FOOTY FAIR

5 Premier League Players With Something to Prove

2016-08-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

The 2016-2017 English Premier League season kicks off this weekend and the following are five players who have something to prove:

5.) Jamie Vardy

Last season, Jamie Vardy's astonishing 24 goal return helped Leicester City to the most unlikely league title in modern history. But can he, and Leicester, prove that last season wasn't just a one off?

4.) Wayne Rooney

There are few topics as divisive among Manchester United supporters than the current merits of captain Wayne Rooney. He has undoubtedly been a great player for the club, but his form over the past two seasons has been patchy to say the least. With new manager Jose Mourinho preferring to play him back in a forward position, rather than in midfield, it'll be interesting to see if Rooney can recapture his form of past years.

3.) John Stones

With Manchester City completing a £47.5 million deal for the highly rated John Stones, the now former Everton defender will certainly come in for some increased scrutiny this season. Like the rest of his former teammates Stones faded badly in the second half of last season, with many claiming that he tends to attempt risky maneuvers in the box, when a similar option would suffice. It'll be interesting to see how he does under new City boss Pep Guardiola.

2.) Eden Hazard

Chelsea winger Eden Hazard, who had been instrumental in the Blues title winning campaign in 2014-2015, ranged between anonymous and disastrous last season. He'll need to find his form again if he is going to impress new manager Antonio Conte.

1.) Raheem Sterling

It seems staggering now that Manchester City paid £50 million for former Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling a year ago. To say that the England international struggled last season, and again at Euro 2016 with his country, is the football understatement of the decade. Sterling's fee was always much too high, and he'll likely never quite fulfill it, but if he can recapture his Liverpool form he may just become a valuable player once again for club and country.

Three Managers That Jose Mourinho is About to Renew Hostilities With

2016-05-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

With Sky Sports reporting on Thursday that Jose Mourinho had signed a contract to become the next manager of Manchester United, Reds and fans of their rivals alike were lighting up social media with differing views on the man himself.

Love him or hate him, Mourinho has certainly collected his share of trophies over his career and he has the type of personality that won't be overwhelmed by the size of the job he's taking on at Old Trafford.

While rebuilding United, Mourinho will also renew hostilities with a few of his old sparring partners, including the following:

Arsene Wenger

When Mourinho first came into English football with Chelsea in 2004, Arsenal were the reigning champions and the self-styled 'Special One' didn't waste much time in getting under the skin of their manager Arsene Wenger. With the Frenchman constantly complaining about Mourinho's conduct incessently in the press, Mourinho famously said: "I think he is one of these people who is a voyeur. He likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. He speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea. He should be worried about [Arsenal]. He's worried about us, he's always talking about us. It's Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea."

On his return to Chelsea in 2013-2014 he labelled Wenger "a specialist in failure" after gleefully making note of Arsenal going eight years without a trophy. The lead up to first meeting between the Gunners and United in the coming season should be interesting.

Pep Guardiola

After masterminding Inter's unlikely victory over Pep Guardiola's all conquering Barcelona side in the 2010 Champions League Semi-Final, Mourinho made the move to the Catalan club's greatest rivals, Real Madrid, to face off against the former Spanish international on a more regular basis.

During Mourinho's three seasons in Madrid, the rivalry between the two sides was arguably cranked up another notch as Mourinho tried, largely, in vain to get under the skin of the Barca boss.

Despite Barcelona being largely in the ascendance, Mourinho's Madrid did manage to win the 2011-2012 La Liga title, the only league crown Madrid has captured in the past eight years.

Guardiola left Barcelona following that season, and yet despite the two men no longer facing off against one another Mourinho couldn't help but take another dig at him in September 2014 when he cracked:

"When you enjoy what you do, you don't lose your hair, and Guardiola is bald. He doesn't enjoy football."

The two will resume their rivalry in Manchester next season, with Guardiola heading over to City.

Claudio Ranieri

Even kindly current Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri fell afoul of Mourinho, with the two having run-ins during the Portuguese bosses time at Inter.

Ranieri dared to suggest that Mourinho was showing Italian football a lack of respect by not showing up for news conferences early on in his time in Milan. Not being the type of person who enjoys being talked about in other than glowing terms, the new United boss retorted:

"I studied Italian five hours a day for many months to ensure I could communicate with the players, media and fans. Ranieri had been in England for five years and still struggled to say 'Good morning' and 'Good afternoon.' Who is he to tell me what to do?"

As the manager of the current English champions, I think it's safe to assume that Ranieri will be hearing more from Jose in the coming season.

Football's Greatest Sides - Part 4 of 5: Barcelona (2009 to 2011)

2016-03-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

Having watched his Manchester United side dismantled in the UEFA Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium by Barcelona in 2011, Sir Alex Ferguson later reflected that the Catalans were the best team he had ever faced. "No one," he said, "has ever given us a hiding like that."

Although the final score was only 3-1 for Pep Guardiola's side that day, it was never that close as United had spent most of the night chasing shadows. They had few answers for the incisive passing movement of Andres Iniesta and Xavi in the middle of the park, the clever runs of David Villa and never mind the mercurial little genius known as Lionel Messi upfront.

Having also beaten United 2-0 in the final in Rome two years earlier, Barcelona had made it two Champions Leagues out of three and cemented themselves as a side for the ages.

It's sometimes forgotten that a Ronaldinho-led Barcelona had won the Champions League in 2006 under Dutch manager Frank Rijkaard, a match that saw Messi out through injury, while Xavi and Iniesta looked on from the bench, but by 2008 in-fighting had destroyed that team and changes were desperately needed.

Ronaldinho made his exit, as did Rijkaard, and in came Pep Guardiola who had been a key part of Johan Cruyff's mythical "Dream Team" who had won the European Cup at Wembley in 1992.

Following in Cruyff's footsteps in that he was looking to emulate the Dutchman's ethos of Barcelona playing with a fluid passing style, Guardiola made Messi the focus of his attack, while Xavi and Iniesta were there to supply the ammunition.

Besides Barcelona's "carousel of passing", as described by Ferguson, the side worked incredibly hard to press back opponents all over the pitch, so in the rare instances they lost possession they worked doggedly to retrieve it.

Ringing in Guardiola's changes, the club won a treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and the aforementioned Champions League title in 2008-2009 and they were just getting started.

They followed that up by winning the league again in 2009-2010, along with the Spanish and European Super Cups, and the FIFA World Club Cup. They would fall to Jose Mourinho's Inter in the Champions League semi-final after a two day bus trip to Milan necessitated by the grounding of all flights following an Icelandic volcanic eruption.

They would return in 2010-2011 with another league and Champions League double to return to the summit of domestic and European football.

Guardiola would depart the next season, but what he put in place at the club is still largely in place. Despite the exit of Xavi, the heart of Pep's side, Barcelona now have one of the scariest front three's ever seen in club football with Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar laying waste to defences throughout Europe.

Although it's easy to get annoyed by the irritating nouveau football fanboys and fashionistas that have attached themselves to Barcelona since Guardiola's time in charge, ignoring their brief steamy love affair with Borussia Dortmund in 2012 of course, this Barcelona side can rightly consider itself to be one of the greatest squads ever and even the most hardcore haters or Madridistas have to admit that.

The Spanish national side have much to thank Barca for as well, as it was their core of players and their approach that helped Spain to victories in Euro 2008 and 2012, along with victory at the 2010 World Cup.

The Pros and Cons of the Three Men Who Could Be in Charge of Manchester United Next Season

2016-03-16T12:00:00.000-04:00

Needless to say, it's been a rough three seasons for Manchester United after the retirement of their legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

After the failure of Ferguson's hand picked successor David Moyes, who oversaw the club's tumble from Premier League champions to a seventh place finish in his lone season in charge, the Old Trafford hierarchy went for top level experience in the form of Louis van Gaal as his replacement.

The Dutch boss though hasn't exactly lived up to expectations, as a huge transfer outlay has only seen the club finish fourth last term and struggle to match even that this season.

Despite rumours of his impending demise doing the rounds since Christmas, Van Gaal has somehow survived and, to the chagrin of many United supporters, may still be roaming the training ground at Carrington next season.

If Van Gaal were to be given the boot though, the two other names that have been mooted as taking over the first team duties are Jose Mourinho and Ryan Giggs.

Including the current boss, here are the merits and drawbacks of each of the three men who could be in charge of the club next season:

Louis van Gaal

Pros: Van Gaal's continued stewardship would bring a stability to the club that has been absent since Ferguson's departure. His willingness to bring through youngsters has also been welcomed by even some of the most vocal critics of his reign.

Cons: The current United boss hasn't only failed to get the results the club's supporters expect, but the football his side has served up has been turgid. Either the players haven't bought into his much bandied about philosophy or modern tactics have passed him by. His record in the transfer for record hasn't been great, with the notable exception of the electric Anthony Martial, and the vast majority of supporters are counting the days until his exit. If he does return next season, expect a dip in season ticket renewals.

Ryan Giggs

Pros: Like Van Gaal, Ryan Giggs would bring a sense of stability and has seemingly been groomed for the role over the past few seasons. The former winger is a club legend and some supporters will welcome "one of their own" taking up the reigns and hopefully getting back to playing "the United way" with attacking wing play.

Cons: The biggest knock on Giggs is a lack of experience and United can not afford to give him an on the job learning experience after these three largely disastrous seasons. He also has the knock on him now of being involved with two failed regimes.

Jose Mourinho

Pros: Jose Mourinho is a serial winner who has scooped up league titles in four different countries, along with capturing two Champions League titles. He would almost certainly want to overhaul the playing squad and return the swagger to a jaded club. The fact that he has come out on top in the past with rivals Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola and seems to actually despise Liverpool will stand him in good stead with United supporters.

Cons: Historically, Mourinho has a shelf life of about three years before things go horribly wrong and he leaves a club under a storm cloud. He has had numerous run-ins over the years with officials, other mangers and players that has reportedly left some in the Old Trafford hierarchy uncomfortable about the prospect of his appointment. That said, it's not as if Sir Alex Ferguson was exactly a saint.

3 Odd Stories From the First Week of February 2016

2016-02-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

With EPL leaders Leicester City blowing away both Liverpool and Manchester City this week, Pep Guardiola being announced as City's next manager, the ongoing Jose Mourinho to Manchester United saga and Barcelona doing Barcelona things like blowing away no-hopers Valencia 7-0 it was an interesting week in football.

But beyond the major headlines there were a few funny and downright ridiculous things that happened over the past seven days as well. Here are three of the more notable:

Eden Hazard Apologizes to Jose Mourinho for Being Crap

Self awareness is not a common trait among modern footballers, we're talking about guys who get their nicknames embroidered onto the leather headrests of their £250,000 Rolls Royces and are often seen going for a "cheeky Nandos" with an over-tanned peroxide blonde bimbo with two braincells to rub together.

So it came as a surprise this week when Eden Hazard admitted that his hapless form might just have contributed to Jose Mourinho's sacking at Chelsea when he said that he texted an apology to his former boss:

"I sent him the message to say I was sorry he had gone and… well… just that I was sorry.

We’d enjoyed all that success together last season, but this time round we hadn’t. I felt a little bit guilty because I’d been Player of the Year. I’d been one of the most decisive players, and this year I’d performed less well.

I hadn’t been at the same level. So I sent that text to José and he came back to me, wishing me all the best for the future."

There hasn't been any word on whether or not the equally shit Diego Costa has apologized to Mourinho for also performing "less well" yet.

Leeds United Issue a Special Programme for Their Madcap Owner

Due to the notoriously erratic Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino's obsessive mistrust of the number 17, the club printed their programme this week with a slight modification to the issue number. Rather than going with 17, as they should have, they numbered it 16B. It's a small step to take for the club, considering Cellino once released goalkeeper Paddy Kenny when he found out his birthday was the 17th of May. Anything to appease a man who changes manager's more than most of us change our socks, I guess.

Everyone is Going to China!

Eyebrows at FootyFair HQ were firmly raised this week when it was announced that Atletico Madrid flop Jackson Martinez is headed for China after signing for Guangzhou Evergrande courtesy of an eye-watering €42million deal. After lighting up the Portuguese league with Porto, Martinez has managed only 2 goals in 15 appearances for the Atletico while looking very much like someone who was overhyped after a good record in a second rate league. The news of his capture follows Chelsea midfielder Ramires’ recent £25million move to Jiangsu Suning.

For a list of other players chasing Chinese cash, check out our piece on 10 Big Name Footballers That Now Play in China.

The FootyFair Roundtable Discuss Pep Guardiola's Move to Manchester City

2016-02-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

The worst kept secret in football, that Pep Guardiola will be taking over at Manchester City at the end of the season, came spilling out in the form of an official club press release this week and the reaction across English football has been interesting to say the least.

On one hand you have Manchester City supporters, on the whole, celebrating the announcement with even the warring Gallagher Brothers, formerly of Oasis, in agreement for once over something and letting it be known over social media that this is a momentous capture for City.

The reaction, as expected, from other clubs was mixed, with a lot of opinions about the appointment swirling around on Social Media. While some fans of City's rivals adopted a defeatist tone, feeling that Pep's arrival at the Etihad will kick off an era of dominance for the Blues and we may as well give them the EPL trophy for next season now, others meanwhile were quick to point out that he's never been in a league as competitive as the Premier League and may get found out.

We talked to a few of the usual suspects of the FootyFair Roundable for their take on the move:

AC: The incessant grinding of the "every Bayern player going to the Etihad" rumour mill is likely going to take years off my life.

Iain: Pep joining another team with tonnes of cash and a ready made setup that ensures he won't have to do any rebuilding. Typical.

Juanito: They obviously want to win the CL. (Current manager Manuel) Pellegrini is a good manager, his European record withstanding. Manchester will remain blue for a while longer.

Iain: I don't think Pep will find things as easy in the EPL though. You can debate the quality, or lack thereof in England, but the fact is that the teams at the bottom put up a real battle every time out. He won't be spanking side's in the lower half 5-0 each week.

AC: I think this goes beyond "tonnes of cash" into the realm of "almost limitless amounts of cash". Guardiola is a very good manager but I can't say he's very popular in Munich.

Juanito: I'm not sure his style will work in England. We'll find out soon enough.

Luka: Most overrated football manager ever.

Juanito: I respectfully disagree Luka. He's proven he can win. However, I will concede that there is a myth surrounding him.

Luka: So has every Barça manager since. He inherited the best club in the world and turned them into ONE of the best clubs in the world.

Juanito: No, that's not true. He inherited an underachieving team, cleaned house, brought a new way of seeing the game, and made them what they are today. Every manager has continued his style, more or less.

Iain: He did achieve some great things, no doubt. But he had a side at Barcelona containing Messi, Xavi, Puyol, Eto'o, Pique, and Iniesta, he would have had to have been completely inept not to win with that group. With both of his jobs he's never had to rebuild anything.

Bramble: Over hyped overrated overpaid will be exposed when Shitty lose to Palace or someone. Not all leagues have only 2 or in his current case 1 team.

AC: I think the Bundesliga as a one team league is irrelevant in this specific case. The goal for Guardiola at Bayern was never the league. It was the Champions League.

Luka: And he failed spectacularly.

AC: Well two straight semi-finals isn't a spectacular failure...albeit the way in which his sides went out can be categorized as such.

Bramble: None the less his league form is adding to his "legend" if there was a few more teams with the funds and the backing you'd see how poor this guy actually is.

AC: The teams that should be competing with us (Werder, Stuttgart, HSV) have been colossal failures due to their own ineptitude.

Bramble: And the loss of german hipster to Liverpoop has decreased BVB as well.

AC: I can agree with that, at the very least partially. Klopp failed to adapt his own system in the league and that lead to Dortmund being left way behind. Well that and the colossal amount of injuries they suffered, which might be attributed to the Gegenpressing system. I mean look at Liverpool currently!

Iain: Bramble is going to hate this, and I may even hate myself a bit for saying it, but I actually like Klopp. His pressing system, when it's working, can be brutally effective and I actually like his enthusiasm. I'd rather have someone like him than that useless dinosaur scrotum faced cunt LVG, currently writing his memoirs on our bench.

Bramble: I don't hate Klopp as much as I hate the idea of him managing the most annoying club in the world.

Hawk: You can put a blind donkey on the teams Pep was on, and they'd almost certainly win.

Bramble: I agree 110% any one of us here could go to Barca or Bayern when he was there and say "alright doods just go out and play however you want" and we'd still get the same results.

AC: I should probably be clear on my stance on Guardiola. At the time he was announced, I had mixed feelings. Any time a new manager comes along, especially one with so much fanfare attached to it, the expectations that are placed upon the team increase a hundredfold. I liked what he did on the pitch and there were real successes, Champions League notwithstanding.

However, looking back on it...I feel a little spurned. His move to England at this particular time feels to me that he used Bayern as a stepping stone to his ultimate goal of managing in the Premier League - with all of the fanfare and prestige that accompanies it. I feel a little defensive about the whole thing. Using my club to pad your CV....get outta here!

So looking at him solely as Bayern manager, I am not unappreciative. But looking at the big picture has me more than a little bitter about the whole thing.

I wanted to believe that there was some sort of altruism in his move from Barca to Bayern. Meeting a new challenge and stuff. Should have my head examined for thinking that kinda nonsense.

Bramble: He is a merc and the worst kind of merc, it's fitting he's going to "Shitty".

Iain: It's weird though, as he could have gone to England right after his sabbatical and not gone to Bayern at all. Both United and Chelsea had vacancies coming up in the summer of 2013, and likely would have hired him.

It feels like he took Bayern as an easy option, after his pressure cooker battles with Mourinho in La Liga, seeing them as a place to scoop up a few titles with minimum fuss before taking on the challenge of coming to England.

Bramble: Yeah, and if he went to Chelsea or us though he'd be exposed as someone who can't rebuild a team.

5 Times That Jose Mourinho Has Acted Like a Jackass

2015-08-15T12:00:00.000-04:00

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has hit the headlines for all of the wrong reasons again this week after his classless treatment of club doctor Eva Carneiro after she rushed on the pitch, with physiotherapist Jon Fearn to tend to an injuries Eden Hazard in the closing stages of the Blues draw with Swansea.

Carneiro had seemingly been summoned onto the pitch by the referee Michael Oliver, was blasted by Mourinho for reducing his side to nine men and has been told she will no longer have a place on the bench for future Chelsea matches.

It seemed, for the outside looking in, to be a bout of childish anger by the Special One. With Mourinho, you are almost certainly guaranteed results but another thing you can count on with the Portuguese boss is a few bust ups along the way.

The following are a few examples of when he's acted liked an utter jackass:

The Anders Frisk Incident

During an explosive first leg encounter at Camp Nou between Chelsea and Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 in 2005, referee Anders Frisk sent off striker Didier Drogba after two book able offences. The home side dispatched Chelsea 2-1 and afterwards Jose Mourinho claimed that referee Anders Frisk had met with then Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard at halftime to decide the outcome. It was a baseless accusation, but Frisk received a number of death threats from irate Blues fans and decided to end his career in officiating as a result. Mourinho was later branded an "enemy of football" by UEFA referee chief Volker Roth.

Gouging Tito's Eyes

During the 2011 Spanish Super Cup with Barcelona a bust up on the sidelines culminated in Mourinho gouging Barca assistant Tito Vilanova's eyes. He later claimed to not know who Vilanova even was.

Arsene Wenger vs The Special One

Besides his long running feud with Barcelona, Mourinho's career has been marked with his many run ins with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. Besides a pushing match earlier this year and then snubbing each other after the season opening Community Shield, Mourinho has called Wenger "a voyeur who likes to watch other people", he's also labelled him "an expert in failure", and he was famously fined for an illegal approach to Arsenal's then left back Ashley Cole back in 2006.

Jose Still Hates Pep

While Mourinho was in charge of Real Madrid the rivalry between his side and Barcelona was perhaps nastier than any other time in recent history. Much of that was fuelled by Mourinho casting an envious eye at Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola's all conquering side. Unlike his battles with Wenger though, the Portuguese manager was never able to really get under Pep's skin. Despite them not having managed against each other in several seasons, with Pep eventually moving on to Bayern Munich, Mourinho couldn't help but be a dick when he said:

"When you enjoy what you do, you don't lose your hair, and Guardiola is bald," Mourinho said in September 2014. "He doesn't enjoy football."

Mourinho Giving Rafa Benitez's Wife Some Advice

"Real Madrid are the third of Jose Mourinho's old teams Rafa has coached," Montserrat Seara Benitez reportedly said in an interview earlier this summer, before adding: "We tidy up his messes."

In fairness she was probably out of line with that comment in the first place, but the Chelsea boss could have been professional and brushed this off, but this is Mourinho after all.

He blasted in response: "The only club where her husband replaced me was at Inter Milan, where in six months he destroyed the best team in Europe at the time," Mourinho said. "For her also to think about me and to speak about me, I think she needs to occupy her time, and if she takes care of her husband's diet she will have less time to speak about me."

10 Best Quotes from Pep’s Guardiola New Book

2014-12-23T12:00:00.000-05:00

Spanish journalist Marti Perarnau was given incredible access to Pep Guardiola during his first year in charge of Bayern Munich and the result is one of 2014 best football books.

Very candid and open, a side of Pep Guardiola that we hadn’t seen before is what you get when you open the book and dive in. Once you sit down with the book, you realize that you have been granted a glimpse at the life of one of football’s top managers. The book is “The Inside Story of Pep Guardiola’s First Season at Bayern Munich”.

Here are 10 of the best quotes from the book.

"I know Mourinho only too well and he's trying to provoke me into a reaction. I'm not going to react, I'm not going to answer back. Only when I think the time is right."

"I hate tiki-taka. I always will. I want nothing more to do with tiki-taka. Tiki-taka is a load of shit, a made-up term. It means passing the ball for the sake of passing, with no real aim or aggression - nothing. I will not allow my brilliant players to fall for all that rubbish."

"Mesut Özil is the dangerous one - he's the one we need to keep the closest eye on. Mikel Arteta draws you in, Özil pops up in that zone with Santi Cazorla and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - that's the way that they achieve superiority. We can't afford that to happen."

"Lahm is a scandal. He is super-intelligent, understands the game brilliantly, knows when to come inside or to stay wide. The guy is fucking exceptional."

"The first half against Arsenal at the Emirates in the Champions League [2010] and the first half against Chelsea in the semi-final of 2012. We never played better than those two days."

"I like this atmosphere. I could see myself coaching here one day."

"I sit down and watch two or three videos. I take notes. That's when that flash of inspiration comes - the moment that makes sense of my profession. The instant I know, for sure, that I've got it. I know how to win. It only lasts for about a minute, but it's the moment that my job becomes truly meaningful."

"When you see Leo in the space between the lines down the middle, don't hesitate. Give him the ball."

"I got it wrong, man. I got it totally wrong. It's a monumental fuck-up. A total mess. The biggest fuck-up of my life as a coach." (speaking about Real Madrid’s 4-0 win at Bayern Munich

"If you train badly, you play badly. If you work like a beast in training, you play the same way. And these guys, they train like beasts"

How Good is Bayern Munich?

2014-10-22T12:00:00.000-04:00

General malaise, disease, a weakened army and a sudden catastrophic collapsed have all been cited as reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire.

On Tuesday night though it was clear to all that witnessed it that Rome, or rather AS Roma, not only fell but was left in smouldering ruins by Pep Guardiola's thrilling Bayern Munich side in Champions League play.

Within 35 minutes the Romans were already down 5-0 with goals from Arjen Robben who scored twice, Mario Götze, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Müller.

The Roma defense played down the stereotype of solid Italian backlines by falling to absolute pieces in the first half and allowing Bayern far too much space.

Ashley Cole, one of the finest left backs of his generation, was showing his advancing years last night and had no answer for Arjen Robben, who skipped inside him for the first goal. Cole was also beaten again for Robben's second and Bayern's fourth goal.

After a humiliating first half, Roma dug in and attempted to limit the damage after the break, even managing to pull a goal back through Gervinho.

But Bayern responded with a sumptuous chip by Franck Ribery and a late close range finish by Xherdan Shaqiri.

With 9 points through three matches in the Champions League, to go along with six wins and two draws for 20 points in their first eight Bundesliga fixtures one has to ask how good is this Bayern Munich side.

The club already has scored 21 goals in the league this season, 9 more than any other side, and have only conceded a measly 2 goals. In the Champions League after slim 1-0 wins in Group E over both Manchester City and CSKA Moscow, they have now put 9 goals on the board with only 1 goal against.

Solid from Manuel Neuer in goal, and with a dominant midfield and attack, the only possible question marks before the season began were over the sides defense, but so far that hasn't been an issue in the slightest.

Following Tuesday night's match a stunned Sky Italia reporter compared Bayern to the Total Football side of the 1974 Dutch national team, but Pep waved that away as "an exaggeration."

With Roma's destruction being Bayern Munich's largest away win in the Champions League the hyperbole is understandable. After scooping up more of the domestic competition's talent in the shape of Robert Lewandowski this summer, on top of an already glittering squad, it's difficult to see the Bavarian club not winning the league title again this season.

In the Champions League, particularly when it gets into the knockout phase, it'll be tougher to proclaim them as likely winners. With the Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona looking as formidable as ever, and Chelsea looking like a solid outside bet to do well in the competition, it's no given that they'll get their hands on the 'cup with the big ears'. But it would be foolish to bet against them at this point.

Manchester City and CSKA must surely be dreading the fact that Munich seems to have hit form and have taken a stranglehold on the group.

5 Interesting Manager Facts - Pep Guardiola

2014-10-11T15:00:00.000-04:00

Current FC Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola is an interesting charachter. Some footballers like Lionel Messi were able to make a strong connection to the Spaniard, while others such as Zlata Ibrahimovic hated his guts. Ever since his playing days in Barcelona, Guardiola's football career has been on display, but here are five facts about the man you may have never known.

Fact 1 - Last club as a player

Believe it or not, but the last club Guardiola played for was Mexican side Club Social y Deportivo Dorados de Sinaloa. Pep joined the Mexican outfit at the age of 34 and played there for just about half a year before retiring from professional football as a player. Guardiola was recruited to the club by Spanish coach Juanma Lillo, a move that kind of made sense since he was in managerial school in Mexico at the time.

Fact 2 - Important goals for Spain

As a member of the Spanish national side Guardiola had scored only five goals, as he played in the central defensive midfield role. Four of his five goals however came in important matches, with only one being scored during a friendly. His first goal came in the qualifying stages for the 1994 World Cup in the United States against Latvia. Then, during the World Cup itself Guardiola scored Spain's first goal in a 3-1 victory over Bolivia. He would score twice more in the qualifying stages of the 1998 World Cup qualifying campaign before finalizing his tally at 5 with a goal in a friendly match against Sweden in 2000.

Fact 3 - Barcelona ball-boy

On April 16, 1986 Barcelona took on Swedish side Gothenburg in the 2nd leg of the European Cup semi-finals, a match where 15 year old Guardiola attended as a ball-boy. In a match that was played in Camp Nou, home side Barcelona tied the aggregate score with a 3-0 full-time win after losing by the same score in Sweden two weeks earlier. When Víctor Muñoz scored the decisive penalty-kick for Barca, Guardiola can be seen running towards the midfielder in celebration.

Fact 4 - Patience is a virtue

Pep met his wife Cristina when he was just 18 years old. Their marriage however did not take place until just this past May in 2014, which means that the two waited a whopping 25 years before tying the knot. Pep and Cristina have three children.

Fact 5 - Three gold medals

Pep Guardiola has achieved three gold medals, all of which are very different
1st gold medal - 1992 Olympic Games, as part of the Spanish national team
2nd gold medal - 2010 Spanish Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit. For his achievement in sport in Spain
3rd gold medal - 2011 Catalan Parliament's Gold Medal. The highest honor in the Catalan parliament.

Sour Pep - Guardiola Refuses to Shake Hands at All-Star Match

2014-08-07T18:00:00.000-04:00

I always thought of Arsene Wenger as the biggest "sour-loser" in football among managers, but Bayern Munich's Pep Guardiola seems to be a close second after his behavior in last night's MLS All-Star match.

This year's Major League Soccer's All-Start game marked the 9th consecutive time that the MLS All-Stars faced a European club instead of dividing the league to two teams and playing a West versus East conference match. This year's opposition was none other than German power-house Bayern Munich who took on the MLS All-Stars at the Providence Park stadium in Portland, Oregon on August 6th. Usually this one is a friendly affair, but it seems that Guardiola had missed the memo.

The match seemed to be going according to plan for the Germans who took an early 1-0 lead via a spectacular half-volley goal from new man Robert Lewandowski. The "Americans" came back however, and eventually won the "friendly" with a 2-1 final score thanks to very impressive goals from Englishman Bradley Wright-Phillips and former Bayern Munich loan striker Landon Donovan.

This all-star fixture is always in good spirit and is meant to showcase the most talented footballers of the MLS season, while giving an opportunity for the European squad to play yet another friendly in preparation for their upcoming season. Guardiola seemed to take last night's match a bit too serious however, as he did not seem too impressed with his squad's loss. During the match, "rough play" by the All-Stars seemed to trigger Pep's displeasure as he was staring down the MLS bench after a tackle on Bayern's Swiss international Xherdan Shaqiri by all-stars' Osvaldo Alonso.

After the match Guardiola refused to shake hands with MLS All-Stars manager Caleb Porter and at the post-match interviews hinted at the possibility that Porter may have instructed his players to play this way against his German side.

Guardiola also seemed quite angry with a challenge made on German Bastian Schweinsteiger which left the midfielder with a "bruised ankle". Obviously the Spanish manager had forgotten that injuries do happen in sports and had made himself look foolish in front of millions of viewers by acting a bit childish at an event that was supposed to be a friendly match.