Matt Jones

David Moyes looked as though he’d rather be anywhere else than at Old Trafford after Vito Mannone's penalty save sent Sunderland to Wembley. As his eyes closed with forlorn disbelief, he depicted a man riddled with dejection and hopelessness. He trudged down the touchline to the tunnel, glancing up at the Stretford End and applauded […]

Right, here we go again. Clubs are back into the swing of things after the winter break and the early rounds of the domestic competitions in England and Spain have been boxed off. So teams should have total focus on this weekends games, which have churned up some key ties in title challenges, races for […]

Picture the scene: It’s FA Cup third round weekend and non-league Macclesfield Town are hosting Championship side Sheffield Wednesday. Steve Williams has just scored a lovely equalizing goal for the underdogs with 12 minutes to go, and a woefully out of form Owls team look on the rack. The crowd of 5,873 roars, sensing blood […]

As a region, Merseyside is currently awash with positivity when it comes to soccer-related matters. Supporters of a red and blue persuasion have been equally boisterous about the prospects of their sides as we kick-off 2014, with Liverpool and Everton sitting fourth and fifth in the table respectively. At the time of writing, they are […]

After a festive hiatus, domestic football is back in earnest across Europe. Whilst the Premier League continued to plough on through the December months, the vast majority of European leagues underwent a winter break. Most of the major leagues have either resumed or will be resuming this weekend and for many sides, this set of […]

Despite the clamour to hang, draw and quarter those players who like to take a tumble at the slightest touch, you must have a certain degree of, well, maybe not sympathy, but understanding as to why they fall to the ground after a tackle. Earlier in the season in a game poised at 0-0 against […]

I admit it, I fell a little bit out of love with the FA Cup this past weekend. Don’t get me wrong, if Everton were to win the trophy this season I’d be celebrating until the 2015 final, but that romantic notion that is attributed to this wonderful tournament wasn’t nearly as prominent this year […]

A winter break? Say it aint so. The festive period is without doubt my favorite part of the English football calendar. Games come thick and fast, the third round of the FA Cup is on the horizon and it’s the time of the season when in the Premier League the table really starts to take […]

Bet you can guess what the most requested haircut will be in Merseyside this festive period: “Just shave it all off, lad.” This stems, of course, from Everton’s skin-headed assassin Ross Barkley and his marvelous showing that helped fire Everton to within two points of the Premier League summit. The Wavertree-born midfielder grabbed a toiling […]

After a few weeks of running this feature, we’re starting to get the hang of picking out some cracking games for your viewing pleasure. Last weekend, we had 24 goals from our five feature games and this weekend we have another fine selection of contests for you to look forward to. And enjoy these games […]

Flying high in the table and cutting teams to ribbons with vibrant, offensive play, there has naturally been a lot of chatter about Everton this season. A section of it has been a little negative – perhaps born out of envy – with critics bemoaning Roberto Martinez’s astute use of the loan system. But the […]

Identity is such an important concept in soccer. It’s formed by a variety of facets; from the badge, stadium, name, kit color and history. In the modern game, a key part of a team’s identity is the brand of soccer they play, which is essentially the stylistic representation of a manager’s principles. One boss who […]

“I’m really tired.” “I don’t feel so good.” “You go on your own, I’ll only annoy you.” “What do you mean? I’ve already done mine!” Feel free to use any of the above excuses to help avoid Christmas shopping this weekend. Why do you need them? Well, instead of plodding from store to store, why […]

What a week. It’s been a while since I last wrote about Everton, so let me fill you in on a wonderful few days for supporters of the club. I’d just about calmed down ahead of the home game against Stoke City following a ferocious Merseyside Derby the week previous. So often with these sorts […]

As we head towards the Christmas months, the soccer comes thick and fast. Whether teams are embarking on a convoluted set of festive fixtures or they’re looking to continue momentum up until the cusp of the winter break, getting December off to a good start is imperative. This weekend will have to go some to […]