Under Jose Mourinho, Inter gradually developed an aura of invincibility, and their defence – generally made up of Maicon, Lucio, Samuel and Chivu (or Zanetti) – had become the envy of the rest of Europe. The Nerazzurri had finally brought back the success of generations gone by, and despite one or two question markimgs over […]

Chelsea has been eliminated from UEFA Champions League, having lost 1-0 to José Mourinho and Internazionale at Stamford Bridge, leaving the tournament on Tuesday after a 3-1 aggregate defeat. On this edition of the EPL Talk podcast, Kartik Krishnaiyer and myself review the Special One's return to the Bridge and ask how the surviving English […]

Well when your side is screaming out for a centre half, why not simply go out and sign a centre midfielder who's lost his pace and has struggled with injuries for 3 seasons. Yes, Roberto Mancini seems to think that by signing a creaky Patrick Vieira, it'll help shore up a leaky defence. 5 years […]

After a season bordering on perfection, a refreshing thirst for change is in the air around the Camp Nou. It is good to see that Txiki Begiristain and the clubs board have learned from the mistakes made in the latter parts of the Rijkaard era. Instead of holding on to some of the more fragile […]

Matchday 4 should be a pivotal one as many groups may well be decided once the games are completed. Who needs a win and who can afford to slip? Let's take a look at Tuesday's games. Group A Roma need to win at home against Chelsea but that is looking to be a tall order […]

I'll have more analysis and comments later but for now just a quick update on the results of today's drawing. Some of the groupings, as in past seasons, was almost a bit too predictable but there are some interesting matchups ahead (Real Madrid – Juventus springs to mind as does Manchester United – Celtic and […]

Roy Hodgson is one of the great unsung English managers of the last 30 years and I'm a big fan of England's most underrated manager. A polite, erudite professor of the game and an intelligent, well spoken man, he's simply never received the recognition his career and achievements deserve in England due to the majority of his success being on […]