… The 2-1 win over Manchester City at the Allianz Arena bestowed another, altogether tinier treble of three friendly titles on the team and their new manager, Pep Guardiola, but the 42-year-old was on the defensive in the subsequent TV interview with the local broadcaster. Are you – despite the team’s problems – optimistic for the new […]

Football transfer spending rise steeply
BBC News: The amount of money spent on football transfers has risen sharply in the past six months, says Fifa, although the number of deals has fallen slightly. The number of transfers fell by 2% in the first six months of 2013, but their total financial value soared by 39%. The total income from 5,204 […]

The Germans are coming!
Guest Post by Cathal – 17 year old Irishman, best known as ‘The FM Guru’ on Youtube, and Twitter @TheFMGuru — German teams in Europe this season can feel very optimistic indeed. The prospect of an all-German final in the Champions League has left many wondering whether or not this is the beginning of a golden […]

Should the Bundesliga be worried about suffering ‘a Spanish situation’?
– it’s all coming together in one big, German dream this spring. For years, the Bundesliga had learned to feel happy about its largely unnoticed lot, like some provincial, discreet industrial tycoon. It had convinced itself that it didn’t need the praise of outsiders, that there was nothing to prove to the wider world. But now that […]

Is the Champions League now Bayern’s to lose?
There was a palpable feeling of inevitability as Mario Mandzukic slotted home Bayern Munich’s killer first away goal against Juventus on Wednesday night. They had simply been the best team on the night just as they were eight days earlier at the Allianz Arena, proving worthy 2-0 winners in both legs. And if the oft-used […]

England risk falling to third in Uefa coefficient rankings
England began the current campaign on top of the Uefa coefficient rankings with 84.41 points, narrowly ahead of Spain who had 84.186 and Germany with 75.186. The latest official standings after last week’s European matches had Spain ranked first with 85.882 points, England second with 79.820 and Germany third with 76.757. An association’s ranking is based on […]

Crisis? What crisis?
“Until now, English football was only going through an identity crisis,” I said, shamelessly stealing a line from Michael Cox. “Now it also has a results crisis.” I looked up, probably wearing a smug expression, happy that after close to two hours of incoherent ramblings and a good deal of clueless stammering I’d finally delivered what […]