Rory Marsden

In my NyQuil haze, I screwed up the math. Through some combination of the time change (which happens earlier in England than in the States) and me sleeping through my usual routine of checking multiple sites to figure out the kickoff, I was an hour off. As I slumped into the pub, sucking on a […]

Rangers face a crunch Champions League night this week and one of their stars has stressed the importance of the tie. The Scots are currently bottom of Group G with only one point and enter a tie away in Romania against Unirea Urziceni knowing that another defeat will put an end to their distant hopes […]

My normal pre-match bravado wasn't at full strength after the four-game losing streak (Liverpool's worst run since the Spring of 1987) and going into the fixture against Manchester United Sunday I was a sleepless bag of frenetic nerves. We tend to play our best against the strongest opposition (I thought our outing against Chelsea was […]

It's tempting to heave my piling anger, frustration, pain, and total bewilderment on a red beach ball.  It's tempting to lament the many injuries my side picked up while the players were dispersed for the international break. But after watching Liverpool lose their third and fourth matches in a row, their worst losing streak since […]

"Who pays the players when they're on international duty?" asks Doug. Here in the football wilderness that is the states, I find more and more of my friends, neighbors and coworkers growing curious about the beautiful game. The "football-curious" we'll call them. And since they know me as somebody who's fanatical about the sport, they […]

How did it come to this? I'm resting my hopes for Liverpool's season on an injured Italian midfielder who remains unproven in the Premier League. Alberto Aquilani, bought this summer for £20m to replace Xabi Alonso (if that's possible) came to Liverpool a broken man. Hints that he's been training and we could see him […]

I find myself asking it all the time: how old is that player? My last such quandary was over Arshavin (older than I would have guessed). Before that it was over Jovetic (younger than I would have guessed). When I' m looking up a player's age for an article or to settle a bet or […]

Facing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge is never easy. But with Petr Cech suspended and with Liverpool's knack for playing well against the London giants, I felt optimistic going into yesterday's match. And with Liverpool dominating the first stretch of play, I felt a goal was inevitable and a win was feasible. I was stumped by […]

Over the last few seasons, the Championship has become one of the most unpredictable and competitive divisions in European football. After a fairly unsurprising start to the campaign, that reputation looked to be under threat but after a week in which the top three picked up just six points from a possible 18, un-normality has […]

Dear Sir/Lord/Baron/Chairman/Sheik/The Donald: Thank you for your interest in our beloved club: ______ City/Town/Wandering Athletic Rovers/United/FC. If you should chose to purchase us, we believe this will be an invaluable experience for all parties involved. To be honest, our club has had its ups and downs over the years, most notably the recent ban/fine/bankruptcy/relegation/tell-all Channel 4 […]

After Liverpool comfortably dispatched Hull this past weekend, I went into the Fiorentina match with soaring expectations. I tucked all of Liverpool's defensive and  central midfield problems under the carpet of Torres' hat trick adorned with Gerrard, Babel and Riera's collective fuel for the goal-momentum fire. Fiorentina (whom I knew little about) would be no […]

My distaste for Manchester City's business model has been well-documented on EPL Talk, but watching City host West Ham United yesterday, I am starting to begrudgingly accept it: City have arrived. Last season, poor away results and hit-or-miss form proved while City could spend on the top players, they couldn't will consistent chemistry into their […]

Wednesday night sees last years runners up Manchester United take centre stage, as they face Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg at Old Trafford. Both teams got off to a winning start in week one but with home advantage, it's United that will be under the most pressure to perform in week two. Wolfsburg have hit a good […]

The Champions League resumes this week with the fancied teams looking to extend their good starts and improve on their Champions League betting odds. All four English clubs won their first matches in the tournament, along with La Liga giants Real Madrid, while Barcelona and perennial dark horses Inter Milan shared the spoils in their […]

Or the title I prefer: Fan Diary #9: The Goal Fest; Torres Leaves Me Speechless; Poor Defending, An Infant Scouse-American; Was It A Cross Or A Shot?; Niall's Wife; Meryl Streep; Has Ryan Babel Finally Embraced Being Super-Sub; And Are You Drunk Or Did You Forget Which Side Jozy Altidore Plays For? A tight match […]