Who should Manchester United turn to?

So David Moyes didn't even make it a full season, but was allowed to spend huge sums on Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini. More than anything, he seemed a little out of his depth - but it was going to be an impossible job to follow Fergie (unless another Class of '92 magically appeared).

But he's gone, and the only discussion now is who will replace him.

Ryan Giggs has the interim job, and has all his coaching badges. He wouldn't be a terrible choice, but I always feel that it's better not to coach players you have played with - at least in the last couple of seasons. They still have a relationship with you as a player, and you want them to ultimately to respect you as the boss.

Pep Guardiola is an option, but only if he wins everything with Bayern and feels he has nothing to prove there. There is talk that the establishment at the German club don't like his style of play, but I don't see him taking on a project like Manchester United.

The argument still stands that any manager will have to rebuild at Old Trafford. And here's why I don't think bringing in an older coach like Louis van Gaal makes sense.

United need to find a new identity, one that doesn't include Ferguson, Scholes, Giggs etc. The success they enjoyed over the last 20 years was based on the emergence of those youth team players - and let's be honest, it's highly unlikely to happen again in the next 25 years.

Hence, it's a longer term project. Chelsea and Manchester City are the big boys in England now - Liverpool may join them, but United and Arsenal face a battle to get back to the top.

Perhaps that was the thinking with Moyes - but he just didn't handle the transition well at all. Changing manager every season or two won't bring success, but they still need a manger and squad that will be able to compete at the top every year.

I doubt they could poach another Everton manager, but Roberto Martinez and Brendan Rodgers are the type of young, progressive coaches United should go for.

Ajax lit up by minnows in Dutch Cup final

PEC Zwolle lift first trophy in first final in 37 years

It was over in a little over a half hour when Dutch giants Ajax spectacularly were down 4-1 on its way to a 5-1 defeat.

But the images that will be remembered is former Manchester United netminder Edwin van der Sar pleading with his Amsterdam side's supporters to stop the fireworks as Ajax endured the goalfest. Play had to be delayed, officials debated whether to stop the match and the rest of the stadium's fans were shellshocked at the proceedings on the field.

In the end, it was the minnows that won by a heavy scoreline to lift its first major honor in the club's history. This is what football is all about.

-Tio Pelotas

@TioPelotas74

Manchester United need to rebuild - with or without Moyes

Twitter is buzzing about Manchester United sacking David Moyes in the very near future, maybe even today.

Does it make sense? There are 4 games left and nothing to play for, so it makes even less sense than when we debated this in January.

Manchester United need a complete overhaul - whether David Moyes gets to do that, or someone else does, there's no denying it needs to be done.

Moyes may have been out of his depth this season, but look at who he is working with. People can say these are the same players that won the league last season, but they're not. They are older, less motivated and less talented than last year.

There is no Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs knows he's done, and Namanja Vidic and Patrice Evra are on their way out of the club.  Then there's Robin van Persie - he got 30 goals last year, but has only started 22 games this season. Wayne Rooney has been injured, while Juan Mata and Marouane Fellani aren't short term solutions, and haven't really adapted at all yet.

Don't get me wrong, David Moyes has to shoulder some of the blame. He seems tactically naive, unable to motivate the players and has had some bad luck along the way. But he needs a chance to shape his own team. He would have to get rid of Ashley Young, Nani, (maybe) Tom Cleverly and Javier Hernandez (along with Rio, Vidic and Evra). And even if Moyes doesn't get the opportunity to do that, whoever comes in will have to.

Fergie's Manchester United are no more - complete change is needed. There's really no denying it needs to be done.

Sacking Moyes now makes no sense - but the big decision is whether to let him or someone new try and rebuild a squad that hasn't been motivated all season, and probably have no European football at all to look forward to.

Barcelona need to evolve, not completely change

Barcelona take on Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final today, and it's a coin toss over who wins the trophy. But win or lose, it's probably about time for some changes at the Catalan club. It's time for them to tweak their style, but perhaps with new players rather than a complete ideology overhaul.

The success of the Pep Guardiola era seems a long time ago. They are out of the Champions League, sit 4 points behind Atletico Madrid with 5 games left in La Liga and are still reeling from the Neymar tax scandel and 14 month transfer ban on players under 18.

But let's ignore the off the field issues and look at the team, and where they need to improve if they are going to challenge teams like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich for domestic and European honors.

Victor Valdes is done. It's a sad end to a great career with Barca, but there has always been a feeling that they could have improved in that area. Valdes is a very good 'keeper, but he's not in the top 5 in the world - he's barely in the top 5 Spanish goalies with Casillas, De Gea and Reina all arguably ahead of him. Who do they need? Maybe Thibaut Courtais from Atletico, but his parent club Chelsea are unlikely to let that happen. Or David De Gea from Manchester United - that could happen with United out of next year's Champions League.

Carlos Puyol is also retiring, and Javier Mascherano is just not a center-back.  Marc Bantra is decent, but not the man to help Gerard Pique lead that back 4 yet. Vincent Kompany is the man, but Manchester City won't sell him. Maybe Mats Hummels from Borussia Dortmund would make sense, but they probably need two defenders unless they can convert Sergio Busquets into a defender. Jordi Alba is quality, but Dani Alves is pushing on a little, so a full-back is needed too.

In midfield, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas and Busquets are all top players, but maybe a box-to-box type guy with a little more dynamism is needed - they probably don't regret selling Yaya Toure, but they'd love to have him back.

Barca need to cash in on players like Alex Song and Alexis Sanchez in order to strengthen in other areas. They produce a load of top quality youngsters, but players like Cristian Tello and Gerard Deulofeu need to establish themselves in the first team soon, or risk becoming bench players.

Tello has slipped down the pecking order after Neymar's arrival

I'm not going to mention Lionel Messi or Neymar. The team will be built around those two for the next 5 years - and they could beat most teams (especially in La Liga) on their own. But Barca do need to build again or risk falling behind. Maybe another striker like Roberto Soldado would give them another option up front - and Spurs would probably let him go after a miserable first season in England.

Barca need to change. The tika taka style is not dead, it just needs to evolve in order for them to compete for every trophy (which they expect to do) - maybe with a new coach, but definitely with 3-4 new additions.

Palace, You Really Got Me Now, You Got Me So I Don’t Know What I’m Doing

Geography should dictate sports allegiances. Unless you’re from Alaska or your dad is playing professionally somewhere out of town, I’ve always believed the team near your house is the team you root for and you never, ever stray. Exclamation point.

But as my infatuation for the non-American football grew last year, I faced a quandary. As much as I adhere to the strict guidelines of geography, and as entertaining as this thing called Major League Soccer can be, the product on the pitch isn't good enough to sustain me. Tim Cahill can score four seconds into a game and it won't matter: My heart won't ever be into the New York Red Bulls.

Once NBC locked up its lavish TV contract to ping top-flight English football to U.S. televisions and computers, my quandary became simpler and didn’t involve geography: Which Premier League team would I pick?

Manchester United was immediately eliminated, because when you root for the New York Yankees, you can't root for another New York Yankees. I quickly tossed out other favorites like Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and especially Tottenham, as I didn't want to be the rookie at the bar denying the charges of bandwagon jumping when I still couldn't identify an offside without a slow-motion replay.

Then it came to me that the purest entry into Premier League fandom was to pick one of the three promoted teams. Eventually I settled on a team with a long absence from the top flight and a history of financial insolvency, one that needed a dramatic injury time penalty to secure the third promotion spot from the Championship last year - Crystal Palace. I realized most people didn't give them much of a chance to stay up, but that would be the fun of it, right?

Then the season started, and the losses piled up, and it became quickly evident that a team with zero goal-scoring problems in the lower league had the tendency to score zero goals in the higher one. It didn't help that their most prolific scorer from the prior campaign was still out injured, and their second most prolific was wallowing on the Man U bench. I’d invite friends out to bars to watch early, and the games would be over early.

Through the losing, I worried my allegiance would fade. I wasn't born rooting for these guys. I wasn't sure they'd pass the same litmus test that my beloved but flawed New York Knicks passed the time I saw them play basketball against the now-local Brooklyn Nets. It never even crossed my mind that I’d desert the Knicks.

With Palace, it did cross my mind. I did think of leaving. Would I stay with them if they got relegated and their games weren’t on TV anymore? The early losing led to a managerial change, and while they picked up a few wins, they stayed in the drop zone and subconsciously, I gave them until the New Year to keep me.

But deeper in my subconscious, I found myself getting to know the players: I wondered why they’d always pick the speedy Cameron Jerome as striker, even though he was the clumsiest finisher I've seen in the entire league. Why weren't they playing young and talented Dwight Gayle more often? Was defender Joel Ward really happy with his sudden move to midfield? Did Glenn Murray just Tweet that he’s coming back from his knee injury soon??!! I was starting to care about this team from South London like they played right around the corner.

On Boxing Day, Gayle curled in an injury-time beauty from just outside the box to break a 0-0 tie at Aston Villa, and I screamed in joy. A poor quality game had, to me, become the most thrilling and beautiful match in the history of sport(s). Something was happening. I wasn’t going to relegate them for New Year’s.

Out of the drop zone but close enough where it was still a real possibility, Palace took the pitch at Selhurst Park three Saturdays ago to play Chelsea. In my wildest fantasy, the Eagles would somehow coax a draw out of the first-place team, en route to barely surviving relegation.

But early in the second half of a 0-0 game, Chelsea captain John Terry headed the ball into his own goal while trying to head it out of harm’s way. My phone lit up with texts. “Palace leads,” said one. “Holy shit,” said another. I watched on my phone as the final seconds of injury time ticked off and Selhurst Park lost its shit. I had chills. This was my team doing this. My boys.

Two weeks ago, Palace played its most thorough game of the year, winning 3-0 away at Cardiff and getting to 34 points for the season. Another win this weekend over Villa took them just three points shy of the magical 40-point barrier that usually marks staying up, but things look good. 

Palace has me by the balls and I’d follow them to the Championship and, God forbid, I’d follow them to League One if I had to. All I know is that it's far more exciting than watching this year's Knicks - and you get to drink at 10am!

- Joe Checkler

Follow him at @JoeCheckler

'Sup with Grown Ass Man?

EJ can do himself a favor with crack performance vs RBNY 

The great thing about Eddie Johnson is his Don't F*ck with Me demeanor. Those things don't get taught on the pitch.

But through the first several matches of the 2014 campaign, not only are DC United supporters getting worried, his performance has U.S. fans biting their nails ahead of Jurgen Klinsmann's decision to nail down his final squad for Brazil come June.

It's easy to question his work rate from the couch but EJ is probably as frustrated as us. Probably even more so. It's a World Cup year. He just signed for United for a hefty contract that he felt was deserved back in Seattle with the Sounders. Grown Ass Man knows he's a target by a growing sophisticated fan base that's calling for maturity and professionalism.

EJ just turned 30. His time is winding down with the national team. How does he want to be remembered?

Saturday's clasico against the New York Red Bulls will serve as the perfect opportunity to leave any doubts back in the hallways of RFK Stadium (along with the raccoons, rats and Lord knows what else!). His wrongfully-called offside goal in the recent friendly against Mexico gave fans ammunition--mostly hope--for optimism about EJ and recollections of his feats with the national team years earlier.

But Johnson is his only enemy at the moment. Will he seize the last remaining opportunities presented to him by taking all of his experience from a young hot shot to a growing player to what is now a veteran presence for a side that's slowly leaving behind its dynasty memories? EJ has a chance to do something big, starting with Saturday's match that United supporters circle on their calenders annually.

-Tio Pelotas

@TioPelotas74

Bella free kick

Andrea Pirlo marks another perfect beauty, leaves GK motionless

Today's free kick by the Italian legend in the quarterfinal tie between Juventus and Lyon in the Europa League almost makes us forget about the intensity of yesterday's Champions League games involving Atletico Madrid-Barcelona and Bayern Munich-Manchester United. Such class.