The sale of Robinho has marked the end of an era for Manchester City. The Brazilian arrived with high expectations of taking City to the next level and in a strange way he has sort lived up to the expectations.

City fans will look back fondly to the day of Robinho’s arrival. He signing was the marquee singing on that eventful day and somebody that would make the world take notice of City’s new millions.

While his on the field impact was limited scoring just 16 times during his time at Eastlands ( a cost of over £2 million a goal) the Brazilian served his purpose and was able to help City gradually bring in the better standard of players they desired.

It was at this point that Robinho began to fall out of favour with City’s management. He was no longer required to have an impact on the field mainly because his attitude didn’t fit in with either Mark Hughes or Roberto Mancini’s method.

City no longer needed Robinho and the loan move to Santos only held up the forwards investable departure from Manchester, but as I suggested before I don’t think City will look back on Robinho’s signing as a failure.

He may have come with a huge price and an astronomical wages but he has helped to put City on the map. Without the signing of Robinho on that day back in 2008 you feel that City might have found it hard to attract the likes of Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor the following summer. From then on though Robinho had served his purpose and the fact that City managed to sell him for a reported £22milion is only a mere bonus.

But he has now set a worrying trend for the likes of Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz who look set to move on sooner rather than later. With City’s millions they will always be looking to better the squad. The worry for those players will be that if a top player becomes available, will Mancini or whoever is in charge at the time will opt to move players out once again.

After a Champions League week in which both Arsenal and United cruised through, the media in UK goes overboard. There are rarely any shades of grey in press coverage here. You’re a hero or a zero and that’s pretty much it. At the moment you’d think Rooney had actually invented heading the ball, so extreme has the praise of his goals been. It’s not that he doesn’t deserve praise – but my god it goes over-the-top.

Thus, United were imperious and Arsenal majestic, despite the fact that both were playing against sluggish, over-the-hill teams. Teams which still needed beating, and which they beat well, but a little perspective would occasionally be welcome.

The trouble is The Premier League and its cheerleaders seek any opportunity to laud the league as the best in the world. They regularly go further and say ‘all the best players want to play here.’ You will regularly here and read comments to that effect from journalists and pundits.

It’s an appalling, self-serving statement and one which bears no scrutiny. As anyone who watched a magnificent game between Fiorentina and Bayern last night could tell you, there are some terrific players in Europe who either have played in the Premier League and left, such as Robben – and what a goal that was – and others such as Benzema, Messi et al at Barcelona who have actively rejected a move to England.

So it’s a fallacy that all the best players want to play here. Yet it’s become a mantra; an assumption almost. All of which would be so much media flim-flam except for the fact, that agents use it to drive up fees and wages. And we all know where this has left Portsmouth and what it has done to the debt levels carried by the league’s clubs. It’s financially unhealthy and potentially disastrous. It’s also true that those who do want to play here, often want to just because the money is so good. It’s nothing to do with the football or culture. Like Pascal Chimbonda once said, ‘I am a football mercenary.’

Is that something for the league to be proud of?

With this ‘best league’ tag come real financial consequences. And when you look at it more closely, it’s often the people with most to financially gain who utter this lie; players, agents and media representatives whose level of wages rely on the league’s high profile. Who wouldn’t pump up the very thing that makes you a good living?

It’s all the more galling for those of us – and I include many Americans in this – who enjoy dining at the smorgasbord of the European leagues and who know just how good some of the players are. Ok, when it comes to the Champions League, the English clubs have dominated recently, but that doesn’t mean all other sides in Europe are stuffed with poor players.

It’s ironic that on Champions League nights we have the chance to see such players as Ribery and Robben impress and perform at a really high level. However, once it’s out of the way and the league resumes, it’s as though a collective mind-wipe happens and we’re back to the default view that the EPL is where everyone wants to play.

It’s not true and it’s never been true and its time that the propagandists who peddle this untruth were challenged. Perhaps then we could start to tackle the insane wages and transfer fees and clubs could begin a long process of trying to live within their means.

• What a couple of days it’s been for oddly scored goals.

Paul Scholes entered into the fluke goal history books Tuesday night as Manchester United beat AC Milan in the Champions League round of 16 with a 3-2 away win that made a quarter final birth just a bit more attainable. Scholes has scored some incredible goals for Manchester United’s first team over his sixteen year career and will surely retire in the next few years as one of the top English midfielders to ever grace the Premier League. Who can forget that right footed volley at Villa Park in the 2006-2007 season?

I’d love the headline of this post to read “Scholes Unashamedly Smashes United Into Quarters“, but it’s safe to say the Ginger Prince knew nowt of the goal he luckily scored Tuesday night at the San Siro. Scholes’ performance on Tuesday night won’t be remembered for his accurate passing abilities, long range shots, or even his bad tackling. His 36th minute flub was laughable at best and only pinged off his left leg because he whiffed so badly with his more powerful right.

For those that missed Manchester United’s opener, the team who have appeared in two consecutive finals were easily outplayed in almost every position on the pitch until Darren Fletcher took into his own hands what Nani couldn’t do and served United attackers with their first relevant cross of the night. The low cross found Scholes who was perfectly positioned in front of goal and attempted a sort of half volley with his right foot. Totally missing in his attempt, the ball then bounced off his left leg that was motionless and upright supporting his flailing right.

Scholes then witnessed the ball trickling into the Milan goal past an outstretching Dida  in what is sure to have been the luckiest goal he’ll ever score. The Scholes hokey pokey sure to not be forgotten anytime soon.

What sticks out with this incredible piece of luck for United is that they were largely undeserved of the 1-1 halftime scoreline. Milan were giving fits to United’s make shift back line as the usually solid Johnny Evans looked rattled playing in such a massive game.

The question that ultimately surfaces is what becomes of this goal in the grand scheme of United’s season and history if somehow they continue on and win the Champions League? United fans will look back to the 36th minute of an epic European night and that silly little goal scored against the run of play that opened up the scoring and allowed Wayne Rooney to score a brace en route to a famous victory.

Since football fans are still only a few months removed from the notorious beach ball incident at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, which like that of the Scholes blast is sure to go down in history, I’d like to know what are some other incredibly lucky goals that you’ve seen scored in recent years? Surely there’s loads of mistaken kicks, flicks, whiffs, scuffs and misses that have luckily found the back of the net.

This could be fun, feel free to leave a comment below.

Classic European nights. When we complain about the stifling dominance of the Big Four; when we curse every transfer that sends a promising young player from a lesser club to the Big Four; when we ponder proposals such as debt-to-revenue restrictions, foreign player quotas, and playoffs for European places; when we talk about all these things, we are talking about the promise of classic European nights like Tuesday night at a raucous and roaring San Siro. Some observations:

1. For those, like me, who have not followed Serie A this season, rumors of Ronaldinho’s reemergence proved true as his side-steps, dummys and darting runs gave Man United no end of trouble in the first half. Nineteen-year old Rafael will have much to ponder before the second leg should he get the chance to start again.
2. Not a news flash, but the match gave further proof that Manchester United’s defense is in shambles. Poor communication, poor tackling, poor clearances, poor marking, poor closing, Man United was guilty of it all. Nemanja Vidic’s absence was glaring. Patrice Evra looked like he had been shot in the back as he attempted to clear Goldenballs’ free kick; which produced Ronaldinho’s goal. Last season, defense was Man United’s greatest strength during their dominating run to the Champions League final. In the first half last night, Milan played like a young Colin Farrell, penetrating at will. Man United were quite lucky to only be down by one before Paul Scholes’ fluky equalizer in the 36th.
3. Man United’s defence may have been awful, but Rio Ferdinand showed he may be on the road to recovery with his stoppage of a rampaging Ronaldinho in the 19th minute. Caught one-on-one, Rio got all of the ball as Ronaldinho tripped to the ground a moment later. Ronaldinho knew he was beat fairly as he only gave a half-hearted shout for a foul.
4. Nani, Nani, Nani. No, no, no. It got so bad that his own mates were chewing him out, most notably a visibly disgusted Wayne Rooney. Nani’s “crosses” don’t deserve the term. They were more like releasing hummingbirds into the wind. Or balloons let go by giddy children on a breezy spring day. His “crosses” are perhaps easier understood as tributes to Norman Foster’s Wembley arch.
5. Rooney had so much space as he headed his second goal, even Nani could have bagged it. Daniele Bonera and Alessandro Nesta played that sequence like they were statues better suited for display in Milan’s Castello Sforzesco museum.
6. Man United’s change kit of a plain white shirt accented by random stripes paired with blue shorts and white socks is a bore. The chevron that goes across the chest of both their red and blue shirts is striking and oddly absent from this white shirt. I’m of the belief that Manchester United’s change shirt for European games should be blue whenever possible, in honor of 1968.
7. The tale of the tape for the managers entering the game favored Sir Alex Ferguson’s 36 years of experience against Leonardo’s nine months. Man United weathered the early storm well. Substitutions had real impact. Antonio Valencia came on for an inept Nani in the 64th. Within 2 minutes he lofted a perfect cross for Rooney to head home. Big bossman Clarence Seedorf came on in the 72nd for a largely invisible David Beckham. Seedorf’s audacious and stupendous back-heeled goal in the 85th gave a new intensity to the game’s final minutes and gives Milan hope for the second leg at Old Trafford.
8. The second leg at Old Trafford is not until March 10th. This new gap between legs, implemented this season for the first time, allows us to watch more of the games in this first knockout round. Man United won the first leg, but Milan definitely have the firepower to answer the challenge. With both Milan and Manchester United displaying such ineptitude on defence, it should be another scorcher.

It was a textbook Manchester United performance. The Red Devils entered the San Siro with the pressure of performing against some of the top footballers in the world such as Pato, Beckham, Ronaldinho, Seedorf, Nesta, Pirlo, Ambrosini and Huntelaar. And despite being outplayed in the first half of the match, United managed to go into the changing room level at 1-1 at the half after a fluke goal by Paul Scholes that hit his standing leg and bobbled into the far corner of the net.

At halftime, Sir Alex Ferguson must have lit into his players because Manchester United’s second half performance was significantly better. And United got what they deserved from all of their hard work with two exquisite headers from Wayne Rooney, who is right now on top of the world playing the best football of his career. He’s playing so well that it’s easy to forget about a certain Cristiano Ronaldo who used to be in the spotlight at United.

Milan got a late goal from a beautiful flick by Clarence Seedorf to make it 2-3 to Manchester United. Bizarrely, Michael Carrick got a second yellow card in injury time and was sent off – presumably for kicking the ball away, but it was difficult to ascertain whether that this was the correct call or not based on the inconclusive TV replays.

Overall, this was an incredibly entertaining match. It’s a shame that one of these two teams will end up getting knocked out of the tournament because the way both clubs played Tuesday night would have made a perfect final. Everything was beautiful to watch – how open the game was, the skill that AC Milan displayed with deft touches and flicks entertaining the crowd, and the beautiful HD picture courtesy of Fox. This was how soccer was meant to be enjoyed. And it was made even better by the commentating team of Martin Tyler and Andy Gray.

So, based on the team’s performance in Milan on Tuesday night, does Manchester United have what it takes to win the second leg, and if so, go all the way to win the Champions League for the second year running? Click the comments link below and share your feedback.

That the EPL is the best championship in the world is plain for everyone to see.  The teams are far and away the strongest, most physical, and quickest.  With exceptions to super teams like Barcelona, the four Premier League teams involved in the Champions League can (and do) knock off foreign opposition rather easily.

Yet in 5 finals in which an English team has played, only two have been champions.  A 40% winning percentage doesn’t seem bad, but consider that the winner between Man United and Chelsea had to be from the EPL.  That leaves 4 finals that a continental team could win, and they have won 3 of them.  1 out of 4 is not at all impressive, especially considering the ease with which the EPL teams seem to reach the final.  So what accounts for this discrepancy in dominance and silverware?

One account might be that the English teams have been unlucky to only win one.  I would disagree.  If anything, Liverpool (and by extension, the EPL) are the luckiest winners of the four games, beating a Milan team that really should have won if not for a string of miraculous goals and saves.  Barcelona and Milan in ’06, ’07 and ’09 were in far greater control of the games than their British opposition, though Arsenal at least had the excuse of being a man down.

One account might be that the EPL is not as dominant as it seems.  There is strong bias in the English-language press, and it manifests in the constant recitation of English superiority.  Considering this, one could argue that despite the routine losses, continental clubs actually put up the stiffest resistance to English clubs.

One can  see this during the 2009 edition.  Over two legs, Manchester United beat Arsenal by 3 goals, but Porto by 1 and Inter by 2.  Chelsea beat Liverpool by 2 but could only beat Juventus by 1 and could only tie Barcelona.  Against weaker opposition in the group stage, the EPL looks fantastic, but against top clubs, especially those with lots of players with Champions League experience like Milan and Barcelona, passing through to the next round in the knockout stage is never assured.

Unfortunately for this theory, those who actually watched the games will probably say the 1 and 2 goal score lines do not really do the games justice, and that Chelsea should have won the second leg by at least 1.  The EPL teams have been stronger over the past five seasons; it should be quite clear to anyone who watches for a few matches with EPL clubs and then compares it to a Porto vs. Atletico Madrid showdown, for instance.

I would argue that the reason is a strange combination of luck and inspiration, and maybe a touch of club attitude.

The best team does not always win the Champions League.  In 2007 Milan was not the best club in the tournament.  They were lucky at times, but mostly it came down to a Kaka playing like he was inspired by God.  (Oh, that’s right, he actually was.)  He single-handedly took apart Man United, downed Celtic, and was the impetus behind both Inzaghi goals in the final.  During that season in the Serie A, they finished 5th.  Runners-up Liverpool were 3rd, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference. They were also not the best team in the competition, they were like Milan in that they were best at the competition.

AC Milan, according to their website, is the most successful international club in the world.  It seems part of their culture to do well in in tournaments, just like Liverpool seem to light up on European nights as they flounder in EPL purgatory.  There’s no science to it.  Arsenal and Chelsea try and try to be successful in the UCL but it hasn’t come.  Sometimes the best win, like in 2006, 2008 and 2009 but often times the teams that are good at winning it do so, like in 2005 and 2007.

This season the best team won, but they also had all the right ingredients.  They had Messi the inspired superstar; they had the 93rd minute Iniesta wondergoal, and the general team inspiration in quest of the first Spanish treble.  Barcelona might not have the history of Milan or Liverpool, but it looks like they’re trying to build it.

While the EPL dominance may continue for 2 years, 5, or 10, I’m not sure how many Champions League trophies will find their way back to England.  As long as teams like AC Milan, Barcelona,  Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are around, the gulf in class can be overcome on any given European night.

Well, the most unsurprising managerial appointment of the summer has thankfully been completed this morning, with Carlo Ancelotti taking over as the new manager of Chelsea on July 1st. It was no real surprise at all really and a couple of weeks ago, I posted my thoughts that Ancelotti was making sure that Chelsea really wanted him and sure enough, they did.

I feel for Ancelotti over his treatment at AC Milan, the owner was never the type that was ever going to stay in the background, as Berlusconi’s system was to buy aging stars and then give them to Ancelotti to try and fit into his system. He also had to cope with the fallout from the Calciopoli match fixing scandal, which saw Milan lose their Champions League place for the 2006-2007 season and start with minus 8 points. With the continual pressures of working for Italy’s Prime Minister, it was always going to be tough but he managed to deal with the situation as well as could be possible.

Of course, the detractors will point to his language skills and it is unusual for Chelsea to move so quickly for a manager learning the language, considering the problems with communication that apparently led to Scolari’s demise as the Blues manager. Tactically, we are constantly told that Abramovich wants Chelsea to play a fluid, attacking game, which is something that could never really be applied to Ancelotti’s tenure at the Rossoneri.  Yet here is a manager that has had to deal with some of the largest ego’s in world football over the last few years, with Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Shevchenko and Beckham all being thrust upon him by his owner, trying to fit them into his system.

Getting AC Milan to three Champions League finals is also some achievement, but does that gloss over some of the failings of Milan’s recent Serie A showings, with no title in 5 seasons and third place only secured with the weekend’s victory over Fiorentina? Maybe, but Milan have still consistently shown well in the Champions League during his time as manager. Perhaps my main criticism, if it is one, is the age of the Milan squad. This is a team that creaks when it takes to the field and the over emphasis on Kaka and Pato is perhaps too much for even those two to drag the rest of the onwards.

Ideally, he’s probably left AC Milan at the right time, with his position questioned several times in the Italian press, a team massively in debt and a squad that needs a major overhaul to compete both domestically and in the Champions League. He’s left before Kaka has to be sold, which is in his benefit, no manager wants to be in charge when Milan finally cash in on their main asset and with the continual issues affecting the Italian League (Lack of exposure, rising debts, continual issues with hooliganism and Inter already looking like they can’t be caught again next season), Ancelotti will look back at leaving Milan with some relief I imagine.

Now he becomes Chelsea’s 5th manager in 3 seasons and with stories covering just how much he’ll have to spend ranging from £50 million to £200 million, Ancelotti has an opportunity to take Chelsea forwards. Of course it’s a big job, Chelsea’s squad does need overhauling, with more options up front and in midfield the key aspects that he needs to address. Being a top level manager in a major city will be fine for him, he’ll be used to the pressures that come with the terroritry and he’ll know exactly the type of players he wants.

It’ll be interesting to see if Chelsea sign anyone before July 1st, to see if Ancelotti has given a list of targets to the club to get for him, and with John Terry wanting the owner to spend big this summer, once again, Stamford Bridge will be an interesting place to be pre-season.

When Guus Hiddink stepped into the breach after a heartfelt plea from Roman Abrahamovich, the only definite thing we knew was that Hiddink would only be there until the end of the season. Hiddink has stuck to his line of response throughout his time at Stamford Bridge, politely but firmly dealing with the increasingly banal questions fired at him over his future plans.

So once the tabloids and television journalists finally got the message after 2 months, speculation moved towards Hiddinks inevitable successor. Of the names mentioned, the one with the most column inches seems to be Carlo Ancelotti of A.C. Milan. A former hero of the rossoneri, Ancelotti took the reins at the San Siro in 2001 and had the daunting task of rebuilding a floundering  Milan.

Yet over the weekend, Ancelotti has been dismissing any link with Chelsea and the managers vacancy, by staking his future is still with Milan. “It is not a problem which concerns me, I don’t have to give my availability and the time has not yet come for me to be replaced at Milan.” Yet as is always the case with football, especially in Europe, 24 hours is a long time. Milan’s shy and retiring owner, the little known Italian politician Silvio Berlusconi then came out and blamed Ancelotti for A.C. not winning the scudetto by his poor tactical choices throughout the season.

I think Mr Berlusconi is probably not the best person to be criticising other people choices right now, but the lack of support from his club for Ancelotti since the outburst is deafening. With all indications that Abramovich is about to signal a return to the spending power of his first 3 seasons in charge of Chelsea, it was probably the indication for Ancelotti that he should wait for Berlusconi to sack him, rather than walk out for the Chelsea job.

Regardless of what Ancelotti has achieved in his 7 seasons at Milan, the 8 trophies he’s collected and the fact he survived the refereeing scandal that tarnished Italian football in 2006, only one person has the power at Milan and unfortunately it seems he doesn’t seem to care for Carlo’s achievements one little bit. Perhaps the statements from Ancelotti were simply a case of fishing for a response to see exactly where he stood in the scheme of things at Milan. By offering the bait of stating his intent to stay to see exactly where he stood, Berlusconi bit and has probably made up the mind of Ancelotti to join Chelsea. It’s a plan of lubricious deceit if it plays out correctly and Ancelotti now must know his future lays away from Italy now.

If Ancelotti has now found out just how much he’s appreciated in the corridors of power at Milan, his position was always under pressure once Marco Van Basten left Ajax. Berlusconi will have noted that and perhaps that was the signal for Ancelotti to check if the seat was still free for him in SW6. With Abramovich promising plenty of money to spend, certainly more than he ever had at Milan, it’s probably going to be the easiest thing in the world for him to wait for the sack and hop straight on the next flight to London.

Say what you will about David Beckham, but at least the man isn’t on Twitter.

Too bad in a way, because Beckham epitomizes the Internet age.  Thirty years ago, football’s ignominious sideshow used to be known only to players and pub owners; today, David Beckham has made the 24 hour netnews tabloid periphery the main event.  Or rather, he hasn’t per se.  Had he married a twenty-six year old accounting executive and never dropped by the hair salon, it’s very likely we’d view David Beckham much in the same way as we view any aging England star—nice that he’s still chugging away, but when will he secure that TV pundit deal and drop out already?

And no, this isn’t just another David Beckham harangue.  The man is on the verge of breaking Bobby Moore’s venerable record of 108 England caps.  John Terry has openly spoken of giving him the armband if he gets subbed on against Slovakia.  This after he’s already quieted, if not silenced completely, his critics by playing well with AC Milan after a dubious pair of seasons with the LA Galaxy.  Even though, like the late George Best remarked, the man can’t score, dribble, or mark to save his life, all he’s got is that right foot.

But what a foot! Many fans under twenty might think a player like Beckham would be inconceivable playing for the fluid, short-passing United of the late naughts, but as Rob Smyth pointed out today, his partnership with Scholes, Giggs and Keane was for a time the most effective midfield in English football.  His foot brought qualification to England for WC 2002, and, via Shearingham and Solskjaer, won Manchester United a European Cup.

So why all the animosity?  It can’t be because he’s been overrated; certainly no one worthy of attention has or will ever call him one of the all-time greats.  Some ‘real’ fans hate him because he is the face of ‘sah-ker’ for the unconverted, even while the Leonel Messi’s and Dani Alves’ of the world play a much better game at a much younger age with relatively little outside regard.  To others, he simply represents everything wrong with modern football—sponsorship, ad deals, money, his b-list celebrity wife and chavish looks, fame without the once requisite talent to justify it.  They regard him as soccer’s Paris Hilton.

Perhaps.  To them, I would only say that in thirty years time, no one, outside of some nineties/naughts retrospective, will care about Victoria or sunglasses or 100 million dollar transfer deals to North American bush leagues.  They will remember the football.  It wasn’t always great, but whether it was or it wasn’t, at least the man was dedicated.

And didn’t feel the need to Tweet about it.

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 gritty stage and it seems to be opening up for City. Mark Hughes side has been wildly inconsistent, putting 6 past Portsmouth and 5 past Hull City, but dumped out of the League Cup by Brighton on penalties and were humiliated at home 3-0 by Nottingham Forest in the F.A. Cup but they’ve been impressive in the UEFA Cup both at home and abroad this season. With only one away win in the league, it’s been a strange season for the City faithful.

Tonight they travel to Northern Jutland to face Aalborg with a 2-0 lead and a chance to move into the Quarter Finals for a real crack at the trophy. Yet, Manchester City have a history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory which is unparalled in English Football that has seen their fans develop a very healthy ability to laugh at themselves. Surely this could be their season to finally put a proper smile on faces of the City faithful? It’s certainly a weaker UEFA Cup than it could have been with AC Milan, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Fiorentina, Bordeaux and Valencia all being removed from the competition before we even reached the last 16.I don’t think Mark Hughes will be upset to see any of those sides out at all. Their first 11 is certainly as good as some of the remaining teams in the competition, maybe one of the best, so it’s not impossible to imagine City lifting the trophy in Turkey on May 20th.

City though have perhaps received a little too much stick this season for me. Sure they’ve become the richest club in the world but it’s still a transitional season for them. Thankfully for us, Chief Executive Gary Cook seems to have kept a very low profile after his rather childish comments about AC Milan and Kaka in January, which is a blessing for us all. His rather acidic nature and bombastic attitude doesn’t sit well people and attracts as much criticism as it deserves, but Hughes has also had a fair amount of flak, unfairly I feel. It’s a learning curve for everyone at Manchester City, ever since the Robinho signing, they’ve suddenly moved onto a different level but they’ve got their best chance of some serious silverware for a long time in the UEFA Cup.

If they can negotiate tonight’s away leg, which knowing City, is no forgone conclusion, then the key teams to avoid are Werder Bremen and whoever wins in the tie of the round, Galatasaray v SV Hamburg. Martin Jol’s team have a lot to do and need to score in Turkey tonight to have any chance to get through but if they do, then they’ll become the favourite for the cup. If City can avoid those teams, then reaching the final becomes a realistic proposition for Mark Hughes. I hope they do get there, he’s dealt with rumour and counter rumour all season with supreme patience, fending questions about his future, transfers, ongoing issues with certain big name players and the change in expectations once Manchester City were ought by the Abu Dhabi United Group, with courtesy.He deserves a bit of luck after everything that’s been thrown at him throughout the season.

I wish them all the best in Europe and hope we get a Hamburg and Manchester City final for the last ever UEFA Cup final before we welcome the Europa League next season.