In 2004, he left Liverpool for Real Madrid in search of Champions League glory. Early on, Madrid mostly shackled him to their bench and later ducked out to Juventus in the first knock-out round. The Liverpool players bounced on the big stage in Istanbul: lifting the trophy without him. The next season, after Liverpool didn't […]

On the same day that Kaka moved from AC Milan to Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee of £56 million, Newcastle United put a 'for sale' sign up on their website and put their entire squad up for sale. At the same time, Setanta Sports looks like it's heading for administration, Liverpool's financial […]

Average TV ratings for the different leagues that Fox Soccer Channel broadcasts have been made public this week, and the findings make very interesting reading. For the 2008/2009 season, the Premier League is Fox Soccer Channel's top league averaging 90,000 viewers per game. Second highest were FA Cup games which averaged 75,000 viewers. Serie A […]

Following a busy season, Raphael Honigstein of The Guardian and Footbo was kind enough to talk with me and address a few questions I had about the end of the season and the start to the silly season. Which player(s) surprised you the most this season? a) Misimovic. We knew he could play football, but […]

I think it is safe to assume that Alex Ferguson is a keen follower of all things football, to remain at the top for as long as he has you need to keep your finger on the footballing pulse. I wonder then if he took the time out during his summer holidays to keep up […]

Gulati-Garber photo by Kevin Joseph So we've passed the first day of what will be a long summer of MLS/MNT/FIFA fixture congestion. We've all heard the discussion before about the MLS schedule and its position that it is impossible for the league to avoid fixture congestion and unable honor FIFA international days. Without getting into […]

For those not emotionally invested, the sale of a prominent Premier League club is chum in the water. We want easily caricatured nutballs in charge, huge transfer budgets, grandiose schemes destined to fail and decimations of the club’s staff. We want entertainment. Given that context and the club’s unique penchant for disaster, West Ham’s sale […]

"Capello was exactly what we needed!" —Frank Lampard "He is one of those managers in that handful around the world who are the best!" —Steven Gerrard "He's given the players confidence and the team a huge amount of respect!" —David Beckham "Who knew?" —Steve McClaren Okay, so I made up that last one. And I […]

Burnley have unveiled their new home and away football kits for the 2009-2010 season. To say that they're unique is an understatement. Just as Aston Villa's decision to add the name of a charity to sponsor its shirts pleasantly surprised many football supporters, a similar goodwill decision has been made for Burnley's home kit. In […]

This week will be the most important in the history of Setanta, the Irish broadcaster who – according to the British press – could be forced into administration in the next few days. The implications of such a disaster would be massive for the Premier League and could also cause ripple effects throughout North America, […]

This week's eight matches averaged just over 13,100. Last year's week 12 included a visit by Beckham to San Jose. The game was at Oakland Alameda and drew over 39,800. After 92 matches, the league is drawing 1,479 fewer per game than the first 92 games last year, a 9.1% decrease. On the up side, […]

The United States participated in two Confederations Cups under Bruce Arena. The 1999 tournament saw the United States reach the semifinals with a mixture of young experimental squad featuring the likes of Benny Olsen and CJ Brown and some veterans Arena reached back to call up such as John Harkes and Marcelo Balboa to provide […]

Here are a few stories of interest on a sunny Sunday as we edge closer to summer (it's already here in South Florida). Have a wonderful rest of the weekend. Key Manchester City supporters were invited to a meeting with club executives last week to get a sneak preview of the new Manchester City kits […]

We remember those early days of Clint Dempsey playing for the New England Revolution. A hard nosed player that put himself into position for a scoring chance. Those early days playing for the National Team where he wanted the ball and buried every single chance he got. The Friendly at Soldier Field against England where he scored […]

Bob Bradley shook up the US squad and formation today in preparation for a critical qualifier in Chicago against Honduras. The Hondurans were missing two key elements: David Suazo one of the top players in CONCACAF and the solid Julio De Leon of Parma in Italy. Bradley's changes reflected the caution of a manager under […]