British tabloids are used to putting 2+2 together and getting 5.

In my mind, the rumour about Inter boss Jose Mourinho one day replacing Alex Ferguson at Man United is 2+2 = 4.5…ie. closer to the truth than the usual tittle-tattle but without concrete foundations.

The idea, which has been around ever since he left Chelsea, was given fresh impetus by Mourinho himself last week when he said he would like to return to England once he is finished at the San Siro.

People had talked about Spain and the Portugal national job but Mourinho, threatening to annoy his Inter bosses, made it clear he was still in love with English soccer and the passion of the Premier League.   (more…)

Liverpool have shown they have most of the key attributes of title-winning teams this season but there remains one test for them to pass before we can really talk about them as favourites.

As we all know, this Liverpool team have perfected the art of winning when playing badly, coping without their best players and taking points of their biggest rivals.

Coach Rafa Benitez said after Sunday’s Chelsea win that Liverpool have belief, quality and character but I don’t think we’ll know just how much character until we see how they react when they get a bad result.

Last season, their first defeat, against Reading, was followed immediately by another one, away to Manchester United. Just as they were getting back on track they were held 0-0 by Manchester City at the end of December and didn’t manage another league win until February.

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As we reported earlier this week the Palestinian national football team (ranked 180th in the world) will take on Jordan (ranked 112th) in a friendly this coming Sunday.

Anywhere else in the world a friendly between two such lowly sides would not generate much media coverage but when Palestine are one of the teams and they are playing their first ever game on home soil, interest mounts and, being in the Middle East, controversy cannot be far behind.

For starters – there’s the issue of the name Palestine and its use in the football context.

Jibril Rajoub, one-time right-hand man to Yasser Arafat and now head of the Palestinian Football Federation,  told a news conference on Thursday his organisation was celebrating its 80th anniversary.

The Palestine FA was formed in 1928 and joined FIFA in 1929 but at the time the association was made up of Arab clubs, Jewish clubs (including the venerable Maccabe Tel Aviv) and clubs representing British policemen or soldiers serving in the region during the British Mandate rule that spanned the period between World War One and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. (more…)

Why are France struggling so much in their World Cup qualifying campaign ?

Such a team should not have had any problems against Austria, Serbia or Romania, the three teams they’ve met so far. Yet, they only have four points and it could have been worse, as it seemed Les Bleus were in for a spanking in Romania in their last game as they were trailing 2-0 after 15 minutes.

That was until Yoann Gourcuff netted with the kind of shot you see in the Bundesliga every weekend but that we have not seen here in France since Franck Sauzee in the 1990s: a 30-metre drive that went under the bar and put France back on track.

It looked like in this match, which ended in a 2-2 draw, Raymond Domenech’s side realised they were not a defensive team any more.

France built their 1998 World Cup triumph on a rock-solid defence, often playing with three defensive midfielders. They now don’t have a Didier Deschamps or Emmanuel Petit to do the dirty job. Patrick Vieira could do it, but he is starting to look his age.

So Les Bleus must accept they will concede goals, loads of goals, but they need to believe they can score - loads of them.

With players like Gourcuff, Hatem Ben Arfa, Karim Benzema, Franck Ribery but also Samir Nasri, who should return from injury one day, it is far from impossible.

PHOTO: France’s Yoann Gourcuff celebrates after scoring against Romania during their World Cup qualifier at Farul Stadium in Constanta, Oct. 11, 2008. REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel

There has been a long-running debate about video technology in football and surely the time has now come to assist referees and linesmen with offside decisions.

This week’s Champions League matches featured several howlers. Both of Dimitar Berbatov’s goals for Manchester United against Celtic were shown to be offside by TV replays yet the Belgium linesman kept his flag down.

He then raised his flag for offside against Wayne Rooney when seconds later a replay revealed that Rooney was actually behind the last defender. (more…)

Fabio Capello said Michael Owen’s England career is not necessarily over after omitting the Newcastle man from his squad again for the Kazakhstan and Belarus World Cup qualifiers.

But the manager’s history in Serie A suggests it’s going to be mighty tough for Owen to get back.

Capello was in charge of similar footballers during his stints at AS Roma and Juventus in Vincenzo Montella and Alessandro Del Piero.

Like Owen, they are small, fast technically polished forwards with highly prolific track records.

And, like Owen, they were consistently pushed down the pecking order by Capello.

Although a past-his-best bit player at Roma now, Montella remains one of Serie A’s all-time top scorers and he was at his peak at the start of Capello’s time in the Italian capital.

The coach’s insistence on using the tiring Gabriel Batistuta at the end of the 2000-01 season instead of the on-fire Montella smacked of pure obstinacy to many Roma fans at the time. (more…)

It’s not totally confirmed yet but it looks like David Beckham is joining AC Milan on a short-term loan deal.

The LA Galaxy midfielder, desperate to keep his fitness up and impress England coach Fabio Capello during the U.S. close season, is taking a big risk in coming to Italy.

Milan generally do not play with wingers, especially 33-year-old ones who have never had a great deal of pace and are in the twilight of their careers.

They brought in Ronaldinho, Andriy Shevchenko and Marco Borriello in the summer amongst others and there seems little room for a player who has no experience of Italian football and has been playing in a lesser league for a year.

After a dodgy start, they are looking like Serie A title challengers and coach Carlo Ancelotti, despite what exciteable chief executive Adriano Galliani says, may not want to rock the boat too much.

Does this mean Beckham’s plan to boost soccer in America has failed? Or is it a superb idea that will make sure he is on the plane to South Africa in 2010? (Assuming England don’t throw away a great start to qualification…)

The shortlist for the Ballon d’Or got shorter this year, but there was still room for seven members of the Spain squad that restored a bit of faith in football at Euro 2008.

A lot of news reports focused on the big-named absentees, including Thierry Henry, Fabio Cannavaro and Ronaldinho, but I don’t suppose too many people would argue for their inclusion after disappointing seasons.

No, the real surprise, and shame, is the absence of Andres Iniesta, to my mind the most skilful of Spain’s little men in midfield. If he wasn’t quite at his best at Euro 2008 he was still better than most and he deserves a place in the top 30.

One thing to consider about the award is the weight given to performances over a season against form shown over a few weeks in the summer.

For many Premier League watchers, it will be hard to see past Cristiano Ronaldo but when Portugal needed him he was outshone by Bastian Schweinsteiger. Again. Where does that leave us?

Xavi won the player of the tournament award at Euro 2008 for pulling the strings in that beguiling Spanish midfield and despite the fact that Barcelona won nothing last season, he would be my choice. It would at least recognise that brilliance can be understated as well as flash.

PHOTO: Xavi joins his team mates to celebrate the matchwinning goal from Fernando Torres in the Euro 2008 final, June 29, 2008. REUTERS/Christian Charisius

Bayern Munich thought they were getting instant Revolution when they hired Juergen Klinsmann but, with apologies for mixing up my rock references, at the moment it’s a case of ”Meet the new boss, same as the old boss“. (more…)

“So we didn’t make a mistake after all,” quipped AC Milan owner and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi after Ronaldinho scored twice in the 3-0 win over Sampdoria on Sunday.

The Brazilian, who went badly off the boil in his final two seasons at Barcelona, has also had an inconsistent start to his San Siro career after a 21 million euro move.

The doubters (ie. Inter Milan fans) quickly asserted that the mercurial talent had lost his magical powers for good. (more…)