We love a good midweek match now and then and Liverpool v. Chelsea was the record put on repeat as the Reds met up with the Blues for their requisite Champions League match for the season. While not a league game, it may as well have been, if not for the evening kickoff and painfully […]

It was a strange booking. Xabi Alonso stuck out a leg and caught Real Madrid's onrushing defender, Pepe, but Javier Mascherano took the booking. This may have been for kicking the ball away, but the Argentinian seemed to be clearing it in case play didn't stop. It didn't look a bookable offense. As Liverpool's midfield […]

Back on March 21, Fulham turned the race for the 2008-2009 Premiership title on its ear with a stunning 2-0 defeat of nine-man Manchester United at Craven Cottage. On Saturday, the Whites will take aim at another big four team when Liverpool comes calling. Before the win over the Red Devils, there wasn't much to […]

Why don't more managers come clean in the press about disruptive or unprofessional players? It seems that more and more in these sanitised and sponsorship heavy times that too many people keep quiet about the players who are taking the Michael. At least Steve Bruce has bucked the trend and come out in public with […]

Well, there's one thing you can't hold against Fabio Capello and that's that he keeps his cards close to his chest. Today he's announced that Peter Crouch will lead the England attack against Ukraine tomorrow night and deservedly so. Crouch has been the victim of some vicious criticism over the last few seasons, undeservedly so […]

The first noises started when Real Madrid were humbled at Anfield. Then Liverpool managed to make up ground on United since what seems like the first time since the winter break with a thumping of the champions at Old Trafford. It got noisier still. Then, what seemed like an impossibility happened: Man U dropped three […]

Baros. Cisse. Morientes. Crouch. Kuyt. Bellamy. Voronin. Keane. Since Rafael Benitez took the helm at Liverpool FC, he's maintained a revolving door of strikers, searching for the perfect frontline duo. And while he's fielded many natural hitmen with the ability to keep his side in top four contention and remain a serious Champions League threat, […]

Well, can things get any worse for Newcastle United than they currently are? One win in the league in 3 months, the manager still recovering from his triple heart bypass operation, crowds are falling, the caretakers pointing out, in case you've missed it, that Newcastle find themselves in a relegation battle and then today the […]

What a time for an international break. Despite perhaps one of the most exciting weekends in the Premier League this season, we now must endure the pomp and criticism surrounding the Three Lions as they take on Slovakia in a friendly on Saturday. More importantly, they meet Ukraine in a World Cup qualifier the following […]

Where does this idea of a European Super League keep coming from? Scratch that, WE know where the idea comes from, The European Club Association, the collective of 135 clubs dotted around Europe, keeps trying to push for this dreadful idea to come into fruition. I can't think of anything I'd rather watch less than […]

It seems like yesterday for some football fans, a day burned in to the memories of English footballs collective consciousness. The 1980's saw three major footballing disasters hit English football, The dreadful fire at Bradford City's title party which claimed the lives of 56 fans on May 11th 1985, 18 days later we then witnessed […]

Why is Michael Essien so underrated is a mystery to me. I must admit that I was nonplussed about him as a player, knowing next to nothing about him when he signed for Chelsea from Lyon in August 2005 for £24 million. That was in the dark days before I had Setanta and could immerse […]

Those of us round long enough to remember the Ipswichs, Blackburns and QPRs of old running rampant in the early days of the Premier League may have winced listening to Setanta's commentators gag with delight as Dossena's lobbed long ball made it Liverpool 4, Manchester United 1. "This is why this is the greatest league […]

Jonathan Wilson, the inimitable scholar of tactical mechanics with his recent Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics (a book I included in a piece on tactical reductionism for this website) has made a very convincing argument why English Premier League clubs have come to dominate the Champions League in the last four seasons. […]

Very few of us look forward to Mondays, so instead of wallowing in the depression of going back to work, here are several Premier League-related stories I handpicked for your reading pleasure. Enjoy. "Acorns Children's Hospice will sponsor Aston Villa's shirts next season" (Aston Villa). Congratulations to Aston Villa for deciding to allow Acorns to […]