Who were we watching? Standing in the pub, we made the irresistible jokes about how Barcelona had flown to Anfield and donned our side's red jerseys. The Liverpool side that couldn't carve out a goal against Wigan or Lille was nowhere to be seen. This was a flowing, determined outfit. Just about everybody was playing healthy for once. Aquilani was […]

Six weeks ago, Oliver Kay joined us ahead of the onset of UEFA Champions League's Round of 16, venturing a prediction that the English Premier League teams would find this year's tournament rougher than those of the preceding seasons. Today, Oliver joined me to reflect on the knock-out round performances of Manchester United, Arsenal, and […]

If you thought that MLS and its players union had until March 25 to avert a work stoppage and get a new collective bargaining agreement done, the timetable has moved up a bit. Multiple reports, quoting sources close to the investigation, have stated that the players will strike on Monday, March 22, if a new […]

Manchester United's Owen Hargreaves is set to (finally) make an appearance for the reserves Thursday night v Burnley. It looks as if the Canadian born midfielder has yet to book a summer holiday somewhere warm as he still holds realistic ambitions to be in wintry South Africa with the England squad this summer (from his […]

After yesterday's final games in the Champions League round of 16, we now know which teams will be in the hat tomorrow morning to decide who will play who in the quarter-finals. But before tomorrow's draw, I thought it'd be fun to fantasize a little and think about which two teams would be the dream […]

It has happened to all of us at one time or another. When we were so excited about something, whether it was soccer-related or not, we've gotten goose bumps. For me, the last time this happened was last week when I saw the Martin Tyler TV commercial on ESPN to promote the World Cup. I've […]

With the advantage of the away goal, Sevilla looked in prime position to advance to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. Unfortunately, Manolo Jiménez's team played as though they were already in the next round. A 0-0 score line would have sent Sevilla through, and even though Diego Perotti declared that they could not […]

The UEFA Champions League has finished its round of 16 with a few upsets but many of the favorites still remain. Barcelona dominated the second leg in a fantastic performance from Lionel Messi while Wayne Rooney scored four goals over two matches against AC Milan. In one of the upsets, Real Madrid was knocked out […]

With less than 3 months to go until England's first group game against the U.S.A on June 12th in the World Cup and one particular pair of positions are causing more problems than anyone envisaged. At full strength, the English full-backs picked themselves with Ashley Cole easily making a case for being the best left […]

Thanks to Dave Clark at SounderAtHeart, we have a better idea if MLS owners are actually losing money, a key part of a recent public relations effort (see Leiweke and Wolf) to take the labor debate to the fans. The idea that MLS is losing money is one of the key (if not the only) […]

Proponents of the notion that the Premier League is the best in the world – an oft repeated mantra – might want to shut up for once and take a look at the Champions League this year. For the past few years, English clubs have dominated the latter stages, now they’re down to two already. […]

Chelsea has been eliminated from UEFA Champions League, having lost 1-0 to José Mourinho and Internazionale at Stamford Bridge, leaving the tournament on Tuesday after a 3-1 aggregate defeat. On this edition of the EPL Talk podcast, Kartik Krishnaiyer and myself review the Special One's return to the Bridge and ask how the surviving English […]

Let me first congratulate Inter Milan on a well deserved victory in the Champions League. In both games against Chelsea, they were the better side and thoroughly deserved to go through to the quarter-finals. As for Chelsea, the storyline involving this team in the Champions League is becoming painfully predictable. As has happened for several […]

One of the least talked about ties in the Round of 16, Bordeaux’s match-up with Olympiacos, could turn out to be one of the most important in shaping the face of the Champions League as well as French football. Lyon’s ouster of Real Madrid last week combined with a potential advancement by Les Girondins would […]

For the last couple of weeks, we've read with interest as players have sounded off about the ongoing labor dispute between owners and players. Today, the owners strike back. AEG chief executive Tim Leiweke spoke at length with the Los Angeles Times in a story published today, and to say he took a few shots […]