Just a note...

Hi all,

If you are one of the wonderful people who do come on here and check to see what I have uploaded then please accept my apologies for not having updated the website in a while!

Thankfully I have had a very busy and crazy year and taken on all sorts of new jobs so I haven’t been paying attention to this as much as I should have. However, I will be making much more of an effort to keep you all informed of my latest work and just little blog pieces and videos that might be of interest.

Thank you to those who send me lovely messages with suggestions and comments, I always like to hear from you. In answer to those who regular ask what I’m doing now. Here’s a brief list of the important stuff!

• I no longer host the BBC Euro Leagues Podcast but I am a regular fixture there as a pundit when I’m available and in London, I still love to be a voice on it!

• I instead have focused a lot of my energy on ESPN’s Serie Awesome Podcast which focuses on the big stories coming out of Italy and I absolutely love working with the best in the industry in Gab Marcotti and Paolo Bandini.

• I have also always wanted to be more involved in the Premier League so I also spend a lot of my time on the Telegraph’s Audio Football Club Podcast that’s recorded every Monday. It’s nice to be part of a concise show where I can flex my muscles on all things City and Liverpool and United etc.

• I am also a co-host and reporter for DAZN Canada for Champions League. That involves travelling, analysing matches and bringing you coverage of the best European games. DAZN is the name in football (soccer) and is growing rapidly so i’m thrilled to be part of the team and working with Colin Murray.

• I still of course love to do BBC’s World Football Phone in with Tim Vickery and Dotun Adebayo and feature on BBC’s Fighting Talk whenever I’m invited!

• I’m also TRT Beyond The Game’s European Football analyst, answering questions for them every Monday

• And of course, never forget CNN Sport!

• I sadly don’t have much time to write anymore but if I do, I’m exclusively writing for both the BBC Sport website and ESPN.

Hopefully I can keep adding to the list but in the meantime, thanks again for the support and the follow!

Mina x

BBC 5 Live's Euro Leagues Football Podcast - 12th March 2018

Download the latest episode in which we discuss the Champions League! Will Chelsea prevail over Barcelona, can Sevilla topple Manchester United? And is Serie A over?

All that and more. Click here to download. 

BBC 5 Live's Euro Leagues Football Podcast - 29th January 2018

One of the funniest pods yet, I find out what GOAT means, we discuss Pamela Anderson's  relationship and her latest transfer and ask questions with regards to Pietro Pellegri, Aubameyang, Aymeric Laporte and more.

Plus we discuss Inter Milan's crisis, Stuttgart's look for a new coach and Neymar yet again. It's addictive to discuss the Brazilian!

Click here to download the pod!  

BBC 5 Live's Euro Leagues Football Podcast - 22nd January 2018

In the latest episode of the Euro Leagues Podcast, Julien Laurens, Raf Honigstein, James Horncastle and I discuss all the latest in the European leagues. Why is Neymar a bit part player for Barcelona? What did Real Madrid change to beat Deportivo 7-1, Cologne is back in business while Napoli finally beat their bogey team!

All that and more on BBC 5 Live's Euro Leagues podcast. Click here to download. 

BBC 5 Live's Fighting Talk - 20th January 2018 - I won!!

Have you caught the latest Fighting Talk? I actually won it on my 7th try! 

Hosted by Colin Murray and featuring port journalist Thom Gibbs, writer and broadcaster Douglas Anderson & comedian Matt Forde and me!

Click to download here!

Euro Leagues Podcast - 15th January 2018

Real Madrid are closer to the relegation zone than Barcelona at the top!

In this week's Pod, Raf Honigstein, James Horncastle, Julien Laurens and I discuss the crisis at Rea Madrid and whether Zinedine Zidane should go! The latest on the transfer market including Naby Keita and more plus Aubameyang and RB Leipzig's impressive win over Schalke. 

 Click here to download it now! 

Euro Leagues Football Podcast - 8th January 2018

Happy New Year! On our first pod back after the holidays we ask if Coutinho paid to move to Barcelona, Diego Costa's return to Atletico Madrid, Juventus' win and more! 

Click here to download the podcast... 

BBC 5 Live Football Daily

Hosted by Kelly Cates, Ian Wright, Chris Sutton and I discuss what we can look forward to in the Premier League this season. 

Will Antonio Conte leave out of frustration? Can Manchester United win the Premier League and where should Bale go if he comes back to England?

To listen, click here.

BBC 5 Live's European Football Show →

Hosted by Mark Pougatch, Andy Brassell and I discuss the game between Juventus and Barcelona, how we think the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern will fare, how far Leicester City can really go and much, much more. Download and listen!

Click here for the link.  

BBC 5 Live World Football Phone In →

Did Dotun Adebayo forget my name? Join Tim Vickery, Dotun and I as we discuss football in Europe and South America. We discuss which players would have been better appreciated elsewhere, is Alexis Sanchez really leaving and what teams perform terribly away from home.

Click here for the link. Hope you enjoy!

FTOTD DEBATE: Should Raheem Sterling have gone to ground to win the penalty?

Everyone will have watched the Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur match. A thrilling game that ended in a 2-2 draw, City is right to feel aggrieved. Referee Andre Marriner did not spot the push on Raheem Sterling that should have led to a penalty.

Yaya Toure controversially remarked, “If you have a bit of experience like me, you’d maybe dive in that situation and that’s maybe what you have to do. He’s too honest, he wants to be proper in these sort of games. If the lad’s like that, you can’t tell him he’s wrong, if that’s what he tries to do. When you see it, he can’t miss from there, he was so close and after that Walker pushes him in the back.”

The question is, should Sterling have fallen to the ground?

To many fans of the English game, it’s so easy to be called a cheater. There is no greater notion than fair play, winning matches by playing at a superior level but if Sterling fell, would he have been criticised or praised for winning his side the match?

In Italy, the art of being cunning, otherwise known as ‘Furbizia’, means using all your experience and expertise to win the game - fairly and legally. That doesn’t mean cheating, paying referees or whatever many would love to believe but by doing what European footballing giants became famous for managing. Tactical fouls, winning a free-kick in advantageous positions, time wasting, crowding around the referee and annoyingly, demanding a yellow card for the opponent.

Barcelona are famous for harassing the referee, psychologically tilting the match to their favour. Jose Mourinho sides are capable of it and legends of the Italian game were praised for it. In Alessandro Del Piero’s last season at Juve, Antonio Conte would bring him on because he always won free-kicks, wasted time and then used his technique to convert opportunities - a useful presence when the match was nearing the end and the team needed to secure the slim result.

But is it in the spirit of the game? I know what I want the players on my team to do, what about you?

Should Sterling have gone to ground? *

Yes, he would have been reacting to a foul

No, he was unlucky but right to stay on his feet

Thank you!

TRT Beyond the Game

Another appearance, today we discuss why Spanish Football is so good and whether Jurgen Klopp can be considered a success at Liverpool.

What do you think?

TRT Beyond the Game - Champions League Round up

Have you caught the latest round up on Beyond the Pitch? Samantha Johnson discusses the fairytale that is Leicester City while I analyse the action from the Bayern Munich vs Atletico Madrid game and look ahead to Manchester City's clash away at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu.

Yes yes, I said Porto!! Oops you know I meant Benfica

Catch it here!

Top 10 players in La Liga - Copa 90 Video

So here it is, my list of the top 10 players in La Liga. I've omitted certain players and I'm sure some of you will disagree but let and Copa 90 know who you would pick!

Take a look at the video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XBUiuP9Ix0

#FDOTD DEBATE: Are 1:0 scorelines enough anymore?

Jose Mourinho is famous for it, Juventus players inscribed it on the back of their hand in the 1998 Champions League final (went on to lose by that amount) and Fabio Capello’s career was based around it - it is the scoreline for the pragmatic, the fighters and the winners - or is it?

Evolution has seen football take on a more attacking approach, producing more quality upfront and less so at the back. We still have the likes of Sergio Ramos and Thiago Silva but even the ‘greatest Premier League defender’ Vincent Kompany is capable of a mistake or two rather often. 

There are no more Franz Beckenbauers’ no more Franco Baresis and as such, can a team realistically guarantee 1-0 wins in the manner they used to in the past?

Shutting up shop, how Mourinho opted to do against Manchester United resulted in Chelsea dropping two points. Perhaps he was unlucky, had Bratislava Ivanovic stayed on…. but he’s not the first to realise this scoreline no longer offers guarantees.

A one goal cushion in this day and age, with the quality of our modern defenders, is no longer enough. 

Do you agree *

No, it's still a winning strategy

Yes, it's harder to guarantee wins playing for such a scoreline

Thank you!

BBC Radio 4's Sunday morning magazine programme

Did you listen to BBC 4's Sunday morning magazine programme presented by Paddy O'Connell? If not, click on the link below and listen via catch-up. I help round up the stories from the newspapers in the morning show, focusing on Great Britain's obsession with pressuring their sportsmen and why Neymar's injury has dominated the headlines somewhat unfairly... 

Click here to be taken to the link. 

Is David Moyes a tactical genius or are Bayern complicating matters?

Vine Video for BTSportsHUB