Back in the day, commentators, football writers and outfield players all used to laugh at goalkeepers. They were sometimes described as 'a breed apart' but mostly they were bluntly referred to as 'mad'. Keepers were allowed to have rushes of blood and make silly mistakes, because that is what they were there for. They provided […]

Nashville is the venue for the today's World Cup Qualifier between the United States, high flying side at home and Francisco Maturana's Soca Warriors. The last time these two teams met on US soil, last September in Chicago, Maturana got his tactics all wrong and T&T was smoked. Quite frankly, I see the same exact […]

If you thought that Pranks, Jokes and Shenanigans on April Fools Day are to be expected you are correct. Even the sometimes more reserved Germans participate in this day with fervor and the German Soccer press is no exception. Here are some of the things to be found in the press in Germany today: The Berliner-kurier has […]

Lots of news from England in the last 24 hours (read EPL Talk's Premier League news feed updated daily). Here are just a few of the highlights: Tottenham Hotspur Unveil Future Plans for White Hart Lane (Tottenham Hotspur). Spurs have released detailed plans for their mini-me Emirates Stadium to replace their current ground at White […]

What a difference a year makes. Last summer ESPN was raving about its better than expected TV ratings for Euro 2008, which was one of the best produced tournaments soccer fans in the United States had ever seen (helped by the bonus of games being available in HD). But since then, ESPN dumped its MLS […]

We here at EPL Talk usually don't publish rumors, but this one is too big to overlook. We've received several anonymous reports that Fox Soccer Channel and Setanta Sports have agreed to merge to form a new company. Setanta Sports, who have reportedly been in financial trouble in the United Kingdom, have long worked with […]

Gentleman, let us put away childish things. Yes, international breaks can provide some godawful football. Yes, it doesn’t seem fair for a player to risk injury for a team he plays with only five times a year and miss games for the club that employs him on a weekly basis. Yes, nations like Lichtenstein don’t […]

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall during Mike Ashley's meeting when he decided that Alan Shearer was the man to replace Joe Kinnear as manager of Newcastle United: Blimey! Okay men, we 'ave a problem. Old Joe Kinnear 'as a dodgy 'eart, an' aaahr team is in freefall an' looks likely ter […]

Well! It's finally happened. The breaking news in the last 15 minutes is that Alan Shearer will take charge of Newcastle United until the end of the current season. Joe Kinnear's medical condition leaves him unfit to return to work at this current time which has left owner Mike Ashley with a search for a new […]

The empire strikes back could have been the headline for Saturday as Mexico beat nemesis Costa Rica to reclaim a little bit of lost mojo. But now Mexico must go to Honduras and slay another dragon, in the form of traditional Mexican killer Carlos Pavon. Pavon's international career has been on the rocks of late […]

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 […]

Our Anglophile’s guide to British music gives just a taste of the depth and greatness of Great Britain in pop culture. Great Britain has given us The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin and many other famous bands. This article features none of them. Instead, we’ll focus on lesser-known – but just as worthy – British […]

The rumors have begun to churn: Benitez wants to go after Samuel Eto'o in the summer. The Barcelona striker has already scored 25 goals in 27 matches for his club this season, but could the Camaroon international find a place at Liverpool? With Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard both in great form and leading the […]

Photo by deegs Amid all the murmurings about ESPN losing Champions League rights in the US, Canadians, with some notable exceptions, have emerged relative winners in the last few years, even with the initially disruptive introduction of Setanta Sports in the latter part of 2007. In a perfect world, all the football we'd ever want […]

The loss of Champions League rights for the United States is just the latest blow to ESPN's once dominant position broadcasting Football in the United States. As we reported almost two weeks ago, FOX has wrestled the rights to the marque annual event in world club football away from ESPN. In the late 1990s, ESPN […]