Liverpool and Chelsea are often blamed for sucking the essence and style out of football, and no player embodies that more than Dirk Kuyt. His work-rate is tremendous., his vitamins are in order, and he covers great ground. At the same time, he has the finesse of a demented walrus and is as pleasing to […]

Unlike the comedy of errors that Chelsea and Liverpool managed to produce in their first leg match, I have sky-high expectations for the Barcelona – Manchester United match. Barca will look to salvage something from what has been a bit of a lost season for them while United will be looking to overturn last year's […]

I am now contributing to the Orlando Sentinel's Other Football website run by our friend Brant Parsons. Check that site for daily new updates by Brant about the Premier League and MLS, and from me about MLS, Mexican Football and the Bundesliga. That site is for news only and my commentary will continue to appear […]

• The second half was a much better 45 minutes of soccer to watch. Both teams went after it, particularly early in the half, and the game was played at a faster tempo. • Didier Drogba is so ridiculously disinterested in playing for Chelsea that it’s a joke. If I was Avram Grant, I would […]

• I miss Tommy Smyth and Derek Rae on the call. I’m assuming they’ll be working the Manchester United-Barcelona game tomorrow, but I’m not sure why they couldn’t do this game as well… • The first shot on goal came nearly eight minutes in, and it was a relatively slow dribbler from Steven Gerrard. One […]

Math has never been my strong point, at least not since 6th grade. Once I started taking pre-algebra the next year, I just knew I was in trouble for the rest of my school days. I believe, however, that my math is correct in this scenario. If West Brom, currently on top of the […]

Make sure you check back here at halftime, and again at full-time, of today's Champions League semifinal first leg at Anfield. As I did in both games of the Liverpool-Arsenal tie, I'll have my halftime and post-match thoughts for you to undoubtedly pick apart. For those of you want to see attractive, free-flowing soccer, this […]

Columbus performance Thursday night at RFK Stadium was outstanding all around, and showed a fighting spirit the Crew often times lacked on the road (accept strangely at Foxboro against the Revs) the past few seasons. The most impressive performance of the night from the Crew was once again from Robbie Rogers. The winger showed his […]

1- New England Yeah, yeah they are struggling. But what team is more likely to be in the MLS Cup right now? Besides, salvaging a point a man down at Giants Stadium was huge. A sign of a team's character is how they play when the chips are down and injuries abound. Sure they were […]

Posted from ChampionsLeagueTalk.com Most of you will be familiar with the history behind this matchup, if not check the feature over at the Telegraph, and more often than not the recent history has produced tight matches with little entertainment value though plenty of drama and hype. Jorge Valdano, former Real Madrid player and World Cup […]

The Guardian newspaper launched a redesign of its football site today. As sport editor Sean Ingle said, "Finally, it's our turn." Maybe he meant "my turn" because that's precisely the problem. Let me explain. The new design is definitely a welcome change from the narrow one column format that we've grown to be accustomed to […]

One of the most impressive sights from this past weekend's match between Man United and Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park wasn't just the grit and determination shown by United, who seemed hellbent on pushing for all three points right up until the final whistle. Instead, it was seeing the impressive support from the Manchester United […]

In episode 102 of the EPL Talk Podcast, EPL Talk interviews Shane O'Rourke from Setanta Sports to discuss: the latest developments from the 24/7 soccer network in North America, Australia, Bermuda and the Caribbean, when Setanta may be available on cable, how Fox Soccer Channel and Setanta will decide who gets to show which FA […]

Two weeks ago, I announced the five nominees for my Premiership Manager of the Year award. Amongst the five were a Scotsman (David Moyes), an Irishman (Roy Keane), a gentleman from Northern Ireland (Martin O'Neill), a Spaniard (Juande Ramos), and a voyeur...excuse me, a Frenchman (Arsene Wenger). That list was then narrowed down to three […]

Sometimes players are as good as their last game. Well, I guess that is why Ronald Koeman said goodbye today. Valencia looked hungover from their midweek Copa del Rey title as Athletic Bilbao beat them into submission and brought them back to the reality that was this season for Los Ches. Their 5-1 loss at […]