Beyond The Pitch

Anto is joined by former England international defender and Fox Soccer Channel analyst Warren Barton to take a look at the big issues involving the Premier League and European football, starting with the issues at Arsenal who have reached a key moment in their season and their future now that another season appears to be on the brink of no silverware. This comes on the heels of a huge loss at San Siro against AC Milan where the return leg now seems meaningless compounded by a massive point in their schedule that will shape whether fourth in the EPL is possible. We take a look at the key factor where the decline began and how the move to the new stadium has delivered a new business perspective upon the club and may ultimately come at the price of Robin Van Persie as he looks around the club to gauge its ambitions. Then we turn to the matter of Chelsea and Andre Villas-Boas who also seem to be on an escalated scale due to the size and scope of his experience in concert with a team of veterans who clearly do not have the confidence in the manager. We also examine the potential that the players have undermined the manager with Roman Abramovich due to their lack of faith in the plan and what could be next for the manager should it get knocked out of Europe. We also examine the situation for Spurs and Harry Redknapp and how calmer heads have prevailed to allow Tottenham the space to secure third and truly make Spurs one of the most desirable jobs in the Premier League. In closing we also evaluate the potential for an all-Manchester Europa League Final and how this might affect the outcome in the Premier League, then we also gauge whether the Champions League is undergoing a change in the guard with AC Milan now leap-frogging Bayern Munich as the dark horse as that tournament proceeds down the stretch, barring injuries. Vaishali Bhardwaj also makes her return with two world football updates in this episode.

Anto is joined by Argentina football correspondent and producer Joel Richards from Buenos Aires to discuss a number of highly publicized issues surrounding the game in Argentina at the moment. It starts nowhere else but the opening night fallout for Boca Juniors in the Copa Libertadores during a return flight from Venezuela where an eruption between manager and some players came to a head and were ultimately cooled down for at least a bit longer. Then we move to a rather scary story at San Lorenzo where a youth team player was attacked in almost shocking parallel to the situations that seemed to plague River Plate during its fight to stay out of the relegation zone, where local supporter groups have begun to exert their political and economic self interest with dire consequences. We also get into the matter of the political issues over renaming the Argentina competition after a sunken battleship during the Malvinas - or Falkland Islands - conflict nearly 30 years ago with a bit more historical perspective to illustrate just how unusual attempts have been to block this name change. Then we turn our attention to the matter of River Plate and its newest arrivals, particularly in the legendary figure David Trezeguet, who has arrived to help the club regain first division football along with the likes of Fernando Cavenaghi and Chori Dominguez. Then we close on the matter of Carlos Tevez and how it has been viewed with a slightly different prism and the introduction of Erik Lamela into the National Team which completes his meteoric rise from relegation at River Plate to the cusp of football super stardom in the near future with AS Roma and Argentina as an international break is right around the corner.

Anto is joined by African football correspondent Ed Aarons of the BBC and KickOff Magazine to take a moment to reflect on what was easily one of the most memorable finals in international football in many years as the magical story of Zambia came to a wonderful conclusion earlier in the week after an epic penalty shoot out in Gabon. As this edition unfolded it soon became a tournament memorable more for the teams than the stars who seem to line most of the big teams in Africa as a tiny Zambia defied all the odds and even the two tournament favorites - Ivory Coast and Ghana - to claim its very first silverware with some very interesting parallels apparent to the 1993 national team that fell tragically in an air disaster that took the lives of the entire team but one man who was left to lead the effort to rebuild it, Kalusha Bwalya. We also look at the reasons why some of these favorites did not succeed in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea and who were some of the emerging teams we may have to keep an eye on as the tournament makes a quick return a year from now. Lots of focus on Morocco and Senegal as the two biggest disappointments and we also look ahead to South Africa as teams such as Tunisia and the big three missing this time around - Cameroon, Nigeria and Egypt - look to rebound. We ponder whether the window has closed on Ivory Coast and what is in store for Ghana as a younger crop of players looks to repair what went wrong in the years ahead.

Phil and Anto are joined by French football journalist Philippe Auclair at a point in the season where weather is affecting the schedule of fixtures in a very disappointing way. We check in with the favorites in Ligue 1 at this juncture, but the primary focus of this episode is the economics behind the league and French football in general as information has come to light surrounding the potential for conflict of interest for Michel Platini given his role at UEFA and FIFA, along with his connections to QSI in the PSG sale with his World Cup vote held in the balance. Add to this the recent appointment of his son, Laurent, to QSI and suddenly questions are now being raised about how these moving pieces all fit and whether the UEFA president has entered a tenuous place politically given that European football has entered its first measuring point with respect to Financial Fair Play. Philippe helps us deconstruct most of these moving parts to establish whether this is some form of collusion under way and how these events should be explored. This also opens questions around PSG itself where players are arriving in greater frequency and with greater cost and how commercial realities are being addressed by QSI heading into a cycle where Euro 2016 will help address the stadium situation and improve match day revenue for one of the emerging clubs in world football. We also check in with AS Monaco who has also been bought and how they look to progress and find themselves back in Ligue 1, freed from the restrictions of UEFA FFP as they are in Ligue 2 with 10 new signings.

Phil and Anto are joined by Temryss Lane of Fox Soccer Channel to have a discussion about the recent failure of the WPS and what some of the biggest contributing factors were that went into its demise. We also try to get underneath how a new generation has yet to come to grips with the sport and its trajectory in terms of how sport and athletes are marketed in tandem with a new connected world has put leagues for women abroad in better stead given that club culture and youth development is of a standard where the game is now growing exponentially. Some of this uniquely American as well given that women will go to a professional game for men but do not seem to carry over into sports played by women. Even more importantly, Temryss is also a new ambassador for a key initiative with Nike N7 that will target Native American and First Nation communities in the United States and Canada which includes Sam Bradford of the Rams and Jacoby Ellsbury of the Red Sox in an attempt to empower these communities through activity and competition. Temryss gives us some insight into her community and what some of the challenges are for native cultures in North America and the goals and objectives will be for the groundbreaking initiative.

Phil and Anto are joined by former England international defender Warren Barton to have a look at the wild day that was regarding the acquittal for Harry Redknapp and the resignation of Fabio Capello from the England national team. We start with the matter of John Terry and how events seem to have shaped the decision by The FA and whether there was much of a choice but to remove Capello and whether some of this was forced by the manager himself who appears to have been undermined by a situation that was beyond control of the FA itself. Is there a silver lining to these events going forward and does Harry Redknapp now emerge as the key candidate even though Tottenham Hotspur is engaged in a massive fight to reclaim its top four slot and continue its ambitions. Obviously the gravity of this situation has taken on a life of its own and within three hours of a major court decision involving Harry Redknapp now appears to be gaining steam almost instantly. We look at what Harry brings to the table and how expectations being where they are might actually work in his favor. Lots here to discuss and we even speculate into the events and potential issues going forward for England, Capello, Redknapp, John Terry and the FA itself now that everything has been pushed into overdrive.

Anto is joined by Houston Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear who is easily among the very best in the league given his track record for success with two MLS Cup victories and being Eastern Conference champion last season, for a discussion on the constant level of change and transition within the league and some very exciting times for the franchise. Houston is little more than three months away from unveiling the new stadium it has pursued since arriving from San Jose in 2006, which will cement the team within the fabric of the community for years to come. But even more importantly, this is a discussion into the gears of Major League Soccer and how a successful manager sees some of the challenges of a salary cap, the impact of travel and various conditions on a team over a long season, and how CONCACAF Champions League offers great opportunities to young players seeking some international football and how MLS is really its own unique system within the greater landscape of professional football. Dominic also weighs in on the element of change and transition that takes place every season for an MLS season and how the unique structure places even greater emphasis on top coaches who are constantly in a world of developing players to fit both a salary cap and disparate skill level. Lots here in terms of a brand new BBVA Compass Stadium, how the schedule being backended for home fixtures can affect a season and why CONCACAF Champions League adds a dimension to the year to year success for a team with one of the very best coaches in the league.