While the topic of Ryan Shawcross and Arsenal has seemingly polarized many of the readers of this site, I wanted to focus on something thankfully more uplifting: The return of Premier League football, which kicks off again this weekend. First things first, I wanted to poll you, the readers, to find out which games you're […]

In the world of soccer, teams are like George Orwell's Animal Farm. They're all created equal, but some are more equal than others. At least in the eyes of football supporters. Many of these fans, whether they try to or not, find themselves believing in their team, their players and their manager so much so […]

John Nicholson is a regular contributor to EPLTalk.com, though he is best known for his work at Football365.com. Today, John rejoins the show for the first of a two-part discussion, talking about his new book, We Ate All The Pies: How Football Swallowed Britain Whole. The second part of the discussion will be released tomorrow […]

England continued their perfect run in Euro 2012 qualification on Tuesday night with an impressive 3-1 win away to Switzerland. Before the match, a clash of world class club managers was touted as the main story line as Fabio Capello faced off against Ottmar Hitzfeld. Between the two, three Champions League trophies are shared, while […]

Joachim Loew's Germany side never had to get out of second gear against a very physical but very poor Azerbaijan team. Goals from Heiko Westermann, Lukas Podolski, Holger Badstuber, a double from Miroslav Klose and an own-goal from Rashad Sadygov capped a very easy performance for Die Mannschaft. Azerbaijan grabbed a consolation through Vagif Dzhavadov, […]

Finally Italy has clicked. While the comeback win against Estonia was a good result, this 5-0 win shows that Prandelli has found harmony within the team. Prandelli's home debut as the coach of the Italian National team is certainly positive, Cassano inspired the team, and he looks ready to face any opposition. And with this […]

When Shaun Wright Phillips appeared as second half substitute against Switzerland, he was probably hoping that an impressive display could kick-start his club season. But things didn’t go according to plan for the Manchester City winger and a below par display was topped off with a woeful cross that eluded Darren Bent and infuriated boss […]

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 […]