Before Manchester City’s 2012 triumph at the Etihad Stadium with Yaya Toure, David Silva and Kun Aguero, back in the 90s the Citizens were trying to get the best out of every season with Georgi Kinkladze, Niall Quinn and BT Sport’s newest European Football Analyst Uwe Rosler.

I went to meet the 44-year-old at the BT Studios in Stratford where I also got to meet Spurs and Newcastle legend David Ginola along with television presenter James Richardson. They both looked very happy to be part of the BT family especially Ginola who firmly shook my hand with a big smile on his face.

The time had finally arrived for me to meet the Premier League legend who arrived at Manchester in 1994 and served for four years where he amassed 152 caps and scored 50 goals. Now he is expected to analyse the Bundesliga while juggling his responsibilities with Brentford as club manager.

“I have a natural interest in the Bundesliga since I’ve been there and played there and I obviously want to follow up the league,” he told me.

The former East Germany international obviously has to go back and forth from Manchester where his family lives and so sometimes he needs to stay in London for the Bees’ Saturday fixtures. On Sunday he works at BT Sport and on Mondays he prepares for the Tuesday fixtures in League One, still an easier schedule than David James’.

However the Bees are playing on Monday so Rosler is expected to impart his knowledge regarding the Bundesliga this Saturday where Schalke will be taking on the German and European champions Bayern. The German seems to be eyeing last season’s treble winners as the favourites for this match and considers new manager Pep Guardiola as a big factor.

“Obviously Bayern have the new manager with totally new ideas. He’s challenging his big-name players. He likes rotation and players playing in different positions, for example Lahm was used in centre midfield and Muller as a centre forward.

"Obviously the players follow his philosophy and know that by working for such a successful coach as Guardiola their own game will benefit from that.”

He names Frank Ribery and Arjen Robben as two of the most important players that adopt the Spaniard’s philosophy but points out that Manchester City’s Champions League opponents will need time to reach their full potential.

As a former centre forward himself he believes that Bayern definitely have the edge up front because they are unpredictable possessing a number of ways to attack, whereas Chelsea’s Champions League opponents Schalke are the opposite - with only Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Adam Szalai up front.

Nevertheless he argues that it is not only the striker that makes a good squad: “In my opinion, as a manager, you need quality in both boxes. When you have a very good goalkeeper, two good centre halves and very good defending in the box as well as one or two strikers that can decide games then I think you can go a long way.”

Bayern will definitely be a tough nut to crack for City but the 44-year-old believes that both clubs will make it through even though the whole group poses threats.

“They (Manchester City) started with a win which was the first time in the last two years and the group is nowhere near as strong as the one last year. It will be tough going to Moscow, playing on different grass and the cold temperature abroad won’t be easy.”

He hopes that his former club will challenge for the Premier League title, although he believes that the defence relies too heavily on Vincent Kompany.

The former Southampton player also gave his thoughts on David Moyes, telling me that he believes the Scot is a fantastic manager and a very good replacement for Sir Alex Ferguson who can build a legacy at Old Trafford. However he will have to add his own philosophy to the club which might take some time and could give City and Chelsea the edge in the short term.

Rosler described his fellow countryman Mesut Ozil as a “very crucial signing” for the Gunners and added that Spurs have put a fantastic squad together thanks to Andre Villas-Boas’ ability to help his new players adapt quickly at their new club.

As for the best players in the Premier League, BT Sport’s newest analyst admires Aguero in top form but has also been very impressed with Liverpool’s striker Luis Suarez.

“He is a fantastic player. He not only scores but his overall performances were very impressive by the way he occupied defences. He demolished them many times as well. He doesn’t need aid to score goals; he just does it on his own.”

Although he is now very focused on coaching Brentford, as well as working with BT, he did share a few of his fondest memories during his time at the Citizens and pointed out that his first 18 months at Manchester were the most memorable.

“The best game was when we beat Spurs 5-2 but I was injured so I was just watching it. I think the FA Cup game where we played Manchester United was fantastic in terms of atmosphere, it was a special game.

"My first season was very special as I scored the most goals in the league for the club.”

Watch BT Sport’s exclusively live coverage of Schalke v Bayern Munich on BT Sport 1 from 5.30pm on Saturday 21 September. Each matchweek at 6.45pm on BT Sport 1, Sunday Night Football covers the game across the continent.

[cat_link cat="premiership" type="grid"]