4-2 win over Barcelona. It can be argued that his arrival at Manchester City was the final catalyst for their success: more than being merely spectacular, he has scored – often prodigiously – and has fitted perfectly into the team from the beginning. The Premier League is lucky to have him, and Manchester City deserve the highest honours going to allow his talent truly to flourish.

Why Manchester United should love to lose – April 16th 2012

Musa Okwonga finally makes his debut on The Premier League Owl, welcome…

Wigan 1, Manchester United 0. As I considered my team’s defeat, I felt two emotions in quick succession. The first emotion was a familiar flurry at the base of my gut, that faint horror that I always feel when United lose: the second, emotion was smugness.

You see, I always feel oddly superior when Manchester United lose. It’s a reminder to everyone, most of all their challengers, that it is impossible to count upon straightforward results at the end of the season. Following Manchester City’s 1-0 defeat at Arsenal, I was taken aback to see so many media commentators – for whom I have the greatest respect – announcing that the title race was over for another year. I was never convinced by that argument. The previous week , Wigan had run Chelsea very close, and are a team currently being coached to the very edge of their potential. They deserved the greatest respect, and following their victory over Sir Alex Ferguson’s side I hope that they receive it.

Furthermore, there is a lesson in Wigan’s 1-0 win for all those teams who wish to win championships: that it is often not the games against big sides that decide the title, but the games against the supposedly small ones. In 2008-09, with Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres in full, thrilling flight, Liverpool defeated Manchester United home and away; they scored more goals than them over the course of the season (77 to 68), and lost fewer games (2 to 4). However, they finished second by four points. The culprits for this finish can be easily traced: there were two 0-0 draws against Stoke, fixtures from which they would have expected to take six points.

For a potential champion, though, the most important thing is often to lose: it’s only then that you understand whether you truly have the mettle to endure. For example, Manchester City responded to their defeat at the Emirates by eviscerating West Bromwich Albion (4-0 at home) and then Norwich (6-1 away, a result that the Old Trafford faithful will know all too well).

In that sense, a loss can be a beautiful thing. It makes a team face the hardest reality: which is that victory in a title battle is rarely, if ever, an elegant procession to the summit. No: more often than not it is grubby and ugly, as mundane at times as a soul-stalling nine-to-five. It is only once a team embraces this truth that it is ready to win everything. And, given that both Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson knew this truth long ago, we are in for a more exciting finish than anyone could have hoped.