10 biggest things in football in 2013

So, 2013 is at an end. I take a look back at the biggest things to happen in the sport over the past 12 months.

10 - Mona¢o and P$G buying everybody

There's talk today of PSG launching a bid for Lionel Messi, arguably the best player in the world (but more about him later) which would be quite sensational if they could somehow pull it off. But PSG now have rivals in the money game, that being Monaco, who flexed their financial muscles this summer with moves for Falcao, James Rodriguez, Joao Moutinho and, er, Ricardo Carvalho. The French league will be an interesting one to watch in 2014 to see which one of these will come out on top. Watch out for PSG in the Champions League too.

9 - What do AVB, Roberto Mancini and Nigel Adkins have in common?

Well, the answer is they were all fired in 2013 by Premier League clubs as the managerial merry go round reached new levels. FOUR managers have been sacked this month alone, with Martin Jol, Steve Clarke, Andre Feather Boas and Malky Mackay being told that their time is up. In all, 13 of the 23 clubs that have graced the Premier League in 2013 have changed their managers this year, an increase on the 10 in 2012. Of those clubs, Sunderland are the only one to have changed their manager twice, with Martin O'Neill being replaced by Paolo Di Canio, who was in turn replaced by Gus Poyet. I would expect more of the same in 2014.

8 - Ronaldo vs Messi, part 4858990

So, for the 44th year running, the battle for individual supremacy between a Portuguese man and an Argentinian man continues. However the Portuguese one did better this year, unlike previous years, where the Argentinian fella has held the bragging rights. So will Mr Blatter and the rest of the world recognise that this year, Ronaldo has been much better than Messi? I hope so, because he deserves it as I have said previously. The battle will continue into 2014, with both sure to play big parts in Brazil at the World Cup. The rivalry rages on.

7 - Arsenal spent some money (lol wut)

In September this year, Mesut Ozil joined Arsenal, just in case you weren't aware. And with that, a new title challenger was born. This year, Arsenal ended the Premier League on top of the table, and their £42.5 million purchase of the German international has made teams realise that they can compete, and Arsenal have realised themselves that they can compete. Being an Arsenal fan, Ozil is the man I worship, but I do also worship Ji Dong-Won, so that doesn't mean a lot. But the man has undoubted talent, can he help Arsenal maintain their title challenge? We'll find out next year.

6 - Manchester became red again

Not because someone set it on fire, but because Manchester United reclaimed the title from their neighbours, Roberto and Manuel who moved in just down the road a few years ago. The acquisition of Robin van Persie in 2012 certainly helped United to yet another title, with the Dutchman becoming the league's top scorer for a second year running. The partnership of RVP and our kid Wayne certainly paid off for Sir Alex, who departed Old Trafford with more silverware to his name. Can they win it in 2014? We'll see, but David Moyes will have to do something special.

5 - Tread caerphilly, the Welsh are coming

Yes, 2013 was the year of the Welsh clubs in England. Swansea won the League Cup, Cardiff were finally promoted to the Premier League as champions of the Championship, and Newport were promoted into the Football League following a play off final with fellow Welsh team Wrexham. All in all, they did alright. Swansea of course are now participating in Europe, and Cardiff are enjoying (in the loosest sense of the word) Premier League life. 2013 was a breakthrough year for the Welsh clubs, but can they match it in 2014?

4 - More Welsh stuff

Gareth Bale to be precise. In 2013, he became the most expensive footballer ever as he moved to Real Madrid from Tottenham for a whopping £85 million, eclipsing Cristiano Ronaldo's deal to the same team by £5 million. There were question marks as to whether or not the move would actually go ahead (it did) and whether he could live up to the price tag and expectation (he has). He scored on his debut, he's playing Champions League football, and has a great lifestyle; is there anything Gareth Bale doesn't have going for him? *cough* Ballon D'Or *cough*

3 - The Germans invade, but in a good way

The 2013 Champions League final at Wembley was contested by two German clubs, called Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. The first one won 2-1, and lifted this shiny trophy. They recently added another shiny trophy (the Club World Cup) to cement their reputation as the greatest club side in the world. The two sides demonstrated their superiority in the semi finals, as Bayern demolished Barcelona 7-0 over two legs, and Dortmund beat Real Madrid 4-3 over two legs, winning the first one 4-1. 2014 looks to be another solid year for the Germans, but can their national side win the World Cup? They may well do so.

2 - End it like Beckham

David Beckham retired this year. A global icon, he was, and continues to be, one of the game's most recognised faces, and one of its biggest stars. He ended his career with yet another title at PSG, adding to his titles in England, Spain and the USA. A gentleman until the end of his playing career, he donated his wages at PSG to a local children's charity, a gesture commended by the vast majority of people. Of course, he can't stay away from football, and plans to launch a new franchise/team in Miami to give something back to the game. Good luck Becks.

1 - Fergie time up

The biggest event to happen in football this year was the retirement of the most successful manager in British football, Sir Alex Ferguson. He won absolutely everything with Manchester United (apart from the UEFA Cup, what a failure) and is regarded by many as the greatest manager of all time. He finished his managerial career with a remarkable 5-5 draw with West Brom, but more importantly with the title as Manchester United won their 13th Premier League crown to cap off a wonderful managerial career that started at Firs Park, East Stirling and ended at Old Trafford, Manchester. A true giant of sport.

Vincent Tan is a bad man, a very bad man

Malky Mackay could walk into any job that he wants to after the job he did with Cardiff. He led them into the Premier League after years of being so close to securing promotion, and then broke their transfer record 3 times to meet the expectations of the Premier League. He did quite well with the players he bought into the club, the only problem being that he spent Vincent Tan's money.

We all know that Mackay was hoping to bring a few more players in in January, which Tan reacted angrily to, and you won't like him when he's angry, as we have seen today. What Tan doesn't seem to realise is that this business is football, and it's completely different to any other business or sport in the world, and he has to recognise that. One question I have is why did he pick Cardiff in the first place? Perhaps he knew people on the board. I don't know. But it is something that is becoming normality in football, the influx of foreign owners, which works in some cases (John Henry at Liverpool for example). What Brendan Rodgers and John Henry have done at Liverpool is laid out a blueprint for the club for however many years and are sticking with it. The key factor here is communication. Now, I would presume that Mackay and Tan have had conversations previously outlining a vision with Cardiff that they agreed on. The problem with Cardiff was the involvement of the media, in which Tan publicly stated that he would allow Mackay £25 million to spend on new players after they won promotion to the Premier League. Cardiff spent £32 million in the summer. I don't think that was the final straw, but it contributed to it, purely because it was £7 million over the budget that Tan promised Mackay. Tan, being a businessman, likes to set budgets and deadlines and whatnot, but in football, that should be done by the manager of the club and not the owner. Mackay was perfectly within his right to say that he wanted more funds to sign players in January in order to maintain their Premier League status because he was the manager of Cardiff City. Tan was obviously reluctant to do so and sacked him. That was the final straw. Maybe the £25 million was meant to cover the entire season? Who knows. But if Tan can set budgets via talking to the media and speak with Mackay that way, why can't Mackay do exactly the same thing? Tan knows nothing about football.

With the foreign owners and goal-line technology modernising the game, one thing that football clubs pride themselves on is tradition. If you want to become an owner of a football club, here's a tip - don't change your club's colours. Especially if that colour is in the nickname of the club. You just don't do that. Ever since that day fans have been protesting, and they have been right to do so. It just shouldn't be happening. Vincent Tan has ruined all of Malky Mackay's hard work, as well as the rest of the staff with his control of the club. Who would want to work under him after the way this has been played out in the media? Surely no one would actually volunteer for the job? I mean, they are a Premier League club, which is a big draw for anybody, but after seeing what has happened to Malky Mackay then surely the favourites for the post must be put off by it. Mackay on the other hand can have a fresh start somewhere else with sane owners who will actually hold meetings and communicate with their manager. The question is, will he go straight back into management immediately? West Brom will more than likely offer him the job, or will he wait for a bigger job to come by, because he could easily get it. He has shone at Cardiff and at Watford before that, and his job was extraordinary given the circumstances that he had to work under.

Oh, and Vincent Tan is a wanker.

Cristiano Ronaldo MUST win the Ballon D'Or

So, the three candidates for the Ballon D'Or were announced today, and they were exactly who everyone thought they would be. Franck Ribery, who helped Bayern to the Champions League and Bundesliga titles, Lionel Messi because he's been a good boy this year for Sepp "Santa Claus" Blatter, and the favourite to displace Messi of his crown, Cristiano Ronaldo. 

I could sit here and list Ronaldo's stats from 2013 as the reason why he has to win the most coveted individual prize in football. To be fair, they are pretty damn good. He has 25 goals in 18 Real Madrid appearances this season alone, and with 10 goals in 9 internationals for Portugal in 2013, 8 of which have come since the start of the new season, surely he's the only real candidate for the trophy? For me, he possesses something that Messi and Ribery lack in order to be one of the greatest, and that is arrogance. He knows he's good; you can tell from the constant 'calm down' celebration that he does. But he uses his arrogance in the right way. For example, he could have been a right little rapscallion against Manchester United in the Champions League when he scored at Old Trafford, but showed respect to the club and manager that essentially got him to where he is today, and a lot of respect has to go to him for that alone. Take note Mr van Persie.

Now for why the other two can't win the Ballon D'Or. Let's start with Franck Ribery shall we? Sure, he's won the Champions League and the Bundesliga in 2013 (he also won the DFB-Pokal but who cares). But so have the majority of Bayern's current squad. What has he done that makes FIFA think he's one of the top three players in the world this year? He was never a stand out in the Bayern side for me, and to be franckly honest (see what I did there), he shouldn't be in the top three. I think Zlatan Ibrahimovic has had a better individual year than Franck Ribery. If it was a team competition, then Bayern would be in there, of course, but it isn't. He hasn't even been a stand out player for France who laboured to qualification for Brazil next year.

Lionel Messi. Winner of the last four Ballon D'Or awards. Surely not a fifth on the trot? Surely? Well, no. The fact of the matter is, it is judged by who has had the better year, not who the better player is. And Cristiano Ronaldo has had a much better year than Lionel Messi. I know he's been hit with injuries and so on, but he has failed to live up to his incredible standards that he set in the 2011-12 season when he hit 50 goals in La Liga alone. He got 46 last season, in five less games, so did perhaps deserve the title on those occasions. But he's not done a lot internationally for me in the past year. He's scored 20 goals in his last 20 internationals, which is wonderful, but Ronaldo's performance against Sweden alone should win him the Ballon D'Or. To single-handedly take your team into the World Cup finals is an incredible achievement, but the way he did is was simply astonishing. Is Lionel Messi declining as a footballer? What a stupid question I've just asked there. Of course not, he's just had bad luck that's all.

Let us finish by admiring Cristiano Ronaldo and why he has to win the trophy. He's proved himself not only in Spain, but in England too in two of the toughest leagues in the world. Has Messi? No. Has Ribery? No. He was the world record transfer until some Welsh bloke came along and stole that from him. Did that faze him? You bet it didn't. And finally, he has more goals than he does games for Real Madrid. 226 goals in 217 games in all competitions. Give him a sticker. Or the Ballon D'Or.