Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross has today hit back at Arsene Wenger’s claims that Stoke players act like “rugby” players. The 23-year-old defender was left fuming after Wenger’s allegations saying: "He's obviously got something against me. It's just weird “He seems to have a problem with Stoke, our manager and certain players. Criticism doesn't bother […]

After grabbing a pivotal three points in Belgium on the weekend, Germany host Azerbaijan today in what should be a one-sided goal-fest. While Joachim Loew has called for focus in his pre-match press conference, Germany's attacking stars should fully take advantage of an Azerbaijani side who are ranked 106th by FIFA. While the Azerbaijani side […]

In the run up to the weekend, I wrote about the Non-League Football Day campaign that was launched to try and use the international break to encourage Premiership and Championship football fans to use their free weekend to support their local non-league sides. This was a fantastic idea and an opportunity to plug the finances […]

The world football governing body seems to have removed the sleep from their eyes, poured themselves a fresh cup of coffee, and in a shocking turn of events, looks to be attempting some 'governing' as they've recently stated they'll allow national associations the use of video footage when it comes to punishing diving and simulation. In a statement […]

Before I start I would like to give my condolences to the family of Eric Altshule, as the EPL talk writer sadly passed away recently. I often read Eric's work and even if you didn't agree with his side of the argument all the time, it was great to see someone give a well founded […]

Whilst England fans around the globe take the first tentative steps back towards trusting their national team, my eye was caught not by yet more allegations of poor behaviour from within the England squad but by comments from a diminutive Russian. Andrei Arshavin has said that after a year and a half in the Premier […]

Los Angeles struggled for a point against the 10-man Fire while Columbus, Real Salt Lake and Dallas continued their pushes to the top of the league. On this edition of the Major League Soccer Talk podcast, myself and Christopher Riordan look back on the weekend that was while addressing Segares, Beckham, McBride and more. It's […]

Bayern Munich's forgotten man, Mario Gomez, was the subject of intense transfer rumours during the summer transfer window with a potential move to Liverpool being touted by the press. Unfortunately for Roy Hodgson's ailing Liverpool side, Bayern Munich rejected the offer on the last day of the transfer period and Gomez remained a Bayern Munich […]

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has today claimed that he wants to emulate the success of Sir Alex Ferguson and have a prolonged stay in the English game. The Chelsea boss has also suggested he may even wish to manage England some time down the line. But could the Italian really fuflill his claims? The thought […]

Former Liverpool boss Gérard Houllier is reportedly the man earmarked to take over at Aston Villa. The commanding Frenchmen has been out of work since 2007 after leaving Lyon but rumours have it that he is currently considering an offer from Randy Lerner to return to work with the Midlands side. But would Houllier be the […]

The Labor Day weekend featured the Fire at Toyota Park on Saturday afternoon September 3, 2010 for a match up against Western Conference leaders LA Galaxy. In what was an excellent showcase for the “MLS 2.0” edition (post World Cup and new signings) the teams battled into extra time and drew one all. The result […]

The Week 23 numbers look like this... 5 year comparison Week 23 177 GP YTD Avg +/- GP Avg +/- Avg +/- GP 2006 11,814 10 15,158 15,139 153 2007 17,413 47.39% 7 16,522 9.00% 16,019 5.82% 151 2008 19,222 10.39% 6 16,472 -0.30% 17,121 6.88% 154 2009 16,665 […]

I had just recently discussed with a few BundesligaTalk readers how interesting it would be to see Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil and Marko Marin fill the attacking midfield positions for the German national team. Obviously, we weren't the only ones who believed Kroos could be playing in that left attacking midfield spot for Germany in […]

Germany and Bayern Munich striker Miroslav Klose has announced his desire to become Germany's all-time top goalscorer and take the title that has been held for so long by the legendary Gerd Mueller. In South Africa this summer, Klose had the chance of becoming the World Cup's all-time top goalscorer, but felt short of the […]

According to reports scoured across the Internet, Spurs boy wonder Gareth Bale is the subject of a potential Real Madrid transfer bid this January. Should the Spanish giants make a move for the Welsh winger, Tottenham and Harry Redknapp would be foolish to let their young prized possession leave White Hart Lane regardless of the […]