England’s poor 2010 concluded as they slid to a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to France, but the night may be remembered for the “Club v Country” debate returning once again. Steven Gerrard, Gareth Barry and captain Rio Ferdinand all picked up injuries for the Three Lions, summing up a generally miserable year for the Italian. […]

Steven Gerrard gave us all a timely reminder of his quality with a stunning hat-trick to help Liverpool overcome a stubborn Napoli side. Will this performance mark the general return to form of midfielder and could he be the inspiration for another England star to return to form? We all know the ability that Gerrard […]

There was finally some joy for Roy Hodgson after his Liverpool side gained a potentially vital victory over Blackburn at Anfield. While it might not have lifted Liverpool out of the bottom three, the result will certainly act as a real confidence boost, and will give Hodgson something to build on. The former Fulham boss […]

Liverpool produced an improved display to gain a well earned 0-0 draw against Napoli. Reds boss Roy Hodgson opted to make a whole host of changes for the game, but his fringe players certainly impressed with notable performances from Jay Spearing and Jonjo Shelvey. While I don’t want to take anything away from the Liverpool […]

It is never surprising to hear Sir Alex Ferguson saying something 'controversial'. Whether it's emotional, pointless sniping at a beleaguered enemy or an attempt some kind of Jedi Mind Trick deployed to 'psych out' Liverpool and their players is up to you. An interesting point with Ferguson's 'Torres is the biggest cheater ever, EVER' (possible paraphrase) comments is that […]

With the pressure on Fabio Capello, England finally delivered a performance to make the country proud. But was this result and the performance the start of a change in fortunes for Capello or another result that get’s our hopes up only to be disappointed down the line? England may have gone some way to igniting […]

Fernando Torres returned to goal scoring form to give Liverpool’s season a much needed kick-start against West Brom. But will this be the start of a bright season for Roy Hodgson’s side or will the men from Merseyside disappoint once again? It’s been a bit of strange week for Liverpool. It started with midfielder Javier […]

The last three permanent managers of Liverpool have all overseen a familiar pattern of events. Roy Evans, Gerard Houllier and Rafael Benitez all enjoyed moderately successful starts – Evans had a decent first full league season, Houllier a distant third place and a (very fortunate) cup treble, Benitez's Champions League triumph rightly overshadowed a fairly […]

So the Londoner is off to Merseyside. In what has been a stale post-World Cup transfer cycle, where hearsay reigns supreme over any actual movement, this week saw the first eyebrow-raising move: Joe Cole to Liverpool. Eyebrow-raising because all summer it seemed that most of the major English power players were in for Cole EXCEPT […]

As focus on the World Cup soon gives way to the silly season, a plethora of rumors on which players may or may not be leaving or joining new clubs are sure to hit the Internet in abundance in the next four weeks. If you're new to football, sit back, relax and enjoy the entertainment that's […]

There is a current malaise effecting almost everyone in England that follows the national side, from fans, retailers, journalists and TV executives. The finger of blame is being pointed fairly equally between Fabio Capello and the highly paid, highly hyped and self important members of the squad. Ashley Cole, despite being the only first team […]

I am fully aware that I am late to the why-England-were-eliminated-party here, but as I've pored over the litany of explanations on the web, I've found that there is an unfair discrepancy of player blame vs. manager blame. Sure, the England stars appeared lackadaisical and short on ideas, but these are the same players that […]

For a number of months there has been a debate on this site about how good the English team really is. Most have claimed that this version of the Three Lions represented a golden generation of players finally coming to the pinnacle of their skills and ready to challenge for the most valued trophy […]

England fans have traditionally been guilty of the sin of not really looking. Reading the English press, there seems a general sense of shock about how their team performed in their first game yesterday. But to a neutral observer, the result, and England’s sorry, tired performance, was not really all that much of a […]

On a day where two of the Premier League's brightest and most popular stars succumbed to various knacks and knocks and subsequently exit the World Cup, another of the league's most popular athletes ascends into the captaincy of the England National team feeling strangely like some hand me down jacket worn by your older brother. Realistically, Gerrard will be Capello's […]