When I first started watching football as a child in the mid-1980’s FC Cologne (1. FC Köln) was one of the traditional powerful clubs of the Bundesliga. Cologne was the first champion of the Bundesliga in 1963/64 and in 1978 won the “double,” which to this day is the pinnacle of success in the Rhein […]

Torres was a name that struck fear into opposition hearts not long after joining Liverpool. With 33 goals in all competitions in his first season at Liverpool, no one could doubt his pedigree. By the time he left for Chelsea in a big money transfer in 2011, he had scored 81 goals in 142 appearances. […]

Well it’s happened again. Not even a full season back in top flight football and the “old dame” Hertha has been embroiled in a soap opera of daytime TV proportions, where nobody ends up looking good. Manager Markus Babbel and Sport Director Michael Preetz were entangled in a war of words where one was trying […]

In a season that has been dominated by headlines pertaining mostly to the Big Four (along with Manchester City and Tottenham), one region of England’s rich footballing world that has often been overlooked is the northeast. This season brought a lot of excitement to Tyneside and Wearside. The Toon faithful have to be enjoying […]

When I was in Germany back in December, I watched an interview with Bayern Munich’s Sporting Director Christian Nerlinger. Part of the discussion revolved around Bayern’s interest in the newest young German football star, Marco Reus, who Bayern executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge termed “a person of interest.” Nerlinger stated that when Bayern Munich wanted a player […]

We have a little over a week until the MLS SuperDraft takes place. In this short span, MLS will conduct it's "Scouting Combine" over the next few days. The good news is that a high-speed internet connection will get you access to the round robin matches beginning today at MLSSoccer.com. Let me speak honestly about […]

Reading the press release about the arrival of Rob Stone at FOX Sports this week, you would have presumed that Christian Miles was a goner. Without mentioning Miles's name, the press release described how Stone would be hosting Goals On Sunday and FOX Soccer Match Day, both programs currently hosted by Miles, and even mentioned […]

1. Wingers in Wales- As Wayne Routledge wheeled away in celebration after scoring Swansea's second goal, Brendan Rodgers probably popped an Aspirin. For newly promoted sides selection dilemmas are few and far between, making each individual one all the more dangerous. Sinclair, Dyer, Routledge. Routledge, Sinclair, Dyer. Because I was just working on a math assignment, I […]

While so much controversy has been swirling around Liverpool off the pitch, very few in the British media have directed criticism at Kenny Dalglish for the events on the pitch. He has signed two extremely disappointing, not to mention expensive, players. Instead of taking advantage of the struggles of Chelsea and Arsenal, Liverpool have dropped […]

I spent the last week watching Everton try to squeak out matches by the thinnest of margins. Everton's brand of football has nearly become dire to watch, and the situation brought itself to a head in today's 1-2 home loss against bottom Bolton. These problems have been brewing for the past 12 months, and there […]

After a devastating 3-0 loss to Newcastle United, Manchester United has suffered back-to-back defeats in the Barclays Premier League for the first time since March 2011 and now trails league leader Manchester City by three points at the top of the Premier League table. Newcastle was better than the visitors in every department of the […]

Simon Kuper is the preeminent intellectual football author of our time. His works such as Football Against the Enemy, and Soccernomics (aka Why England Lose) need no introduction to many fans of the beautiful game. His columns in publications such as The Financial Times are indispensable reading for those who want to keep a sharp […]

Apple is interested in bidding for the UK TV rights to the Premier League, says a report in The Daily Mail. The Premier League's live UK rights for 2010-13 raised £1.782bn when they were sold to Sky Sports and ESPN UK during the summer of 2009. The next set of TV rights that will be […]

EPL Talk and adidas have teamed together to offer one very lucky reader the chance to win all three of the following: Goalkeeper glove autographed by Petr Cech (Chelsea and Czech Republic), adidas Predator boots/cleats autographed by Xavi (Barcelona and Spain), Official Group A balls used in Euro 2012 draw (Czech Republic, Russia and Greece) […]

Manchester City returned to their winning ways after thumping Liverpool by 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night. Goals from Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and James Milner sealed the victory for the Citizens in a rain soaked night in Manchester. Liverpool could have taken the lead as early as the first seven minutes of […]