Thrice in the past four seasons, we've had the incredible privilege of having a horse in this race. Not so this year. Nonetheless, I'll be watching, you'll be watching, and much of the world will be watching when the world's grandest club football event takes place-- the Carling Cup UEFA Champions League final. This time, it's German giants Bayern Munich and familiar foe Chelsea FC vying for European supremacy. This post will suffice for two purposes: (1) it'll be this community's live game thread if you feel so inclined to join and (2) down below, I'll link some of the best pieces I've read this week in preparation for tonight's final in Munich (*). C'mon.... Bayern?! Chelsea?! Let us know who you're supporting and why. Also, feel free to chime in on who you think lifts the trophy with the big ears -- Phillip Lahm or Frank Lampard?

(*) I've read a lot so I'll try to limit it the best that I can. I'll be sure to point out what is a 'must read'.

KO: 7:45pm BST, 2:45pm EST | Allianz Arena | Munich, Germany

TV: Sky Sports 1 (U.K.), FOX (U.S.A.)

Referee: Pedro Proenca (Portugal)

Odds: Bayern Munich 3/4, Draw 3/1, Chelsea 10/3

Links after the jump...

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Time now to vote for Manchester United's goal of the season. Sweet science and I discussed many of this season's fantastic goals in email exchanges and after that, I narrowed it down to five nominees. 117 goals were scored this season over five competitions so as you can probably imagine, narrowing it down wasn't the easiest task. If you're curious, the community voted Wayne Rooney's overhead kick as last season's goal of the season. Without further ado, here are the choices for this season in the order that they happened:

* 'A curling beauty' | Ashley Young | United 8-2 Arsenal | August 28, 2011: Young actually scored two curling far-post goals in this match, but the first one certainly stood out more. I'll let the pictures with motions do the describing:

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To be quite honest, when I scanned over each of Manchester United's 53 matches in all competitions this season, it was a bit depressing how few stood out as a dramatic accomplishment. From my perspective, there were many more heartbreaking ones (*). A few of the 5-0 victories were relatively joyless when looking back on them months later. Anyway, the third of the voting for TBB's community awards (Vote for Player of the Season here and Young Player of the Season here) is here and it's simply an ask on what your MUFC match of the season was. I would assume that one will probably be the obvious winner but you know what they say when one assumes...

* I'm a glutton for punishment -- perhaps I should offer up a sadistic 'most soul-crushing defeat of the season' award!

To each their own though as we all get different degrees of pleasure or disappointment by any single event. So rather than assume like a dictator would, I'll leave it up to a democratic process -- voting! I'll ban you though if you don't agree with my choice. Just kidding... maybe. Here are the four nominees in chronological order. Have at it -- after the jump...

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Roy Hodgson named his England squad for Euro 2012 on Wednesday and quite predictably, debate followed. The obvious points of discussion centered around John Terry's inclusion likely resulting in Rio Ferdinand's exclusion, Micah Richards being dropped (again), and Liverpool's mercurial Andy Carroll being brought into the side -- which perhaps led many to infer this being the reason for Peter Crouch not being included. It may not be obvious -- well the Rio situation is -- but there are Manchester United angles into all of these much talked about topics. These choices hint at the roles that Hodgson may ask the United quartet of Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Ashley Young, and Phil Jones to play in when the tournament begins.

First off, let's very quickly discuss the tactics that Hodgson is likely to deploy because that may provide insight into what he is aiming for *. He has recently spoke of his preference for 'a point of reference' (a classic target man), whether that be in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 system. In the 4-4-2, the England manager likes that there is somebody in close support to the lead striker so that there's 'someone to threat the back of the defence'. In the 4-3-3, 'the threat to the back of defence has to come from midfield' so 'you need midfield players bursting forward'. He likes his central-midfielders to 'protect the back four and they're also going to be the catalysts for attacks'. Hodgson's 'wide players are the ones you're looking for to use spaces'. His back four is fairly standard. What might this mean to Hodgson's quartet of United players? I'll try to explain after the jump.

* This is a link to a video of Hodgson discussing his 4-4-2 system

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Over the next few days, we'll be taking your votes for TBB's end of the season community awards. Voting for Manchester United's Player of the Season is already underway so be sure to cast your vote for that if you already haven't (link here). Next up is the voting for Young Player of the Season. Here are the three nominees in alphabetical order:

* David de Gea: It was a rough start to the season for the Spaniard but after the new year arrived, he was tremendous. Being the No. 1 at Manchester United is a difficult task -- especially for a 21-year-old that arrived after a transfer fee just shy of £20 million -- but de Gea grew immensely as the season wore on. The main criticism of the goalkeeper early on was his failure to command his box on crosses. Towards the end of the season though, de Gea's decision-making on whether to come off his line noticeably improved. His reflexes and athletic ability are fantastic. Perhaps it was his sensational save of a Juan Mata free-kick in stoppage time at Stamford Bridge during a 3-3 draw that sparked his turnaround. It was one of the more memorable saves by a United 'keeper in recent seasons. All signs point to many memorable saves in the future as United's No. 1.

* Phil Jones - It was a dream start to the season for the 20-year-old and even he admitted recently that he never expected to play such a prominent role in his debut season at United. His surging runs out of the back -- whether that be from right-back or central-defense -- always had the Old Trafford faithful buzzing while his industry and energy was infectious. He even showed promise in central-midfield. Injuries, and perhaps fatigue, played a part in the dip of form he suffered in the season's latter half. Nonetheless, it was a promising first-season at United and few would have anticipated that he'd make 42 appearances this season -- joint third most at the club this season.

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Over the next few days, we'll be taking your votes for TBB's end of the season community awards. We'll get straight to the most prominent one -- Manchester United's Player of the Season. Here are your five nominees in alphabetical order:

* Michael Carrick - The man divides opinion. However, no man -- or woman -- would dispute that he's had a fine season. Well no one that isn't a bloody idiot. Some (me) would tell you he's had a terrific season. Some (Sir Alex Ferguson) would tell you that this has been his best season at the club. Since the away visit to Swansea City in November, Carrick has started every league match and during that span, he's provided tactical awareness, stability, and control. The midfielder was unavailable for the nightmare in Basel and our rhythm and shape was completely out of sorts that evening. I'd be willing to wager quite a bit that defeat would have been avoided in Switzerland had he been on the pitch.

* Jonny Evans - If you're a regular reader of this site, you've continually seen me write this-- Jonny Evans has been our best defender this season. The previously maligned central-defender has deputised admirably for Nemanja Vidic -- the world's best in the box defender and last season's TBB's community Player of the Season. Evans has been the stalwart in central-defense and he could even be brought into the discussion for the Premier League's best XI this season. He's not dominant in the air, but he's improved quite a bit in his aerial duel ability. His positioning -- which may be more important than anything else when defending -- is tremendous and his ability on the ball has allowed him to step out of the back in order to provide overloads in midfield and driving runs from deep.

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Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has been called into the Spain squad by Vicente del Bosque for his side's two upcoming pre-Euro 2012 friendlies versus Serbia and South Korea. The 21-year-old helped lead Spain's U-21 side to victory last summer during the European championships. Quite obviously, Spain -- the defending world and European champions -- have a plethora of high quality players and that includes goalkeepers as well. de Gea has yet to be capped by Spain's senior side as the trio of Iker Casillas, Victor Valdes, and Pepe Reina stand in his way. For these two friendlies, no Spanish players from FC Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao, nor Chelsea will be called into the squad due to those club's upcoming participation in the Cope del Rey final and UEFA Champions League final. Therefore, de Gea gets the call-up in place of Valdes.

While de Gea's stock continues to rise, and despite Reina's and Valdes' dip in form this past season, the youngster is still very unlikely to make Spain's squad for this summer's European Championships in Poland and Ukraine. Beyond those two, Casillas -- arguably the best 'keeper in the world -- is unlikely to be dethroned as Spain's No. 1 anytime soon. However, being called into the squad can only be a benefit to de Gea's development and perhaps the 2016 European Championships can be the first major international competition that he can reasonably vie to be Spain's No.1. Goalkeepers do tend to age well, but by then, Casillas will 35, Reina 33, and Valdes 34. Hopefully at that time, de Gea will have established himself as one of the world's finest 'keepers at age 25.

Since the inception of the Premier League in the 1992-93 season, Manchester United have been crowned champions an incredible 12 times. Therefore, it certainly isn't a surprise to see the club dominate the 20-year anniversary awards. Ryan Giggs has been voted the greatest player of the Premier League era -- his competition included other greats such as Dennis Bergkamp, Eric Cantona, Thierry Henry, Roy Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alan Shearer, Patrick Vieira, and Gianfranco Zola. The Welshman has played in every single Premier League season and he's the only player to have scored in each of those seasons. Here is what the United legend had to say tonight at the awards dinner in London:

"Everything’s bigger and better now. Each season the Premier League has got more exciting, with better players and better facilities. It’s just a joy to be part of it, to see it right from the start to what it is now."

- Giggs | Source: Sky Sports

As expected, Sir Alex Ferguson has been voted the greatest manager. Here's what Giggsy had to say about the gaffer:

"He’s the biggest influence on my career. I’ve known him since I was 13. He knew my name, my parents’ names and the little details had a big impression on me. It’s the personal touch that sets him apart from anybody else."

- Giggs

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Just a day after Sunday's heartbreak, Manchester United held their annual Player of the Year Awards dinner and there was one big winner from the event -- Antonio Valencia. The outstanding right-winner won the following three awards: Sir Matt Busby Fans' Player of the year, Players' Player of the Year, and Goal of the season. In 38 appearances this seasons in all competitions, he scored 6 goals and assisted on 15. Here was Antonio's response on stage after receiving his awards:

"I am very happy to receive all three awards. After last night, the longest night of my life, I will take heart from this. There should be 20 of these awards because all of my team-mates deserve one. I'd like to thank them and to thank my fans at home in Ecuador and Manchester United fans everywhere."

- Valencia | Source: MUTV

In the fan voting, Valencia captured 37% of the votes, Rooney was next with 24%, and Paul Scholes third with 12%. After the jump is a video of the Ecuadorian's piledriver versus Blackburn Rovers:

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Twitter was in an uproar hours ago over the idiotic decision by Carlos Tevez to hold up a 'RIP FERGIE' sign during Manchester City's trophy parade through the streets of Manchester. While that was certainly distasteful, I did find it amusing that many people, who aren't football fans apparently, thought that singer Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas had died when 'RIP Fergie' was trending on Twitter. Since then though, Manchester City has issued an apology in regards to Tevez's actions.

"The creation of the tasteless material is in itself reprehensible and in accepting and brandishing it, Carlos has made a significant error of judgment. The club wishes to express its sincerest apologies to Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United Football Club for any offence or distress caused."

- Manchester City via a spokeswoman

A statement, quite obviously written by someone else, was also made on Tevez's behalf:

"I got carried away in the excitement of the moment and I certainly didn't mean any disrespect to Sir Alex Ferguson, who I admire as a man and a manager."

- Somebody speaking for Tevez

What a douche.

While speaking at an awards gala, and after being named Ligue 1 Player of the Year, Lille superstar Eden Hazard revealed that he will be plying his trade in Manchester next season. However, he didn't specify whether that would be for Manchester United or Manchester City.

"I am going to Manchester. The decision will be taken soon."

- Hazard

The Belgium international is a tremendous young talent and it's believed that he's been extensively scouted by manager Sir Alex Ferguson and United's team of scouts. However, speculation is that Hazard will likely be signing for City and not United. If he were to don the United red though next season, how might he fit in? In this examination of Hazard that I wrote a few weeks ago, I wrote this in the conclusion of the piece:

"Do we have a lot of wide attackers? Yeah. Do we have a lot of world-class players? No -- I'd argue only Wayne Rooney, a healthy Nemanja Vidic, and Paul Scholes on his day is what we have in that regard. Is Hazard a world-class player? No -- but the 21-year-old could very well develop into that -- and he may not be far away."

I still feel the same way. I would gladly welcome him to United.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that captain Nemanja Vidic will miss the club's pre-season tour this summer -- one that is suspected to be in Asia this summer despite no official confirmation yet. The steely defender sustained a a cruciate injury versus FC Basel in the autumn and he has been out ever since. The injury is obviously quite serious but the hope has always been that with modern medicine, that he could return in time for next season's beginning. However, it sounds as if the hope now is that he can return at some point during next season's campaign so that he can be meaningful contributor. Here is what Fergie had to say about Vida:

"Vida won’t be ready for going on the tour but hopefully he’ll be ready for the start of the season. We sent him to a complex in Spain last week and he enjoyed it. It gave him a break mentally as it’s not easy. He’s been the only one in the gymnasium in the last couple of months or so as we’ve been reasonably injury-free. He’s not running, he’s just been in the gym. The manager is a little concerned about the situation at the heart of the defence with Jonny Evans facing surgery, Chris Smalling picking up an injury and Phil Jones potentially missing out on some rest if he is called into the England squad for Euro 2012. Vidic only played six games in the league and is coming back from a cruciate injury. Smalling and Jones are young players and, if they don’t get a summer’s rest, I can definitely see problems like we’ve had with Chicharito. It’s been a nightmare for him - three summers in a row playing for Mexico. He needs a rest, the boy, and it’s the same with Smalling and Jones. They played in the Under-21 tournament last summer and have not had any real Premier League experience. Smalling was playing non-league football two years ago and Jones was in Blackburn Rovers’ youth team. So they need a break this summer. We’ll assess the situation with Smalling anyway but he does have this injury and, whether he needs an operation or not, he will miss the Euros."

- Ferguson | Source: ManUtd.com

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TEAM STATISTICS

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Editor's Note: This was originally published 8 days ago but with Borussia Dortmund set to clash with Bayern Munich in the DFB Pokal final (Saturday | 7:00pm BST, 2:00pm EST), I decided to front page this piece on Shinji Kagawa. The match will be a good opportunity to check out the United transfer target.

There's been increasing speculation that Borussia Dortmund (BVD) star Shinji Kagawa might be on his way out of Westfalenstadion at season's end and the recent news that he has yet to agree to a new contract offer from the club is seemingly ominous for the German champions. His current contract expires after the 2012/13 season and if he doesn't agree to a contract extension sometime soon, it's highly likely that he will be leaving the Bundesliga club during the upcoming summer transfer window. Kagawa has continually been linked with a move to the Premier League and more specifically, Manchester United. Here's what BVD Sporting Director Michael Zorc had to say about the matter on April 29:

"As of today he is not willing to extend his contract. I spoke to Shinji and his advisor last week and he is not willing to extend his contract with Borussia Dortmund. We have a Plan A and B and we will follow one of them. We won't gamble, but he has a specific career plan and he plans to play in England. We have to accept that, even if we don't find it good. While there is no economic need to sell him, he has a certain market value so we have to follow this with an economic sense. We will continue to have dialogue, but if another club expresses an interest then we will listen."

- Zorc | Source: Sky Deutschland

According to Bild -- the German media outlet that is best connected to the football clubs in the country -- United have reportedly offered Kagawa a three-year contract for €6 million a season. They also reported that the transfer fee could be in the region of £15 million although there have been rumblings in the past 24 hours or so that suggest United may be able to secure player's services for a fee of £7 million. Anyway, that's some of the background on these transfer rumors and trying to determine the validity of it all isn't the point of this piece. Instead, I merely hope to introduce you to Kagawa, provide a scouting report on him, and offer an opinion on how he might fit in at United if he were to trek over to Old Trafford this summer.

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I suppose there's always hope. It's fairly simple -- we need a result versus Sunderland on Sunday that betters Manchester City's in their home tie versus Queens Park Rangers. If City win though, the title is theirs for the first time since 1968 -- unless Manchester United miraculously overcome City's +8 goal differential advantage. It would be a fine timing if Javier Hernandez (Chicharito) broke out of his goalscoring slump by bagging a hat-trick of hat-tricks. Wayne Rooney should feel free to help the cause by contributing a brace of braces. A beautiful Ashley Young curler and a Paul Scholes wonder-strike from distance would be tremendous as well. Is all of that too much to ask for?

MANCHESTER UNITED

Form Guide: Two wins from the past five outings. Ugh. The defeat by City two weekends ago (it was actually on a Monday -- but you know what I mean) at the Etihad will prove to be the title-decider if they go on to defeat QPR as expected on Sunday. Perhaps though, it was the 4-4 draw versus Everton three weekends ago, where United blew a late two-goal lead, that ends up being the match that cost us the title. Technically, all draws and defeats are equally weighted in the table but the disappointments versus City and Everton feel decisive on an emotional level at the moment. United's most recent match was a comfortable 2-0 defeat of Swansea City last weekend.

Team News: Lots of really good players are unavailable for this Sunderland encounter: Chris Smalling, Danny Welbeck, Jonny Evans, Anderson, Paul Pogba, Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Everyone but the latter is due to either injury or illness -- Cristiano was simply sold for bags and bags of money that went straight to the bank as interest payments or into the pockets of the Glazers. (Full Team News Report)

SUNDERLAND

Form Guide: The sacking of Steve Bruce and the hiring of Martin O'Neill certainly revitalized the club. However, after O'Neill's splendid revival of the Black Cats, their form has dipped massively in recent months. They have won only once in their last 11 league contests. Sunderland's most recent match was a 2-1 away defeat by Fulham last weekend.

Team News: Sebastian Larsson and Kieran Richardson have been ruled out for this tie while Wes Brown is a doubt as well. Connor Wickham has an ankle knock but he's expected to be available for selection.

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During his weekly press conference today, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson revealed that Chris Smalling would not only be out for this Sunday's tie versus Sunderland, but also for Euro 2012 as well. The England international picked up a groin injury last weekend versus Swansea City and even though he was able to finish the match, the knock is obviously more serious than initially thought. Here is what Fergie had to say about his defender:

"Chris Smalling got a bad [groin] injury last week. We tried to take him off, then Rio got a knock. He’s going to miss the European Championship. At the moment we're assessing what we'll do, but certainly it's a bad injury. I can play Phil Jones back in there [at centre-back] with Rio, who is okay."

-Ferguson | Source: ManUtd.com

As the boss mentioned, and with Jonny Evans out as well, Jones is the only other central-defender to partner Rio Ferdinand on Sunday. This likely means that Rafael features at right-back while midfielder Michael Carrick would likely be the player to provide cover for Jones and Rio at the back if injury were strike either player.

In addition to Smalling, Fergie also mentioned that Danny Welbeck will be unavailable again. This likely means that Javier Hernandez (Chicharito) will partner Wayne Rooney up front at the Stadium of Light. Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher, Anderson, and Paul Pogba are out as well due to long term injuries or illness.

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There has been little indication as to whether or not Paul Scholes will retire for good at season's end. Either way, Manchester United do need to eventually find themselves what many have describe as the 'Scholes replacement'. If the ginger prince does decide to hang up his boots again at season's end, then United need to find that player during the upcoming summer transfer window. That player though, is not one like Wesley Sneijder -- a player who professes to not even being a central-midfielder:

"I don’t like playing in central midfield at all. I am an attacking player not a central midfielder. I always had the ball, it’s true, but I like to be further forward closer to goal. Better a second striker than a central midfielder."

- Sneijder

What United need is a midfielder that can spread play and dictate matches from a relatively deep central position. Perhaps only legendary maestros such as Xavi and Andrea Pirlo can rival Scholes as a deep-lying playmaker -- Pirlo though is probably the better comparison due to his propensity to hit long and direct diagonal balls to the flanks. The squad does have this sort of player in Michael Carrick but when he was suspended for the final and fatal group-stage match versus FC Basel in this season's UEFA Champions League, Sir Alex Ferguson's side were woefully out of sorts without a player to bring stability and control into midfield (this was prior to Scholes return). United are a club that expects to compete and defeat foes on multiple fronts each season, therefore, having another player of this ilk is a requisite if Scholes is to retire. A club with this type of ambition cannot be exposed like this if a single player is unavailable -- especially for the tactically important role of midfield general.

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Javier Hernandez (Chicharito) will finally be able to get some rest this summer. The Mexican international will be involved in his country's World Cup qualifiers in June but he will not be participating in this summer's Olympics in London. Here is what the United boss had to say on the matter:

"His form last season was fantastic. He’s found the second year more difficult, but a lot of that is down to not having a summer break for three years and playing every summer for his country. Next year he will be fine as we have agreed with the Mexican Football Association that he is going to get the requisite rest that he needs to perform in the Premier League."

- Ferguson

Prior to his arrival at United, Chicharito spent the summer of 2010 in South Africa for the World Cup and during the past summer, he was heavily involved again in international duty during the Gold Cup. After those World Cup qualifiers in June, the striker will finally get a month of rest or so before he reports to United for pre-season preparations. As Fergie mentioned, Chicharito's second season at the club has seen him decline a bit from his sensational debut one. He's been beaten out by Danny Welbeck as first-choice to partner Wayne Rooney up front. However, he's an important member of the squad and he will surely play a big role next season.