Ronald Koeman believes Victor Wanyama has returned to training "a different person" from the man agitating to leave Southampton during the transfer window. The Kenya midfielder's request to leave St. Mary's amid interest from Tottenham was steadfastly rejected by Southampton, the south coast club retaining both Wanyama and Sadio Mane. Saints boss Koeman spoke with […]

Two seasons ago, Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid pulled off one of the greatest feats in modern day soccer, breaking the Spanish duopoly and winning La Liga ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona. To the neutral observer, it was nothing short of a miracle, but to those who followed the team closely, it was an effort […]

Arsene Wenger has urged Arsenal fans to focus on getting behind the current players and not why the club failed to sign a replacement for injured forward Danny Welbeck before the transfer window shut. England forward Welbeck is expected to be out until at least Christmas after he underwent surgery on a knee problem which […]

Crystal Palace defender Joel Ward will be sidelined for up to four weeks with a knee injury. The 25-year-old right-back, who scored in Palace's 2-1 win at Chelsea a fortnight ago, suffered the injury in training. "Unfortunately we've lost Joel Ward this week," said manager Alan Pardew. "After his great performance against Chelsea he's got […]

“Disappointing.” “Frustrating.” “Dire.” Not words that would recommend the Derby della Madonnina, yet the writers keep trying. Perhaps it’s nostalgia that keeps us telling everyone to tune into this showcase feature between Inter and Milan – we long for the days that featured not just a plethora of goals, but those good ol’ games filled with frenetic […]

Is there legitimacy to a hybrid promotion/relegation system in North America? World Soccer Talk's Kartik Krishnaiyer breaks it down. The discussion around promotion and relegation, and the potential of it being implemented in the US/Canadian leagues has grown in scope and intensity over the last few years. One camp of fans and analysts clearly state that […]

Liverpool have been boosted by the return to training of striker Daniel Sturridge but it may still be too soon for him to feature in Saturday's trip to Manchester United. The England international has not played since April 8 and after a hip operation in May he has spent much of the summer on a […]

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has admitted that the fee paid for teenage French striker Anthony Martial was "a ridiculous amount of money", but added that it simply reflects the "crazy world" of football. Van Gaal said the 19-year-old, signed from Monaco for £36million up front and a possible total fee of £58.8million, had […]

Best starting XI For the starting XI the goalkeeper has to be Boaz Myhill out of pure necessity with Ben Foster unavailable. The Baggies have enlisted the help of Anders Lindegaard, but nobody really knows how good he actually is. For Manchester United to let him leave on a free would suggest not very, but […]

It was during a gruelling 2014-15 season that very nearly saw Newcastle United fall ignominiously through the Premier League trapdoor when already wafer-thin expectations and patience amongst the long-suffering Toon Army at St James' Park with the hierarchy finally snapped. The, frankly, dull and uninspiring fayre served up by what seemed to be an, at […]

After sputtering out of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup in dreadful fashion, the calls for Jurgen Klinsmann's firing as Head Coach further intensified. A Jeckyl and Hyde performance against Peru and the shellacking at the hands of Brazil in suburban Boston only tossed kerosene on the flames. A large contingent of US fans and media […]

After a preseason of remarkable transfer activity on top of a new manager coming in, it’s tough to fully assess where Watford are headed at this early juncture. But despite going into the international break without a win in any of their four games, there seems to be a solid foundation upon which to go forth. […]

Four teams — two from the Premier League, two from Major League Soccer — meeting in a mid-summer, trans-Atlantic, trans-federation battle. And we're not just talking about random teams that volunteer for the task. No, we're talking about a partnership between MLS and the EPL, one that would see each circuit's league and cup winners […]

Don't know TV Azteca? For most of the U.S., there's a good reason for that. The Mexican broadcaster is a player in the FMF soccer world and will be broadcasting Oct. 10's Confederations Cup playoff between the United States and Mexico, but unless you're a Spanish speaker or a Liga MX diehard, you've probably never ventured […]

The topic of promotion and relegation in US soccer is a divisive one, but it doesn't have to be that way. I believe that it's possible to have an intelligent discussion regarding the topic without comments threads being plagued with soccer fans calling each other names. But what I am interested in hearing and reading is […]