The Italians are beginning to rule English football! (72)

Actually both Man. Utd. & Liverpool have been revealed to be deep in the red as well, but they still got millions to spend in the last transfer window.

Italian clubs are facing financial difficulteies as after the successful domination they enjoyed during the 90's, they failed to make the necessary developments which the English clubs have done, ie. newer better stadiums, better television rights deals etc. Also, sadly violence in and around stadiums is a common occurrence as the 'ultra' fans are untouchables with the current laws. The Italian clubs & laws need a shakeup like the British did regards hooligans in the 80's in that regard.

Re-the English clubs' foreign owners, they're currently spending plenty of cash bringing in the best foreign players and coaches, which explains their recent successes. Before the big money started to roll in the English Premier, the quality wasn't that high. Most English coaches can't go beyond a basic 4-4-2 system or adapt tactics during the game, which explains why the English top clubs all have foreign coaches at the helm nowadays.

Same goes for the English players, with the sole exception of David Beckham (up to a point), all have failed to leave their mark when playing abroad. Michael Owen was a star at Liverpool, but only a substitute at Real Madrid for example.

Also, what goes around comes around, one day the foreign investors will leave the EPL as Spain, Italy & Germany adapt and up their game, no dominance is ever set in stone (this doesn't apply only to football by the way, just take a look at how many empires have risen throughout history only to fade away once their era had passed).

Mancini's a good coach tactically, but his relationships with players has always been stormy at best. Despite his 3 league wins with Inter he wasn't certainly a fan favourite either.

It will also be interesting to see how he will behave with Fabio Capello when/if the latter calls up City players to the national team.

There was a famous clash between them a few years ago during a Rome derby (Capello coaching Roma, Mancini coaching Lazio), where they traded quite a few insults in the tunnel at each other, and Mancini had to be restrained forcefully not to lunge at Capello. As far as I know, they have not been on speaking terms since (this happened circa 2000/01).

Manchester United won by 5 nil last night, and we are 2points behind Chelsea going into the new year. Its all looking good for United!!!

I read the news about Edwin Van der Saar's wife today. As regards stuff like that, there's no club loyalty, rivalry or anything like that, I wish him the best of luck and has my full sympathy.