[display_podcast] Portsmouth are out of the UEFA Cup after losing tonight against Wolfsburg 3-2. The match had plenty of incidents, but the highlight (or lowlight if you're a Portsmouth or England national team fan) was David James's idiotic mistake (see video above). Instead of booting the ball out, he telegraphs his intentions to the Wolfsburg […]

It's Thanksgiving Day in the United States. The biggest holiday of the year in this country — even more so than Christmas Day. I still find it hard to really get into the spirit of celebrating the holiday. I don't get into the traditional American football games, so maybe that's one of the reasons the […]

Manchester City's 3-2 win against FC Twente was proof that the UEFA Cup can be exciting. Well at least some of the time. Robinho was in spectacular form scoring once and hitting the post twice. The one ball that did go in from the Brazilian was a sublime shot that curled into the net from […]

I had a great conversation with Jonathan Starling of the Third Half podcast last week. We discussed the upcoming UEFA Cup group stage, UEFA's stance on debt-laden clubs, the situation at Ajax and many other topics. I've posted the Champions League Talk segment of the show here as a separate podcast file but if you'd […]

Yesterday, the Bundesliga's five UEFA Cup entrants were handed very tough groups for the upcoming middle stage of the UEFA Cup. While group previews will be prepared later this month, let's take a look at the draws for Hertha, Schalke, Stuttgart, Wolfsburg and Hamburg. 1. Group A Schalke was a top seed, despite being throttled […]

UEFA held the draw for the UEFA Cup group stage today and some fascinating pairings emerged. Both Martin Jol and Steve McClaren will take their new clubs back to England as FC Twente will face Manchester City and Jol's Hamburg will take on Aston Villa. This year's groups are looking really tough and the field […]

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As we reported on a number of weeks ago, the UEFA Executive Committee has finalized the change in name of the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League starting in the 2009-10 season. Along with the new name come major changes to the competition, which will feature a 48-team group stage. Changes to the name, […]

Last year the winter break lasted six long agonizing weeks. This year it will be seven. The break has been controversial for some time as even the Kaiser has called for the abandonment of this “luxury”. It is too long a layoff for the players and fans. Meanwhile, this year the Ligapokal was not played […]

No this isn't a view from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. It's the obstructed view for away fans at Wisla Krakow's stadium in Poland. Tottenham Hotspur will be playing their second leg of their UEFA Cup first round match against Wisla Krakow on October 2nd. Spurs has warned fans to expect severely restricted views of the […]

This is a bit late but I did want to acknowledge that UEFA.com has re-launched with a new take on their familiar look. The layout is a bit cleaner though the page now contains more elements. The color scheme is basic white and black though the newly launched photo gallery adds plenty of color. I'd […]

Be sure to visit the whole network of our sites. Some of the interesting topics include: Kartik Krishnaiyer over at Major League Soccer Talk takes on a controversial topic that very few journalists are brave enough to write about and that's the cozy relationship between the Mexican Federation and Major League Soccer. Krishnaiyer also discusses […]

1st Schalke What You Know: If baseball's Chicago Cubs had a baby with the Red Sox prior to 2004, Schalke would be the offspring. What You Don’t: All things both good and bad must end. What to Expect: Yes, Campeones! I say that, bucking all trends, and knowing full well that Schalke could be leading […]

The new Bundesliga season is just days away, so Bundesliga Talk writers Mark Moll and Double Pivot decided to interview one of the preeminent writers and authors on the topic of German soccer, Raphael Honigstein. Many readers may know Honigstein best from his appearances on the Football Weekly Podcast by The Guardian. Here's the transcript […]

July 1st saw the formal beginnings of five coaches' tenures at the helms of Bundesliga clubs. Over the next several weeks every Thursday we'll introduce these men to you. Our series of profiles begins with Bayern München's Jürgen Klinsmann, striker par excellence and noted diving enthusiast. We detail the man, his plan, his challenges, and […]