Beyond The Pitch

Phil is joined by Doron Salomon of Stretford-End.com for a second episode to take a look at many of the Manchester United storylines both in the front pages and beyond, including a look at an evolving situation with Paul Pogba, a shocking result at the hands of Athletic Bilbao and suddenly some surprising fissures starting to appear at crosstown rival Manchester City where a Carlos Tevez saga takes yet another turn in the wake of a rumoured bust-up between Yaya Toure and Mario Balotelli. Was there a change that came into view with the Tottenham result and will this force Sir Alex to consider priorities differently with the return leg of the Europa League. The guys take a look at all of these factors, some emerging players and how some key players will fare in the coming months and what we may see in the summer as issues with Anderson and Dimitar Berbatov appears to be on the way toward resolution and questions on Darren Fletcher persist. Then there is time to examine the issues in the central midfield and how Ferguson may continue to chop and change here like he has done in the defense now that options exist as players are becoming healthy again. After some discussion into the youth and reserves coming through the United system, Phil and Doron also look at the match coming up against Wolves and do take some time to examine a proposed singing section at Old Trafford which may have some unintended consequences.

Phil and Anto are joined once again by former Wimbledon, Newcastle and England international defender Warren Barton for another episode to take a look at how some of the big clubs in England continue to struggle in European competitions and if these teams are in a period of transition testing them on the issue of rebuilding on the fly. This is more about strategy and vision and we openly consider whether Athletic Bilbao and Ajax with their youth systems have revealed a serious weakness in the process of transformation for the Premier League. So how can the EPL say it really is the best league in the world? We look into how the continent seems to be doing its business and it leaves very little doubt that clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and AC Milan do have the foundation from having more experience with winning trophies while being forced to rebuild on an almost constant basis over a period longer than 10-15 years. We examine some of the revelations from this season in Europe and how some of the bigger powers in the EPL are being asked to do something they have very little experience doing. We close on the matter of the wonder that is Lionel Messi and what he has been able to do thus far at Barcelona and, ultimately, whether he might just be the greatest ever based on what we have seen and where he seems headed so soon in his career given how the game has changed and protects its best players.

Anto and Nico are joined by one the very best correspondents who cover the full length of Major League Soccer in Ives Galarcep who helps us breakdown what is shaping up to be a very interesting 17th season for MLS. We get into the many key talking points including the unbalanced schedule, how we should look at MLS now that it has duplicated the length of the eternal NASL in its first incarnation and how we should look at the Eastern and Western Conferences in terms of favorites and a vast array of contenders for playoff positions. We also evaluate who reinforced themselves, who has questions to answer in their teams, new stadiums and the overall level of excitement across its nationwide footprint. Are the best days still ahead as world football finds itself surrounded by massive debt levels and a global financial crisis. Beyond Los Angeles Galaxy are Seattle and Real Salt Lake the key players who could dethrone what may the best team ever assembled in Major League Soccer and who else beyond FC Dallas has the juice to get into this picture. In the East, it looks like Houston, Kansas City and an enigmatic New York Red Bulls who look to shape the coveted top three slots with Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago, DC United and Columbus all scrambling for the other two playoff slots. Has Houston done enough to take the East and will feel good Sporting Kansas City be able to extend its momentum of a year ago. We touch every team and try to answer as many questions as possible. In the post match, Anto and Nico get into the new television reality, their favorites, potential MVPs and top coaches and how the league is shaping up to be rather entertaining with more competitive clubs than every before, expansion and looking into where this league is headed.

Anto is joined by Asian football correspondent extraordinaire John Duerden from Seoul, South Korea for another massive supershow that reviews every major competition involving the AFC. We start with World Cup qualification to establish how each of the groups progressed and who emerged to gauge the surprises, the failures and the key talking points going forward as Brazil 2014 for Asia enters its final, most important stages. Loads of big name national teams and some big name managers will be affected by this, but one talking point remains and that is a controversial 10-0 result on Matchday 6 involving Bahrain and Indonesia. Featured are surprise packages Oman and Lebanon and some questions for Iran and Japan as final groups are prepared for the final draw. Then we turn to the professional game in Asia where Clive Palmer is causing a stir over his failed Gold Coast United and whether his grievances have merit, and we also look at the A-League itself in terms of where it is headed with essentially nine teams left at the top level of the pyramid. Then we turn to the Far East itself as three of the most passionate leagues kick off in China, Japan and Korea to establish the key background issues and whether the Chinese Super League is primed to make that dent in the region that many expect it will. Japan looks to find more stability this year, a season removed from a natural disaster and a brand new champion in Kashiwa Reysol. Meanwhile in Korea, the move to a promotion and relegation system has tossed a spanner in the works with an almost unthinkable 44 game regular season schedule at stake that will take the K-League into a landmark season that may require more endurance than skill. We also preview the bottom half of the Champions League group stage where the battle for AFC supremacy looks to be the most appetizing in years and then we finish with a pit stop to take a look at Diego Maradona and his progress in Dubai with Al Wasl.

Phil is joined by Doron Salomon of Stretford-End.com for the first Manchester United episode to take a deeper look into the youth system and prospects coming through its Academy. At the tip of the discussion points is the issue with Paul Pogba, rumoured to be on his way out this summer with assistance of super-agent Mino Raiola after seeing Ravel Morrison leave earlier this season. We examine the factors leading to their exits to gauge whether the increasing wages now paid to youth players has now reached Manchester United with ramifications on the business model and pay structure and how this may actually test whether the club will have to adapt longer term given that resale value is now a huge factor when buying and acquiring talent. We also look into the matter of how Sir Alex will approach a very entertaining tie with Athletic Bilbao and how this first leg will reveal how serious Fergie views this Europa League tournament and what combinations he may need to stick with as the business end of the season approaches - most specifically on defence. We also take a look at the confusing season that Patrice Evra has had and whether the club will need to pursue another left back this off season and consider the run late this season leading to perhaps the most important Manchester Derby in years as it may just settle the Premier League title where neither club looks much like it is going to surrender too many points before that match.

Phil and Anto are joined by Oliver Kay of The Times of London to have a discussion about the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea to try to unpack the variables for the departed Portuguese manager himself, Chelsea Football Club as an organization and ultimately Roman Abramovich who has slowly watched the club unravel over time based on a succession of very bad decisions that now leave him faced with some very hard decisions. We take a look at how the early years under the Russian billionaire were very smart to set the club straight, but somewhere along the line a club without a firm plan directed by agents and advisors served to undermine the longer term objective and what should have been in terms of performing both in the Premier League and the Champions League. We also examine whether Abramovich will continue to have the same level of interest in football given some personal challenges and the specter of UEFA Financial Fair Play. Then we turn to the matter of Liverpool who lost a heart breaker on Saturday at Anfield and if this does indeed signal an end to Champions League ambitions for Liverpool at the hands of Robin Van Persie. Then we close on the matter of what Manchester United were able to do this weekend against Tottenham to determine if this was an ominous sign ahead for Manchester City who have improved but do not seem to have recaptured their early season magic when it all seemed so easy. Clearly this Premier League season should be determined in April at Etihad as neither Manchester club looks to be surrendering many points any time soon.

Phil and Anto are joined by German football historian and correspondent Uli Hesse to take a look at some of the major storylines facing the German national team and the Bundesliga where flaws are apparent both in the wake of a recent loss to France and the Bayern Munich where some of the same issues are apparent. Uli helps us break through the hysteria to separate what is fact from fiction and how the greater forces at work in German football will find some comfort in the fact that these uneasy moments do always seem to follow Germany and Bayern Munich. We also examine the arrival of Otto Rehhagel at Hertha Berlin and if this last ditch reach will save them from relegation, and if there is a bigger surprise package in all of football than what Lucien Favre has done at Borussia Mönchengladbach, less than a season removed from a relegation playoff scrap and now on the brink of Champions League football with several of its main players already sold on to bigger clubs or at least rumored to move on. We also gauge the probability of moves for Michael Ballack to Major League Soccer and Lukas Podolski to Arsenal at the end of the season and if these would be good acquisitions for the teams and leagues involved. We close on the matter of the evolving figures in control of the German Federation and the National Team who do appear to be headed on or targeted for moves to some of the biggest clubs in the sport and if this may signal a rather big change for German football in the wake of the European Championships this summer.

Anto is joined by Sports Illustrated football correspondent Grant Wahl to take stock of a wild week in Italy having been at San Siro for a wild AC Milan-Juventus match and an historic win for the United States over Italy in Genoa. We get into the nature of Italian football culture itself and how even a figure like Jurgen Klinsmann can still be a lightning rod in a country like Italy where the sport is a national obsession. We examine the Italy-US match itself and some of the key talking points including the emergence of Michael Bradley and Fabian Johnson and how Klinsmann has begun to evolve as the coach of this team and if he finally got the first signature win to put his stamp on the program emotionally for the both the players and the supporters who needed to find some confidence in the direction of the program itself. We climb under the hood of how Michael Bradley has developed at Chievo Verona under Mimmo Di Carlo, the massive decision Clint Dempsey has in front of him this summer and how the long absence of Landon Donovan might have created further questions about the relationship between Klinsmann and Donovan himself. Then we turn to the matter of a new MLS season to gauge whether this is a very important season for the league in the sense that growth is happening with each passing year but television does remain an ongoing blind spot on a national level, as manifest by the ratings. We also look at the power structure in the Western Conference to evaluate if this is having an affect at least on the short term and which clubs might be the movers and shakers outside of the top favorites. We close on the matter of New England Revolution and the challenge before Jay Heaps and how the strength of their midfield might just be the way back for the Revolution this season.

Phil and Anto are joined once again by former Wimbledon, Newcastle and England international defender Warren Barton for another episode that takes a look at the first England match managed by caretaker manager Stuart Pearce since the resignation of Fabio Capello. We examine what was really at stake here for England against the Netherlands, who are considered among the favorites this summer at the European Championship this summer. Of particular note is the number of starting positions currently up for grabs with the Wayne Rooney suspension, finding a reliable striker partnership which seems to be for the taking for both Danny Wellbeck and Daniel Sturridge at present and exactly which positions look to be settled going forward. We also gauge the emerging defensive partnership between Gary Cahill and Chris Smalling to break down their performances and what they will need to do to improve. Then we turn to the matter of a very heated rivalry as it takes off this Sunday in the form of Newcastle United and Sunderland with perhaps the best squads these two legendary clubs have had in some time. Warren gives us his memories of the rivalry and what it means to the area and his fondest recollection as a former player. Two wonderful football clubs who should give football a tremendous spectacle at Sports Direct Park. Vaishali Bhardwaj also makes her return with two world football updates in this episode.

Anto is joined by American football commentator Phil Schoen of Gol TV to take a look at the major talking points of the Brazil Bosnia-Herzegovina and Switzerland-Argentina international friendlies this week. We begin with Brazil where most of the discussion revolves around whether David Luiz showing similar lapses in form with Chelsea will cost him a spot with the national team and if we may be nearing an end for Ronaldinho and his resurgence under Mano Menezes. We also gauge the options in midfield for the Brazilians as new emerging talents seem destined for 2014 and we consider the options at hand for either Ganso or Lucas Moura in some bigger picture with Hernanes in a featured role. But gathering steam is the question whether David Luiz and Thiago Silva can work longer term and if Luisao or Dede might be better long term options given the skill set of the future captain in Silva. We also examine the sense of urgency for Brazil given that they will not have to qualify for the next World Cup and if Mano is indeed the right guy for the job, mostly because there is a bank of discordant voices in Brazil given the style and substance. Then we turn our attention to Switzerland and Argentina to get underneath one of the more interesting sides in the Swiss who have a number of intriguing young figures emerging in Europe and their manager Ottmar Hitzfeld. Then we close on the matter of Argentina and their newest manager Alejandro Sabella as the defense appears to be fixed with a working title at present and if there is indeed longer term help on the horizon. We also examine the latest call-ups including Palacio, Salvio and Erik Lamela as recent debutante for the senior side as well as some of the absences from this squad list including Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore.

Anto is joined by Italian football commentator Owen Neilson to have a look at the fallout from the AC Milan-Juventus clash over the weekend that had more controversy than six matches strung together, resulting in even more player suspensions, overturned goals, outrage and conflict between clubs and executives .. but may just signal the resumption of an historic rivalry renewed at long last. We examine how the match played out and what we may have learned about Max Allegri and Antonio Conte in their very young managerial careers, how the events seemed shaped based on a history that neither manager could quite grasp or control and in many ways was bigger than their ability to handle at the present time. We also consider just how much Gigi Buffon has been dragged into this controversy and how the executives at both Milan and Juventus failed to keep this contest entirely under control, even though the theater was entirely intriguing on a number of fronts. Then we shift gears to look at the story of Udinese this season, which might be one of the brightest surprise packages again for the second season running given the number of players who were sold and its coach rancesco Guidolin just continues to dial up results no matter the challenge both in Serie A and in the Europa League, and has recently won an award voted by his peers and the top manager in his league. Then we take a trip into the wild world of Serie B this season as four major contenders have emerged for promotion this season including an historic club in Torino, an old champion in Verona, a club never seen in Serie A in Sassuolo and the always enigmatic Zdenek Zeman with Pescara who might be making a triumphant return to the Italian top flight.

Phil and Anto are joined once again by former Wimbledon, Newcastle and England international defender Warren Barton for another episode that gets into this pitched battle for fourth in the Premier League and who exactly gets more damaged for finishing fifth - Arsenal or Chelsea. Clearly Arsenal have an edge here because the job does appear to be over the head of Andre Villas-Boas and something will have to change there soon enough if the club hopes to change momentum for the final stretch now that there is no other way to inject a new dynamic into the squad. We also look at Arsenal in the event that Wenger cannot pull of this Great Escape and does Newcastle United step into the breach or are they just too short to make that leap? We also look at the Newcastle model in terms of what they have done with the Andy Carroll windfall and if they have indeed discovered a new blueprint on assembling a squad in the future for those clubs in the EPL who do not spend huge transfer fees for players who are considered the finished article. We also gauge the impact of the Sunderland-Newcastle United dynamic on the EPL itself given that these are the best squads that these clubs have had at the same time in recent years. We close on the matter of the dire situation at Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton where a caretaker manager has been appointed for the stretch run and what we can expect in those two situations where the clubs are under extreme threat of relegation. We close this episode on EBTs and players and how taxes are paid to players in wake of the HMRC revelations with Rangers FC.

Phil and Anto are joined by Scottish freelance reporter Kieran Canning to take a deeper look into the Rangers FC tax case at the behest of HMRC and how the club arrived at this point with the British Government. We get into the factors to gauge the Doomsday scenario and if HMRC could fully enforce the liability which could force Rangers into extinction in its current form or whether a phoenix football club would have to establish itself once all the tax debts are resolved. There are three separate potential minefields facing Craig Whyte including failure to keep up with Pay As You Earn remittance and how the club had fallen behind on overall tax payments and a tangled web of EBTs and an arrangement with Ticketus which has served to undermine any ability to cover what is owed. We also examine how the media has not done proper investigation, failing to live up to a responsible level of scrutiny when stories were there to be reported even before Whyte took over the club. Ally McCoist, current manager of the club, has not been in communication with Whyte adding further speculation about the future of the football club itself. Craig Whyte now admits using money from the sale of future season ticket income to complete the takeover of Rangers in May 2011, so it becomes even more troubling that the club could even rescue itself in the short to medium term given that the ticket base and merchandizing has already been leveraged. In closing, we try to establish what the impacts to Celtic and, ultimately, to the SPL and Scottish football should Rangers be relegated or forced out of business even for a period of re-organization.

Phil and Anto are joined by Arsenal legend and Sky Sports presented to have a candid conversation regarding the ramifications of the decline for Arsenal Football Club and how Arsene Wenger has not been able to meet the lofty standards he once set early in the last decade. We examine the nature of the squad then, where things went wrong and the prospects going forward should the club fail to reach fourth. We also gauge the impact of not reaching fourth on Wenger himself as Champions League football is clearly something in which he finds personal satisfaction and pride and if being excluded might force him to self-examine his tenure and, even perhaps, stand down knowing that direction of the club appears to be heading more towards a youth model based on recent comments from one of the key executives inside the club. Additionally we also look at the impact on Chelsea should they not reach fourth and how things may actually be a bit more bleak given the relative age on the squad and how Abramovich tends to overspend but may be locked in with no European football to offer. Then we close on the matter of the England National Team and Harry Redknapp both in terms of restoring pride to the squad itself, but also the impact to Tottenham Hotspur who might just find themselves with even more increasing challenges given how influential the manager has been leading them from bottom of the Premier League to survival and now a potential top three finish.

Anto is joined by Paolo Bandini, football correspondent with The Guardian, to take a deeper look into all the unpredictability inside Serie A with respect to the results over the last three weeks - if not the entire season - while a real battle has opened up for third with no leading character looking ready to grab the slot for Champions League next year. At the fulcrum of this unintended consequence is the continued failures at Inter who have suffered three straight losses and look no more certain to find any consistency in the wake of a number of bad decisions and poor choices that are well beyond just the loss Jose Mourinho and a constant revolving door of managers since he left for Real Madrid. We also preview the midweek Champions League fixtures for Napoli and Inter and where their fortunes appear to lie and how this will impact their reach for the third in Serie A, while also factoring in the threat Roma provides in terms of their plan which finally shows signs of taking root. The we turn our attention to the biggest match this weekend in world football between AC Milan and Juventus which may just be six years in the making where two eternal rivals are going head to head for the spoils at the very top of Serie A. We look at the key variables including a resurgent Gigi Buffon, the emergence of Thiago Silva, a revived Andrea Pirlo and whether the decision to reduce the Zlatan Ibrahimovic suspension might just be the biggest factor going into this match. We also examine the two young managers themselves - Allegri and Conte - to gauge whether these are the kind of managers who can truly take these clubs to places that match lofty ambitions beyond Italy and into the world limelight. Then we close on the big picture for Fiorentina where Montolivo looks gone in the summer and imagine what is left for Delio Rossi should Jovetic cash in on his great season for greener pastures elsewhere in Italy or Europe.