While the Aughts have been full of speculation/proposal about the Old Firm joining the EPL, the 90’s was about the Old Firm joining what was dubbed as the Atlantic League. It was a joint proposal from the big clubs in the Netherlands, Scotland and Portugal. ESPN is reporting that there may be another attempt at […]

Sneijder (the 'j' is silent) was evidently in The Zone back in his Ajax days. By comparison, his best-of reel from Real Madrid are closer in and more on the cheeky side. Yet this is an index of the quality in store for Internazionale. At Inter now, Mourinho was looking for a trequartista, but Sneijder […]

Yesterday, I looked at the expectations we often place on international football. This got me thinking about the Dutch and their legendary Total Football era in the 70s. What does this mean to us today? Does Cruyff's legacy still influence world football? What do we want from our football? The Spain/South Africa match was on […]

RheinEnergieStadion I used the stats feature at ESPN Soccernet to calcluate the clubs with the best attendances. Out of the top 20 attendances in Europe, Germany had 9 clubs. This post is to equip you with a tool to help promote our great league. Because, while we are in a slump in the Champions League […]

Armin Veh was announced as Wolfsburg’s new manager after their title celebrations. The ex-Stuttgart manager will now try and replicate his 2008 Champions League form. It should be easier with the imminent loss of Dzeko and Misimovic. Mario Gomez became the most expensive player in Bundesliga history, swapping Stuttgart red for Bayern red. Bayern paid […]

Football loves dominant sides. Think of Herbert Chapman's Arsenal of the 1920s, ravaging England with the WM formation; Real Madrid of the early days of the European Cup, with Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas wreaking havoc on unsuspecting continental champions; Liverpool getting comfy on their "fucking perch," winning four European cups in the span […]

Could Manchester City finally put their 33 year major trophy drought to bed this season by winning the UEFA Cup this season? Why not, what  with Ajax crashing out last night at the hands of Marseille and Zenit St Petersburg and CSKA Moscow losing today, the competition for the trophy is getting into the nitty […]

When the season began, few people would have given Wigan Athletic a snowball's chance in hell of finishing in the top ten, never mind pushing on the brink of European Football as January almost comes to a close. After a fantastic first season under Paul Jewell in 2005-2006, which saw them finish in 10th place […]

Real Madrid CF have announced a pre-transfer window agreement with Ajax for striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar. The move is intended to cover the long-term injury of Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has undergone surgery as I reported earlier. The Spanish champions have been chasing Huntelaar for the past two seasons and are pleased to have finally […]

I had a great conversation with Jonathan Starling of the Third Half podcast last week. We discussed the upcoming UEFA Cup group stage, UEFA's stance on debt-laden clubs, the situation at Ajax and many other topics. I've posted the Champions League Talk segment of the show here as a separate podcast file but if you'd […]

UEFA held the draw for the UEFA Cup group stage today and some fascinating pairings emerged. Both Martin Jol and Steve McClaren will take their new clubs back to England as FC Twente will face Manchester City and Jol's Hamburg will take on Aston Villa. This year's groups are looking really tough and the field […]